A/N: Parenthood is hard, in fact the hardest part is when you have to still do the right thing even though you know, the child you are caring for is going to hate you or be upset at you. I have had it happen as a coach, a camp counselor, and as a parent. It is no different for Ash, especially when he is now having to be a parent to not only his daughter but a daughter who will be a teenager as he will have barely a year of parenting under his belt. In having my own children I would be scared they went through something so traumatic they have PTSD. That's my psa, parenthood is hard.
Skye was happy to be back on the road but she noticed Charlie and August looking at her like she was a wounded animal. "Guys, I am fine, just like Ash I will get help if it gets like that again." She said looking at both of them following behind her.
"Why are you in such a good mood?" Charlie asked.
"I am back on the road and…" Skye paused like she wasn't sure she should say it, "I think my parents are back together."
"What?!" Both Charlie and August exclaimed.
"When I came downstairs and found them asleep on the couches they were holding hands." Skye said with a shade of embarrassment.
Before Charlie could say anything more August said, "Why does that mean they are together?"
"I just felt it and they both were being so attentive." Skye said not understanding August's skepticism.
"Ok…" August said, "Just be careful Skye, I know from our time together you want to know your father. You don't need your parents to be together to know your father."
"I know, I know. But if they are together, like a couple or whatever….that just seems like it would be kind of cool. They seem like they really….care about each other." Skye said.
"Oh trust us Skye we could tell." Charlie said, "Ash was livid during that call with Domino when he realized your mom was being hurt." They continued on walking, but Skye did take August's words to heart. She hoped that if her parents couldn't make a couple relationship work, Ash would stay very present in her life. He just hadn't done his daily text or check in so she thought about reaching out herself. Then she thought maybe her parents were rekindling their relationship and that she should let them be.
Ash was just landing outside of Pewter City where Brock was working out with Geodude and Steelix. "Hey Brock." Ash said.
"Great to see you Ash." Brock said as they one hand gripped and hugged patting the other on the back before separating.
"So what did you do?" Brock asked. Ash met his eyes and began to slowly explain what happened starting back in Olivine. How he kept a secret that Skye asked him to keep from Misty. He didn't get into the details of what was happening right before Misty got the call from Charlie that Skye was having a PTSD nightmare. Catching Brock up to speed on what Misty said after the young trio left Blackthorn, and Misty confronting him about knowing Skye was having some symptoms of PTSD. Brock put a hand on Ash's shoulder and said, "I think you made a mistake, but I don't think its um…impossible to make up for."
"Brock, Misty seemed pretty clear that she doesn't trust me to act like a parent." Ash said a bit somberly as they sat on the hill overlooking Pewter.
"I think you know as well as I do, that is not what Misty is really talking about." Brock said.
"Brock how exactly do I build up that trust, I mean we less than 24 hours ago were almost officially a couple again." Ash said, "Now she won't even see me or speak to me till the Silver Conference."
Brock just shook his head that even though they were older some days, Ash and Misty still acted too much like their child like selves. "Well if that's the case, just hang here with me till the tournament. I am sure you would like to be somewhere else besides Pallet Town." Brock said.
"Did you make any mistakes when caring for your siblings Brock?" Ash asked.
"Of course I did." Brock said, "Look Ash, regardless of the circumstance, being a parent or parental figure is hard, and none of us get it perfect."
"Misty seems like she has it down." Ash said.
Sighing Brock said, "Look at the beginning it was really hard on Misty, she felt everyday she was screwing up, even with your mom, me, Tracey and her sisters supporting her."
"So what's your point?" Ash retorted.
"My point is," Brock started, "You are what, almost 6 months into being an active parent?"
Ash started counting in his head to be sure, before nodding at Brock. "Then there you go, Ash even when you were training Pokemon you didn't start as a finished trainer. You had to work at it, the same thing is true as a parent."
Ash looked at him with a small smile saying, "Thanks Brock I needed that." With that he took out his phone and texted his mom explaining he wasn't coming home but that he was with Brock. He did his check in text with Skye, and he lastly sent a message to Misty that read, "I messed up and I have no excuse Misty, I am sorry."
Misty returned to Cerulean and was surprised by the activity that was going on at the Gym. As she entered she saw all three of her sisters running around like their heads were cut off. Tracey looked like he was about to experience a mental breakdown. Daisy was assigning him 5 different tasks to help or take care of. When Tracey's line of sight saw Misty he said, "Misty!"
