Title: Possibilities

Author: Chibi/Warlordess

Notes: Hey-lo, everyone! Below is the second part (or Chapter One) of "Possibilities", the sequel to "Closure"! I know some of you have really been looking forward to this, and those who are either just peeking in, or haven't given it a taste, please go read "Closure" before you advance any further into this chapter, because it'll probably make more sense then, okay? Also, I wanted to just give a little thanks to the reviewers from Part One, because your comments really have me all giddy inside. So bravo to you, for motivating Chibi to continue!

Summary: The sequel to "Closure". Ash has been going into insane anxiety rushes, all because that oh-so-common 'Two-and-Two' are finally coming together inside of his head... But is his plan just one big mistake after another..?

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I don't own Ash and Misty. I don't own Pikachu. I don't own the flashbacks (unless they're the ones from my last ficcie). Now can we please stop with the interrogation?

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Chapter One: A Day Out

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Ash sighed. He had needed a little bit of help... Not a shopping trip to the Market. But he should have seen it coming anyway, because, after all, he was asking his mom. His MOM... Was there something wrong with this picture? He held out his arms slightly, seeing how much they'd been ladled down with anonymous things that she'd asked him to carry.

And he STILL hadn't gotten to the topic he'd been waiting all week to discuss. After all, there was no higher figure to talk about girls to, rather than a girl, right? And his mom had been one for... How many years was it now? Well... Let's just say ever since she was born.

"Wow, Ash; isn't this just so adorable?" It was a blouse, and one that Ash didn't have a chance to see before it was strung over his head and she moved on to the next rack.

Blues, reds, yellows... The thought of the colors brought a memory to mind... Misty... Her bluish eyes, her bright red hair, her yellow shirt...

But this wasn't the time to think about his friend; he had more important things to attend to.

He watched as his mom removed two more tank tops (another thing that reminded him of Misty) from their hangers and, taking pity on him and his lack of freedom of movement thanks to the many things she'd hung overtop him, strung them over her own arm.

But then she moved towards the blue jeans shelves and pulled him along by an invisible leash and collar.

"C'mon, dear. I think I saw something nice over this way..." She was going to buy out the entire department store... The thought crossed his mind before he'd even given himself a chance to suppress it.

He sighed again; and they still had to go grocery shopping..!

"Hey, Mom... I wanted to talk to you about... Some things..." But his mom didn't seem to be listening to him; rather, she was trying to look at... "UGH! Mom, why didn't you tell me we were going into this part of the women's section?!" He turned away with a vibrantly-colored face, while his mom gave him a slightly skeptical glance that was mixed with thanks at her son's innocent personality.

"Honey, if you didn't want to come, than why did you offer yourself up for the day?" She had a slightly confused expression on her face, looking like the envision of blamelessness, while Ash turned half-red in aggravation.

...But he couldn't get mad at his mom, so...

"But I didn't, and I just wanted to have some time to talk to you, Mom! I mean, I've been away for so long..." He emphasized his point. He knew that, because of his mother's level of emotions, he could easily guilt her into it, "...And there are still plenty of places I have to go, so I thought this bit of time we have together could be put to good use." He added a desperate edge to it, in order to be sure he'd fully gotten her attention.

Her eyes were glowing with tears by the time he was finished speaking.

"Oh, my little Ashy..!" She flung herself on his shoulders and cried there, Ash forcing himself to keep up the facade for as long as he could before his mom was finally able to carry her own weight, and got up from her position, kneeling on his head, "Let's go have lunch together and talk about... About whatever you want!"

Of course, as they walked out of the store, they forgot that they were holding onto some currently non-purchased goods, and so the alarms went off, and security was called, and it took about another hour before everything was cleared up and they could go.

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Mrs. Ketchum (A/N: I'd call her 'Delia', but this just seems more natural to me.) sweatdropped as Ash carried a tray filled with cheese burgers, pizza, steak, and other clash-able foods to a table in the eatery. She didn't know what they could possibly talk about when Ash was so thoroughly ready to stuff his face, but then, he was her son, and he'd been known to complete such a miraculous task before, so...

