DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon.
A/N: Okay, don't ask what it is about me and multi-chaptered fics in Misty's point of view lately, but what are ya gonna do? I got this idea while I was babysitting an 11-year old kid (go figure, lol) and I found a way to split it into four so that it's not too long but still a bit longer than a one-shot. I s'pose I should stop rambling now and get on with actually starting the fic! Yeah good idea…
I'll never forget the feelings that ran through me when my then-boyfriend got down on one knee and offered me a ring as a token of his lifetime of love and commitment. That ring meant so much more to me though. A single diamond cemented my dreams and desires in a way nothing else could. The tears uncontrollably cascaded down my cheeks as I speechlessly nodded in both joy and a little shock. It looked like the evening wasn't going to amount to much after a boring movie and a walk to nowhere in particular, but then he went and proposed in the most public of all streets in Pallet Town. In any other situation I would've been embarrassed at him drawing attention to the both of us but I was too overwhelmed with love and elation to really care.
This is going to sound like such a cliché, but I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember feeling like I was going to pass out at the masses of emotion running through me, I remember him literally sweeping me off the ground as he kissed me with all the love we reflected for each other, I remember onlookers smiling quietly to themselves as if they were dreaming back to a similar time.
But most of all I remember looking into his eyes and seeing right into my future. I was going to lock with those eyes every morning for the rest of my life. His children, our children, were going to grow up with the same dazzling eyes he possessed. I knew it. They would be born with the same deep brown eyes that spoke words in themselves.
That night my life found its true path as Ash Ketchum progressed from being my boyfriend to my fiancé in one swift but meaningful movement. Some said it was inevitable and I guess in the end it was. We had been going out for three years and kept our mutual feelings to ourselves as teenagers for God knows how long. Only a threat from Brock to tell Ash himself when I was nineteen finally brought about a stuttered confession that led to…well, to my undying happiness.
Every moment of every day we were, at the very least, in each other's view. Panic would rip through me if I lost sight of him in a crowd or as I turned my back, which would instantly dissolve at the mere sight of him. Sounds hopeless, I know, but for me he was truly the one who emblazoned a permanent smile on my heart.
We never talked about marriage before he proposed. It sounds odd because I had always had dreams of walking up the aisle to exchange vows with Ash Ketchum, my best friend, my secret love for far too long. To think - we could've been this happy for years if it hadn't been for our cowardice. Once he proposed it just seemed so natural that I didn't give it a second thought.
Until my sisters arrived from Cerulean.
Now honestly, I love the three of them to bits, but you would think they'd have outgrown the 'like totally' stage by the time they reached adulthood. But no, they arrived on my doorstep loaded with bridal magazines and advice on the latest trends for the modern bride.
"Guys! I am not the modern bride!" I finally exclaimed after being told that halter neck dresses were 'so in' this year.
"So, like, what are you then? The medieval virgin?" Violet sniggered.
"Oh for God's sake, I just don't need anyone else dictating my wedding. I can choose my own dress, you know" I said.
"I'm sure you can little sis, your fashion sense was sooo totally desirable. I think the red suspender straps were, like, awesomely trendy" Daisy said sarcastically. The other two burst out laughing at this and I sighed in frustration.
"Look, the wedding is still six months away. Why do I have to decide on a dress right now?"
"Because you have to be prepared. It's totally likely something will screw up" Lily said wisely. Violet and Daisy nodded with what she had just said.
"Well that's really reassuring" I mumbled.
"Aww don't sweat it sweetie. It'll be so adorable. You and Ash, childhood sweethearts…" Daisy sighed romantically.
"Actually we didn't go out until -"
"Tying the knot to have and to hold forever more" Daisy continued, ignoring my words of truth. I shrugged and let her daydream while flicking through the magazines.
"This one's nice" I pointed to a particular off-the-shoulder design.
"Ewww!" Violet shrieked.
"What? What's wrong with it?" I asked worriedly.
"That is SO last year!" Violet shouted.
"At the rate you're going my dress is going to be out of date by the time I'm actually wearing it" I grinned. "Anyways, I like it." I did too. The bodice was fitted to the waist, where it then billowed out under layers of netting and chiffon. It was a creamy white colour with a long veil that I could already picture my flower girl sprinkling rose petals over as I slowly walked up the aisle…
Oh my God. Was this really happening?! This wasn't a dream anymore, this was real, I was marrying Ash in six months and I was no longer flicking through these magazines in wistful daydreams. This was reality. I think my face fell into a shocked stare because Lily eventually waved a hand in front of my face.
