DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon.
A/N: I don't have much to say. So let's just read! Yay!
Chapter Twelve - Moving On, Crashing Down.
How could so much have changed in two and a half months? It was such a short time span for so much to be crammed into. And now in my current situation, I hardly had a moment to wonder what had happened to the thing I used to have so much of. Time.
I was now an office junior at a big law firm in the city. Yup, don't read that again, you read it right. I was an office junior. Don't ask how I landed that, fifteen is only barely the age to start working, let alone be shot straight up to a proper office setting. They must've been desperate. I couldn't complain about my work, it gave me a steady income and I got on well with everyone in the firm. I guess the only flaw was that I had to wear skirts. Every day.
"They're so much more professional" my boss, Marie, had told me on my first day. I couldn't argue with that one, every woman in the firm was wearing one, so I grudgingly went out on my lunch break and purchased the first skirts I had ever bought myself.
Ash was still at the Indigo Plateau, still trying to sort out matters with the Elite Four now turned Three. I heard everything from him before the public was supposed to know through his very discreet emails and even the occasional letter when Mom and Dad were away at a conference or something similar. Things were not going smoothly up there, and I constantly urged him to go back to Pallet. He shouldn't have to deal with the plateau's problems.
For starters, the three that were left in the Elite were threatening to leave the competitions for fear of their safety. A few discoveries had been made since Lance's death, which had, at first, been branded an entire accident. Clues were now emerging that made it possible for a manslaughter or even murder to come into the picture.
Plus since Lance's death, trainers had been reluctant to enter the tournament that was coming up in three months. The numbers had gone down considerably, and Ash was forever fretting about the future of Indigo Plateau. I sympathized and worried too, but I still urged him to go home. He had been there for over two months now, he was never needed that long, even during the competitions.
It was one Friday evening when I wearily walked through the gym's front door at 5.45, throwing my handbag on the couch and myself afterwards. My Mom's head poked round from the kitchen and she flashed a smile in my direction. I had never seen her so happy.
"Hey Misty. How was work?" she asked cheerily.
"Boring" I replied simply. "And I hate these skirts" I complained, kicking off my shoes and trying to smooth out the creases in my skirt.
"Well you look much older with one on, you know. Marie tells me you're doing very well" Mom commented.
"Guess that's what you like to hear" I shrugged. I should've been in a better mood. It was the weekend, I'd been paid and Mom was being nice. What was there to be moody over?
My three sisters suddenly walked in from the hall that connected the gym to our house, hair dripping and towels limply hanging from their arms.
"Okay Mom, that's it, as of tomorrow I am so wearing a bathing cap" Daisy announced, throwing her towel in the washing basket dejectedly. "The chlorine kills my hair."
"Well I did suggest it, but you thought they were ugly" Mom pointed out.
"Maybe…" Daisy said vaguely. "What about you guys, are you gonna wear them?" she asked, turning to the other two.
"I dunno" Violet shrugged.
"Ew yuck, no way sister. Those things are, like, totally gross" Lily said in disgust. She had finished speaking when Dad walked through, through shutting up the gym and sat himself on the couch near me.
"I don't think you should be wearing skirts like that, Misty. You look much too old for your own good" Dad
said disapprovingly.
"What, do you think I enjoy wearing this crap?" I asked rhetorically.
"Mmm. Never did think you were one for girly things. You never used to plait Barbie's hair, you used to cut it or spike it" Dad grinned. I smiled back at him, my mind playing over the memories that came when I was put in the same room as a doll.
"Okay guys, dinner's ready!" Mom shouted from the kitchen, though she didn't really need to shout. She was only a few meters away.
I slowly stood up and walked towards the dining table, sitting down between Lily and Violet. My plate was heaped up with a much too large serving of pasta and I winced. I honestly didn't feel hungry, and was about to say so when Dad summoned us to all to silence as the news started up. The television was visible from where I was sitting and I listened with interest to the first story.
"Our leading story tonight, a man has been arrested in Lavender Town after an inquiry discovered that he was responsible for the death of Lance the Dragon Master. The man is due to be charged with murder or manslaughter."
