"Glaceon-glacy..." he heard a small cry from behind him as he stepped into Misty's room again, it was a third day since he had found her and she still hadn't woken up from her comatose state. Turning down to the ice type, he could see the sad look and the mild tears. Even if he had been returned to his actual trainer, he was more then agitated to return to Misty's side to be there when she woke up. Initially May have been sadden by this, but she then remembered that Glaceon was only worried about the girl that he had witnessed being abused and raped.

Looking down at the girl, Ash's guilt complex only grew. Why didn't he walk home with her that night, why did he leave her alone. If he had gone with her, maybe he could have defended her with Pikachu. Sighing, he glanced down at Misty's sleeping form. All of her vitals were fine according to the doctors, so that meant it shouldn't be long before she awoke from her deep sleep. Right? "Come on, Misty...you've been asleep long enough, s-surely its time for you to wake up," he chuckled sadly at the thought that she was just sleeping, he knew that wasn't the case.

Reaching over, he took her frail hand into his own and just held it there for a few minutes. Said hand was warm and very soft, untouched by the scars that plagued the other one. As he sat there, he remembered how Togetic didn't want to come with him - recalling the distressed look in the fairy/flying type's eyes when she remembered the state her mommy was in. Looking up at his foster sister's peaceful face, he looked at her eyelids. How he long to see those beautiful viridian eyes once more, to get lost in the forest that seem to shine from the orbs.

Moving his eyes away from her face, tears wormed into his chocolate eyes and threatened to fall. It took a slight movement of Misty's hands to force those tears out, as he believed she was waking up. Yet, as he looked up at her face once more, silence like the last event had never happened. Sighing, he was about to get up and leave when a small hoarse cough and moan filled his ears. Looking back, he could see Misty's eyes flutter a few times as she strained to wake herself up. Eventually those gorgeous eyes opened themselves, even by only a slither, and glanced at him as a weak voice like her throat. "Ash..."

Pulling the girl into a hug that was intended to comfort her, but comforted himself more. "Thank goodness, you're awake. I was so worried about you," he whispered, holding her close to his body and refusing to let go. The fear that she'd disappear if he left go was haunting him.

As she struggled to stay awake, she just closed her eyes and listened to him talk for a little while. Eventually her voice started to come back to her, as she opened her eyes again with the intent of keeping them open. "...A-am...I...s-safe..." that thought was haunting her, was that 'monster' still around. Was he in jail or was he still roaming the streets, looking for her. An involuntary shiver rolled up at spine, nearly unnoticed by Ash.

"You're safe, Misty. Out of that hellhole and in the hospital to recover, your father is in jail where he belongs. And he should remain there, thanks to the evidence that you sent," he explained, wanting her to stop worrying and relax. Gently he stroke her hair, something he had noticed that she liked a lot as she always relaxed into his arms and would often close her eyes. "Look of me," once he got her tired eyes looking up at him. "Just relax,...you only just woke up after 3 days and you're already panicked..."

Slowly, Misty nodded her head and just relaxed on Ash's shoulder in a sleepy manner. It felt weird, she had just heard that she had been asleep for 3 days and yet she was still tired. Briefly, she looked at the Pokemon by her foster brother and realised something was missing. "...A-ash..." she weakly whispered, earning his attention from his focus on gently stroking her hair. "...W-where's T-togetic?..."

Feeling sorry for her, knowing that her baby wasn't there when she first woke up. However, he had to tell her. Pausing his stroking, he gently explained why the fairy/flying type hadn't come to the hospital. "...She didn't want to see you...unconscious...so I didn't force her to come. As her daddy,...I think she deserves to make up her own mind...and she's evolved now...so.."

Smiling gently, Misty understood and relaxed once more. But as her eyes began to become strained from staying open, she couldn't hold off needing to sleep. Even though she wished to stay in Ash's embrace forever. "...I-is...it a-alright if I go to sleep?..."

Chuckling a little, Ash nodded and rested the frail girl back down in the bed. "Night," he whispered, kissing her forehead as she smiled a little. After this, he was about to go fetch a drink that he wanted, but something held him back. Turning, he could see Misty's red face as she held his sleeve in mild embarrassment. Smiling gently, he asked kindly. "What is it, Mist?..."