The other tree Waterflower sisters froze and saw Misty standing there and immediately rushed her saying. "Like Misty, why didn't you call to let us know you were coming home?" Daisy asked.
"Um, it wasn't really planned." Misty responded.
It was then that Lily and Violet noticed Misty didn't look too good. Daisy upon noticing her sisters not saying anything or moving she looked closer and noticed the same. "Did Ash run away?" Violet asked.
"I wish." Misty stated but at that the tears slowly fell down her face again. Uncharacteristically Lily came up and hugged her first saying, "What did he do that has our youngest sister in tears?"
Patting Lily's hands in a kind gesture, "He was hiding a secret from me." Misty stated.
"He slept with someone else?" Daisy asked.
"What? No nothing like that. No, he…he knew Skye was having symptoms of PTSD and didn't tell me." Misty said, "And the worst part is Skye asked him not to tell me." Daisy and Violet joined Lily in hugging Misty. Deciding to put whatever it was they were planning on hold. Taking Misty to their entertainment room, putting on rom coms while they all ate ice cream from the bucket. Daisy instead of sharing some bad story about a former paramore, gave some corny story about her and Tracey. Leading to popcorn being thrown at her for being a happily married woman. Misty's phone went off signaling a text came in, Lily grabbed it noticing the notification said, "Ash."
"Do you want to read it or ignore it, Misty?" Lily asked.
Sighing Misty held out her hand while taking another spoonful of ice cream. When she saw the message of "I messed up and I have no excuse Misty, I am sorry." Misty said, "He's apologizing." Her sisters immediately checked the message before Daisy said, "Misty I know we usually advise you to play harder to get, but, maybe you should go to him tomorrow."
"Why tomorrow?" Misty asked.
"Gotta make him sweat and work for it a little bit." Violet added before Daisy could respond.
"Little late for that Violet." Lily started, "They already have Skye."
All the Waterflower sisters laughed at the comment. "Did I overreact to him hiding PTSD symptoms about Skye?" Misty asked.
"Ummm…." Everyone looked away and suddenly wasn't meeting Misty's eyes.
"Seriously guys! I need the truth here. Just tell me!" Misty said impatiently.
"Okay…well… yes and no." Daisy said, "Yes, with your young child you deserve to know what's going on, particularly with something as serious as this. But remember, you are a great mom and we have always been impressed by how strong you have been as a single mom. There were also plenty of times early that you were not sure you were doing the right thing or maybe did the wrong thing. Ash is just starting to be a parent and he is going through all that with her pretty much already a teenager. I think he was trying to respect what Skye wanted and see her as a person."
Misty's face kind of scrunched at that but she thought on it. Sighing Misty looked at her phone and thought about answering and just as she was starting to type out a response her sisters grabbed the phone. "What?" Misty inquired at them.
"Don't give him a heads up, show him you wanted to work it out by just showing up." Violet said, "Besides if all goes to plan you might be needing more than a moment with him." Violet winked for emphasis. Soon popcorn was flying in all directions as the sisters got back to their rom com night.
In the morning Misty made her way to Pallet Town, hoping to make up with Ash and figure out what to do next. Just as she approached Delia's house she hesitated going up the steps and thought she should knock in case he was just waking up. Knocking on the door she waited with bated breath and then Delia's familiar friendly face appeared at the door. "Misty, I am so glad to see you." Delia said going up and hugging her.
"I am glad to see you too Delia, is Ash not awake yet?" Misty asked, returning the hug.
"Oh, he messaged me after your…discussion, that he was going to be with Brock." Delia said, "Were you hoping to patch things up?"
"Yes…" Misty felt she looked much more like a school girl with her expression. "Ugh, Delia I am stuck between wanting to fix it up now and sticking to what I said back in Blackthorn and waiting till the Silver Conference."
Delia looked at Misty and smiled, "A part of me wants you to go to him, and a part of me knows time will make him realize how badly he screwed up that you won't talk to him yet."
Misty just smiled back and asked, "How do you prioritize being honest with me? And not letting your son's wants influence you?"
"Well dear, like I said before, no matter how things turn out between you and Ash, you will always be family to me. Nothing will change you from being the mother to my favorite granddaughter." Delia said. "Now how bout you help me garden it will keep your mind off of racing to him in Pewter City."
"What makes you think I won't?" Misty said as she followed Delia to the side of her house where the wheelbarrow was.
