I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters.

It's been more than two years since they started their new journey.

While it only takes a plane ride from Kanto to reach Kalos, Misty thought she wouldn't mind going through the other regions she's missed out on—Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Unova—and to make things more interesting, Ash had planned to rejoin each region's respective leagues. His win in Kalos definitely had his veins pumping and he felt like he could win almost any other league now that he's won one. Misty thought it was a good idea, but didn't really express how much.

She thinks it's stupid, but travelling with him to these regions put her restless nights to an end. For years Misty has resorted to setting aside her thoughts of travelling with him again, burying them so deep in her mind that she didn't realize how she cried herself to sleep on many occasions because of it. Now, there was no need to hide, no need to suppress, no need to cry because whenever her mind asks, 'what if I were with him on that boat to Hoenn,' she'll remember the salty wind blowing against her face, she'll remember seeing a rare school of Luvdisc at sunset, the moment when Ash fell on her and found out how clumsy he still was after missing a step going down a flight of stairs, the subtle way he'd reach out to casually hold her hand, the toe-curling kisses he steals from her lips.


"Are you okay, Misty? What's wrong?" It was typical for him to think that something was definitely up when Misty hugged him from the back all of a sudden. After all, she still wasn't one to initiate skinship—heck, she hasn't even told him 'I like you' back yet—but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to. She did try to tell him she likes him back in numerous occasions, but Ash had a knack of attracting trouble and she ends up getting interrupted. Other times she ends up getting too annoyed with his denseness at reading the atmosphere and just decides to drop it.

"Nothing," she replies honestly. There really was nothing wrong. Misty just wanted to hug him before he leaves for his own room, that's all.

"Uhm…"

Misty closes her eyes and hugs him tighter. "I just wanted to thank you…" she whispers, not even sure if she wanted him to hear or not just as she found it easier to say these kinds of things when his innocent eyes weren't on her skin. She was stubborn that way.

"…for a lot of things…" she continues. They stayed like that for a good minute or two—standing so still that they started feeling the steady swaying of the ship, the warmth radiating from their bodies, their heartbeats ringing in their ears. It was so peaceful, not perfect, but it felt so right—Ash in her arms—and Misty wished this moment would never end. Then she felt Ash squirm. Panicking, she immediately tightened her arms around him, preventing him from moving one more inch.

"Wh-what are you doing?" She couldn't help but stutter. There was no way she's letting Ash turn around when her face is all red and especially after saying and doing something so embarrassing. "I want to turn around."

"Wh-Why?" she says. "Just continue on your way! You don't need to turn around!"

"But I want to hug you too!" he whines annoyingly like a child about to throw a tantrum. "No! You can't!" Misty replies. She could feel her face and the tips of her ears burn even more. How can such a childish act make her heart race so much!?

Quickly she let go of him and pushed him forward as she turned around to hurriedly open the lock to her door. When it finally opened, a pair of strong arms wraps around her, almost picking her up from the floor as he brought her back flush against his chest. She could feel his face close beside her, resting on her one shoulder.

One of his arms loosens its hold around her and raises it until his hand was caressing one side of her face. "You don't need to thank me," he says softly then plants a kiss on her temple.

Arceus, Misty thinks as she closes her eyes shut, summoning every ounce of willpower she still had to keep her from melting into a puddle of goo. One more sweet gesture from him and Misty swore her heart would just blow up. Thankfully, he lets go of her and turns around out of the hallway, his smirk evident in the way he bid her "good night."


Misty also got to meet the different people that Ash has come across in the past. Old travelling companions, a couple of gym leaders, professors, townspeople—she also took the opportunity to go meet with Dawn and May when they visited Sinnoh and Hoenn respectively. And in the midst of Ash's title run, their little detours and reunions, Misty did her best in slowly realizing her dream of becoming a better water-type Pokémon trainer.

And of course, winning the Kalos League was one thing. The Battle Frontier, Hoenn League, Sinnoh League, and Unova League were obviously different. Ash had a harder time when he joined the second time around, but even though he failed to win another title, he still finished better than when he first participated which was a good enough achievement.

Ash placed a close second in the Unova League. It pretty much bummed him out but Misty knew that his sulking won't last long. After all, they were heading to Kalos next. As much as she enjoyed accompanying Ash in his badge hunt, she was pretty excited with finally getting to kick back and relax. A vacation was definitely something that she hasn't had in a while, but given their luck, things never really went the way they planned.

