"Love isn't what makes the world go round, it's what makes the trip worth while." – Franklin P. Jones
Disclaimer – I don't own Pokemon. And yes, there's another son in this chapter which yes I do own.
Now remember ~^_^~ smiley face thing changes the POV or whatever and it doesn't seem quite so ironic this time around.
A/N: I notice many of you weren't too impressed with the last chapter understandably. The reasons it was so corny is because it is mostly the same as my original version of this and I was a very corny writer to begin with, you should all be glad I took out some of the really corny stuff like the necklace part (shudder) and the sudden proposal for no apparent reason.
I also totally agree with '…'. I really wanted to rewrite that bit but I couldn't think how. I mean why would he choose having everything he wanted, the title and the girl, over having just one. The thing is that Misty won't remember any of it and Ash would only feel a sense of de ja vu. By the time he has made his decision the presence of the ghosts would be the furthest thing from his mind. His choice will be the simple matter of following his heart and we all know where that will lead him, this stuff is just chucked in for dramatic effect.
Anyway, with all that said, this chapter is almost as corny, extremely fluff and has yet another song in it because I felt like putting it in there so now I'll shut up and let you all read it and decide for yourselves.
Additional Authors Note: I made a slight change in the middle mostly because it has always annoyed me that it wasn't much of a choice. The choice is really more of a choice that he makes for Misty - does he let her shine for a few incredible moments (which need not necessarily end in her demise) or does he hold onto her only to have her stuck in his shadow. I think I explain it quite well just before the wedding, but that's really the only change and it was merely for my own peace of mind.
Part V – What My Life Could Be, Holding You Close To Me"That's the choice I have to make, isn't it?" Ash asked not really hearing Misty's words as his mind was elsewhere. "You or the title. The girl of my dreams or my childhood dream."
Misty shook her head gently. "It's just a choice."
With that she knew it was time to show Ash the other half of the future, the future she longed for him to choose.
~^_^~
Ash smiled as he gently led Misty to the very same field from his previous appiration only this time to encounter a very different and happier future.
"Where are we going?" Misty giggled curiously her voice full of fake suspicion.
Ash's hand was wrapped warmly around one of her hands while the other was over her eyes as per Ash's request. She had no idea where she was or where she was going for that matter but she trusted him enough to let him lead her blindly to god knows where. She trusted him with her life . . . and her heart.
She could tell something important was on his mind, they'd been friends too long for her not to notice. She just hoped that whatever it was, it was good news or as good as it could get.
"Open your eyes," Ash whispered huskily sending chills down her spine and warming her already reddening cheeks, she just hoped she could blame it on the cold if he noticed.
Misty opened her eyes slowly savouring the scene she surveyed(A/N: try saying that really fast five times along with toy boat) around her gasping happily as she did so.
It was absolutely perfect, just like something out of a fairytale or dream. The sun shone brightly in the east illuminating the light snow dusted across the ground. Tiny daisies and small groups of forget-me-not popped up through the thinning snow somehow surviving winters chill.
She felt like those flowers right now, barely surviving, tiny and insignificant wondering if anyone would ever see her. It was not easy to avoid thoughts like these on Valentines Day, especially when the only one you could ever love thought of you as nothing more than a friend, even if it was his best.
'The worst way to miss someone,' Misty thought sadly to herself as she felt the tears building up in her eyes.
She quickly swallowed back her tears before turning around to see Ash watching her, looking at her; seeing her.
She blushed as she resisted an urge to turn away before he realised she had looked too and did everything she could in her power not to be entranced by his chocolate brown eyes.
"Why'd you bring me here Ash?" she asked suddenly staring at him intent on making sure he didn't weazle his way out of this one.
"You see, I needed to tell you something," he told her nervously as he turned away pacing and running his fingers through his messy (and quickly getting messier) ebony locks in an agitated fashion.
"I'm listening," she urged him on as she too began to feel quite nervous.
"Well, Misty I'm not sure how to say this, but you see, well . . ." he began as he continued pacing back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth ringing his hands apprehensively.
"Ash will you please stop pacing," Misty commanded cutting him off as it was really getting to her, "you're making me dizzy. Now just stand here look me in the eye and say whatever it is you need to say. You're my best friend Ash," she added longing to say more, "and nothing you say could ever change that."