"If you really wanted to, you would have left the moment you knew where he was." Delia said, "You are not one to wait on what you want, well cept for maybe my son." Delia winked and nudged Misty. This caused her to blush slightly.
"Well you know it wasn't like I didn't try to tell him." Misty said as they began pulling weeds from Delia's tomatoes.
"Right, you just stayed with me for 2 weeks waiting for him to come back from Hoenn, only to not tell him how you felt." Delia teased.
"It's kind of hard to confess something like that in front of a group." Misty retorted.
Laughing Delia said, "You could have just waited for the rest to sleep and pulled him aside." At that Misty rolled her eyes but laughed a bit. For the rest of the day they pulled weeds and tended to her flowers and vegetables. Later that evening Delia and her were talking after eating dinner, "So any word on Domino?"
"Not one bit, I only hope Gyarados' work destroying that base is enough to hamper her plans." Misty said, "When we sent in a strike team to try and shut down the base, we were surprised it was abandoned, but the scars of Gyarados making havoc were still there."
"Do you remember the questions she asked you?" Delia inquired.
"Not really, I vaguely remember her asking about the beast of the sea, but she really tortured me too much that I kept going in and out of consciousness." Misty said. "Honestly she was more mad that I had a hidden tracking device on my person they were unable to find." They continued talking late into the night until eventually they both went to bed.
When Misty woke up and opened the door from Skye's room, she groggily noticed something on the floor in front of her. Picking it up she was surprised to find it was a red rose. Attached to it was a note. It read:
Dear Misty,
I know you don't want to see me or speak to me. But I could not let another birthday pass without me acknowledging it. I hope the rose held up well, I was worried it would wilt, waiting for you to wake up. I hope even if we never reach a point of being a couple, I want you to know I will always value you, as you are an amazing mom to our daughter. I look forward to seeing you in Silver Town in a few days. I am sorry and really want to talk to you at that time.
Happy Birthday,
Ash
Checking over the note she rushed down the stairs hoping he was still around. All she found was Delia making up a batch of her famous pancakes.
"Oh, good I am glad you didn't step on that." Delia said, noting the rose in her hand.
"Me too, I just wish he stuck around because now I just want to talk to him." Misty said with a bit of annoyance in her voice. "Why was he never that sweet when we were kids?"
"Probably because he was still learning how to express them." Delia said.
"Did you see him?" Misty asked.
"No, all I saw was the rose and I came down hoping he was going to wait." Delia said, "But there was no sign he had even been here outside of the rose and the note. Happy Birthday by the way, Misty."
"Thanks Delia." Misty said, sniffing the rose, "I give your son credit he definitely is outdoing Brendan."
"Oh I remember dear, when he forgot not just Skye's birthday, but yours as well." Delia said, "I certainly wouldn't have stood in your way if you did murder him." A slight giggle escaped Delia's lips.
Back in Pewter City, Ash was facetiming his daughter saying, "Well, I hope your mom will appreciate the acknowledgement of her birthday from me."
"I am sure she will Ash, why are you not with her?" Skye asked.
"Well, after you left with Charlie and August, we got into a bit of a fight." Ash said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"That shouldn't matter, you should be spending the day with her as you are a couple now." Skye said.
"Skye, as much as I would love to be in an official relationship with your mom, we are not at this moment one, and well she asked for space and I am giving it to her." Ash said, "Just glad I didn't forget her birthday like you advised."
"So, I am guessing the fight was pretty bad, do you want to talk about it?" Skye asked.
"No, as I think while I enjoy talking with you, this is something your mom and I alone need to figure out." Ash said, "Though I do appreciate having a daughter, who is doing well for now fine with her own PTSD."
"Yes, Ash I am fine, I promised if it happened again I would get help whether it affected my ability to compete or not." Skye said.
"Skye, I know and I don't know if you are ready for me to say this but I love you and don't want anything bad to happen to you." Ash said.
"Well thanks Ash, be good and thanks for checking in we are only a day away from Silver Town are you still coming then if you and my mom are feuding?" Skye asked.
"Of course, you can't expect me to not see how my daughter does in the Silver Conference." Ash said. Both waved bye as he got off the facetime. He decided to ask Misty a question via text. "Does worrying over your child ever go away?" Ash sent via text to Misty.
He was surprised by how quickly he got a response as she never responded to his apology text. "No, it doesn't. It's amazing how quickly it comes, and thanks Ash for the rose. I look forward to you apologizing in person tomorrow."