Chapter 24
"Mommy!" cries Ava as she runs into Leaf's legs.
"Mommy!" Ethan does the same to Marina's, so the two women sweatdrop as they realize they're going to have to mediate again.
"What's wrong, honey?" Leaf bends down to ask her daughter.
"Ethan won't share!" Ava pouts with tears in her eyes.
"It's mine!" the boy exclaims angrily.
"He's just mad because I beat him!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Guys!" Marina yells at the two, which makes them quiet down. "Ethan, you need to share or you can't play at all."
"And Ava, you need to be nice to Ethan." Leaf tells the little girl.
"I don't want to play with Ava!" Ethan pouts.
"Ethan Jimmy Kenta." his mother's stern gaze makes him reluctantly nod.
The two children run off as Leaf gives Marina a relieved look. "I wonder what they're fighting over?"
"Ethan's basketball." the bluenette answers. This makes Leaf freeze before she slowly turns her attention towards her daughter. The women had been too busy chatting that Leaf thought Ava was on the playground. Now, though, she sees the little brunette shooting an orange ball into the 7ft hoop.
Sighing, Leaf stands up, which makes Marina give her a concerned look. "Can you bring Ava home? I'll go start cooking lunch first."
"Uh. Sure, Leaf. Is everything okay?"
Leaf gives her a weak smile. "Yup! All good! I just want to cook a nice lunch." Marina hesitantly allows her to leave before the bluenette decides to play with her son and his friend.
As Leaf briskly walks away, she groans. How did she not notice there were basketball courts there? How had she not seen Ethan's basketball? Why didn't she just drag Ava off the court? The woman chuckles to herself. The answer is the same for all her questions: the sport is too painful for her now.
Fortunately, the walk to the apartment is only a few blocks away, so she doesn't run into anyone. She remembers that, in a few months, it'll be exactly 1 year since she saw Ash. Leaf is relieved to know she won't have to constantly be aware of her surroundings soon, although she does feel bad thinking this. The sooner Ash leaves, then the sooner she can forget about Pallet Town again.
"Leaf?" the woman stops at the voice as she slowly looks over to it. "It's really you." The redhead gasps.
Leaf gives her a tight smile. "Hey, Misty."
The two women sit down at a nearby cafe to talk since Leaf doesn't want Misty to know where she lives or see pictures of Ava in the apartment. Once their coffee arrives, they continue to sit in silence until Misty breaks it. "So this is where you went?"
Leaf nods while keeping her gaze down at her mug. "I had to leave Pallet Town." She painfully says.
"Same." Misty replies while also keeping her gaze on her mug. An uncomfortable silence falls on them again. Misty isn't sure why she called out to Leaf. Maybe it was just the feeling of wanting to know where her old friend had disappeared to and why? Maybe a part of her was just happy to see Leaf again? To possibly have a friend again. The redhead chuckles to herself, which seems to get Leaf's attention.
"I heard you and Ash broke up."
Hearing his name makes Misty stop smiling since there's an ache in her chest. She's tried to ignore anything that can remind her of him just to prevent this heartache. But then why'd she even call out to Leaf on the street? Of course Leaf would remind Misty of her Pallet Town aches and ex, but the redhead just yelled out Leaf's name without thinking. Misty was on a stroll to Rudy's hotel because it's a nice day for a walk. She never expected to run into anyone, especially Leaf of all people. "He broke up with me."
The cold response makes Leaf sympathetically look over at her old friend. "I always said he's a dumbass." The brunette can't help but weakly smile at her old antics with her ex-friends.
Fortunately, this seems to lift Misty's mood as she giggles a little louder than the soft voice she's been using. "Yeah, but I'm dating someone else now, so it all worked out."
Leaf is slightly sad to be hearing Misty is with someone else now, but who is she to question other's lives? Leaf left first, and she cut off all of her friends from her life...however, they seem to be coming back since she's seen both in the same city in less than a year. "Well, Ash is at the army base south of the city." As a courtesy to an old friend, she should at least let Misty know the redhead's ex is around.
Misty gives Leaf a shocked expression, and Leaf thinks she can detect some sadness in the redhead's eyes. "Thanks, Leaf." Misty chuckles. "And Gary is a department head at Johto Enterprises."
Now, it's Leaf's turn to freeze up. Gary's here? The father of her child is here in this city, and he works with her cousin! Misty waving hand in front of the brunette's face wakes her from her daze. "Why are we all here?" Is all Leaf can manage to say. How is it that her old friends from Pallet Town are all in this city at the same time? This can't be a coincidence, can it?
"I don't know." Misty weakly answers while keeping her gaze on the table. Her hands wrap tightly around the coffee mug, which makes her knuckles turn white. What is happening? Why is everyone here in Goldenrod City? What are the odds that all four of them would be here at the same time?
"Ash leaves in the middle of summer though. He's only here for a year." the brunette tries to reassure her friend.
Misty shrugs as nonchalantly as she can. "I don't care what he does, Leaf. My exes don't bother me."
For the first time since meeting on the street, Leaf meets Misty's eyes and laughs. "I remember." This makes the redhead give her a genuine smile back, and the two spend a few more minutes catching up. They share each other's jobs and the general location of where they live, but Leaf doesn't tell her about Ava, and Misty doesn't tell her about Rudy.
Johto Enterprises
"Hey, Silver, can you go on this business trip to Hoenn?" The auburn haired man asks as he casually walks into Silver's office.