The morning after the final day of the Unova League, Misty had gotten a call from home. She wasn't surprised. Her sisters would usually call her twice a week to check up on her and to ask her the most trivial of things, like where the extra towels were or where the spare keys to the gym are being kept.

So when she answered the call, she didn't expect the two of them to be riding on a plane back to Kanto.

It was disappointing, but Misty would be lying if she didn't expect something like this to come up even for just a tiny bit in her mind. She'd been away long enough, and although Harrison was doing great at being a stand-in Gym Leader, with Daisy's pregnancy, she knew he needed some time away from all the battling.

"It's fine. Kalos can wait," was Ash's casual reply when she told him about the situation. He was pretty excited with Daisy's pregnancy too. Misty felt guilty for ruining their trip, but somehow glad that he understood. He always understands.

Sometimes she asks the universe what she's done to deserve such a person in her life. Someone who's understanding and stubborn enough to endure moments like this every time. So after three days since returning to Kanto, Misty suggested that Ash rejoin the other conferences nearby. Ash was happy to oblige and went off on his own to the Johto Region first.

Despite their separation, Misty still manages to attend the main events. The rest of her sisters, Violet and Lily, made sure that she does. Miraculously, the two have been hard at work with training while she was away and after proving their capabilities following a battle against her, she realized how serious they were with it. Soon the time came when she finally let the duo on the floor—with her supervision of course—and since then, they have been filling in for her when she's away on Ash duty or if Harrison is out on pregnant-wife duty.

Life in Cerulean definitely became easier and more fun. With her sisters finally helping out and a baby on the way, the Waterflower family has become closer than ever. She was truly thankful.


Another year and a half has passes since Misty went back to Cerulean. Last month, Daisy just gave birth to a healthy baby girl and everyone they knew was so excited to see her that they decided to mark her first month with a small party.

Delia Ketchum has been coming over quite often too. Because the sisters grew up without a mother for most of their lives, Delia was more than willing to offer her expertise with child-raising. She did manage to raise someone as obnoxious as Ash. She was the perfect choice.

Ash was currently participating in the Indigo League. It will be the last conference on his list down memory lane before either going back to Pallet to rest a bit more or immediately heading to a whole new region in another part of the world. Right now the League was about to reach it's culmination with the first four days of eliminations passing by faster than a Rapidash and with that, Ash is finally advancing to familiar territory—the Top 16.

Misty was walking along the crowded streets of the Pokémon League Village at the Indigo Plateau. She had just arrived from Cerulean and is weaving her way through the crowds, hurriedly trying to get to the place she and Ash had agreed to meet in.

The Pokémon League Village hasn't changed much and that's saying something since she hasn't been back to the place in thirteen years. There were a couple of new stores here and there, a wider set of food choices, new attractions, but even so, being there was definitely nostalgic. After all, this is the stage where it all started.

Where Ash lit, not only the torch at Indigo Stadium, but also something inside me…


The clearing wasn't too far from the village's main dirt roads. It was an area that they discovered along with Brock the last time they were in the place. It was a small park that used to be packed with people, but since the opening of a bigger park closer to the lodging houses, the place looked pretty deserted.

Walking for a bit more, she started to see a more familiar scene, the lamppost to her right, the bench to her left, the fountain idly sitting in the middle, long forgotten with weeds and vines decorating it. Around the fountain, on one of the benches, she sees him with closed eyes.

Seriously, Misty thinks. How could he just doze off like that?

Misty walks towards him silently, tip-toeing as she went, with a playful grin on her lips. She went on until she was crouching in front of him, looking up to see his sleeping face. For a moment she hesitated. He looked so peaceful that she didn't want to disturb him, but dozing off in a place like this is careless and he needed to learn his lesson.

She raises both hands up to his forehead, readying her one finger for the most painful forehead flick. Stretching her middle finger to the brink, she couldn't help but laugh out loud after hearing what she describes as the loudest slapping sound she's ever heard in her life. Ash yelling in pain made it even funnier.

"Oww!" Ash was curled on his side on the bench with his hands pressing hard on his forehead. Misty was too busy laughing her brains out that she didn't bother caring how her stomach was starting to hurt.

"That hurt! What was that for?!" Ash demanded and saw Misty still laughing hysterically on the ground in front of her.

