Disclaimer: The characters of Pokemon do not belong to me. Nor do any of the other known characters that may appear in this fic. The story is mine, and was made for entertainment purpose only.
The rushing river gurgled in the background. Up above, the wind pressed against the canopy of leaves, until several separated from its branches.
Ash only cared about the lone teenager across from him. He felt light. His eyes burned, but he held in any tears. This Misty held a puzzled smile, before she adopted a coy grin.
"Hi there," she chirped. "You're from Pallet Town?" She nodded as the boy struggled to talk. "Yup. It's a really pretty place to live."
"You're prettier," choked Ash. The boy's cheeks immediately went red. "Ack. I meant-"
Misty broke out into light laughter. "Why thank you," she smiled. She quickly wrapped her fingers with his, and pulled him towards the campsite. "So as I was saying," she mused, "How is Pallet Town?"
"Lonely," was his automatic response. He suppressed a painful memory. "I'm Ash, by the way."
"Oh." Misty looked surprised, before shaking the already grabbed hand. "I'm Misty-"
"Waterflower," he interrupted. He rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Sorry! It's just that you're my favorite Gym Leader. May I please have your autograph?"
Ash fumbled with his pockets and pulled out a crumpled paper and pen. "Never really liked your other sisters though," he admitted nervously.
Misty immediately snatched the pen and wrote her name.
oOo
Misty finished her joke, and the both of them erupted into laughter. Ash tried to steady his breath while trying to smile.
They continued to talk until the sun began to set.
"I'd like to see you again," said Misty.
"Me too."
Misty watched silently, until the boy disappeared in the distance. She couldn't stop smiling.
oOo
Ash hurried out the forest. Far from Misty's line of vision, he allowed himself to cry.
He looked to his shaking hand. He had never known that he could feel so much pain and happiness in one sitting. His body continued to shake, letting himself silently sob. Minutes stretched into the late evening until he felt confident enough to walk home.
He hadn't traveled far when he encountered an extremely pissed off Gary Oak.
"Finally found you, Loser!"
Ash decided to ignore his longtime rival's tantrum. He felt like shit.
"Hey!" protested Gary.
Ash slowly turned at him. And then spit on Gary's face. It dribbled down Gary's nose..
Gary lunged at him. Ash lazily dodge, and then tripped him. Gary crashed forward, and again ate mud.
Gary clambered to his feet, unable to disguise the hate oozing from his pores. "Tomorrow you are dead. You hear me. My Pokemon will destroy you!" Holding his bruised elbow, he pushed pass Ash and ran to town.
Ash was too tired to care.
oOo
The stars sparkled. "Tomorrow is the big day," he whispered. Ash allowed himself to hug his blanket. The bed never felt so soft.
At that moment, Ash let himself be a kid. He wanted to pretend it was another chance to get everything just right. Everything would be good. He'd protect Misty. Maybe, he would stop feeling so dead inside.
He felt his awareness drifting. He closed his eyes.
No more nightmares.
A.N.
REVAMP: 5/18/2015 "My crusade to make this story less sucky! Huzzah!"
^^ I want to thank the readers who reviewed last chappy. *gives them virtual chibi-pikachus*
:D Hurrah! We passed the 10 review mark, lets see how large that number can get. Lol
;) Remember…don't be afraid to review No matter how tiny the review, I really do appreciate the effort of pushing that "review button."
