Chapter 37

"I'm so excited!" the girl hugs her mother now that they finally parked in front of Delia's house.

"Me too." Misty says in an unamused tone. After losing to Ash in a battle on Wednesday, she had to agree to wash his car this weekend. Fortunately, Ariel easily convinced Ash to have a meal with the Oaks, so they'll all be having breakfast Sunday morning. Ash and Misty are not ready for Gary and Leaf's teasing.

The redhead spots a different car in the driveway, making her frown deepen. She rarely sees this car because he always takes Charizard everywhere. Of course he would remember to drive his car knowing she will be washing it. Her glare shifts to the front door opening as the owner of the car walks out with a smirk on his face. Pikachu tackles Misty in a hug. She always loves Pikachu's hugs.

"Hey, champ." Ash grins at his daughter. Glancing back at the woman who is tickling Pikachu, he says, "I'll get you a bucket for tomorrow."

"Ha ha ha. You think you're so funny." Misty dryly replies.

"Ariel thinks I am." Ash ruffles the girl's hair. "Right, champ?"

"Yeah, dad. You're funny." She giggles.

Rolling her eyes, Misty lets out an annoyed breath. "Whatever. Just have the supplies ready."

Ash loves having this victory. With Pikachu now on his shoulder, the man and his daughter turn to walk back in the house. "Oh." Ash looks back at his unamused ex. "No Pokemon."

"That wasn't a part of the deal."

"Your pokemon hate me. I don't need them ruining my car."

"I hate you." She reminds him.

He shrugs as he continues walking away. "Yeah, but you're not strong enough to destroy my car."

Ariel can't help but giggle at her parents' bickering over their little bet. "Night, mom! Love you!" She really enjoyed watching their intense battle in the Cerulean City backyard. Ariel has never seen her parents battle before, so it was a treat to see. Pikachu wouldn't battle because he hates battling against Misty. Since Misty's Pokemon hate Ash, they put up a tough fight. In the end, though, Ash barely came out victorious.

Due to it being late, Ash and Ariel head off to bed. As Misty grabs her suitcase from the trunk of her car, she notices Ariel left a bag in there. Sighing, the woman knows Ariel has plenty of stuff at her grandmother's house. Plus, Ariel did bring her backpack full of her schoolwork. Misty grabs the bag, along with her suitcase, to bring into the hotel room.

Morning

"Shit!" Misty mutters as she quickly sits up with a cold sweat. She understands fully well when Ash has nightmares since Ariel's attacks. Even though they took care of those Rocket Admins after Ariel, Kleon's words still haunt Misty. She hates that there's a threat to her daughter's life. With her face in her hands, Misty breathes deeply. She's too busy being a mother and a gym leader for these nightmares to keep disrupting her sleep.

After getting ready for the day, Misty brings a bag full of spare clothes. She knows she'll be washing that asshole's car, which means she'll be getting wet. The woman begrudgingly drives to Delia's house. At least, every drive there is getting more bearable. She used to dread going over and having to spend time with Ash. Yes, Ariel is there, but sometimes, Misty has been left alone with her ex.

Since she'll have to be at Delia's anyway, Misty drops by for a nice warm home cooked breakfast. Delia's cooking is the best. Delia warmly greets Misty at the door because Misty had called the older woman to ask to have breakfast with them. Of course, Delia always loves having Misty over. Delia loves how her son and Misty are getting along again. It's what she's dreamed of.

When Misty follows Delia into the kitchen, she hears someone choke on their food. Knowing full well who would give this kind of reaction to her, the young woman glares at her coughing ex. "What?"

He uses a napkin to wipe his mouth. "Didn't know you were this eager to clean my car." He expected her to come later in the day.

She rolls her eyes while taking a seat next to Ariel. After greeting the girl, Misty snarkily replies to her ex, "I'm not. Just trying to get it over with."

Ash snickers. "If you want a rematch, we can wager some more."

"Ash." Delia scolds her son. "No talks about Pokemon at the table."

Sighing, Ash grins at Ariel. "Should we watch your mom wash my car today?"

