Adopted Love
,,*/ Adopted Love \*,,
,,*/ Part 3 ~ Sudden Squall \*,,
,,*/ By Seabeast \*,,
,,*/ AL \*,,
Misty smiled up into the face of the warm, soothing sun as the cool ocean spray washed over her feet, tickling her toes for a moment or two before rushing back down the beach to join the rest of the water flooding the small bay. She hooked her arms up behind her head and grinned like an idiot as a cool breeze wafted across her face, riffling through her hair and tugging her clothes pleasantly in its wake. She could scarcely remember the last time she had even seen the ocean, let alone stand in it, and the feeling was very . . . satisfying.
The serenity of the moment was abruptly broken, however, when Ash leapt spectacularly from a sheer cliff forming one side of the relatively tiny Cliff-Hop Bay with a cry of "COWABUNGA!"
Misty shielded her eyes against the inevitable rain of water that followed his little stunt, then reveled in the feeling of the wave accompanying his jump as it washed over her shins, barely lapping at her knees. She hadn't been able to bring herself to actually get in the water, unlike Ash, and was pleasantly surprised by how cold it actually was in comparison to the summer's heat.
Ash resurfaced quickly about ten yards out into the water, flinging back his messy black hair and then turning to grin at Misty, squinting in the bright sunlight. "Come on, Misty!" he called, waving. "It's a hundred percent safe, I promise! I've been doing it since I was three!"
Misty was still hesitant. Ash must have seen it, because instead of waiting for a reply he did a quick dolphin-dive under the water, disappearing from view for a moment before reappearing just a couple yards away from Misty. He floated lazily over to her on his back, his hands behind his head comfortably, and frowned when he was forced to stop as his shoulders brushed up against the pearly, almost white sand of the beach. He settled in quickly, however, simply allowing the soft, rolling waves to nudge him up the beach a bit, then pull him down again in a soothing, never-ending cycle. He closed his eyes contentedly and sighed, Misty watching him from the corner of her eye as she stared out at the open ocean beyond him. He was only wearing a pair of black swimming trunks with a yellow stripe down the side that reached to his knees, as opposed to Misty's blue jean shorts and faded yellow tank top. He had looked at her funny when they left the house earlier that morning, but hadn't said anything about her choice of clothes. Misty was regretting her decision now, however. She hadn't known it would get this hot this far south, and the sparkling ocean water was looking very inviting right now . . .
"Ah, Cliff-Hop Bay," Ash sighed pleasantly, wiggling his toes in the water. "Best swimming hole in the area, and my mom owns it."
"Why's it called Cliff-Hop Bay?" asked Misty curiously, digging her toes into the soothing wet sand as she looked down at Ash's still-reclined form.
"I dunno," he shrugged. "Mom says it's 'cause when I was little I used to love to jump off of the cliff and all I could say was 'cliff-hop' and all I ever wanted to do was go 'cliff-hopping,' but I dunno."
"Mmm," was all Misty said as she returned to staring absently at the horizon, amused by a small flock of seagulls dipping and diving a half-mile or so off-shore. Hey eyes now fixed on the seagulls, she followed one as it rode a powerful thermal pocket up, up, up into the clear sky—or the almost clear sky. Misty's slightly damp brows knitted when she noticed the dark, looming clouds rolling in from the south. They were still a good few miles away, but they stretched away to beyond the end of her vision, casting dark, murky shadows down on the rolling waves below them. Misty shivered, absently fingering the solitary Pokéball hanging on a thin silver chain attached to a belt loop on her side. She wasn't a country-girl, but even she could recognize a bad storm when she saw one.
"How long do you think it'll take for that to get here?" she asked aloud, unsure of how fast and constant the winds were in the Plains. Up in Cerulean the mountains and cliffs had a serious impact on any winds coming in from the north-west, but down here she wasn't so sure.
Ash peeked open one eye lazily, following her gaze to the south, and then sat up in the water completely, water dripping unnoticed from his sopping hair as he uttered a very inappropriate phrase.
"Ash!"
"Well for Mew's sake, why did a storm have to show up today? It's gonna be huge, too; look, you can tell by the way the waves follow it, and if you look really closely you can kinda see some lightening way off in the distance." He pushed himself up suddenly, and shook himself a little bit to dislodge some water. "Come on," he said, motioning with his hand as he stepped out of the water. "We'd better get home soon; you don't wanna be stuck out here in the middle of that, believe me. And it'll be here pretty soon, too, in this wind."
