Equanimity: Chapter 19
Difficult weeks followed Misty's epiphany of moving forward and seeing Gary. She and Ash didn't talk as much as they used to. In fact, Ash hardly text her, and she to him, and for awhile...it was like nothing had changed from the time they were kids. The last few months were some mindless nightmare that slowly fell into the waste basket.
If they weren't talking, they weren't arguing—if they weren't arguing, Misty had time to reflect on her decisions up until this point. She was a masterful Water Pokemon specialist, maintaining a high rank in reputation as the Cerulean City Gym leader for the last two years, all before her twentieth birthday. She turned the gym around, made it respectable when it used to be a joke. That's why the more things changed and became the same, she questioned if the plunge was worth it.
From the beginning, Misty always knew that on some level, Ash loved her. From the time he used to fight so passionately with her when they were kids, until he stopped emailing her to avoid confrontation. It made the hardest nights at the gym easier, having the looming doubt finally confirmed in her mind, but knowing now what it was like to truly, honestly love someone like Ash, she was starting to have her doubts about what was next; and so were her sisters.
But Misty loved him, that was always enough.
They only had to see each other again, and all of these little issues, these problems would fade away. Insecurity and doubts, and unreasonable jealousy. None of that would matter the very second she looked at him, and while the back of her mind screamed at her, told her things she did not want to hear. The rational, logical Misty was at her wits end and the formerly snuffed out, emotionally drained, bighearted and loving Misty was winning. She wanted to love, to be loved, and to hold on to it for dear life. She had been grasping for that warm affection from her childhood crush for years, pretending it wasn't real, and that she didn't feel the way that she used to—but now that she had it...She was both terrified of what letting go would feel like, and mortified what giving him her full heart would mean.
To put it simply, Misty Waterflower was scared, and she had only ever been scared a handful of times in her life:
First, when her parents walked out of her life when she was six, leaving a ten year old Daisy to run the pokemon gym, and take care of her younger sisters.
Second, when she was chased down by a swarm of beedrill off route twenty five, and a poison sting left her in the hospital for a week.
Third was when she watched Ash nearly drown during their time on Shamouti island. Where she spent years worying that he would get himself killed, nothing quite sunk in like watching the boy that she-had-not-yet-come-to-terms-with-liking nearly drown, and all the times that followed after that.
Fourth was saying goodbye to her best friends of three years—her new family. The fear of never seeing them again, of never holding them again, and protecting them. Never fighting with them again. Of the immediate abandonment that came after that, of taking over the gym and learning to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her life. Being alone was terrifying.
The fifth, was without a doubt the moment she realized that after four years of separation, she was still in love with one Ash Ketchum, who was the most reckless, stubborn, emotionally stunted, bumbling idiot she had ever met—only taller with better hair. And taking the plunge of relationship status when she realized that he loved her, too. If being alone was terrifying, being in love was the slow painful ache of drowning in a waterfall of emotions neither of them were equip to handle.
Misty was a brave and stable young woman; but on the inside, she found herself an emotional wreck over her relationships. If there was no drama with her sisters, the rest of her life found no end to torment her as of late.
That's why, when Daisy came forward with her most recent news, Misty found more than a handful of times to be terrified.
"What do you mean mom and dad are coming?" Misty squawked unhappily at her sister who sat only a few feet from her. Her head still ached from the memory.
"I mean, mom and dad are coming. They'll be here for the wedding and.."
"What in the world were you thinking when you invited them!?" Misty didn't give time for Daisy to finish. Her parents were no good, they were the reason Misty was so unstable to begin with, that the relationship she shared with her sisters was so hostile in the first place!
Then again, Misty wasn't being fair, wanting their parents to be there on the big day was not abnormal. Daisy had every right to invite them, even if Misty disagreed with it.
The unfortunate news started the downward slope of an emotional day that cost Misty two gym battles, a small chunk of her hair, and a broken nail. When Misty returned to her apartment, she had to fight the urge to call Ash, to scream and vent at him since that usually ended up sounding accusatory—so she threw her phone into her bedroom where she wouldn't find it, tried to watch television, and ultimately decided to call it an early night.
Misty didn't hate her parents. No single person truly hated their parents—but Misty didn't like them, and she certainly didn't want to accommodate her life style for their expensive taste and rejection notice. What in the world did they care what Daisy was doing thirteen years later? No doubt it was some kind of ploy to A. get money from them, or B. milk the system for all the fame Misty was currently getting.
Not that any of it was good! The majority news created spurred from honest mistakes that the media expanded on—it wasn't even uncommon. Drama sold, which was how Sabrina, Erica, and Koga stayed in the news—but what sold better than that in small region Kanto? Relationship Drama, and the only one considered hot news was between Misty Waterflower and the estranged Kanto native, Ash Ketchum.
Unfortunately for the news, their sincere lack of relationship for the last two months was killing the swarms of angry fan girl groups, and the extra money that they were receiving for keeping up-to-date with their relationship. It was hard to keep tabs on a relationship that hardly existed for the very people it pertained to.