"We can wash her car too!" Ariel excitedly suggests, earning a giggle from Misty as Ash's smile falls.

"That'd be nice. Thank you, baby." Misty smiles at Ariel.

Ash furrows his brows in annoyance when he hears Pikachu laughing too. "I think I'll catch up on paperwork." The man mutters. "You should play with the Oaks today."

Ariel shakes her head with a frown. "No. I'm sleeping over, remember? I'll play with them tomorrow." Today is for time with her grandmother and father.

"Okay." Ash smiles at the girl. "I'll do my paperwork tomorrow. What do you wanna do today?" When Ariel opens her mouth, Ash cuts her off. "No chores. We did enough of that this week."

Ariel grins knowingly as she remembers cleaning the gym. "Um. Can we battle, dad?"

"Always!" Ash loves anything that has to do with Pokemon. It's a bonus that Ariel does too, so the two easily bond.

Misty finds herself shyly looking back at her plate. Ever since she and Ash agreed to see each other again, she's been witnessing the great father she knew he could be. It aches her heart hating him, but she hates him for good reason. If the divorce never happened, Misty doubts Ash would be this involved with Ariel. Ariel would most likely resent him and not even recognize him.

After breakfast, Misty heads straight outside to finish washing her ex's dusty car. Ash rarely drives it, so it's not dirty. Just dusty. Fortunately, him not driving it much means that the inside is pretty clean. Misty finishes with the inside of the car, so she hoses down the outside. Catching a glimpse of Ash and Ariel battling carefreely only makes her frown because Misty knows she's here due to losing to Ash's pokemon.

Glaring at the bucket with the sponge, Misty kicks it, though not hard enough to spill its contents. "He's so annoying!" she angrily mutters.

"Who?"

Mew, that amused deep voice behind her is exactly who. Turning to face him with her furious glare, she exclaims, "You!"

Ash chuckles in her face. "Shouldn't have lost the bet then."

"Shouldn't you be spending time with your daughter?" Misty just wants to be elft alone as she's subjected to this torture. It's bad enough that she lost a battle to him and now she has to clean his car. But it's worse that he's here making it more annoying.

Ash shrugs and points to the yard where Ariel is playing with the pokemon. "Technically, she's our daughter."

Holding the sponge out to him, Misty rolls her eyes. "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna help me?"

His smirk irritates her more. "I didn't lose. A bet's a bet." He raises a challenging eyebrow at her. "Unless you wanna make another bet?"

"Let me finish this one first." She mutters walking past him to the hose. Yes, she already sprayed down the car. However, it needs another coat of water.

As Ash is snickering to himself, he doesn't notice his ex aim the hose at him until he's soaked. "Hey!" whines the angry man.

Misty now smirks in amusement. "Better."

"That's unfair!"

"You got in the way." Misty innocently shrugs. "I was trying to get the car."

"I'm not even in your way!"

"Well, you got wet somehow."

"Yeah! Because of you!" he exclaims. Misty's growing smirk as she sponges the car just irks Ash more. Grabbing the bucket, he throws the soapy water at her.

"What the-" the redhead fumes.

Ash innocently smiles at her. "You asked for help. But you got in the way." He mocks.

Forgetting the sponge on the hood of the car, Misty tackles the smirking man. She puts him in a headlock, like she does whenever he annoys her. "You're going to fucking regret that!" She seethes. They're both drenched and soapy as they wrestle all over the driveway.

"I'm still stronger than you!" Ash reminds her, but she is putting up a good fight.

"You're so annoying!"

"You started it!"

"And you made it worse!"

"No, Pikachu, don't!" Ariel shouts to stop the electric mouse from shocking the wet adults. Water and electricity don't mix. The girl and the Pokemon had noticed her parents wrestling, and like usual, Pikachu would shock them to make them stop if it got too bad. However, Ariel is right. Pikachu can't be hurting them too badly.

Misty and Ash are too caught up in their battle to notice their audience. Pinning Ash to the grass, the woman glares into his brown eyes. "I win."

Her hold is pretty strong, and he finds himself not being able to get free. "You're still cleaning my car."

"Then you need to refill my bucket." He is the one who tossed it in the first place.