"What?" Daisy spluttered on her drink.
"Murder?!" Violet shrieked.
"Shhh!" I hissed. Ash had said this could happen. This is why the members left were concerned about their safety.
"It was discovered that the car Lance was driving had had its brakes intentionally cut, and further investigations traced back to the man in question. He has been granted name suppression until his second hearing in a week's time. A full trial is expected to start in approximately four to six weeks. For Kanto National News, I'm Janet Harris." The report ended but the thoughts swirling round my head didn't.
He was murdered. The whole Pokémon world would be turned topsy-turvy thanks to this. The Elite Three could ultimately be disbanded, the whole structure of the Indigo Plateau could crumble to the ground…Ash could be forced to go to Johto.
He had told me about that too. If the plateau all shut down, he would be reinstated to the nearest league, which was Johto. Oh God, I couldn't cope with that. Johto was a whole other land, a whole different country. At least if he was at Indigo I knew he was in the same country as me, not completely out of reach.
Now that this news has been confirmed, I felt sick to the soles of my feet. It had never been an accident and it had taken two months for the truth to come to light. I must've gone pale or something because Dad suddenly spoke to me in evidently worried tones.
"Misty? Are you alright?"
I shook my head in a frenzy, quickly ridding the nausea that had been raging through me and turned to Dad with a smile. "I'm fine, really. I'm okay." Dad nodded, seemingly satisfied with my response, and we all dove into our dinner.
Watching me eat, it would've been hard to believe that I had felt sick only minutes ago. I managed to devour my whole plate of pasta (which was sorta soggy, but nobody's perfect. Especially not Mom) plus half of Lily's which she left over, salad, two bread rolls and a can of soda. After consuming all this I only just felt full, and Mom eyed me strangely as she cleared away my plate.
"Just watch what you're eating, Misty. Flab is not to be desired" she commented lightly.
"I know Mom" I sighed wearily. "Hey Dad, I know you locked up the gym and all but do you think I could go for a quick dip?"
"Won't you get cramp?" Dad asked.
"Nah. By the time I get changed I'll be out of the danger zone" I said as I stood up.
"Alright, but make sure you lock up afterwards" Dad reminded me.
"Don't worry, I will" I called back as I started walking up the stairs. I gratefully released my hair from the trap of a French plait I had painstakingly pulled it into that morning, got changed in record time and ran down the stairs to the gym.
It was awing when it was empty. Thousands of spectator seats empty, the water as still as the atmosphere that surrounded it, the diving boards almost suspended in mid-air…
This had once scared me so much. When I was younger, I could barely put a foot on the ladder that lead up to the top of the diving board. Now here I was, almost standing on top of the world, looking down at the glass-like surface of the water that I was about to crack.
My dive was almost perfect, but something suddenly hit me as I was submerged. Fear. Since I had nearly drowned, the feeling of water surrounding me completely must have turned against me, as I had once loved it so much. All I wanted was air, oxygen, no matter how many times I told myself I was a good swimmer and that there was no current to pull me under.
Finally my head reached the surface and I breathed in the air I had craved so badly. My heart was going a thousand beats a minute, my only relief for relaxation was when I lay on my back for confirmation of no currents. It sounds silly, but the incident at Washbay had really scared me. Amazing how a single moment like that can alter the beliefs one has followed their whole life.
I lazily swum a few laps of freestyle, considering I struggled with butterfly and breastroke always killed my arms. The fear of the water didn't completely subside, but it was close to it. I tried to copy a few of my sisters' synchronized swimming movements and then decided I looked like too much of an idiot in the process, so instead stopped and continued slowly lapping the pool.
It was so calm. Such a contradiction to my entire life here at this gym.
With a heavy sigh, I swum over to the pool edge and crawled out, immediately making use of the towel I had brought with me as the air cooled my skin. With a somewhat reluctant glance back at the gym, I walked back through to the house and locked up.
* * *
Monday. Another monotonous weekday in the life of me. It was 8 o'clock in the morning when I boarded my bus into town with a yawn.