If her parents showed their faces around town, Misty had no doubt that the same news group who tried to spin a neat 'emotional tale' of 'lost love' between her and Gary would also try the same rope with her parents when they arrived in town. The unfortunate fact: it didn't matter. The only remaining issue revolved around her damaged reputation, and thanks to staying out of the tabloids and remaining a prominent member in battle magazines, she was earning her trust back.
….under the guise that Ash and Misty had, of course, broken up.
It was the new thing, since no images surfaced of the duo, and Misty was most recently spotted with Gary Oak and Tracey Sketchit. While it saved her the trouble of standing in the spot light, a deep, embedded guilt surfaced at the center of her chest. Why did she have to keep it a secret? What had she done to start this? She knew that Ash had saved the world many times, came close to winning just as much—but the sudden intrusion in her life after they started dating was insane. Girls wanted to date him, boys wanted to be him, and while some people who met Misty liked her—most of them knew her simply as:
home wrecker.
Because Ash was spotted originally with Serena, and some three days later found with Misty, someone he had not been around for years. Of course Kanto wasn't happy, of course Kalos wasn't happy—of course anyone who didn't know them wasn't happy. It hurt Ash's image to flip so quickly, and while it shouldn't have effected her in anyway, it did. Suddenly, her time spent at the gym was hounded by the league, the battles she won actually mattered, and how she dressed and presented herself to the community was important above all else.
Appear natural and perfect were the words the league assistant spoke to her when she returned home, and it was only a downward spiral from there.
League parties were full of gossip if she showed up alone—full of even more gossip if she arrived with a friend, and progressively, she felt like her life was no longer hers to live.
Now that she was planning a wedding for her very unorganized sister, Daisy; trying to prevent the relationship she wanted so badly for the last ten years from splitting at the ends, and keeping her head above water in everything pokemon trainer related task—she would have been okay taking a very long vacation—if they would allow her that.
Now, she had her parents arriving in under a few hours, to attend an event they couldn't commit to themselves, and rain hell on her life in a way she never imagined.
All in under twenty four hours.
She couldn't sleep.
"Should I call Ash?" She asked psyduck who rested on the night stand beside her, hardly asleep himself. The pokemon generally slept in his pokeball, but on nights when Misty couldn't sleep, he made an active effort to be around her.
"Psssyy?" The duck replied
"My career is in shambles, my love life has been turned upside down, everything I do is watched by the media—and I'm planning my sisters wedding." Misty inhaled, arms folded over her blankets while staring into her ceiling, wishing for answers.
"But I'm okay."
"...psyyy-yyeyyy." The duck groaned, condoning the woman for keeping him up so late.
"My parents are coming back into town for the first time in thirteen years, and that's okay, too. Daisy wants them around, that's understandable." While talking to psyduck—mostly herself—she turned at her phone once more, and felt a pinprick of worry.
"I shouldn't call Ash over this, he's probably busy; you know, league stuff. Maybe learning Kalosian-french." Misty inhaled, exhaled, and felt every muscle in her body ache.
Who does the Cerulean City Gym leader call when she is at her wits end? Daisy was mad at her for blowing up, Delia was too old to understand, Gary was absolutely out of the equation for one reason or another, plus, she kind of wanted to talk to another girl. There was always Dawn. Dawn liked conversation, and sometimes she had a unique perspective on an otherwise horrible situation. Then there was May... but the last time they spoke May could barely get herself out of bed, and Misty didn't need to brood.
Answers. She wanted answers. All of them. To the universe, to her life, to the dread knocking at her door every time she turned around. Answers for why the media suddenly chose her to isolate out of the remaining seven gym leaders, why she and Ash—sure he saved the world a couple times, but he was no superman—were so popular. Certainly why this was all happening nowafter so many years of living a normal, peaceful life.
Typical Ash; whenever he walked in, the fires started with him. First with the distance, than the raging hormones, then the frequent, long distance calls and texting-which weren't glamorous on her phone bill—and now the drinking and lame excuses. Absolute chaos followed him, and it was now affecting her—only, she wasn't as likable as her estranged boyfriend.
Not estranged, she corrected herself hotly, busy. She inhaled, sitting up in bed to stroke the length of her face.
"I need to get out of here."
"Psy-duck!" The pokemon protested, finally sitting upright to look at Misty while she grabbed her house coat. The clock blinked 3:22 a.m. at her, but she wasn't asleep anyways, what could a walk hurt?
"I'll be fine, and if you're so worried, you can come with me." Misty buzzed, looking at the yellow duck who flopped backwards. He cared, just not enough to sacrifice another hour of sleep. The immature urge to scold him rose from her lungs, but she held it back with a twist of her wrist to cape herself with her robes, and hustle from her bedroom, through the living room, and directly into the indoor hallway without missing a beat.
She was too wound up, too stressed out and unfocused; a walk would do her good.
