Hey there! This is the second one shot of And in Between us! Was supposed to be up a few hours back, but my tablet died and I had to wait a few hours to get it back on, so... sorry, I guess?
Just clear up something before you start reading, these oneshots are in no way connected to one another. They are separate stories just put together in a bundle, because I figured some people like using the text-to-speech feature and they would find it difficult switching from one story to 'nother.
Also, shoutout to Saltyboi257 for being the first one to review! Thanks a lot, it makes my day when I get a reaction or a review! Either are always welcome! But trolls are not!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon nor its characters. It's only the plot I own. ONLY THE PLOT! I don't own the lullaby mentioned in the story either! Credits to the Pokemon Company for coming up with it!
After The Storm…
Misty was a girl who loved learning about myths and legends. It was an interest triggered by her grandmother, who would tell the young redhead about the lores of heroes and extinct pokemon - some of which, in reality, had never existed. However, Misty loved hearing about the exploits of these heroes and pokemon who, more often than not, possessed amazing supernatural powers and saved the world time and time again.
This was a prime reason why the redhead had a mild, barely-there interest in reading fiction. It was something that helped her cope with her grandmother's eventual demise, more so because her parents never even bothered to return and left long before they could hold the hand of their youngest daughter when she first began to walk.
It - her reading, that is - started growing into a stronger habit the more her reading skills improved. After developing a sort of affinity towards her newfound hobby, she was encouraged by her sisters to visit the library to borrow and read some novels. Young and naive Misty would gladly accept their advice, and her sisters enjoyed the absence of the youngest Waterflower in the gym.
Years flew by, and it wasn't long before Misty had turned ten and she could proudly boast that she had read a staggering amount of novels - a majority of which were romance novels and a select few were adventure/thrillers.
In most of the stories she had read, a seemingly impossible task was to be accomplished by the characters in the end, after which there was a very, very happy ending… although a few characters would have to starve from not being able to fully complete their goals. And the lack of such an experience in reality led her to believe that such things only ever happened in the fictional world…
Oh, how wrong she had been all this time!
On a clear night, when the sky was glittered by stars and other heavenly bodies residing in the far-off space and where the Viridian Forest along with Pallet's grasslands was illuminated by the moonlight, eleven-year-old Misty found herself attacked by a rare bout of insomnia. She had been tossing and turning in Ash's childhood bed, while the boy himself slept on a blowout mattress laid on the ground. Courtesy of the state of unrest she was in, Misty would peer down at the aforementioned boy from over the edge, and every time she would find him neatly tucked under the bed sheet that covered his body from the slightly cold weather. It was a telltale sign that he wasn't having a comfortable night.
And neither was she.
She assumed that was to happen. But unlike her friend - no, best friend- she couldn't even dare to close her eyes. For every time she did, terrifying thoughts came rushing at her. Ash's pallid face, accompanied by his limp body floating listlessly on the raging sea penetrated her thoughts and she was forced to reopen her eyes - lest she scar herself for the rest of her life.
She shifted underneath her own set of covers feeling very uneasy, and this time turned to face the triangular window. Through it, bright moonlight allowed itself entry into the small room that was next to the attic. She closed her eyes apprehensively, trying to coax sleep to come around. But after a few moments of squeezing her eyelids shut, she gave up. It wasn't her mind teasing her this time; rather, it was the bright white light.
Feeling like an insomniac, she looked straight back at the white sphere high up in the sky. She could see a big grey area shaped like an angry Feraligator hunching over at its prey, but other than that, it was like a blank slate. Anything could be pictured on it. Anything…
Perhaps her mind knew this, because soon enough, she saw grandma's facial features etched on the moon, skin folded in several places as she seemingly smiled down at her, providing her with the strength she thought she needed. Only, it seemed to leech away whatever little willpower she was left with…and a tear slipped down from her eyes.
Misty wasn't a crybaby and she took pride in not being one. Sometimes, she would get a little too emotional and become overwhelmed and end up shedding a few tears, but in her books, it didn't count as being a crybaby. 'Crybabies,' as she liked to think, wailed for every small reason. Her sisters were the epitomes of 'crybaby.' They even cried and got freaked out if their mascara or their lipstick didn't have those absolute perfect curves..