"One child please" I said flatly, handing over the exact change as I had become accustomed to doing.
"You're a child?" the driver asked with a raised eyebrow. I sighed as I showed him my youth I.D. Every
morning I had this minor glitch about my age with the bus drivers. Dad obviously hadn't been kidding when he said the skirts made me look older.
I sat down at the front, placing my handbag on the vacant seat next to me to let everyone else know that I was now inaccessible. No one could shake me out of my thoughts during a twenty minute bus drive and I preferred it that way too. This was one of the few times of the day that I could think to myself without anyone interrupting me.
Today I was solely focused on Lance and the complications that had now arisen from his murder. His poor wife, she must've been absolutely torn to shreds. She had only given one public interview since her husband had died and she had broken down in the middle of it. Not that anyone could blame her, of course.
Suddenly I knew why I wanted Ash out of there so badly. If Lance had died at the hands of a sore loser, one who had just had a casual battle and had stormed out after a defeat, then Ash was prone to the same thing. I could see why the Elite were so worried. So why wasn't Ash? I sure as hell was. I'd email him at work about it.
Looking out the window, I noticed the famous Cerulean hill coming into view. It was hell to climb over on either foot or by a vehicle, but it was the only way into the central city. We slowly began our ascent, though I didn't really take much notice until we got to the top.
I tried to keep my breakfast down as the bus rolled downwards, but things didn't improve when I slightly started panicking at the speed of our descent. I couldn't tell myself I was being silly either. I could see other passengers nervously glancing out the windows, wondering if this was normal, and halfway down I didn't even have to think. I knew. The driver was panicking and so were most of the passengers, and by the time the bus had crashed into both cars and the side of the hill, I knew we were all thinking the same thing. This was the end. We were going to die a death similar to Lance's. It was my last thought before the world around me turned that fatal colour of black.
* * * *
Was I dead? I felt like I had when I'd nearly drowned in Washbay, but this time I was in way more pain,
especially in my left leg. I couldn't open my eyes though I could hear faint noises, and there was something resting on top of my hand. The whole situation did nothing but confuse me.
"Mist? Come on Misty, I felt you move your hand, I know you can open your eyes."
What? Who was talking? Maybe I was in hell, maybe that explained all the pain that was coursing through me. My eyes felt incredibly glued together but I found some sort of strength to finally open them to be greeted by a blurry figure on my left.
"Oh my God Misty, you did it. I knew you could."
Yeah, and I knew that voice anywhere. He had traveled all the way from Indigo Plateau…just to see me wake up? I was still incredibly dazed and slowly turned my head to get a better view. I knew now that it wasn't just my confused state, that Ash was really beside me, that he had really left the league to see me, and that the thing that was resting on my hand was his hand. He was smiling at me, almost in pride, but I couldn't find any strength to do the same.
"Ash" I croaked out, shocked by my groggy voice that was barely above a whisper.
"It's okay Mist, I'm here, you don't have to worry about anything" he said soothingly.
"Why…did you come here to see me wake up?" I asked.
"You don't remember the crash?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow. Oh God, now it was coming back. That crash, the people panicking, the huge impact that had been the last thing I had felt.
"I do now" I sighed, slowly feeling strength seeping back into me.
"It killed thirteen people. I'd say you're the luckiest person alive but at the moment I'm feeling like that myself" Ash smiled through the tears in his eyes. "You've been unconscious for three days. I wasn't sure if you would ever wake up."
"Thirteen people?" I whispered. Ash nodded and now tears were flooding my own eyes. "Those poor people, just on their way to work…" I trailed off and bit my lip at the thought. I needed to change the subject and Ash had given me the opportunity to do this. "If I've been knocked out for three days, how long have you been here?"
"About six hours after you were admitted. I saw the crash on the news, and then I don't know how she did it, but Violet managed to call me and tell me that you were in it. I was so worried, I didn't know how I'd find you or if you'd survive…" Ash trailed off and squeezed my hand. "But you're awake now and that's all that matters. Your sisters and parents are back at the gym."
