DISCLAIMER: I do not own Pokémon or the song "Queen of my Heart" by Westlife.
A/N: Okay, I swear only the chorus of a Westlife song is in here! Anyways, this is the sequel to my story "I Can Wait For You." It's not crucial that you read that first, you can pick most of it up from here. The italics are the song words, by the way!
I'll always looks back as I walk away
This memory will last for eternity
And all of our tears will be lost in the rain
When I find my way back to your arms again...
Misty couldn't take it anymore. That one chorus described the end of her last summer too well, and she wrapped her arms around her head, which was resting on her sketching pad. It was bad enough first period of school was art, but to have the classroom radio playing lyrics that were too true for her was more than icing on the cake.
"Look, she's crying again" one particularly nasty girl in the class sniggered, right within Misty's earshot.
"You'd think she'd be over it by now. What's it been, nearly a year?" another girl commented. The news that the youngest Sensational Sister had watched her boyfriend being arrested for drug possession had hit the headlines the previous year and, as a result, Misty was not winning any popularity contests at school.
When the only students of the school were female, bitching had to be expected. And now, Misty Waterflower was practically the sole target of the cattiness, her only ally being her one true friend, Josie, who promptly turned the radio off.
"Give her a break, guys" Josie snapped in obvious agitation. Her mother was the principal of the school, which gave her a bit more of a power edge. The other girls turned back to their sketches with ominous glares on their faces and Josie placed a hand on Misty's shoulder. "Hey Mist, are you ok?"
Misty slowly lifted her head and nodded. "I'm alright" she said hoarsely.
"Has he written to you yet?" Josie asked.
"No" Misty replied quietly. "He's not allowed to until he knows when he's getting out." She was, of course, talking about Ash Ketchum's release from the prison he had spent the last nine months in.
"So you've got no idea when he gets out?" Josie asked gently.
"Not a clue" Misty sighed. "All I know is that he's not allowed bail, he has to serve a full sentence. God, Josie..." She trailed off and bit her lip. "I miss him so much. Why does it still hurt?"
"Because you trusted him. He violated that and of course it's gonna hurt. Even if you get back together when he's released -"
"What do you mean 'if'?" Misty interrupted her friend.
Josie raised an eyebrow. "Misty, you told him yourself that things would never be the same between you two."
"But that doesn't mean we can't get back together!" Misty exclaimed.
Josie sighed. "Relationships have to be based on trust."
"I trust Ash" Misty said.
"You do?" Josie asked, obviously surprised.
Misty hesitated before she slowly answered. "Not as much as I used to."
"I thought so" Josie said wisely.
"But he told me he could wait for me to regain his trust" Misty pointed out.
"Oh I'm sure he can wait for you" Josie agreed. "But can you wait for him?"
Misty was sent into a shocked silent that wouldn't break, even when the bell rang and everyone began packing up. The question played on her mind endlessly. Why couldn't she answer with complete confidence that yes, she could wait for him? It was nearly summer again, nearly a year since she had met and fallen in love with Ash. It had been so long...she could hardly remember how she had felt with him. She knew she loved him, but the feeling of being in love had escaped her completely. And in every class she had, that realisation scared her more than anything.
School let out at three, another day closer to summer vacation. Every high school student was counting down the days, which had dwindled down to two.
Misty's three sisters, who had graduated the previous year, were all watching TV when Misty walked through the door, misery imprinted on her face.
"Hey little sis" Violet greeted her as she flopped onto a spare chair.
"Hi" she said flatly.
"Oooh, sounds like a bad day at school" Lily teased with a grin.
"I guess you could say that" Misty shrugged. She never let her sisters know how truly awful her life got at times.
"No, nothing in the mail for you" Daisy answered Misty's silent question.
"What made you think I'd care about the mail?" Misty asked nervously.
Daisy laughed. "You've only asked about it every day for the past month."
"Oh" Misty muttered.
"Like, don't worry about it sweetie. We know you miss him" Lily said soothingly. Misty nodded and attempted a weak smile.
"I have homework" she announced as she stood up.
"Okay" Violet shrugged. "Have fun."
"Yeah whatever" Misty muttered under her breath and started trudging up the stairs. She was halfway up when the doorbell rang.
"Misty! Go get that!" Daisy ordered. Misty obeyed without hesitation, not wanting to get on the wrong side of her sisters. She slightly brushed away her bangs and opened the door, expecting to see the anonymous face of a challenging trainer. But instead she found herself letting out a small scream as she came face to face with Ash, who was broadly grinning. For a moment she could only stare, silenced by the shock running through her.