XOX
Misty was known to blow up little issues. It was apart of who she was: her quirk, one that she lovingly shared with Ash. That didn't change over the last four years, and so while she hummed through central park, admiring the stars above. She had some control of her temper now, at least verbal temper—her mind still raced immediately to rage when challenged, but she could hold it back now, refrain from yelling when she had to, and more importantly, think rationally.
Rational thought was only getting her so far lately, however. The league was taking heinous, out of the water news reports far too seriously, to the point she was worried about losing the gym. They made no attempt to remove her from her title, but they hinted more than once at a dismissal—sometimes they would even mention 'finding a replacement' when they thought she wasn't in earshot.
After the last couple of weeks following a plea from Gary and end of lies about her rocky relationship, she was back on track career wise, but the league hadn't let up an ounce. She was still due for routine observations twice a month, and the process was growing harder the more help she had to fire. Daisy's inevitable wedding was suffocating her—her life was now a wedding she was supposed to e nothing more than a maid of honor for. Dress fittings, cake decorating, viewings, visits to rustic locations for the best pictures—even though such locations were far out of her price range and they had already decided on the Cerulean City gym. Then there was the issue of Daisy not holding her end of the bargain—Misty, who grew into quite the athletic and womanly figure over the years, had to go for a few dress fittings that Daisy opted out of because she was "too hung over".
Daisy was stressed out, and she wasn't doing a quarter of the work that Misty was! She couldn't even handle the easy jobs, like dropping off the invitations—which Misty had to do last week, which prompted the situation they were in.
Wanting their parents around was acceptable, but knowing where their parents were and not telling anyone... maybe that was what bothered Misty most of all. Unlike Daisy, Misty hadn't seen them since she was six, and what she did remember wasn't great.
They fought.
A lot. Not to mention the nagging fear in the back of her mind that she and Ash resembled that far too much. Fighting was all she ever knew. She got angry when she didn't know how to show affection, yelled when she wanted to cry, and threw up her fists when she wanted to collapse. Fighting was all the young woman knew how to do; effectively, at least. It was practically in her title, for heavens sake: an all out offensive with water pokemon!
Groaning into her hands, she swerved to the railing outside of her apartment complex and rubbed her temples. This was too much thought for her, she was going nuts inside of her own head.
Opening up to people to let them know her thoughts was another issue she had. Unlike Ash, who wore his heart on his sleeve, his opinions on his chest, and his courage on his shoulders; Misty was far more introverted, she replaced everything with passion, and kept the personal issues to herself. She could take care of herself-
Her phone buzzed and she prayed it was him. Removing the object from her pocket, she gazed down at the screen where her heart fell immediately.
"Guess what I just saw." Was Brock's message written on her screen. Misty sighed, but took the bait—anything to distract her from her day to day hell. Only Brock would text her so late, anyways. He had no regard to time change, the same as Ash. She started walking again.
"Is it something about breeding? Because I don't wanna know." Misty hastily reply, pursing her lips.
"NO." Misty chuckled at the immediate response. "Let it go, Misty. It was one time. ONE TIME."
She imagined Brock clearing his throat while she crossed the street to her apartment.
"You're never going to believe me... but, guess who is probably going to get charged for public indecency?"
Misty's nose crinkled, "...you?"
He didn't reply for a long time, so Misty thought to apologize for her accusation, but he answered her before her thumbs hit the key.
"Gary and Dawn were spotted outside Ecruteak City! There's pictures and everything."
Had Misty been drinking water, she would have spit it everywhere with the inhalation, then choke she immediately followed it with—then an erupting laughter.
"WHAT?" She answered in all caps while Brock furiously replied.
"I KNOW. They can't make out who the male was yet, but Dawn's blue hair is completely confirmed. But there's no mistaking Gary's weird hair. The funny thing was that it was taken by people in passing and.."
Misty couldn't read anymore, torn somewhere between laughing and shaking her head and wanting face palm.
"Do you want to see?"
"NO I don't want to fuckin see! You pervert!" Misty let out a strangled noise while climbing the steps to her second floor apartment, and Brock replied again.
"But I can't tell if it's really them or not!"
"Does it matter?"
"yes!"
"Broc-" Misty's text was cut short when she arrived at her apartment, prepared with her keys to unlock her door—the same, mundane and mindless task she prepared everyday, only to be stopped by the fact that her door was already open, left a crack that froze her blood.
The levity of the situation slipped from her grasp while she slipped her keys and phone back into her pockets. Best case scenario, Daisy came over again after a long day at school and couldn't sleep—however, it was after 4:00am, and Daisy was out of school hours ago.
Second case scenario, Ash stopped in—but he didn't have a key, and she knew that she locked her door before leaving. Her phone buzzed again, but the joy left her heart, and was replaced instead with fear.
