"You can't make someone love you, all you can do is stalk them and hope with time they panic and give in."

Disclaimer – I don't own Pokemon.

Beyond the ShadowsAnticipation

Garnet nervously wrung her hands together.  It was something she often did when she was nervous, like how some people would bite their nails or others would mumble quietly to them selves.  She just wrung her hands together as if she was trying to wring the nervousness out of her body starting with her hands.

It never seemed to work but at least it helped take her mind off the reason why she was nervous, or at least distract her for small periods of time.

Garnet glanced at the door again, as she had been for about the last ten minutes.  She was early something which was actually quite rare for her.  She was half an hour early if you wanted to be exact but she didn't want to start off with a bad impression by being terribly late.

She was about to meet Brock's two closest friends in the world, and for obvious reasons she really cared what they thought of her.

She knew their opinions would be important to Brock, she could tell by the way he talked about them with such admiration.  They were an important part of his life and if she was ever going to become part of it she needed to be part of theirs too.

A few minutes later they arrived.  The red head was in the lead wearing a pair of denim petal-pushers and a blue singlet top and waving a Pokemon league hat around dramatically.  The younger boy, her best friend, followed wrapping his arms around her waist as he pinned her to himself and reached for the hat which she refused to give up without a fight.

It was obvious neither was complaining about the positions they had put themselves in, actually they quite enjoyed it. 

Misty loved the feel of Ash's arms around her.  She felt so safe and protected.  She felt as though she had been given wings and that nothing could get her from where she was, like he would never let anything happen to her as long as he lived.

And Ash loved the feeling of holding Misty in his arms, something he was only allowed to do on rare occasions such as this one.  It felt so right to have Misty in his arms, as if it were how everything was supposed to be.  He felt strong to have him so close to him, he felt fearless and empowered as though he could do anything, as if he could take on any challenge.

Garnet giggled at the scene and wondered how on earth they were the only ones that couldn't see what seemed so perfectly clear.  The two were perfect for each other and madly in love to top it off, too bad they didn't know any better.

Next came Brock, the one she was happiest to see.

He scanned the café as he came in and smiled and waved as he saw her forgetting about his two friends as he walked to her table.  He kissed her cheek as he handed her a red rose.

"It matches your eyes perfectly," he told her.

Garnet blushed.

Her entire life, she had never dreamed of things being so perfect as it was now.  She was so afraid that any minute now she might wake up and find out that it had all been some wonderful dream.

Brock looked into her eyes and suddenly remembered his two companions that were still at the door fighting over a hat.

One of Ash's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist where as the other reached for Misty's arm.  Misty was struggling to keep her breathing under control when she remembered a time when this had been that much easier.  When Ash hadn't been nearly as tall, or strong and she hadn't been nearly as in love with him.

"Um guys," Brock called to them.  "I don't mean to interrupt whatever it is that's going on over there . . ."

Misty and Ash looked at each other and moved out of their almost awkward positions.  A blush crept onto each of their cheeks as Misty tried to use the cap to hide hers from any on lookers that may have gotten the wrong idea from the public display of god knows what.

" . . . but I want you both to meet someone," he continued grinning to himself which only caused them to blush darker.

The two walked over to the table.

"Guys this is Garnet," Brock said as he sat down beside his girlfriend.  "Garnet, these two are Ash and Misty."

They all shared greeting and shook hands before taking their seats around the circular table.

"Brock's told me so much about you both," Garnet smiled at them.

"Well he hasn't told us a thing about you other than the fact that you're the prettiest girl he's ever seen," Misty said her voice cheerful, "so maybe you can fill us in on that."

Garnet nodded.  "Brock and I went to grade school together in Pewter and we just met up here a few days ago," she explained.  "I work with a proformance group who use Pokemon for shows.  I mostly work with the psychic Pokemon which is my specialty and we just travel from town to town."

"Sounds exciting," Misty smiled thinking of the life she must live as a performer traveling around and getting to work with her favourite Pokemon on a daily basis without having to battle them.

"No more than yours," Garnet replied.  "I mean from what I've heard from Brock you guys have had your fair share of adventures."

Misty laughed at this.  "only cause mr. Pokemon master there has a superman complex," she told Garnet glancing at Ash from the corner of her eye.

"hey I resent that," Ash said with mock defensiveness.

"too bad cause it's true," she replied.  "All that's missing right now is those cute little red tights and a cape."

"fine but you have to be my annoying little sidekick," he told her.  "you can be wondergirl."

"See what I have to live with," Misty sighed to Garnet jokingly.  "If I were you I'd get out while I still can."

"Aw, you know you'd never leave Myst," Ash told her.  Misty sent him a look that demanded 'why not?' without having to say it.  "Because," Ash continued, "I still owe you a bike."

"bike wrecker," she muttered sarcastically under her breath for image sake as she shot him angry look that she knew as well as anyone else he would never understand.

Only part of Ash actually believed that the only reason she was still with him right now was a silly little bike he had smashed up over five years ago, that was why he had never really gotten around to paying her back for it.  The rest of him relied on the friendship and bond that had been built between them over the years to explain it.

But then there was always that one part of him.  It was so small in comparison, almost miniscule yelling to be heard among the other thoughts.  So tiny that you wouldn't notice it unless you knew it was there, but with a voice so loud it often drowned out all the rest.  A voice with such a simple explanation for Misty's presence, or maybe it was the most complicated of all, he was never quite sure of that but the voice told him that she was as in love with him as he was with her.

He struggled to believe that tiny part of him that tried to drown out all the words around him.  He wanted to believe it so badly.  To believe that everyones words were true and that he was really just missing the obvious, but the rest of him wouldn't let him believe it.  The rest of him was too scared to believe it, too skeptic to think such a thing could ever happen to him.

But then, he used to be skeptic of love, then Misty came along and things were never really the same again, not that he minded.  He could no longer picture his life without her, and the truth was he didn't want to.

Garnet watched the two with great interest.

She had always been the one watching, and now she almost felt like she was a part of what all three of them shared on a daily basis.

From her distance, behind the glass walls as a mere spectator to the lives they led, it was easy to see the affection that the two felt for each other.  As a part of it, it was so obvious that she wondered why neither of them picked up on it.

'You would have to be blind, deaf, mute and just plain stupid not to be able to understand the love these two feel for each other,' Garnet thought to herself.

She liked the feeling she got to be with all of them.  For the first time in her life, she felt like she wasn't alone anymore, that there were people watching out for her.

She didn't want to loose that feeling, because she never wanted to feel as unwanted as she did in her childhood again.

She stared in through the window. 

She had finally found her, the one she had been looking for all along.  And wherever she was, she knew he was sure to follow.

She smiled at the scene, all the happy faces and laughter they shared and she knew that if she had her way, they wouldn't be happy for much longer.

And she always got her way.

~ to be continued ~

Ok, so how'd you like that chapter?

Tell me what you think and maybe you could all help me with a few idea's for this new Pokemon I've decided to create because I couldn't figure out a Pokemon with the power to kick Pikachu's ass.