Chapter Two

Don't say what you're about to say

Look back before you leave my life

Be sure before you close that door

Before you roll those dice

Baby think twice

James' eyes narrowed. "…Don't you dare blame this on me."

"What, so it's my entire fault, is it?" Jessie hissed, "It seems to me like you're the one doing all the blaming, James." She spoke his name with venom.

James let out an angry sigh, and she could see him mentally forcing himself not to retaliate. His mood seemed to eventually calm. "I've already talked to The Boss about it. He's taken everything into consideration and agreed with the idea."

Jessie felt her insides twist. "What? When did you talk to him?"

"… I called him on the telephone at the Pokémon Centre this morning. He's already taken action to reassign us. Jessie…" James paused, before reluctantly going on, "the moment we walked into headquarters, we stopped being partners. Everything's already been changed."

The weight of what James was saying was almost too much to bear for Jessie. She stood in front of him, wordless.

James continued, "The Boss already had a free assignment for me to take part in. I leave tomorrow morning with a new team." He looked to both Meowth and Jessie, signalling that he was now addressing both of them, "He said that he'll be meeting with you both sometime this week to arrange new teams for each of you."

"Ya gotta be kiddin'!" Meowth reeled. He was somewhat ignored as James again focussed on Jessie.

With Meowth's remark Jessie finally found her voice. "James, how could you speak to the boss without asking us about this first! How could you just go behind our backs and split us all up like that?" Her tone was indignant.

"Because it's the only way!" James retorted.

"No it's not!" Jessie yelled, surprising even herself with the realisation of how loud the volume of her voice had become. She lowered it slightly. "Don't I…" she faltered, before continuing, "doesn't this team mean anything to you?" The fiery-haired girl could feel tears stinging her eyes, and fought to hold them back. This was the least opportune moment to start bawling her eyes out.

James maintained a stern expression. "… I honestly just don't know anymore. But this is what is best… for all of us."

"How do you know what is best for us, James? Are you really thinking about all of us, or just yourself?" Jessie heard her voice waver, and knew that she had to get out of there before she burst into tears in front of everyone.

"Jessie, I-"

His partner cut in before James could barely begin his sentence, "-Just shut it, James. I don't want to hear anything more from you. Good riddance," she scowled, spinning on her heel and swiftly walking away. She had disappeared through a large pair of steel doors into the main HQ building before tears began streaming down her face.

Baby think twice for the sake of our love, for the memory

For the fire and the faith that was you and me

Jessie sat on her bed, her legs bent up so that her forehead rested between her knees. She hooked her arms around her legs to hug them tighter to her. The scarlet-haired girl had locked herself in her small dormitory, not even emerging when Meowth had knocked at the door wanting to talk.

She sniffled, managing to stop herself from crying at least for a little while. How could James do this? How could James do this to her? Jessie felt her heart wrench when she thought of not seeing her emerald-eyed friend every day. It was unthinkable.

Jessie thought back to all the times she and James had spent together. There were so many memories that they shared, even if some of them weren't so pleasant. How could James just throw all of that away? She winced at the thought of simply becoming a small part in James' history. Wasn't she so much more than that to him?

Jessie felt tears welling in her eyes, her attempt to stop crying seemingly resulting in failure. It hurt to think that she was obviously worth so much less to him than he was to her. Jessie could not deny it: she was in love with James, and had been for a very long time. She doubted that he felt the same way, but had always held a glimmer of hope that someday he could love her in return. Evidently, that was now never going to happen. On the contrary, James' voluntary separation from the Rocket trio outlined his clear desire not to ever be with Jessie.

And yet there had been so many times when Jessie had sensed that James in fact did feel the same way about her as she did about him. Her mind drifted back to the countless times that they had inadvertently become lost in each other's eyes – a situation always followed by an awkward moment of embarrassment. And then there were the nights when they both sat by the campfire, talking endlessly until with astonishment each realised that the sun was already rising. Whenever Jessie was with James – even if they were fighting, she simply felt a state of belonging. She had never felt like that with anyone else before. How could such a strong feeling be wrong? Jessie felt her spirits wilt.

Crying freely, Jessie laughed melancholically at the thought of James or Meowth seeing her like this. She hardly ever cried, and certainly never cried in front of either of her friends. The laugh, however, dwindled, and quickly transformed into a sob.

Babe I know it ain't easy when your soul cries out for higher ground

'Cos when you're halfway up, you're always halfway down

Jessie thought about the things that James had said to her earlier, about them always fighting. She knew that they indeed fought a lot. The sapphire-eyed teenager felt a pang of guilt when she realised that she was probably the one responsible for the majority of their arguments. It undoubtedly was a major fault of hers – but Jessie automatically became angry whenever she felt vulnerable or insecure. She had tried to break out of the habit before, but always ended up reverting back to her old ways.

Anyway, there could never be a friendship or relationship without rough times, could there? Jessie pondered the thought. She knew that James sometimes struggled to cope with her enraged outbursts, but otherwise he was fairly tolerant and they managed to pull through most arguments in one piece. It had scared Jessie to no end when James had been so clearly cross with her earlier that day. It was unusual for him to remain in an angered state for so long, which had alerted her to the seriousness of their fight.

And for all the fights and rough times that she and James had been through, hadn't there also been an equal – if not greater number of good times that they had experienced together? Was James willing to just give all that up simply because of a few disputes that they'd had? As the thousands of unanswered questions hurtled through her mind, Jessie felt her head become light with confusion. She lay herself down on the bed, resting her head on the soft pillow.

"Doesn't he feel the same?" She whispered faintly, the words choked with tears. She listened to the empty silence of her room, as if someone would miraculously appear and answer her question. When nothing happened, Jessie squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the pain. Yet no matter how hard she tried, more thoughts kept nudging away at her mind.

If only she had been nicer to him… If only she had shown she cared… If only she had shown her true emotions instead of masking them all with anger…

If only…

Jessie sobbed into her pillow, until she finally cried herself to sleep.