Chapter Eleven
On The Shore
The gentle sun on his face woke Ash.
He opened his eyes very slowly, and blinked as they adjusted to the thin, honey-gold light that seemed to spill into his vision. The sun was high, and there was no sign of storm clouds in the sky. It was very quiet: all he could hear was the gentle whooshing of waves on sand, and a far-off bird singing. All was calm and saturated with gentle light and soft sounds. It was soothing to Ash, and he felt a sense of calm steal over him as he slowly reconciled his sleepy mind to the world around him. He turned his head, trying to ignore the beginnings of a headache. He could see that he was on an empty beach, one that wasn't familiar to him. He ached all over, and his arms and legs were stiff. He groaned as he tried to lift his hand, which felt heavy and sleepy, and brush sand from his face.
He shut his eyes again for a moment. Memories began to flood back to him, like pieces of driftwood running up on shore.
"Misty!" He sat up suddenly, and groaned again as the movement pulled at his bruised muscles. He waited for a second to let his head stop spinning. Then he noticed something down by the water. It was a person. They were lying very still.
"Oh, no," muttered Ash. He crawled across the sand, wincing with pain, and held his breath as the person's face came into view. It was Misty.
Her hair was tangled and wet, except for on top, where it had been dried by the sun. Her clothes were still damp, and were torn in a couple of places. She was half-sunk in the wet sand, and the waves gently pulled at her feet as they ran up and down the beach. She was lying on her front, and her face was turned so that her mouth and one closed eye were above the golden grains of the beach.
"Misty?" Ash spoke softly, afraid of waking her up too suddenly and scaring her. She didn't move.
He crept closer, slowly, still afraid to disturb her. She still wasn't moving. He knelt over her, and, after waiting a few minutes, gently pushed the hair from her face. He said her name again, a little louder this time. No reaction.
That was when the possibility began to dawn on him. It crept into the shadowy part of his mind, insidious and cold, glittering like sharp steel but heavy as lead. He shook his head, and steeled himself to touch her again.
He put his arms around her, turning her as gently as he could so that she was lying on her back. Her still face looked up into his with closed eyes. He touched her cheek, skin still so soft, and glowing in the sunlight, stroking that silken face with a fingertip, tracing a line down to her chin. When she didn't move, he began to gently brush the sand from around her mouth and eyes and nose. He smoothed her bright hair.
"I've let you down again, haven't I? I'm so stupid. I always let things go wrong." His voice broke on the last words, and he abruptly pulled her limp body close, tucking her head under his chin and rocking her slowly. Tears dropped from his tightly-shut eyes. He shuddered with a violent sob.
"Why didn't I save you? I was holding your hand, I should have held on tighter. I was right there, you were counting on me. It's all my fault. All… All…" He took a shaking breath. "…All my fault."
He sat for a while longer, rocking her body and crying quietly. Gradually, he stilled his shuddering breaths, letting a feeling of passivity spread through him, taking away his understanding and seeming to numb his heart to stillness. He laid her back down, and knelt beside her, beginning a silent vigil.
The wind made her seem alive as it moved strands of ginger silk across her face, sending them dancing over her skin. She was still so pretty. Her hair was still bright, her face pale, but suffused with a mild pink glow. He noticed then the necklace she was wearing. It sparkled coldly in the sun. Ash suddenly remembered it. It was the one she'd found before she got sick and disappeared, before everything had changed and she'd been taken away from him. Before everything had gone wrong. He reached mechanically round to undo the icy-pale silver chain, and stood up, facing the ocean.
Abruptly, as a sudden fury raced up from some place deep inside him, he threw it with all his strength, using all his anger at the thing to send it flying far off, where it disappeared under the waves with a tiny splash. It seemed a presence had vanished with the thing as it fell beneath the water. Ash stared at where it had disappeared for a moment, feeling his anger die as suddenly as it had risen, before kneeling down beside Misty again.
He gazed fixedly into her face, pretending she was still alive, making himself expect her to open her eyes at any moment. He waited.
The waves continued to whoosh, the far-off birds carried on singing, and the sun slowly warmed Ash's back. Everything seemed to have stopped, a treacle light poured over everything, holding it in warm amber suspension. It was like time had stood still, thought Ash. A golden calm spread over him.
He didn't think about it. He leant slowly down over Misty, bringing his face close to hers. He paused for a moment as the breeze rustled through his hair and cooled his hot face and back. Finally, he closed his eyes. He kissed her.
It was a soft, brief kiss, full of honey and light and faraway times of happiness, warm with sepia tones. He pulled away and opened his eyes, and found himself choking on a huge lump in his throat. It wasn't fair. She couldn't be gone, not now. Not when he'd finally shown her how he felt. He closed his eyes again.
A sudden explosion of coughing made his eyes fly open.
"Misty! You're alive!" He was amazed and ecstatic all at once. Misty's bright blue eyes opened slowly. She dived straight into his dark gaze.
"Ash," she whispered. "I thought I heard you calling me…" She brought her arms up around him, and they held each other very close for a long time.
"I don't know what happened to Simon or Beth. We never found them after the storm." Officer Jenny tried to answer Misty's questions as Brock and Ash listened. Misty was back in a hospital bed, having finally woken up after more than a day's sleep. She looked a lot stronger.
