Chapter 7- Misty had one place to get away from all the disruptions haunting her head. In the city, she would witness people happily with their family or sweethearts. In the forest, she was open to thought, thinking about how much she missed her parents, knowing she couldn't go back home. She wanted to show her parents that their was much more to her sudden pardon than just anger from the argument, though she knew that was the main reason. She was 18 now, and wanted to prove that she could become a very good pokémon trainer, and that she was not wasting her time wondering around the forest. But, while all the places she went to had the specter of thought looming over her, she escaped the world as she knew to run off to one place, to a place where she would leave the world of hatred and self criticism behind, and finally feel good about herself. She found that place in her dreams. Misty set up camp. The small glow from the dying fire cast faint shadows against the swaying branches, causing an animation to run along the background of the dark forest. Faint whispers of the wind sang her midnight songs, as she slowly made her way to sleep. All she could hear was the forest making its' natural masterpiece. The slow tempo slowed her thoughts, allowing the magic of dreams to take over. Misty dreamt her normal dream. She wore a long white silk dress. She walked down the carpet, arm in arm with her recently married husband. The dream would flash a different scene very quickly. Once she steps into the limousine, she dances with her partner in a room all their own. It never does show his face, only his back, but Misty's face was hard to miss. It was bright and happy. She must have picked the right man. Her arms were around the partners back, holding tightly, never wanting to let go. Then she was overlooking the majestic waters, letting the wind blow through her hair as the SS Anne cut through the ocean breezes. She had a pair of arms wrapped around her, holding her with the love only the chosen one could give. Her smile was brighter than the sun, and still shining when the sun was lost from view below the oceans ridge. The darkness set the mood for the long passionate kiss to follow… Misty awoke, once again disappointed that she would have to wait till the next night before she could come seconds away from that kiss she'd been waiting for years to come. She got up, squinting her eyes from the sun, burning bright, almost scorning her, showing her that the real world was back, and that this was no world where dreams come true. She never believed it impossible. She heard repeating dreams told the future, and she'd been having the dream for years. After fixing her hair, a troublesome task with but a few cheap combs and a mirror, she packed her stuff, and once again walked towards the town. It was morning time. The sun had just rose over the mountain, and Misty once again had to squint to see her watch. It was later than she thought. Almost ten, she headed into town to a coffee shop, one where she had been visiting the past few days. The coffee seemed to wake her up very nicely there. Once again, she was surrounded by the murmuring of happy voices, the few couples that were holding hands, and the family which, in her own opinion, was so happy it was almost sickening. She just drank her coffee, because mainly their was nothing else to do. She couldn't take inside the coffee shop any more. She paid for her coffee, and left. Outside, she still didn't feel awake. She saw the other kids running down the street, hearing their mothers calling for them while they talked to their friends they hadn't seen in ages. The kids would walk over politely and stand next to their mothers. But, something seamed out of place, though. There were almost too many people. Too many people who didn't have a care in the world. Shaking the feeling off, she decided she probably needed more coffee. She didn't want to go back into the store just to gripe to herself about everyone else that was there. Spying a newspaper salesman on the side of the street, she casually walked over to him. "Hi." She pronounced, giving the most convincing smile her tired face could let her. She took one of the newspapers off the rack, and skimmed it, as if trying to show that she knew what she was doing. Really, she only looked at the price. Putting it back, she pulled out a different paper. This one must be more local. She thought to herself. She paid the man with the change she got at the coffee shop, and folded the paper under her arm. "You have a good day." The man hypnotically replied. "You too." Misty replied. In the Coffee shop, Misty opened the paper. Nothing really interesting to her. She tried to pretend she was reading an article. Stealing a glance at two who just met flirting away, she turned the page, seeing a familiar picture. It was her mother. Looking at the top of the article, nearly dropped her coffee from her mouth. Obituary. Misty read the caption under her. Mother of the Cerulean City Gym leaders. Death is from unknown causes. Some said it was from heartbreak, for ever since her youngest daughter left, she had been sad realizing that she made a mistake on one night. Before her death, she complained about how her youngest daughter was only lonely, and thought most of it was her own fault, when an argument led her to telling her daughter blindly that her boyfriend who left didn't love her anymore. When she stopped hearing from her daughter, she was heartbroken. She died in her sleep. Misty didn't know what happened. She suddenly saw light. Squinting her eyes, leaves slowly formed. The trees clinched her theory. She was in the woods. Struggling to get up, Misty was surprised to feel something holding her down. She reached down, feeling the cool, moist fabric from