I've got the motivation to write this chapter by... The one and only... One of the Best... IceCreamAndPizza... Oh God.. She's an amazing author and person, I felt so supported, all thanks to her.
Disclaimer:- I don't own Pokémon.
Note:- leaf's age is same as Gary. And this chapter have a little hurt/comfort. Plus sorry that the chapter is short.
The S60 Cross Country stopped right in front of Romanesque Villa, was conveying an imposing, muscular presence that echoed its capable nature. Integrated tailpipes reflected its sporty dark side, while the roomy, leather interior with ergonomic sport seats, spoke of pure luxury But there was something that influenced Gary's brain even more than that car.
He had just returned to the resort from the nearby market after shopping for some last minute items : His favourite hair gel. He was just entering the palace when he saw that S60 Cross Country stop where his car was parked some moments ago. When the driver stepped out of the car, he felt the blasting of neurons in his brain.
Holy mew!
A woman with fair skin, long brown hair and brown eyes stepped out of the car. She was not a common woman. At least not to him. She ordered the bell boy to deliver her luggage to her room and turned toward the entrance, but noticed the Pokémon researcher standing with a blank look on his face.
"Hey Gary!" she called his name.
"Hello, Miss Matilda!" he replied some moments later, pretending that he didn't even see her.
"Same, old Chuck!" she returned the favour. Her giggling voice filled the air with joy.
He also chuckled in his own style, with tucked hands in pockets.
"Call me by my gorgeous name." This special ability of his to show off to anyone, yes, anyone, was even better than a Hollywood actress.
"Well...you started it. First call me by my name."
"Your name? That's boring."
"Shut up,Chuck!"
"Stop. Let's make a deal. You call me by my name and I'll call you by yours."
"Deal!" She giggled. "Gary"
"Leaf," he grinned back. "So you're invited too, huh?"
"Yeah! May and I grew pretty close lately!" she said, flicking some strands of hair.
Gary just smirked at her reply.
Anything wrong?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing." He flicked his hair too.
"Lets go inside then," she chirped, taking a step forward. He followed her. She was the only female, perhaps, who could make him follow. Others usually followed him blindly. Except some of his friends.
They kept walking to the rooms, until the brunette remembered something, and suddenly stopped walking to turn around in disbelief.
"Shit! How can I forget this?!" Her shouting almost bursted his ear drums.
"Forget what?" he asked,his face void of any emotion.
"Gifts!"
"Gifts?"
"Yeah! Gifts!" she repeated. "I bought gifts for them! And probably left them in the car!"
"What car? Wait! That S60 Cross Country?. Integrated tailpipes with roomy, leather interior, and ergonomic sport seats-"
"YES! That's the one! ! Now stop your rubbish!"
He pointed his index finger back at her. . "You're rubbish!"
"Forget it! ! Let's find that car!"
"Excuse me Mam"
"You wanna joke now?!"
"That wasn't me." She turned her head to see who had just spoke. There he was, a waiter with a heap of bags struggling to see and even stand.
"Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"Shut up Leaf! He might be cursing you! Just take that crap and move your butt"
She took the bags from him and thanked him a few more times, calling the bellboy again before heading to the room. But the gifts were too heavy. Not even the luggage cart could tolerate dragging them more than ten feet . That waiter sure was a legend.
"So, where should we cram these?"
"Uhh... These can only be stuffed in that big-already-stuffed room."
"Fine. Let's head there", she said with a little huff.
They kept walking as they crossed the middle lawns with useless fountains and statues with almost no clothes. Then after crossing the long, gallery they finally made it to the store room. They gave the bellboy their glorious company in the trip, as Leaf was too worried about the gifts to leave them with the bellboy.
When the three, actually four, if you'll count the gifts as fourth person, so when four of them were centimeters away from the door, they heard some muttering.
"…Now, tuck... in your pants...", the familiar voice muttered. Leaf leaned closer to the door to hear better.
"...Misty...can... help me with this too?"
Wait are they...?, she wondered as she pushed open the door and walked in.
"...Shut up..."
"Ash? Misty? What are you guys doing here?" she asked in shock. It took her mind a few seconds to realize who was actually there.
"LEAF!"
"Oh my goodness! ASH! What are you... I mean how did yo...uhh you're here!" Lost for words, she ran towards her cousin like a hooligan to jump on him, embracing him tightly.
"Leaf! It's awesome to see you!" he replied with excitement, returning the hug wholeheartedly, much to Gary's displeasure. For the first time in a while, he actually felt welcomed from a Pallet person. Though she was semi-pallet person.
