DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon. If I did I would be hiring the world's greatest doctors to rid my nausea. Blah.

A/N: Sorry about that disclaimer. I am sick (if you can't tell) so my advice today is - make sure chicken is alright before you eat it. Oh yuuuuck…well before I pass out I'm going to put this up, so happy reading and I'll shut up, lol.

Chapter Eleven - The Unexpected Return.

All I could see was darkness, and this wasn't just visually. I had seen Ash off that morning as he had prepared to face the worst at Indigo Plateau. It hadn't been easy to watch him go, but I had to be thankful I had at least said goodbye. My sisters deceits had seen to our farewell. As a result of this, I was now curled up on the couch, my eyes cast down in my ball of despair and my head in a whirlwind.

I didn't bother to look up when I heard feet walking towards the lounge. I didn't care who saw me crying out my unbelievably raw pain.

"What are you blubbering about now?" Ah Mom, always sympathetic and caring towards her youngest daughter, especially in a state as emotionally ravaged as mine.

"You wouldn't care" I mumbled, though that probably wasn't true. She would probably start dancing in the streets at the thought of Ash being as far away as possible. "But if you really must know, Ash left this morning. He had to for the funeral. His friend down on the beach told me" I added quickly, remembering my alibi of taking a walk on the beach.

"And you're crying? Misty, you should be leaping for joy. That boy has done nothing but destroy you and stress our family."

I sighed. I honestly couldn't be bothered with another argument that ran around in circles. I was about to interject when Mom beat me to it.

"Now you can go out and get a sensible boyfriend. One that's smart and handsome, that increases the value of our reputation" she said happily.

"Well Mom, I'm sorry but Ash is sensible. He's also smart and handsome among other things and on top of all that he cares about me. So I can't really see what more I could want" I shrugged. I was lucky enough to be saved from her lethal glare when the phone rang, and she answered it before any of my sisters could have a chance.

After an irritable greeting, no doubt influenced by me, her face went blank, much like Ash's had done the previous day, and I started to slightly panic. What could have happened now? She hung up less than a minute later after minimal conversation on her part and turned to my curious eyes with that same vacant expression.

"Pack your bags. You're going home" she announced dryly.

"What?!" I gasped. "Why?"

"Your sisters have to go to Lance's funeral. All the Kanto gym leaders have to. Your father and I have also been invited and…so have you" Mom added reluctantly.

"I have? I'm going to Lance's funeral?" I whispered in disbelief. I couldn't absorb the fact that they had even considered me to attend.

"Oh no you're not" Mom said sharply. "I know for a fact that that Ketchum boy will be there. Nowhere near me, I hope" she added in an undertone. I ignored her last remark and started my protest.

"But Mom, I've got to go! I looked up to Lance more than anyone in this family ever did! You said so yourself that talented or not I am still a Waterflower, so I am still a part of the gym and I've got to go!" I exclaimed.

"There is only one reason you want to go and I know exactly what it is. Or who it is" Mom said coldly.

"No!" I yelled. "I honestly want to go and pay my last respects to Lance!" It would've sounded like a long shot of desperation but it was the truth. "What are you gonna say when people ask where I am?"

"It's not hard to say that you're sick. Misty, I don't want to hear anymore about it. You're not going and that's that. I'd rather have you alone at the gym than at the funeral near…him." Mom almost seemed to shudder at her own words. "Now, go and tell your sisters that we're leaving tonight. I have to call your father."

Without another word I sulked towards Daisy's room and sharply knocked, even though I knew she would never do the same had our roles been reversed.

"Yo" I heard from within. I walked in and stopped at the sight in front of me. Incense clouds veiled the room, some kind of easy listening music was wafting from the sneakers connected to Daisy's discman, and Daisy herself was lying on her bed, eyes closed as total calm surrounded her.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" I asked with a raised eyebrow, waving away a puff of sandalwood.

"Needed to chill out" Daisy explained, sitting up to face me. "So what's up?" she asked with a broad smile. She won't be smiling when she hears this, I thought gloomily.

