Chapter 8: The Landing
Tracey woke the next morning before anyone. The problem with this was that he got bored very quickly. As he sat there trying to find a way to somehow amuse himself, he got a funny idea. So Tracey carefully reached into his backpack trying not to disturb Marill who was sleeping on his lap, and pulled out his sketch pad. He then opened his pad and began to draw a sketch of his sleeping friends.
"This is great! I just have to keep this to myself because I could be in big time trouble if anyone else sees it." Tracey told himself. He had just added a few finishing touches and was admiring his drawing when a noise startled him. He looked around and saw Misty sit up and look at him.
"Morning, Misty." Tracey smiled.
"Good morning. Can I ask you something, Trace?" Misty asked.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"This is an airplane so what in the world could you be drawing?"
"It's really nothing. I just woke up and got bored so I decided to draw something. Not really one of my best drawings anyway." Tracey fibbed as he closed the sketch pad and placed it back in his backpack.
"Oh, okay." Misty was purely unconvinced but she decided to drop the subject anyway.
"Pi pikachu." (Oh, brother.) Pikachu sighed.
The thick silence was broken by a loud, grunting yawn coming from Brock as he woke up.
"Morning, guys. What's up?" Brock said sleepily.
"Morning Brock. Nothing much up right now." Tracey said.
"Yeah, Tracey and I were just talking." Misty smiled.
"Oh, okay. Ash awake yet?"
"No. He's still asleep. He was pretty tired yesterday so I'm going to let him sleep for a while longer. He needs to rest right now." Misty whispered. She then smiled down at Ash who appeared to be lost in peaceful dreams as he snuggled into her arms.
"Well you can't let him sleep too much longer. We're going to be landing in about an hour." Tracey reminded her.
"Yeah, I know. I'll probably wake him in about fifteen minutes. That way we'll have plenty of time to get everything together before we land in the Seafoam Islands."
Fifteen minutes later Misty decided that it was time to wake Ash. She reached down and gave him a gentle shake and a kiss. After a moment Ash's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at Misty.
"Good morning, Mist." Ash yawned.
"Good morning to you, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" Misty asked.
"Yep. I slept like a rock last night. You make an excellent pillow." Ash said with a grin. "I'm still tired though. Why did you have to wake me up?"
"I didn't really want to because I know you could have used the rest but the plane is going to landing in 45 minutes and we need to make sure we have all of our things together."
"Oh, okay. I guess there is an advantage to it. At least I'll sleep well tonight on the ship." Ash said as he kissed Misty's cheek.
"I think we all will." Brock said as Tracey nodded his agreement. Then they all began gathering their things and getting ready to disembark once the plane landed in the Seafoam Islands.
A few minutes later the announcement came for everyone to prepare for landing and as the four friends finished gathering their things and strapped in, they could feel the plane begin its final decent.
Once the plane touched down, everyone started getting their things and disembarking. Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder as he wormed his way into the crowd followed by Brock and Misty. Tracey put on his backpack and carefully picked up his sleeping Marill and quickly went after the others.
When they got into the terminal, the group went to get their checked luggage off of the carousel. Then they went and rented a car that they would drive the hour trip that remained to get to the port where the S.S. Anne was docked. After settling all the details, Misty came back and joined her three friends and handed the keys to Brock. She had driven to the airport and now it was his turn. Once they found their rental vehicle they loaded their bags into the trunk and loaded in to begin the drive.
"How long to we have until the ship sets sail." Brock asked.
"We have three hours. That should be plenty of time to get there and check in so that we can settle in and maybe even watch the ship set sail. I think that would be a wonderful sketch that I could start with." Tracey said. He was sitting in the front passenger seat beside Brock and Ash and Misty were sitting in the back. Through the rear view mirror Tracey noticed that Ash was playing with Pikachu and Misty was staring off into space, looking distracted and very worried.
"What's up with Misty? She looks like she's a thousand miles away?" Tracey asked Brock.
"Well, all I can tell you is that she has a lot on her mind right now." Brock sighed heavily. "I wish there was something that we could do to help her and I tried a couple of times on the plane while you and Ash were sleeping, but I think that this is something that she just has to deal with in her own way and on her own time."
"Oh. Okay. I guess I just don't get women sometimes." Tracey smiled and Brock simply shook his head.
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Misty was trying to figure out how she was going to reveal what she had on her mind to the one person that was the world to her. Suddenly, a welcomed voice broke her out of her reverie and brought her back to the real world.
"Mist?" Ash whispered.
"Hmm."
"Are you okay. You seem a little distant." Ash didn't even attempt to disguise the concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking about something. What about you?" Misty cleverly tried to change the subject off of herself. She was very relieved when her efforts worked.
