Romancing The Rocket
Part Two
By Chris Devlin
E-Mail: chris_devlin@hotmail.com
Web Site: www.pokeland.org.uk
Genre: Romance - Rocketshippy one
This follows on from part one (duh). Find it on fanfiction.net if you haven't read it.
Note: I'm not sure if I'll do another part, only if I feel like it and I have a storyline I like.
The sun glinted off the shop window, blinding temporarily those who looked at it the wrong way. Jesse stood across the street looking over at the building. Glancing at the scrap of paper in her hand she compared the scribbled words with those on the shop sign. "Collectables, Collectables, Collectables!" This must be the place, she thought to herself. Crossing the street she looked in the shops window at the display. It seemed to be made up of bottle caps, ring pulls and Trading Cards for a kids game that had become obscenely popular over the last few years. One of the cards had a price of several hundred dollars. Jesse shook her head slightly, almost imperceptibly. Kids would buy anything. Turning away she headed for the door and walked in. The place was crawling with kids, each trying to find their own particular purchase before somebody else did. Jesse slowly worked her way through the crowd towards the cash register where the sole shop assistant was trying to deal with at least twenty kids at once. "No, we don't have that card. No your Dibobychu card isn't worth ten dollars. No, no, no." he said to the army of kids before him. Then he spotted Jesse. "Finally somebody who isn't ten years old. How can I help you Miss?" he asked her with a smile. "I'm looking for James. Is he here?" she asked him, holding up a picture of James. "Oh, you mean the boss? He's not here right now." Jesse gasped. "This is James store?" she said, trying to confirm that. The store assistant nodded, "Yep, the boss is taking his day off. He deserves it too. Hardly been away from this place since he opened it three years ago." he explained. Jesse was still reeling from this news but managed to get off one more question before the hoards of rampaging kids shoved her out the way. "Could you tell me where he stays?" she enquired. "Sure. Here take this." the store assistant said, jotting down an address on a piece of paper and handing it to her. Jesse looked at it. "Thanks." she said before turning around and squeezing her way out. The store assistant went back to his work. "Yes. No. Look I told you before, it's not worth ten dollars."
Jesse walked down the street, the summer sun heating the back of her head. James is doing really well for himself, she thought. Better than I, or anyone, thought he might. Her mind decided to go off on it's own stroll down memory lane, thinking of how things used to be when they were all together. When it really was TEAM Rocket. Her body just walked, apparently knowing exactly where it was heading. Before she knew it she had walked into a nice quiet suburban area. The streets were all alike. House upon house of pretty front gardens with porches and dogs. Typical suburbia, the kind you see in sickly sweet kids movies, she told herself. Looking around she found a street name. Hunterston Avenue. It matched the one on the piece of paper the store assistant had given her, and so she continued along the street, looking for house number seventy-five. She found it about half-way down the street. Opening the wooden lattice gate she proceeded up the path towards the house. In her mind she started thinking of things to say. It was then she found that she in fact had no idea what to say. As she approached the door, her mind went into overdrive, thinking of possibilities until it came up with the ultimate course of action. F*****g go for it, she thought and pressed the doorbell.
There seemed to be an eternity to wait before she finally heard some movement from inside the house, and another before the door was opened by a young man, probably around twenty-five with medium length black hair. "Oh, er I'm sorry. I was looking for someone called James. I'm sorry if I bothered you." she said as she turned to leave. "You don't have to go Jess." the young man said to her as she began to walk away. She stopped. That voice, she recognized it. Slowly she pivoted on the spot. The young man stood in the doorway looking at her. Even with the longer, darker hair it didn't take her long to recognize James underneath. "James!" she cried and ran up to him, throwing her arms around him. He embraced her in a bear hug, holding her body to him. She pulled back to face him. She just stared at him for a second, taking in the new look he had. Slowly she moved forward and kissed him. He returned the kiss, but almost as soon as he had, he broke it off, as if suddenly remembering something. She frowned slightly at this before dismissing it. "Come on in." he said to her, and led her inside the house.
Jesse could tell almost instantly that he didn't live alone in the house. Pictures of unknown people crowded the walls, and a lot of the decor wasn't exactly what she would expect of James. But she hadn't expected the new look James either, maybe this was just another part of it. They walked into a small sitting room and James offered Jesse a seat. "So, how're things with you?" he asked as he sat down himself. "Ok, I guess." she said quietly. There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Neither of them knew what to say. Jesse decided to break the silence. "I left Team Rocket." she told him. James nodded in approval. "So you finally saw the pointlessness of it all, huh?" he asked her. She squirmed slightly, recalling why she had left. "Something like that." she said. "So, I see you've done alright for yourself. I was down the store earlier but you weren't there. The place was packed." she said, making conversation, but not really interested. She just wanted to go over to him and kiss him, hard and passionately, before going somewhere more private and making long, sweet love with him. Her mind wandered, imagining the whole scene. Candle's lighting the room in their own flickering light, and soft music playing in the background. She allowed herself a small smile. "Jesse?" James asked her and she suddenly snapped out of her day dream. "Oh, sorry. What were you saying?" she asked him. "I was saying, that I still really care for you, but... Things are so different now Jess. We're not the same people we were all those years ago." James said to her. She was about to reply, when she noticed someone standing in the sitting room door. It was a young girl, three at the oldest, holding a doll in one hand and a teddy bear in the other. The girl just stared at Jesse, obviously not knowing who she was. James had noticed her too. "Hey, come here." he said to her. She shuffled over to James, her eyes always on Jesse. When she reached him he put his arms out and lifted her onto his knee. "Jesse, I want you to meet Fiona. My daughter."
Jesse, nearly gave away her shock by gasping out loud. "Your daughter?" she asked as she looked at Fiona. The girl was quite obviously James's girl, she had his old bluey purple hair and the eyes were almost exactly the same. "Yep." James said as he smiled at Fiona. "Fiona, this is daddy's friend. She's called Jesse. Can you say hello to Jesse?" he asked the three year old. She just sat and stared at Jesse before she slowly brought her hand up and waved at Jesse. "That's my girl. How bout you go play with your toys and I'll be through soon, ok?" James said to her. Fiona just nodded before sliding off his knee onto the floor and running out the door. Jesse watched her go before looking up at James. He was beaming with pride in his little girl. "She's beautiful." Jesse told him. "Thanks." James replied. Jesse sat there, unsure of what to say next. "So, you're married then?" she said, confirming what she already knew to be true. James nodded, "For three years now." Jesse allowed herself a small snigger. "What's her name?" Jesse asked him. "Karen." James told her. "Nice." Jesse said to herself.
They talked for an hour afterwards, Jesse becoming less and less distressed with every passing minute. He was happily married with a kid and another one on the way. His life was content, full. Sure she would never be with him now, but somehow, just the fact that he was happy satisfied her. Apparently he had met Karen a couple of months after leaving Team Rocket. They'd dated on and off for about two years, until James had popped the question. Obviously she had said yes, and within a year Fiona was born. He told Jesse that Karen had made him feel like only one other person had, and that other person was unreachable and out of touch at the time. He connected with her in such away that he had always known she was the one. Jesse began to wipe her eyes. She knew that she'd had her window of opportunity, and had thrown it away. That could have been her and James with their own daughter. Still, that was in the past and the future was still to come...
To Be Continued?
Note: If I do indeed continue this story (I have yet to decide) I may well put in a section on what happened to Meowth or some other piece of crap. Anyway, criticism (as long as its constructive) is welcomed and indeed encouraged.