"We've been requested to attend Lance's funeral, so we're going home tonight" I blurted out.

"WHAT?!" Daisy shouted. "We can't leave now! I've got plans tonight, I'm having too much of a good time."

"For God's sake Daisy, one of the greatest trainers ever just died and all you can think of is yourself! I'd give anything to go" I sighed.

"You're not going?" Daisy asked.

"Of course I'm not. Ash is gonna be there" I explained simply.

"Oh" Daisy muttered. "Well you can tell Mom that I absolutely refuse to leave Washbay."

"You can tell her yourself" I said, walking out and shutting the door behind me. Daisy would need those calming incense clouds now. "One down, two to go" I muttered to myself as I prepared to break the news two more times over.

*******

7pm. Violet's car was packed with luggage and one very irritated family. Mom was driving, Violet was in the front to make sure Mom wouldn't harm her 'baby,' which left the rest of us squashed in the back. The complaints ran rampant even before we'd left.

"This is, like, such a setup."

"Daisy! Your dirty shoe is on my backpack!"

"This trip is totally gonna take forever."

"Watch the steering wheel Mom, I polished it this morning!"

I had an inkling of sympathy for my mother that was slicing through the bitterness I had towards her. We can't have been much fun to hang around in a car with.

"If this complaining doesn't die down you can find your own way home" Mom threatened as she released the handbrake. The occupants of the car instantly went quiet, and I watched Washbay roll away from us with bullets of pain shooting me all over. In a way, I didn't want to let the summer or Washbay go. So much had happened there. I'd rediscovered myself, I'd been reunited with Ash and, apparently, I had lost my innocence.

I hadn't lost my innocence. That had happened a long time ago, even way back in the days when I briefly attended school. My mother had continually eroded my self-esteem and made me believe I was of little value. You can see how the contrast was when I met Ash - he thought I was the most valuable thing in the world. Well, until he got that title he did.

I remembered those days of school with a hurt most other school kids would never experience. According to my mother, my grades were never good enough, my friends never passed her approval, even the songs I was taught and happily twittered back to her didn't make her beam proudly at me like the other moms did.

"Far too childish. Frogs never go 'galoop'" she had remarked after my almost in tune rendition of 'Galoop Went The Little Green Frog.'

Childish? I was six years old! What did she want me to sing, the whole of 'Ave Maria'?

Innocence was something that escaped me the moment I opened my mouth to speak. I was taught to speak and act like an adult. Not to go and play, get my knees dirty, engrain my clothes with irremovable substances like the other kids did.

And she thinks I lost my innocence when I lost my virginity. What a joke.

It was going to be a long drive, and with nothing to do and stops to make on the way it would be even longer. All I could do was frustrate myself with thoughts that ran around in disconnected circles, the same things making absolutely no sense, no matter how many times I ran over them.

I thought back to about ten years ago, when my mother hadn't been so concerned with the gym and my sisters had been too young to lay horrible words on me. Car trips like this would involve singing, laughing and endless games of 'I Spy.' Smiles would be reflected all around and silence would only come into the picture if fatigue overtook us.

And now we had…this. The five of us not saying a word, refusing to look each other in the eye because of our own personal inner conflicts. It was a depressing atmosphere, and I would've given my right arm to have someone break the ice with a non-explainable laugh.

Minor towns flashed past us in the increasing darkness and signs would occasionally reassure us that Cerulean was getting closer. It took five hours, nineteen minutes and two bathroom stops until we entered our hometown, absolutely shattered by the trip and the circumstances surrounding it. We pulled up at the gym at 12.22am to be greeted by Dad, a broad smile on his face as I ran up to him.

"Hi Daddy" I whispered, hugging him tight. I had missed him so much.