Worst case scenario, some unfortunate soul broke into her house, and she should have called the police, but her body moved without thinking, and her mind didn't scream at her to stop until she could see the full figure of a body leaning close to her living room window. Tall, male, and wearing a large blue blazer, too big to be Ash, too small to be Tracey. Her veins were on fire and she shook head to toe.
This was her luck. Only this could happen to her.
The sheer curtains only emasculated the glow of his person while he rifled through her files—her paperwork and Daisy's wedding planner. Any smart person would have turned around, walked away before the figure saw them, but Misty was no coward, and her pokemon were still in the apartment. She only had to be faster than they were, call out for psyduck to carry the rest of her pokemon to safety while she phoned the police, and yet she stood frozen in place.
As her heart beat raced, and her nerves caught fire-a few traits came into focus:
first, the man wasn't dressed in black and unlike most criminals, he came in with a camera danging around his neck, and another in his hand, snapping through the pictures and notes she had scribbled. Her gym bag was off to the corner of the room untouched, and any person that would rather steal personal information than her pokemon was more than likely...
This man was a reporter. Not a thief. Not an intruder! With a twitch, the thin wire in Misty's head, holding her emotions in, keeping herself together unraveled, snapped when she let out a furious exhale to let the man know she was there—and she had been so right.
"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?!" She screamed, taking several quick steps forward.
In the blur she witnessed, Kanto news sprawled over his jacket when he turned around to face her—eyes wide and fear coating every shine in his iris as she stepped forward, and he tumbled backwards.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were—don't!"
Over the rug nearest him, tugging at the curtain she placed to hide the glowing afternoon sun that penetrated every obstacle in the house to remove her perfect vision; the man tumbled without a single push.
XOX
Misty knew big windows were a bad decision before she moved in. The floor-nearing beauty was wonderful in thought, horrible in practice. More than once, Misty herself nearly fell out of the damn thing—and while it worked in her favor. She didn't actually mean for the guy to get hurt.
Sitting outside on a police cruiser, Misty Waterflower was pestered for questioning, reiterating the incident time and again while the reporter told another tale.
She invited him inside he said, then got mad and threw him out he said.
Like hell. She did. Luckily, the police officers recognized a worried woman when they saw one, and based on both her concern for the accident—the fact that she, herself, called the police, and attempted immediate first aid, they elected to believe her story—mostly because she had the text conversations and cameras at central park to verify that she was not home. Besides, Misty was powerful, but she was a far cry from throwing someone twice her size anywhere.
He just found himself in an unfortunate circumstance, and wanted to lay blame where he could—not that Misty even considered pressing charges, she had enough bad reputation floating around, the last thing she needed to worry about was a lawsuit. He fell two stories onto a pile of bushes below—he more than likely learned his lesson.
She hoped.
Misty didn't tell her sisters, or call her friends. If she had, she wasn't sure what to tell them.
"HI, I threw someone out of my window but not really, can I stay with you?"
Because that would have gone over well so early in the morning.
In reality, the young gym leader should have called someone to get her out of the area, especially while local news broadcasters took advantage of her carelessness, and hosted endless reports with her imagine in the background—leaning against a police cruiser with a drawn expression beneath her black sweater.
Misty was content. Accepting her fate for what it was while she rapped her fingers against her upper arm, waiting to be allowed back into her apartment. She was torn between some form of adrenaline pumping rage, and nerve wrecking concern but couldn't focus on a singular.
In fact, the last person Misty ever imagined would come to her rescue pulled in driving a slightly beaten up blue Oldsmobile about an hour after the incident. The woman in question looked exhausted, and swore off any papparazzi while she crossed the caution tape without permission.
"Misty." Her voice was a bright beacon in the middle of a dead calm at sea, and Misty looked up to her with glazed eyes. Delia Ketchum hissed at her, bringing her in close for a tight embrace. She smelled like some kind of wild berry, dressed in a tussled blue and black dress while she tried to pull Misty away from the scene of the crime.
"Come with me." The mother urged while dragging the redhead behind her.
Thanks to the adrenaline, Misty hardly felt the sting of Delia's long nails against her forearm while she thrust her into the passenger seat, avoided any more questions, and slipped into the drivers side and started the car. Misty glanced at Delia once more, observing her expressions and mannerisms—she was clearly out on a date, or at least had been, and she had to have been nearby, because Pallet Town was still a few hours away from Cerulean City.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned with narrowed eyes.
"Don't worry about it." Delia smiled in return, bating her eyes at Misty. They were halfway down the street before Delia continued.
"Are you okay, dear?" the sound of the car revving up while she pulled into the express tunnel back to Pallet Town burned Misty's throat. Being saved by Delia felt so wrong, especially given her latest arguments with Ash.
Misty wasn't sure what to say at first. First that she didn't really feel bad about it, that she felt horrible, or that she was horribly confused by the event.
"He was hurt pretty bad." Misty mouthed quietly, staying at neutral ground.
"He broke into your apartment, I'm surprised you didn't do more, hunny. I mean, I always knew that you were strong—but throwing a man his size-" her tone was so pure and affectionate, it made Misty feel nauseous.