Ash swallowed deeply as he did what he was told. He looked into her cerulean blue eyes. He knew he couldn't live without her and quite frankly he didn't want to try.
Love was true to it's clichés, maybe that was why people seemed so cynical about it. It really did make worlds crumble and disappear, it was worth being brave for, it was worth giving up your life for that one person so they would never have to feel pain. Love was one of those few things in life that were worth risking everything for and if you didn't you risked even more.
So putting it all on the line, his life, his heart, his soul, his dreams, possibly even their friendship he took a deep breath and prepared to take that risk.
"Misty, I think I'm in love with you," Ash stated quickly before his growing nerves got the best of him and he ended up telling her he needed the bathroom as he had so many times before.
"You think, or you know Ash?" she asked as calmly as she could muster through the tears of happiness that were beginning to well in her eyes.
He smiled at this. Misty was a hopeless romantic and for her a feeling or a thought just wasn't enough. He had to be certain so in turn she could be certain of her own feelings.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her lightly so he could still look into her ever beautiful blue green eyes staring up into his chocolate brown with uncertainty. "I know I'm in love with you Misty Kasumi Waterflower," he said using her whole name for effect, "and I hope that maybe, just maybe, you love me too."
"Sometimes hope is more than enough," she said breathlessly as she reached out to touch his cheek almost as if to check he was real and not a dream. This statement was more to herself than Ash, but it held the same significance to the both of them. "I love you Ash," she whispered shyly loud enough so only he could hear.
His smile widened as he gently caressed her cheek. He pulled her closer to him tilting her face towards his own and weaving his fingers through her hair.
"I know," he whispered merely seconds before his lips met her in the first of many kisses to come.
There were so many more things that he longed to tell her that he couldn't even find words to express and this was a step closer to being able to convey all that to her.
~^_^~
The scene changed quickly from the winter landscape to a packed stadium in the Indigo Plateau set only a few months subsequent to the previous scene.
Ash stood in a box above the battlefield waiting anxiously along with at least a million others for the smoke to clear.
Misty stood on the side lines longing to run on to the field and be at Ash's side whether it be his victory or defeat though she hoped for the earlier of the two. She believed in him and as she stood on the sidelines with her fingers crossed for good luck she silently conveyed that to him.
Ash took a quick glance at Misty from the corner of his eye. Though she was meters away he could feel her presence right by his side where she belonged.
The smoke cleared slowly revealing a faint silhouette that could easily be either Pokemon, his strong Charizard who was speacially developed after years in the Charizardic Valley or his openants Ninetales which seemed uncharachtaristically strong and powerful with many unknown attacks behind it.
Finally all the smoke was cleared only to reveal Charizard standing proudly above the fainted body of the Ninetales.
For a few seconds the arena was filled with a stunned silence. The previous master who had been undefeated for almost twenty years was shocked to find that he had finally defeated by a boy who was barely a man.
The crowd cheered wildly.
Misty was the first to move, she ran from her position on the sidelines and straight into Ash's waiting arms.
"Ash Ketchum is now the youngest Pokemon Master ever!" the announcer . . . announced.
"You did it," Misty told him happily. "I always knew you would."
Ash smiled down at her as he stole a kiss from his unsuspecting girlfriend. "I couldn't have done it without you," he told her honestly as he leaned in for another kiss.
A growl was heard from Charizard interrupting this intimate moment.
"Or you Charizard," Ash added as he went to congragulate his Pokemon.
"I think somebodies feeling a bit left out," Misty teased the fire dragon as she planted kick kiss on the cheek. This caused him to blush lightly, which was barely noticeable on his already red skin. "You did great too Charizard," she told him.
"Pika Chu," Pikachu agreed as he joined the group.
"Should I be jealous?" Ash asked raising an eyebrow suggestively.
"Course not," she said planting a kiss on his cheek too.
"You call that a kiss?" he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders as she held back a giggle.
He pulled her closer to him and dipped her low in a tango fashion. "This is a kiss," he breathed against her lips before bestowing an earth shattering kiss upon the girl of his dreams and reality.
Sadly it to was interrupted though this time not by Charizard but a group of reporters trying to get a few seconds with the new Pokemon Master.
"Mr. Ketchum," one reporter asked, "how does it feel to be the youngest Pokemon Master ever?"
"What are your opinions on the new league standards?" another asked.
"How do you feel about the colour purple?"
"Are you planning on changing the league name like the previous master?"
