Some things to consider:

Ages- Ash(15) Misty(15) Brock(17)

This story is rated PG13 for language, violence and very brief sexuality. This is not a lime.

Brock fastened the belt strapped around his lap and reluctantly looked out the window at the cool morning grass that brushed the pavement of the airport's runway, zipping past his sight and getting smaller and farther away. The plane took off into the sky bright, blue sky. Just the thought of leaving the ground and being lifted into the air made him queasy. "Why are we flying to Goldenrod, again?"

The young trainer sitting beside him, his friend, grinned. "What, you aren't scared of heights, are ya?" Brock looked to Ash disbelievingly with a frustrated twitch. "We're flying because it's faster than walking and we need to get to Goldenrod by eleven tomorrow to –" He stopped when Brock blushed, being distractingly aroused by the hot stewardess that strode by their seats, and, annoyed, he waved a hand in front of his face. "Brock? Brock, I'm still talking to you."

"Huh, oh." Brock felt reality snap and latch back onto him like a rubber band. "Sorry."

Ash sighed and shook his head. The seat in front of Brock jiggled a bit and the girl sitting in it turned halfway around- enough to make good eye contact with Ash. "I don't know," she said, "But I have a bad feeling about this flight…."

"A bad feeling?" Brock asked nervously.

"What's wrong with the two of you?" Ash asked, "You guys keep freaking out and the plane just took off."

"No one is freaking out." Misty stated. "I just said that I had a bad feeling about this, okay?"

"Um, miss?"

The 'hot stewardess' stopped by Ash's isled seat. Brock smiled, "Could I get a diet coke with a phone num- err, I mean, lime." She shook her head gently and tucked a strand of loose blonde hair behind her ear. "Yes sir." She said.

"Yeesh… Nice going, Slick." Ash retorted.

"Well, I'm getting better." Brock said somewhat proudly, yet a little angrily due to Ash's previous statement.

"At least he didn't touch her." Misty said, and turned around to face the front of the plane.


A little while later, the blonde stewardess returned with the drink in hand, including the lime and a napkin. She carefully handed it to Brock above where Ash sat. He gratefully took it. "I'm sorry about earlier." He apologized, taking the drink. Ash smiled at Brock's manners towards the girl and her cheeks turned a light pink, barely visible to the two of them.

When she left, something fluttered from an opening of the napkin and landed on his knee. It was a small piece of paper. "What's that?" Ash asked.


Brock's heart jumped when he saw the tiny shred of paper in pure hope that it was a phone number. 'It can't be a phone number!' He thought irrationally. But, as his eyes skimmed over the numbers on the paper, his face drew a blank in all realization that it was, indeed, a phone number.

"It's her number isn't it?" Ash smirked. "Well, let's just hope she isn't an escapee from a mental hospital or part of the mafia."

"Ooh," Misty gasped, placing her hand on the glass of the small window, "We're going over the ocean now. Oh, it's so beautiful." She sighed dreamily, her eyes reading the horizon., like staring into the eyes of an old friend. "Wow… look at the sunrise."

"You make such a big deal out of everything, Mist." Ash said, admiring how she admired the ocean. "Haven't you seen the sun rise hundreds of times, already? I mean, it's still the same, ol.' sun, no matter how you put it."

Annoyed, she pealed her eyes from the ocean view to Ash's grin. Her glare melted, into a small smile and she turned her back to him once again. "Shut up." Ash stifled a chuckle and found it fortunate that he had. "I love doing that to her." He whispered to Brock.

"And I'm surprised she's letting you. You're lucky she's changing, normally you'd be engaged into another hopeless argument by now if she hasn't been crumbling to-."

"Who's crumbling?! C'mere, I'll show you 'crumbling'!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, Mist." Ash said, stopping her fist in mid-air. She glared at Ash, once again, annoyed and baring her teeth at him. 'The seclusion is going to kill us all…' He thought nervously. "You won't get too many chances to enjoy that clear sunrise." Her angered look softened a little, but this time she didn't let it go. She tugged her forearm from his grip and settled back down in her seat.

"Close."

"Yep."

"You know," Brock said quietly this time, "You really have a way with her, lately."

Ash blushed. "Well… I wouldn't really call it-"

Suddenly, the plane jerked to the side, causing everyone to screech. Ash gripped Brocks shoulder and alertly looked around, Brock, on the other hand, gripped the sides of his seat. "What happened?" He asked anxiously.

Again, the plane twisted to the same side. It shook and rumbled a little, getting a good scare out of everyone. The pilot's voice rang from the intercom at the front of the plane. "Attention, everyone. There is nothing to worry about. The winds are changing a little and there is a little turbulence, but-"

"I don't like how he's using the word, 'little'." Misty nervously stated.

There was a loud BANG! And the plane gave a final lurch to the side. Then, each passenger became glued to the back of their seat as the plane descended, shaking violently on it's way down. Many screamed. Ash's face paled.