Misty reluctantly followed him out of the water's strong grasp and trudged back up the slightly-sloping beach behind him. They had abandoned their shoes at the grass's edge, and the hot sand was sticking to the bottom of Misty's feet, tickling them pleasantly and scorching them at the same time. She brushed the feeling away, however, when they reached the end of the sand. Ash shrugged his shirt back on, seemingly indifferent to the way it stuck to his back from the water, and grabbed his shoes, so Misty did the same. It was only a five minute walk or so back to Ash's house, up a grassy hill and through a short patch of trees. She could don her shoes after the grass brushed away most of the sand.
"So . . ." Ash trailed off thoughtfully. Misty realized he was trying to make small talk and racked her brain for something to say.
"Are you and your mom the only ones who go down there?" she asked. Ash shrugged.
"Sorta. Some guys from school like to swim down there every once in a while too, and there's a spot around one of the cliffs that's ideal for docking boats, if you want to hide something. They like to go fishing in Professor Oak's yacht and hide their spoils down there, in a small cliff next to the rock they dock their boat at."
"Don't you go with them?" asked Misty curiously. She hadn't missed the 'they's instead of the 'we's.
"I used to. But lately Gary—that's Professor Oak's grandson—he . . ." He sighed heavily, shaking his head. Misty frowned.
"He what?" she pressed softly.
"I dunno, he's just been such a jerk lately, you know? I dunno." He ran a hand through his dripping hair and sighed again. "Gary has a way with people," he explained. "If he doesn't like you, nobody does. Ritchie and Todd can still be okay sometimes, but it's no fun when you're constantly at odds with Gary. Have you ever had a friend like that?"
Misty hesitated. "No," she wanted to say, "because I've never really had any friends," but she couldn't tell him that, not when she was so close to making her first one!
They were almost to the woods when Ash suddenly stopped walking. Misty stopped a foot or two ahead and looked back to see him shielding his eyes with one hand as he squinted up the hill. "Oh, no," he muttered.
"What?" Misty followed his eyes to the tree line and saw a couple boys stepping over a dead log as they exchanged the shadows of the woods for the warmth of the midday sun on the open grass. They didn't look like they had seen them yet, rather they seemed to be laughing about something and shoving each other playfully.
"Who are they?" Misty asked, turning back to Ash.
"Looks like Damien and—oh, God, Gary."
Misty's own emotions surprised her. She found herself feeling much more eager to meet these people, of whom Ash was obviously familiar with, than she had when meeting Ash himself. Ash, however, didn't look nearly so pleased. He seemed to be looking for a way to sneak away from the group without notice, but just then a shout rang out from the direction of the boys.
They'd been seen. One of them was waving, the other was still laughing at something. Misty turned back to Ash, but he was too busy pulling his shoes on to notice.
It didn't take long for the boys to reach them. One was taller than the other, with light brown hair that flipped up from back to front, lightened a bit from the sun. He had an empty burlap sack slung carelessly over one shoulder, his free hand absently fiddling with a green and gold yin-yang necklace. Misty guessed by the glares Ash was shooting him and the smug look on his face that he was Gary. As for his companion, however, Misty had no idea. She didn't think it was one of the two boys Ash had mentioned earlier though, as he was crossing his arms and grinning almost evilly.
"Hey, Ash," greeted Gary loftily. He was eying Misty, and she wasn't feeling very comfortable anymore. For some reason she felt vulnerable with her shoes in her hand instead of on her feet.
"Who's the girl?" the second boy asked, betraying his Australian origins. Misty was surprised to hear an accent. She opened her mouth to reply, but Ash got there first.
"Her name's Misty," he said defiantly, as if challenging them to some kind of duel. He stepped a little in front of Misty and took on an almost defensive stance. Misty felt a flicker of anger at this. She may be shy, yes, but they were just boys. She could take care of herself. After all, what were they going to do, taunt her?
Apparently, yes.
"Misty what?" the Australian one smirked. Again, Ash answered before Misty could, and again, Misty felt a flicker of anger, this one a bit more powerful than the first.
"Waterflower," said Ash proudly, crossing his arms. "The Leader of Cerulean's Gym. You know, Damien; the one you had to challenge three times before you earned a Badge, and even then your last Pokémon fainted right after."
Damien's smirk wavered a little before flipping over into a downright scowl, and then Gary stepped forward.
