Chapter 7

Matchmakers

Misty wasn't speaking to Ash. Neither was May. The only thing Misty had told her when she asked what had happened was that Ash was an eavesdropping jerk, but she had a general idea of what had happened. Either Misty was trying to protect Max from further embarrassment, she had said something about Ash, or both. In any case, he had totally violated Misty's privacy, and as a girl, May could not excuse that.

So they trudged home in silence. Even Brock's siblings, who were usually bouncing off the walls, were quiet. They could sense the tension in the air, and they were also tired from a day full of running around and playing.

They sat in front of the TV when they got home, and didn't even have the usual argument over the remote. Ash too, was exhausted from taking care of so many children, so he flopped face-down onto his bunk bed. He didn't get to rest long though, because Max wanted to talk to him.

"Hey, Ash," Max said, "Do you have a minute?"

"You mean you're actually speaking to me?"

"Yeah, well, I'm still mad at you about earlier, but I can't talk to anyone else about this."

It was true. Max certainly couldn't talk to Misty after what had just happened, and Brock didn't have the best track record with girls. Besides, it was his sister. That would be too weird.

Ash sat up and paid attention. Whatever was bugging Max seemed pretty serious.

"Is it still about that girl?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. See, I only told her that I didn't like her because I thought I was in love with Misty. Now I realize that I do like her, but she probably hates me now! I feel so stupid!" Max sat on the bed next to Ash and put his face in his hands.

"You're not stupid, Max. Girls can be confusing sometimes. Heck, Misty confuses me all the time!"

"What am I gonna do?" Max wailed.

"Just be yourself." Ash counseled. "I'm sure she'll forgive you if you apologize."

"Right." Max said, finally looking up at Ash. "Don't you remember what happened the last time I liked a girl?"

"You mean Vivi?"

"Yeah. See what I mean? I don't know how to act toward girls, Ash, you gotta help me!"

The truth was, Ash was about as clueless as Max. But he did feel sorry for his small friend, and he understood what it felt like to have a girl mad at him. He understood that very well. So he also understood that it was not easy to gain a girl's forgiveness, no matter how much he apologized.

"Ok, ok! Calm down!" Said Ash finally. "I just need some time to think about it. I'll tell you when I come up with something."

What he really meant was he needed time to ask Misty. She was a girl, so she would know, right? Even though she wasn't speaking to him, she probably wouldn't mind giving a little advice if it was to help a friend. At least, that's what Ash reasoned.

Max seemed satisfied with Ash's answer, because he calmed down considerably after that.

"Thanks, Ash." He said, and then he left the room.

Misty stood in the kitchen with Emmie, helping her kneed rice into little balls. Emmie gazed up at Misty in intimidation. She was pounding the rice rather violently, and it was a little scary.

"I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him . . ." She thought.

But Misty's anger was understandable. Ash had heard her most private and closely-guarded secret. Even worse, it was about him!

"What if he figures it out?!" Misty knew that Ash wasn't exactly the sharpest tack in the box when it came to such matters, but she couldn't shake the thought. After all, there weren't too many people whom she considered her best friends. Or maybe he wouldn't figure it out.

But what if he guessed? What if he got suspicious? That was bad enough!

"Um, Misty? Are you ok?" Emmie squeaked. She cowered on the chair she was standing on, not sure how Misty would react.

Misty suddenly realized where she was.

"Stop thinking about that idiot!" She warned herself.

So she smiled and said "Of course, I'm fine! Now, where were we?"

"We were just about to add the tuna."

"Oh yeah. Here, hand me that knife and I'll cut it up so we can add it to the sushi."

Emmie did so, but a little warily. Misty did not seem to be in any condition to be wielding a knife. But Emmie was still glad that she was helping.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Emmie asked tentatively.

"Trust me, when he tastes this lunch, he won't be able to get enough of you!"

Just then the door swung open, and Ash entered the room, a serious expression on his face.

Misty turned around, but went right back to what she was doing as soon as she saw who it was. Emmie did the same, but only because she wasn't sure what Misty would do if she acknowledged his presence. Neither she nor Ash, given his denseness, had any idea that this had to do with her.

But Ash wasn't giving up that easily. "Aw, come on, Misty, you can't ignore me forever!"

"Watch me."

"But I really need to talk to you!"

Misty sighed. Why couldn't she just ignore him? After what he had done, she couldn't believe he had the nerve to even look at her. But even though she was still mad, she couldn't help worrying about him.

"What do you want?" Misty said as she turned back around and, thankfully for Ash, put the knife down.

"Well, it's about my friend." Ash began nervously. "See, he likes this girl, but he did something stupid and now she's really mad at him. How can he get her to forgive him?"

This sent Misty's mind reeling.

