Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish or how much fairy dust I use, Pokemon will never belong to me. ;-; I only own a strange little bird, but you dont want him. ^^ But the characters that were created out of my own imagination were Racheal, Jason, and Aydee. ^^ Thankyou! ^-^

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She held the painting protectively in her arms, looking over it's every detail...She rarely found herself looking at anything but that boy in the picture.. No, he wasn't a boy. He was nearly a man. A man that had once loved her..But who knew? Perhaps he still did. She hoped he still did.

Her eyes slowly wondered to the girl in the painting.. The girl he seemed to love very much...Misty carefully noted each of the features on her.. The white satin dress.. Her pure skin.. And the amazing love she showed for the man beside her..

Her eyes fell upon the rose, followed by curiosity.. What could it have meant? What kind of rose held no thorns? Perhaps magical ones.

'Maybe.. It's one of those fairy tale things.. Fantasy roses.. It does make the painting look more..eh...mystical....Or...', She took a moment to think, '...Nobody likes thorns.. All they do is take away innocense from a rose.....And hurt.' She sighed hopelessly.

She returned her gaze to the rose, looking deeply into it, obviously seriously in thought.

'Okay, okay. Come on, Mist. Think! There's some somewhat logical explanation....'

A gasp escaped her lips when a thought crossed her mind.

'Thorns...cause..no.. pain.. The thornless rose means... He would never hurt me..'

As soon as her eyes lowered, she spotted the bracelet...The broken bracelet. All hell seemed to be raised on her in just a matter of seconds. Reality seemed to slap her in the face, almost harder then how much her heart hurt at the moment.

"The..bracelet represents.....trust.....And the..bracelet......broken... Why..didn't.. I... see..........?!"

Tears flew to the surface, almost immediately. She placed her hands over her face, crying like she did when her parents had died. She cried with no comfort from anyone.. Like she had done many times before she met Ash. But what could someone do when the only person who could comfort them was actually making them cry?

"It's..all...my...." Was all she could mutter inbetween sobs.

"But you can fix it." Pikachu's hopeful voice emerged from the door. He knew she had realised the truth, and prayed she had the strength to make it come alive.

I was counting down the minutes.. I was wishin on the stars..I was prayin for a sign.. And tryin to beat the odds..

She snapped her head at Pikachu, seeming slightly startled and slightly. . . What was that? Was this a new-found determination found in her eyes? Pikachu smiled at her encouragingly. He was proud he got some confidence and some determination into her with just a few simple words.

I was dreamin of you. Long before I saw your face. That you were waitin for that day. Then you reached through the hurricane..

"Where is he?" She grew impatient as every moment that passed by was known as another second of killed time.

When you, baby, you called me name. You broke through the storm.. And you turned back the night.

"Outside the hotel, near the lake in the forest. Approximately 1,568 feet from here. I knew you'd ask. See, aren't I a handy little Pika - -" She was out the door before he could possibly finish his sentence. She knew all she needed to know, and that was good enough for her.

Baby, you are the fire.. Burnin the midnight sky..

Her heart pounded quickly, ignoring the fact that she almost fell down the steps leading into the elevator, nearly knocking over an old couple, and running fast enough to easily get both of her legs broken if she ever fell. She ran. . . She ran to see the only person on earth who could heal her broken heart.

And your love keeps taking me higher.

She ran towards the nearby lake, through the forest. Her muscles began to ache, but she wouldnt stop now. Not knowing the fact that she knew the truth. . And had to tell him. She so fast she would probably die if she ran into a tree. With the moon as her light, she refused to stop. She wondered for a moment if she could possibly be lost after running into a forest like a maniac and still couldnt find the "nearby" lake. The thought disappeared from her mind in a matter of less then a second when she saw his figure.

Just when all hope was gone. .Where the hero belongs.. There you were.. Oh, There you were.

And there he was indeed. Sitting, staring into the little lake and obviously deeply in thought. When he heard the sharp sound of someone stepping on fallen leaves and now broken twigs, he was finally shaken from his thoughts.

Must've broken into heaven.. Just to roll back the clouds.. Were you on a mission.. Were you seekin me out?

She stood still, watching him as he turned to look around as his eyes searched frantically for the source of the noise. She wondered if she really had the courage to tell him she was wrong. . Would he just send her away?

Was I that one in a million? Was I that one sacred kiss that you couldn't chance. .

You just couldn't miss.

She shook her head, shaking away the thought. He wouldnt do that. She had to be brave.. and honest.

"Ash?"

And you, babe, you whispered through the silent tears. When you, you swept away all my fears. .

Immediately recognising her voice, he stood up, waiting for her to step out of the forest. His face remained stern, yet bits of curiosity could be seen in his eyes... And possibly love. He honestly didnt want to speak to her.. Well, he did, but then he didn't. With the stubborness and anger slowly developing within him, he decided against speaking to her.

