A/N: Haven't written in so long! To be honest, a little of my inspiration for this fic went, but after viewing my mate Kat's Rocketshippy AMV I can say that my inspiration was restored! Thanks, Kat! As always, reviews are appreciated.
Disclaimer: Don't own Pokémon . :(
Swinub May Fly
They'd been through everything together. Just the three of them. Through thick and thin. Jessie, James and Meowth. The unbreakable trio.
They'd been together such a long time, too. Just over four years to be exact, and never had they spent more than one day apart during that time. Jessie and James had been in conjunction even longer than that; for fifteen years of their lives! Much longer than the brats had, Meowth reasoned.
It hadn't always been easy for them, of course. They'd been chasing the same damned Pikachu for roughly three years, and each futile attempt at stealing it had somehow backfired, and they'd nearly always been on the receiving end of its electrical attacks. If not the Pikachu, some other Pokémon had been set on them by the twerps, and quite frankly Meowth was sick of it.
The fire crackled, gaining warmth with every second that passed. It cast a friendly glow around its surrounding area, lighting up the cat's face. Meowth sighed, and plucked at the dying grass by his feet. Another day and another loss at the hands of Ash Ketchum, the biggest idiot in town. It figured. The good guys always won in the end, no matter how bleak the situation. The little feline scowled and balled his paw into a furry fist. How he hated Ash! They'd get that damned rat if it was the last thing they ever did!
That's what he had told Jessie. Not that she'd listened; she had been too busy beating James up for giving away their true identity before they were ready to. Meowth supposed it wasn't completely James' fault, but he wisely said nothing, preferring to watch James get slapped with fans and whacked with mallets rather than getting a share of the hits, too.
Jessie and James. Meowth glanced across at them now. Jessie had calmed down somewhat, and had her own eyes turned towards her best friend. He was seemingly oblivious to this as he cultivated the fire that accommodated their rather pathetic dinner; his head bent low, his brow furrowed with concentration. Mime Jr. was perched tenaciously on his shoulder, imitating his every move perfectly. James' long lavender hair fell into his eyes as he stooped even lower over the dinner, ensuring that the tiny piece of meat they had managed to steal from the butcher's was cooking thoroughly. Satisfied that it was, he looked up, to find both his team partners staring at him.
"What?" he whined, running a gloved hand nervously through his hair.
Jessie scowled. "I'm not looking at you, numbskull!"
Meowth coughed to cover a snigger. If she wasn't looking at him, what was she looking at? The interesting tree behind him?
Jessie continued to frown as James cautiously crept forward to sit beside her. She deliberately turned her head the other way, on the pretext of watching the Pidgey that was flitting about on the branches above Meowth's head. For a few moments there was silence, punctured occasionally by the spitting of the fire and the rustle of the leaves in the breeze.
"I'm sorry," James said softly. "I'm sorry I screwed up today."
"I t'ought we'd already bin t'rough dis?" Meowth questioned. "It's okay. I forgive ya."
James sighed sadly and glanced miserably at Jessie. Meowth understood at once. Until he was forgiven by Jessie, James would never even consider himself acquitted. Which, unfortunately for him, seemed a long way off. Poor bastard, Meowth reflected, pulling at his whiskers ruefully, didn't understand the way women worked; Jessie wanted to forgive him, but if she did, James would think her soft. And she couldn't have that.
That was what love did to you.
Yes: Meowth would be the first to admit it. Jessie and James, idiots that they were, were hopelessly in love with each other. Not that they knew how the other felt. On several occasions now, Meowth had played the wretched agony uncle; having both his friends confess at some point to him of their undying (yet unrequited) love for their best friend. Recently he had taken to hunting for Pidgey, degrading as it was, every time one of his companions had hovered ominously around the campsite while the other was out of the vicinity. The chances of them actually hooking up were like a zillion to one; Swinub would fly first, Jessie had said so herself. Quite frankly, Meowth was proud of how long he'd managed to refrain himself from screaming the whole story out to them. After all there was only so much a cat could take, and having someone like James wailing in his ear about his failing love life was enough to make Meowth suicidal.
After a silent meal of bread and meat, James started to fiddle with his Pokéballs, every now and then his eyes darting towards his female accomplice. The campsite was a mess; their backpacks were dumped unceremoniously against a tree, the dirty crockery was in a haphazard pile near the fire, awaiting its wash in the morning. Mime Jr. was slumped across Meowth's lap, sound asleep. Meowth patted his stomach.
"Dat was whisker-lickin' good," he sighed.
"I'll say," Jessie agreed drowsily.
