Disclaimer – I don't own Pokemon.
To Ryo – Thank you for the flame, though I already had a flame strong feelings about Pokemon being gay and a few curses. I preferred yours, sorry I didn't mention it sooner but I kind of forgot.
To Everybody else – Thank you so much for the reviews from the last chapter.
Reasons of the Heart – Everywhere
Misty paced her room waiting for that fatal call. She felt like she was a criminal walking the green mile to the hangman's noose.
It was 11:55 and she promised herself that she wasn't leaving till at least five past. She was going to let it end up like last time.
The clock ticked slowly each second getting her closer and closer. The sound of the clock was driving her crazy, the time just wasn't going fast enough.
She didn't want him to call; she wanted that less than anything else. She wanted him to be meeting her in . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . nine minutes.
Misty sighed to herself. She wanted to trust that he'd be there if she left now, but it wasn't quite so easy. It wasn't that she didn't trust him to be there, no, the thing was that she knew exactly how sick he was last night and she just hoped that he felt well enough to meet her.
Misty almost laughed at herself. If someone had told her last year that she would be stressing over Ash Ketchum like this she would have laughed in their face and never let them forget what a stupid suggestion it was.
'Who's laughing now?' Misty thought to herself.
. . . three . . . two . . . one . . . eight minutes.
Misty stared down at her watch, willing it to move faster, willing time to speed up so that she wouldn't have to wait any longer.
Misty could picture his face. The way he would smile as she walked into the quad lighting up his entire face. The way his chocolate brown eyes would make her feel like she was some kind of goddess sat on top of some exaggeratedly tall pedestal from one look. The way that he didn't have to say a word and she could already feel the urge to run right into his arms getting stronger and stronger.
With that came the fear. The fear of rejection; that he might shy away from her touch. The fear of compassion, that he may just feel sorry for her and nothing else. But mostly she feared acceptance, that he would accept her into his arms, into his heart and that nothing would ever be the same again.
She looked down at her watch again . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . seven minutes.
Misty sighed to herself.
She wondered if he was ok. Last night he'd seemed so sick, almost weak. She'd never really seen him as weak before; he had this inner strength that seemed to shine through his eyes. But when she first saw him, he seemed sad and his strength almost dull.
Ash was the strongest person she knew, and seeing him looking weak, even if it was only for a second, it put a new perspective on things. Mostly it gave her a new insight on Ash, a side of Ash that she almost remembered seeing . . . if only she could figure out where.
Misty opened her silver locket around her neck hoping the picture inside could answer all her unspoken questions and tell her why it seemed so familiar.
Maybe it was the sadness, maybe it was one of the times he had to let a Pokemon go. She searched her mind hoping to find it but none of them seemed to match. Maybe it was the surprise, the shock of something unexpected. She thought for a moment again coming up blank.
'Maybe it was a mixture of both,' her mind suggested to her sounding almost evil. A picture suddenly came to her. It was the day she left and she knew from just that glimpse of her past that she had found it.
It only made her feel bad.
. . . two . . . one . . . six minutes.
It made her wonder though. Why would he care so much that she was leaving? She'd been cruel, vindictive, and spiteful and in short a right bitch. But somehow he was still there when she was scared, when she was in danger, when she least expected him to be, there he was. When all she needed to do was cry, it was his arms wrapped around her waist whispering comforting words in her ear as she let out all the pain she held back from the world.
She couldn't think of anywhere she would rather be then in his arms. It was the place where the world around her would disappear and everything was perfect. It was the one place where she knew the meaning of true happiness and it was a feeling she never wanted to let go. But she had to; something always brought her back to reality before she got swept to far away for anyone to reach her. Part of her was grateful for that, but the rest of her just wanted stay that way forever.
Why couldn't she just be happy or sad? Why did she have to be both?
. . . five . . . four . . . two . . . one . . . five minutes.
Misty sighed yet again. She was getting impatient; all she wanted to do was go see Ash.
'That's it,' she told herself, 'I can't stand this anymore. One more minute and I'm out that faster than he can say "Pokeball go!' she assured herself.
This minute was the longest of all; it seemed like hours rather than seconds. Misty watched the clock closely as each second ticked by slowly. She felt like the clock was taunting her.
The seconds went by getting closer and closer to their destination. Five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . time.
It was finally there but it was too late, because Misty was already out the door.
Misty walked briskly towards the quad trying to make up for her lost time. She hated being late and this time she didn't even have a good excuse. "I'm late because I was sitting at home waiting for you to call," doesn't sound right, even in her head.
Misty smiled as she finally walked into the quad. She stopped in the entryway glancing around the quad picturing the scene for the dance three weeks from now.
She could see herself dancing in the center of a frozen dance floor, her arms wrapped around the neck of her handsome prince (who just happened to look like Ash). The full moon shone brightly above them enhancing his distinct features and chocolate eyes. Fairy lights danced through the trees and the stars sparkled brighter than ever before.
Misty couldn't wait.
Turn it inside out so I can see
The part of you that's drifting over me
And when I wake you're never there
But when I sleep you're everywhere
You're everywhere
Just tell me how I got this far
Just tell me why you're here and who you are
Cause every time I look you're never there
And every time I sleep you're always there
Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone
I recognize the way you make me feel
It's hard to think that you might not be real
I sense it now the waters getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me
Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
I'm not alone
And when I touch your hand
Its then I understand
The beauty is within
Its now that we begin
You always light me way
I hope there never comes a day
No matter where I go
I always feel you so
Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I close my eyes it's you I see
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
Cause you're everywhere to me
And when I catch my breath it's you I breathe
You're everything I know that makes me believe
I'm not alone
You're everyone I see
So tell me
Do you see me?
