Chapter 2: Loose Ends
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Ash got to the house just as Misty was about to leave, having changed back into her regular attire and packed what meager belongings she'd brought for a short stay at the Ketchum residence.
"Stop!"
She'd seen this posturing from him before and if the circumstances were different she almost would have laughed. Ash had his feet planted firmly into the ground and arms outstretched wide blocking the path. This was the same pose she'd seen him take while trying to stop powerful or legendary pokemon, only this time his eyes flashed fear. Pikachu hopped up on Ash's shoulder spreading his arms as well to further try to convince the emotionally exhausted redhead to stay, having sprinted down the hill on the heels of his trainer.
She avoided them both by instead hopping over the railing on the deck of the Ketchum residence and began to sprint down the gravel road back in the direction of Cerulean City. The last thing she wanted to do in her embarrassment was actually have this conversation with Ash of all people.
She needed time and space to figure out what even happened. So she would take as much space as the open road would allow her.
Ash directed Pikachu to stay and let the others know what happened when they finally showed up. The storm was coming in fast and he didn't need a full search party out wandering in terrible conditions.
Ash, better than anyone aside from Misty, knew the shortcut path that had been carved out between Pallet and Cerulean City as they'd forged it together through wrong turns and marked trees after a multitude of visits following her decision to stay as gym leader.
By the time he caught up with her rain was permeating even the thickest forested areas.
"Can we talk?" Ash breathlessly pleaded trying hard to steady his heart rate from the several mile sprint.
"Nothing to talk about," Misty grumbled in response, refusing to make eye contact with her counterpart as she picked up her pace once more.
Despite the reluctance in his legs, Ash picked up the pace as well to keep pace with the irritated redhead. At the first clap of thunder he instinctively tacked her in an effort to shield her from the elements. The resounding boom echoed through the tall trees with a reverberance that shook even the sturdiest among them.
"I'm not leaving you out here," Ash started with a promise that died in his throat as a bright flash of lightning illuminated both sets of panic-stricken eyes. Seconds later the air cutting snap of thunder rumbled so near it seemed to shake them to their very core. Ash moved to further shield her as the air took on a wet char smell with embers dying as fast as they burned through the heart of a nearby tree.
"Come on," Misty muttered, uprighting herself and grabbing Ash's hand to drag him along at a steady clip.
It's not as if she wanted to be holding his hand in that moment (though she did note he laced his fingers through hers instead of their normal clasped hand position from prior travel days), but both their eyes needed time to adjust following the near blinding flash of light and she was the only one with knowledge of a proper shelter from the storm.
Not that she ever wanted to share this place with Ash given it came with an admission she'd rather not make and topics she rarely spoke of.
"Where are we going?" Ash asked perplexed.
"Look, we're three miles from Pallet and six from Cerulean. I know a place we can get out of the storm, but I don't want to talk about it," Misty grumbled in a dangerously low warning tone.
"The place or what happened earlier?"
Misty shot an annoyed glance at the trainer which he clearly understood despite the rain that fell in heavy sheets around them by the tensing of the muscles in her hand.
"Just asking," Ash grumbled more to himself than anyone.
"Well don't. I don't want to talk about any of that. And I certainly don't want to talk about how you stared at my-"
"Misty, look!" Ash interrupted with a whoop of joy. Through the heavy falling rain he could just make out the outline of a small cabin in the clearing. Dragging her along he raced the pair up to the building with the aforementioned topic all but forgotten momentarily.
Misty emitted an annoyed noise, but still allowed herself to be led by the overzealous teen.
"It's locked," Ash whined fidgeting with the doorknob after a raucous attempt at knocking, "do you think the owner would mind if we broke in? This is kind of an emergency situation."
"Figures in the same area you stole my bike, you'd try to break into my cabin," Misty muttered, fishing a set of keys out of her soaked bag.
"Your cabin?" Ash asked stunned as they entered the tiny dwelling.
It was essentially one room with a tiny kitchenette area in one corner and a queen sized bed on the other wall. There were two narrow doors, one of which Ash presumed led to a bathroom.
"Don't tell anyone about this," was all Misty said in response before taking a neatly folded pile of clothes from a small dresser at the foot of the bed and entering the narrow door that led to the assumed bathroom.
When Misty returned Ash had done his best to dry off using a towel he found rumaging through the dresser. In the chaos of leaving he hadn't even grabbed his backpack, not that it would have been of much use as everything would have been soaked inside it anyway, but it left him without a change of clothes. Most of his soaked clothes were strewn in a haphazard attempt at hanging them up over the two small chairs in the kitchenette area leaving him with the towel and boxers.