"What's happening?" Misty asked, "We're crashing, aren't we?? I knew it! I knew I've always hated planes! We're all gonna die!"

Ash looked over to Brock. He sat there like a rock, completely emotionless. Then it occurred to him, it must really bite to finally get someone's number, and die the minute afterwards."

The view outside the windows was a total blur. The clouds zipped by. Ash held onto Misty's shaken shoulder through the gap in the two seats in front of him. Worried, she looked back at him as he stared through the gap of the seats. "If we don't live," he said quietly, "..I…I want you to… know-"

Suddenly, a large WOOSH- a blast of air- sent the plane flipping backwards. Confused people went flying from their seats and some rolled into the dirty isles on top of one another. Fortunately, Ash, Misty, Brock and Pikachu all remained seated. They were wearing seat belts, unlike a few disobedient passengers. The plane continued to descend, but it no longer shook and rattled down into the sea. Again, the pilot's voice croaked out, "We-we're not gonna crash…" Boy, did he sound relieved. As did everyone else.

Misty jumped out of her seat and headed down the narrow isles with a good amount of stomp in each step. Ash followed after her.

"Misty, what are you doing?"

"Turbulence my ass!" She shouted. Ash gasped.

"Now, Misty… please don't curse. Calm down, first."

"I almost died because of the idiot in charge of the plane!"

The blonde stewardess overheard Misty's anger and stepped in front of her. "Miss, please return to your seat."

"I want to speak to the pilot." Misty snarled.

"M'am, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but the cockpit is off limits to the passengers while the plane is in motion. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"C'mon, Mist." Ash started, again placing his hand on her shoulder, "If it makes you feel any better, I'll sit next to you and Pikachu can sit next to Brock."

Misty turned her back to the stewardess, observing the rest of the passengers' faces. Some were crying out tears of worry, and some were crying tears of happiness. Many couples were telling each other how much they love each other. Everyone was so grateful to be alive. She glanced at Ash and considered his offer… then began walking back to her seat. Ash followed after her and sat in the seat next to her after ushering Pikachu to his new seat.

"I don't need supervision." Misty said coldly, staring out the window into the sea that was earlier considered as her early grave.

"Maybe not. Maybe I just want to sit next to you."

A short silence passed between the two…

Suddenly, Misty grabbed onto him and sobbed onto his shirt. Feeling alert and confused, Ash stared down wide-eyed at the girl who suddenly became accustomed to crying out onto his chest. "I-I almost died!!" she sobbed.

Ash blushed feeling her arms pull him to her and he carefully returned the favor. "M-Misty…"

Just as soon as she had clamped onto him, did she suddenly snap back into her regular position whilst violently pushing him away in the process. Her cheeks reddened as Ash sat back down in his seat from being thrown into the isles. "S-sorry…" She apologized, facing away from him. "I was just—n-nevermind."

Ash began to fan his chest with his shirt, trying to dry the rather large wet spot made of Misty's tears.

"Due to the fracture in the left wing, we will be making an emergency stop in Katualia-Luu." Announced one of the pilots.

"Katualia-Luu?"

**

Landing was horrible. The plane must have spun around twice before running off of the runway and into a building. The large 'Crash!' was the smashing of the lobby that was currently unoccupied due to the airports in Katualia-Luu being closed on Thursdays, for some strange reason… People hurried off of the wreck that was the plane, totally thankful for life.

As Ash, Misty and Brock left the plane, after sliding down the emergency exit, Misty asked, "I wonder what that big wind was that saved us from crashing into the sea."

"Big wind? Well, I guess it's more logical than when I thought it was an unexplainable miracle." Brock said with a shrug.

"Who knows?" Ash shrugged. Pikachu crawled upon his shoulder. "Maybe we're just lucky." He looked up into the sky, which was only an arrangement of dark clouds filled with warning and mischief. "Well, we are lucky to be alive. I just can't believe we won't be able to get to Goldenrod to get your Togepi back from those tests."

Misty averted her saddened eyes to the ground. "It's okay. As long as Togepi will be safe there."

"Hey guys, I think it's starting to rain." Brock said, holding out a hand that was spotted with tiny raindrops.

They ran to the building by the side of the runway and pulled on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. They were locked tight. Brock looked around for a sight of shelter and he spotted a house in the far distance on a hill wrapped up in a black, iron picket gate. The grass grew long and thin and it shuddered in the breeze like an ocean's waves. It was more like a mansion than it was a house. And something red dotted the walls…

**

"Someone approaches. Quick! Hide the roses!"

Vahna nodded, silently at work as her hands busily plucked each rose from the main hall and slicing at the more stubborn ones with a sharp knife. No thorn tore at her skin, nor did they leave a scratch, yet Vahna gripped them tightly as she threw bushels and bushels out the window into the backyards. They fluttered down to the dirt, landing on old, forbidden stones and becoming harshly glued to the mud. After this, she slammed the window shut with a large "THUD!" and locked the many bolts.

