A/N: Mwahaha, I hope everyone enjoyed the cliffhanger! (Just kidding!) Anyway, like always, thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed - it helps inspire me P. Haha, OK, most of you are probably skipping these author notes, 'cause you wanna get straight to the story, right? Enjoy!

And I know, I know, I said that this part would probably be out by the weekend... but that was just an estimate! Two days isn't THAT late, is it? I totally forgot that I had to take the SAT on Saturday, and then I had to work on my college applications and stuff... And then when I tried to upload it, the document manager for was down for updates! I hardly got any time to write/post. I hope this will do though.

While I was writing, I decided that I was gonna make this the last part. Haha, OK actually, I ran out of ideas and couldn't think of anything else - but I liked how it ended up turning out. Sorry for the shortness, though!

Special thanks goes to Chibi-Suiko, for helping me out on the title - it's now called "By Chance," and I think it's appropriate. Wonder why? Well, read on...

All disclaimers can be found on part one.

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Blinded - Chapter Five

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Ash told her everything - about the night at the restaurant, the League Ball, the alleyway... well, as much as he could remember, of course. His memory was fuzzy, and bits of his memories he couldn't (or didn't want to) remember.

Kristina had made no comments, which was unusual for her. But at the end of his story, she let out a dreamy sigh. "Aww, Ash, that is so sweet..."

Ash rolled his eyes - girls. They were so weird.

"Well, there's still time to fix this," Kristina said. Ash could almost hear the twinkle in her eyes.

"How?"

"Remember? You're scheduled to record a message to Giselle today. It's supposed to air all day."

"So what?" Ash was as dense as a block.

"So, you can record a message to your Cinderella, find her, and live happily ever after."

Somehow, Ash didn't think it would be that easy.

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They got to the TV studio in about 5 minutes. Ash's heart felt like it was pounding in his throat, and his leg jack hammered with nervousness.

Finally, a man entered the room, an air of importance surrounding him. He was obviously the director. A girl with an air of self importance followed him. Ash gritted his teeth. Giselle was NOT what he needed right now.

"Clear the way," Giselle ordered, pushing the director out of the way. "Get out of my way - don't you know that I'm the reason that this whole thing is being put together?"

The crew of the commercial shoot stared at her blankly.

"I'm Giselle," she stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The crew continued to stare. Obviously, they didn't know her - or perhaps, they didn't care.

From behind Giselle, Mr. Director Guy's voice boomed. "Places, everyone!" The crew scrambled to their designated spots. "Ash, are you all set?"

Ash could feel his heart pounding, the drumming steadily increasing in his ears. "Y-yeah... I'm ready."

"Rolling!" Mr. Director Guy barked. Then, in an exaggerated whisper: "and... action!"

Ash almost froze with nervousness. He cleared his throat, then glanced at the camera uneasily. He had been on television millions of times, posed for a countless number of photo shoots and magazines, and given numerous public speeches. But he had never been nervous until now - the one time it really mattered.

His eyes darted behind the camera, where Kristina was watching. He looked at her hopefully, silently asking her for advice. She smiled at him, and pointed to her chest. Speak from your heart. He took a deep breath.

"Um, hi," Ash said nervously, running his hands through his hair. "Everyone probably knows who I am. And you probably think I'm here to talk about Giselle... but I'm not." From across the room, Giselle flashed a catty smile. It looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. But this, like many things, didn't phase her for long.

"Like I said, everyone probably know who I am. But when I think about, I don't know any of you - my fans." He gave the camera another nervous smile. "I meet a lot of you every day, but I never take the time to get to know you. And yet, you all stick by me." He looked down, and muttered. "Well, except for the one person that matters right now..."

Straightening his head, he looked directly into the camera. "There's one person out there that I really want to meet. I don't know who you are... or even what you're like. But I do know one thing - I want to find out. I know you have red hair, and a laugh that makes me weak in the knees... but that's it. I want to get to know the rest of you. Meet me back where it all began - the beach behind the Seaking Café, tonight at 8:00. If you don't show, well..." his voice wavered. "Well, I'll get the hint. I... I just can't live with myself knowing that I didn't try."

The room was silent. The crew was staring at Ash with respectful awe. The director took off his earphones in astonishment. "...And... cut! Amazing..."

Now all Ash could do was wait. And hope.

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Misty had spent the majority of her night last night crying. Gary seemed like he didn't want to be with her anymore, Ash was in love with some other girl... what else could go wrong?

She definitely needed something to get her mind off things. And what else could be better then a little old TV?

She flipped through the channels. The news, Officer Jenny got a restraining order against some gym leader, Team Rocket attacked another town, Ash Ketchum staring nervously at the camera...

Ugh. Not this guy again. She got up, throwing the remote down on the couch. "Jerk..." she muttered, under her breath. She couldn't watch this. She needed someone to talk to. And since her sisters weren't home, the only choice would be Gary.

The Ash on TV started talking, but it was already too late. She had left.

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"Gary?" The door to his house was open, so she helped herself in. "Where are you?" She heard a muffled noise coming from around the corner.

THUD. Something fell over. What was going on here?

Cocking her eyebrow, Misty looked for anything that she could use for defense. She didn't find anything. She looked down, and took off her shoe.

"Who's there?!" she asked, raising the shoe above her head. "I'm warning you, I'm, umm... I'm armed!"

The only response was another bump.

Nervously, she sneaked down the hallway until she was in front of Gary's room. Everything was quiet.

"AIYEEEE!!!" She uttered a battle cry (which sounded more like a terrified scream), swung the door open, and assumed her fighting stance. She saw nothing.

She laughed at herself. She was just being paranoid. Relaxing, she dropped her hand back to her side.