"How about...no." Ash grins. The moment he sees Misty raise an arm to hit him, he knows it's his opportunity to free himself from her weakened hold. The man easily flips Misty off of him to run away.

"Get him, Corsola!" Misty tosses out a pokeball. Politoed would be too rough with Ash, even though he deserves it.

"I said no pokemon!" Ash reminds her.

"They're not washing your car. They're getting payback!"

Ariel sweatdrops along with the pokemon. At least her parents aren't really arguing. "Were they always like this?" She asks Pikachu who nods.

"Pika pikachu." Pikachu does miss these days of Ash and Misty's childish fights. Back then, he was annoyed with them. However, it's been years, and he knows this is how the two communicate best.

"Watergun!" Misty commands Corsola to attack the man ducking between the cars. Unfortunately, Corsola's attack misses Ash, who dodged it, and hits one of Misty's car tires, popping it.

"Oh no." Ariel gulps while holding Pikachu for security.

Even Ash stops to fearfully look at his ex whose glare now burns with intensity at him. Raising his hands up in defense, he quickly says, "I'll fix it!"

Misty storms over to the quivering man. "You better." She needs it to return to Cerulean City tomorrow.

The man nervously rubs the back of his neck. "Where's your spare?"

Now Misty awkwardly looks away. "Don't have one."

"Huh?"

"I used it last year when I had a flat on the way here. Never got around to getting a new one."

Ash furrows his brows thinking about his daughter stranded on the edge of the road with a flat tire. Misty and Ariel only travel to and from Pallet Town at night. While he trusts his ex's pokemon are strong enough to defend them, just the fact that Ariel had to be stuck on the road at night terrifies him. No woman and young child should have to go through that.

"I'll get a new one then." He offers her a small genuine smile, which makes her calm down.

Why is he being so nice to her? It is kind of her fault for getting her tire popped, though she's glad he isn't saying anything about it. That could just lead to an argument. "Okay."

Ash is relieved she isn't angry anymore. Giving his worried daughter a thumbs up, the man runs inside to change into dry clothes. When he comes back out, he sees Misty has resumed washing his car, and Ariel is talking to his mother who is now in the front yard tending to the plants. The man walks over to Misty. He's surprised she doesn't look as angry as he expected her to look. "Uh. What kinda tire should I get?"

Misty curiously looks at him. She expected him to not want to interact with her anymore. However, this is a valid question. Thus, she tells him what kind of tire to get her. "I'll pay you back."

He shakes his head. "It's fine. It was my fault."

"No. Corsola's my pokemon. I shouldn't have had her attack you."

"I shouldn't have ran at the cars. It was stupid." He chuckles awkwardly. Before Misty can object some more, Ash says, "Besides, you paid for the corphish tails." His nervous eyes meet her surprised blue ones. "Dinner was great this week. Thanks." The man then turns around to call out Charizard and fly off. He doesn't need her seeing the faint blush on his cheeks because he isn't in the mood to be teased. He'll be teased enough tomorrow at the Oaks'.

Misty, though, resumes silently washing the car with her own faint blush. Mew, she hates when he's nice to her. She knows he always has a kind heart, even towards those he shouldn't. It's why she grew more attracted to him when they were younger. However, she's supposed to hate him for the wrongs he's done to her in the past. For their failed marriage. For making her unhappy. Thus, she can't forget all of that just because he's being nice to her now. No. He needs to apologize for his negligence back then.

Flashback

"What else do you want me to say, Mist?" the man pleads.

Sighing, Misty resists the urge to look at his damn goofy smile. It'll make her lose her whole resolve. She's tired of Ash missing visits. She's tired of waiting for him when she isn't even sure he'll show up. She's tired of always forgiving him because she loves him. "I don't need your words, Ash. I need your actions."

"And I'm here now, right?"

"Yeah. Like 3 weeks late."

The man reaches out a hand to hold hers. "Please, Mist. I'm only here for the day. I don't wanna argue when I haven't seen you in over a month."

"Whose fault is that."

"Mine. I know." he softly tells her while rubbing his thumb over her hand. "It's always my fault, but I'm trying."