"Hey Misty" he replied quietly. He stroked my hair like he used to when I was much younger as I pulled away, and then he sighed before he next spoke. "Why did you do it, peachpie?" he asked sadly. For once I didn't cringe at the despised nickname. I had never seen such sadness in my father's eyes, and for an instant I felt a twinge of guilt for doing what I had done. But I knew I was justified.

"I love him, Dad. I honestly love him." I could've gone on but didn't get the chance when Mom interrupted our reunion.

"Hi hon, sorry we're so late" she said, planting a quick kiss on his lips. "You didn't have to wait up for us, you know."

"Couldn't sleep until I'd known you were all home safe" Dad explained. We all trudged inside and Mom immediately turned to my already wary sisters.

"Now, you three make sure you find something suitable, we'll be leaving for the plateau at about nine."

"Nine?!" Lily shrieked. "Oh please Mom, can we go in the arvo? We, like, totally need a sleep in."

"Pleeeeeease Mom?" Daisy chimed in, adding that puppy dog sparkle to her eyes that worked so well on our mother. In fact, the only time they had ever failed was that morning, when Daisy had, ahem, "absolutely refused" to leave Washbay.

"Alright, we'll leave no later than two. Make sure you're ready or you'll catch the bus up there" Mom threatened.

"Oh gross. I'll be ready" Violet said. Snob. She wouldn't sit in a bus if her life depended on it.

"And Misty, you'll be looking through the vocational section of the paper tomorrow. I expect you to have made a few inquiries by the time we get back" Mom said severely.

"Whatever" I sighed, suddenly fearing that I sounded like one of my sisters. Not in the mood for being yelled at, I followed my sisters upstairs, bade them goodnight and slowly opened my bedroom door. Not a thing had changed since I'd left it and I smiled at the welcoming familiarity of it. This had been my haven for two years, the silent comfort had been more than I could ever expect from my mother, and I flopped on my bed, staring vacantly at the ceiling.

"Yo Misty, can I come in?" Violet's voice came through the door and I sat up.

"Sure" I replied. The door opened a second later and before I had even seen Violet, my backpack had been cruelly flung on the floor with potent force.

"You left that in the car" she informed me.

"Oh, thanks" I said gratefully, picking up the bag and checking the contents for any damage Violet might have just inflicted.

"Hey Mist, are you okay? I mean, with everything going on" Violet suddenly asked.

"Mmm?" I looked up from my bag distractidly. "Oh yeah, um…well, guess I've had better days."

"Yeah" Violet nodded. "I'll give Ash a kiss hello from you if you want" she said mischievously.

"If you value your life you'll do no such thing" I said in a monotone.

"I was only kidding. Do you want to give me anything to pass on to him?" Violet asked. I slowly shook my head and bit my lip, missing him a hundred times more just thinking about him. "Okay. Sleep well" Violet farewelled.

"You too" I said quietly. With that she shut the door and I sighed as I stood up. God life was cruel. It had taken away such a great man from this world, one so great that the outpouring of grief was overwhelming. All over the news, pictures flashed of flowers carpeting the entrance to the Indigo Plateau headquarters and memorial services were being held in every town and city across Kanto.

Walking over to my window, I gazed down at the firefly display of lights that were dotted over the city. My city. This was home for me, and yet I felt an overwhelming emptiness at being here, like I didn't belong. It was ironic beyond belief. When my parents had announced that I was going to Washbay for the summer, I found it almost impossible to leave the gym. Now I wanted out. I don't know why, I wouldn't be any closer to Ash, nor would it bring Lance back, but I just wanted to get out of there.

Before I drew my curtains for the night, I kept my eyes locked on the view below me for a minute longer. I knew wishes and the mere emotional of wistfulness were pointless, maybe stupid, but I didn't feel like myself that night. I knew the words I next spoke would never reach who they were intended for, yet they strangely filled me with some sort of comfort.

"I love you, Ash Ketchum. I truly love you, and I'll never let anyone else tell me otherwise."

A/N: These chapters seem to be getting shorter…um, anyways, I can't say much cos not a lot is making sense, so buh byes to you all and next chapter up soon!