Chapter 7

"If we don't take the risk for love... than what do we take it for?" -Elisabeth Harnois, Charmed


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"Pink or yellow, Myst?" Lily asked her sister while turning around and holding up two bridesmaid dress samples to Misty. However, the bride to be was oblivious to all around her. She sat at the kitchen table of the Cerulean gym, coffee clutched in hand and her head filled with deep musings.

"Personally, I think you should go with the pink," the older sister continued, not caring that Misty did not answer. "I honestly don't care what Daisy says. Yellow is so... blah. Pink is more wedding-y. And plus I don't do yellow, so we're going with the pink," She smiled as she made the decision regarding her sister's wedding without even her consent. "Misty?" Lily inquired, after having finally noticed that her sister was not responding to any of her suggestions as she appeared to be deep in a train of thought. "Myst?" she repeated and still got no response. "Honey, I am standing here with a bridal magazine in my hand and I'm bored," she informed exasperatedly in a more loud tone.

"Huh?" Misty asked obliviously, at last noticing she was being spoken to. "Oh, I'm sorry, what were you saying?" she queried halfheartedly while self consciously running her hand through her locks.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lily questioned upon hearing her distracted tone while she sat down next to her sister.

"Yeah," Misty sighed. "I've just got a lot on my mind now."

"Thinkin' about Rudy?" she asked mischievously while flashing a knowing smile. Misty hesitated before willing herself to meet Lily's gaze and answer the question.

"Um, actually, I was thinking about... Ash," she admitted and the surprise was evident in her sister's expression.

"Ash?" she inquired. "What about him?"

"He, um, he kind of told me that… he loved me last night," Misty found herself saying and Lily's blue eyes widened at the piece of information.

"What?  Oh my God," she exclaimed, bringing her hand to her chest in shock. "Oh God, this is huge," she cried once more in the same stunned tone.

"No, Lil, he didn't mean it like that," Misty hastily reassured her and she began to calm down a bit. "He was at the gym last night after the engagement party and when he said it. He broke up with Melody and it was just like a friendly 'I love you.' Not an 'I want to spend the rest of my life with you' 'I love you'," she explained.

"Oh," Lily managed to say in a much less incredulous tone. "Well, then what's the big deal about that?" she chuckled. "Why are you freaking out about a friendly 'I love you'?"

Misty bit her lip and took a moment to debate whether or not she should admit the thought that had been on her mind for hours. She eventually decided to take the risk and after exhaling heavily she uttered the words; "Because I was sorta wishing that he meant it as more than a friend." Lily's mouth went agape and the same shocked features returned to her face.

"Misty," she began seriously.

"Honey, look, I know..." she started to protest.

"No, you don't know!" Lily exclaimed, abruptly interrupting her younger sister. "Myst, if you haven't completely forgotten... Ash is not the one you are marrying in two months."

"Lily..."

"No, no, no, I speak... you listen," Lily firmly cut her off leaving her no other choice than to listen to what she had to say. "You cannot do this, okay? You cannot let your feelings for Ash resurface again, especially not now when you're engaged to someone else. If you do than everything is just going to become one big mess," she finished gently and Misty hung her head downcast slightly.  "Sweetie, I understand how hard it must have been for you to be in love with him all of those years and never gain up the courage to tell him. But it's too late for all of that now. He's moved on with his life... and I thought you had too?" she questioned softly toward the end.

"I have," Misty tried to reassure her feebly. "It was just..." she trailed off letting a sigh escape her lips. She could feel Lily's eyes penetrating her back and she knew there was no way her sister could understand this situation. "It was just a momentary lapse," she found herself saying, although that was not how she intended on finishing her sentence. "I just got caught up in the moment. I don't have feelings for him anymore. I love Rudy," Misty forced herself to say, trying as hard as she could to convince herself as the fact as well but with no avail. She cleared her throat and willed herself to go on. "Really, I do."

"Okay..." Lily answered in a slightly skeptical tone after a beat of silence. "But you better really mean that, because if you don't this will just turn into one huge love triangle that no body will be able to get out of."

Misty let out a little laugh. "Well, I certainly don't want that."

"Good. And don't worry; I have an idea on how to make sure that Ash is well occupied so nothing will get screwed up."

She looked at her sister confusedly. "How so?"

"I'll go out with him," Lily answered promptly.

Misty felt her chest tighten and her brain suddenly go on alert. Lily? Go out with Ash? The absurdity of the suggestion was obviously not a concern to her sister who seemed pleased at the fact she had come up with the supposedly 'good idea.' The thought of seeing Ash with someone else killed her, which was why she clung to Rudy that whole time he was with Melody. But the thought of him with her sister? It wouldn't just drive her insanely jealous; it actually grossed her out a bit. She knew exactly the way Lily was and the thought of them together in any sexual situation was something she found quite disturbing.  Misty visibly shuddered at her previous thought.

"W-What?" she stammered. "You and Ash?"

"Why not? He's cute, he's sweet, he's a fun guy," Lily shrugged nonchalantly until a knowing look came on her face. "Unless you don't want me to..."

"What?" Misty asked once again, her voice raising an octave higher at the accusation. "Why..." she let out a forced laugh. "W-Why would I not want you to go out with Ash? I-I'm engaged to Rudy, I don't have a problem with it." She forced herself to giggle again and took a large gulp of her coffee as she did so.

