Don't worry, I didn't forget about y'all! I had a bunch of one shots I wanted to get up, so had to put uploading this chapter on the back burner for a bit. But you don't have to wait any longer; it's here, and it's a good one!

Chapter 4: Fear is Dissolving

To say Misty was embarrassed by her behavior at the outdoor market was an understatement.

It hadn't felt good when she'd stormed off, and as the day went on, she'd just felt worse and worse about the whole situation. Her sisters repeatedly chastising her for it certainly didn't help either.

Since when are they the upholders of good behavior and morals, anyway?

Misty was beginning to feel like she was living in some kind of alternate reality. Ash was being weird, her sisters were being weird, and she was being weird.

But at least she knew why she herself was being such a disaster of a human being.

Regardless of any kind of excuse, Misty was mature enough to admit that her reaction the day before had been anything but. In fact, it was downright childish. And that's why Misty was so ashamed of it. She knew she was going to have to apologize for it, and that fact was what had kept her up all night.

As soon as daylight broke, Misty rolled out of bed and got herself dressed and ready to head out to Pallet Town. She had made this trek dozens of times before, but never quite this early. Watching the sunlight slowly peak above the trees and mountains in streaks of orange and yellow made for a lovely view, and helped calm her nerves to some degree. Before Misty knew it, she had reached the grassy hill that overlooked the little town she'd been heading for.

Pallet Town itself was entirely different from Cerulean City. Of course, Misty loved her home city, but she also had a special place in her heart for Pallet Town. It was so peaceful and quiet…not to mention totally adorable. The cute little houses, wide open fields, and dirt roads were all so charming to her.

Running down from the hill, Misty's feet hit that dirt road and carried her past all those small homes, the sound of newly awoken Pidgey chirping in the trees surrounding her. Misty soon made it to the home she knew so well: white in color with a dark red roof and the sweetest picket fence surrounding it. Suddenly, she was feeling a bit nervous again, but Misty sucked in a deep breath to try and push those feelings down before walking up to the front door and ringing the doorbell.

She braced herself, waiting to be greeted by Ash, but she was surprised when it was instead a familiar woman with auburn hair and amber eyes that shimmered with excitement as soon as they caught sight of her.

"Oh, Misty!" She practically squealed.

"Hi, Mrs. Ketchum!" Misty breathed, quickly calming down again. Ash's mother seemed to have that effect on her for some reason.

"I wasn't expecting to see you this morning!" Delia continued.

"I'm sorry for coming by unannounced," Misty apologized, placing a hand over her heart.

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" Delia refuted, gently grabbing Misty's arm and pulling her into the house. "You know that I love having you over, no matter when!"

Misty beamed at the woman. "That's very sweet of you, Mrs. Ketchum."

Delia smiled at Misty and continued, "but I have to assume you came here to see Ash?"

Misty froze in place before blushing and admitting, "you got me."

Giggling, Delia replied, "well, he and Pikachu left for a run a little while ago. But they should be back soon! Please, make yourself at home until then. Would you like some tea?"

"That'd be lovely!" Misty sighed. "Thank you."

One might think it would be awkward to hang out with the mother of your childhood friend and secret crush, but not for Misty. In fact, Mrs. Ketchum was basically like a mother to her. It had gotten to the point where Misty often dropped by the house even when Ash was away in a far-off region, just because she so enjoyed spending time with Delia.

It was also the perfect way to get some serious dirt on Ash that she could then tease him with.

Misty had lost track of how long she'd been sipping tea and chatting with Delia before the front door opened, Ash and Pikachu charging through it. Misty slunk down in her chair a bit, which Delia noticed out of the corner of her eye.

"Welcome back!" Delia trilled, gaining her son's attention. "How was your run?"

"Great!" Ash crowed, sounding only slightly out of breath. "The weather was perfect for it. Right, Pikachu?"

"Pi!" Pikachu confirmed.

"I'm so glad!" Delia giggled. "But you might want to go clean up. You have a visitor."

"A visitor?" Ash repeated, tilting his head as he walked closer to the kitchen. When he saw Misty sitting at the table, his eyes widened, earning a weak smile from the young woman.

"Hey," she greeted meekly.

"Uh…hey!" Ash replied, far livelier than her.

Standing up from her seat, Delia fetched Ash a glass of water, and as she handed it off to him, whispered, "now you know why I told you to go clean up."

"Mom…" Ash groaned, taking the glass as he rolled his eyes.

"Ash Ketchum, don't you roll your eyes at your mother!" Delia scolded. "Women are not impressed by a man drenched in sweat!"

"It's okay, Mrs. Ketchum," Misty assured Delia, getting up herself. "I'm used to seeing Ash looking like a hot mess."

Gaining a sudden surge of confidence, Ash shrugged his shoulders and muttered, "still said hot, at least."