"Well, Ash," he said in his lofty voice, "I seem to remember sweeping the floor with the Sensational Sisters' Pokémon." His mahogany eyes narrowed at Misty. "But I don't, however, seem to remember you."
"Wait a tick," said Damien suddenly. "I do now. You're not one of the Sensational Sisters; you're the runt!"
The boys erupted into uncontrollable laughter. Misty felt the heat rise in her face, and hugged her shoes more tightly to her breast, oblivious to the sand still clinging to them. It didn't matter where she went, someone would always know who she was—or, more accurately, who she wasn't. Even if I go to Johto, she mused, someone there will still recognize me, and I'll still be second-best. Or fourth, she corrected herself, because she knew what the boys said was true. She was a runt, and always would be. Just then, to her shame, she felt her eyes water. Not here, not now, not in front of Ash! she told herself, but it was no use. Damnit, this wasn't fair!
She tried to cover the tears up with a glare, but Ash noticed anyway, and turned to his ex-friends with a renewed hate. He wasn't stupid. They knew Misty was his friend, and that's why they were targeting her; because they also knew that he would automatically defend her, which would give them another excuse for the fight they always seemed to want, which would tip the odds in their favor, because of course Misty wouldn't fight, and of course he would lose two-to-one. If they had passed her in the street, however, they probably would have hit on her or something equally Gary-like, which made him even angrier because he knew they knew he knew her embarrassment would be his fault, because they wouldn't have picked on her if he hadn't happened to be there.
And such were Ash's thoughts at that moment, but, confusing as they were, he knew what he would do.
"I do remember you now!" Gary managed to gasp between fits of laughter. "You were in the back, sweeping the halls while I Battled your sisters!"
"What's the matter," sneered Damien, "the Gym cleaner take the day off? Or do you just automatically do his work? Because everyone knows your sisters are prettier, maybe it is best that you just hide out in the back. Otherwise you'll only make yourself look worse, compared to them!"
It wasn't the worst insult Misty had ever received, and it certainly wasn't structured in the most offending grammar she's ever heard, but for some reason it certainly hit home. She felt a sob rising in her chest, and only just managed to suppress it. This was so unlike her, though, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Walk away, she supposed, but she'd look very stupid walking to Ash's house without Ash. The boys' laughter continued, speckled sporadically with jaunts and insults aimed at her and, occasionally, her 'relationship' with Ash. The increasing wind tossed some damp orange hair across her face, but she refused to loosen her vice-like grip on her shoes even just to brush it away. Another sob rose, but she shoved it angrily away. She hated crying in public, or at any time for that matter, and she wanted to kick herself for doing it now, but that only made her embarrassment worse, and worse still when her vision finally blurred over completely with tears.
"I reckon I would choose Ash too though, if I were you," Damien was saying.
"Yeah," said Gary, picking up on his trail of thought, "I mean, anyone in your position would be really desperate—OOF!"
Through her blurred vision, Misty saw Ash suddenly launch himself viscously at Gary, and together the two of them tumbled to the ground, the burlap sack flying from Gary's hands to land a few feet away, swaying this way and that with the grass in the storm's increasingly turbulent winds. As if on cue, thunder suddenly rolled from behind them, but no one took any notice. With Ash's opening attack, Damien had rushed over to pull the two apart, but instead of holding the furious fighters at bay he shoved Ash back to the ground and leaped on him himself, Gary only a few seconds behind. The three went rolling down the hill for a moment, but it wasn't long before the odds caught up to Ash and the two had him pinned to the ground, each taking turns hitting him and grabbing a limb that had only just managed to squirm out of their grasp.
Misty, only recently acquainted with the feuding citizens of Pallet, had no idea that this particular fight had been brewing for months, nor did she know that of all of the guys in Ash's circle, he hated these two the most. She was also oblivious to the fact that, had she not been there, this fight would probably have happened anyway, and that Gary and Damien had set off down to the beach with exactly that purpose, using the burlap bag merely as a diversionary precaution incase they were spotted by adults. All she knew was that Ash was losing an actual hit-to-hurt fist-fight, and that, apparently, it had started over her, and that he was . . . he was defending her. Well, she didn't need a guy to defend her; she was perfectly capable of performing that duty herself, though she was a little honored. Dropping her shoes, she wiped away her tears with the back of her arm and sniffed away any other hurt feelings brewing inside her as she allowed herself to feel the anger that had sparked earlier instead. Then she too rushed into the fray.