"He fell out my window. I didn't hit him." Misty crossed her arms over her chest, and tucked her legs into the seat to hold them close to her, offended by the accusation—was everyone going to be saying that?
Delia didn't bother to correct Misty for the blatant disregard of her authority by calling her by her first name, and scoffed instead.
"You should have hit him—what if he was some kind of rapist or something? Regardless of what happened, or how it happened, he deserved it."
Misty never thought Delia would say something so cruel, and it only confirmed the inert guilt pinging at the corners of her heart while she shook her head and then placed it between her knees and started to count back from one million. Misty was tired, one step forward led to six steps back... and she threw in the towel, hung up her hat, she gave up.
Unfortunately, Delia's sweet tone and encouragement couldn't fix that.
XOX
They arrived shortly before noon the next day, where Delia catered to Misty for the first few hours, until she realized Misty was more interested in mindlessly watching the news for any change or indication that something had happened to her.
Only the local channels covered the news, and only a fraction of it from their recording early that morning. "Trouble with Cerulean City Gym leader" bounced across headlines, but none of the stories delved into more information. She assumed it was because the reporter entered her house without a warrant, and since he was a part of the media, that spectacle was hidden. The league was also probably giving them some heat, given her recent attempts to obtain their good graces again.
"Misty, dear, do you want another cup of cocoa?" Delia's voice pulled her from her troubled thoughts.
"No thanks."
"You need to eat something."
"No thanks." Misty mumbled again, distracted by the news flashing before her while she curled up into a blanket on Delia's plaid and maroon couch.
Daisy was the first to know about the event, thanks to Tracey. Though, Daisy respected Misty's wishes to be left alone, she assured her baby sister that her apartment was sealed, and Daisy had custody of her pokemon for when she returned to the gym.
If she returned to the gym, Misty was honestly considering running away. Taking a very long vacation somewhere off in a new region and coming back once the terrible paparazzi laid off. And she had that chance slowly coming up—Misty's heart rattled—She was supposed to be on a plane in a little over twenty four hours to see Ash.
But even thinking made her blood run cold. The information that the reporter wanted wasn't about a struggling gym leader, the problem was that they wanted information about the long-distance girlfriend of hero and champion, Ash Ketchum who had been known to 'switch' girlfriends often. Since Misty and Ash weren't giving them a lot to work with lately, they had to make it up on their own time—even if that included breaking an entering.
"You should sue." Delia offered while bending over the back of the couch to look at Misty. She was paler than usual, and her hair was matted flat against her face.
"No point." Misty muttered, lackluster.
"You know, you and Ash both get like this. You both take problems out of your control too seriously." When Misty didn't respond, Delia grasped her shoulders affectionately. "No one knew this was going to happen."
...but Misty did, she knew it was only a matter of time. The media had been tearing into her life so harshly, she was honestly surprised that this didn't happen sooner. It wasn't about their relationship anymore, it was about keeping Ash relevant—popular and known to everyone around the region. They used her to get to Ash. Spacing out, she almost didn't hear his mother call to her.
"Are you sure you don't want me to call Ash?"
"Not right now. I'm sorry." Misty mumbled, hearing the question as her cue to check back in and force that confident, Waterflower smile.
"Delia, honestly, I'm okay, thank you for letting me stay here. I'll call Ash soon, I promise."
"Misty, we've talked about this before." The mother chided quietly, suddenly very serious. "You don't need to put up airs with me, I've seen all of this—most of it I've been through myself."
Misty's facade cracked momentarily, but she held strong and forced an even wider smile.
"Delia, I promise that I'm fine. I'm just tired now." it wasn't even dark yet, but since Misty hadn't slept since the break in, she was exhausted.
"...Alright... You know where the guest bedroom is, I'll make something for dinner in case you get hungry." Misty knew Delia was trying hard to cheer her up, so Misty smiled warmly.
"Thank you." Misty urged, touching her shoulder gratefully. "Really, thank you."
The mother bat her eyes up at Misty while she staggered out of the living room and into the hallway, where she had so many memories. Yet, Misty refused to glance down the hallway at the pictures decorating the wall of Ash's traveling companions, refused to look at the kitchen where this all started so few weeks ago, and slowly made her way up the stairs while Delia sat on the armrest of a chair, and exhaled quietly.
Misty was worried mostly about what the league would say and do now. She probably should have called them; explained the situation, but she couldn't be bothered while she tip-toed past the guest bedroom, and swerved into the closed door of Ash's room, and cracked it open very slowly.
Immediately, the woodsy scent that seemed to float around Ash hit her in the chest and she inhaled warmly while slipping inside. First, she saw the neat and tidy bed—of course, courtesy of Delia, and then the not-so tidy desk tucked to the right of his room. Misty shut the door softly behind her—knowing that Delia said to use the guest room hadn't changed her mind where she would go.
Ash wouldn't mind.
