Chapter: Pour

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Delia Ketchum felt her heart break as the raven haired teen across the table from her cradled his head in his hands and let out the occasional muffled sob. His loyal yellow rodent continuously patted the distressed young man's arm gently in a show of support while suppressing their own feelings of loss. The teacup Delia had delicately set in front of her son was now assuredly cold.

There was no worse feeling as a parent than seeing your child's pain and being unable to do anything to fix it.

"I never even got to tell her…"

Ash was home without any traveling companions for the first time since his journey began and after such a long time with friends the loss was palpable, but even greater was the loss of the girl who'd been by his side since day one. Delia Ketchum had found the boy sitting in a slouched depression on her bottom stoop less than an hour ago. Rain had come and gone during the time after which he'd arrived, but by the tell of his soaked clothes he'd made no motion to grab the spare key from under the false rock or even seek shelter under the building awning. One step into the house would have been a step too far if that house was completely empty. Now seated in the kitchen, the tears had run out, but the strangled breaths of dry crying remained.

"You will," Mrs. Ketchum reassured her son, moving her chair next to his to drape an arm around his shoulders, "there's still so much time – you're young."

"But she can't travel with me for a whole year...and then what if she doesn't want to?"

The last part came out as a fretful whisper, as if somehow saying it too loudly would give it validity.

"You'll call and you'll visit. A year will go incredibly fast. And of course she'll want to travel with you when she can again – she's your best friend."

The face that looked up at her reminded her so much of the young boy for whom no one showed up at his sixth birthday party – the tiniest bit of hope overwhelmed by monumental sorrow. Back then Delia had convinced Samuel to bring Gary out of pity, though the boy's budding rivalry had only amplified Ash's party grief. Today she was honestly at a loss for how to help – sometimes the fates were just cruel and immovable.

"She's going to be meeting other trainers when they battle her at the gym...Maybe she'll find she'd rather travel with one of them."

"Nonsense. She has feelings for you too, you know." Mrs. Ketchum offered quickly as consolation. Yes, it was a bit of a breach on the sacred rules of kitchen table secrets, but Ash's pain warranted any bit of hope the elder Ketchum could offer.

"But what if she falls in love with someone else?"

Ash's head buried itself once more into his arms. Broken, shallow breaths escaped from his self made fortress of forearms.

Delia had known that her son had feelings for the Cerulean City gym leader, a big crush definitely, but she hadn't realized it was love. Retrospectively she should have known; Ash always had a big heart and he never did anything by halves. This was going to be tougher than she realized, as it was not just a crush gone awry, but a love unrequited, or at the very least, ill-timed.

Mrs. Ketchum watched the boy pull out a small rectangular, pink cloth and stare at it momentarily before burying his face into the handkerchief which was undoubtedly a mistake as Misty's scent flooded his olfactory sense and a fresh wave of grief washed over him. All his mom could do was quietly pat his back.

"Love doesn't end just because you're far," Delia softly stated.

"I just don't want to end up like dad."

The words came out unexpectedly bitter and sharp.

"I thought you idolized your father?"

Surprise rang through Mrs. Ketchum's voice. She had made a point to not talk poorly of her estranged husband at home as Ash had eagerly watched for any bit of news about his father's battles or travels in youth. But, at some point, the larger than life fable of Ash's dad had run its course and he'd quietly become disenchanted with the old man who's stories couldn't take the place of parental guidance and care.

"He abandoned us, Mom. He hurt the only people who care about him. And he ended up alone for it. Why would I ever want to be like him?"

And there it was, the thing they never talked about, out in the open.

"Your father…" Delia started thoughtfully, "domestic life never suited him. He offered to have us travel as a family, but he knew he couldn't commit to staying in one place for long. And I couldn't do that to you. The thought of you getting sick while we were stranded on an island or lost in the middle of the woods seemed much too dangerous. I wanted you to have a normal childhood, so I made my choice and your dad made his."

"And then we became a burden."

Delia shook her head softly, "do you remember the last time your father stopped by the house?"

"Not really, I was like five…" Ash mumbled distantly.

"He walked through the doorway over there and you and Gary were sitting on the floor of the living room hanging on to every word the Professor said about starter pokemon. Your father got upset because you didn't run to greet him like you normally did, and when he found me gardening out back he told me he was done coming by the house. He could see we were happy enough without him so he no longer felt needed or wanted. He left because we weren't some burden he could tout about to his fellow travelers, we were just fine," Delia said the last bit with an undertone of pride.

Ash blinked curiously at his mom. He didn't even remember seeing his father that day.

"He left because we were happy?" Ash puzzled.

"Your dad left because he was selfish, and he stayed away because he was stubborn," Mrs. Ketchum firmly replied, "he needed our happiness to depend on him for it to be worth something to him."

"But am I being selfish for continuing my journey now? I feel like I'm abandoning Misty." Ash lamented mournfully.

"This is different," Mrs. Ketchum insisted, "And she knows it is too. This is temporary. You're not leaving her forever, you promised you'd see her again and you will."

"But what if I am like Dad? What if I just never learn to settle down?" Ash's concerns spilled forth in an almost inaudible whisper.

If the situation wasn't so dismal Delia almost would have laughed at the absurdity of Ash's statement.

"The fact that you're even worried about it means you're not going to end up like your father. He was unapologetically a vagabond; you've come home more times in two years to see me, your boring old mother, than your father did in the first 5 years of your life."

Delia watched the tiniest flicker of hope come back across Ash's face, and it gave her an idea.

"Why don't you send Misty something special so she has something to remind her of you while you're away? We can go shopping tomorrow before you catch the boat and I can send it through the post," Delia sensibly suggested.

"Thanks mom, but I don't need to go shopping. I already know exactly what I should give her."

A faint smile burgeoned across Ash's face as he stared down at his prized hat on the kitchen table. He never thought he'd part with it given the lengths (and postage) he went through to obtain it, but by giving it to Misty he could show her exactly how important she was to him.

It was a promise he knew she'd understand.

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Got a little sad and sappy with this one, but I hope you enjoyed! It felt like a good early mother's day fic with some Ash/Momma Ketchum moments!

Next chapter will be "Steep" and we'll be delving into something a little funny/awkward and a little fluffy by bringing the Oaks to the table. It's written, I'm just tinkering, but I'm also tinkering with about 4 oneshots at the moment so who knows what I'll post when.

-FWFT