"Hello? Like, earth to bride-to-be? You still haven't got a dress." I frantically shook my head back into reality and grinned at my big sister.
"I've got a dress" I said proudly, indicating the one in the magazine. She winced in disdain but finally shrugged, which I took as a sort of good sign. At least she wasn't shrieking over what year it was made for.
So I had my dress, I had my man, I had my bridesmaids and I had my flower girl. The rest, I suppose, had to be left up to Ash, in terms of the best man and the ushers and -
"Oh my God!" I suddenly exclaimed at a realisation. My sisters raised eyebrows at my sudden outburst and I eyed them in panic. "I haven't got anyone to give me away!"
"Uh…what?" Daisy asked in confusion.
"No one to walk up the aisle with before I reach Ash, you know?" I explained.
"Oh" Daisy muttered. "Get Brock to do it" she shrugged.
"But he's already the best man. He can't do both. Oh God, what am I gonna do?!" I cried out. Okay, I know normally girls have their father give them away but I didn't even know who my father was. Long story involving him pretty much deserting us when I was, like, six months old or something.
"Would you relax? There's no reason why Brock can't do both. You walk up the aisle with him, he kisses ya on both cheeks, 'good luck' and all that crap, and then he goes and stands by Ash. Where's the biggie in that?" Lily asked.
"I…it just, I dunno, I've never heard of it before" I said weakly.
"God, you're totally letting this get to your head. Every little thing is freaking you out. You need to relax" Daisy said. I could've sworn there was a hint of worry in her voice but then again I could've been hearing things in my frazzled state.
"You try relaxing when you're preparing a whole wedding" I muttered.
It was a statement that really put me to the test in the next six months. Relaxation became a foreign thing as I organised caterers, bands, flowers, limos and so on and so on…it just never seemed to end. As soon as I'd planned one thing another would crop up out of nowhere and I'd panic at never having even thought about it.
Plus I hardly ever saw Ash, and when I did all we talked about was the wedding. But it was so much more exciting to talk to him about it rather than my sisters or the strangers behind it all. Sometimes we talked about what song we'd dance to for our first dance as husband and wife, other times I actually had to teach him how to dance as he had never been taught before.
"You know, I really hope you're not planning to ruin my expensive shoes when the real thing comes along" I grinned after he'd crushed my toes for about the third time in one song.
"Sorry" he mumbled. I smiled sweetly at him and wrapped my arms around the back of his neck, pulling him in closer towards me.
"Hey, it's no biggie. I don't care if you can't dance."
"Then why are you teaching me?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Don't you wanna impress all your friends and rellies when you glide me round the dance floor?" I pointed out.
"I wanna impress you" Ash replied. I furiously willed the tears behind my eyes not to fall or show and instead smiled all the wider at his heartfelt comments.
"You impress me all the time. I don't need you to be able to dance in order to do that" I said softly. All proper dancing was forgotten as we just swayed in each other's arms, whispering words of our future and how we were going to be spending it. I was walking on stars with him by my side forever more and I couldn't stop smiling at the mere thought of that.
Six months manages to fly by very quickly when you're organising something as big as a wedding. Even with the help from my sisters and Ash things still hiccupped occasionally. The dress took months to arrive, right to the point where I was sure it wouldn't be turning up at all. But exactly one month to the day it was delivered to the bridal shop in town and I practically skipped down to collect it.
"Beautiful dress" the woman behind the counter murmured as I signed the form to officially make it mine. "You're going to make a beautiful bride and a loving wife, I can tell."
I smiled up at her kind words and carefully loaded the box with its precious cargo into the car. I think I managed to cause a few disgruntled drivers grief by how slow and cautiously I drove back to my flat but my dress was not going to get so much as a crease before it had even been lifted out of the box.
"She's home, she's home!" I heard Daisy squeal as I shut the front door. I rolled my eyes, knowing what was coming next. Sure enough, the triplets raced to the hall and practically bombarded me with requests to try it on.
"I don't wanna…" I said reluctantly.
"What?!"
"Why not!"
"God you're a freak sometimes." I scowled at Lily's last comment and paused before I replied.
"I'm only supposed to wear it on one day. The day I marry the man I love. That's the only purpose it -"
"Oh stop being such a bloody sap and try it on!" Violet snapped. I reeled at her words and ran my fingers over the prized box I held in my hands. I suppose I had to make sure it fitted…
Fifteen minutes later Violet had zipped up the back and I was staring blankly at the full-length mirror before me. The dress radiated a charisma out of me that I never realised I could possess before. Even Violet fell into silence, which is something incredibly rare, and I gulped away my tears.
