Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. This is only for fun.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ash Ketchum stood outside the doors of the church sanctuary watching the woman standing beside him fretting with the lace overskirt of her wedding gown. He didn't know why she was bothering with it. The dress looked like perfection to him. No, she looked like perfection. He was certain he'd never seen her lovelier than she was right now. Of course, he had always thought she was pretty, even though he had teased her about being scrawny when she was a kid. He'd never meant it, obviously. He had only said it so he could watch the sparkles flash in her eyes and see her face change to a color that closely matched that of her hair.
Had he ever told her just how beautiful he really thought she was? Surely he must have. But ... just in case .... "You're so beautiful," he said quietly.
She stopped fidgeting and raised her head, giving him a simple smile along with a slight blush. "Thank you," she murmured. Then with a cheeky grin, she gestured at his tuxedo and proclaimed, "You're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks," he replied, his own smile a bit subdued. He felt a lump in his throat at the thought of what he was about to do. She had asked him to escort her down the aisle. He wouldn't be giving her away, she'd insisted. After all, at age 24, it wasn't like she was being given to her future husband. She was simply making a choice to share her life with him. But it was tradition to be escorted, so he would do as she'd asked and never let her see how difficult it was for him.
Oh, he knew that she realized it wasn't easy for him. She understood his heart well enough for that. He also knew that she loved him too, and always would, but she had determined several months ago that happiness was to be found with the man waiting for her on the other side of those doors. And her happiness was all he'd ever wanted.
He kept telling himself that he wasn't losing her. He should actually be used to not having her around. She'd been away at school for much of the last six years. Somewhere around age 16 or 17, she'd lost interest in training Pokemon, and had come to the conclusion that child psychology was where her destiny lay. She had let Ash take care of the Pokemon she'd had at the time, and when she graduated from school, she had decided that he should keep them. "It won't be fair to them," she had told him. "I'll be too busy to spend time with them. They'll be better off with you." And so he had done as she'd asked then, too.
He was quite proud of the woman she had become. She'd always been strong and independent, and she still was, but her temper and her stubborn streak had eased somewhat, and she had become more generous and kind, often going out of her way to help someone else. She was forever getting him involved in one charitable scheme or another. Of course, he'd always gone along with each one and, again, had done as she'd asked.
Had he ever turned her down for anything?
Music startled him from his reverie and he turned his head as the sanctuary doors began to open. Well, this was it. He looked back at her as he offered her his arm. Gazing at the radiant smile on her face, he realized this was the right thing for her, and he felt the ache in his heart lessen just a bit. He placed his hand over hers where it rested in the crook of his arm and began to walk.
The short march ended all too soon, and Ash found himself at the altar of the church. Feeling her release his arm, he looked into her eyes, then leaned forward and kissed her cheek. With her smile still in place, she kissed him back, then stretched up to whisper in his ear, "I love you, Daddy. Be happy for me."
Barely able to see through the tears shining in his eyes, Ash turned and made his way to the seat reserved for him beside Misty. He sat down and she took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his, as the two of them watched their daughter say her wedding vows. And as Ash felt the joy welling up within him, he knew that, once more, he had done as she'd asked.
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Note: I know there's been rather a glut of 'surprise' fics lately, but I just couldn't resist this. I hope you like it. I apologize to my 'anyshipper' friends for giving in to yet another AAML, but I wanted it this way. And to all of you who've been asking about "With A Little Help ...", I promise I haven't abandoned it. That story is very important to me, and I WILL finish it.
Thanks,
Vickie