"I'm still a little tired. I guess I didn't get very much sleep last night. Other than that, I'm fine." Ash said with a small yawn.
Misty just smiled and hugged her boyfriend to her and kissed Ash on the head. "I have an idea. Why don't you try to take a nap? I'll wake you right before we get to the port. Besides, you'll feel a little better if you get some sleep. I really want you to be able to watch the ship set sail with us."
"That sounds like a good idea to me. I love you, Misty. I am so lucky to have you." Ash whispered as he laid his head on Misty's shoulder and closed his eyes. Within a few seconds, he had drifted off to sleep.
"I love you too, Ash. I just wish I didn't have to hide this from you." Misty thought as she hugged Ash closer to her and felt Pikachu climb up into her lap.
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Brock glanced in the mirror and saw that Ash was sleeping in Misty's arms and she was off in her own world again. He just shook his head sadly.
"I wish that she could find a way to talk to him about it." Brock said to himself, not knowing he had said it out loud.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tracey said, jolting Brock out of his thoughts.
"What?" Brock was very distant now.
"You said that there was something Misty couldn't talk to Ash about. I have never known her to keep anything inside." Tracey was now beginning to get worried.
"Yeah. I'll tell you if you promise to keep it between us unless Misty says something to you."
"My lips are sealed. I promise." Tracey smiled a little.
"Okay. On the plane, Misty told me about her sisters almost keeping her from coming with us." Brock was silent for a moment, remembering the turmoil in Misty's eyes as she told her story. "But that's not the worst of it. She said that she had a dream of some kind and was afraid that she was going to lose us forever. She was really emotional about it and I could tell that it terrified her. I tried to convince her to tell Ash and Pikachu said the same thing later, but she's afraid that Ash is going to be upset."
"I can see what would make her think that. You know how protective Ash is of Misty. He might want to go after her sisters for causing her that kind of pain." Tracey's voice had a tinge of anger. "How could her sisters do that to her." He glanced back at his friends for a moment.
"They love each other so much. Misty really should let Ash help her through this. I know it can't be easy for her." Tracey thought as he turned to stare distantly out the window.
Behind them, Misty was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Tracey turned around looking at her. Ash was unaware of any of this as he slept in Misty's arms.
Tracey woke the next morning before anyone. The problem with this was that he got bored very quickly. As he sat there trying to find a way to somehow amuse himself, he got a funny idea. So Tracey carefully reached into his backpack trying not to disturb Marill who was sleeping on his lap, and pulled out his sketch pad. He then opened his pad and began to draw a sketch of his sleeping friends.
"This is great! I just have to keep this to myself because I could be in big time trouble if anyone else sees it." Tracey told himself. He had just added a few finishing touches and was admiring his drawing when a noise startled him. He looked around and saw Misty sit up and look at him.
"Morning, Misty." Tracey smiled.
"Good morning. Can I ask you something, Trace?" Misty asked.
"Sure. Go ahead."
"This is an airplane so what in the world could you be drawing?"
"It's really nothing. I just woke up and got bored so I decided to draw something. Not really one of my best drawings anyway." Tracey fibbed as he closed the sketch pad and placed it back in his backpack.
"Oh, okay." Misty was purely unconvinced but she decided to drop the subject anyway.
"Pi pikachu." (Oh, brother.) Pikachu sighed.
The thick silence was broken by a loud, grunting yawn coming from Brock as he woke up.
"Morning, guys. What's up?" Brock said sleepily.
"Morning Brock. Nothing much up right now." Tracey said.
"Yeah, Tracey and I were just talking." Misty smiled.
"Oh, okay. Ash awake yet?"
"No. He's still asleep. He was pretty tired yesterday so I'm going to let him sleep for a while longer. He needs to rest right now." Misty whispered. She then smiled down at Ash who appeared to be lost in peaceful dreams as he snuggled into her arms.
"Well you can't let him sleep too much longer. We're going to be landing in about an hour." Tracey reminded her.
"Yeah, I know. I'll probably wake him in about fifteen minutes. That way we'll have plenty of time to get everything together before we land in the Seafoam Islands."
Fifteen minutes later Misty decided that it was time to wake Ash. She reached down and gave him a gentle shake and a kiss. After a moment Ash's eyes fluttered open and he smiled up at Misty.
"Good morning, Mist." Ash yawned.
"Good morning to you, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" Misty asked.
"Yep. I slept like a rock last night. You make an excellent pillow." Ash said with a grin. "I'm still tired though. Why did you have to wake me up?"
"I didn't really want to because I know you could have used the rest but the plane is going to landing in 45 minutes and we need to make sure we have all of our things together."
