Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. The only think I own is this story. That's it. So don't call me, asking me for the license to Pikachu.

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this to Soft Flame Matthias. He gave me some ideas when I was completely drained of them. Hey, Soft Flame, let's see if you can find a "somewhat" familiar phrase in here (I'm sure you'll know it, if you read the first few paragraphs out loud).

Ages:

Ash: 14

Misty: 14 (and a half)

Mist in the Moonlight

A small breeze gently tossed around a few branches, carrying with it the warmth of the summer night. Small ripples formed in the nearby lake due to the wind. A group of travelers could be seen through the trees of the Viridian forest. All were asleep, all but one. A young boy, whose raven black hair swept back and forth in the wind, his arms laid casually behind his head.

He was facing the lake, which reflected the stars whose flickering lights teased him with their celestial beauty. He sat there, fixated by the glow of the lake. He had only one thing on his mind, and it was confusing him. The cause of his confusion wasn't exactly a something, more like a someone. A redheaded someone, to be exact.

He sighed, and ripped his gaze from the lake and turned his attention to the sky. A cloud of mist began to form in the distance. He smiled as he looked to the stars. They taunted him, yes, but, in a sense, they also comforted him. Released him from the world that he was enduring. He had a problem, but didn't exactly know why it was a problem. He couldn't figure it out, but it seemed to never go away. It was always nagging him in the back of his mind. It was something he couldn't wrap his mind around. It seemed to come right from the heart. His heart.

She wasn't like his other friends. He felt different around her than anyone else he knew. Sure, he cared about her as much as he did Brock and everyone else, but for her, it went beyond that. He felt like he was more that just Ash Ketchum around her. He felt bigger than life; even bigger than that, in fact.

She had Aquamarine eyes, ones that sort of hypnotized him. She had a personality as tough as nails, and a mallet to match. He had wrecked her bike a few years back. Now she was following him around until he paid her back. They would always argue about all kinds of things, but then there was the side of her that he liked. When she wasn't mad. It was then that she wasn't as mean, but sweet and caring.

Feeling the need to walk around, he slowly rose out of his sleeping bag, slipping on his shoes and walking towards the lake, unaware that a sleeping bag was void of its owner.

He strutted around the lake, not paying much attention to where he was walking. He looked back on all the memories he had with her. He remembered one time, when he had gone to a place called Maiden's Peak. They had heard of a festival there, and decided to check it out. After a while of being there, they got into a bit of trouble concerning a Gastly. It had hypnotized James and Brock. They had eventually defeated it, and then went to the festival. While looking up Gastly in his Pokédex, he heard a voice call his name, and, turning his head, nearly dropped the handheld gadget. She was standing there, in a pink kimono, with her hair down.

He had felt a weird feeling at that moment, but he didn't know exactly what. He felt happy, but it felt like more than that.

Being so absorbed into his thoughts, he didn't notice the figure in front of him, sitting on a log. He tripped over a rock, gaining the attention of the figure.

"Ash?" The person asked.

He looked up to see the person looking down on him. She was wearing light blue pajamas, with water Pokémon on it. Her normally tied up red hair was pulled down, and was now flowing down her shoulders. Her eyes were filled with curiosity and annoyance.

"Oh, hey Misty." He said sheepishly.

"What are you doing? Don't you know how late it is?" She asked, helping him up.

"I could say the same for you." He responded. It was then that he noticed how red her face was, and a tear sliding down her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked, wiping away the tear.

"Nothing's wrong." She stated, turning away and returning to her spot on the log. Ash quickly joined her.

"Come on, Misty. You don't cry for just nothing." Ash said. He noticed her put something behind her, so he couldn't see it.

"It's nothing, Ash. I'm okay." She insisted.

"Come on, Misty, tell me." Ash urged.

"It's personal." She muttered.

"Now that I think about it, you've been acting this way all day. Come on, Misty, tell me." He said firmly.

He saw her mouth open for a second, as though she were struggling to say what she was trying to say. Eventually, she spoke.

"You promise not to tell Brock?" She asked quietly.

"Of course. You know I wouldn't tell him if you really wanted it to stay a secret." Ash replied.

"Well…" she seemed hesitant. "Alright." She pulled out the object she had hid before. It was a small pendant, round and silver in color, with a rose indentation on the front.

"I've never seen that before." Ash thought.

Misty opened it, and there was a picture of a woman that looked a lot like Misty.

"Who's that?" Ash asked.

She chuckled lightly. "Ash, you're so dense. That's my mom."

"That's odd." Ash said, in a confused voice.

"What is?" Misty asked.

"Well, usually people will look like their parents, right? Well, she's kind of pretty, but it seems like you didn't get her good looks." Ash replied jokingly. Misty responded by playfully hitting him on the arm. She then turned her attention back to the picture. So did Ash.

"Now that I think about it, I've been to your Gym a lot of times. How come I never saw her? Did she go on a trip, like your sisters?" Ash looked to see Misty crying again.

"Misty, I'm sorry! I don't know what I said, but-!"

"It's okay, Ash." She said, after calming down a bit. "It's just that…you had to say it like that."

"Say what like what?" Ash asked.

"My mom on a trip." she said.

"Why is that bad?" he inquired.

She was quiet.

"Misty?" Ash asked.

"My mom…she died on this day when I was little…"

FLASHBACK

"Mommy, where are you going?" A 5-year old Misty asked her mother.

"I'm just going to the store for a little bit. Daisy, Lily, Violet, make sure to keep an eye on Misty." Ms. Waterflower called.

"Like, alright, mom." The three sisters called in unison.

"And Misty, if you be good, I'll bring you a lollipop when I get home, okay?" She gave her a smile.

"I will, mommy! I promise!" The small red head exclaimed.