"Is it true that you are the hybrid love child of a human and a Pokemon?"
"Are the rumours true that you and Miss. Waterflower secretly married when you were sixteen?"
"Please save your questions for the press conference," Ash begged unsure of how he was supposed to answer all these questions when he didn't even know the answers to some of them.
He knew this was only the beginning, that it would only get worse and that they would push themselves into every aspect of his life. He knew that he would never have a moments peace as long as he was a master.
"I'm sorry," he said to Misty as they got into the locker room.
"For what?" she asked smiling at him.
"For forcing this on you," he said. "This world. I mean I choose this, I knew what I would be getting into but you didn't and just because you're with me it's forced onto you instantaneously."
"What makes you think I didn't know what I was getting in to? You mean too much to me for me to let you go just because of a few pesky reporters," she told him with a small smile and kiss.
"Strange, I'm beginning to get the feeling that you may actually like me or something," he said.
Misty swatted at him playfully. "Come on Mr. Pokemon Mater," she teased as she dragged him along. "We have a dinner to prepare for."
"That's Mr. Worlds Greatest Pokemon Master to you missy," he stated matter of factly as they were on their way.
~^_^~
The next scene came as they always did pulling a smile to Ash's lips.
It was one he recognised easily, one he could never forget even if he tried.
It was a small pond hidden in a secluded part of the Viridian forest that very few knew about or even cared to know about for that matter.
"Ash where are you taking me?" Misty asked as Ash led her through the forest carefully directing her delicate steps so she didn't trip on anything. "You know I hate surprises," she added pouting playfully under the silk blindfold Ash had wrapped around her head.
She was dressed in an elegant strapless midnight blue dress with intricate rose designs embroidered around the edge. Ash to was dressed up in a back tux with a blue sash around his waist that matched her gown.
"But this is a good surprise," he replied sweetly still leading her forward.
It seemed she had very little resistance despite her protests. She would let Ash lead her to the ends of the earth and never leave his side simply because it meant she could be with him.
"Close your eyes," he whispered next to her ear as he gently positioned her in front of the small waterfall that trickled down the delicate rock face.
She nodded to tell him she had done so. He gently undone the blindfold then moved to his own position anxiously awaiting her reaction.
"Ok," he told her. "Open your eyes."
She did and was immediately drawn to the beautiful waterfall and pond, which reflected the perfect sunset behind it making it even more amazing.
"It's beautiful," she sighed contently as she looked towards the sky. "Ash, you . . ." she trailed off as she looked to Ash only to see him kneeling before her holding a ring case open and smiling innocently.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Ash cleared his throat. He chuckled to himself more out of nervousness than a funny thought.
"I had this big speech planned out that I was going to say tonight," he told her, "all about how much I love you, and why I love you and how perfect you are, but now that I see you I've forgotten all the words. There are only a few words that come to mind right now and I'll be damned if I don't say them now."
He took a shaky breath in an effort to calm his nerves before uttering this next sentence. "I love you Misty Kasumi Waterflower, will you marry me?"
"Yes," she told him barely even noticing the sapphire and diamond white gold ring in the box he held out to her. "Yes I will marry you."
"You don't know how happy you've made me right now," Ash smiled as they shared a loving kiss.
He slipped the ring onto her finger, which she gladly accepted. It was a perfect fit but he didn't expect anything less. The ring was simple and beautiful all at the same time with the most obvious conclusions delicately engraved into the inside of its band; Ash and Misty Forever.
~^_^~
"Ok Misty let's try running this through one more time and then we can all go home," the producer told her.
Misty nodded before smiling at her fiancé through the glass window and beginning her song.
It was written for him and she was glad that he was going to be one of the first people to hear it. As she sang she imagined that everyone else had disappeared and that the only ones left in the room where she and him.