"Oh, okay. I guess there is an advantage to it. At least I'll sleep well tonight on the ship." Ash said as he kissed Misty's cheek.
"I think we all will." Brock said as Tracey nodded his agreement. Then they all began gathering their things and getting ready to disembark once the plane landed in the Seafoam Islands.
A few minutes later the announcement came for everyone to prepare for landing and as the four friends finished gathering their things and strapped in, they could feel the plane begin its final decent.
Once the plane touched down, everyone started getting their things and disembarking. Pikachu leapt onto Ash's shoulder as he wormed his way into the crowd followed by Brock and Misty. Tracey put on his backpack and carefully picked up his sleeping Marill and quickly went after the others.
When they got into the terminal, the group went to get their checked luggage off of the carousel. Then they went and rented a car that they would drive the hour trip that remained to get to the port where the S.S. Anne was docked. After settling all the details, Misty came back and joined her three friends and handed the keys to Brock. She had driven to the airport and now it was his turn. Once they found their rental vehicle they loaded their bags into the trunk and loaded in to begin the drive.
"How long to we have until the ship sets sail." Brock asked.
"We have three hours. That should be plenty of time to get there and check in so that we can settle in and maybe even watch the ship set sail. I think that would be a wonderful sketch that I could start with." Tracey said. He was sitting in the front passenger seat beside Brock and Ash and Misty were sitting in the back. Through the rear view mirror Tracey noticed that Ash was playing with Pikachu and Misty was staring off into space, looking distracted and very worried.
"What's up with Misty? She looks like she's a thousand miles away?" Tracey asked Brock.
"Well, all I can tell you is that she has a lot on her mind right now." Brock sighed heavily. "I wish there was something that we could do to help her and I tried a couple of times on the plane while you and Ash were sleeping, but I think that this is something that she just has to deal with in her own way and on her own time."
"Oh. Okay. I guess I just don't get women sometimes." Tracey smiled and Brock simply shook his head.
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Misty was trying to figure out how she was going to reveal what she had on her mind to the one person that was the world to her. Suddenly, a welcomed voice broke her out of her reverie and brought her back to the real world.
"Mist?" Ash whispered.
"Hmm."
"Are you okay. You seem a little distant." Ash didn't even attempt to disguise the concern in his voice.
"Yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking about something. What about you?" Misty cleverly tried to change the subject off of herself. She was very relieved when her efforts worked.
"I'm still a little tired. I guess I didn't get very much sleep last night. Other than that, I'm fine." Ash said with a small yawn.
Misty just smiled and hugged her boyfriend to her and kissed Ash on the head. "I have an idea. Why don't you try to take a nap? I'll wake you right before we get to the port. Besides, you'll feel a little better if you get some sleep. I really want you to be able to watch the ship set sail with us."
"That sounds like a good idea to me. I love you, Misty. I am so lucky to have you." Ash whispered as he laid his head on Misty's shoulder and closed his eyes. Within a few seconds, he had drifted off to sleep.
"I love you too, Ash. I just wish I didn't have to hide this from you." Misty thought as she hugged Ash closer to her and felt Pikachu climb up into her lap.
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Brock glanced in the mirror and saw that Ash was sleeping in Misty's arms and she was off in her own world again. He just shook his head sadly.
"I wish that she could find a way to talk to him about it." Brock said to himself, not knowing he had said it out loud.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tracey said, jolting Brock out of his thoughts.
"What?" Brock was very distant now.
"You said that there was something Misty couldn't talk to Ash about. I have never known her to keep anything inside." Tracey was now beginning to get worried.
"Yeah. I'll tell you if you promise to keep it between us unless Misty says something to you."
"My lips are sealed. I promise." Tracey smiled a little.
"Okay. On the plane, Misty told me about her sisters almost keeping her from coming with us." Brock was silent for a moment, remembering the turmoil in Misty's eyes as she told her story. "But that's not the worst of it. She said that she had a dream of some kind and was afraid that she was going to lose us forever. She was really emotional about it and I could tell that it terrified her. I tried to convince her to tell Ash and Pikachu said the same thing later, but she's afraid that Ash is going to be upset."
"I can see what would make her think that. You know how protective Ash is of Misty. He might want to go after her sisters for causing her that kind of pain." Tracey's voice had a tinge of anger. "How could her sisters do that to her." He glanced back at his friends for a moment.
"They love each other so much. Misty really should let Ash help her through this. I know it can't be easy for her." Tracey thought as he turned to stare distantly out the window.
Behind them, Misty was so deep in thought that she didn't even notice Tracey turned around looking at her. Ash was unaware of any of this as he slept in Misty's arms.