By this time Gary had Ash pinned beneath him, his arms made immobile by Gary's legs and his legs made immobile by Damien's weight, so he couldn't knee Gary in the back. Gary, meanwhile, was enjoying his triumph as Ash struggled vainly beneath him. Another boom of thunder chose that time to split the sky as it appropriately began to rain. Hard.
Gary was smiling, despite the puffy imprint of Ash's knuckles on his cheekbone. "How do you like it now, Ash?" he called over the storm. "No fucking Pikachu to save your ass this time, eh? Whack him again, Damien." Damien did so, Gary sitting up for a moment so Damien could reach his stomach. Ash tried to double over in pain as he struggled for breath, the wind knocked out of him, but Gary and Damien prevented that, laughing at his helplessness. And that's when Misty struck.
Damien, his concentration fully on Ash's agony, hadn't expected anything from behind, so Misty managed to pull him from Ash quite easily, with only a surprised yelp in return. She was reluctant to hit, though, aware that this was her first fight and that she was living with someone temporarily, out of the goodness of their heart, but she was also aware that her host's son was currently being pummeled by two bullies. So as a compromise she tugged Damien from Ash's legs and shoved him roughly down and away from Ash so he slid a bit down the now sopping hill, then turned to grab Gary, but Ash had gotten there first.
As soon as he felt Damien's weight lifted from his legs, he seized the opportunity to knee Gary hard between his shoulder blades, gathering up all his strength into that one blow so that Gary, surprised, toppled over. Ash levered his feet under him and, before Gary could react to this unexpected assault, kicked him off—and right into Misty. She threw her arms out to catch him automatically, stumbled backwards under his weight, and dropped him roughly at her feet, where he immediately grabbed her shins and tugged her down next to him. All thoughts of holding back gone now, shoved out by Gary's obviously unrestrained punches, the two tumbled down the slick hill, neither able to gain a solid hold on the other due to the pouring rain and both oblivious to it.
With Gary gone, Ash rolled to his side and curled up for a moment, still struggling to get his wind back and perfectly unaware that he had tossed Gary into Misty and that the two were now locked in what was seemingly a fight to the death. But he did remember Damien, so he struggled to his feet but only managed to get to his knees before Damien kicked him, sending him right back down again, still struggling for breath as the blades of grass beneath him seemed to swirl in and out of focus. The sky was now a dull grey, and Ash turned his gaze up to see Damien's looming frame towering above him as he fiddled with something at his belt, his legs just within reach . . .
In a swift, unexpected maneuver, Ash swept his feet across Damien's shins and kicked him away when he fell. Then he forced himself to his feet, blinking in a brilliant flash of lightening. He turned to look down at Damien, but came face-to-face with a growling Fearow instead as he simultaneously realized that that flash had not been lightening at all . . .
Further down the hill, Gary had just managed to shove Misty down and hold her arms, but was unaware that she had the leverage to snake her knees between them and shove him away enough to finally kick him, much like Ash had done. He fell over backwards and kicked out at her in return, catching her on her thigh before turning and scrambling back up the hill towards Damien and his Pokémon, who had a frightened Ash staring down his Fearow's beak, Ash's nose not even an inch away from the seven-foot bird. Ash's first-day-as-a-Trainer story was notorious throughout Pallet Town, as was his fear of Fearow, after one had chased him all the way from Pallet's edge to Rhapsody Falls, where his stubborn Pikachu had finally twisted the thunderstorm around to perform Thunder on the enraged Pokémon. Both were laughing as Ash visibly trembled, the rain running in streaks down his face and mixing with a bit of blood from his nose and an ear before dripping down to the ground. He was frozen in fear in a crouched position, unable to move, and Gary and Damien were enjoying it.
No one expected the ear-splitting roar that erupted behind the sneering boys, loud enough to make the trees in the distance shiver and the sand on the beach quake. Gary and Damien leaped at least two feet in the air and spun around, then backed up to Damien's Fearow and trembled as Misty's eight-foot Feraligatr took a menacing step towards them, his scaly back arched so that his long snout was even with their eyes, his mouth slightly open to reveal row upon row of long, glistening white teeth while the rain bounded endlessly from his thick, water-resistant hide. Now it was their turn to be frozen in fear.
Ash had tumbled backwards with the roar as well, and the Fearow had seized that chance to pin him to the earth with one taloned foot, where he now stared up at the bird in terror, all thoughts swept from his head at his current state. Misty didn't know why he was so afraid of what she thought of as a normal Pokémon, if he was a Trainer, but she didn't hesitate to release him as she stepped up behind her own Pokémon, her arms crossed and the Pokéball that had been hanging at her belt loop now rolling back and forth across her palm. She glared hard at Gary and Damien, Damien especially, and stepped up close to Feraligatr's side so that there could be no mistake as to who was afraid of who.