('Everywhere' by Michelle Branch)
Ash noticed her long before she noticed him.
She gazed wistfully around the quad not even aware of him as he walked up to her. By the time she was out of her trance he was standing right in front of her.
A look of surprise consumed Misty's face as she was snapped back to reality, not that she minded at all, this reality was twice as good as her fantasy.
"You're late," Ash tisked jokily.
Misty smiled nervously and a light blush from both embarrassment and how close she and Ash were standing crossed her cheeks.
"Never mind," Ash smiled seeing her embarrassment. He figured she had a good reason, Misty usually did. "So what are we up to?"
"We need to figure out the dance floor thing," Misty told him happy to have the subject changed and the focus off herself, even if Ash was the one doing the focusing.
Ash looked across the pool where they planned to place some kind of dance floor. It was at least the size of an Olympic pool but he was sure bigger, Misty and her sisters seemed to share the same motto "Everything in moderation, including moderation".
"Its too big just to slap a few floorboards across," Ash said as he looked to Misty, "especially if were just going to throw it out afterwards."
Misty nodded looking anywhere but Ash's face. That had been her decision, just to avoid eye contact like she usually did, like she had since she was about eleven years old.
"What about an ice rink," she asked still avoiding eye contact.
"Wouldn't that be a bit too slippery to dance on?" Ash asked trying to find a way to catch her eye without being too obvious. Obvious being defined as taking her face in his hands and gently lifting it to face him, he wasn't exactly what you'd call subtle.
Misty let out a soft giggle despite herself. "That's why we use dry ice," she told him. Dry ice was a special technique only certain ice Pokemon could achieve and Misty just happened to have one that could. "Azure could do it," she added.
"And Azure is a . . ." he said slightly sarcastically hinting for her to explain.
"A delightful shade of blue," she told him returning his sarcastic tone much harsher. She bulled a blue pokeball from her pocket and aimed it at the pool. Out came a beautiful Lapras in a rare shade of blue he had never seen before in any sort of Pokemon. "Azure Ash, Ash Azure," she said introducing the two.
"I see where you got its name," Ash said inspecting it from all angles.
"Her name, Ash," Misty corrected, "and she doesn't like being stared at like that."
"Just a sec Myst," he said taking a step closer regardless of Misty's warning. "I just want to see something."
"Don't say I didn't warn," Misty said with a shrug.
Ash took yet another step closer. Azure quickly leaned back and began aiming her ice beam attack at Ash.
"Azure don't," Misty warned but it was already too late as her ice beam hit Ash smack dab in the face.
Ash shook it off quickly and looked to Misty.
"I told you not to stare at her like that," Misty said shaking her head irritably. "She has a rather nasty temper, especially for a Lapras."
Ash smiled mischievously. "Reminds of this redhead I know," he said.
"Really?" Misty asked sounding way to innocent. Ash knew she was up to something, the question was what. "You look awfully hot there Ash." She nodded towards Azure and smiled.
Before Ash even had a chance to understand her words fully Azure had already aimed a full force water gun attack in his direction. Ash had actually been struck dumb for a few seconds as the words 'you look awfully hot' came out of Misty's mouth.
"What makes you think I was talking about you?" he asked when Misty had finally got azure to stop.
Misty threatened to give him another ice blast.
"Sorry," he offered smiling innocently and flashing his puppy dog brown eyes.
Misty felt her heart jump to her throat beating a hundred times a second. She felt her knees go weak and every sense in her body work over time. Her body was covered with goose bumps and she felt like she could faint right into his arms.
But she didn't. She stood her ground and did her best impression of annoyance as she returned Azure back to her pokeball. "You are so annoying," she sighed exasperatedly rolling her eyes and taking a quick glance at Ash.
"Truce?" he asked. He was standing right by the pool, which required Misty to move to meet him. His hand was held out to her.
Misty walked to him in a few long strides and took his hand in hers. As soon as she did Ash pulled her closer to him, wraping both his arms around her waist and jumped into the pool.
Misty screamed as the cold water hit her skin. She hardly felt it though. Being in Ash's arms warmed her right through in spite of the chilly autumn weather.
She pushed Ash away from her as soon as she was over the initial shock, after all, she didn't want to look like she was enjoying it. She swam up to the top for air waiting for Ash to surface.
She waited a minute but saw no sign of Ash and began to get worried. She dived under checking that he wasn't still there but she didn't see him.
"Ash, where are you?" she asked as she tread water. "Ash this isn't funny," she called out to him anxiously. "Ash if you don't come here right this instant I swear, I'm getting out of this pool right now and leaving you here all alone."
Misty began to shiver finally feeling the cold with Ash's warmth gone. She was really worried. She knew that part of the reason she was shivering was the fear she felt. She was so afraid that Ash might not be ok.
"Boo," he whispered in her ear wrapping an arm around her waist so she couldn't escape.
"Ash that was not funny," she told him her back still to him.
"What makes you think that I'm Ash?"
~ to be continued ~
Yes a cliffhanger. I guess you've been reading these long enough to realize just how much I love cliffhangers, and not just the occasional one.
So, anyway I need a few suggestions on whom this mysterious guy is and what the hells he's doing with his arms around Misty. All will be considered even though I'm majorly leaning towards making it Will. I figure you expected more from Will and Melissa's conniving minds than that stupid thing. Maybe it was just the beginning?
Please Review. I want to try to get to 200 reviews before I reach chapter 20.