"I finally get the chance to speak
And I've forgotten all the words
I finally let my heart decide
And it's struggling to be heard
I finally kissed my fears goodbye
I know there's no more tears to cry
To only spend forever in your arms
Cause closed eyes never see the night
And bound hands never felt so right
And broken hearts don't mend all on their own
In your eyes forever never ends
And in your arms the night does not descend
In my eyes, see darkness turned to light
Oh there comes a time for many things
But love conquers all in the end
But beginnings never end
A smile sent to spark the flame
That's growing in my heart
A kiss that takes my breath away
And pulls my world apart
Tears that were once kissed away
An end that never came to stay
And proved forever lasts beyond the day
Cause flowers always bloom in spring
And birds will have loves song to sing
And some loves fates are written down in stone
In your eyes forever never ends
And in your arms the night does not descend
And in my eyes, see darkness turned to light
Oh there comes a time for many things
But love conquers all in the end
But beginnings never end
Oh . . . Oh . . . Oh
Cause rainbows must begin with rain
And nothing is a crying shame
And tears were always meant to be
Swept away
In your eyes forever never ends
And in your arms the night does not descend
And in my eyes, see darkness turned to light
Oh there comes a time for many things
But love conquers all in the end
But beginnings never end
Amor Omnia Vincit."
"Misty that was great," the producer told her. "Best we've had all day. No guesses why."
Both Ash and Misty blushed, I guess they never really got used to it even though they had been subjected to comments of the similar sort since they were ten years old.
Misty stepped out of the recording booth and ran into her fiancés arms.
"Did I ever tell you how wonderfully amazing you are?" he asked her as he wrapped his arms around her slim waist.
"Not recently, I don't think," she said thoughtfully as she looked into his shinning brown eyes.
"Well then I guess now's as good a time as any," he smiled at her. "You are the most amazing creature to ever grace this earth and I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you in love with me."
He leaned forward and gently planted a kiss on her waiting lips.
"Ah, young love," the producer sighed wistfully. "Get a room."
"Oh your just jealous," she told him as her lips left Ash's for less than a few seconds to breathe.
"C'mon, we better go, we have wedding stuff to do," Ash told her with a sigh as he ended the passionate kiss. "It's the best part too."
"And what part would that be?" she asked him suspiciously.
"Picking the cake," he replied as he led her out the door.
~^_^~
"I thought things would have changed more than this," Ash stated as he and Misty watched their future selves beaming with happiness.
"Some things are set in stone," Misty replied. "Our decisions simply change how we use those things. Like my songs, last time they were all depressed about pain and heartache."
"What were they about this time?" Ash asked looking at her curiously.
"Love," she shrugged. "You."
"It's not much of career in a way," she explained, "I mean comparatively. I guess happiness doesn't sell the same way as heartache. And I get pulled to pieces by the critics for the tiniest step out of line because of who I am and who you are."
"I'm sorry," he said, looking at her sincerely. It was hard for Misty to shine with him hogging all the limelight. She was stuck in his shadow and even when she tried to step out of it there was somebody there to knock her back. He was Ash Ketchum: Pokemon Master, and because of that nobody was able to see how wonderful the girl beside him really was.
"Don't be," she replied. "Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. And if that's what it means to be with you then its ok."
And with that the scene began to change.
~^_^~
The cathedral was huge filled with all the people that they had met along their journey's as well as those tied to both their careers. There was light chatter between the many guests as they all patiently waited for the wedding of the century to begin, a wedding many had known would happen from the moment they first laid eyes upon Ash Ketchum and Misty Waterflower.
"Breathe, just breathe," Ash echoed to himself nervously as he stood at the end of the aisle waiting for her to come.
He was so afraid that she would see him and change her mind. This was something he had been dreaming of for most of the time he had known Misty no matter how hard he tried to deny it.
He knew he wouldn't be able to stand life if the words 'I do' failed to pass her perfect lips today and he hoped against hope that they would. He was looking forward to spending the rest of his life with Misty in his arms.
A song began to play and he watched as Misty's three sisters and her maid of honour, Melody walked up the aisle to where he and his two grooms men, Tracey and Parker (A/N: Parker is Melody's boyfriend and one of Ash's best friends from my college fic just to clarify that) and his best man, Brock.
'What if she says no?' he thought worriedly as the first procession of people walked towards them. 'What if she does change her mind?'
"She loves you man," Brock said some how sensing Ash's worried thoughts simply from the way he kept running his fingers through what had previously been tidy hair. "That's all that matters today," Brock added, "and anything else will never come close ever again."
Ash let out a sigh of relief Brock's words having a positive effect on his nerves.
Suddenly the music began to change from the softer music to the unforgettable melody of the wedding march.
Ash turned around to see his wife to be walking towards them. Their eyes locked across the crowds and nothing else seemed important just like Brock had predicted.