"What is he saying? He is talking about himself, right? And me? And he's saying that he likes me? Really likes me?"

Ash didn't understand why it was taking so long for her to answer. It shouldn't be that hard of a question. Not for a girl anyway.

"Hello? Misty? Anybody home?"

"Oh, yeah, your friend, right. Let's see, um . . . he should, um . . . uh . . . I dunno, do something nice for her."

And why was she blushing so much?

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know. Buy her a present or . . . something like that."

"Well, what should he get her?"

By now, Misty was beginning to regain her composure. She still felt a little dizzy from the whole thing, but she managed to get her next answer out a little more quickly.

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure she'll love whatever you– I mean he– gets her, as long as it's from the heart."

Typical girl answer. How was that supposed to help?

"Yeah, but what should he get her?"

Misty thought he'd never stop asking questions. She needed to get Ash away from herself before she did something stupid, like start giggling.

"Oh, I don't know, jewelry or something, now leave me alone, I'm busy here."

"Thanks, Mist, you're the best!"

"I'm still mad at you!" Misty called as Ash exited the room.

But that was a total lie. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, she was elated.

"I can't believe this is happening!" She thought joyfully. "But it is, it's finally happening. Ash just practically confessed that he loves me!"

And this joy was like nothing she had ever felt before. It made her feel like jumping up and down and screaming, made her want to laugh and cry, made her feel like she was floating. It felt like Christmas, or a sugar rush, only ten times sweeter. Misty was so happy that she thought she was going to burst. But she couldn't express her joy, not yet. Not until she was sure. And she was so used to denying it that it only seemed natural to hide it. But she was still grinning like an idiot.

Emmie had been patiently observing through the whole thing, but she still wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. Why was Misty so happy all of a sudden? A moment ago she had been sulking angrily, and now she was . . . singing to herself? Where did that come from? Did it have to do with something Ash had said? But that didn't make any sense. He hadn't said anything to warrant that kind of reaction. Unless . . . unless it wasn't what was said, but who said it. Maybe Misty was happy because Ash was her boyfriend? Yes, that made sense. Still, she hadn't acted this way before when she was with him. It didn't add up. And the suspense was killing Emmie. She knew that to ask such a question of Misty in this state, whatever state that was, was to risk her own life, but she had to know.

"Hey Misty," she said cautiously, "is Ash your boyfriend?"

"NO!" Misty exploded. She wasn't angry, but her heightened emotions made all of her reactions stronger. "Of course he's not! Why on Earth would you think that?! It's crazy!"

"I dunno. You just seemed really happy to see him."

"Yeah, well . . . he's NOT my boyfriend!" And then, doing a complete one-eighty mood-wise "Could you please hand me the nori?"

"I think I liked her better when she was angry." Emmie thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Ash and Max walked the streets of Pewter in search of a jewelry store.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Max questioned.

"Trust me. Misty's a girl, so she should know."

"What does– wait, you asked Misty? I should've known you wouldn't have any idea what to do."

Ash just laughed, embarrassed. "Well, I thought that the best way to find out what girls like is to go strait to the source."

"Actually, you may have something there." Max said smartly.

The conversation ended when the pair reached "Pewter Promenade"– the town's open air mall.

There were shops of all kinds: a video store, a drug store, and a restaurant or two. But they were there for one thing, so they went strait to "Clampearl's Jewel".

Inside, there were glass cabinets filled with all sorts of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, gold and silver all glittered beautifully in the dim store light.

"May I help you?" Said the woman behind the cash register.

She wore many jewels herself, and brightened her pale skin and light-blue hair quite nicely.

Max looked around the room, trying to decide exactly what he wanted to buy, but there was so much stuff!

"We want to buy something, but we're not sure what." Ash said. "What do you suggest?"

"Aw, buying for your girlfriend?" Gushed the girl behind the counter. "How sweet! Is this your little brother who's with you?"

Ash immediately started blushing and waving his hands in front of his face and making the whole situation more embarrassing than it had to be.

"No, it's for him! I mean his girlfriend! I'm his friend."

The girl wasn't listening anyway. She busied herself with finding a piece appropriate for an eight-year-old girl, and presently she pulled a couple of display cases filled with rings and necklaces out of the display counters.

"Why don't you take a look at these?" She said sweetly.

Max sifted through the gems, trying to make some kind of decision.

"I like this ruby one." He said, holding up gold chain with a ruby tear drop charm. And then, as an afterthought "Hey Ash, did you know that rubies are used in lasers?"

"No. That's pretty cool!"

"How much is it?" He asked the girl.

She consulted a thick binder full of prices that was lying on the desk.

"Let's see, that one is . . . ah, $89.99."

"Whoa!" Ash blurted. "That's a little expensive. I don't think we have that kind of money. Do you have anything a bit cheaper?"