Silver glares at the man who just welcomes himself anywhere he wants. "Why would I do that?" No one wanted to go do the talk at the Hoenn branch, so they drew straws, and Gary was the unlucky fella who got the short one.
"Because you're a nice guy."
The redhead rolls his eyes. "I have work to do."
"Yeah, in Hoenn." Gary's disgustingly bright grin irritates Silver more.
"I'm not going."
The auburn haired man sighs. "How about I pay you to take my spot?"
"The company is already paying for the trip and time."
"Okay, how about I pay for an extra person...like that girl you keep having lunch with. What was her name? April?"
"Whitney." the annoyed redhead groans.
"Yeah! Her! A nice little couple's trip. I'll even do all your work here so you can have a few days of vacation over there." Gary continues using that salesman grin of his. He really doesn't want to go to Hoenn. The business trip is just going to be boring, and he'd be forced to do things he doesn't want to do. He'd much rather stay in Johto and be done with work as soon as he clocks out every day.
"Go away, Gary." Silver resumes glaring at his colleague. It annoys him how Gary is a department head, but the man gets the job done. Something about his charm and people skills always seems to seal many deals for the company. His work ethic is also efficient, so they get many tasks and projects completed. Silver just hates how Gary is an arrogant and annoying man who seems to only bother him when the auburn haired man isn't out flirting with the female workers.
Fortunately, Gary leaves after saying, "Think about it." With a wink and a, "Smell ya later!" Silver groans. His peaceful work days have been ruined ever since that man transferred here from Sinnoh. Maybe he will just take that vacation? Of course, he'll only go if Whitney agrees. A slight blush tints on his cheeks as he thinks about her. He's glad Leaf and Ava aren't here to tease him again.
Army Base
"Sorry, Cpt. Ketchum, but you're here indefinitely now." the colonel tells the dark haired man.
"May I ask why, sir?" Ash is so annoyed. Just when he thought he could leave this city, he's told he can't. He's already going crazy enough being cooped up at the base.
"A war is brewing soon. You will be tasked with helping to train the new recruits here. And if our base needs to go to war, then you will be going. It is too dangerous to be shifting soldiers around right now, so everyone will be staying where they are."
Ash sighs as he nods. When he is dismissed, he heads straight to the training grounds to relieve his anger. After a few hours of sparring against a dummy, he finds himself chuckling. "This is good. Now I don't have to suffer anymore." Due to his intense sweat dripping on his body, he's glad that his tears blend in.
Although Ash would never harm himself, he doesn't like his life. It's lonely and sad. A part of him has always hoped for a war so that he could possibly end his misery. A soldier who isn't scared of death is a deadly soldier. Plus, Ash is one of the most skilled soldiers in his infantry. Yeah, he can't wait to go to war.
A few days later, he decides to go for another run. He'll steer clear of the areas where Leaf and Gary work, so he'll just stick with residential locations in the poorer parts of town. There's no way Gary would live there, and it's a weekday, so Leaf should be working. It's also not near the flower shop, which means she may not live there at all. Moreover, the army base is starting to make him lose his mind. What are the chances he runs into anyone else he knows in this city?
Well, as he runs through a residential neighborhood while deep in thought, he forgets to stop at a stop sign to look both ways. It's a four way stop, so part of him expected the car to yield to him, but for some reason it didn't. A loud skirt as Ash closes his eyes results in a very angry, "Don't you look both ways, dumbass?"
Who's calling him a dumbass? Shouldn't the driver have stopped for a pedestrian? Angry, Ash looks up to yell back at the person who almost killed him when he hears, "Calm down, Misty!"
Misty? It can't be...but it is. Chocolate brown meets cerulean green as both driver and jogger gaze at each other in shock. The man in the passenger seat slowly stands up as he turns his head between the two in confusion.
"Do you know him?" The tall man asks her.
Fortunately, this question seems to snap her from her daze as she gets back in the car. "No."
Ash awkwardly looks down at the ground, but before he can run away, the man approaches him with a business card. "Uh, sorry about that. If you need any compensation, just call me."
"I'm fine." Ash mutters; however, the man won't take that for an answer.
He shoves the business card in Ash's hand before saying, "Sorry." again and hopping in the car that soon drives off.
A car honking at him shakes him from his daze as he realizes he's still in the street. Nodding apologetically to the car, he quickly jogs across the street. He didn't know Misty was here. Why is she here? Ash fights back the tears as he feels his chest aching tightly. Although he doesn't like to dwell on it, he's never gotten over his first love, and he doubts he ever will. Just seeing her for a split second reminds him of all the painful memories he left in Pallet Town.
Realizing the card is still in his hand, he looks down at it before shoving it in his pocket. Rudy Ziggy...Rudy? As in the same Rudy from Cerulean City? Blackthorn City Kingdras. He's on a professional basketball team? The man was tall with brown hair, although Ash didn't get a good look at him, but he's definitely the same Rudy he played against in high school. Ash chuckles sadly as he puts a hand to his face. Of course Misty is back with her successful ex. Rudy was always defending her whenever his teammates would try to use her to taunt Ash.
Well, good for her. She's moved on and doing well. He doesn't need to think about her anymore. As Ash starts running back to the army base, he tries to clear his mind from the situation while also making sure his heart doesn't suffocate itself. Why does he have to see someone every time he leaves the army base? Gosh, he needs to go to war already.