Chapter 8-

Misty looked from on top the small hill which looked upon the peaceful town of Pallet. Being noon time, she watched the occasional kid return home from their adventures for lunch. Looking for an individual from the hill was like searching for a needle in a hay stack; too far away to see the faces, she had to rely on the size of the one she was looking for. The afternoon sun cast small shadows, one no longer than the next. Misty had no choice but to go down and search first hand. At first, she was fearful to do this. After what happened from their last confrontation, Misty feared she would spook him off with nothing but the sight of her.
Carefully walking down the rocky slope, Misty couldn't help but plan what would happen if she was to find Ash. She couldn't really concentrate, though. For one, the hill was treacherous. Second, she could only concentrate on how good it would feel to be back in his presence. Even when her concentration was broken by an occasional loss of balance.
As the trail got smoother, her thoughts got rougher. She once again started thinking about how she'd totally blown up in Ash's face. If Misty came back, would he still love her? How could it take this long to realize what she'd done? All in all, Misty knew that if Ash turned her down, she would only have one person to blame.
Herself.
Reaching the bottom of the hill, the town became much larger in her own mind. She hadn't a clue to exactly where Ash lived. Luckily for her, it wasn't that big a town. Though the streets had many houses, each one had the name of the owner. The one at the next corner had the name she looked for. She stumbled onto the Ketchum residence.
The house looked very new. It was around two stories, with six windows on the front. Looking through one upstairs, a habit she had always wished to break, she saw posters of different pokémon. A model of a bird hung from the ceiling with fishing line slowly bobbed up and down, a sign meaning she was in luck. It must had been touched only moments earlier. Somebody was home.
Still staring into the window, she saw the door of the room open, and barely made out a figure putting on a cap and a fall jacket. Misty, knowing that standing any longer could mean trouble, quickly ran off down the street. Using the hood of her jacket, she covered up her easy to spot red hair. Looking back, the door of the five houses down opened. Misty had to get herself to turn away when Ash walked out. Following him out of the corner of her eye, she slowly found herself walking towards the woods.
Misty almost lost sight of him in the woods. Trying to be as quiet as possible, Misty decided she would have to gamble a run to catch up. Before she knew it, she was just a few yards behind Ash. She was too exited to see him. She just had to talk to him.
"Ash!" Misty called out, broken up a little from her loss of breath. Ash turned his head, but continued walking. Misty almost stopped breathing. She expected to see a small sign of rejection, but she didn't expect him to just keep walking. Her thoughts of him running were really just all the emotions in her head. After seeing his reaction, she realized this.
"Ash, please, just listen to me." Misty almost whimpered out. She could feel the tears already coming on. Ash turned around slowly. He slowly walked towards Misty. His eyes had a bored look, as if he just wanted to get this done with. He didn't say a word. Misty realized she didn't have much time.
"Ash, listen, I'm really sorry for what I did. I left you without even thinking what I was doing. I'm sure you've done that before." Misty was digging her own grave. She wondered if she hinted too much that she was still a little upset about when Ash left her. Only that thought finally brought on her tears. She now talked slowly so Ash could understand her through her sobbing.
"Ash, I did something really stupid, but I still love you with all my heart." Misty had to pause to take a breath. "You were the only person that actually understood me." Now Misty felt she was aiming towards 'we were made for each other,' a thought she didn't want to force on him. She felt like she was surrounded on all sides.
Misty didn't see Ash's expression change. She could only guess to if they did though. Misty's tears have hid them. Unbeknownst to her, they had. His eyes went from a dim boredom to a low sadness. If Misty had known this, she would have stopped talking. Instead, she continued, not knowing how much longer she could go without passing out from loss of air.
"Remember how much fun it was when we were together? I want it to be like that again. I want to be with you. I love you." Misty couldn't talk any more. Her throat hurt, her breath was short. Now, she had to wipe away the tears to see his reaction.
Through her tears, Misty saw Ash walking towards her. At first, she thought he was going to try to comfort her. As she wiped away her tears, she felt a hand on her back. Then, the words she didn't want to hear.
"I'm sorry." That was all. Ash turned and slowly walked away. Listening to him slowly walk out of her earshot, she fell to her knees and held her head in her hands. She couldn't bare look up, thinking everything would laugh at her. The trees so free, the sun so bright, it seemed everything in the world was happy, and that she was the only unhappy one.
She looked up, only to see the trees looking dead, the sun hidden by clouds. Everything was dark. Without noticing it, she was about to be caught in a storm. She felt the first drops of rain hit her head. Soon, she would be kneeling in the mud, and that would only make her feel even worse. The darker it got, the worse she felt.
She couldn't look around to watch him walk away. It would only upset her more. She thought about how much damage she must have done to Ash just a few weeks ago to have made him this upset; he could barely even talk to her.
The dark clouds roamed the sky, completely blocking the sun out. In the darkness, it was hard no to catch a glimpse of the shimmering speck of light she saw through her unprepared eyes. Wiping away her tears, she finally got a clear view of the object. A gold heart. It slowly lowered in front of her, strangely shining due to an absent light, till it lay against her breast.
The cooling touch of the gold against her neck almost made her shiver, but the warmth of love she had waited so long to feel again finally returned. She spun around, and through the heavy rain clearly saw Ash's face staring down on her, his hands putting the final touches on the necklace, their sign of never-ending love.
Misty finally fully realized what had happened. Ash was taking her back. Later she would learn that Ash had a sudden change of heart when he saw her, and he didn't understand why. But, for now, Misty didn't care about reasons. She didn't really care about anything except for the fact that she was back with Ash.
Jumping up from her spot, she wrapped her arms around him. Resting her head on his shoulder, she laughed until it hurt. After a minute, she calmed down. She had missed Ash for such a long time, and she finally had him back. She raised her head, and after a moment of looking the other in the eyes, she closed her eyes.
Slowly leaning her head foreword, her lips met Ash. There they stood there for what seemed like forever, and what Misty wanted to be more. Years of loneliness and solidarity would come to an end.