"Oh Arceus, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she says after a while as she tries to stifle her laughs. She tries to get up and wipes the tears from her eyes but the sight of a red finger-shaped impression on Ash's forehead got her laughing out loud again.

Ash continued to look at her incredulously but it softens up into a warm smile and even chuckles for a bit.


Misty was so adorable. Ash may have been a dense airhead, but he has definitely noticed that side of her even when they were still kids. He doesn't exactly know when he started feeling that way towards Misty. He figured it must have been there all along. He just didn't know how to translate that feeling well at ten years old. She was stubborn and so full of pride that watching her trying to break out of her own persona in moments like this makes her ten times cuter and a hundred times more irresistible.

Ash has come across numerous people in his journeys, but no one has ever made his heart clench and his mind shut down with just a simple laugh.

"Okay, okay. I'm good." Finally Misty starts settling down again and straightens herself up. She looks at Ash with an amused smile, her lips trembling for a bit as she bit down another laugh.

"What were you doing sleeping at a place like this anyways?" she asks, one hand resting on her hip. Ash looks up to her with his usual innocent gaze, like a kid about to get a sermon. "What if a stray Pokémon or Team Rocket decided to sneak up on you before I arrived? If something bad happened then you won't be able to win the title tomorrow." Misty then casually puts a hand on his head and ruffles his hair a bit harder than it was supposed to be.

"Ugh, hey!" Ash started to protest but was cut off when she muttered, "You should be more careful next time."

Ash felt his breath hitch. There it is again.

Averted eyes, self-conscious pout, tainted cheeks, gentle touch, timid words.

Ash didn't even need to look up to confirm his mental picture of her right now. It was such a familiar sight that it had been ingrained deep in his mind—something that he'd replay perfectly without fail behind closed eyes. A manifest of how much he's observed her so keenly in the past years that they've been together, and yet, every time it happens he could still feel his heart skipping a beat, blood rushing to the base of his neck, muscles tensing in astonishment—much like how he felt when Misty spontaneously hugged him, discreetly and hurriedly, before they went their separate ways after that fiasco in Dr. Yung's lab.

Maybe that was when a spark finally ignited something inside of him—burning away his oblivious façade and baring his heart to more intense emotions leaving him repeatedly wondering when he'd be seeing her again, when he'd be able to return that hug.

Retreating her hand cautiously, she sits on the space beside him and sighs. The next couple of minutes were met with silence. Both of them sat there, her slowly observing how much the time has done to the seemingly forgotten sanctuary, him finding the cobblestone under his shoes quite interesting.

"Do you think I can do it?" Misty turns his head to him and blinks in confusion, her brows furrowing further down the middle. "Do you think I can stand on that stage?"

Misty continued to stare, genuinely puzzled at this new side of Ash that she's seeing. He's always been so full of confidence and always had a positive outlook that it's ridiculous. But right now, is he…doubting? Himself? Was it because he was unsuccessful the second time around that he's joined those leagues? Was the pressure getting to him?

He doesn't look at her and just continues to look at the ground. "I've been thinking since earlier, and I probably fell asleep while I did so. But…" When he sighs she took it as her cue to say something. Reaching out with one hand, she put it on his arm, squeezing it gently. The unexpected initiation of skinship worked as he raises his head in slight confusion and looks at her with rare worried eyes. Misty gives him the most reassuring smile.

"I don't think you'll win," she says and rubs his arm a little. "I know you will win."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell how, but…it's like a gut feeling, or something."

"Eh? Well, that doesn't sound so reassuring."

Immediately, Misty looks at him with wide eyes. "Ha?!" Ash looks at her in alarm. "Pfft. Are you serious? For someone who went with gut feeling for most of the decisions in his life, you're really telling me that they aren't 'reassuring'?"

"Exactly. I've been functioning through gut feeling for most of my life and in majority of those, you were doubtful—critical, even." Ash replies, his troubled expression worn on his face again.

Misty looks at him with disbelieving eyes. Ash actually made sense. He must really be worried about this.

She brings her hand back and laces her fingers with her own. Staring into nowhere in particular in front of her, she speaks, "Well..." Misty doesn't even know how to approach him when he's in this state. How does one interact with a lucid Ash Ketchum exactly? She's never thought that this day would ever come.