"How did you get past Mom?"
"Your sisters text message me when she's coming in and I take a back exit before she can get here" Ash grinned. "Devious or what?"
"You'll get yourself in a lot of shit" I smiled weakly.
"Ah, but won't it be worth it?" Ash asked rhetorically. It was at this point a doctor walked in, holding a clipboard, and widened his eyes in surprise at the sight of me conscious and talking to Ash.
"Well Miss Waterflower, it certainly is nice to see you awake" he said as he walked over to my bed. "I'm Doctor Peterson, I've been watching your progress over the last three days. You are one very lucky young lady."
"In more ways than one" I said softly, locking eyes with Ash again.
"There is a bit of bad news to your survival though. You've broken your left leg in two places, which explains the cast you've got on now. You'll have to keep that on for another four to six weeks, depending on how well it heals. But apart from that, I think you'll be able to head on home in a couple of days" Dr Peterson explained.
"A couple of days? I want out now" I complained. I hated hospitals. They were so desolate, the only happy place, it seemed, was the maternity ward, and even then tragedies took place.
"Misty, you have no say in the matter. I have to keep you here. If you leave now you could end up worse off than you already are" Dr Peterson said severely.
"That's right, you listen to the doc" Ash piped in. "He knows more than you remember."
"Okay okay" I conceded weakly. I knew there was no point in arguing.
"In that case I'd better go inform your parents that you're awake" Dr Peterson.
"No wait!" I said rather forcefully. The strength in my vocal chords was obviously returning at this point. "Can you just gimme half an hour or so? My…" I paused to consider my words. "My friend here has flown from, uh…all the way from Cinnabar, and I haven't seen him in ages. Can't we just catch up?" I pleaded through my lies and the doctor gave me a slight shrug of his shoulders.
"As long as this young man doesn't mind having to observe a blood test, I'll advise your mother in half an hour then." With that Dr Peterson walked out, shutting the door behind him.
"B-b-blood test?" Ash stuttered.
"Not a big fan of Mr Needle huh?" I asked with a quiet laugh.
"Not in the slightest" Ash shuddered. "However, as your dedicated friend from Cinnabar, I'll stay until your mother decides to make a guest appearance" he grinned. "You know, like you said, we have some catching up to do."
"But you sent me all those emails, what could we -" I was cut off when Ash bent down and kissed me with all the love that had been absent from both of us for nearly three months. I smiled into his eyes as he pulled away. "Oh, that kind of catching up."
"Well, that and I'm worried about your well-being. How are things holding up?" Ash asked worriedly.
"Alright actually. Mom's being civil at the moment cos I'm doing well at work, and Dad, well I never have any problems with Dad. What's really eating me up is the fact that you won't leave Indigo when it's just been revealed that Lance was killed by an angry trainer. Do you not realise that you're at risk up there?"
"Of course I do" Ash replied. "But I'm well looked after, don't worry about it. I'm only staying up there another two weeks or so, and then I won't be back for another three months for the tournament."
"Please be careful, Ash. For God's sake, I worry about you so much" I confessed.
"Yeah, how do you think I felt when I heard about this crash? Look, I don't wanna keep you awake worrying about things like this, you need your rest" Ash announced, standing up to leave.
"No, don't go" I weakly pleaded.
"Sorry babes, I don't want the opportunity to run into your mother. I don't trust doctors, that one might have already called her" Ash cringed. "You should really be worrying about the day I encounter your mom again. I'm worrying about that myself."
I smiled slightly. "Will you come back tomorrow?"
"Once I get the all go from one of your sisters, I sure will. You just rest and get better, okay?" Ash almost sounded like he was ordering it and I nodded. "Okay. Love ya." He bent down and gave me one final kiss before he turned to leave.
"I love you too" I said weakly as he walked away. I saw him smile before he opened the door and left. Little did we know how much we wouldn't want tomorrow to come once it did.
A/N: Well! I'm speechless! This is unusual for me…so I'll make a run and assure you guys that the next chapter will be up soon. ^_^