"Call it off," she said loudly, struggling to control her ragged breathing. Neither of the boys moved. "Now!" she yelled, and they jumped, not at her voice but at the way Feraligatr's angry golden eyes had narrowed as he blew a stream of haggard air from his nostrils. Immediately Damien pointed his Pokéball at the Fearow, who vanished in an instant. Ash lay very still where he was for a moment, his eyes unblinking and unfocused as he stared up into the rain. Then, slowly, his gaze fell on Misty, who was watching him in concern. He blinked and his immobility seemed to vanish. Shoving himself to his feet, he joined Misty and her Feraligatr to glare angrily at their opponents.
"You okay?" Misty asked him, tearing her gaze away from her frightened prey to meet Ash's eyes. He nodded and wiped a bit of blood and rain from his forehead, then ran his finger gently over a cut running through Misty's eyebrow. She couldn't stop herself from wincing at the sting.
"You're hurt," he said simply.
"I'm fine," she replied, then turned back to Gary and Damien. They were obviously waiting for her instructions, as Feraligatr was keeping them in their place with low, pulsing growls. Misty, however, had no idea what she was supposed to do now that the fight was over. She wasn't going to attack them, obviously, but they didn't have to know that.
Ash realized why she was hesitating and stepped forward, laying a confident hand on Feraligatr's scaled neck to give them the impression that he had known about Misty's powerful, fully-Evolved Pokémon all along. "Get out of here," he panted, still winded from his bout earlier. Gary and Damien wasted no time in turning and sprinting up the hill, angling left so that they wouldn't have to cross Ash's yard in order to get to the street. Ash and Misty watched them go for a moment, Ash in a sort of dazed spell that he didn't snap out of until Misty's Feraligatr dematerialized beneath his hand. He looked over to see her clipping a Pokéball to her belt loop by means of a thin silver chain, barely visible in the rain. Her eyes were down, occupied with her task, so she didn't notice his admiring gaze.
She couldn't look down forever, though, and after a moment of struggle she looked up to meet his eyes, the Pokéball now firmly secured to her waist. He didn't look away though, and she blushed under his stare.
"What?" she asked, as if nothing had happened.
"You . . . you fought with me," said Ash hesitantly, though he had no idea why. What should he be hesitant about?
"So?" she asked, obviously unaware that her take in the battle was unexpected. Why shouldn't she fight with him, if they had been making fun of her and he was fighting for her in the first place? Wouldn't it be considered cowardly to do anything less?
Ash just shook his head in amazement, running a hand through his dripping black hair. "I knew a girl once, that I was helping to Train, when Gary and some other idiots started a stupid fight with me, and she just stood around and watched while I tried to fend off at least four guys by myself. I dunno if she was stupid or what—maybe you're just smart, I dunno—but she just stood there, while the other guys pinned me down and everything, like some sort of idiot—"
"Wait," Misty interrupted, "you mean this has happened before?"
"Well, yeah—"
"Like how many times before?" Misty demanded, and Ash could tell by her tone that she wouldn't settle for anything less than the truth. She watched him as he mentally counted, his fingers ticking off the numbers, before he looked at her again.
"Um, I think this is the seventh one, but Mom only knows about two, not including this one, and I'd appreciate it if she didn't know any more—"
"Seven?" Misty was astounded. "This has happened seven times before?"
"Well, actually, it's six before, seven now—" Ash corrected, but Misty wasn't finished.
"Haven't you ever told anyone?" she demanded. Ash was confused.
"Why?" he asked. "What would they do about it? It's just a stupid fight, nothing to alert the media over. I mean, a black eye'll heal in a week or so, and cuts aren't so bad, and bruises can be covered up till they're gone, but . . . what?"
Misty was shaking her head in astonishment, and it was then that Ash realized why. This was her first fight—her absolutely first fight. She'd never quarreled with anyone back in Cerulean, or if she had it hadn't been physically violent. This was her first fist-fight—and she did good! Without her, Ash might have been bed-ridden for two days, at least!
Misty couldn't understand why he was suddenly grinning like an idiot, unless an idiot was what he really was. But his gaze drifted upward then, suddenly aware of the rain spilling down from above, and he came up to grab her arm with surprising gentleness and coax her up the hill.