James shot the cat a look that plainly said he wanted time alone with Jessie. Meowth smirked knowingly, but acknowledged his friend's wishes by feigning a yawn.
"Gee, I'm tired," he said, rubbing his eyes for greater effect. "T'ink I might have a catnap…"
Jessie eyed him suspiciously, but let it slide. "Okay…"
He winked at James as he settled down, causing him to blush. "G'night, youse two."
"Goodnight, Meowth," James glared. If looks could kill, Meowth would be one dead cat. Jessie stared at
both males, but the cat just shrugged evasively and turned away from them.
All was still for a few minutes, with Jessie and James sitting together in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. It was James who spoke first.
"Jessie?"
"Hmm?"
He looked at her sideways profile, tracing the curve of her perfect face with his eyes. Oh, how he longed to reach out and touch her…
"Well?" the question was accompanied by a slap upside the head.
Hurriedly, he tore his eyes away and considered the fire instead. "I was just wondering…if you ever…you know," he looked awkward. "Think about leaving this life behind you. Starting afresh."
Jessie sighed and fell back to contemplate the smattering of stars above her. "No. I mean, I have no family left, do I?"
"What about me?" James glanced at her, pushing the stray strand of lavender hair out of his intriguing emerald eyes.
"You're my best friend, James. You can be a pain in the ass…but you're the only one who's kept me believing these last few years. I guess you and Meowth are the closest thing I've had to a family in a long time."
James blushed, unable to stop the proud grin from spreading across his face. If you erased the whole pain in the ass thing, that was quite a compliment coming from Jessie!
"Anyway, what about you? Ever thought about bailing out? Leaving this shit behind you as a figment of the past?"
"Well, there have been times when I thought about leaving," he admitted guiltily. "Only for a second tho-"
"Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot about that. Forgot that you're a rich bastard!" she cut in contemptuously.
"Jess, don't say things like that…" he said softly, reaching out to her, not quite understanding why she was reacting in such a manner.
"What's it matter to you, anyway?" Jessie said bitterly, turning away from his gentle fingers. "You could get out of this hellhole at any given time! And all you'd have to sacrifice is your freedom! All you'd have to do is marry a psychotic bitch! That's more than a fair trade. You'd have everything money could buy, instead of living in near poverty!"
"That's not true," James interjected softly, internally shuddering at the thought of marrying Jessibelle, the blush that marred his face brighter than it had been all night. "Money can't buy everything. There are much greater things in life, things that I could only have here, living this life. Do you want to know what they are?"
Jessie was suddenly caught by the intensity of her lavender haired partner's gaze.
"Yes…" she hardly dared breathe that one simple word. One loud intake of the sky could have the heavens cascading down on them, ending their special moment for ever…
Slowly, carefully, he edged closer to her. "Friendship. Trust. Love. This is the only place in the world where I can have all that."
"Love?" Jessie was confused. "You mean…?"
His face was a burning furnace, and he seemed to think that he'd gone too far, mumbling random words incoherently. Jessie was pretty sure that she caught things like sorry and overstepped the mark, but for the most part Jessie's brain was numb. He loved her. James loved her! It was literally her dream come true. Ever since she'd been old enough to understand feelings such as love, and had been able to look past the small issue of him being James – her goofy partner, her dolt of a best friend – Jessie had been certain that that was what she felt for him, even stooping to the unexplainable low of telling Meowth what she felt, simply to get it off her chest. But now she didn't have to worry.
"James," her voice was gentle, surprising even herself.
At once her colleague fell silent, hands clamped over his head, ensuring that he didn't receive the full blow of the mallet whack that was sure to come for him being so stupid.
It never came.
Perplexed, James lowered his hands and found himself staring directly into Jessie's beautiful face.
"You love me," it was a statement.
James was compelled to nod.
"I'm so sorry," he said contritely, a tear slipping down his cheek. "I never meant to fall for you…"
Jessie sighed, and flopped onto her back again. "It doesn't matter."
"It doesn't?"
"No."
"And can I ask why…?" James probed tentatively, unsure of what her reaction would be.
A slow smile spread across her face. "Yeah, if you want."
"And…?"
The smile became a wide grin. "I love you too, James."
A kaleidoscope of colours erupted inside James' head, a goofy grin brightening his own features. "Y-You love me, too?"
"That's what I said," Jessie looked slightly impatient. "Now are you gonna…?"
She didn't need to finish her sentence.
Meowth peeked through his half-open eye at his two best friends. Jessie's arms were around James' neck, and his were around her waist. Their lips were locked together in a passionate liaison.