But today, this one time, she couldn't keep holding up her walls anymore. Probably for the first time ever, she had to admit that she did need someone to comfort her. A hug preferably. And it couldn't just be any kind of hug - it had to be like the kind she got from her grandmother or the kind Daisy had once given her when she felt too lonely.
Their visit to Shamouti was supposed to be a fun-only trip. But instead, it had turned out to be a rescue mission. Sure, the sudden adventure had brought (?) their friendship to a whole new level, but with Ash putting his life on the line while being the Chosen One of the prophecy and her having to bring him back from near clutches of death, Misty wished that it was a dream she had seen in a prolonged state of unconsciousness; wished that it was something worked out by her imagination as a result of reading too much fiction. But it wasn't. It was real… every single moment of it.
Dreams were black and white. Shouts and screams in dreams never hurt her ears. Pain was never felt. She was never so scared. Dreams... were kind of numb.
She wrapped her arms around herself and turned away from the wall to face the closed door. From the hooks on it, a garland hung - the very one that was used when he was crowned the 'Chosen One.' Taking in a few deep but silent deep breaths, she willed herself to stop crying. It's over, she scolded herself. Crying was pointless when everything was right again. She didn't need to cry.
It was a bit harder than she thought it would be, but eventually she stopped and her furrowed brows evened out. Her clouded mind cleared, and now, she felt quite restless. She stretched out her legs, and for the first time in the entire night, she heard the bed creak.
She froze.
She turned around again to confirm her suspicions, and sure enough - the old furniture creaked. Very loudly, in fact.
She couldn't sleep… but that didn't mean that her roommates couldn't, either. They shouldn't have to spend a sleepless night just because she was going through one. So from then on, until the first rays of the light of dawn hit her, Misty swore she wouldn't move - not even flinch - fearing she would wake Ash.
But she was sleepless and the very bright moonlight disturbed her. She was restless too. So she proceeded to find something that would distract her and possibly clear her mind of the events that she went through.
But the fact was that it was Ash Ketchum's bedroom. As a result, it didn't take Misty very long to find something that would be capable of distracting her. In fact, she had found something worth her interest quite instantly.
Just below the window frame and above the meeting point of the mattress and the green wallpapered wall, she discovered a grey and coarse layer of the cement amidst the smooth green layer of wallpaper.
As she examined, she found this particular portion of the wall that was decorated with pencil scribbles, fading fingerprints, torn stickers, and some terrible attempts at spelling out the names of some Kantonian Pokemon, etched in Ash's terrible handwriting.
TowRose… Garydos… Miyuu… NidawRun… Magic Cap…
Basic names of Pokemon. The Pokemon that belonged to the Kanto region, whose names were taught even in the most mediocre trainer's academy. Making mistakes of such names was practically unforgivable.
Misty had been trying to hold it in for quite a while now. Little kids, sometimes even adults, made some laughable mistakes while writing Pokemon names, but these looked like they were intentionally written this way.
She burst out in a soft, controlled fit of unstoppable giggles, because there was no way she would be the reason Ash would wake up. As her eyes ran over the names again, she saw small fingerprints of graphite, tiny specks of poster colours, and at some unfortunate point she had noticed the little horns around the Gary in the misspelt version of the name of the Atrocious Pokemon, and what was controlled only until a few moments back went berserk, and Misty had to clutch her stomach and bury her face in the pillow; her muscles hurt from trying to subdue herself.
At least it had managed to take her mind off the events in the Shamouti isles.
XXX
Ash was used to seeing rampaging Pokemon.
There were moments in his childhood when he would see a Nidoking or the likes its size go completely nuts and end up smashing their heads on a tree. He vividly remembered seeing one break the trunk of a big tree by ramming into it again and again until the tree began to tilt towards the direction of the brutal force and he barely managed to scamper out of the tree's way. Barely is the keyword here.