Maybe.
She was snooping, so that might have been a bit of a turn off, but she was tired, and angry, and fishing for anything to hold on to. She grabbed a box that was neatly left on the far corner of his desk, pushed against the wall and fell into the wooden chair while pulling it close to her. She knew it was his keep sake box.. Pulling it open, she was amazed to find how much he actually kept. The poor boy even kept a few hair ties—mostly from Dawn, she bet. Letters and maps of all kinds fell into her grace, a reminder of how far he traveled.
Ribbons he didn't want worn down, badges he couldn't part with, medals—including the one given to him by the Kalos region shifted around inside of the box. Then, at the very bottom wrapped in a pink handkerchief with yellow geometric was—her lips turned into a slow frown when she realized what she thought should have been in there wasn't. He kept ribbons and mementos—but not her lure? She emptied the box once, then put everything back inside neatly before tucking it away with a disappointed huff. Well, there was always the possibility that he still had it on him. And, it was a lure, so maybe it even got snagged and lost somewhere? On a creek in Sinnoh, in a lake at Unova—maybe a stream in Kalos—her lure might have disappeared a long time ago.
Whatever she hoped would make her feel better about looking in the box; it didn't work. Ash was painfully living the same day over and over again now, trying to appear like an adult when he was still very much an adolescent in mind and action. For years Misty envied his continuous progress, his ability to travel and meet new people—and for the first time in years, after her first run in with the consequences of standing still—she pitied him. Between them were years of growing up individually, years of separate experiences and life changing goals; slammed together at the last minute because they couldn't think, breath, or sleep without the other after three days together.
Joke was on them, they were sleeping fine now.
...Only, they weren't.
Maybe it wasn't their relationship that was the fix to the rest of their problems. It certainly didn't help her. She couldn't imagine it was fairing for Ash any better. Was he getting the same treatment in Kalos? The few times she had been there it was love and adoration from groups of people, but were their mischievous ones, too? Her fingers twitched with the urge to contact him.
He said he wasn't happy before. Ash was drunk—may his mother never find out—and practically distraught the last they spoke; she couldn't forget that, when he practically begged her to come visit again—like that was the solution.
She felt sick when she wheeled away from his desk, holding her mouth with a whirl of emotions capturing her entire body. Misty swooped from the chair in one swift movement and collapsed onto his blue, Pokemon-covered comforter. His bed was always more comfortable than her own, so while she pawed at the blankets and the pillow to move her way beneath the sheets, she felt a strange, soft texture bundled under his pillow, and pulled away to squint in the darkness at the fabric in her hands.
It was her clothes, buried under his pillow, the clothes she had to buy to replace the fact that she didn't actually have any spare clothes. The same ones that were worn when he ran in after her like a lunatic after being taken by Team Rocket—and here it was, stuffed under his pillow in safe keeping; probably like the lure he had stuffed in his back pocket.
Whether she wanted to or not, she smiled and pushed her shirt and vest back into the location that she found them in, and huddled the blankets close to her chest. She didn't realize how cold she was until the warmth of his blankets enveloped her body, and her eyes lolled backwards. So this was what it was like to be hopelessly in love? Someone help her.
...Someone help them.
XOX
She wasn't sure how long she had been asleep when Delia's voice called out to her.
"Misty." Delia called to the redhead, who almost jumped from Ash's bed like she had been caught stealing it. In her sleepy state, she almost tumbled onto the floor but Delia hardly noticed—in fact the glimmer in her eye indicated she might have been a little touched by the position that she found Misty in.
"I didn't tell him but..." Delia poked the house phone into the room, and extended it to the young woman before retreating with a click of the door. From the repaired pidgey clock, she could see that 7:00pm was beeping at her.
Well, at least she rested.
Misty held the phone out for awhile, she knew who it was, and her heart thundered in her chest. Who told him about the situation in the first place? However, she wasn't really surprised. It was only a matter of time. With a calming breath, Misty held the phone to her ear, and prepared for the worst.
"Hello?"
"Misty!" Ash's voice boomed from one direction to the other, causing her ears to ring. She could hear his foot steps pacing in the background.
"...Hey." She replied weakly, less assertive than she wanted it to be, and only heard the alarms ringing in his head louder.
"What in the world happened? Why wouldn't you call me!?" Ash was screaming, which was a rare event in his older nature—usually he raised his voice, but frantic, worried screaming was a rarity.
"I thought you were mad at me because you didn't answer any of my phone calls—so I called the gym and Daisy said—shit, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Misty mused bravely and quietly, taken aback by his overwhelming kindness, and also a bit disturbed by his immediate presence.
"Are you sure? I'm on my way to-"
"Ash, stop. I can still take care of myself. It wasn't even a big thing." Misty exhaled, coming down from her high. "It didn't even make the news. Not really, anyways."
"That's not the point!"
"Ash its..."
"I'll be there! You could have been killed! Or worse!" What's worse than that? Her eyes rolled.