Two flower girls walked ahead of her and Professor. Oak who had proudly accepted the honour of giving her away sprinkling the ground with rose petals and other things.
Ash could hardly believe how lucky he was, that he of all people was to be marrying this goddess, that she was in love with him and that today they would be promising each other their hearts till death do they part.
"You look like an angel," he whispered breathlessly as he lifted the veil off her face so he could reveal the beauty he had easily come to love.
She blushed and smiled back lovingly. "you don't look so bad yourself," she whispered back.
"Dearly beloved," the minister began monotonously. "We are gathered here today to join Misty Kasumi Waterflower and Ashton Satoshi Ketchum in holy matrimony.
"Do you, Ashton take thee Misty to be your lawful wedded wife, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, to have and to hold till death do you part?"
"Beyond death," he told her with a smile. "I do Misty."
Misty's eyes began to well with tears of happiness as the minister moved on to her.
"Do you, Misty take thee Ashton to be your lawful wedded husband to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad till death do you part?"
"I do," she said softly. She was afraid that all the emotions inside her would cause her voice to fail and she wouldn't even be able to speak the two words that held so much significance that they were all that needed to be said.
"With this ring I be wed," they each whispered as they exchange the matching gold bands they had picked for one another.
"With the power vested in me by the land of Kanto, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."
Ash smiled as he gently caressed his now wife's cheek.
"You don't know how long I've waited for this day," he told her.
"Almost as long as I have," she replied.
Mist closed her eyes dreamily as they both slowly leaned forward and she felt his warm breath mingle with her own. Finally their lips met in the very first kiss of many as Mr and Mrs. Ashton Satoshi Ketchum.
"I love you," they whispered against each other's lips before sealing their love with yet another kiss.
~^_^~
There was a final anguished cry as Misty's grip on his hand began to lessen and her breath faded quietly away into the background.
A little boy cried his first tears as he was introduced to the world his parents had come to love.
"Is he ok? Why is he crying?" Misty asked anxiously. After their first attempt being a miscarriage Misty was more worried than usual about what would happen. The whole way through the pregnancy she had put her self on a very strict diet and did everything she could to make sure that this baby would be healthy and safe on arrival.
"He's perfect," Ash told her encouragingly. "Babies always cry when their born, it means they're breathing."
"Here you go Mr and Mrs Ketchum," the doctor smiled as he wrapped the child up in a baby blue blanket and handed him to Misty. "I'd like you to meet your baby boy."
Misty looked into the child chocolate brown eyes and gently stroked his cheek. "He's perfect," she stated repeating Ash's words little below a whisper, "just like his daddy."
Ash smiled as he rested his head next to his wife's and made funny faces at his son, which the child didn't seem to react to. Misty giggled as she caught a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye.
"So what shall we call him?" Ash asked still trying to make the child smile.
"Ash didn't you read anything in those baby books?" Misty asked. "Babies don't smile until a few months after their birth."
"But he looks like the special sort," Ash said proudly.
"That better be the good sort of special," she told him.
"Of course, he is my son after all," he replied ignoring a muttered comment of 'that's what I was worried about' from Misty when he continued. "So what shall we call him?"
Misty was thoughtful for a moment. "Michael," she told him. "Michael Satoshi Ketchum, just like his grandfather who I know is looking down on him right now just as proud as we are."
Ash smiled again, he had been doing that a lot lately it seemed and he found it impossible not to with Misty by his side. He gently reached down with his hand and gently stroked the child's face. Michael immediately grabbed his fathers little finger in his tiny fist and held on with all his might.
"I think it suits him," Ash told her as he used his free hand to push her hair away from her forehead so he could gently kiss it. "Thank you," he said.
"For what?" she asked cocking her head to the side innocently.
"For everything," he told her. "For making me the happiest man alive."
There was a knock on the door before Delilah Ketchum entered.
"So how is my grandchild?" she asked getting straight to the point.
"He's the image of his father," Misty said remembering the baby pictures Delilah had showed her.
"And as stubborn as his mother," Ash continued which was proven by the fifteen hours of labour she had just gone through. "And the same grip," he added remembering the pain he had endured through all fifteen hours and comparing it to the grip his few minute old son held on his finger.
Misty hit him playfully.
"So what's my grandson's name?" Delilah asked as she moved in to get a better view of the little boy.
"Michael," Misty answered as she cradled the now sleeping child closer to her chest. "Michael Ketchum."