"A-A-Ash" she stammered, half-leaning on the door to stop from falling over. "W-what...how did you..."
"Hi Misty" Ash said softly. "I got out yesterday with six months probation."
"Yesterday?" Misty asked breathlessly. "Why didn't you write?"
"Not enough time" Ash shrugged. "God Mist, I..." He trailed off and hesitantly touched her cheek, which slightly tensed as the 2 fleshes collided. "I missed you so much" he whispered.
Those last five words sent Misty's heart on wings and she smiled. "I missed you too." The emotions of their reunion were nearly overriding her memories of the previous summer. But before she could get too swept up in the moment, the floodgates of her past opened and the familiarity of pain hit her as she took a step back.
"Misty? Are you okay?" Ash asked worriedly.
Misty shook her head. "You honestly weren't expecting me to just jump in your arms at first sight, were you?"
"No, I wasn't" Ash said honestly. "And I deserve it. I deserve every piece of crap you're gonna hurl at me." The acceptance of his words left Misty temporarily speechless, and on failure to find the right thing to say, held the door wider.
"You better come in." Ash hesitantly walked in. "You want a drink or something?" she asked as they made their way to the lounge.
"No thanks, I'm fine" Ash politely declined. He followed Misty into the lounge where they were met by the rapidly widening eyes and gaping mouths of Daisy, Violet and Lily.
"Oh my god" Violet whispered.
"It's...like, wow" Lily breathed. Misty gave her sisters a sheepish smile. They were certainly more verbal about the surprise of it than she had been. But even though Lily and Violet were blown away in amazement, Daisy couldn't help remembering the same thing Misty had. The pain he had caused her younger sister had slightly rubbed off on Daisy herself. For the past nine months she had hated watching Misty's vivacity and exuberance evaporate faster than water to the clouds. And all because of him.
"If they let you out on good behaviour, they shouldn't have. You might've been clean in that prison but the shit you put Misty through can't be redeemed by a surprise visit" Daisy remarked coldly.
"Daisy!" Misty exclaimed in both shock and embarrassment. "I can fight my own battles, you know! And who said anything about being let out on good behaviour?"
"It'd be all he could get away with. He should be there for life" Daisy replied.
Through her icy comments, Ash only stared at her, his face void of all emotion. He didn't retaliate, he didn't send her any facial evils. He almost seemed to be accepting of what she was saying.
"Daisy, that'll do" Misty said through clenched teeth. "Can you guys give us a couple of minutes?"
"Sure thing" Lily nodded as she and Violet led a surly Daisy away.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry about her" Misty apologised, sitting on the sofa opposite to the couch Ash had crashed on.
"She's right though" Ash commented quietly.
"What?" Misty asked in astonishment.
"I can't believe what I did to you. We loved each other, we trusted each other, you told me things you'd be afraid to tell anyone else...and I didn't even have the courage to tell you I'd sold weed a couple of times over the summer." Ash sighed and bit his lip. "After all that I was sorta expecting you to slam the door in my face, either literally or figuratively."
"Ash, I have to give you a chance to explain. The day you were..." Misty paused. She still struggled on the next word. "A-arrested, we hardly got a moment to talk."
"I told you I needed the cash for Pokémon Tech, didn't I?" Ash asked.
Misty nodded. "Ash, were you in love with me?" she asked bluntly. The question was out of the blue but Ash didn't hesitate in answering her.
"Yes, I was. I still am" he confessed.
"Things have changed. I've changed. I'm not the girl you left behind."
"You're still as beautiful" Ash smiled. Misty felt a pleasurable flush come to her face and did her best to hide it. He had told her that repitivly when they were going out, and to hear it almost a year later still made her cheeks turn unnaturally crimson.
"Well...outwardly I guess I'm the same. But I don't think you quite realise the extent of damage you've really done to me. I'm scared to trust anyone. The girls at school think I'm weird cos I won't go out with anyone else..."
"You haven't been on a date since...?" Ash asked in surprise.
"Nope" Misty shook her head. "How could I? I was in love with you."
"Was" Ash repeated flatly, the tone of his voice impending the same amount of misery the word itself held. Misty slowly nodded.
"I wasn't kidding when I said things would be different. Before you ask, I don't know how I feel now. Except maybe confused."
"I don't blame you" Ash muttered. "So...there's no way we could be friends or anything?"
"Hey, slow down! I didn't say anything about cutting everything off with you altogether" Misty slightly laughed. "I just need to think before I jump into anything."
