Forever After
"I hope this works, Ash." Misty said, pacing the bedroom.
"It will, Mist, it will. And then, we can celebrate." Ash said, standing up from his seat at the end of the bed to Misty. "I will make sure of it." He whispered into her ear, and then nibbled on it.
"Oh, Ash!" She said through a fit of giggles. Whenever he touched her, it sent a fit of goosebumps down her spine. "Ash, I need to get ready! If we're going to get the country to agree, I need to look great!"
"Oh, Mist, you already look great!" He replied, kissing her along her neck, making her giggle more.
"Oh, Ashy, look what I'm wearing right now!" She said, indicating to the silky nightgown she had on.
"Ashy?" Ash asked, not caring about the other thing she said.
"Well, it's the only name I can thing of, Your Highness." She said, taking a deep curtsey.
"I like Ash better, Mist."
"Fine, now-I need to get ready!"
"Well, I'll go get one of the servants. I'm sure your new handmaiden would be thrilled to help you out, but she's away at the moment." Ash replied, kissing her lower jaw. "So, I'll help you."
"First of all-I'm not going to use servants to help me dress. And, they better be well paid. You know how I feel about servants and their rights. Second of all-I'm sure my 'handmaiden' would love to help me, but she needs to be gone right now, for others' believes and suspicions about me. And Third of all-" She turned around in his grasp, his arms which were before resting on her waist were now on her lower back. "I would love for you to help me dress." She smiled, as did Ash. Misty stood on her tiptoes and kissed him firm on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he tightened his grip around her waist.
Misty pulled apart a few minutes later. "Now, I have to get ready!"
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"Malena Lily, and Daisy Waterflower." The Royal Trumpeters played a tune, and three women appeared at the top of the steps. The taller, and older, one swept down the few stairs with much grace and dignity that you could have mistaken her for the Queen herself. The middle one slowly floated down the stairs, and walked across the room like she was sitting on a bubble. The third, and smallest, walked down the stairs, looking about the room for a certain man. She found the tan boy's face and smiled, he smiling back. The first two made it to the royal dais, and swept down into a deep curtsey, their heads almost touching the ground, and stayed that way. The final girl did a curtsey behind them, but stood up after a few seconds, keeping her head looking down, a smile playing across her face.
"You may rise." Lance said, a small smile playing across his face as Lily and Malena rose. "I assume you've heard about my son, the prince, not marrying the Orange princess, Prima?" He asked Malena. He knew she was in attendance at the ceremony, but he wanted to see just how many lies she could tell before noticing it was a trap.
"Well, You Majesty, we heard about it, but we didn't know for sure if it was true, seeing as you're wanting to forge a treaty with the Orange Islands, am I correct?" She asked, leaning her head forward.
"Yes, you're correct about the treaty, but I am not forcing my son to marry Prima. He had made a decision before midnight on the night of the ball, and we are going to now go by it." Malena was practically oozing with pride with that-she knew her Lily was going to get chosen. "Now, answer me this question." Lance stood from his throne, with Delilah staying seated in hers. The prince was standing between his two parents. Lance walked to the edge of the dais. "Did you, or did you not, lie to Her Royal Majesty, the Queen or Jhoto and Kanto, my wife?!" Lance boomed, slamming the base of his scepter on the ground creating a large echo.
The room went deathly silent.
"Choose you words wisely, Madame, for they may be your last." Delilah said from her seat. Her left hand was holding her scepter, her right was on the throne's armrest, Ash's hand over hers for support.
"W-well, a-a mother would do anything for her daughter!" She said, sweat pouring down her perfectly make-upped face. A few hairs strayed from the perfect hairpiece she had chosen for herself. She had picked a royal purple dress for herself, a regal red one for Lily, and a forest green one for Daisy. Lily's was by far the most exquisite, then hers, and Daisy's was close to the designs of a servant's dress.
"No, you don't do anything that would or could hurt the Royal Crown! You, the petty knifing thieves you are, should know better than to do anything that could hurt my son, Prince Ash!" Lance shouted, the court was still.
"Mother!" Lily gasped, "I never, in my wildest dreams, thought you would do such a thing!" She continued, stepping back and covering her mouth with her hand. "Like you, Your Majesties, I was just a victim here. She lied to us both, and I'm ashamed to call her my mother!" She said, facing the throne.
"Oh! You insolent, stupid girl!" Malena spat back. She was so mad at her daughter, that she forgot where she was-and who was there. "I can't believe you would even say that! You were just as much into the plans as I was!" She grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her so roughly that Lily's teeth clattered.
"See?! See what I have to put up with?!" Lily asked, pulling her arm from her mother's grip and facing the King.
"Silence!" Lance projected, making the 2 women stop their bickering.