"I don't suppose there's any men's clothing in that dresser?" Ash asked hopefully.
"Not anymore," Misty vaguely answered.
"Not anymore?" Ash pressed, trying to figure out why Misty owned a cabin in the middle of the woods and who would be leaving men's clothing in it.
"Couldn't take the memories," Misty shrugged apathetically, "the only stuff here is mine now, but no one, not even my sisters, can know about this place."
"Seriously, Myst? I woke up this morning excited to spend the day with my best friend in the world and by afternoon it turns out you've got a secret hideout or love nest or something a mere three miles from my house and you never thought to mention it," Ash sputtered sourly.
"Oh for Arceus sake Ash, it was my parents cabin!" Misty exasperated.
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh," Misty gave a hollow chuckle, "you're the only person I've ever brought here and believe me when I said I didn't want to do that today especially after everything that happened this afternoon."
"I am sorry about that," Ash sheepishly apologized, "things have changed between us over the past two years and I know they have, but I've always tried to brush those thoughts off because they're complicated and we shouldn't be complicated…you're my best friend…"
"It's all fine until you have to look at me, huh?" Misty teased with an undercurrent of bitterness. She had noticed that Ash wouldn't directly look at her when she was paying attention, but the stares from him grew longer when he thought her attention was preoccupied. Her peripheral vision exceeded his expectations.
"You're…well…pretty. And it's just weird to think about," Ash lamely mumbled.
"You've had lots of pretty friends," Misty matter-of-factually retorted.
"I guess, but, I mean, when I look at them I don't get all lost and feel like my brain isn't functioning," Ash admitted sheepishly.
"Do you ever actually feel like your brain is working?" Misty snorted humorlessly.
"Misty," Ash admonished, "I'm serious. You mess with my head and I don't hate it, but I'm worried about change. You're one of the most important people in my life, right up there with my mom and Pikachu, and I can't stand the idea of messing everything up and you leaving."
Misty shook her head lightly at him and moved to sit at the edge of the bed.
"I'm going to tell you something I swore I never would," she sighed as he sat down next to her.
He stared at her with a dauntingly intense focus. In some ways his focus made her want to retreat, in other ways it made her want to confess everything. She settled for what she'd intended to admit to.
"The spot that I fished you out of the river at is a quarter mile north of here; once I mouthed off to my sisters and left home I realized I had no idea what I was doing so I came to my parent's old cabin to think out my next move. All my life I'd been alone, but never on my own, and suddenly I had no idea what to do. I got stuck. Every day I stayed here it became harder and harder to leave. My parent's stuff was still here since they'd left the cabin to me in secret as an escape from my sisters and despite the fact that I felt myself getting bitter and sad just staying here, I couldn't leave."
"So what happened?"
"Dummy, you happened," Misty sighed as if it was obvious, "one morning I told myself if I could catch a powerful water pokemon fishing, I'd leave the cabin and start my journey. I'd tried this before and always decided what I caught wasn't powerful enough so in an effort to make this time the real deal, I packed up my stuff, locked up the cabin, and rode my bike out to a fishing spot I knew because the second I caught that Pokémon I was going to hit the road or I knew I'd chicken out again. Only I caught you instead, and then I didn't have time to think about all the things that scared me, you stole my bike and I was going to get it back. Suddenly it all seemed so simple."
"Why didn't you ever tell me this?" Ash asked stunned.
"Because you and I don't talk about parents aside from your mom. It's just been one of those unsaid understandings between us."
"I guess I just never realized our journey started the same day and all because I was an idiot about a flock of spearow. It makes me kinda glad I broke your bike."
"Watch it Ketchum," Misty smirked.
"Best mistake I ever made," He grinned cheekily.
"Almost was the last mistake you ever made," Misty muttered dryly.
"Hey Myst," Ash grinned slyly.
"What?"
"You looked pretty cute in that swimsuit…" Ash boldly teased.
"You must seriously have a death wish," Misty grumbled with the tiniest amused smirk.
Maybe her sisters were right about something, he'd noticed her at least.
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Next (and final) chapter is unknown at the moment. I have a couple routes I can take for endings, but just haven't committed to anything specific. It'll be a bit before I update as I want to do it justice, but I'll have more "Spill the Tea" and a smattering of oneshots to post in the meanwhile.
Hope you've enjoyed so far.
-FWFT