her sleeping bag. The bright light slowly dimmed until she could see the shape of a disfigured sleeping bag. Looking around, she filled with joy. For the first time in her life, she was happy to be awake. Misty stood up and stretched, looking down the trail towards the town. She assured herself she wasn't in another dream, then went back to her site. Looking at her watch, she decided she should get some more sleep. It was early morning, and she only got about six hours sleep. Lying down, thinking she could easily get to sleep, she was surprised to find still awake due to her dream. Misty started thinking, having nothing on her mind so early in the morning, except for why she would have a dream of such detail with her mom dying. Even when she tried to close her eyes, she would only see the picture of her mom in the newspaper, and the words it said under it. When an argument led her to telling her daughter blindly that her boyfriend who left didn't love her anymore. Misty was amazed she could remember a dream so clearly. That amazement ended when she realized what she remembered. "She blindly said that? She didn't mean it? She did it out of anger?" Misty asked herself. Misty knew it was just a dream, but she realized that it was so lifelike. It talked about the argument that separated them. Looking upon her, she also realized another thing. Misty left her mother. Ash didn't break them up. Anger broke up Misty from her family. Misty started thinking straight again. She still loved Ash. The only reason she hated him was because her mother. Misty had finally cleared her thoughts of hatred. Now she was ready to see Ash again. Misty smiled while thinking about Ash. She was now fully awake. She could stop fooling herself and finally meet her love, and make her life happy again. Her smile faded when she remembered what she did. She completely insulted Ash. Ash couldn't get out a full sentence before she started to yell at him. Misty couldn't help wonder if Ash would take her back. Ash did miss her, and when he saw Misty, his hopes of getting back together was at an all-time high. He never thought they would meet again. They did, and Misty completely crushed his heart. Misty ran away from Ash, just as Ash ran away from her. Misty knew how much it hurt when her love walked away, but could only begin to think about how Ash felt when she laid down her voice, and forced Ash to watch her leave. Later that day, Misty left to head to the town of Pallet. Chapter 8- Misty looked from on top the small hill which looked upon the peaceful town of Pallet. Being noon time, she watched the occasional kid return home from their adventures for lunch. Looking for an individual from the hill was like searching for a needle in a hay stack; too far away to see the faces, she had to rely on the size of the one she was looking for. The afternoon sun cast small shadows, one no longer than the next. Misty had no choice but to go down and search first hand. At first, she was fearful to do this. After what happened from their last confrontation, Misty feared she would spook him off with nothing but the sight of her. Carefully walking down the rocky slope, Misty couldn't help but plan what would happen if she was to find Ash. She couldn't really concentrate, though. For one, the hill was treacherous. Second, she could only concentrate on how good it would feel to be back in his presence. Even when her concentration was broken by an occasional loss of balance. As the trail got smoother, her thoughts got rougher. She once again started thinking about how she'd totally blown up in Ash's face. If Misty came back, would he still love her? How could it take this long to realize what she'd done? All in all, Misty knew that if Ash turned her down, she would only have one person to blame. Herself. Reaching the bottom of the hill, the town became much larger in her own mind. She hadn't a clue to exactly where Ash lived. Luckily for her, it wasn't that big a town. Though the streets had many houses, each one had the name of the owner. The one at the next corner had the name she looked for. She stumbled onto the Ketchum residence. The house looked very new. It was around two stories, with six windows on the front. Looking through one upstairs, a habit she had always wished to break, she saw posters of different pokémon. A model of a bird hung from the ceiling with fishing line slowly bobbed up and down, a sign meaning she was in luck. It must had been touched only moments earlier. Somebody was home. Still staring into the window, she saw the door of the room open, and barely made out a figure putting on a cap and a fall jacket. Misty, knowing that standing any longer could mean trouble, quickly ran off down the street. Using the hood of her jacket, she covered up her easy to spot red hair. Looking back, the door of the five houses down opened. Misty had to get herself to turn away when Ash walked out. Following him out of the corner of her eye, she slowly found herself walking towards the woods. Misty almost lost sight of him in the woods. