You would think, Misty berated herself, that after being tricked so many times by those fools, we would have recognized their dirty schemes by now!

She was sitting on her sleeping bag in front of the fire, resting her chin on her knees, replaying the day's events in her mind. Even though they had won against Team Rocket – as usual – she couldn't help but feel ashamed of herself. What had she been thinking, supporting flashy looks in Suzy's salon? Just to prove Ash wrong. And what did it get her? Some butt-ugly makeup and a Fire Spin to the face. Misty had liked the initial make-over, but she'd only defended the makeup to save face.

Me and my stupid pride. When will I learn? And to think that I tell Ash to keep his big mouth shut! Misty felt a sudden stinging behind her eyes. She was older than Ash. She was the fourth Cerulean sister. She was a Gym Leader. She was supposed to be the mature one, the tough one. So why was she the one to fall for the phony salon?

She closed her eyes hard and buried her face in her arms. Brock had gone to prepare dinner and Ash was on the other side of the fire. She hoped he wouldn't notice.

"Misty?"

Crap. He had. "What do you want?" Her voice was hoarse from the tears she was desperately trying to hold back. I can't let him see me cry.

"Are you okay?" He sounded uncertain.

No. "Yeah."

There was a pause. Misty thought Ash had gone back to his side of the fire, but she didn't hear his footsteps. She was just about to look up when she felt a warm arm wrap tentatively around her shoulders. "Misty," Ash said quietly, "you know you can tell me anything."

Misty didn't want pity. She looked him in the eyes and snapped, "Anything? Well, leave me alone!"

Ash was surprised. She had never, ever spoken so harshly to him, not even when he messed up in battles or got them lost. It looked like she meant it this time. That hurt him more than anything. "Misty..."

"Leave me alone, Ash!" Misty shoved his arm away and jumped up. She had to get away before the tears started flowing. She sprinted away from the fire. She heard Ash yell for her to come back, but she was in the forest by then and pretended not to hear him. Keep running. Just keep – "Oof!" Just her luck to trip over a rock when all she needed now was to get as far away from the boys as possible. God, I'm so useless.

Brock looked up from the pot. The black-haired boy was sitting on Misty's sleeping bag, looking off into the trees with...tears in his eyes? "Ash, is everything okay? Hey, where's Misty?"

Ash turned slowly, shocked by what had just happened. "She's...gone. Brock, what did I do? What can I do?" Yes, he was definitely crying.

"Start from the beginning and tell me what happened." Brock left the stew to sit by his young friend.

"Don't forget, Ash, dinner's going to be ready soon!" Brock called after him.

Ash waved a hand behind him. "Don't worry!"

Pikachu perked up from its perch beside Brock. "Pika!" Brock scooped up the Electric Mouse.

"Uh-uh, Pikachu, you're staying here. This is something Ash must do alone."

"Misty! Misty, where are you?" Ash cried out. He'd been looking for half an hour now and there was no sign of her. "Misty, please, come out!" Suddenly, he heard a muffled whimper. "Misty?" No answer.

Ash crept to his right, where the sound had come from. He found a small, sheltered clearing off the main path. And in that clearing, he saw the redhead, kneeling on the ground, head down. Ash's breath caught at the sight; he had never seen his friend look so forlorn. "Misty!"

Misty swore quietly. She'd thought he wouldn't be able to find her...but at the same time, she was glad he had. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood up. I can't let him see me like this.

"Misty, I've been looking all over for you. Are you okay?" Ash halted by the edge of the clearing. Misty looked at him. He seemed more nervous than she'd ever seen him, including before Gym battles.

"I told you, I'm fine." She fought to keep her voice steady.

Ash scoffed. "Sure you are. I'm not dumb."

Misty glared at him. "Oh, yeah? If you're not dumb, then why did you ask?" Go. Don't go. Oh, I don't know!

"I'm being polite!"

"Too bad you're not polite all the time!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, genius, that I want to be left alone! So be polite and go away!" Okay, I lied. Please don't.

"Well, I'm not letting my best friend go out alone after dark!"