Still flushed, she gently held her hands together as she hoped quietly. "...W-would y-you s-stay with me?..." she involuntarily stuttered as she whispered this out, plain embarrassment rising in her cheeks. Adding something more, so she didn't seem clingy. "...J-just until I f-fall asleep?..."

Forgetting all about his wanted drink once he saw her adorable expression, Ash nodded his head and sat back down. To be honest, he couldn't blame her for wanting him by her side - she must have been so lonely in that run-down home. "..Of course," he gently said, taking hold of her injured hand again with a half-focused glance at her still bandaged one. "...I'll stay, I'm not going to go anywhere."

This earned him a small smile from the exhausted girl, as she made herself comfortable in the hospital bed - something that must have been kinda hard to do with all the sores and injuries she had acquired, particular the massive craving on her back. Not once did she lay down on said wound, but it was obvious that she knew it was there as she kept glancing nervously over her shoulder. "N-night, Ash..." she whispered out, before letting her eyes flutter shut. With her exhausted state, it didn't take long before she finally fell asleep.

Reciting an old phrase from his childhood, he whispered. "Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite," it was a simple rhyme, one that was commonly used for small children. To be honest, he knew that Misty would freak if she heard him say 'bed bugs' and this only preceded in bringing a little chuckle to his throat as he stood up to leave the room. Only looking back in once, as Glaceon followed silently behind. Glancing down at the ice type, Ash could see the look of relief on his face that mirrored his own relieved state. "...See you in the morning, Mist..." he whispered to nobody, before leaving to inform the doctor of Misty's little awakening.

Thankfully, the next day came by quickly and Ash arrived at the hospital with both his own Pokemon, Glaceon and Togetic. Sure he was a little uncertain about letting his foster sister, and hidden crush as he had finally came to the conclusion, about the bug/electric type that he had caught, but he figured that she deserved to know before she found out in another way. Especially with what he planned on doing today, so gently he recoiled Joltik to her poke ball with a quick. "I'll call you out when I think she's calm enough."

Heading upstairs, Pikachu on one shoulder and Togetic on the other, and walking along the corridor, he thought about his plans and simply hoped that the girl was more rested today and able to actually focus on more than one thing at a time. As he stepped into her room, he was relieved to see that she was already sat up and playing on a game-boy. One sight of the boy and she saved whatever game she was playing before turning it off, then she opened her arms for Togetic to fly into as she gently hugged the baby. Looking up at the boy, she whispered. "...S-sorry about falling a-asleep yesterday..."

"Its alright," he said as he sat down on the stool. Pikachu hopped onto the bed and greeted Misty with a rather loud 'Pikachupi', smiling at the girl's recovery. "Your body is still trying to recover from the events, so its quite understandable that you'd want to sleep more," though he got a nod, he never did get a voiced reply, so he decided to just continue talking. "So how are you feeling anyway. I saw you playing on that game-boy, what were you playing?"

"...I feel better then yesterday," she finally said, almost a moment of silence. Glancing at the red game-boy that she had put down, she wasn't sure how to explain it. "One of the nurses gave me it...to mess around with for a bit...since I was...a...little bored...and visiting hours...weren't going to be on for a few hours at the time..." she finally said, picking up the game-boy and turning it on. With a quick flash, the music picked up and a black and white game appeared on the screen after a long cut-screen of a Pikachu using Surf and Fly. A character, eerily similar to Ash in appearance, appeared first before a group of Pokemon - the first one to appear was a Pikachu like the cut-screen - flashed next to him with a logo: Pokemon Yellow Version.

"Oh, I know this game. Its for the children, who aren't old enough to go on a Pokemon journey, or those that don't have the funding to go on one," Ash commented with a smile. This earned him a little smiled nod, it was clear that Misty enjoyed the game when the character save file appeared. Since it was 5 hours, and she had implied to have received the game only a few hours prior. Her pokedex already had 50 Pokemon on and she clearly seemed attached to starter Pokemon, a young Pikachu that she had named...Ashley? This did bring Ash's attention, as he blinked with surprise. "Ashley?"