Misty's eyebrows shot up, while Delia looked like she was deciding whether she should be impressed by her son or drag him up to his room. Ash glanced between the two women and smirked, shaking his head.

"Yeah, I know what that means," Ash scoffed. "You both don't have to act so shocked!"

"We can't help it," Misty quipped, momentarily forgetting about the tension between the two of them. "It's like seeing a Growlithe walk on its hind legs."

Ash once again rolled his eyes before taking a swig of water, while Misty just giggled in response.

"I need a bit of time to process all of…that," Delia cleared her throat, smiling encouragingly at Misty while she patted Ash's shoulder. "If you two need me, I'll be in the garden with Mimey! Ash, you be a gentleman and fetch Misty anything she needs or wants!"

"Why?" Ash called as his mother walked away. "She knows where everything is."

Delia stopped in her tracks and shot Ash daggers before continuing her trek to the back door. As soon as she heard the door slide closed, Misty snickered and folded her arms. "I think your mom might be scarier than me."

"I think you might be right," Ash agreed softly, looking down at his feet. "Anyway…what brings you here?"

Misty bit her lower lip as the tension came flooding back. "Right. I…wanted to apologize for yesterday. I shouldn't have stormed off the way I did, and I'm sorry."

She was nervous when Ash didn't respond, and her worry only intensified when Ash looked back up, remorse all over his face. "It's okay, Misty. I just don't understand what I did to make you so upset."

Misty could've sworn her heart had just fallen into her stomach. "Ash, you didn't do anything!"

That seemed like news to him. "I didn't?"

Quickly shaking her head, Misty refuted, "no. I told you, I've just been really stressed out lately, and it sort of came to a head yesterday. But it wasn't your fault."

That was kind of a lie. Ash was the whole reason Misty was stressed, after all. But he didn't know that, and he wasn't doing it on purpose. So, there was no way Misty could possibly hold it against him.

Besides, the megawatt smile that appeared on his face when he learned he hadn't done anything to hurt Misty made up for the whole thing anyway, in her eyes.

"What a relief!" Ash sighed heavily. "I really thought I screwed something up."

Misty shook her head. Then, unable to help herself, she teased, "you screw a lot of things up, but that wasn't one of them."

Ash shot her an unimpressed look, but as soon as Misty giggled, he dropped the guise and chuckled himself. "Well, since we didn't get to finish hanging out yesterday…how about today?"

Misty stopped giggling and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Ash effortlessly replied. "I know Pallet is a lot quieter than Cerulean, but I'm sure we could find something to do."

"You've sure loved spending time with me recently," Misty mused. "It's almost like you want to take me out on a date!"

Instantly, Ash began to sputter, only further bewildering Misty.

"I was just teasing you," she assured him lightly. "I thought you'd be able to handle that after dropping that 'hot' comment."

Ash fell silent, letting out a long sigh as he slumped his shoulders. "Right, just teasing! Got it."

Misty raised an eyebrow. She had really never seen Ash like this before. It was almost like he was an entirely different person. The guy usually oozed confidence, but right about now, he seemed like his head was about to explode with anxiety.

Showing off a comforting smile, Misty reached out and gently grabbed Ash's arm as she was known to do, immediately registering that Ash's face was now bright red in color. "Come on, let's find something to do!"

"Yeah!" Ash cheered, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "Oh, but…"

"But what?" Misty prodded once Ash trailed off.

"Maybe I should go wash up first," Ash mused, rubbing the back of his neck with his free arm. "Mom was right. I am kinda sweaty!"

Misty smirked. "Yeah, good point. Although, your mom was wrong about one thing."

"She was?" Ash asked, slowly lowering his arm. "About what?"

Misty let out a short giggle and batted her eyelashes. "I don't really mind a little bit of sweat."

That sent Ash into yet another tailspin, the young league champion stammering and blushing as he hurried up the stairs, a thoroughly confused Pikachu following closely behind.

Once they were gone, Misty smiled to herself and leaned against the wall, only the slightest hint of shame intermixing with her own amusement. "He makes it too easy."

XXX

"Okay, I was wrong. There's really nothing to do."

Misty smirked at Ash's grumbled comment. "I actually like this."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "What? Aimlessly walking around?"

"Yep!" Misty chirped, spinning around and walking backwards so she could face Ash instead. "This isn't really something you can do in Cerulean. I know it's not a huge city, but there are still too many people and cars and other distractions around! It's nice and quiet here."

"It's different," Ash agreed. "I love Pallet Town, although I do wish for a little more excitement sometimes."

This caused Misty to scoff. "What? Being chased down by criminals on a near daily basis, attacked by wild Pokémon, and facing your own mortality every couple of years isn't enough for you?"

"Those things aren't so bad!" Ash laughed heartily.