"It's…it's…"
"It's so you" Violet breathed in awe. I smiled at her words and proceeded to ruffle the veil a bit for some sort of affect. It fell behind me in an aura of enchantment, trailing to the ground like a lace waterfall, and I continued to stare in a shocked silence.
"We wanna see!" I heard Lily's voice shout through the door to my bedroom. I sighed and turned to Violet.
"I s'pose I better show them before they give themselves hernias" I smiled. Violet giggled and held me back for a moment as she held open the door.
"Ladies of the esteemed Waterflower family" she started. "May I present to you the dazzling beauty known as Misty soon-to-be Ketchum!" She grandly waved her arm and I timidly stepped out of the room to be met with gasps and wide eyes.
"Oh. My. GOD!" Lily screamed. "You actually look…you, you look…nice" she breathed. "Beyond nice. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Stunning." Daisy nodded her head in agreement and I sheepishly lowered my eyes to the floor.
"You think so?" I asked quietly.
"Duh!" Daisy exclaimed. She opened her mouth to say more when there was a knock at the door.
"Mist! Are you home?" I heard Ash say. All three of my sisters screamed and starting literally shoving me back into my room.
"What are you doing?" I demanded to know.
"He can't see you in your dress. He just can't" Daisy said like it was some big emergency. I rolled my eyes as I retreated back to my room and proceeded to listen to my sisters greet Ash.
"Um, hi! Hi Ash, uh, you want to see Misty, yeah?" Violet stuttered.
"Well that was the main reason for my being on this doorstep here" Ash replied. "I couldn't really see any other reason why."
"Of course, sure. Um…" Lily trailed off as I struggled to get out of the dress without ripping it or damaging it in any way. "She'll be out in a sec, she's -"
"Putting on her make-up" Daisy said hurriedly. There was a pause before Ash put forward his response to Daisy's obvious lie.
"Right. Um, I know you're her sister and all, but I thought you would've known that Misty doesn't wear make-up unless it's for something really important" he pointed out. By now I was putting the dress back in the box with as much ease and care as I could and at the same time scanning the floor for my cardigan. Where had I thrown it…
"Well she…she, uh -"
"Hi babes" I said as I walked through, interrupting Violet's explanation. I planted a brief kiss on his lips and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You know, you can come in. They're only my sisters, they won't bite."
"What were you doing in there?" Ash asked as he closed the door behind him.
"I was just getting changed." Out of the corner of my eye I could see my sisters cringing as they thought I was going to spill that I had been trying out my dress. "I've been wearing trackies and a baggy top today. Thought I would change for the man I love" I grinned.
"Mmm. Suits you better too" Ash commented before he looped his fingers through the belt loops of my jeans and pulled me closer for a longer kiss, much to my sisters' disgust.
"That sort of thing shouldn't be for public viewing" Lily said lightly. I broke away from Ash and rolled my eyes.
"You're supposed to be older than me, hence you're supposed to be more mature than me. What's the deal, huh? I'm sure you've done worse in your lifetime" I replied. That was a statement that shut them all up and they slunk away with no further words. I sighed and turned back to Ash. "Sorry about them. They're just getting…I dunno, excited."
"Yeah, well their baby sister's, like, totally getting married!" he exclaimed sarcastically in a high-pitched tone. I laughed and lightly punched his shoulder.
"Totally getting married in thirty days. Got cold feet yet?" I asked mischievously.
"Me? Cold feet? Never" Ash declared. I gave him a skeptical look and saw a flicker of doubt touch his face.
"I could list a thousand and one things you've had cold feet over. Pompona, the running of the Tauros, what was it you said? Maybe you'll try next year? Heard that one before."
"Oh come on, that was ages ago" Ash complained. I shrugged before noticing that he was smiling broadly. "Besides, how could I get cold feet at the thought of being with you for the rest of my life?" he said softly. I sighed wistfully and picked up on that kiss we had been so rudely interrupted of earlier. God I never wanted to let him go, I couldn't fathom the thought of having to pull away from him when…
"Misty! Check it out, there's a bridal show on channel two!" I heard one of them exclaim. I was too caught up in Ash's kiss to really recognise who it was but the voice had been enough to snap me back to reality.
"Yeah okay!" I yelled back as Ash started trailing kisses down my neck. "Ash, not now" I hissed. We were still standing in the middle of my hallway but this didn't seem to faze him. His hand slowly reached up to pull my cardigan down and the only way I could stop him was to slap his hand.