They broke the hug to look at each other. He actually had some muscles, like serious training muscle. She whistled and punched his arm, "Bro, you've got dashing muscle you know." Leaf turned her glance to Gary for a good response but found the man completely ignoring them and checking god-knows-what in his phone. She sighed realising that this was going to be a war.
When she was done greeting her cousin, she finally looked toward the other person standing behind him.
"Oh god! Misty I'm so sorry! I was so lost with this idiot that I totally forgot 'bout you,'' she apologised with all the possible guilt she had.
"Oh, no Leaf, it's' totally okay. Besides, anyone would be happy to see their long time missing family." Misty smiled at the girl politely. She was already running late for the flower ceremony, so she she didn't mind much "Actually I'm running late for the flower ceremony. I think you guys should also hurry too, cause May will definitely kill you."
"Okay then, let's go!"Ash cheered exiting the room.
"When did he start to love ceremonies so much?" Leaf murmured suspiciously causing an increase in the flow of blood to Misty's cheeks. She chuckled nervously, shrugging in the most innocent way possible. Following Ash, she left the room with the bouquet of flowers.
When Ash was gone , Gary finally looked up from his phone. "We should also go."
"Yeah," she sighed. "Just lemme change into something pink."
"Ma'am, where should I put these?'', The bellboy finally asked, nearly at the edge of his patience.
"Oh crap! I'm so sorry for that!"
She sighed tiredly as she threw her body on the soft mattress. She was not even sure what was bothering her this much. After all, every thing had gone well. Well...almost everything. If you don't count that moment when Ash was about to come near May but Gary cut him off harshly. All she wanted was for the two of them to get along.
But the fact will still remained unchanged, no matter how much she hated it. Gary was behaving like a total jerk near Ash. Ash was trying to tolerate his behaviour as much as he could, but he also had low tolerance. God knows what'll happen next.
Maybe she should think about what went well instead of what went badly. Like how May looked damn gorgeous in her pink dress, which was floor length and had roses of different shades on the waist.
And heck! They had caught Drew two to three times trying to peek at May before the wedding.
And the cupcakes... Yum! Especially that rainbow sprinkled one. She shifted in her bed still trying to focus only on cupcakes until she heard a knock. Idly she got up to answer the door. If some waiter with room service was there with the wrong address, then he was gonna be dead.
"Open up, Matt!"
"Heyyyy! How dare you call me Matt! Stupid waite- oh hey Ash!" She greeted him, shocked to see it was him.
"Were ya sleeping?"
"No. Just tired." She shrugged rubbing her cheek.
"Not even going to bother to invite me in?" he teased as he entered the room anyway.
"Let's have a seat," she sighed rubbing her eyes, as she sat behind him on her bed. "What now?"
"You're asking me?"
"Okay, then. Let's ask Professor Oak.''
"Not that. It's just that I wanted to meet you, like...err...to just chit chat."
How can she believe that this was the same Ash she knew since her childhood. The Ash she knew was full of energy, a little moody, spontaneous and frolic, ready to explore with his curious mind, and always in a happy go lucky mood. Even at the worst situations, he was the one making the deal easy. He is always the one who release the tention, his dazzling personality can crack jokes to keep everyone's spirit high, no matter how solemn the situation is.
This sudden change in his behaviour has cleared her doubts. Maybe she knew why was he so upset. This was surely related to the accident incident.
"Aunt Delia's okay. She can even drive now, and she started her restaurant again," she said, knowing his intention. He lowered his eyes, guilt clearly visible in them.
"Does...does she...uhh talk about...me?" He asked hesitating, and shifted nervously on the soft mattress. Nervousness was making him disable to do any wise action. He just bit his lower lip and waited for her to reply.
"Yeah... She mentions you sometimes, but believe me Ash, she really misses you." Leaf replied. He was staring at the lamp so hard that it could've exploded if he had psychic powers, trying hard not to meet her eyes in every possible way, let alone say something. He felt a lump in his throat, which was quite painful. Leaf could clearly see the mixture of grief and repent in his eyes, which was totally rare in the boy.
She put her hand on his and squeezed a little, trying to comfort her cousin .
"Uhh... I should go to my room.'' He suddenly got up, so she followed him until he left the room, sadly watching him go.
When he was out of sight, he let his tears fall from the corner of his eyes, which were concealed in from a long time.
What's the accident incident? Will be revealed in next chapters. I love the relation between Ash and Leaf, they're the best cousins ever. Anyways, thanks a lot to every one who reviewed I hope you liked this chapter too. Just let me know.