"Hi, Cass."
She only smiled thinly from beneath her wide-brimmed hat, giving no reply. At first he thought she'd forgotten. Then she replied, "Funny place to meet and old friend."
Oh, so they were still just friends.
"Not that funny. Lots of people meet at the beach."
She indicated the sand to her left. "Sit down. Take a load off."
He complied and sat beside her to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, red and gold melding away into pink. He ached to ask her the question he'd been dying to now for weeks. "Cassidy, why did you leave me?"
Her eyes remained focused on the horizon. "I didn't leave you…forever."
"But I had to come look for you."
She turned suddenly, surprised. "You came to look for me?"
He only nodded silently, never wrenching his eyes from hers.
"But Butch, you'd be killed if you were seen with me!" She leaned close and for a fleeting moment, he thought she was going to kiss him. "Butch. I quit Team Rocket. I'm a refugee."
He leaned even closer and whispered in her ear. "Cassidy. I quit, too."
She remained silent, as if she could think of nothing more to say. They watched the golden sun melt away, leaving only a glow of reminder. Then she smiled and ran to stroll in the surf.
What could he do but follow her?
She knew that he was close behind, and she turned and splashed him lightly with water from the edge of the beach. He smiled, accepting her invitation to play. The she actually laughed out loud and dashed along the shoreline as if to say, "Catch me if you can!"
"Cassidy!" he cried out as he ran after her. "Wait!"
She heard him, but she sprinted on in the water's edge until she collapsed on her knees, out of breath.
Butch dropped by her side and put his arm around her waist. "I…caught you…"
They looked at each other and began to laugh at the sight of their red faces. Slowly they stood up, gasping in vast quantities of the clean, fresh night air.
The sunset had finally given way to the black velvet cloak of night, speckled by diamonds and the giant tear that was the moon. No one was watching but the earth itself.
"So," she said, straightening her hair, "You said you had come to tell me something?"
He hadn't, actually, but she knew already anyway.
So they stood for a while, and gazed at the stars. Then they turned to walk away, hand in hand, to their own happy ending.