"...Um...well...uh..." she just stammered, blushing heavily as she tried to explain her reasoning for naming her Pikachu after him. Eventually she sighed, her cheeks still flustered and red. "...Truthfully,...I did it...because I...uh..." gritting her teeth, she decided she had to explain the whole deal. "...You know, I assume you seen it...my wrist, I mean..."

Confused and a little annoyed that she didn't answer his question, Ash just nodded his head. "Of course...it left me kinda worried..." thinking about it, he needed to know this more than why she named a in-game character after him. "...Why did you try and kill yourself again?..."

A strangled sob left Misty's throat, as if it pained her to even recalled what had happened. Unravelling the bandage from her wrist, she revealed the mangled mark that was trying to heal. "...I was so scared, Ash. S-scared that you'd n-never c-come...that I'd e-end up stuck there forever...I w-wanted to end it then and t-there...s-so that I d-didn't have to s-suffer if y-you didn't come..." glancing down at Togetic, who was hugging her desperately. "She...saved me...e-evolving and t-taking the k-knife off my at the last s-second...G-Glaceon then used...Ice Beam to numb...the bl-bleeding..."

"...Why didn't you just push them away," he regretfully said, knowing that had the two Pokemon not done that...he would have lost her and that thought pained him to even think up. "...If you wanted to end it...you could have quite easily..."

And this was where Misty's tears hit the hardest, as she nodded in her head in agreement. "...T-that is true, but I guess...subconsciously...I wanted them to save me...so t-that I could say this to you..." she whispered out, before turning her head to look at him. A half-confident look on her face, mingling with the tears that stained her cheeks. "...What stopped me truly, was...you. I thought about you...and h-how..." pausing, she hated herself for stopping and mentally slapped herself before her confidence peaked. "...How...I love you," and that was it, she said it. Praising herself, she let her confidence drop and looked at Ash in complete silence.

Whilst it took him a few minutes to click on what she just said, he finally heard it and looked down. He had intended on this encounter of confessing going to the other way around, so he needed to come up with a plan. Eventually, his mind just went 'Screw it' and he moved forward. Successfully catching Misty's lips with his own, the pair stayed like that for quite a well. Misty's mind was going through so many emotions, she was terrified one moment and delighted the next. Was...this what actual love felt like, she tried to work out as she just stayed limp for a few moments. Eventually her brain caught onto the gentle movements that Ash was making and she copied, forcing a little moan out in pleasure. Separating for air, Ash looked at the girl and brought both hands into his own as he said. "If that doesn't confirm anything, then I'll say it: I love you too, Misty Waterflower."

Putting a finger to her lips, Misty stayed quiet for a little while as her brain tried to keep up with the processing. Looking directly at Ash, she eventually smiled and nodded her head as tears of joy filled her eyes. "...T-that felt a-amazing," she admitted, mostly to herself as she more forward to lean on Ash's chest. But a niggling feeling arose in her, more scary then the kiss had been initially. "...Ash, h-how will y-your mom react or our friends...w-we're c-considered foster siblings, t-this c-can't work..."

Sighing, Ash knew this was the case. He...did have a plan, but he needed Misty's true thoughts on it before hand. "Well, you could always get adopted," there was a surprised look on Misty's face when he said this, so he elaborated on his statement. "If you get a new mom, dad or both, then it doesn't matter how our relationship is seen as we'd no longer be considered to be foster related."

First, there was a nervous look in the girl's eyes, before it was replaced with excitement and curiosity. Finally, she seemed to settle on a mixture of nervousness and excitement. "...B-but, Ash...w-who would adopt someone l-like me...?" she whispered, looking down. Eventually she felt his arms wrap around her as she whimpered out whilst trying to force her tears back. "...I'm a nervous wreck...I have nightmares...a-and I..." she sighed, unable to hold back the dam any longer. "...Nobody w-would want to a-adopt...s-someone, who's...s-so...dependant..."