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Dear?" For once, there seemed to be a topic that slowed his pace at the table, but it wasn't much. Perhaps he was trying to take a few seconds to find a way to best introduce the topic, or perhaps he just had a full mouth at the moment.

"Well, you remember how I had to stay with Misty for that week, awhile back?"

"Yes..." How could she forget? The time he'd been away longer than needed, she'd been worried so much for her little boy. She knew he was growing up, and that soon they'd be approaching those few years when he wouldn't want to be involved with her at all, those Teenager-Embarrassment years, but that was more of a reason to treasure their times together now... Right?

"Well, something happened at that time... And it changed our relationship a lot... And I'm worried that things will always be different now, and what I should do..." With every part of his statement, her eyes widened just a bit more. He was fifteen; he couldn't possibly be talking about that, could he?

"Oh, no... Ash, you didn't..." He gave her a hopeless, childish expression. He had. But he couldn't have--! She couldn't have been wrong before; her little boy was still... Her little boy, right?

"But, she told me... Misty told me that she loved me... And I didn't know how to react, and so..."

His mother's eyes darkened and blazed with a fury unseen before that moment. That young girl pushed her son into... She knew that Misty was a little violent, but how could she possibly trick Ash into doing that?!

Didn't parents talk to their children about these types of things anymore? How could they possibly be prevented with such uncaring elders out there in the world? And now, her poor Ash... Was it true that he was no longer as innocent as she thought?

"I-Ash, you can't possibly be telling me that you--"

"I'm sorry mom... I know it wasn't the best thing to do... But I was so confused. And so I did; I... I turned her down." The tears gathering at the edges of her eyes immediately vanished. Wait a minute... Were they even talking about the same thing here?

"Um... Repeat that again, Honey; please?"

"Okay, I guess... Misty told me she loved me... Or, well, I went snooping a bit, and found out that she did, and I was confused and she caught me and we had a talk about it and I didn't know what to do and so I turned her down..." He looked so ashamed of himself, but Mrs. Ketchum was on a whole nother level.

"Oh, Ash... I'm just so proud of you!" She grabbed him and held him close again.

Of all the reactions he was expecting, this had definitely not been one of them.

"...Huh..?!"

"I was so worried that you'd... That you'd..." She released him and made a certain motion with her body that made him go scarlet in the face, "...With her." She finished in a hushed whisper.

Ash started spluttering, "But, Mom--! Ew, no..! We're only fifteen years old! How could we possibly..?" The question was left unfinished.

"N-never mind, Sweetie... It was all a misunderstanding... So what's the big problem?"

"Well, after I turned her down... I dunno... I just know that it wasn't like I'd never feel the same way. Because I do like her; I know I do... But it's not love yet... At least, I don't think it is... But things between us are strange now, and I need your advice on what I should do..."

Funny. When he'd first thought about opening up to her like this, he hadn't expected it all to come tumbling out of his mouth, just like that.

"Well, Honey... You didn't exactly go the right way about it... Or... What did you say to her, exactly?" Ash struggled to remember his words from that day... He remembered... He knew what he'd said; he remembered it all...

-

"I dunno what I should say to you... I dunno what you want me to say to you... I know that it shouldn't matter anymore, that it never should have mattered, that you grew into feeling something different for me. But, somehow, I can't stop thinking that nothing can ever be the same between us again. I don't think we've been the same for a long time, Misty." Ash surprised her by speaking, but she remained silent, "I guess that I just haven't noticed anything 'till now. Still... I guess that there's nothing to be done. I'm sorry, though, too... Because I can't say that I feel the same way."