"How much cheaper?"

"Hey Ash," Max whispered, "how much do you have?"

Ash pulled out his wallet and started counting his money.

"Five, ten, fifteen, eighteen dollars and some pennies. How much do you have?"

"I've only got twelve!" Max turned to the girl, and, quite embarrassed, asked "What do you have for $30?"

The girl, seeing that they weren't going to buy anything, lost her saccharin-sweet tone and pointed outside.

"You might want to try there." She said.

Ash and Max turned to see a giant egg machine on the sidewalk just outside the store.

"Oh, ok, thank-you." Said Max, knowing full well that he had been insulted, but not sure of what else to say.

"Sorry, Max." Ash said as they walked out.

"It's ok. Thanks for helping anyway."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"What do you think I should do?" Max answered. It was obvious that he admired the older boy, and valued his opinion.

"Well, Misty said that it doesn't matter what you get her, as long as it comes from the heart."

So Max got a quarter out of his pocket, and took the girl's advice, even if she had been only kidding. A pink egg rolled down the spiral tube in the machine and plunked into the prize slot. When Max popped it open, he found a cheap, but pretty, gold colored plastic ring with a plastic red jewel on it.

"I guess this will just have to do." He sighed.

The ring shone in the sunlight as Max held it up for Ash to see.

"Now, remember, you've gotta have confidence." Misty coached Emmie as she handed her the completed lunch.

"Confidence . . ."

"Right! Love is like a battle! You have to reach out for what you want and grab it! Faint heart never won fair . . . fellow? Something like that. You know what I mean. Now go get 'im!"

"Ok." She started to leave, but then hesitated.

"But shouldn't I wait? It's only noon, so it's not quite time for lunch."

"Emmie, just go!" Misty sighed. "The longer you wait, the harder it'll be. Good luck!"

Emmie still wasn't very sure about the whole thing, but she was willing to give it a try. What could it hurt? Besides, Max and the others would be leaving the next day, and then she would lose her chance, possibly forever.

Max was starting to rethink the whole thing.

"What if she hates me?" He cried.

"Don't worry. Just tell her how you feel." Reassured Ash. "She'll forgive you. And if she doesn't, that's her problem. It wouldn't be the end of the world."

"Ok, but would you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what it is?"

"Will you come with me?"

Rivers of nervous tears streamed down Max's face, so of course Ash couldn't refuse.

"But won't she be embarrassed if I'm there?"

"I know, you could hide somewhere." Max reasoned.

So five minutes later, Ash found himself hiding behind some bushes in Brock's back yard, watching as Max and Emmie sat on the porch. He felt strange watching them like this, but Max had asked, so it was ok, right? He was just about to settle in when he felt something, or someone, move in the bush next to him.

"Who's there?"

"Ash? What are you doing here?" Misty answered.

"I was, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Spying again? I knew it! Don't you ever learn?"

"Max asked me to! Besides, you're doing the same thing. Hippocrates!" Ash rebuked jokingly.

"Huh? Ash, you mean 'hypocrite'! It's not the same. I helped Emmie with this, so I deserve to see what happens. And why would Max . . ."

And then it hit her. Ash hadn't been talking about himself at all! He had been trying to help Max.

"Oh."

"I should have known!" Misty scolded herself. "Why did I have to jump to conclusions like that? How could I possibly think he'd figured it out? Stupid!"

Ash waited for Misty to volley another insult, and glanced at her when she didn't. He was confused to see her teary-eyed and blushing.

"Misty? What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Geez, why is everyone always asking me that?"

"So . . . are you still mad at me?"

Misty choked back her tears and looked at Ash. There was no way she could make herself angry at him again.

"Well, it was really sweet of you to help Max, so I guess not. Now be quiet, I can't hear what's happening!"

The two turned their attention to the goings on of the porch.

"Max, I made you lunch. Well, Misty helped. A little. I hope you like it!"

"Did you say Misty?" Max asked apprehensively. Though he'd never tried it himself, he had heard legends of Misty's cooking from Ash, and he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about trying it himself.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

But he didn't want to disappoint Emmie.

"No, nothing at all. I'm sure it's delicious!"

And so Max tried to keep a strait face as he took a bite of sushi. At least, it looked like sushi. But it sure didn't taste like any sushi he'd ever had. And he wasn't having an easy time keeping that strait face.

"What's wrong, don't you like it?" Emmie asked concernedly.

"Of course! It's great!"

But he wasn't fooling her. She picked up a piece and tried it for herself. And immediately spit it back into her hand.

"Bleah! This is awful! I'm so sorry Max! I should have tried it before I gave it to you!"

"No, it's ok, really! It doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy that you cared enough to make it for me. The taste isn't important."