"Well, that's great," Lily chirped, clasping her hands together. "I'll call him later and we can double with you and Rudy."

"Um, Lil..." Misty started, becoming a little agitated by her sister's confidence that Ash would definitely accept her invitation. "No offense, but how do you know he'll even say yes? I mean he just broke up with his girlfriend last night..."

"So, he's looking for someone new," she reminded her and Misty looked somewhat annoyed at her sister's 'plan' to distract her best friend to prevent the looming attraction she had for him.  "Oh, yay!" Lily squealed clasping her hands together.  "The four of us are going to have so much fun when we go out," she exclaimed and her sister plastered a fake grin on her face.

"Yup," Misty smiled sarcastically, sipping her coffee. "Can't wait."
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Ash sat in his office at the League's location in Cerulean, desperately trying to concentrate on the task he had been assigned but with no avail. He was supposed to be looking over the rules for the upcoming Johto tournament but instead he found his mind only filled with the thoughts of Misty and what had happened between them the previous night.

He could have sworn that there was something going on between them when they each uttered those special words. Of course they had both assumed the other had spoken them in a friendly manner, but Ash had not meant them that way. He had meant the true meaning of love with every bit of his heart and soul.  He never had directly said those words to Misty before in all their years of friendship and he simply could not wait any longer to say them... even if she did not interpret his inward feelings or return them.

But there was something else that had happened. After he had said 'I love you' he had felt Misty's grip on him tighten and her breathing momentarily stop. If she had thought he had just spoken them with no real meaning than why had she hesitated when she answered? What was the big deal if she did not feel that way about him, she could have responded without the thought of the statement meaning something more. That was unless she was secretly wishing that the words had not been spoken in the way they were. Ash shook his head to himself furiously at the thought. It was impossible. Misty did not feel that way about him and she never would and no matter how much it killed him, it was just something he was going to have to accept.

His musings were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the ajar door. Ash looked up to find Lance of the Elite Four entering with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Hey, Ash," he greeted him while he stepped into the office. Ash acknowledged his presence with a simple wave of his hand. "You got a minute? There's something I need to talk to you about."

"Uh, well, yeah, sure," he answered while gesturing for him to take a seat in the chair on the other side of the desk. Lance did so and Ash looked over at him with quizzical eyes. "What's up?"

"As I'm sure you are aware of, the tournament in Johto is coming up in a couple of months."

Ash nodded. "That's right."

"And ever since you became a master you've been running and battling in the tournaments in Kanto, correct?"

Ash nodded once more. "Uh huh."

"Okay," Lance concluded toward himself. "You see, Ash, as a master you are required to compete as well as run all the tournaments that take place within the League." Again, Ash nodded. "Now, this isn't a problem in the Orange Islands considering we have many locations in there but it has come to my attention that you have not spent much time in the Johto region. Now, it is not completely necessary that you go over to Johto to work there for a while but it is highly recommended by myself as well as the other League members. Part of your responsibility of being a master is being in charge of all aspects of the Pokemon world so I want to you to seriously take in consideration, Ash..." Lance paused before continuing. "... of moving to Johto for a while."

Ash sat there in silence; trying to absorb the information he had just been given. He observed Lance's serious expression and began to try and comprehend of exactly he was asking of him. Leaving the Kanto region and moving to Johto... that was something Ash could not rule out as possible. Sure in his early years he would have jumped at the opportunity to travel across a new land both that was back in his journey days. He was now an adult, his dream had been achieved, he had settled in a city which was right by near his friends, family, as well as his career. He could not picture leaving all of that behind for work related purposes.

"Lance," Ash finally spoke. "I'm not sure..."

"Look," the older man interrupted him. "I'm not saying you have to decide right now but I do need an answer as soon as possible."

Ash sighed. "When would you have to know by?"

"Well, the flight to Johto departs from Celadon and since the train from Cerulean goes directly to that airport, you might wanna do that instead of taking a cab.  But the plane leaves some time towards the end of the week."

His eyes widened. "What?! This week?!"

"Actually, I would need to know in a couple of days," he informed and Ash put his head in his hands, unable to deal with such an important decision so fast. "I know it's a little soon," he admitted and Ash let a sarcastic smirk of agreement escape his lips. "But I just found out about this today and I really do think you should go through with this, Ash. After all, it is part of your job."

"How long would I have to stay for?" he queried weakly.

"As long as you need to.  But you'd have to be there for at least five to seven months."

Ash sighed once more. "All right, I'll think about it," he informed much to Lance's excitement. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

The Elite Four member smiled. "Thanks, Ash," he said before he left the room.

Ash exhaled strongly as soon as he left. Had this been several months ago, when Misty was not engaged to another man and when his life made a little bit of sense he would have denied the offer right on the spot. But that was all in the past and this was the present.  Now things were different.  Now he had to sit by and watch as Misty made the countless preparations for the dreaded day that would unite her and Rudy for all eternity.  Now he had to experience the terrible heartache every time he saw the two of them together.  Now he was slowly losing Misty and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.  Now his life had absolutely no meaning.  And because of those reasons, along with all that had happened, Ash realized that Lance's request might not be so crazy after all.

TBC
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