"Are they always like this?" Delilah asked Daisy, her voice dripping with boredom.
"Worse, Your Majesty." Daisy said, hiding her smile, as she bowed her head down and curtsied again.
"Daisy, sweetheart, I'd hate to think you'd have anything to do with this, eh?!" Malena asked, turning to her youngest daughter.
"Of course not! I am here for Lily, like always." She said with an innocent smile.
Queen Delilah stood from her seat, releasing her son's hand as she did so. "Baroness Malena Waterflower. You are hereby stripped of your title, your land is to be given to your lovely daughter, Daisy, and you and your wrenched daughter are to be shipped to Seafoam on the next available ship, unless, by some odd miracle, someone here will speak for you." She spoke, staring deep into Malena's eyes. She watched as the woman's eyes darted around the courtroom, looking for a face. Any face.
The look of horror on Malena's face was fantastic, for Ash that is, along with Daisy. Ash's small smile spread, and he stepped forward one step.
The room was silent, all faces looking stonily at Malena. The silence was broken by a soft voice in the back of the room. "I will speak for her."
The crowd parted, letting the young woman through. Malena's face contested into that of terror. No! She is not here! She's at Sir Gary Oak's. He promised me he's break her…She's not a member of the royal family-she just can't be! Malena fought with the voice in her head as she turned around to see where the voice came from. All the members of the court knew this woman was the one the prince chose as his wife, and so they all bowed or curtsied. Daisy did the same, but Lily and Malena stayed where they were.
"She is, after all, my stepmother." The red head continued, slowly walking down the red carpet. She walked up, past her stepfamily, and to the thrones. She stood in-between Ash and Delilah. She was dressed in a gold bodice with a blue satin skirt that flowed to the ground. Her sleeves were made of a near-invisible material that appeared blue, and went to past her hands. Her fiery hair was atop her head, a small tiara surrounding it as it came down and settled below her waist. In her left hand was a scepter. It was made of solid gold, with legendary Pokémon engraved on it. The dogs were nearest the bottom, followed by Mew, Celebi, and Mewtwo. The three elemental birds were right below the large ruby placed in the gold. And, high above the others, were the 2 other legendary birds. Located right above them was a large stone that would change colors constantly. The magic stone was kept in place by the 4 gold 'claws' that surrounded it. Between her hands and the ruby were spirals in the gold pattern. In-between the spirals were all of the other 240 Pokémon.
Ash put his arm around her waist, somewhat surprised that she came this early. "I don't believe you've met my wife." He bent down and kissed her on the forehead, making her smile.
"Yes. She was married to my son last night, and is going to be crowned today, now." Lance told the court. "Now, my daughter, stand before me." He told her with a smile.
Misty smiled back and stepped before him, Ash taking her scepter. A manservant handed the King Misty's newly made crown, and Misty kneeled down in front of her new father. "I now bestow on you, Misty Waterflower Ketchum, the title of Princess. Someday, you and the prince will rule over this kingdom, with the knowledge of what you learned from study and past mistakes." He placed the gold crown on her head, taking off the tiara, and continued. "Rise, Princess, and greet your people." She stood back up, and turned around to face the court. The rubies, diamonds, and sapphires embedded in the crown sparkled as she looked at the people of the court, then her attention turned back to her stepmother and stepsister.
Ash walked up next to her and handed her back the gold stick, a silly grin on his face, and she walked down the few stairs to face her family. "I remember a time, not but a few days ago, when you told me to bow before royalty." She spoke in an even tone to Malena, glancing at Lily now and then.
"Your…Highness." Malena choked as she fell to the ground. Lily followed suit, but a sob escaped her throat.
"All I ask, Your Majesties, is that you show Lily and Malena the same courtesies they showed me." Misty said calmly as she faced the King and Queen. She turned back to her stepmother. "I want you to know that I will forget you after this moment and I shall never think of you again. But you, rest assured, will think of me every single day for the rest of your life."
"And how long might that be?" Malena dared to ask, her fingers crossed in front of her.
Ash held Misty's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, making Misty smile at Malena. "I hope it's forever."
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A/N-wow! That took a while! And it's not even that long! Well, I think you all wanted something to read, so I'll post this now…. I really want to thank all you who reviewed. You're so kind, and I can really tell who's been with me through the whole story. Thank you!!!!!!
Please review this story. It's not over; I'm going to continue. And, since school's out for the summer, I hope to write a lot over this fabulous summer. I'm having a friend of mine write another chapter to The Show, and I'm writing a chapter to her story. I'm going to write more of The Meeting of Liz, and a lot more to Facing Reality. My Zelda story bites, and I'm probably not going to update it for a while!
Almost forgot! If you want to see some kool pictures I drew of characters from my story here, go to my website at http://malonsranch.tripod.com/pictures/