"Sure thing" Ash agreed. He stood up at the same time she did and handed her a small card. "That's the hotel I'm booked into for the next week. If you need longer than that, well, I can wait for you" he said with a small smile, repeating what he had said to her before he'd been taken away.
Misty smiled back, inwardly feeling like she wanted to cry a world of oceans. Her external and internal emotions were completely separate, contradicting each other and making no sense as they flooded throughout her.
"Okay. I'll give you a call or something" she promised, walking Ash to the door. He stepped out and took what he thought might be his last glimpse of Misty. The one thing he held dearest to him, the only thing that had kept him going through every lonely prison night, could soon be lost to him forever for one lead-headed mistake. Even if he'd paid for and patched up the mistake now, he couldn't patch up what he'd done to her.
"Bye" he farewelled just above a whisper. Misty waved and closed the door, leaning against it heavily, almost as if she were trying to catch her breath. But then again, the whole experience of Ash coming back so unexpectedly had been breathtaking in itself.
Her thoughts were suddenly directed towards her older sister and she scowled. Why the hell had Daisy gotten so angry? Ash hadn't hurt her. With a heavy sigh, she resumed her interrupted trip to her room, trying to temporarily block Ash from her mind and trying to focus on the injustice of homework so close to vacation instead.
********
"Well...happy summer, Misty." Josie sighed as she finished speaking and Misty could only laugh. The first official day of summer had been anything but. Both girls were lying stomach down behind a window that provided an all too clear view of the unseasonal pelting rain, both bored as all outdoor activities were put to a halt.
"Look on the bright side - your Psyduck is happy" Misty pointed out, watching her friend's Psyduck happily splashing in the rapidly forming puddles.
"Woohoo for Psyduck" Josie said flatly. "So much for training." Misty shrugged then smiled.
"Thanks for letting me come over, Josie. I honestly didn't wanna sit through another dazzling performance from my sisters" she said sarcastically.
Josie giggled. "No probs. Why aren't you performing?"
"Those three claim that the stuff they're doing is above me" Misty rolled her eyes. "It's not like I care. I'll bet they'll have a bigger audience today without me than if I was there."
"Don't be so hard on yourself" Josie chided.
"No, seriously. The whole Ash thing brought down the sales whenever I was oh so nicely barked at to perform. No one wants to see a girl who fell in love with a druggie" Misty pointed out.
"For pete's sake, he only did it once" Josie said in exasperation.
"Yeah, well try telling that to the entire population of Cerulean City" Misty sighed. Josie nodded in agreement and a silence filled the room, accompanied by the sound of never ending rain hitting the roof. Misty suddenly started fidgeting with her fingers, a habit she had adopted as a child in times of nervousness, and Josie was quick to pick up on it.
"Okay Mist, whatever you're hiding in that sealed little area known as your mind, spill" she demanded.
Misty hesitated and stared at the floor as she spoke. She had secretly been contemplating all day whether or not to tell Josie, but she knew she had to.
"Josie...Ash came back."
Josie's head shot up in surprise and she sat up fully, crossing her legs and staring in bewilderment at her best friend. "What? Today?"
"No" Misty laughed. "Two days ago."
"And you're laughing...why?" Josie asked.
Misty sat up and faced her. "I don't know. I'm so confused. I think I love him...when I saw him I just -"
"Felt a flame rekindle" Josie finished with a grin.
Misty shrugged. "Something like that. God, I've missed him so much, I nearly let that overtake me when I saw him. But then I remembered what he did and..." She trailed off and her eyes automatically focused on the ground again.
"Where is he now?" Josie asked quietly after a few seconds silence. Misty pulled out the card Ash had given her.
"This hotel." She handed the card to Josie, who eyed it carefully.
"That's only a couple of blocks away from here" she said.
"I know. I kinda took a detour past it on the way here" Misty confessed.
"So why didn't you go in?" Josie gently inquired.
"A lot of reasons. I had no idea what I would say to him for a start. Plus I didn't wanna be late getting here" Misty added with a grin.
"Misty..." Josie sighed. "You get your ass down to that hotel and you tell him how you feel" she commanded, her tone taking an incredible leap from compassionate to demanding. Misty looked at her friend in shock.
"B-but I don't know how I feel."
"You said you think you love him" Josie pointed out.
"I haven't decided on that though" Misty replied.
"Come on, you of all people should know that love isn't a decision. It's a feeling. There's no such thing as indecisive love, you either love someone or you don't, and you know it through your emotions" Josie said.