Your...best friend? Misty opened her mouth to retort, but nothing came out. Instead, she said, "I'm going back to camp. Dinner must be ready and Brock will be worried." She brushed past him, trying to conserve her dignity.

Ash grabbed her arm and spun her around. Misty's temper flared again. "What now?"

He said nothing, just shrugged his vest off and placed it over her shoulders. "It's cold."

Misty ducked her head. "Thanks, Ash." She turned to go to the main path. Before she could take another step, Ash pulled her against his chest. "Ash! What's the big idea?" She tried to get free, but Ash wouldn't budge.

"Misty, I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's wrong."

"But Brock –"

Ash smiled grimly. "Brock knows where we are. So we can stay here all night if that's what it takes for you to tell me what's up."

"Ash, please! Let me go! I – I'm hungry, okay?" That should do it.

"I figured you might be. So I brought you some food in my backpack. Do you want me to go get it?"

You tricky little... Misty turned around. "Look, Ash Ketchum, you don't need to worry about me. I'm older than you and don't you forget that I'm a Gym Leader! If I wanted your help, I'd have asked for it!"

"Ha!" Ash cried triumphantly. "So you do need help!"

"I...uh...well, I've got, um, some girl problems?" Misty felt her whole face heat up.

Ash laughed and lightly tickled her sides. "Oh Misty, you told me that that was last week. Try again."

"Ash, no! Stop tickling me! I can't breathe!"

"Are you going to tell me now?"

"No! You are not the boss of me and I will not – mmph!"

Ash had hugged her closer and pressed his lips firmly to Misty's. When they broke away, Ash brought his hand to her cheek and said softly, "Misty, why are you so stubborn? You know that I'm just trying to help, right?"

Misty couldn't hold back her tears anymore. She flung her arms around Ash's neck and sobbed into his shoulder.

Ash blinked in surprise. He patted her head awkwardly. "Misty...er...it's okay..."

"No, Ash, it's not! I fell for that stupid Salon Roquet! I couldn't even help you and Brock and Pikachu defeat them. How can I be a teammate when all I do is mess up?" At this point, Misty didn't even care that she was spilling everything to him. All she cared about was how warm Ash was, how soft his lips had been...He kissed me!

Ash was shocked. He'd had no idea how Misty had been feeling. Some friend I am. And now, because he hadn't been able to help her, she was crying hysterically into his shoulder. "Misty, please don't cry. I love you. Please, I hate to see you so sad." Misty mumbled something into his shoulder. "Uh...could you look up? I didn't quite catch that."

She lifted her face a millimetre off his wet shirt and muttered, "Not a chance."

Ash sighed. "What now...?" Another unintelligible mumble. "Misty! I can understand Pikachu better than you right now. Please?" A shake of the head. "You're not worried about how you look, are you?"

"So what if I am?"

"Because," Ash replied patiently, "you're beautiful."

Misty looked up, her tear-stained face baring a small smile. "Really?"

Ash cupped her face with his hands. "Of course." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "How about telling me what you said just now?"

"I said, 'I love you, too'," she whispered, tugging on his shirt to bring his face closer to hers. "Now kiss me again."

"Gladly," Ash smirked, "but one thing first." He lifted her in his arms.

Misty shrieked. "Ash, just what do you think you're doing?"

"Brock may not be worried, but I'm hungry and dinner's getting cold. So I'm going back to camp."

"I can walk by myself!"

"I know you can, but this is to make sure you don't run off again."

"Oh yeah? You think you can stop me?" Misty wriggled, preparing to jump out of his arms.

Ash leaned in and kissed her lips. She squealed, blushed a dark red and stopped struggling to hide her face in his vest. "As a matter of fact, beautiful, I do."

Brock sat up. The fire was burning low, so he clambered out of his sleeping bag to add some more branches. On his way back, he looked at his two friends. Ash had pulled his sleeping bag closer to Misty's and they had fallen asleep facing each other. Brock smiled. He was glad they had finally admitted it. He was just about to fall asleep again when he realized something.

"AH! Why can't I find someone, too?"