Chapter Six
Emotions
The light suddenly vanished from them both. Misty went limp in Simon's arms, and he caught at her quickly, to stop her from falling to the floor. He laid her gently onto his bed, drawing his arms carefully from her. He stepped away, to watch her in silence from his chair, which he drew nearer to the bed. Misty lay unconscious.
Simon sighed. He'd hoped that wouldn't happen. But I should have known it would.
Misty's face was relaxed, all worry and pain gone. Simon watched her, thoughtful. She's so powerful. She has it. I knew she had it. I knew it! Everything is coming together, at last! She is perfect. So innocent and pure, just lying there- Simon broke himself off in his train of thought. No. This isn't the time. There's work to do. Just use her, and get rid of her. That was always the plan. That's always been the plan. It will be as I planned it. Simon looked away, out of the window, to avoid thinking too much about how Misty looked as she lay there, drawing in gently sighing breaths, her cheeks pink, her shiny hair almost glowing in the soft light-
"No! I have to stop this!" cried Simon angrily, frustrated with himself, and Misty, too. It was her fault. It wasn't his choice that she had to be… well, pretty. But it didn't matter. Outside appearances didn't matter, only the power inside!
Simon paced the room, fiercely blinking and looking at the floor whenever he found himself looking at her again. Finally, too annoyed to stay, too angry at himself, he left the room, and strode furiously to his lab, shooting evil looks at everything he saw, looks that could have turned everything to ashes with their blazing fire of gold.
As long as I just keep an eye on her, she can stay where she is until she wakes up. She'll need time to regain her strength. Simon halted, considering, frowning. Time is not something I have.
"But we don't have time!" protested a stubborn voice.
Brock and Pikachu both tried to reason with Ash, but it was no good.
"There's plenty enough time. Besides, if you don't sleep, you won't have enough energy to search anyway. And you can't expect to see her in the dark, when you should be asleep," Brock insisted.
"Pika pi!" added Pikachu, earnestly.
"I don't care."
"You're wrong, Ash. You do care. You care a lot. And that's why you won't listen to anyone except your own conscience." Brock waited for another outburst, but Ash had fallen silent. "I care, too. But you can't keep punishing yourself for something that isn't your fault!"
Ash had finally resigned himself to what must be. "I just feel... so… helpless." He sighed heavily, the weight of the world on shoulders unaccustomed to burdens. "I've always been able to do something about it if something went wrong. Now I'm just failing at everything. And it would fine if it was only me suffering because of it. But it's not just me. It's one of my best friends. It's Misty."
Brock watched Ash in concern. He was really worried about him. Ash had been dealing with everything pretty well so far, but now he seemed to just have given up. No, not quite given up… He's overworking himself trying to find her, but he doesn't seem to expect that he ever will anymore. It's almost like he knows something we don't, about this whole situation. It didn't make any sense to Brock. He sighed. "If we give up, there's no hope at all. If we don't find her, who will, Ash? Who? We're her best friends. We know her best. We know that she'll be okay. That's why it'll be us who never gives up, us who stays confident, and us who knows that everything will work out. And that's why it'll be us that finds her."
As Brock finished speaking, Ash looked up at him. His dark eyes held an intensity that Brock had never seen in his friend before. Ash held out his hand to Brock.
"We'll find her," he said, as they shook on their promise, a promise to each other, and a promise to Misty.
"Pikachu!" agreed the little Pokemon fiercely.
A person walked among the trees, silent, watching, waiting, and listening. Two voices could be heard, boy's voices, arguing about something. The shadowy figure slipped through the brush towards the voices, and saw them. A boy with black hair, and an older boy with brown hair. They were arguing about their search.
The stranger sighed, listening on as the conversation developed. They still haven't found her. Don't they have any idea? It's so obvious! Well, I guess it would be to me… Another sigh. Should I help them? Should I tell them who I am, and how to find their friend? A thoughtful pause. Wait, I can help them, and not need to say who I am! They don't need to know. They'd only hate me and refuse to listen anyway, if I told them. Satisfied, the stranger waited until the conversation ended, watching the pair shake hands. The little Pikachu's determination, echoing its trainer's, brought a smile to the stranger's face. The figure moved closer still.
Then Brock and Ash spotted the shadow moving among the trees. Panicked, the stranger had a sudden change of mind, and ran, disappearing again, small and silent.
"Who is that? And why do they keep watching us?" cried Ash, frustrated, as they ended their run, arriving at the then empty place where the stranger had been.
"I don't know," replied Brock, frowning. "But I think we should aim to find out."
Ash hadn't got any sleep that night, anyway. He tossed and turned, until he just gave up trying, and wriggled out of his sleeping bag. He sat on top of it, crouched with his arms holding his knees against his chest. The night sky was incredible. There weren't any clouds to hide the stars, and they glittered and twinkled in their millions. Ash watched them in silence. Thoughts crowded into his mind. Where are you, Misty? What's going on? He thought about how his life had changed since Misty had vanished, how many things within himself that he'd had to confront, things he'd preferred to ignore or put off. It had been easier then, simpler. Reliable. Why can't things just go on the way they've always been? It doesn't make any sense. He sighed in frustration. I can't sleep. I'll only have more of those weird dreams. The thought of them brought the visions flickering back into Ash's mind, fleeting close enough to his memory to give that edge of fear and sadness they held, but vanishing when he tried to grasp them in his mind. It didn't make sense anymore. It just didn't make sense.