"It's not that simple, Josie" Misty sighed. "I did love Ash, I really did, for those three months he was my whole world -"
"And he still is" Josie interrupted. "Why have you been so eager to get a letter from him? Why were you so depressed when you found out you couldn't visit him? If you'd stopped loving him you wouldn't have cared half as much as you did and do."
Misty went quiet to consider Josie's words. She knew her friend was right. So what was holding her back?
"I..." Misty trailed off and eyed a now curious Josie. "I love him. I am in love with Ash Ketchum." A smile came to her face that grew wider every second. "I really love him!" she exclaimed. "I know I do! I've waited too damn long for him to come back, neither of us has to wait any longer!" With an excited squeal, Misty hoisted herself onto her feet thanks to her adrenaline rush and stood beaming in front of her laughing friend.
"I knew it all along. I just knew it" Josie grinned.
"Listen Josie, do you mind if I head over to the hotel?" Misty asked.
Josie stood up. "Only if you promise to call me straight afterwards." She hugged Misty tight, who was almost bursting with excitement.
"Thankyou for pointing all that out" she said gratefully as they pulled away.
"Hey, if I hadn't of said it your heart would've sooner or later" Josie said. "Now get movin'! I wanna hear all about this!" she urged.
Misty followed her to the door and gave her friend one last smile before she stepped out and closed the door behind her. An excited yet apprehensive feeling put a slight spring in her step, and she soon found herself jogging to the hotel through the pouring rain.
The man at the front desk was quick to raise an eyebrow at a breathless young girl running in, completely saturated from the rain and yet a smile radiating her face. Nonetheless, he couldn't decline giving her the number and directions to Ash's room when she so politely asked for them. And Misty soon found her quick pace diminishing and her heart race increasing as it suddenly hit her.
She was in love with someone who had totally sent her trust into a permanent downward spiral, the same someone she had rapidly remembered how to love again. He had given her a whirlwind three months of love, a day of anguish as his deceit came into light, nine months of anticipation and anxiousness...but the three months rose above everything else. All she wanted now was to go back to where they had left off.
Door number 38 came into Misty's view and her breathing became as shaky as her hands when she found herself standing in front of it. For the first time, she realised just how hard the rain was coming down, and quickly rapped on the door, praying for a quick reply. As the doorknob suddenly turned, she gasped at the next realisation that came to her mind.
What was she going to say?
Thoughts had no time to fabricate as her vision was soon dominated by the curious figure of Ash, who widened his eyes in surprise at her soaking self standing in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, quite possibly to greet her in some way, but Misty's vocal chords had a mind of their own and she found herself talking almost against her will.
"Ash, I said I'd wait for you and I did, so when you came back I don't know why I didn't just fling myself at you. The trust thing should never have been an issue. I waited, you came, you've waited, and I dunno about you but I'm not prepared to wait any longer." Her miniature rambling session over, Misty found her common sense dissolving as she grabbed the back of Ash's neck and pulled him into a desperate but loving kiss they had both longed for for too long.
As Ash happily melted into the kiss, he too became a victim to the rain, but he knew it was the last of his concerns. He was here, holding the only girl he'd ever loved, finally receiving the confirmation he had been so scared of not receiving. The two of them finally pulled away after seemingly making up for lost ground, and Ash stared into the crystals of Misty's eyes, happily breathless.
"I love you" Misty whispered, her words simple and few but enough to send Ash's emotions into a pleasurable whirlwind and he smiled down at her.
"I love you too. I'm sorry for everything, I'm sorry for -"
"For what, giving me the greatest love I could ever dream about? For giving me a true test of trust and self-realisation? Ash, you have nothing to be sorry about" Misty said assuredly.
"But the weed..." Ash started.
"It was once. And if it happens again, which I am seriously doubting and hoping it won't, you can consider me the official ex of your life" Misty announced.
"It won't happen again. I promise" Ash swore, setting the promise in stone by holding up his hand in a flat-palmed gesture. Misty only nodded and brought her lips to his again, feeling both her heart and her emotions settle into a peaceful and blissful state she hadn't experienced in a long time. Their love had overpowered the strongest test of faith, and now they had nothing to look forward to but an elaboration of that, and a happiness that was now making up for the uncertainties of the last nine months.
A/N: Oooh I hate that ending, lol! This took me ages to type up cos my typing has been truly awful today, so I'm sorry if it took a while to get up here. Look out for more stories 'n' stuff coming from me, AAML forever, and thanks for all your reviews!