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Misty decided she would have to gamble a run to catch up. Before she knew it, she was just a few yards behind Ash. She was too exited to see him. She just had to talk to him. "Ash!" Misty called out, broken up a little from her loss of breath. Ash turned his head, but continued walking. Misty almost stopped breathing. She expected to see a small sign of rejection, but she didn't expect him to just keep walking. Her thoughts of him running were really just all the emotions in her head. After seeing his reaction, she realized this. "Ash, please, just listen to me." Misty almost whimpered out. She could feel the tears already coming on. Ash turned around slowly. He slowly walked towards Misty. His eyes had a bored look, as if he just wanted to get this done with. He didn't say a word. Misty realized she didn't have much time. "Ash, listen, I'm really sorry for what I did. I left you without even thinking what I was doing. I'm sure you've done that before." Misty was digging her own grave. She wondered if she hinted too much that she was still a little upset about when Ash left her. Only that thought finally brought on her tears. She now talked slowly so Ash could understand her through her sobbing. "Ash, I did something really stupid, but I still love you with all my heart." Misty had to pause to take a breath. "You were the only person that actually understood me." Now Misty felt she was aiming towards 'we were made for each other,' a thought she didn't want to force on him. She felt like she was surrounded on all sides. Misty didn't see Ash's expression change. She could only guess to if they did though. Misty's tears have hid them. Unbeknownst to her, they had. His eyes went from a dim boredom to a low sadness. If Misty had known this, she would have stopped talking. Instead, she continued, not knowing how much longer she could go without passing out from loss of air. "Remember how much fun it was when we were together? I want it to be like that again. I want to be with you. I love you." Misty couldn't talk any more. Her throat hurt, her breath was short. Now, she had to wipe away the tears to see his reaction. Through her tears, Misty saw Ash walking towards her. At first, she thought he was going to try to comfort her. As she wiped away her tears, she felt a hand on her back. Then, the words she didn't want to hear. "I'm sorry." That was all. Ash turned and slowly walked away. Listening to him slowly walk out of her earshot, she fell to her knees and held her head in her hands. She couldn't bare look up, thinking everything would laugh at her. The trees so free, the sun so bright, it seemed everything in the world was happy, and that she was the only unhappy one. She looked up, only to see the trees looking dead, the sun hidden by clouds. Everything was dark. Without noticing it, she was about to be caught in a storm. She felt the first drops of rain hit her head. Soon, she would be kneeling in the mud, and that would only make her feel even worse. The darker it got, the worse she felt. She couldn't look around to watch him walk away. It would only upset her more. She thought about how much damage she must have done to Ash just a few weeks ago to have made him this upset; he could barely even talk to her. The dark clouds roamed the sky, completely blocking the sun out. In the darkness, it was hard no to catch a glimpse of the shimmering speck of light she saw through her unprepared eyes. Wiping away her tears, she finally got a clear view of the object. A gold heart. It slowly lowered in front of her, strangely shining due to an absent light, till it lay against her breast. The cooling touch of the gold against her neck almost made her shiver, but the warmth of love she had waited so long to feel again finally returned. She spun around, and through the heavy rain clearly saw Ash's face staring down on her, his hands putting the final touches on the necklace, their sign of never-ending love. Misty finally fully realized what had happened. Ash was taking her back. Later she would learn that Ash had a sudden change of heart when he saw her, and he didn't understand why. But, for now, Misty didn't care about reasons. She didn't really care about anything except for the fact that she was back with Ash. Jumping up from her spot, she wrapped her arms around him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she laughed until it hurt. After a minute, she calmed down. She had missed Ash for such a long time, and she finally had him back. She raised her head, and after a moment of looking the other in the eyes, she closed her eyes. Slowly leaning her head foreword, her lips met Ash. There they stood there for what seemed like forever, and what Misty wanted to be more. Years of loneliness and solidarity would come to an end. Epilogue- Misty slowly walked down the aisle, surrounded by faces of those who she did and didn't know. Some she could barely remember, some she hoped she wouldn't have a hard time forgetting. Some were smiling, some were crying. One of those crying sat right next to the aisle in the chapel. Misty had two things she wanted out of life after leaving her family; to be assured the remainder of her life rest with Ash, and to start a new relationship with her family. In one day, both came true, as her mother sat with teary eyes. She hadn't seen her mother, or the rest of her family for that matter, in years. While she still loved her whole family, she especially wanted to see her mother. Misty held her head on Ash's shoulder as they danced to what would now be their song. She could see Ash's family, some with eyes as teary as her own. She recognized a few of the faces, those who were already introduced to her. Soon, she was looking at her own family. She felt too childish to wave, so she just looked into Ash's shoulder. Trying to take the best of the moment, she closed her eyes, and listened to the romantic thoughts Ash would whisper in her ear. With the sun almost set, the small ocean waves cast small beams across the front of the boat. The small tip of the boat held the two up above the water, putting them in the grasp of the easy ocean breeze. With the mood set, the two stared into each others eyes, knowing full well that both their dreams were coming true, and weren't going to abruptly end. They closed in until their lips met, signifying that both their lives were finally coming together, and that nothing would separate them. With each end, there is a beginning. The End