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Flames Shine Forth: Part 3
by: Ash's #1 Fan
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They both looked up at the sky that was getting dangerously dark. The clouds pushed into together, making the thunder seem like a loud rumble.
"Oh, man! This is just what we need," Misty said, sarcastically. She reached her hands out to feel light raindrops softly hitting her.
Ash was about to reply, but didn't have the chance, as everything happened at once. Lightening grasped the clouds that hid it, followed by thunder, making a deafening crack. From that, came a heavy downpour of Heaven's tears.
Right away, Ash and Misty got soaked again, just as they were almost dry from the waterfall.
"Come on! We gotta find some shelter!" Ash yelled to her, starting to run in a direction, hoping to find some place to keep them safe from the storm.
Misty began running behind him, hiding her eyes from the rain, so she'll be able to see where she's heading.
Quickly enough, Ash saw a tree with a door like opening at the bottom to keep them covered.
"Over there!" Ash said, pointing in the direction of the tree.
Misty didn't even see where Ash was pointing, she just followed the direction of his feet.
As far as they both were concerned, they didn't get there fast enough. They got there, ducking to fit in without hitting their heads. Really, even if they didn't find shelter as fast as they did, they couldn't have been more drenched.
They could hear each others loud breathing from their running, but the 'hole' was so dark, they couldn't make out each other's faces.
Yet, Misty saw the outline of Ash sitting down in one corner. She decided to do the same, so she dragged her feet over to the other corner, laying her back against the damp tree.
As soon as she caught her breath, she started to feel cold all over again, her wet clothes not helping any. She folded her knees up to her chest, wraping her arms around her legs. At that moment, she was wishing she had a blanket or her sleeping bag. Or even warm, comforting arms from a certain someone...
She looked over at Ash. Her eyes getting more adjusted to the darkness, so she could plainly see that he was just as cold. She knew they would both be warmer if they were closer together...but she couldn't admit that to *him*.
She looked down. Finally sitting down and not running around every where, reminded her that she was tired. If she wasn't so frozen and uncomfortable, she would be dozing off with no problem at all.
"Misty?"
Misty looked over at the boy that said her name. She wasn't expecting either of them to talk to each other, though she didn't know why...
"Yeah?"
She heard a few breaths from Ash before he began talking again, "Are you okay?"
She opened her mouth to reply that she was all right, but stopped herself. What if she told Ash she wasn't okay and could tell she was getting a very bad case of the flu? Would he comfort her? Hold her? She wasn't sure...and it really wasn't a lie. After all, she wasn't that great and knew she would get a pretty bad cold after all this.
But, "I'll be fine..." was all that came out of her mouth. Yet, she was surprised at how she sounded: Her voice was shaking from her wet clothes sinking deep onto her skin. She reached her hand up and, with one finger, gently touched her lips. She hardly thought she was touching them, though, for they were numb. She could just picture in her mind, how shaky, yet frozen, and purple her lips were.
With all this in mind, she didn't even hear Ash slide over to her, so he was sitting right beside her.
"But what about now?" Ash asked her, almost in a whisper.
Misty jumped, "What?"
He slid even closer to her, "You said you'd be fine...but what about now?"
She looked over to see his eyes, but saw nothing, just felt his hand just barely rubbing against the back of hers. He was doing this so slowly, that she hardly felt her hand being lifted closer to him.
Lightening flashed, lighting up the dark tree for a few seconds...but just enough for them to see each other. They were looking into the others eyes...how they knew exactly where to look through the dark, they'd never know.
Misty saw all the worry and care in his eyes that she loved to see so much. She could catch a Dratini and still not be as happy as to see Ash caring about her.
Ash could've swore he saw tears and...love? in her eyes. Oh, how much he just wanted to scoop her into his arms and just let her cry out her worries, with him right there for her. But instead, being as nervous as he sometimes was around her, the best he could do is ask if she was all right.
The lightening disappeared, then thunder was heard again. After the rumbling died down for the moment again, the only sound was the pounding of the rain.
That's when Misty remembered Ash was still waiting for an answer, "I...I'm fine, Ash. Don't worry."
She felt her hand being embraced by both of Ash's now, making it seem warmer, though Ash was cold, too.
"I don't think I wanna stop worrying..." Ash said, shocked of what he was saying.
Misty, too, was shocked. She always thought Ash was too young to know what true love was...not that she was thinking he loved her, of course! But to say something like that, has to have some sort of love behind it...was she talking to the *real* Ash?
"Ash..." she began, but shut up when she felt Ash's one hand leave her hand, reaching up to her face.
"Oh, Misty...you're freezing," he said, moving even closer to her. He cautiously put his arm around her shoulders, squeezing her close to him.
"Ash, I don't think..." Misty said, but only out of bewilderment. She was never, ever expecting him to do this.
Yet...isn't this what she wanted? Yes, she was positive. But when she thought about it...it seemed much less...embarrassing maybe? No, that isn't the word. She guessed the only way to explain it was that when she dreamt about it...it didn't seem quite so real, yet enjoyable all the same.