~^_^~
"So what shall we call it?" Ash asked.
The two lounged on the picnic blanket, Ash leaning against the tree and Misty laying her head in his lap as she watched a hyperactive three year old play tag with Togetic and Pikachu. The two Pokemon had the advantage over the boy, Togetic with it's teleport and Pikachu with it's natural stealth and agility but both played to their own disadvantages.
"It sounds so impersonal talking about it as an it," Misty commented. "It's almost as if we're talking about an alien or a stray Meowth not our child."
Ash smiled at her as he stroked her slightly rounded belly. It was still too soon to discover the sex of the child but even if he wasn't willing to admit it to Misty, he was hoping for a girl.
"Ok, what shall we call 'Baby Ketchum'?" he asked her.
"Ketchums," she corrected. "The doctor said that there was a very distinct possibility of more than one, especially with the way it run's in my family."
"Ok then, what shall we call 'Baby Ketchums'?" he asked her.
"I have no idea," she replied teasingly.
"Well I suggest Ash Ketchum Junior," Ash said a teasing tone in his voice.
"Well if you get Ash Ketchum Junior, I want a mini-Misty," she replied.
"Deal," he told her. "But in all seriousness, if we have a girl seeing as Michael was named after my father why don't we name her after your mother."
"And what if there are another couple of mini Misty's?" she asked him.
"Then we'll keep to the Waterflower trend," he replied confidently. "One water, one flower."
"What's your favourite flower?" she asked him even though she already knew the answer.
"Cherry blossoms I guess," he shrugged.
"Then if we have two girls we'll call them Elizabeth and Sakura," she said. "If we have three we'll call them Elizabeth, Sakura and Erie."
"Erie sure is an interesting name," Ash told her a bit confused by the name choice and what its connection to water could be.
"It's after Lake Erie," she told him. "And I for one think it's a nice name. Remember I'm the one that has to go through the fifteen hours of labour so don't mess with me."
"Don't I know it," Ash sighed as he watched Michael playing.
Michael had Ash's brown eyes and his hair was a red brown colour similar to his eyes sort of like a mixture of both Ash and Misty's hair colour. He shared many of his parent's qualities particularly the stubbornness, which was both a Ketchum and Waterflower trait.
"So what if it's a boy?" Ash asked as he gently moved his fingers through her hair almost subconsciously.
"I refuse to have an Ash Junior," she told him. "I guess we could name them after someone we met on our journey," she suggested.
"So were supposed to pick just three names from all that?" he asked. "God help us."
"It's not that bad, it's not like they were all guys," she told him.
"You know I'm still rooting for little Ashton Junior," he told her.
"God help me."
~^_^~
Ash paced anxiously back and forth inside the waiting room.
"You can come see your wife now Mr. Ketchum," the nurse told him leading him toward her room.
The birth had been complicated so in order to make sure nothing went wrong Ash had been asked not to be in the room as it was safer that way. Ash had reluctantly obliged only because he knew that it would be for Misty and the babies good.
"Don't worry sir," the nurse said as she noticed Ash was wringing his hands apprehensively. "You have two perfectly healthy baby girls and your wife is fine, just a little tired after the whole ordeal."
Ash let out a sigh of relief. "You hear that Michael," Ash said to the toddler beside him. "You have two little sisters."
Michael smiled back at his father his own chocolate brown eyes matching his father's excitement.
"Wait Ash!" somebody called behind them. Ash turned round to see his three sister-in-laws, Violet, Lilly and Daisy rushing up behind him.
"What took you guys so long?" he asked as they continued down the hallway Michael gripping Ash's hand.
"Well we we're like just about to leave and this guy came like into the gym and he wanted to challenge us," Violet began.
"So we like told him that our baby sister was like having twins and that we had to get to like the hospital," Lilly continued.
"Yeah but he was like so stubborn, I mean maybe even more than you and Misty," Daisy finished. "So like basically we had to battle him and that took like forever."
"Did he win?" Michael asked already sharing his dad's love of both Pokemon and battling.
"Yeah," Violet told him bending down so she was eye to eye with her nephew. "They always win when mommy's like not there."
Ash smiled as he held the door open and led the others into the room where Misty was waiting ever so patiently.
"Hey," he said softly as he walked in and kissed her forehead lightly. He took one of the bundles from her arms and smiled down at the three most important girls in his life.