"Come on," he said simply, "We have to get home before Mom freaks and calls the cops or something. It's bad enough we're out in a storm, but we can't even clean ourselves up a bit . . ." He glanced down at his shirt as they walked, and peeled a bloodstained spot away from his chest, sighing in false disgust. "Just look at this. Ruined. Not even Mimey can get that out now. And it was such a nice shirt too . . . " He sighed again, and shook his head, and Misty laughed and he joined her as the two straggled up the hill, only one aware of the horrible, hospital-like treatment awaiting them at home, though he wasn't about to spoil Misty's good mood with that information.
,,*/ AL \*,,
A few hours later found Ash and Misty holed up in Ash's room, Misty in the top bunk, Ash in the lower, and his PokéGear strewn about the floor. Delia had fretted and worried over them since they walked in the door, covered in rain and mud and blood, and now they were enjoying their first true break from her 'care'. She was busy downstairs, attempting to scrub the filth from their clothes before it truly set in and stained, and now the entire house smelled of Clorox and Oxy-Clean, mixed with a tangy scent from the storm still raging outside. Ash and Misty didn't mind, though. After a shower, each of them had donned some comfy laze-around clothes and gone to bed, though it wasn't even nightfall yet. Delia had insisted, though, so they didn't argue, nor did they argue when she cleared the top bunk for Misty, so that she wouldn't have to keep switching rooms to bandage them and so forth, though they felt they really didn't need the extra treatment. It gave each of them company, at least.
"Can you really make the cords stretch all the way up here?" Misty asked doubtfully, laying comfortably on her side at the edge of the bunk and staring at the PlayStation controllers some ten feet across the room.
"Yeah, if I wanna," Ash replied lazily. He was stretched out across his entire bed, lying on his back with his arms behind his head. Only one was a little bit sore, but not too much, and he still had almost complete movement in it so he wasn't worried. It didn't hurt stretched out like this, at least, though his right eye was swollen almost shut and stained a deep purplish-blue from the beginnings of a black eye.
"Really? What games do you have besides Crash Bash?"
Ash thought for a moment. "Um, every Final Fantasy, dotHack Infection and Mutation, all the regular Crashes, a few Spyro, Kingdom Hearts, Mortal Kombat, Dynasty Warriors Three, Four, and the remix to Three, and um . . . I forget what else. A lot, I know. Pikachu likes the RPG stories a lot, but I have to play for her because she can't reach L2 and X at the same time so she misses stuff. Or so she says. Granted, you don't really need to hit L2 and X in an RPG, but I've learned not to argue with her."
"Mmm." Misty was only half paying attention, her mind on the events that had taken place only a few short hours ago. She couldn't believe she had actually gotten in a fight—and on her first day out of Cerulean, too! She had only wanted to go down to the beach for an hour or two, maybe give Feraligatr a swim, and instead she and Ash had—
Her eyes widened suddenly as she realized something. Ash, preoccupied with naming off all of the annoying characters he and Pikachu had encountered, stopped mid-sentence when he noticed her. "What?" he asked, concerned.
"My shoes! I completely forgot about them!"
"Oh, is that all?" Ash chuckled. "I thought you were in sudden pain or something."
"What do you mean, 'is that all?' Won't your mom be furious?" She knew her sisters would be if she had wandered off somewhere and come home shoe-less.
"Because you forgot your shoes?" Ash asked, tilting his head to stare at her sideways. "Of course not. We can just go get them tomorrow."
Misty fiddled with the edge of the blanket she was lying on, her eyes down. "Are you sure?" she wanted to know. "I mean, she seemed really flustered when we got home, and she keeps coming in here and stuff to check on us . . . "
Ash watched her curiously for a moment, clueless as to why she was so worried. Of course his mother wouldn't be mad over a pair of shoes: even if they had gotten blown away in the storm they could always just buy a new pair. Misty probably wouldn't even have to use her own money: Ash knew his mother would be more than happy to supply her with what she deemed 'necessities.' Unless she thought she . . .
A piece finally clicked into place.
"Are you worried she's going to kick you out or something?" he blurted. She snapped her head up to look at him. "I'm right, aren't I?" he continued. Then he laughed suddenly, and Misty's brows knitted in utter confusion. "Well," he said, "you can stop worrying. Mom wouldn't kick you out of here if you assassinated the Dhali Llama, I swear. She's got this disorder or something that makes her way to hospitable."
