A/N: Shortish, but Chapter 12 is an big chap, so I think it compensates XD

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Chapter 11

"Yo, bro!" May's tired voice said from behind his door. May pounded on his door with the usual confidence that was her trademark that made her stand out in Pallet. Gary was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, his room was full of presents yet unopened that would remain that way out of lack of interest. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and forced himself to get up.

"Don't make me break this door down!" May threatened from the other side of the hallway. Gary chuckled light-heartedly and unlocked the door, opening it. May didn't go inside, which was bizarre since she had a constant knack of owning a room whenever she walked into it. Making great entrances was one of her utmost hobbies. May stood in the hallway looking tired. "Thank god" she whispered out, holding onto her head.

"Thought this was your hangover day" he questioned, smiling at his sister. Mat just smirked. "It is. Now could we all just whisper... please?" She said exasperated at the noise. Gary rolled his eyes way too used to that behaviour, especially coming from her. Before he even got the chance to add something moralist or scold her for heavily drinking, May raised her hand in halt, stopping him from speaking.

"I just came here to give you" She hesitated "—my birthday present" May raised her hand, revealing a small box. She almost threw it to Gary who caught it in the air before it fell to the ground. He didn't say anything but merely squinted his eyes doubting for a second if it was a bomb. With a smile, he looked at May again, raising an eyebrow.

"Open it, slowpoke!" She said, irritated. "Like I don't know you always open my presents, Samuel's and Delia's?" She said walking into the room and poking him in the ribs. Gary just rolled his eyes again and tore the wrapping paper revealing a heavy book inside. Gary examined it, surprised.

"Rutherford was going to publish this in six more months" he said, disbelieving. However, his face displayed just how grateful he really was. May smiled and did the peace sign with her hand. It took a moment before Gary's mind pulled the red alarm. "How did you pull this off?" he questioned.

May sweatdropped. "I pulled a few strings" but he just raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And how did you know—?"

May fought to keep her cool. "You mentioned it once"

Only he hadn't and he was quite aware of that. Maybe it was the hangover, but there was something tainting her facade, something that made her seem not so sure of what she was saying, and made her loose credibility. However, it was a birthday gift coming from his only sister, and it was still greatly appreciated. He smiled as he started to inspect the book once again. "Thank you May. This is just... great".

May beamed. It was probably the very first year she had been able to give him something he had honestly liked. "It's why we, angels fallen from heaven, exist. To make the existence of mere mortals like you more tolerable" She finished smugly, rubbing her temples trying to mitigate the mother of all headaches that was attacking her, but he was an Oak too, and bound to have a comeback, so she quickly wrapped it up. "Off to bed. Wake me up when they pronounce me legally dead or somethin'" She said, and with a wave, she turned around, her high heels clapping against the wood of the floors. Gary just watched her leave, feeling momentarily content.

With a yawn he prepared to lean back into his comfortable bed and go back to sleep, but he sat up as a memory triggered in his mind, and everything seemed to come back to him.

There was the tiniest little detail he had forgotten. And he knew how the pieces fit together.

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"Why?" She begged "Why won't you eat! It's got sugar! You like sugar don't ya?" Misty said lovingly to Togetic, who was stubbornly nudging away her food unpleased by the scent and the taste but starving at the same time. Misty was almost growing exasperated and sat on the stool of the old colonial kitchen. She banged her head against the wooden table several times trying to go over her actions determining what she had done wrong.

After the scene in the kitchen, Misty had not returned to the party. She had felt her gut twist and made her almost vomit out of anxiety and horror. There was something making her conscience heavy with remorse, her self esteem go down to the very minimum and her day had just been made worse by Togetic's eating problem. She couldn't just go to him for help acting like nothing had happened, and then... she wanted to. She wanted to act like nothing had happened and to erase the last week of the most stupid actions she had ever done.

She was sitting in remorse, trying to make Togetic eat the sweet soup she used to love when Gary made over a week ago, but was failing, and along with her failure was vanishing her good mood. She let out a breath, exasperated at her baby pokemon's constant refusal for food. It was there when his brown head crept through the door, and took a step forward.

Misty's eyes widened. "Gary" she acknowledge and then cursed her lack of words. He seemed to smirk, something she hadn't seen in a very long time and made something in her chest literally ache. However he still seemed to keep his distance from the table she was sitting at. He was going to say something, but as he noticed Togepi's problem he frowned. "I think you put too much sugar on it" Gary said as he picked up the sweet scent in the steam of the air.