"You're Ash Ketchum! You never listen to anybody. Yeah sure I doubted you but did that ever stop you? You're like, the ultimate optimist and the perfect example of a risk-taker." She starts, speaking whatever thought that comes into her mind, hoping that it'd enlighten him at least for a bit. "I mean, you went ahead and kissed me all of a sudden without even knowing if I like you or not. How—"

"You don't like me?" Ash interrupts.

"Of course I do. But that's not the—wait, why are you looking at me that way?"

Ash's worried expression dissolved into a mischievous one faster than you could say 'Muk', and by the way his eyes glinted, she knew he walked right into his trap, again. Misty could feel her blood rush back up to her cheeks again and soon she found herself unable to look at his face again.

His cheeky grin was a dead giveaway of what he was thinking as of the moment. On a normal day, it didn't look like it mattered, but right now she was sure that he has long been waiting for this time to come. After a couple of seconds she managed to gather enough courage and swallow her pride. She looks at him dead in the eyes.

"I like you," she says, trying hard not to give into the want to turn around and drown herself in a nearby pond. She could feel her heart beating so loudly that she was worried Ash might hear it. "There, I said it. Sorry if it took so long," she adds with a rather annoyed tone, like a child made to admit a mistake that she did and made to say sorry for it.

Ash chuckles and in an instant her embarrassment instantly turned into bemusement. "Why the Arceus are you laughing?" She'd just confessed to him, told him she liked him finally, and he just laughs?

"Well, I didn't know you'd actually come out and say it," Ash says and looks at her with those warm brown eyes again. "But I know. I've known all along."

"What do you mean? How did you know?"

"Gut feeling." For a moment they just stared at each other and when Misty breaks out into a laugh, Ash follows. It was silly. It was really silly, but that's kind of Misty's thing. Of course he knew. After all the things that they've been through, it should've been obvious to anyone—even Ash—that she liked him too.

"But I was surprised when you said it. I have to admit it made me happy." Discreetly, Ash reaches for one of Misty's hands. He laces his fingers with hers and felt her answer back with a squeeze.

And maybe it was luck, maybe it was destiny, but realizing that it was her left hand that he reached out to—her left hand that he was holding—he took it as a clear sign from Ho-oh itself nonetheless.

"But there is one thing I'm not sure about." He takes a deep breath and stands up. "Not one bit," he adds then stands in front of her, still holding her hand tightly in his. Looking down at her, he took a moment to look at Misty's face, memorizing her slight confusion at his sudden action. And locking his warm brown eyes with her questioning viridian ones, he was intent to forever remember this moment for the rest of his life, however it may turn out.

Kneeling on one knee, he took another deep breath before baring his heart once again.

"Will you marry me?"

And in that one second, the world seemed to stop. The sounds of distant chattering and activity from the nearby marketplace ceased, the air ever so still, the Pokémon that happened to listen in one them in the sidelines holding their breaths, anticipation building up as the next second brought them back to the real world.

A myriad of expressions played across Misty's face. Surprise, confusion, understanding, nervousness, awkwardness, joy.

"Ash…" she said his name barely above whisper, but he heard it all too clearly. For the first time in a while, tears started to well up on her eyes. It took her a while to say something again with her emotions once more trying to choke her into sobs, but this was something that she couldn't say to him later or tomorrow or how many years after. It had to be now.

"Yes!"

Standing up, she slipped her hand out of his hold and wrapped them around his neck, hugging him tightly as he felt him hug her back so tightly that she was lifted off the ground. "R-really? Arceus, Misty!" he says, the joy and relief in his voice so evident that it annoyed her for a moment. "Of course I'll marry you, you idiot," she says as she buries her face into his neck. She feels him chuckle and they stay like that for a while, comfortably wrapped in each other's arms. And she knew that there was no other perfect time to say the other thing she's been dying to tell him.

"I love you."

And for once, it was Ash whose muscles tensed at her declaration. She looks up to his surprised eyes and flashes him a mischievous smirk. "Well what do you know. There actually is a way to shut you up." And with his unchanged expression, Misty laughs again in pure amusement. "I'm seriously going to—"

Taking her into another surprise kiss, she smiles into his lips, sparks travelling throughout her body. And when he deepens the kiss, he literally left both of them breathless. "I love you too."

I'M ALIVE! But seeing how I've taken so long to update, I might get killed later on anyways. Haha. I'm sorry for the huge delay. Things have been pretty busy here. I've finally decided to look for a job and while I haven't applied for one yet, I'm already starting to gather some of the most obvious requirements needed. I hope you guys enjoyed!