Suddenly, the loud bonging of a bell rang throughout the house, and she rushed to the door.

**

The group trudged cautiously up the stone path in the drizzling rain toward the large house. Only as they got closer did they realize that the red blotches along the sides of the house were nothing but gardens of roses.

"There's so many roses." Misty admired. "They're gorgeous."

Ash walked up to the mansion and rang the doorbell, "Maybe this place is a hotel or bed & breakfast of some sort."

"It is." Brock said, pointing to a sign, "The sign's really worn out, but I assume the place is still in business since the rose gardens are so well tended to."

Misty read the sign, "It says, 'Rose Hill Hotel'. A little hard to read but-"

The door opened with a mysterious creaking of the worn out hinges. There, stood a young, pale girl with long white hair that traveled down the sides of her face. Her eyes were a bright, icy blue and her mouth had been turned downwards into a disturbed frown. Her dress was an ebony black silk that laced together down her chest as well as her forearms, flaring out at her wrists with a cream lace trim and the skirt was totally black that ran past her toes. She blinked and said in a low voice, "Yes?"

"Um… Can… um…"

"…Uh…"

Misty looked to both of her sides at the two boys- each staring blankly at that girl's busty chest which was revealed behind the tight black lace that pulled the two sides of the dress over half of each breast. She sighed and smacked each of them in the face, snapping, or slapping, them back to reality. "I'm sorry." She apologized, "We were looking for a few rooms for the night."

"Rooms? Here?" The girl asked, confused. Had this red-head not heard of the rumors? Of the stories about the Rose Hill Hotel? She smiled and politely bowed her head. "Come right in."

As she opened the door wider, she dropped her hand, the hand that held a rather large knife covered in blood. Misty hadn't noticed it at first, but the skin of her palms were covered with many small cuts. Suddenly she was very unsure of walking into the hotel.

"Is there something wrong?" The pale girl asked. She followed Misty's frightened gaze to the knife in her hand and chuckled nervously. "Oh, I was just, um, tending to the gardens. You don't know how sharp the thorns on those roses can be."

"Oh." Misty sighed with relief, "I see."

They all entered the old hotel. The girl with white hair flicked a switch near the door and the place suddenly lit up, glistening with beauty. The main hall led to the main room where there were two doors visible that must have led elsewhere. In the main room, there were three large windows on the walls and one huge pane of colored glass on the ceiling. The windows each represented a different mosaic of lively colors and the one on the ceiling presented them with a huge swirling pattern of dark colors, leading up into the stormy skies. All of the furniture was old-fashioned, but beautiful. Ash, Brock, and Misty looked around in awe.

"It's beautiful." Brock admired the windows in front of him. "But I'll bet this place is expensive."

"Oh, no it is not expensive at all." The stranger said, still in a low tone. "It's practically free since we're shutting down anyways. Besides, a good deed means good karma."

"Shutting down? Why would you do that? It seems that the location and the place are both wonderful; wouldn't you get a lot of customers?" Brock asked.

"I'm afraid not." She said, "It is all because of a rumor that was spread amongst the islands."

Ash laughed, "I'll bet they'd make a great ghost story about this old place."

Misty could barely catch the dark glare coming from the white-haired girl before she smiled and nodded. "You're right." She bowed to her guests. "Welcome to the Rose Hill Hotel. My name is Vahna."

'Vahna… Oh, that name sounds so familiar...' Misty thought, 'where have I heard that name before?'

"This door is forbidden." Vahna said, pointing to the left door in the main room. "It leads to the left side of the building."

"Why is the left side of the building forbidden?" Ash asked.

Vahna cringed. She was hoping that she would have to explain it. "It's just… a bunch of manager stuff. Anyway, the right side of the building holds the rooms, so no one has any reason to go through that door, understand? It is prohibited."

They nodded. Vahna opened the right door, allowing them entrance. They walked down halls and climbed many stairs before they came to the 'room floors'.

"There are two floors with fourteen rooms each." Vahna said, "Pick any room you choose, just inform me when you are finished. Now, after dark, the entire household is locked up tight, along with the front gate to avoid any burglars. Breakfast is served at seven, lunch at one, and dinner at eight. And my room is room 237 down this hall to the left, if you need any help. How many nights are you three planning to stay here?"

"Oh, just until we can get a flight out of here. We're trying to get to Goldenrod as soon as possible." Ash said.

"That's fine." Vahna nodded.

"Let's get our rooms." Misty said excitedly, "I can't wait to see how pretty they are."

"Yeah." Ash agreed. "Wow, twenty-eight rooms… You'll even be able to get your own room, Pikachu."

As they ran off opening various doors and searching the rooms, Vahna smirked as she left down the stairs.

"Mm… the pure one will taste good."