But when reality came to mind, knowing Ash was really holding her, and this wasn't some hopeful dream, it brought so much more pleasure to her mind, that she forgot all about being cold.
Until she felt Ash's arm leave her...
"Oh, I'm sorry, Misty..." Ash said quietly, heartbroken.
Before Misty could think, she hurried up and grabbed his arm before he could move over to the other corner again.
"No, wait, Ash! I..." she could make out his head turning back towards her, "I just wanted to say that...I don't think I want you to go."
Ash blinked twice, not that it helped any. He was just surprised Misty wanted...well, him to stay beside her.
He sat back down beside her again, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, too. This time, Misty didn't say anything, and neither of them wasn't expecting her to.
At first, she did feel a little awkward, since she's never been in this kind of position with Ash. But, she had to admit, she really enjoyed it. And it wasn't long after, that Misty slowly tilted her head to the side, resting it on Ash's shoulder. However, she lifted it back up quickly and held her head.
Ash noticed this reaction, "Misty, what's wrong?"
"M-my head hurts...when I tilt it, it feels like all the blood is rushing to just one side of my head..." she said, closing her eyes.
Ash didn't say anything, he felt too horrible to say something. Though he didn't want either of them to be hurt, he would gladly take her place, after all, he was a lot more used to pain than she was.
He wrapped his other arm around her front, pulling her into a light embrace. And he didn't even know it, but he was crying...
Misty knew it, though. When he held her, it was unlike any other passion she ever felt. His face was slightly brushing against her neck, which massaged it. She could've fell asleep just like that, until she felt warm drops hitting her neck.
As much as she hated to, she pulled him away from her, seeing sparkles coming from his moist eyes. She reached her free hand up, gently caressing the part of his face beside his eyes. He grabbed her hand again, holding it tightly, pressing it closer to his face. It was almost as if he wasn't sure if she were there, or not.
They began feeling each other's breathing. Getting warmer and warmer as their faces came nearer. Their minds started spinning, so they closed their eyes.
Their lips touched...but didn't move. They both were not experienced in this kind of thing and didn't know what to expect.
'So this is why people close their eyes when they kiss...to stop from getting dizzy and passing out,' they both thought, a little childishly.
They pulled apart quickly, sensing that nothing else was going to happen, since neither of them was making another move.
"I..." they both said at once, not really knowing what do after.
But even before either of them had time to talk, blush, move, or anything else, lightening once again illuminated the black tree, that looked to them to be awfully close.
The lightening disappeared. Then, something worse came with it...
Between the thunder crackling and the rain pounding, they heard something slowly snapping. They were both silent, trying to figure out what they were hearing.
Soon, the snapping sounded like a million bones breaking into more than three pieces. It became louder and faster, able to give goose pimples immediately.
Then, just as their ears were about to burst, a huge bang happened...not caused by the thunder.
Misty had no idea what happened. She was trying to cover her ears and keep her now worse headache under control. Yet, when she heard nothing else, she opened her eyes and the tree seemed...darker to her.
"Ash...what happened?" she was almost afraid to ask.
"I...I think a tree got struck by lightening and it fell...over our exit," Ash said, and Misty could even tell, he was now scared to death.
Scared to death wasn't even close of an explanation for her, more like petrified, "WHAT?! No...NO! That isn't right...the tree couldn't have fell over our exit! We are NOT stuck in here, you're just imagin-," she was beginning to over-react.
"Misty! Calm down, please! You worrying won't get us nowhere!" Ash told her, trying to settle her down, along with himself.
"But Ash...," she slid closer to him, putting her hands on his shoulders, "How is *anything* supposed to get us *anywhere*...now?" she asked, her eyes shaking, though Ash couldn't see.
Though he could sense the fear in her voice and felt her hands trembling on him. He wanted to reasure her, tell her everything would be fine by morning and someone will find them. Yet...he wondered *how* anyone would ever find them where they were!
"I...I don't know, Misty," was all he could say for her.
Misty let out a sob she couldn't keep in. She couldn't help it. From their position, it seemed that they would spend their last few days inside the tree. No food, no sunlight, no life...
Without any of that, it would be a slow and painful death. She slowly put her arms around his neck, putting her head on his shoulder now, biting her lip, fighting against everything, so she wouldn't cry.
Ash knew how she felt. He was just as scared, he just wasn't the one to show his emotions too much. And as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as he could, he knew they were going to be all right. He didn't know how he knew...he just did.
He leaned back against the 'wall', making his back more comfortable. She went with him, never moving from her current position. He began rubbing her back gently, soothing her as much as he could.
Misty sucked in a wavery breath and let it out slowly. She began thinking about earlier. That kiss. Was that kiss meant to happen? Did Ash even remember it? She might not blame him, after all, she's depending on him to comfort her and trying to find a way to get free.
She heard Ash whisper her name, she wanted to answer, but suddenly felt too tired to respond. She wouldn't mind if Ash talked to her though, it might help the time pass.
Two minutes passed...he said nothing. She began drifting further and further into sleep.
It wasn't until about five minutes went by, that she heard him say something. Something that can make her smile, even if she knew she was going to die.
"I love you..."
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