"Hey," she replied softly.
They were sleeping right now. It seemed they were just as exhausted as their poor mother after all the trouble it had taken to bring them into this world, but Misty wouldn't dare close her eyes in case she woke to find that they were all a dream.
Little Michael stood on one of the chairs by the bed so he could get a closer look at the new additions to his family.
"If I ever think about having another child please stop me," Misty begged him jokingly.
"But what about little Ashton Junior," Ash teased back as he pouted. Misty shook her head in mock frustration as she smiled up at her husband.
"They're all so beautiful," Violet, Lilly and Daisy all sighed in unison looking at their nieces and nephew.
"What are their names?" Lilly asked.
Ash turned to Misty even though he had a fair idea of who was who.
"This is Elizabeth," Misty smiled gesturing to the small bundle wrapped up in blue in her arms.
"Which would makes this Sakura," Ash said gesturing to his own little pink bundle of joy.
"Elizabeth and Sakura, they're perfect," Daisy gushed.
Ash nodded proudly as he played with the little bit of hair growing on his youngest daughters head. She was only five minutes and twenty three seconds younger but it would be enough for Elizabeth to take on older sister roles.
Sakura stirred in her fathers arms before opening her warm Cerulean blue eyes and staring up at him. They were the exact same colour as Misty's and just as bright and loving as their mothers.
He could easily see that the two girls would be like carbon copies of their mother with the exception of the black hair already forming on their un-balding heads.
From just one look, he knew he could no longer manage life without them. He wouldn't want it any other way, even with out little Ash Ketchum Junior.
~^_^~
The rest of the scenes passed by rather quickly. Most of them consisted of their three children growing up.
Michaels first day of school, the twins first word and so on until they married had children of their own and those children had children.
Finally it came to the last scene ending it all in the two of them dying together . . . happy . . . in each other's arms. (A/N: think the end of Bicentenial man, oh my gosh that was like so sad when he died just as they pronounced him the worlds oldest human)
"I love you," they each whispered with their last breath before letting nature take it's course.
Everything began to fade as it had so many times before in this past night alone leaving Ash back in his room.
"And they lived, and died, happily ever after," Misty said softly as tears welled in her eyes filled with every emotion known to man.
"What do I do now?" Ash asked saying the first thing that came to his mind.
"You need to make your decision," she replied monotonously not wanting her feelings to be given away in her voice.
"What do you think I should choose?" he asked.
He didn't want to have to make this decision, he wanted someone else to make it for him as it had been with most of his decisions in life. He didn't want to be blamed for a wrong decision, he needed someone else to take it away from him, to share the burden.
"Please don't tempt me Ash," she begged of him. "you don't know how much I want to tell you what path to pick, to pick me. This is your decision alone and I can't change that or force my wish upon you."
"Can't you help me?" he pleaded with her.
"Go for a walk Ash," she told him after a moments thought struggling more and more to keep to her nonchalant tone. "Just go for a walk. Don't stop for directions. Don't bother keeping to a path. Don't worry about time. Don't even worry about what lies beyond the next twist in the road.
"Let your heart lead you. Just keep walking until there is nothing left in you, until you feel as though you couldn't walk another step. That's when you stop and that's when you'll know your answer.
"You're heart will guide you to where it longs to be, but that destination is uncertain," she continued. "Does it lead you to my heart? Or does it lead you to a new path, which you must tread alone? Your heart shall be your guide and mine shall always be waiting, hoping you find your way back to me, praying my wish has come true.
"No matter what your decision Ash," she said her voice becoming quieter as she continued, "remember that I will always love you."
She gently kissed his forehead before she too faded away like the rest of them, which hurt a lot more than it had previously.
Ash did as he was told.
For five cold hours he walked non-stop the nights events slowly drifting out of his mind as he came closer and closer to his destination.
Suddenly he stopped feeling fatigue kick in. He looked around and surveyed his surrounding them recognising them immediately and where they were pointing him.
The path was clear and with a new found strength he ran all the way back to Cerulean.
~ to be continued ~
I can just imagine how cute little Michael would be trying to protect his little sisters from all the evils of the world. Anyway I hoped you liked the chapter.
Tell me what you think, suggest any idea's for the next few chapters so I can draw this out a little longer.
By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed, I really didn't think I would get such an amazing response, but thank you all the same.