"Are you sure?" Misty asked hesitantly, though she was relieved a little by Ash's words. "I mean, what if she thinks of me as some kind of hooligan now, after that fight?"
"She won't," said Ash in such a confident tone that Misty had to believe him. She sighed in relief as he continued. "You see, the thing about my mom is that she loves everyone, no matter who they are. I mean, take Gary for example: he's like the biggest jerk on the planet, but since he's Professor Oak's grandson she loves him to death. And she's loved you since I gave her the message that you called; she's under the impression that you had this horrific lifestyle at home and now thinks of herself as your savior or something. I think it's some sort of image thing."
Misty laughed and Ash smiled, but it faded away as he thought about something that he had wondered about since that phone call the other night. "Misty," he said slowly, his eyes on his toes, "can I ask you a serious question?"
"Go ahead."
"Would your sisters have gotten mad at you if you came back the way you did? I mean really angry mad, not mad because you could have gotten hurt."
Misty's answer came almost immediately, startling Ash. He didn't know what he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn't what he heard.
"Yeah, they would have been furious," she said calmly, returning to fiddling with the sheets. "They would probably think I ruined their image by getting in a street fight or something. That's all they're about, is image. If I do something to make them look bad they get angry because I've ruined their perfect image, but if I hang around in the background they get angry because I'm not pulling my own weight in keeping the house and Gym clean. It's a never-ending cycle."
Ash was silent for a few minutes, mulling over what she said as he listened to the rain beat on his window and the wind knock the tree in the backyard up against the house. Misty wasn't sure why she had said all of that—she had meant to say only the first sentence or so—but Ash was so easy to talk to that it had just spilled out. And for some reason she didn't feel embarrassed at all—and these were things that had made her blush scarlet when she told them to Jenny! Why was talking to Ash so different?
"Man, it must have been really bad there," said Ash quietly, his eyes still down on the lumps of his feet under the covers. Misty nodded, but he saw her from the corner of his eye. "And how long have you . . . you know, lived with them instead of your parents?"
"Seven years," Misty replied, equally quiet. "My parents died in a shipwreck when I was nine."
"Both of them?" Ash asked, startled.
"Yeah, they . . . they never found the bodies, or the ship for that matter. Just some broken driftwood a few miles off-course from where they were supposed to be. They say it was a storm, but . . ."
"You have your doubts?" Ash finished for her, meeting her eyes. He looked away again just as quickly. "Yeah, my dad died when I was seven. The police say it was an accident, but I don't think so. I mean, how does the Pokémon Master die in a public Battle, in the middle of Indigo Stadium? It's just not right . . ."
Misty wisely kept her mouth shut at his words, since she knew she shouldn't know what Jenny had told her. She wanted to agree with him though, to make him feel better by saying that she believed his father's death was deliberate as well, but as soon as she thought it she wondered why she had thought it at all, and returned to her own musings. Was Cypress's death deliberate? It certainly seemed so. But then, why hadn't the police investigated it any further?
"That's about the time Gary went nuts," Ash continued, unaware that Misty had spaced out for a moment. "His dad was one of the Trainers killed trying to restrain the Rhydon, and his mom died soon after, apparently from grief. I think he blames their deaths on me, since my dad's not around to point the finger at, but I can never get anything out of him. We grew up together as the best of friends, you know, till they died. We used to do everything together. He wasn't a bad guy, really, not at first . . ."
Ash, who seemed to be unaware that he had been speaking, stopped as his thoughts were overcome with memories of his years with Gary before the accident that had all but ruined both their lives. Misty was silent for a moment as well.
"Is that why you became a Trainer?" she asked suddenly. Ash looked up at her.
"Huh? Oh . . . no, not really. I've always wanted to Train. Pikachu was my first Pokémon; Dad gave her to me as a Pichu a few months before he died."
"Where is she?" Misty questioned him, shifting around on her bunk. She wanted to get his mind off his morbid memories. Ash waved a hand absently before replacing it behind his head.
"Oh, around," he sighed. "She likes to disappear for a while sometimes. She usually comes back in a day or two. She only left yesterday morning."
"Where does she go?" Misty was truly interested. She had never heard of someone allowing their Pokémon totally free rain before, at least not when the Pokémon had come back.
"The woods, the coast, the forest . . . anywhere she can fit, really. You wouldn't believe the amount of burs and fleas she can pick up."
"But will she be okay out in this storm?" Misty asked, gesticulating at the rain-lashed window. Ash shrugged.