But what Ash wasn't used to seeing were rampaging Legendaries. God Pokemon - Legendaries, who were meant to restore and maintain harmony - wreaked havoc; and if he was being truthful to himself, he didn't want a repeat. He didn't want to be the main hero of the crisis again. Heck, he didn't even want a crisis to begin with. Being a sidekick hero was still okay, but he didn't want to be a 'Chosen One,' the main hero, for a second time. If he had a choice, Ash would gladly trade his role for Misty's or Tracey's.
He would even change his name to Bob.
With that noble idea in mind and led by his childish naivety, he had shared his thoughts with his female companion. He had told her that the moment he would return to Pallet, he would change his legal name. He shall be known as Bob Ketchum; and hey, it didn't even sound all that bad. In his opinion, it was actually cooler than Ash Ketchum. So, the moment he had told his best friend about it, he had expected a sincere approval. That yes, it was indeed sensible to change his name. Then he wouldn't be a part of another twisted prophecy. Problem solved.
But what followed were several relentless whacks at the back of his head and a few on his shoulder, followed by admonishing screams about how insensitive it was on his end. Then after hitting him a little more, she had calmed down, took a solemn seat on one end of the couch and asked him:
"What does 'Ash' mean?"
For the longest time, the raven haired boy had stared at her, as if she had suddenly grown a horn or two. But then, her face showed no signs of sarcasm and indeed, she was dead serious. Still, he found the question pointless and he had almost told her the 'ash' meant the charred remains of something that was burning, but didn't because at that very moment, he remembered a brief moment in his childhood…
"Mom, why did you name me 'Ash'?"
The question was addressed to Delia, who was busy washing the dishes in the kitchen sink. On hearing her son's unusually cryptic question, she turned around and faced her with a puzzled look.
"What do you mean, Ashy?"
"Today, at the Oak Lab…" Ash began as he bounded towards her from the threshold with flailing arms and an excited grin, "Gary told me that he is really strong because his name means a 'very, very strong person,' And then he asked me what my name meant, but I didn't know… Mom, is my name cooler than Gary's? What does it mean? Mom? Mom!"
Giggling, Delia gently placed a finger on his lips, hushing him. Then, scooping him up in her arms, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead. But the eight-year-old looked more confused than he already was.
"Well, Ash, a lot of your namesakes, people who share your name, are named so because your name means, 'at the ash tree.' You know which ones they are, right?"
Ash nodded. "The one at the back of our house." He was a little disappointed that his name didn't mean a really cool person or superpower, but the tree in his backyard was his favorite, and being named after it was pretty cool too!
"But your name means something very different to me. You see, when a fire passes, it leaves behind ashes… but they are very helpful. Before your father left for his journey, he gave me a very special present, which I love so much! But, that was all that he left behind with me, and I am glad he did. Because I love my Ashy so much!"
At that age, Ash didn't really know what his mother meant by that explanation, but he vividly remembered the night of the conversation and the day after, when he parrotted his mother's words to Gary. But neither boy could figure out the meaning behind Delia's words and it had remained an interesting mystery, until today, when he finally managed to unravel it.
Misty had been smiling at him from the other end of the couch and she had leaned towards him and ruffled his hair while explaining how heartbroken his mother would really be if he did change his legal name.
But that still didn't mean he could put up with being the Chosen One.
So that left him in his sleepy state having nightmares and reliving moments in his light sleep. Unlike Misty, he wasn't exactly able to snap open his eyes and pant heavily to calm down and console himself. He was still asleep, although he was dimly aware of his surroundings.
Then, at some god-send moment, a faint female voice broke into Ash's thoughts. As his mind processed the sound, the details of the nightmare began to fade away from his head, and seconds later, his eyes were wide open and searching for the dream he was previously seeing. Little did he remember that he would rather not want to see it.
Annoyed, he glared towards his bed as it creaked and soft, muffled giggles came down from it. So that was what had disturbed him. He kept his glare directed towards the furniture until he decided that Misty would not stop until he told it to her face. Personally, he was also curious about what was so funny and the idea of the one having the upper hand was very, very appealing.
Fuelled by his curiosity and his apparent want for revenge, he began ascending the ladder. Over the years, he had mastered the art of climbing up and down on the seemingly flaccid ladder without creating a single creak, and boy was it handy now.