"Ash!" Misty screamed, suddenly very angry as if his persistence grated every nerve she had left. "If you suddenly appear, it will be a big thing!"
"Well, that's not fair-"
"Then maybe you should have thought about that before you went and publicly kissed a girl, saved Kalos and won the championship, hey?! If you wanted a private life, you pretty much gave that up!" Why was she yelling at him? She most definitely didn't want to yell at him.
"It wasn't my fault! You know that I didn't plan for those things to happen!"
"Yeah? Jeeze, Ash, when are you going to grow up? Take some blame!"
"Maybe I would if you wouldn't bring it up every time!"
"I wouldn't have to if you wouldn't-"
"Mew, Misty! Is this what I get for worrying about you?"
She faltered, shoulders slumping forward at the question, recalling the hundreds—thousands of times that she worried about him, but was never given a phone call, or an email. Why was she so angry...?
"It's..." She started, calming her shaking voice and bringing her vocals down a notch as to not disturb Delia. "I managed perfectly fine for years, Ash. This isn't my first time with news reporters, and I'm sure it isn't going to be my last. Don't baby me." She responded tiredly, feeling the grip of his blankets cutting off the ability to breath, so she slipped out of them.
Ash didn't speak for a time—in fact, he was so quiet she almost thought he hung up on her until a barely-there breath escaped his lips rather than the biting insult she was sure that he had prepared.
"I was calling because May said..." Ash stopped. "I didn't think Misty, and I certainly didn't know what was going on. Why wouldn't you tell me things were...this bad?"
Because I couldn't stand to hear that tone. It wasn't your problem to worry about? "I took care of it."
Sarcasm pierced her ears: "And it sounds like you're doing a bang up job."
Like you're doing any better! "Well, maybe I'm just used to depending on myself." She snapped.
"Really? Again?"
"Why not? You were a pretty terrible friend for four years? I think it's important that we don't forget, especially since you have a habit of disappearing without warning!"
"You're unbelievable! I called to check on you and this is-"
"But you didn't think to call a few months ago? How about a year—what about when I broke my ankle two years ago? Huh?"
"I didn't know what was happening!"
"It wasn't like it was a secret! You have eyes, Ash, use them!"
"I don't get the same news as you Misty, I had no idea you needed help." Help. Misty didn't need help. Inhaling, she nearly cracked the phone in her hand.
"I don't need help, Ash." she chanted venomously. "Actually, you know what, I don't need you!"
There was a long jarring pause followed by Misty grabbing her mouth in complete surprise, and Ash letting out an extended, surprised breath of his own. The message was pretty clear, knocking him nearly on his rear end from shock, and Misty collected her thoughts and tried to rope them all together. Why would she say that to him? Or any of the things that she said? She was just so angry and...
"I didn't mean that. I'm so sorry." quickly she added in a panic: "It's just been a really long day."
"And you take it out on me. Yeah." Ash muttered, tone disappointed and beaten, buried with contained anger. "I get it."
"Ash, I'm sorry. I didn't..."
"...No, it's okay, Misty. I get it."
"Ash-"
"I..uh, have to go." Ash managed not bothering to hide his wounded tone. "I'll talk to you later."
"Wait, Ash-!" She pressed the spot between her eyes to calm herself down. "I l..." and the words wouldn't come out, it physically hurt and choked her to speak them, and so she bit down hard on her tongue instead.
"...Later." She muttered quietly, met with the abrupt dial tone that followed the end of the call. Misty veered backwards, sitting on the edge of his bed with eyes wide open, and mouth clamped shut.
What in the world did she just say to him?
XOX
Misty did not have a lot of time to reflect on what she just said to Ash, because she decided seconds later that she was going back to Cerulean City via night train.
"You're going back? Where will you stay, your window is still broken. It's so late!"
"Delia, I run a gym, you know." Misty offered while collecting her thoughts. Luckily, Delia had a few spare, Misty-size pants and shirts to wear so she wouldn't be in her pajamas. She didn't have the heart to remove the clothes Ash had buried under his pillow.
"Yeah, but..." Delia's face scrunched up. "Aren't you shaken up?"
"A little, if I'm being honest." Misty blinked at the older woman. "But I can't sit around and cry about it. I've been working way too long, and too hard on my reputation to have this stop me. If I don't show up to work tomorrow, well, everything has been for naught. Besides..I have places to be."
"If that's what you think is best."
"Listen, Delia, I get that you're—come again?" Misty's head spun around to look at Delia who carried a wide-grin that looked too much like Ash's, and the mother reached forward to grab Misty's surprised face and planted a quick, and motherly kiss on Misty's forehead before brushing her red hair through her fingers.
"I would have been in tears if I was in your place." Delia nodded to Misty, who flushed at the admiration and straightened out her spiky hair.
"You're like the daughter I never had, so no matter what happens..." Delia cracked a bittersweet smile that Misty didn't have time to register before the woman reached around to grab a lunch kit for Misty—she knew Misty wouldn't stay from the start.