He always says he's trying, though it's the same thing every time he visits. "I don't know, Ash…"

"Look at me, Mist." He smiles warmly at the woman avoiding his gaze.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

Inwardly groaning because she sees him trying to get in her field of view, Misty grumbles, "Because I love you too much to stay mad at you."

He heard it. Oh yes. Ash Ketchum definitely heard it, but he likes teasing his fiance. "What was that?"

She shoots him a glare. "Because I love you, dumbass."

Smirking, the man closes in on her. "This dumbass loves you too." Mew, it's the reason he fights so hard to come home. He wants to be by her side all the time, but being a Champion prevents that.

Misty's gaze on his warm chocolate brown eyes soften. Okay. She's forgiving him...again. These damn eyes and that stupid sexy smirk on his lips and the fact that he'll be gone this time tomorrow. She loves him, so she will always forgive his negligence. "You owe me."

"I'll make it up to you right now." Ash then closes the gap between them with a kiss. Pushing his fiance down on the couch, the man passionately makes out with her. It's been over a month since he last got to be with her, and he isn't sure when he'll see her again. Thus, he's going to enjoy every second he can get with the woman he loves.

Flashback Over

The store didn't have a tire for Misty's car today. They told Ash that they can order one from Viridian City, but it won't arrive until tomorrow. Thus, Misty's car still has a flat, and she can't drive it back to her hotel room later. Despite the awkwardness, Ash offers to drive her to her hotel after they drop off Ariel at the Oaks for Ariel's sleepover. The man still feels bad for causing Misty's flat tire, even if he does hate her.

Ariel is very happy whenever she has both of her parents together, especially when it's just the three of them. "Remember, tomorrow 9AM breakfast!" She reminds her parents before getting out of the car.

"Yes, Ariel." Misty groans and Ash nods. They are not looking forward to this breakfast. Seeing Gary and Leaf grin mischievously from their doorway makes Misty whisper to her ex, "Drive now. Before they come tease us." Misty is sitting in the backseat while Ariel was in the passenger side. The woman tried to hide behind the seat, but her bright orange hair is obviously easily spotted.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Ash pulls out of the driveway as soon as Ariel is at the front door. He also noticed Gary and Leaf start walking out the door, and Ash will push off their teasing to tomorrow. After dropping the girl off, the parents ride in uncomfortable silence back to the hotel. Yes, they've been somewhat getting along more often, but they still don't think highly of the other.

When Ash drives to the hotel, he parks it in the lot rather than just dropping Misty off. She gives him a questioning look, and he avoids her eyes. "Uh. You can drive the car tomorrow back to my mom's. I'll just fly back on Charizard." It's why he drove instead of flew on Charizard to the Oaks and then here. Well, he also didn't want to sit too closely to his ex. Ash then hops out of the car before Misty can say anything.

Sighing, she follows. She hates when Ash is nice to her because it makes it harder for her to hate him. Unfortunately for Ash, when he steps out of the car in a hurry, he doesn't see the person walking through, so they collide. The person's hotdog splatters all over Ash's shirt.

"I'm so sorry!" The man exclaims to Ash who just smiles warmly.

"It's okay, sir. I'm sorry about your hotdog." Wasted food always pains Ash.

The man's eyes open wide at Ash. "Mr. Champion!"

However, Ash just shakes his hand. "It's okay, sir. Here." Ash hands him a few bills. "For your hotdog."

"Oh no! I can't take that!" the man worriedly exclaims, but Ash is already walking off.

"Please do, sir!" Ash calls behind him while grabbing Misty's wrist to hurriedly walk inside.

The blushing woman rips her arm from his and exclaims, "What are you doing?"

"I'm not in the mood to talk to fans tonight." mutters the blushing man. Today has been too long of a day spent with his ex. Well, this week has been. Thus, he just wants to hurry up and go home and relax. They enter the hotel and Ash opts for a different more secluded exit to fly off on Charizard; however, Misty grabs his arm.

"At least come in and clean up. I doubt Charizard wants that mustard and ketchup on him."

Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Ash smiles. "Yeah. You're right." He knows his temperamental lizard will throw a fit.

Following Misty up the elevator, Ash and her enter the room where Ash heads straight to the bathroom. Misty tries to find something his size in case he needs it. She knows she doesn't have anything that will fit Ash, but maybe Ariel might. Looking through the girl's bag, Misty finds a large blue tshirt. Typical Ariel to have something of her father's.

Misty walks back to the open bathroom to hand Ash the shirt when she sees he's currently washing his in the sink. And not washing it while wearing it, but he had taken it off, so she's looking at a very shirtless Ash Ketchum who she hadn't seen since Wednesday. Prior to that, she hadn't seen this scene in years. Now that she's somewhat feeling nicer towards him, she can't help but admire everything about him. Mew, he aged well. It looks like he hasn't aged at all!

Ash seems to have noticed Misty standing at the door, so he turns to shyly smile at her. "Uh. I'm trying to wash the stains."

Nodding, the redhead approaches him with the blue tshirt. "I see, but you really shouldn't be flying in a wet tshirt. You might get a cold."

Ash can't help but feel his heart ache at her concern for him. She was always the one concerned for him. "I'll be fine. It's a short flight anyway."

Shrugging, she places the blue shirt on the dry part of the bathroom counter. "Ariel had this."

Ash chuckles as he recognizes the shirt. "Yeah. She said it's her favorite shade of blue, so I let her keep it." He lies recalling the day he gave it to her after finding it stuffed in his draw.

Still avoiding eye contact with the man as well as avoiding looking at his toned body, Misty turns around to exit the bathroom. "I see." mutters the woman to herself, though she knows this shirt.

"Thanks, Misty."

Mew, Ash needs to stop being nice to her. They're supposed to hate each other, but why does her heart skip a beat like when they were younger? And why is he saying her name? He's only said it a handful of times since they started seeing each other again. She hates hearing her name from his mouth. Just like how she hates saying his name.

"Misty?" Ash's concerned voice hits her ears and she realizes she had stopped walking out of the bathroom. How long had she just been standing here? Why didn't she leave? However, a strong hand grabs her arm to make her face him, and as Misty slowly raises her head, she spots his muscles before landing her eyes on those warm chocolate orbs that make her heart pound.

Since Ash hates Misty too, he was surprised when he found himself worrying about her. Nevertheless, with her blocking the bathroom door, it'd be rude to walk past her. But then why did he reach his arm out to make her face him? Was he worried she may be crying? Or something? A part of him thought she was upset about the shirt. He knows she knows what that shirt means to them. Nevertheless, they are divorced, so she shouldn't be upset that he gave it away to Ariel.

Now he's entranced by those cerulean blue eyes of his ex, which is why he gave this same shade of blue shirt to Ariel. Cerulean blue just reminds him too much of his ex-wife who he can't help but inch his face closer to. Despite their bickering, he feels like he's getting closer to her. It's almost like old times before they ever started dating. It makes him feel relaxed, like he did whenever he'd be around his best friend. He's missed it immensely, and he knows exactly why it stopped.

Misty tiptoes to get a closer look at those concerned eyes of his, and Ash lowers his face to better see her curious orbs. When they're not angry or resenting each other, do they really look this nice? This admirable and attractive? Why do her lips look so soft? How come his heart is beating so quickly? Why is hers pounding too? How come her eyes can't waver from his? And those lips she's loved tasting the most. Why are they right here in front of her enticing her?

Before either adult realizes, they're kissing as passionately as they were when they were newlyweds. Misty leads the shirtless man out of the bathroom and to the queen sized bed while helping him slip off her tank top. The two aren't even thinking as they let their lustful desires take over. It's been years since Misty last had sex, and while Rudy wasn't bad, he was no Ash. Ash, though, lost the desire with Melody because he too couldn't compare her to his ex-wife, though he'd never admit it. It's like Ash and Misty always seem to click, which makes their sex so much more passionate. They move in sync and their bodies know what the other likes. These years apart are causing their bodies to act while their brains are full of too much euphoria to object.

I've had the end of this chapter written for weeks now lol. Finally glad I could put it in!