"Yeah, maybe in hindsight," Misty muttered.

"Speaking of hindsight…" Ash began, his thought being interrupted when Misty backed right into a wooden fence. She winced as she whipped around, rubbing her lower back as she glared at the post. Ash, on the other hand, couldn't help but to chuckle. "There you go!"

"Well, that was embarrassing," Misty sighed, refusing to look at Ash.

"Nah," Ash refuted. "I thought it was kind of cute!"

"Cute?" Misty repeated, blushing a bit. "I don't know about that…"

Looking above Misty's head, Ash's eyes locked onto one of Pallet's many grassy hills. "Hey, why don't we go hang out over there?"

Misty followed Ash's finger. "That hill?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed, skirting past Misty. "You can rest your sore back!"

She gawked at his own back for a few seconds before scowling and chasing after him. "Oh yeah, laugh it up!"

"I am," Ash chuckled, running up the hill as fast as he could in order to reach the top. Pikachu, meanwhile, hopped off of Ash's shoulder and began rolling down to the bottom, tittering with amusement as he ran back up. "That's fun, huh?"

Misty had soon joined Ash and was smiling at Pikachu herself. "I know someone who'd love that!" Reaching to her waist, Misty retrieved one of her poke balls and shouted, "Marill, come on out!"

The aqua mouse Pokémon appeared at her feet, twitching its ears before locking eyes with Pikachu and hopping up and down. Pikachu too became very excited before leading Marill to the edge of the hill, showing the younger Pokémon how to properly roll down it.

"They sure are having a good time!" Ash crowed.

Misty giggled before quipping, "would you like to join them?"

Ash shook his head a bit more quickly than Misty was expecting. "Nah, I think we should leave this to them."

"Really?" Misty asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"Yeah," Ash replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's fun watching Pikachu and Marill, but it might look a bit silly if you and I do it!"

Misty folded her arms behind her back and cast Ash a careful glance. "So, what're you saying? We should start acting more like adults?"

Ash scoffed. "Come on, you know me. I'd never suggest something that crazy!"

Smirking, Misty replied, "good to know."

Ash raised an eyebrow. Before he could ask any follow up questions, Misty whipped her arms out and snatched Ash's hat off of his head.

"Hey!" He cried.

She jumped back from him, giggling like crazy as she held the hat above her. "I can't believe that still sets you off!"

"Of course it does, that's my hat!" Ash shouted.

"Then come and get it," Misty teased, lowering her arm and waving Ash on with the stolen headwear.

Scowling, Ash charged towards Misty. As soon as he got near her, however, she turned swiftly on her toes, causing Ash to trip over his own feet and go tumbling to the ground. This only elicited more laughter from Misty, and when Ash glared at her, she tried her best to cover her face with his hat. While Misty's face was obscured, Ash smirked to himself and scrambled to his feet, playfully tackling the gym leader. Unfortunately, Ash tended to forget his own strength, and he wound up taking both Misty and himself down in one fell swoop. The two started to roll down the hill they'd been standing on, Ash tightly clutching onto Misty to try and protect her from further harm. When they finally reached the bottom, Ash pushed himself up, worriedly looking down at Misty. He was expecting her to be angry, or worse, hurt. But to his surprise, she was still giggling like crazy, and his hat was still firmly in her grasp. This brought a smile to Ash's face, and he let out a long sigh as he lowered himself back down, his head resting in the grass beside Misty's. She turned hers to look at him, her giggles finally dying down but the smile remaining on her face.

"You know," Misty began, "I think you look really nice without your hat."

"You do?" Ash asked, Misty nodding in response. "Well…I think you look really nice even with dirt and grass in your hair."

He reached over and began plucking blades of emerald green grass out of her fiery red hair, Misty's eyes following his hand. After he removed the last piece, she reached up and gently grabbed his wrist. Ash blinked, his fingers relaxing as Misty lowered his hand and intertwined it with her own. His heart began to race as Misty inched closer to him, and before he could fully process what was going on, he felt her lips brush against his own.

"Misty…" Ash breathed.

"I know," Misty whispered against his lips, watching as his face contorted into a look of bewilderment. "I know that you like me."

Ash blinked before shooting up. "Y-you do?!"

Misty's smile widened as she nodded her head.

"Did Brock tell you?!" Ash cried, his face turning a deep red.

"No!" Misty gasped, sitting up as well. "Brock knew?"

"…yes," Ash sheepishly admitted.

Misty huffed and looked away. "I'm surprised he was able to keep that to himself."

"I asked him to," Ash sighed.

"Yeah, but it's Brock," Misty snickered. "Besides…he already knew I liked you."

Ash's eyes widened. "Wait…he did? You do?!"

Misty started laughing again, although far more calmly than she had before. "Well, I never actually told him. He just figured it out on his own. But…I've liked you for a really long time, Ash. It's a secret I've been keeping for years."