"Really?" Said Emmie, cheering up a bit.

"Really. Besides, I'm the one who should be sorry. Emmie, I know I said I didn't like you like that, but now I know that I was wrong. I was confused because I thought I liked someone else, but she ended up turning me down, so I know how you must have felt when . . . but I think I just had a little crush on her. It wasn't like with you. Anyway, will you forgive me? I understand if you can't, but–"

But Emmie threw her arms around him before he could finish, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh Max," she cried, "of course I forgive you!"

And that was that. Almost. Max had almost forgotten something, but now he remembered.

"Oh, yeah, I have something for you. It's not much, but it was all I could afford. Sorry."

He then pulled the plastic ring out of his pocket. And Emmie couldn't have cared less that it was plastic.

"I love it!" She squealed. "Will you put it on me?"

Max did this, and it earned him a kiss on the cheek from Emmie, which he responded to with a hot blush.

"Aw, that's so sweet! I wish I had a boyfriend who would treat me like that!" Misty whispered dreamily from the bushes.

"What about–" Started Ash, but then he remembered that the subject of that guy Misty liked was probably taboo and clapped his mouth with his hand. Misty gave him a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

"Oh well." She thought. It was time for her to let go of her disappointment. "Easy come, easy go. But you'd better look out, Ash Ketchum, because one of these days, I'm gonna make you mine."

"We'd better leave now if we want to beat the midday sun." Brock said as he checked his watch.

He stood in front of his house between his family and his friends, getting ready to say good-bye.

"We'll miss you, Brock!" Cried his father, but no one laughed. It was understandable. Now that Brock was leaving again, he'd have to do all the chores and take care of all six of the kids.

"And I'll miss you, Max." Said Emmie. "Here, I want you to have this before you leave."

She handed Max her handkerchief which was pale pink, and embroidered with blue and purple Beautiflies.

He and Ash gazed at it, both bemused. Max because he didn't know what to say, and Ash because he was remembering a certain girl who had given him her handkerchief.

"It couldn't be? Could it? No, of course not. She has that other guy, whoever he is." So Ash brushed the thought off as quickly as it had entered his mind.

"Um, thank-you." Max said quickly.

"You'd better come back sometime!"

"I will, I promise!"

Emmie and Max embraced, and then Emmie gave Max another peck on the cheek, getting the same reaction as before. Parting was sad, but they smiled and waved through their tears as Max and his friends moved farther and farther away, until they could no longer see each other. After all, it wasn't good-bye forever.

And then another thought came to Max. "Ash never stopped thinking about Misty. He told me himself. It won't be any different with Emmie and me."

And he was right.

And so ends my Max/Emmie(or as someone on Serebii called it, Siblingshipping) arc. It turned out better than I had expected, although this chapter was a bit shorter than I would have liked. That thing with Misty getting confused about what Ash was talking about just came out of nowhere. Hope you enjoyed that part. And I hope you enjoyed this arc. For those who didn't, it's out of the way, so I can move on. Thanks to everyone for reading! I wasn't sure if this was uh, proper etiquette here, but other people do it, so from now on I'm giving out personal messages to each of my reviewers. Oh, and happy New Year!

lito-passion: I'm so relieved you thought that was good! I thought it wouldn't do so well as it detracts from the AaML parts some. So thanks!

Spazzfire: Yes, Ash is dense. Which is good, because it makes it easy to create lots of confusion in my fic. Oh, and you're welcome!

Chibi-Suiko: Oh, go on! You're going to give me an inflated ego! But I'm glad you think that I keep everyone in character. And that you thought I got enough drama, affection, and humor into chapter 6. Oh, and I already Pmed you on Serebii about that last item, which you well know.

Ghost: Thank-you for saying so! I'm glad you liked all the Max/Emmie stuff, and the part you mentioned about Misty almost telling Max about Ash. And I hope I can keep getting better too! For my sake, I mean.

Funkyafroman: Thank-you for the compliments! I appreciate your review. I'll keep trying to get better, so I hope you keep reading!

Vulpix4life: Thank-you for your review. I appreciate your continued support(I sound like a fundraiser on a public broadcasting station! But I mean it!)

Lightning-cloud: Hi! Good to see you here! Glad you liked chapter 6, and I will definately continue. Thanks for all the encouragement!

Zoe: Good, you thought it was cute. That's exactly what I was going for in this fic. I hope you keep reading, and thanks for your review!

Story Weaver1: Yeah, I thought they were a bit rushed too, but I didn't want to take too much time on them because I want to keep the focus on the AaML. I would have liked to work more with it though. But I'm glad you still thought it was cute. Thanks!

Notes:

1. Nori- Japanese name for dried seaweed. A common ingredient in Japanese and other Asian foods, and always used in sushi.