Heh, no wonder it's gone quiet! Meowth mused, a smirk spreading across his face. He decided to give them a few second's privacy to get over the initial shock of their confessions, and the joyous wonders of a shared kiss. Meowth wasn't completely oblivious to the fact that ones in love deserved their Time Alone.
The few seconds were quickly transforming into minutes.
Despite his previous Everyone Needs Privacy attitude, Meowth was getting pretty fed up. It was all he could do to refrain himself from Fury Swiping them.
Come on, guys! he silently begged them, on the verge of losing what little he'd eaten at dinner. Break it up, already!
Unfortunately for the feline, the human Rockets did not heed his telepathic pleas. They were far too engrossed with each other to even note that Meowth was now making rather a lot of noise for a cat that was supposed to be sound asleep.
Jeez! Meowth thought angrily. Enough is enough! Surely youse need air?
"Oh, James," Jessie moaned as they finally broke apart. Meowth sent a silent prayer to the god who had made it happen.
He quickly took it back as James began a new game – exploring the contents under his new lover's clothes. Jessie didn't seem to mind; in fact she seemed to be catching on, guiding his hands to all the right places and beginning to tug James' own shirts off of his lithe body…
"STOP IT!"
At the sound of the voice, Jessie and James started and leapt apart, James attempting to pull his shirts back over his head, blushing wildly.
"An ambush!" he squealed pathetically, clinging to the none-too happy Jessie. She whacked him upside the head with a paper fan and scowled in the direction of Meowth.
"What?" she said aggressively.
Meowth glared right back and pointed an accusing paw at them. "No sex in my presence! I know dat youse two wanna get it on, but now is not da time!"
"We weren't gonna do that!" James whined, the guilty expression on his face contradicting what he had just claimed.
Meowth snorted sceptically. "Don't act all innocent wid me! We both know dat dat was da only t'ing on yer minds!" He shook his head. "I'm more surprised dat yer've finally wised up and gotten tagedda! Now, by all means, feel free ta do stuff when yer alone, but fer Mew's sake, please don't torture me by doin' it in dis camp!"
James stared wide-eyed.
"You knew?" he squeaked. "You knew that Jessie loved me?"
"Yeah, you knew?" Jessie repeated.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" they screamed in unison.
"Fer two particular reasons. Youse," he pointed at James, "t'reatened ta feed me ta da Boss' cat an youse," he rounded on Jessie, "promised ta murder me an' t'row my dead corpse inta da unforgivin' depths of da deepest lake youse could find!"
James grinned sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I remember now."
Meowth rolled his eyes. "Youse two dopes are impossible sometimes. But, fer da record, I'm glad youse two have hooked up. Youse are da poifect couple," he smirked suddenly. "An' fer what it's woith, yer kids are gonna be beautiful!"
He found himself facing a fired-up Jessie. Sweatdropping, he fell silent.
"Who says we want kids?" she snarled.
"Wid da look on Jimmy's face? Ya could hardly deny dat cutie da privilege of bein' a daddy, could ya?"
Jessie huffed, and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"We don't need this," she said, scowling darkly. "Let's get out of this camp for a while; Meowth is irritating me. We need more wood for the fire, anyway."
"No we don't," Meowth pointed out. "We got a whole pile right dere!"
James opened his mouth to speak, but Jessie covered it hastily, and whispered something in his ear.
"Hee!" James squealed characteristically, and leapt to his feet faster than a Rapidash, Jessie expertly throwing the remaining logs into the burning inferno.
"Now we need the firewood," she informed the cat complacently. They then dashed out of camp without a backwards glance, no doubt to satisfy their raging hormones.
Meowth sat back smugly, careful not to disturb Mime Jr. Yes, he was right, he thought as he settled down. Those two were crazy.
It was several hours later when the duo reappeared, looking slightly worse for wear, leaves and other foliage sticking to their clothes. Their faces were flushed, and both wore dazed grins. Meowth kept his eyes shut. He didn't want them to think he was eavesdropping on their private conversation. They didn't seem inclined to speak though, and after a few moments of unnecessary giggling and sounds of kissing, the world fell silent once again. Meowth opened his eyes and glanced across at his friends. They were snuggled up together, looking much more angelic than they really were. The feline took in the rest of the campsite. As predicted, not a single piece of wood had made it back to their temporary base. It figured. Dumb humans. Couldn't rely on them for anything!
Now was not the time to mention their forgetfulness, though. He would do the firewood collecting for now, but they'd owe him big time in the morning!
Well, Meowth reflected as he stood up and stretched, it seems ta me like dose Swinub might justa flown taday. Hey, who says it's impossible?