Then, she heard another noise, coming from the closet. Shoe in hand, her arm instantly flew back up. "Who's there?"

Her curiosity getting the best of her, she cautiously walked to the closet and took a deep breath. Making sure she still had her shoe, she flung the door open - and was greeted by an unpleasant sight - two teens, who were... for the lack of a better word, making out.

"Err... hi, Misty-mphh!" Gary managed to say, before Giselle kissed him again.

Misty ignored him. Strangely, the first thing that came to her mind wasn't to be mad at Gary, but to be mad at Giselle! How could she do this to Ash?! She looked at Giselle coldly. "Aren't you dating Ash Ketchum?"

"Why have Ash when you can have Gary?" Giselle said, looking at Misty with distaste. "Gary knows how much I'm worth..." she laughed obnoxiously. "I'm so much prettier than you, you know..."

Misty chose to ignore this comment. "You mean... you and Ash aren't... a couple?"

Giselle snorted. "Of course not." She glanced at Gary. "That loser," she added as an afterthought. For this, she got an approving look from Gary. "I'd die if he even SAID he was interested in me." She shuddered.

"Well, Misty, we'd love to talk--" Gary piped up.

"--But we're busy." Giselle giggled, returning all of her attention back to Gary. ALL of her attention.

Misty looked at them with disgust. But she had more important things to think about. Her head swirled. Gary and Giselle? Ash wasn't in love with Giselle? A smile crept slowly onto her lips.

"I don't - mphh ... hey, Giselle, stop for a little." Giselle stopped, deciding to play with Gary's hair. "Misty, I don't think we're gonna work out."

Misty was so happy that she could almost kiss him. But she didn't - it looked like Giselle had that under control.

She needed time to think about what was going on. Shuddering again at Gary and Giselle, she left - on her way to her favorite spot to think.

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It was 7:57, and the back of the Seaking Café looked like it had been transformed into some bizarre meeting place for stars struck young girls. Obviously, Ash's commercial had worked. It looked like almost all the girls in Cerulean were here. Ash just hoped that the one that mattered was among the crowd too.

Two minutes.

Time was passing strangely - one moment he would look at his watch and realize the minutes were slooooowly ticking away, and the next, it seemed like the time just flew by.

One minute.

He tapped his foot on the sand nervously. He looked back into the sea of heads. Every flash of red hair, every twinkling laugh gave him hope. Was she out there? His heart pounded, his feet couldn't stay still. The high pitched screams didn't phase him anymore. If she was here, why wouldn't she just spare him the suspense?

8:00.

Ash took a deep breath. Where was she? The screaming of the crowd didn't stop. No one came forward. The doubt began to tug at him. But he wanted to wait.

The next ten minutes felt like an eternity. Every second killed Ash, and his eyes never left the crowd. Finally, Kristina placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Ash, I'm sorry..."

Ash turned around to face her. "You shouldn't be... it's not your fault." He smiled at her, his sad eyes getting watery. "I guess you can't lose what you never had, huh?"

He turned to leave. The crowd of girls behind him screamed louder than ever. And it looked like a riot was about to ensue...

Kristina sighed. Not again. "Ash, just go. I'll take care of this." He didn't move. "Hurry up!"

He trotted away until the screams of his adoring fans died down. Glancing back at them, he felt himself run into something.

He looked down and almost fainted. It was her. It was like the weight of the world had been lifted off of his shoulders. She was here!

Misty looked up at him, the surprise evident in her eyes. A smile crept on to her face. "Hey, aren't you gonna help me up?"

Laughing, she held up her hand, and Ash took it. He pulled her up into him and held her as tight as he could. She could have almost melted into him. It was like they were made for each other - their bodies fit together perfectly.

Ash could have stayed there all night, just holding her. It was worth everything - even meeting Giselle. But he still had one thing on his mind, one thing he was determined not to forget. "I've gotta know... what is you name?!"

Misty laughed, the one that always made Ash smile. She looked up into his chocolate brown eyes, and felt her face inching slowly closer to his. "Misty..."

"Misty, huh?" Ash's voice almost came out as a whisper. A playful grin tugged at the corners of his lips. "Nice to meet you." Their faces were only inches apart now. Ash could see every detail in Misty's perfect face - her crystal blue eyes, her cute button shaped nose, her soft lips... Well, speaking of that last one...

Finally, their lips met. The feeling was amazing - a slow, warm tingling that spread from their lips to the rest of their bodies.

"It's nice to meet you too." The two laughed again, not caring about anything else in the world, not noticing anything around them except each other.

Not even the familiar star that was smiling down above them - shining brighter than ever.

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Epilogue

"And the league reports are in!" A news announcer exclaimed excitedly. "Ash Ketchum's popularity ratings are in. After a brief scare, Ketchum, who held the record low popularity percentage, now holds the highest ratings in league history!"

Kristina smiled. She was very, very happy with herself.

The End.

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A/N: Aww, so this is the end... it's a shame, I wish I could have made this one a little longer. I've gotten a bit attached to this fic, I'm almost sad to finish it. This is how I planned it to end up when I originally had the idea, but now that I reread it, I see how much else I could have done with this fic!

Well, except for one thing - when I had the idea, I told myself that I would write it as a comedy! But now that I reread, I think that it's more dramatic... eh. I hope no one minds!

Oh well, I hope everyone enjoyed it how it was... Onto my next project! Make sure to check it out! It's gonna be a VERY fluffy Ash and Misty romance (and I promise I'll try to make the next one funny. Haha.) If you see it floating around in a couple of days, check it out!

Again, thanks for all the support and reviews, they've encouraged me so much! Until next time, I'm out.