"Do you think they could have just gone away somewhere?" asked Ash. His arms were covered in fading bruises, and he had a plaster on his forehead where he'd had a nasty cut.
"It's very possible. But we have no way of ever knowing for sure," replied Jenny.
Brock looked thoughtful. He himself had been a little bruised and battered by the storm, but luckily, Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy had gone out in a bigger boat searching for the band of friends. They'd found him near the beach at the time of the storm and brought him safely to shore before they went looking for the other two. He'd been the one to spot Ash and Misty asleep on the beach, a little way north of Opal Town. "Well, I guess we'll stick around a bit longer, until Misty gets completely better. Then on to the next town," Brock said.
Officer Jenny nodded. "Well, I have to go and see Nurse Joy at the Pokemon Centre. One of you should come and check on your Pokemon."
"I'll come with you," said Brock eagerly. "I'll come back and see you two in a little while, okay?" he said to Ash and Misty. They nodded.
Brock and the officer disappeared out of the door, closing it behind them. Ash and Misty were left alone. They looked at each other, and there was an awkward pause.
"I'm glad you were okay," said Misty suddenly.
"I'm more glad you were," replied Ash. "I could never have forgiven myself if you'd been really hurt or anything." His large dark eyes looked sad.
She was concerned. "You don't think this was your fault, do you?"
Ash didn't say anything.
"Ash, this wasn't your fault. It really wasn't."
He looked away from her shining blue gaze.
"There was nothing more you could have done. It was really brave of you to go into the storm after me; you and Brock did all you could. And it's okay, because we all got through it just fine."
"Well, I'm sorry, all the same," said Ash.
"It isn't needed, but if it'll make you feel any better, I forgive you." Misty smiled sadly. She took a breath, and spoke honestly. "I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have as my rescuer. No one else would have done all you did… Thank you." That soft sapphire gaze was turned on him again, earnestly and openly, making something pull tight in Ash's chest. He took a breath, shaking his head slightly.
"That's okay. Just wish I'd figured everything out and got to you sooner. I guess there's not much point thinking about that though." He pushed himself up from his chair by her bed. "Well, I think I'll go and get us something to drink. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty thirsty." He seemed about to leave, then stopped. It was as if a little string had tugged him back. When he turned, slowly, as if moved by an outside force, he saw Misty was looking at him. Those eyes again, filling him with a blue light, so pale and so deep all at once, making him feel a strength he hadn't known he had, which stirred within him with a soft ache that he couldn't understand. He took her hand, and she stared at their fingers clasped together, pale entwined with tanned, feeling his thoughts and emotions spilling up from his touch with a soft sound like far-off music. Her lessons in power had changed her. She wouldn't have felt this thread of awareness between them before. She looked up at him again, letting herself fall into the velvet depths of his open, dark gaze. He was speaking to her, and she focused herself on his voice.
"Back there on the beach, when you were unconscious… For a while, I thought you'd... I thought you might not wake up. I honestly did. And I realised something, and before I even thought about it, I…" He stopped short. He took a breath to speak, and paused again. He seemed to be trying to tell her something important. Misty waited, resisting the warm but nervous pull he was unknowingly reaching out to her with. Inside, she smiled at how open and honest a person he was.
"I…" He blinked, and seemed to change his mind. The warm thread broke off. "I'll always be there to rescue you. That's all." He squeezed her hand, and quickly left the room.
Misty gazed at the empty doorway after he'd gone. She wondered what it was he'd actually been trying to say, independent of the strength of emotion that he'd been spreading through the room, with the rhythm of a heartbeat, before he'd gone. She knew what she'd wanted to say to him, what she'd been sending out in waves in reply to his subconscious message. He hadn't felt that reply, strong though it was.
"I love you," she said quietly.
She sighed. Pushing herself up from the bed, she went and stood by the window, looking out at the bright summer day. A fresh sensation filled her: she could taste it in the air, the feeling of a new start, and the energy for a new day and a new adventure. She was getting much better already. They'd be able to continue their journey within a couple of days. Finally Ash would be able to get his next badge, even though it wouldn't be the Opal Badge. After everything that had happened, Misty was glad to be moving on to another town. She still wasn't sure how she felt about everything that had taken place. She hoped Simon was okay, wherever he was. She knew he was alive. It would take a while for her awareness of him to fade completely, and until then, it was something that comforted her. He wasn't so bad as everyone had thought, even himself. She sent an earnest and happy thank you singing along their thread to him. She thought she felt a distant echo of comfort sent back to her, as if he were trying to tell her that he loved her, too. She smiled. Yes. She did love him. She saw it now, what he had become: like a brother to her. The kind of friend you saw as family: not always kind, not always understanding, but always believing in you and pushing you to try.
She looked far away to the horizon. Finally, it was all over. Tomorrow was another day to start again.
Suddenly she squinted as she saw something small and bright moving far off above the sparkle of the ocean. It seemed to be pink, something flying in a spiral up towards the fluffy white clouds that rode the perfect blue sky.
"Mew…?" wondered Misty. She watched the flash of colour vanish into the clouds and furrowed her brow in thought.
Then she let her brows part, and the worry clear from her face. Mew was alive and flying once more. She smiled.