Misty blushed and dropped her head. "God, I'm a failure at this"

Gary seemed to flash a sympathetic look which he quickly withdrew. "Um... I actually made a whole lot of it after the... first time. It's in the fridge" he said pointing at her right.

Misty followed the direction until she eyed the overly sized white fridge and seemed apologetically embarrassed. "Right. Sorry to be a bother". They fell silent for a minute, neither of them really knowing what to say, but the excitement of breaking the silence with him was like fuel to her veins. She tapped her fingers against the table, fidgeting. "Um... so, had a good time at your party?"

It was Gary's turn to shift. "More than expected. Caught up with some people I hadn't seen in ages"

"Right. Like that blonde girl that was your cheerleader, right?" She blurted out even before realizing what she was saying. She felt like slapping herself for blurting out such sentences but he was still standing there, gawking at her, confused, with his eyes slightly squinted.

His eyes wavered as he suppressed the urge to raise his eyebrow. The bitterness in her voice almost cut his skin up and made him bleed to death. The tiniest half smirk was tugging at his lip. Was she... jealous? He almost winced at the thought. "Right" He said sceptically. "She's always been a friend of the family" the way he looked intently at her as he said the word friend, making her know he had picked up on the trait she had been trying to hide. She seemed to sink into her seat and broke immediately the eye contact desperate for a change of subject, or for the earth to open up and swallow her up. Gary seemed sheepish for a moment but recovered as he felt the book, still in his hand, weight.

His eyes twinkled with something indescribable. "Misty"

She looked up, alarmed. It had been a long time since he had last said her name.

Only then, he genuinely smiled, even though it was so brief the only remain seemed to be the phantom of the light that shone from his face whenever he smiled. Misty froze in her seat contemplating him. He went back to his trademark smirk. "Thanks for the book" he said holding it up casually and swiftly turned around, and pushed the door open, leaving her alone in stupefaction. Misty blinked a couple of times and let out a breath. Apparently May had not done a great job at disguising her participation on the birthday present and she...

She couldn't be more grateful.

Looking outside for a brief second, she saw the day clearing up. She stood up and opened the fridge retrieving a mix of Togetic's soup and poured some in a plate nearby which Togetic greedily drank. She smiled as she looked back at the window.

From the dark grey day of dusk to a glorious mid afternoon of sunlight. Misty looked around bewildered and amazed. It was like tiles in the kitchen and the world around her had grown a little brighter.

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Thank you's:

Maia's Pen: Yes, May is one weird gal when it comes to allegiances. Cruel ending? Oh my! xD I'm sorry, but this chapter makes up for it, Next chapter is a real kicker too, and longer, so yay!. XD. And yes my weekend wasn't the best but it's all in the past now. And Maia, you could put a 50 pages long chapter there and it would NOT be a chore for your readers, but merely... BLISS! XD Thank you for your constant support, It's a world of niftyness for me.

Zakurrah-chan: Hah aha, something like that, considering he really isn't too fond of his own birthday, it kinda would be. xD Yay! I'm so glad you like my fic. I hope you like this chappie! Thanks!

Librastar: haha ha, well this one wasn't as fast as the other one xD But it was still pretty darn fast, wasn't it? xD Loved the fact that you came back to read my fics! Lovely! And what did you think about this chappie? The next one will be longer and more eventful.

Ori: ha ha ha, I know what you mean. If it were me, I would have tackled him to the ground the minute I see him. Maybe it's not too late for Misty to redeem herself. xD By the way, I LOVED that fanart of Gary in your website! My reaction : Gasp! So damn... hawt!

Star High Above: I have now updated! xD As I'm sure you can see. Emotions In my fic? I'm glad you can feel them! It means I'm developing more my narrative and actually getting my point across. Don't we al love romance? Thanks!

Michelicious: W00t! Almost didn't see you there. I was about to update when I got your review! Well, It was an unexpected but pleasant surprise! Wow, Misty with 4 sisters? That's a scary thought! One more addition to the fantastic sisters! xD I'LL SAVE YOOO (updates)

Crimsomnailofroses: Yay! I'm glad you liked it and want to read more! This is an update! I also got your review just now, so I'm happy I waited until after lunch to update. Thank you!

A/N: Gasp! Are things looking up for Misty? Maybe! (evil cackle). Ha ha ha, I'm not that cruel. Maybe. (evil cackle). xD

Midnight Mist

And so, with the magic review dust sprinkled on him, Peter could fly up to the Stars above!