It was a fair point to make, one that aggravated Ash to no end. They'd have to find someone, who could handle Misty's PTSD before they could even get together and reveal to the others about their feelings. And the worst of it was, was that Misty's PTSD had likely gotten even worse after her recent kidnapping. Looking back at her, she was glancing down at her game-boy. Her party was on show, with the cursor resting on 'Ashley' the Pikachu. "Don't worry," he eventually said. "We'll find someone, even if it takes us years. We'll be able to reveal our feelings to the others...and besides, we can still be in love in secret."

Nodding whilst teary-eyed, Misty picked up her game-boy and whispered. "...M-mind if we c-change the subject?..." once she earned a happy nod, she decided to show the boy the team that she had crafted on the game in the last hour. Besides 'Ashley'; there was a Charmeleon called 'Miki', a Ivysaur called 'Saur', a Squirtle that she had named 'Bubblegum' - 'Bubblegum' was right under 'Ashley' in the party order, showing the girl's love of water types. And right under that, a Meowth named 'Meowzie' and lastly a Pidgeotto named 'Otty'. "...I f-figured it w-would b-be best t-to have a well-rounded...team.."

Chuckling, Ash nodded and truthfully he hadn't been surprised by the lack of bug types on her team. However, a thought hit him. In the game, she was at the third gym in the game in Vermilion City. How had she even managed to get through Viridian Forest, a place full of bug types. However, he just giggled at his own thoughts and continued talking to her about the game. Even directing her on the moves to use to be able to beat Lt Surge's gym. Surprising, she had taught 'Ashley' the move Dig so it was quite easy for the electric mouse to beat its evolved counterpart. Ash's Pikachu was indeed impressed by this, watching over Misty's shoulder with Togetic not far away.

Looking at his watch, Ash realised that visiting hours were nearly over and he still hadn't revealed Joltik to Misty. "...Mist, this may give you a bit of a heart attack at first. But I'd rather you know now," he explained, before gently calling the electric bug out of her poke ball. The girl's entomophobia made it obvious how she would react and she looked terrified as she moved to the other side of the bed. "She's not going to harm you, I can promise you on that score. She's only got Thunder Shock presently and that doesn't do enough damage to hurt a human more than a shock as the name implies."

"...A-are y-you sure?" whispered Misty, looking a little panicked with her eyes locked onto Joltik's ones. If she was going to be honest, she did think that the little tick or spider-like Pokemon did look pretty cute. If she wasn't as deadly afraid of spiders as she was, she probably would love it.

"I promise and you won't see her often, as I'm not training her for battle. She's too young for that," he explained, gently letting the little Pokemon hop up and down on his hand as she squeaked her name out. "I just needed you to actually meet her, so that she didn't scare you later on," and with that, he recalled the Pokemon to his ball which earned no complaints. This helped Misty fell relieved as she moved forward, nervously. Comforting her, Ash gently kissed her on the lips once again with a smile. "There, don't you worry."

Nodding her head, Misty then yawned and indicated that she was tired again. Noticing her yawning, she blushed and made a quick apology. "...S-sorry...I'm t-tired again..." mentally, she was beating herself up for not being able to stay awake for her new...boyfriend? But, she couldn't keep herself up forever at the end of the day and she was still recovering in the hospital for a reason.

Smiling, Ash nodded and gently pushed the girl down. "You go to sleep, I need to head out soon anyway since visiting hours are pretty much over. Besides you still need to recover, as the more you recover - then you'll get out of the hospital even faster," gently kissing her forehead, he added kindly as he gently tucked her under the blanket. "Night, Mist. Love you."

"...Love you too..." came the cute reply, as Misty yawned once and settled down to sleep. This time, she didn't beg for Ash to stay with her and just let him leave as she knew he needed to go since visiting hours were over. "...Ash," she whispered, just before he left. "...T-thank you for everything..."

Ash grinned, nodding his head before saying. "Your welcome," and he stood there for a second, watching Misty's eyes close and for her soft snoring to begin. "...Have a nice sleep," and with that, he and the Pokemon left the room.

Alright, this was fun. I did the Pokemon Yellow reference 'cause why not and since it made a nice little transition into the confession scene. Next rewritten chapter may have to wait, since I need to find my plans again. This chapter, I think, was the last one I could rewrite before having to find those damn plans.