"Sure, she's been out in worse. We both have, actually. But tell me about your Feraligatr!" he said, suddenly excited. "I've never seen one that big before! Where'd you get it? What Level was it at? What Level is it at now?"
Misty laughed at the way his manner seemed to change at the mere mention of Pokémon. Apparently her divisionary tactics had worked. "He was a gift from my parents too, before they got on that ship to France. He was still an egg way back then, though. I've done everything I can to make him as strong as he can possibly be." Ash grinned at her, and she smiled back.
"Me too," he said. "With Pikachu, I mean. Seems we both have family heirlooms, sorta, huh?" Misty laughed.
"Yeah, I guess we do," she said, her chest light. "But if your Pikachu's so powerful, and Electricity's strong against Flying, why were you so scared of that Fearow earlier?" Misty was surprised when Ash burst out in laughter at her question. She had taken a risk in spoiling his mood when she asked it, but apparently that wasn't the case at all.
"Was I scared?" Ash asked, looking up at Misty. She was smiling too; his good mood seemed to be contagious.
"You froze up completely!" she giggled.
"Yeah, I guess I would have, wouldn't I?" he sighed. He laughed again at the confused look on Misty's face, then recounted the events of his first official day as a Trainer. She found the entire tale highly entertaining.
"So you almost fell off the waterfall?" she asked, laughing. He grinned and nodded at her, then they both jumped as an enormous boom of thunder split the sky and the lights went out for a moment before flickering back to life.
"You two okay up there?" they heard Delia call from the bottom of the stairs.
"Fine!" they called back together, then burst into another fit of laughter for no apparent reason at all.
"Ash, are those lights still on in there?" Delia called again, and the duo could hear her start up the stairs. Ash quickly rolled out of bed, flicked the light off, and crawled back in as soon as his mother appeared in the doorway.
"No," he said meekly, covering himself up with the blanket.
"Hmm," Delia said simply. It looked like she was eyeing him funny, but neither of them could see her face in the dark. "Well, get to sleep now and no more talking, all right? It's almost eleven o'clock and you need your rest. Goodnight, you two."
"Goodnight, Delia."
"G'night, Mom."
She left, closing the door behind her, and Ash yawned loudly. "You tired?" he asked, staring up at the huge black space where Misty was. She yawned too.
"Yeah." Now that she thought about it, she was pretty exhausted.
"Me too. G'night, Misty."
"Goodnight."
Misty rolled over to face the wall and closed her eyes, sleep bearing down on her instantly. She hadn't been this tired a moment ago, but she supposed she should have been, what with the fight and getting up early to help Delia help her unpack and everything else she had done today. She reminisced for a few minutes before her thoughts drifted unintentionally back to Ash, though she was too incoherent by that time to really notice.
She had only met him yesterday, but for some reason she felt as if she had known him for years. It was an odd feeling, but a pleasant one, and she went to sleep completely content that night for perhaps the first night since her parents had been alive, aware that she had made a very good friend, one that she could trust with her true thoughts and feelings and not have to hide anything from, because he would understand. What she wasn't aware of, however, was that Ash was thinking the very same thing on the bed below her, smiling subconsciously. Yes, they had each made a very good friend indeed.
,,*/ AL \*,,
,,*/ Part 3 ~ Sudden Squall \*,,
,,*/ By Seabeast \*,,
DISCLAIMER: Why on earth do I bother with this stupid thing?
WARNING: Contains exactly two curse words, I believe. And a fight. Be warned. O.O
AUTHOR'S NOTE: OUCH! This stupid keyboard tray keeps sliding out and WHACKING me! Evilness . . .
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmm, I appear not to have been very talkative up there. And I ended this very sappily. Anywho, sorry for how long this chapter took, but I have completely run out of ideas, so if you, the reader, would like to get involved . . . E-MAIL ME WITH SUGGESTIONS! Yay, e-mails! ^^ Er, yeah, do that or write something in a Review, which is good too. Actually, I'd say it's even better, 'cause then even MORE people will notice it and go, "Whoa! This fic has a lot of Reviews, I think I'll read it!" YOU CAN MAKE THE WHOLE WORLD HAPPY, PEOPLE! Um, I don't know where that came from. I can't believe how many Reviews I have for this already, though, it's amazing! Thanks, guys! Bai for now, though, I'll try and write the next chapter as the juices flow, okay? BAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!
,,*/ a Seabeast that is up until 2:47 a.m.—yet again—finishing a fic \*,,
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