On the other hand, Misty had managed to get a hold of her seamless giggles. She was in the process of catching her breath as she removed her face away from the pillow. But the moment her eyes lifted, they met a spiky black bush followed by Ash's slightly tanned skin, and what she saw next was a reaction from Ash that she never thought she would be at the receiving end of.
He was annoyed. Terribly so.
And she knew why.
"Heh...hey, Ash," she began in a rare sheepish tone, only for Ash's brown irises to narrow.
And the moonlight definitely didn't help her in getting equal ground.
She tried looking straight into his eyes, but they set ablaze by a white fire that was definitely sparked by the omnipresent moonlight.
And it made her overestimate his anger.
"Umm… did I wake you?"
She watched as his groggy head nodded up and down in a deadpan fashion; she truly felt guilty.
Misty Waterflower making a mistake and getting caught was truly a damaging blow to her pride and Misty was nothing if her pride was not there. Letting herself laugh over a stupid thing and getting blamed because of it was the last thing on Misty's 'to-do' list, and she felt like an idiot for having it get crossed out early on.
She supposed she could only get better from there.
"What were you laughing at?" Ash asked with his eyes still half-shut, as he hauled himself up into a sitting position at the edge of his bed. His left leg dangled listlessly over the edge while he folded his right and then he leaned on his left arm. Misty, finding her position quite uncomfortable, sat up into a cross-legged position while she leaned against the wall.
"Nothing really in particular," she answered with that sheepish look still on her face and Ash snorted indignantly.
"It had to be something…" Ash trailed off as he searched for what had left Misty in splits. His mouth twisted, with brows furrowed when he realised that it was those inscriptions he had made in the wall as a child and his face turned red with embarrassment. He thought they were...
"I thought she had covered those things when she said that she put up a new wallpaper in my room!" he wailed silently and his redheaded friend let out a short huff of laughter. She quickly plastered a hand over mouth, but she failed miserably.
He looked at her, annoyed.
"Just wait till the day I see your bedroom… I bet it'll all be pink!" he mocked, knowing full well that her bedroom would not have the slightest shade of pink anywhere. Not if she could help it, anyway.
Now it was her turn to snort.
"I don't even have a bedroom to begin with!" She shrugged like it was no big deal and Ash's jaw dropped.
"Whaddaya mean you don't have a bedroom? Where did you sleep then?" He asked, appalled. He knew from Misty herself, her own sisters never cared about her existence much, but not having a personal bedroom was downright cruel. As a result, he didn't believe her. He searched her face for some kind of joke, but he found none.
"I slept with my sisters," she said, shrugging with that same nonchalance. She then proceeded to hold up three fingers as she explained:
"Our house has only three bedrooms, and since Daisy felt like I could keep my stuff in her closet, she never bothered fixing me a room. Lily and Vi had agreed taking turns sharing the bed with me, but most of the time it was my couch." She snickered, apparently having found an inside joke, while Ash nodded understandingly missing the action.
"My mom just divided the attic in two because she thought that the guest room downstairs would be too big for me. And well… guests need a guest room."
"At least she did do something about it," she retorted as she tried suppressing a yawn. Her eyes squinted, and a hand immediately flew up to her mouth, covering it. Ash gave her a pointed look.
"You're sleepy," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone while pointing an accusatory finger at her, only for Misty to stubbornly shake her head, still yawning. In the process, her long bangs fell in front of her eyes and she flicked them back effortlessly. It was only when she did that, however, that Ash noticed the prominently darker position under her eyes, and he could easily tell that she was tired and she would gladly fall asleep at any given moment. After all, they had spent an entire day without sleeping and chasing after three raging birds - big birds. Why she didn't do so already was his question.
Ash, being Ash, asked the question immediately, not even considering what the reasons could be.
"I… uhh.. I… I was having some bad dreams." she stammered out, obviously uncomfortable voicing her troubles.
"What were they 'bout?" Ash asked almost immediately, though he had a feeling it was about their adventure in Shamouti that was not even twenty-four hours back. He knew, because Misty had been oddly quiet during their ride back home on Professor Ivy's personal jet, as she let her wet, sloppy bangs cover her eyes. While he hadn't been looking at her all the time, he had felt her worried gaze at him when his eyes were on the windshield ahead as he was being pressed into his mom's side, too excited to sleep his way home.