"Aww Mist, don't be mean" he whined with a grin.
"Sorry Romeo, but the bridal show's on" I said as I started to pull away from him. "Hey hold up, why did you come over anyways?"
"Cos I got a spare moment and was missing you" Ash replied. I smiled and placed a hand on his cheek, still forever in love with the feeling I experienced at the touch of his skin on mine.
"Come watch the show. You never know, you might enjoy it" I shrugged.
"I s'pose miracles happen" Ash mumbled. I grasped his hand and led him into the lounge where my sisters were taking notes about lavish weddings on a budget.
*******
I married Ashton Ketchum on a mid-July afternoon as the sun shined down on us with rays of love and hope. About a hundred of our friends and family were there at the botanical gardens to watch us consummate our love, everyone we had ever possibly crossed paths with had to be there to witness the greatest day of our lives. Poor Brock had to undertake two roles with, I suspected, a post-bachelor party hangover but even I could sense the pride he was feeling as we slowly walked up the aisle. He lifted my veil over my face for a moment to kiss both my cheeks and smile into my eyes.
"Congratulations Mist. You're in for a wonderful new life" he whispered. I nearly completely lost control of my emotions with that one statement but I managed to smile back at him before turning to Ash. His eyes were wide in what I think was shock and he took my hands in his, slowly running his thumb over the back of them as we stood by the minister who was to unite us forever.
"You are so beautiful" he said softly. I ran the risk of damage to my jaw by smiling even wider and with that I endured my last twenty minutes as an unmarried woman. I wasn't just taken now, I was married. Well, nearly married. Two little words would seal it all and my cue to say them rolled around after a blur of prayers and poems and whatnot.
"Do you, Misty Waterflower, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, 'til death do you part?" the minister said. I almost mouthed the words myself, I had been practicing for this moment that long. I felt like screaming to the world that I wanted nothing more but instead, of course, contained myself by replying customarily and quietly.
"I do." I do I do I do! I wanted to say it over and over again, just to confirm to everyone how much I truly loved this man and how badly I had wanted this. To hear the same two words come out of Ash's mouth a minute later was spellbinding, so much so that I had almost frozen to the spot.
"And now it is my happy duty to announce to the world that you are husband and wife. Ash, you may kiss your bride" the minister said warmly. Ash slowly lifted the veil behind me, lifting away the symbolic shield that had kept me away from him for too long, and bestowed on my lips the most meaningful and heartfelt kiss I knew I would ever experience. In that one action we cemented our love for each other, our need to be with each other for the rest of our lives, and all other aspects of the world dissolved from my mind in the seconds that followed. The rapturous applause from the crowd was a distant sound as Ash held me close as his bride, his wife, his everything he wanted me to be.
The reception went well into the small hours of the night as we found every opportunity to celebrate our love with the most important people in our lives. At some point early on the D.J announced that it was time for Ash and I to share our first dance as husband and wife, and I couldn't ignore the nervous gulp I saw Ash swallow beside me.
"Come on, this will be a cinch" I assured him quietly as I stood up.
"Easy for you to say" Ash mumbled. Nonetheless he led me to the dance floor as the applause died down and the first strains of "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles started up. He held me close as we glided round the dance floor, the lyrics matching past questions that had resounded in my mind when I was younger.
Close your eyes, give me your hand
Do you feel my heart beating, do you understand?
Do you feel the same?
Am I only dreaming?
Is this burning an eternal flame?
This time I wasn't dreaming. This eternal flame was burning brighter than anything I could've imagined. I saw it in his eyes, I felt it in the smile I continually wore when I saw him, I heard it in his words.
"I love you, Misty Ketchum" he whispered as the song died down. I blinked away my tears before replying.
"I love you too." I truly did. We were going to live a life with each other, a life that would undoubtedly involve hurdles and obstacles. But I knew we could get through it. If we could get through years of yearning and desirable pain for the other, we could get through anything. For I truly believed nothing could hurt me more than the longing I had once felt for my husband. And nothing could delight me more than being able to call him that.
A/N: Yeah it's an introductory chapter. Gotta have one! And who cares if I pretty much mirrored my dream wedding dress and let The Bangles sing "Eternal Flame" instead of Atomic Kitten?! (who royally screwed up that song, grrr) LOL! Um, notes, notes…I'm writing this as I go, along with a million other things, so the updates could be kinda slow. Not as in turtle slow, but just delayed. Anyways, reviews really help me along so any comments are happily received! Thankies very much everyone!