"Ash..." She should have known this was coming... But that didn't take the sting away from hearing the words being said to her, especially in his voice. She turned away from him, and then looked back, but there was still the same, defiant expression upon his face, and he didn't look back at her, preferring to glance in the opposite direction, "I guess that that's it, then--"

"--Hold on." Ash interrupted her, "I'm not done yet, Misty. I can't say that I feel the same way for you, as you do for me... But I can't say that I don't. I'm sorry, Misty, because I dunno how I feel anymore. I don't wanna hurt you, but I know that if I say that I... You know... And then later, it turns out that I don't... That maybe I feel... That... Way towards some other girl... I just know that I'd end up hurting you, anyway."

"Pika..." They both jumped this time, having forgotten that Pikachu was still there with them, "Pikachu pika kachu pi..?"

"No, Pikachu... Everything's not okay with us." Ash answered for them, "And I dunno if it'll ever be okay again... But I do know that if I ever realize during the times that we are, or are not, together, that I love Misty, I'm going to call her up and tell her that I wanna talk to her... And I'm going to treat her as if she's the most wonderful, beautiful, talented, and worthwhile person in the world, and that she deserves someone whose good enough to treat her like a queen. And hopefully, when that day comes, she'll tell me that she never stopped feeling for me the way she did... And, then, we'll both experience true happiness." Ash smiled at her, and looked at her for the first time, and this time their eyes met.

-

He relayed his message to his mother, who seemed to be nearing tears again, but was trying with all of her might to hold back.

"Oh, Ash... I just knew that one day, the two of you would come together like this... I'm so glad that you've finally--" He interrupted her.

"But, Mom, I'm not together with her! We-we're still just friends..!" Somehow, that thought was somehow inaccurate. But they were still friends; just friends... Now-and-forever... Friends..? "But it's really hard to talk to her, and I want to keep up a relationship with her, but I don't want to end up hurting her like I did that time. I want things to be the same as before... I think..."

"Well, Sweetie... If you ask me, I'd say that you are in love with her. And so, the only way you're hurting her, is by not telling her how you really feel." It was a simple answer, and complete, but somehow it just didn't seem to be the one he was looking for.

He stopped for a moment, taking another bite out of his meal. Fast food. Not home-made, like Misty tried so hard to do for him. Food that was made in a publicly manufactured kitchen, where about twelve other meals for other strangers were being made at the same time. Fast food. Not made-by-Misty-especially-for-him food.

"Mom, would you really... Would you really be okay, if she and I got together? I mean, you know, in the future... You wouldn't feel neglected, or alone, or frightened, or angry..?"

"I might." They looked at each other, and Ash opened his mouth to reply, but she didn't let him before she continued, "But that's what mother's do for their children; they sacrifice. And if Misty is what would make you happy, then I guess it's not really my place to interfere. After all, my want to see you smile everyday is more powerful than my want to be the one that makes you smile."

"I... Mom..." He knew that it was one of those touchy-feely, mother-child moments, and he knew that he should probably be starting to feel embarrassed, but, somehow, it just wasn't in him. There was an overwhelming amount of thanks, and a realization. Because Ash had never known before that very moment exactly how much resolve it took for his mother to watch calmly as he walked over the hills of Pallet, towards Viridian Forest, for the first time, "I'm sorry that I'm asking all of these things, and for how oblivious I've been... I guess I was just... Too young, and naive to notice..."

"Don't worry, Ash. If I'd wanted you to know, I'd have made more of a problem out of it; or made it look more obvious." They gave each other a small grin, and continued to eat.

After they'd finished, Ash rushed both of their trays to the trash can closest to them, and returned to his mom's side, grabbing up some of the bags laying on the extra chair at their table.

"Can we hurry up a bit, though? Cause I've got a phone call to make." Mrs. Ketchum knew very well who it was that he wanted to call, and she smiled at him again, letting him lead the way.

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Notes: Well, that's all for now! Not much Pokeshipping, accept for the conversation, and the hinting, but, for those of you who are strong in your beliefs' towards the parent-child relationship, there's something for you to enjoy (hopefully)!

Anyway, thanks for reading... And REVIEW!