Everything was silent around Ash. There wasn't even a hint of a breeze. The trees remained silent and still overhead. There was not an ounce of comfort for Ash to draw from anything he could see or think of. What if she's lost somewhere? What if she's as lonely and sad as I am? What if she's crying right now? Ash couldn't stop the thoughts crowding his mind. He couldn't stop the wave of misery flowing over him, making him take gulping breaths, making tears rise in his eyes. What if she's as scared as I am? The thought of her, imagining her stranded in a cold, desolate place, lying in some isolated patch of grass, smeared in dust and dirt, clothes torn, hair falling loose across her pale face. He could almost hear her coughing, that harsh, snagging cough she'd had. He could almost see her eyes shining with tears, as they streamed down her face.
Ash shut his eyes against the picture, trying to force it away. Tears started up into his own eyes again, and he couldn't stop them this time. He tried to brush them away, but he couldn't get rid of them fast enough. A single drop fell down his cheek onto his arm, and he stared at it with a numbed expression. Then he couldn't hold it in any longer, and more tears fell, until he didn't bother to try to brush them away anymore.
He looked up at the starlit sky. He wondered how the stars could be shining when he was so miserable. Their soft, unerring light only made him feel sadder. He choked on a sob, and bowed his head again, hiding his tear-smeared face with his hands and arms.
Pikachu stood silent and unseen behind him. The little Pokemon knew what Ash was feeling. It felt it too. Tears filled Pikachu's eyes, making them sparkle and shimmer.
So the pair sat there, one watching, unnoticed, over the other, hoping that the watching and sharing of the pain might somehow make it easier on its friend. Meanwhile, the stars continued to shine overhead, heedless of everything that happened below.
Simon paced his room, watching the girl still asleep on the bed. He'd made up another bed on the floor for himself, but he couldn't sleep anyway. Not with her there. He'd considered carrying her to her own room, but the idea of holding her in his arms was out of the question. He couldn't allow himself to do anything that might make him feel… anything.
Impersonal. Businesslike. Unbiased. Yes.
He paused beside the bed. Misty was still in exactly the same position as she'd been when he put her there. And she was still beautiful.
Misty suddenly shivered a little in her sleep. Simon jumped to her side, and fetched a blanket when he saw she was just cold. He drew it gently up over her, and she smiled in her sleep. Simon paused as he let the blanket go, his hands placed on the bed on either side of Misty's shoulders, his face looking down on hers. He stood frozen like that for a minute, just gazing at her, mind, for once, clear of thoughts of how he should stay cold and distant. All he could see was her power, reflected in her sweet smile, and her pink-tinted cheeks. The fragrance of her hair filled him with the hunger for her strength, and her soft breathing, and the beating of his own heart, filled the air with the rhythm of it.
All he could feel was the gentle thrumming of that newly-woken power, lapping against him like the cool, quiet tide of the ocean, drawing him in so slowly, he didn't even know he was moved. He lifted a hand, and traced a line down her soft cheek with the back of his finger.
He took a deep breath, and, before he could stop himself, he leant down very slowly towards her. All he wanted was just to-
Her eyes flicked open, and looked straight into his.
In that instant, the spell was broken, and Simon spun around and away, disappearing through the door, which closed behind him with a bang.
Misty sat up slowly, confused and still sleepy. "What was…" she wondered. Then, "What's going on now?" she asked herself, as she sank back down to the warm covers. Too tired to think about it any further, she fell asleep with a puzzled expression on her face.
Ash wandered along the beach, solitary and cold. The sun wasn't up yet, but Ash hadn't slept at all anyway. He walked slowly along the beach, retracing the route Misty had taken that fateful day. The shimmering fog lay, as always, in a haze over the ocean. Ash gazed at it long and hard, trying to fathom it's mysterious depths. That was when he saw it.
A shadowy outline, far off on the horizon. As Ash spotted it, and his eyes were riveted to it, images flashed through his mind.
The far off shadowy place he'd dreamed of. The dark clouds overhead. The strange figure, watching, waiting…
"Misty!" Ash cried, running towards the little shadow so far away. He was brought back into reality by the freezing waves as he ran into them, and they soaked him instantly, almost knocking him over. He shook his head to clear it, startled, and backed up onto the sands.
His face was set in a determined frown. He made a low, throaty growling sound through his clenched teeth, as he raised a fist.
"You're there, Misty. I know you are. And I'm coming to rescue you," he vowed.
"Simon?" Misty's voice was small and timid in the grand silence of the laboratory. She'd woken up really early, from falling asleep so early the day before, and had decided to set off to find her new companion. She'd been surprised to find herself in his room, in his actual bed, and was even more disturbed by the vague memory of something she'd thought had happened. But she couldn't be sure, so she'd decided that she had to ask him. She had no idea how.
" 'Um, Simon, were you in your room last night?' No, that's stupid, it's his room, he was obviously there at some point! 'Did you almost…' What? Did you almost kiss me? I can't ask him something like that! What if it had never happened? It'd be so embarrassing!" Misty was having no luck trying to think of what to say to Simon. It seemed like she wouldn't need to, anyway. She couldn't find him anywhere.
She wandered over to a nearby table, studying the shining glass tubes and bottles of another experiment. She was soon lost in thought.
"Misty?"
Simon's voice startled her, and she almost stumbled and fell as she turned around. She was even more surprised at Simon's closeness. When she turned, she found herself a bare inch from him. His sparkling golden eyes were all she could see. His gaze was fixed into her own eyes, and the gaze was intense, wonderfully intense. Though neither of them knew it, a faint light began to shimmer around them, a sign of the power they shared.
The light suddenly vanished, as Simon gulped and stepped back. The link that had formed through their gaze was broken.
"I, um, I mean, I…" Simon stammered. Misty did a double take in surprise. Simon was never nervous. He was never anything. He had no emotions. Then how is it that he's stammering? she wondered.
Simon seemed to have regained his composure. "I think, now that you're feeling better, I should finish telling you everything you need to know."
"There's more?" Misty asked, in genuine surprise.
"Yes. There's more," Simon replied. "There's much more."