He watched her as she looked down at her hands on her lap, fidgeting. She rarely ever did that kind of thing, so in Ash's mind it was a red flag that she was indeed uncomfortable and he needed to help her.
Ash often came off as rude, giving people the impression that he was insensitive, but inside, he was really an innocent and a helpful boy. It was this helpfulness of his that made him feel compelled to assure her that it was only a dream. But the second his hand touched her shoulder, she shrugged it off.
Sticking her tongue out at him, she flopped back down on his bed and turned away from him, mumbling out a muffled 'goodnight' before she faked snores. Ash looked at her wide-eyed for a few moments and then he flopped down beside her, the bed shaking violently on the impact.
Without looking at him, she picked up one end of the bedsheet, and let Ash shuffle inside and escape the cold. Once inside, he pressed his chest to her back and wrapped his left arm and leg around her, while his right arm served as his makeshift pillow.
He was trying, trying to comfort her still... even when she did not vocalize any of her troubles to him. To both of them, the reason was fairly obvious.
Misty squirmed, trying to make herself comfortable and she felt nice enough, she held his palm in hers grasping it with both hands.
Ash grinned. Misty's hold on his hand felt like she was willing to confide in him, as one of her thumbs stroked the back of his hand. So he asked again and this time she answered, giving Ash the impression that she had told him everything, but she didn't tell him about his brief period of unconsciousness. The last thing Misty needed was for Ash to ask her a million questions about that moment and ask her to describe what really haunted her and in return, freak himself out. Nope, she definitely didn't need that.
Following her mini confession session, the two fell into a soporific silence, and stayed like that for quite a while. They both were exhausted to the point of passing out, and they would have fallen asleep … that was, until Ash began humming a quiet tune, and Misty was tempted to stop him from exercising his hoarse voice right next to her ear but then he delved deeper into the tune and, all of a sudden, the redhead found herself enjoying it.
"Close… your… tired… eyes…" he began at some point, while he tapped his foot on the bed rhythmically right next to her own pair of feet. Misty listened intently while she absorbed the tune. It wasn't the first time she'd heard him sing in general, but it was definitely the first he was singing such a delicate tune. He was inexperienced, she could tell. His voice shook too much. The way his vocal cords could not produce the high-pitched sounds but yet how he hit the lower notes perfectly were a telltale sign. She chuckled softly when he failed to produce a particularly shrill note and cleared his throat, inadvertently torturing her ears, and tried again, this time with a more gruff voice.
"Nah...nananah...nah…" he eased as he entered the bridge and he prepared to restart the lullaby. This time, Misty was somewhat acquainted with the notes and she began humming as well. So when Ash started what was, unbeknownst to him, called the intro, he was mildly surprised to have Misty join him. Not that he was complaining… more often than not, he, Brock, and her would set up a little singing contest during the nights spent in the forest; and she would always win.
Together, they began the tune this time, and Ash corrected himself whenever Misty's voice sounded a little different than his own. Each time was better than the previous attempt, though Ash did not have it in him to master the shrill notes. Their melody was nowhere near perfect; it sounded disoriented with Ash's voice becoming too deep or too high-pitched to keep up with Misty. But they were so in pace with one another that Pikachu didn't complain about being awoken by their singing session. Instead, he flicked his tail back and forth and sang the song in his own version of quiet pika-pikas. This one was a rare moment of the ten-year-olds working together without trying to eat each other's head off, and Pikachu wanted this moment to last.
Before he knew, Ash's eyelids drooped heavily and he was soon fast asleep. Misty, too, was getting sleepy, as she drifted in and out of consciousness; and for once, neither the moonlight nor her seemingly cruel mind could disturb her. Ash was right next to her, safe and sound asleep, and she wasn't preparing to jump into any freezing sea to save her best friends. They were both safe and that's all that mattered.
Thanks a tonne to Acanthus Addams for pointing out the several punctuation mistakes in the oneshot -hides in shame-
Seriously, do check out their stories as well!