"Jessie!" James shouted, rushing over to a bloody figure sitting (sitting wasn't the right word, perhaps- it was really lying, her upper body just held up by the dark wall.) in the corner. "Is... is that you?"
"No, Sherlock, I'm friggin' Sailor Moon. Of course it's me," Jessie snapped sarcastically. Then she sighed. "I... I'm sorry... I should be grateful. I mean, I just broke your heart and walked away, and you still came for me..." She buried her head in her hands, which were matted with fresh, dark blood. "I am truly sorry, James..."
James shook his head and bent down on his knees so he looked Jessie in the eye now. "No, Jessie, don't apologize. I'm the one who should be sorry," he whispered. "I feel horrible not telling you what happened, but I can't. I know that if I do, it will only hurt you more," he said, taking her ungloved hands. Her face now had red handprints on it. "Come on, we need to get out of here. Can you walk?"
Jessie shrugged her bruised shoulders. "I don't really know," she admitted, standing up. She took a few steps around. "Yeah, I guess I'm fine..." her voice trailed off when she noticed James' sleeve. "James, you're bleeding!" She grabbed his sleeve and pulled it up. "My god, what happened?"
James gave Jessie a look that was a mixture of humor and concern. "Sure, I'm bleeding. And you're not?" he asked. "I think my one wound is a little more minor than your many many deep gashes."
"What about that bullet in your shoulder?"
"It's fine, Jessie," James assured her. "Anything broken?"
"No, you just mended my heart, and that was the only thing ever broken," Jessie held back tears.
"Riiiight, can we move along now?" Moonshadow asked, rolling her eyes.
Jessie jumped when she heard the voice. "Oh, dear sweet Bright Sea, Meowth got transformed into a female... uh... cat-thingy... O.o;"
"T.T My name is Moonshadow, dingus," Moonshadow hissed, her lips drawing back in the beginnings of a snarl.
James sweatdropped. "Can you two just get along for now? Please? Until we get out of here. And Jessie," James instructed, "if the guards see us, predend I'm taking you against your will. Got it?"
Jessie nodded. "I can't believe you still care, James..."
"I will always care," James said. "Come on."
:::
"I wonder whateva happened to dat casserole..."
Meowth pondered the fate of his cheesy friend while waiting in the crevice in the wall for his friends to return with Jessie, or- if things were as bad as James suspected- her body. It had been countless hours since he was in this crack, and he could hear nothing but the odd rattata squeaking in wonder seeing this meowth in the wall. All he did was see. And all he saw now was a black slab of wall on the other side of the hallway.
How long had it been since Moonshadow had told him to stay put in case the guards notcied him? An hour? Two hours? A day? He had completely lost all sense of time. All he knew was that he was alone- alone in this large, dark castle with nothing to comfort him.
A sudden thought struck him. What if James was dead? What if the guards had killed him? Would he have been able to hear the scream, although he heard nothing else in this dark place? He looked out the window James had broken into. He saw a single, glimmering star in the distance. "Yer lucky," he whispered. "You don't have to worry about much, sittin' up dere in da sky all day..."
Suddenly, Moonshadow's face popped up out of nowhere. "Meowth!" she hissed. "We found Jessie! Come on!"
Meowth grinned. "About time," he purred, crawling out of the crack in the wall. "I tought you wouldn't come back."
Jessie looked at Meowth. "Wow, I'm even happy to see YOU," she blinked. "That's just... odd."
"Dat hoit."
Jessie sniggered.
James looked up at the window. "Moonshadow, would we be able to get out that way?"
Moonshadow examined the window. "I think so, just be careful not to cut yourself," she said, glancing at James' bloodstained sleeve.
James got the hint. "It happened when I fell on the ground, Moonshadow."
"Whatever."
James started to climb up the wall and when he reached the black sill, he grabbed Jessie's hand and helped her up. Her bloody hand left a crimson print on his sleeve. Moonshadow and Meowth then hopped up and they all fell, hard, on the dark green ground which used to be 10-20 feet below them. (Ow.) James felt his pocket.
The ring was still there.
James had to admit, he was amazed the ring had stayed with him after all the falls and things he had gone through in the past few hours. The moon was full- it illuminated Moonshadow's grey fur and Jessie's pink hair, making it look like a gigantic, sparkling tourmaline on her head.
Maybe it was just all the hairspray shining? Ah, oh well. Big deal. He faced her. "Jessie," he pleaded, "will you forgive me?"
Jessie looked genuinely surprised. "Forgive you?! I stormed away from you, broke your heart and made you risk life and..." she glanced at his shoulder, "...limb for me, and you ask ME to forgive YOU?! James, i'm the one who should be in hot water!"
"If I hadn't made you mad-"
Jessie silenced him by raising her hand. "Yes, James. Yes, I forgive you, although there's no faults to forgive."
"Then I shall return this to you, if you allow me to."
Jessie was puzzled. "Return wha..." her voice trailed off. "I can't believe you kept that. I thought you had given up on me..."
"The day I give up on you will be the day Meowth barks," Jsmes retorted. "Do you wish to... continue our relationship as ficances?"
Jessie nodded. "Of course."
James smiled and they flew into eachother's arms, but the moment was not to last. Jessie felt a bullet graze her hair. The holder of the gun was a figure in the bushes.
"Jessica," it said.
"Cassidy!"