Standin in the middle of nowhere with your arms wide open..

"I'd be happy if you left."

And you... You were the reason when there was no reason in my life.. You're the reason in my life.

"Well, I wouldn't." Her determination slowly began to slip, but she did her best to remain detemined and confident.

"Just leave." He turned his back to her, pretending to look very deeply in concentration of the lake.

"Listen, I'm not leaving until you hear me out. And you will, Ashton Ketchum. You will." She felt like biting her toungue. He would find that little remark anything but amusing.

"And who are you, Misty Waterflower, to be telling ME to listen to you? I know who you are and how you are..", He paused for a moment, pondering what to say, "And quite frankly, I dont want a single damn thing to do with you." His voice sounded a bit shakey and unsure, but nonetheless, the words were said.

"Ash...", She ignored what felt like a thorn poking at her throat, "Just.. please. Do this for me.."

After no response, suddenly she couldnt find the right words except for rambles of sobs, tears, and apoligies.

"Just.. Please. I never realised it.. I dont know why.. It was just..", She paused, "I'm sorry. I know you lost faith in me and I know you hate me, but I also know you needed to hear me one more time.. And I needed to hear you... and see you. Just your stupid face, Ash Ketchum, would have been good enough..And if your damned arms could of just been holding.......me..... ", The tears slid down her face at a faster speed as she tried to control the aching in her throat, "And.. It would have been, Ash.. your..your voice was just good enough. Yes, just about good enough.."

He still refused to face her, ignoring that single lucky tear that escaped his eyelid, went down his cheek, and died on his lips.

"I.. I.. know now, Ash... I know..", the sobs and aching throat almost became unbearable, "Maybe... Maybe.. I was.. wrong. And maybe..I hurt you.. And just friggin maybe I..don't deserve.. this.. this.. bracelet.. But I...I do know one thing.."

Her tears blurred her vision, but she didn't care. She didn't realise the words she was saying, where she was, or anything for that matter but the pain in her heart.

After he didn't reply and her sobs could clearly be heard throughout the forest, she concluded her plea for forgiveness.

"I.. I.. do know... that no matter how much crap we go through.. or..or.. how many new peo..people we ever meet.. You.. YOU were meant for me.. And I... I was meant for...you... Even if... if it never comes true."

"There's only one thing I want from you, Misty. And thats for you to leave. Stop speaking to me and LEAVE!" His voice shook with small sobs slowly growing larger as his sad words hauntingly echoed through her mind.

It was over. They were over. That was truley it. It was the end of everything she had ever hoped for.

Or at least that was what they thought.

Suddenly, Jason's taunting words echoed through her mind.

". . . Open your eyes..He will one day drop you and go after his dream and forget about you..He will, I see it coming. He never cared about you of all things. Your just best listening to me or else."

"Just maybe.. Jason..was...right..." Misty hissed before she ran as fast as she could from the man whom stole her heart away and refused to return it.

Ash eyes widened in partial fear and partial shock. If he didn't stop her now, it could mean that his nightmare would begin to take place as reality and hell would be released upon his broken heart.

She left with both anger and immense pain in her heart roaring through her veins. She only wanted to be alone.. away from all civilation.. Deep inside, she knew she was only running from one thing.. And that would be heartache and the fact that Jason may have been right.

Her tears blurred her vision, yet nevertheless she continued to run. The only thing that helped the bracelet cling onto her wrist was their shared trust, which was now destroyed. It couldn't hold on any longer... It couldn't.

The bracelet slipped from her wrist and made a strong contact with the hard, cold, ground. It went easily unnoticed as she contined to run away with all of her strength. She had a small fear that if she stopped running, she would be tempted to run back towards Ash and plead more for forgiveness, despite the fact that she was brainwashed by his hurtful words.

It all left her with one conclusion.

To follow Racheal back to the music business.. And to walk away from Ash.

Ash felt as if a rose's thorn was stuck in his throat. He knew what he did was probably for the best, or would ruin the rest of his life. It was either one or the other.

'What..did.. I..do?' He said, seeming dumb-founded.

"I..I lost her.." The words came out of his mouth and practically smacked him in the face.

"It's.....It's over..."





Jason's mind ticked at a dangerously quick speed. This was it! It was all too perfect. If it weren't for Misty interrupting his plan to drown Ash, he would have already been dead. But now, things only got easier for Jason. He smiled to himself, leaning against the tree being in the most happiest mood on this planet.

'Forget killing Ash. He just practically killed and buried his chances with Misty. I'll let him slide, since afterall, he did clear the pathway for me and Misty. God must just be smiling down on me.'

With only a minutes planning in his mind, he knew what to do.

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ahh.. short chapter. ^^; gomen! but i promise next one will be long. This is basically a very sad chapter. ;-; It was hard for me to make it. Sorry for any spelling errors. u.u; See you all in chapter 12! I hope you guys liked this freakishly short chapter anyway though! ^-^