Ash was obviously stunned. "Then how come you told me now?"

After thinking it over for a minute, Misty responded, "Because I was always afraid that if I told you, you wouldn't understand, or worse, you'd reject me. And even though I had feelings for you, the last thing I wanted to do was ruin our friendship. You're my best friend before anything, Ash."

Despite his best efforts, Ash began to grow teary eyed. "I would never reject you, Misty. Not ever. But…I have to know…how did you figure out I liked you?"

"You were acting so different around me," Misty elucidated. "You weren't totally being yourself. I can tell you've been nervous, and a little on edge. Also…my sisters sort of tipped me off."

Ash groaned. "I should've made them promise to keep it quiet like Brock!"

"It's fine, they definitely wouldn't have listened," Misty scoffed. "I just want you to know that you don't have to do all of that. I like you for you, Ash. There's no reason for you to try and act like someone you're not, and there's no reason now for you to be so nervous."

Ash smiled weakly at Misty before glancing down and realizing that their hands were still connected. Misty noticed it as well and smiled herself. Feeling bold, she leaned forward and chastely pressed her lips against Ash's. It wasn't much of a kiss, considering Ash kept his eyes wide open and didn't even twitch his own lips, but for someone who had waited so many years to do that, it was satisfying enough for Misty.

Pulling away, Misty noticed that Ash was blushing about as fiercely as she'd seen him yet, and when she reached up and touched her own cheek, she realized she was as well. Lowering her hand, Misty sheepishly looked away for a short moment before turning her attention back onto Ash. He was still red in the face…and still looked like he was in shock. Choking back a laugh, a thought crossed Misty's mind, and she suddenly became much more serious.

"Ash…there's something else I need to tell you."

At that point, the poor league champion looked like he was about to fully pass out. "What is it?"

Misty took in a deep breath and slowly looked back up, her cerulean eyes locking with Ash's brown.

"The reason I've been so stressed…" Misty began, quickly biting her lower lip.

"Yeah?" Ash prodded when Misty remained silent for too long.

"I got a call from the league the day of the finals," Misty continued.

"Was it something bad?" Ash asked, raising his eyebrows. "With the gym?"

"No, not really," Misty laughed weakly. "It was Agatha, from the Elite Four."

"Whoa," Ash marveled, his nerves suddenly having settled. "Really?"

Misty slowly nodded her head. "She's looking to retire, and so obviously she needs a replacement. And I guess they decided they wanted to interview me."

Ash's eyes widened. "Wait a minute, so you- "

"Might become a member of the Elite Four?" Misty interrupted, her shoulders tensing up as she pulled her hand away from Ash. "And might have to battle you?"

Ash thought about it for a moment before murmuring, "oh." He quickly shook that off, however, and excitedly asked, "you're gonna go, aren't you?"

"Go?" Misty repeated.

"For the interview!" Ash crowed.

"I don't know," Misty grumbled, pulling her knees into her chest.

"Huh?" Ash breathed. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know," Misty snapped, glaring at Ash.

"But it's such an amazing opportunity!" Ash gasped, jumping up to his knees.

"Yeah, but there's no guarantee I even get the spot," Misty scoffed.

"And you'll never know if you don't try," Ash pushed. "Come on, Mist, you have to! This is like…your dream!"

"Yeah, but- "

She froze when a drop of water hit her on the nose. Glancing up at the sky, Misty realized that it was now full of dark clouds, accompanied by the rumbling sound of thunder. Pikachu and Marill ran up to their trainers, Pikachu's cheeks sparking with electricity.

"Man, I didn't know it was supposed to rain!" Ash groaned, having looked up at the sky himself.

"We should probably start heading back to your house, before it pours," Misty sighed, pulling out Marill's poke ball and returning the water type.

As though it had heard her, the sky opened up, rain crashing down to the Earth in sheets. Misty grimaced as she jumped to her feet, fruitlessly trying to shield herself with her arm. Ash noticed this out of the corner of his eye and, without a second thought, removed his hat and placed it on Misty's head, causing her to lower her arm.

"That'll help, just a little," Ash commented with a small smile, holding his hand out towards Misty.

Misty hesitated before taking Ash's hand. "But now you're going to get all wet!"

"I'll be fine!" Ash assured her before giving her arm a small yank and pulling her down the hill. "Don't worry about me; just hurry!"

As Ash dragged Misty along, his hat nearly went tumbling off her head. She reached up to grab it, keeping it securely in place and carefully watching Ash from beneath the dripping brim. He surged confidently ahead, the pouring rain doing nothing to deter his spirit. His grip on her hand remained tight, indicating that he had no plans to let her go. It should've made Misty feel secure. It should've made her heart swell.

Instead, all it did was make her feel guilty.