With another smile, she left.

xxxxx

A few hours later…

xxxxx

Daisy heard the phone ringing. Putting down the plate she was cleaning, she walked over and picked it up.

"Hello, Cerulean Gym." She answered. Her other sisters walked in. They only saw her back, so they couldn't see her face, which showed horror and sadness.

"Are you sure?" Her voice was trembling.

"Daisy, what's wrong?" Lily asked.

"I'll be sure. Thank you, doctor." She said before hanging up the phone.

"Daisy, what's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Mom, she…like, got in a car accident. She didn't survive." She whispered.

The other two sisters were silent. Their mom had just died; their tears slowly ran down their face, but they hid them from each other.

"So, what do we do now?" Violet asked.

"Why are you guys crying?" The three sisters turned to see Misty there, obviously having woken up from a nap. Wearing pink pajamas with bubbles, she was rubbing one of her eyes, while the other one was full of curiosity.

"Did you have a good nap?" Daisy managed to say calmly, not letting Misty see her tears.

"Yup!" She then looked around. "Where's mommy? Has she come home yet?"

"Mommy…mom…she had to go on a trip somewhere." Lily replied.

"Where did she go?" The littlest sister asked.

"She…just went to another town." Violet responded.

"When will she be back?" Misty asked.

"Soon, Misty. Soon." Daisy said.

END FLASHBACK

"I didn't even get to say good-bye to her. I…" Misty broke down into tears.

Ash didn't know what to do, but he couldn't stand to see Misty cry. He felt like his own heart was breaking into two. Suddenly, he was hit with an idea. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two items.

"Here, Misty." Ash said, handing her the two objects. She looked to see what they were, and gasped. The first one was a small red handkerchief. As it got closer to the center, the red became lighter, until it was pink. There were three yellow stripes embroiled across it (like the brown stripes on Pikachu's back, but yellow).

The second, wrapped in dainty clear wrapping, was a red, medium-sized, heart-shaped lollipop.

"Don't just look at them, take them." Ash insisted, handing the items to her. He couldn't help but blush as he handed lollipop and handkerchief to her. She accepted them, and Ash noticed tints of pink on her cheeks.

"Th-thanks, Ash." She said.

"It's okay, really." He muttered, turning away so she wouldn't see his face.

Ash felt something press against his cheek. Then, his face turned from light pink to deep red. Had she just kissed him? Misty then pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Ash, for being the best friend a girl could have." She said softly.

Ash returned her hug. "Anytime. We'll always be friends. No matter what."

They sat like that for a long time, just watching the lake and the stars in the skies. Ash's feelings were conflicting with each other. One part of him felt extremely nervous. He had no clue why, but he did. And the other part, the part that was greater than the nervousness, was a feeling of content. He felt happy to have Misty in his arms, especially when she was happy, and when he was the cause of her happiness.

Eventually, Ash began to feel sleepy. He looked down to tell Misty about hitting the hay. However, she was already asleep, with her head on his shoulder (remember, they're still in a hugging position). He blushed. She looked so pretty when she was sleeping with her hair down. Ash blinked. "Pretty? What am I thinking?" He shook his head. Sleep deprivation must've been getting to him.

He tried getting up, but Misty stirred, and snuggled closer into his chest. Ash felt his nose get warm, and he noticed that he had a slight nosebleed. "Perfect, just perfect." He thought, reaching into his pocket and, pulling out a napkin, wiped the blood off. After removing it, he sat there for a minute, deciding what the best course of action was.

He could wake her up, but she might be grumpy, and that wouldn't be good. He could ask Brock to help, but he was asleep at the camp, and he might make fun of him if he saw him in his current position, and Pikachu was too small to help. He thought about just slowly lowering her down and leaving her there, but she might not appreciate that. He could just stay there and sleep sitting, but he might be attacked by a wild Pokémon.

Eventually, he decided (though embarrassing) to carry her, bridal style. As he picked her up, she snuggled, again, into his chest. It took all of his strength to prevent another nose bleed, but he couldn't get rid of the redness that plagued his face. However, he could also feel his heart soar and again, he was confused. "WHY am I feeling this way? Why do I get a nose bleed whenever I'm being hugged by her? And I feel all tingly inside when I'm with her? These questions haunted him as he carried her to her sleeping bag. Placing her inside it, he let out a sigh, and began walking back to his own sleeping bag.

"I love you, Ash…" He heard her say in her sleep.

Ash froze. His heart had skipped a beat, as he slowly turned to face her. "Did she just say that?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did she just say…that she loved him?

Suddenly, all the memories he had with Misty came rushing back, as clear as the moon above his head. His chest seemed to swell with each moment. All of the times they had fought, every moment they laughed, every moment they cried, and, most of all, every moment they had just been together. And then, the one instant that stuck out the most: the moment he had seen her at Maiden's Peak.

And then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. He finally realized what was wrong with him: he loved her. He was in love with Misty Waterflower. And everything started to make sense. Every time he felt like there were thousands of butterflies in his stomach from just being around her. Every time he felt his heart soar when she laughed. Every time he felt his knees turn to jelly whenever she smiled, especially at him. All the times he had lost his ability to speak when he looked into her eyes. And most of all, why he felt so bad when she had left. He knew that he loved her, and with this knowledge, he spoke the five words he never thought he'd say.

"I love you too, Misty." He whispered.

She smiled, and snuggled closer into her sleeping bag. Ash walked towards her and, kneeling down, gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

Before retreating into the warmth of the sleeping bag, Ash looked out into the mist, a small smile formed on his lips. The rain began to fall lightly, but Ash didn't mind. In fact, he liked it. "The rain never felt so good."

xxxxx

I know it's a bit short, and REALLY corny, but all the same, I sure hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. PLEASE review. It's easy. Just press the pretty button down on the left.