"..I'll always love you both." Delia handed the lunch kit off with a smile, and Misty stared at her puzzled for a long time.
"So go do what you have to do, just don't hurt yourself. Okay?"
Misty shook her head faintly, clucking her tongue against the roof of her mouth and cracking a small smile.
"Thank you."
XOX
Misty wasn't wrong, what happened in Cerulean City never escalated past local news. Ash made sure he watched—actually, he watched a lot of things. Given his busy regime, he never took the time to actually sit down and watch television, but nothing seemed more important than it did now.
Use your eyes she told him, grow up she told him. Yelled at him, fought with him. Made him constantly worry if he was doing things right or not. Ash felt like he aged more in the last few months than he had in the last eight years. Relationships weighed a ton of bricks—he would never understand why Brock pined after them for so long.
Yet, he stood like a patient animal waiting for her. She was supposed to be arriving today.
A quarter after six at the Lumoise Airport, where he would pick her up alongside Max and May. In attempt to retreat from admitting that he and Misty were having problems, he convinced the others to stay behind so he could see her first. Besides, May and Max were low key fighting, and Bonnie and Clemont were preparing for their part in the tournament. Ash would have never asked Serena to come with him. Therefore, he walked the path alone, with pikachu at his side.
However, after their latest phone call—he was really starting to hate those—he didn't think she would come. She had no reason to, no want, and she certainly didn't need to.
"Pikachuuu." The mouse squawked on his head while he paced the upper escalators of the airport and exhaled quietly.
"Yeah, buddy. I know." Ash sighed, turning away from the terminals and heading towards the exit door. It was nearly seven now, and he never saw the redhead—why would she, anyways? He should have called and canceled the ticket, saved her the trip of gutting him.
Pfft, didn't need him. It was him that didn't need her! He was perfectly fine before she came strolling back into his life! He had everything made out for him; the perfect league champion, a good relationship, respect and... Ash sighed alongside pikachu who felt the same sympathy for his trainer. Who was he kidding? This was an awful feeling; and only Misty could make him feel this way! She plagued every corner of his thoughts—it wasn't healthy to be so...
She never said it after all, he thought to himself in denial. Ash was the one that got cold feet and ran away before she was able to explain herself. Thumbing the phone out of his pocket, he looked down at the empty screen and wondered if he should call her. Apologize for hanging up so abruptly, but, it was probably still turned off, if she even had it at all.
"You know, when I said a quarter after, I didn't mean a quarter to." It was heaven when she spoke, a sarcastic, low-pitched heaven, but his ears rang gleefully. He thought he imagined it at first until he looked up and saw her figure sitting gracefully in the lobby chairs.
"Do you even own a watch?"
With a packed gym bag on the floor beside her, and a tilt in her hips when she stood up, his guts nearly spilled onto the floor. Her head titled at him with a pout, but her eyes glistened in the fading sunlight. It was suddenly very hard to breath, and while pikachu found it easy to charge the redhead, Ash nearly stumbled over his feet and fell on his face. Seeing her was a mix of emotions, none of which relaxed him.
"M-misty?" He stammered awkwardly, eyes wide. He was sure he looked like some kind of magikarp, but she didn't complain.
"The one and only."
"W-why are you here?" he questioned, eyebrows furrowed while she pet pikachu's head and used the opportunity to place pikachu back on Ash's shoulder and to move towards the trainer. Since he was apparently rooted to the floor.
"We had a date, didn't we?"
Didn't we? Even after the horrible week they shared, the cruel, unfair words from both sides, here she stood.
Ash didn't mean to tackle her, nor did he mean to force her knees to buckle, or lose his standing and nearly crush her—he didn't mean to start laughing in the middle of the public airport, drawing every eye and ear to their location. He didn't meant to lean over her inappropriately and mouth fleeting kisses on her neck while she squirmed and shouted at him to get off!
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Whatever, get off, you're making a scene!" She laughed while pushing on his chest. Ash took the hint and stood up, and brought her with him naturally. At least their natural ability to work together didn't fade because of the...fighting.
Ash didn't mean to forgive her but when she was so close to him...
"I'm mad at you." He lied and Misty felt her mouth twitch while she scooped her bag onto her shoulder.
"So we're even then?" She offered, looking ahead and moving towards the exit. He watched aimlessly for any amount of injury, and was relieved to see that there weren't any. His relief didn't last long as the joy of the moment vanished immediately when she didn't turn to face him, or say hello properly, or, well, you know, kiss him. And he felt an uncomfortable rift between them.
"So, if you're mad at me, why would you show up?"
"Ash." Misty breathed, stepping into the busy front of the airport's tunnels. "If I didn't show up just because I was mad at you, I would have never gone to your celebration party."
"So you were mad at me."
"Sort of." Misty admitted, keeping distance from Ash who started to notice right away her shiftiness. He snatched her hand before she could take another step forward, and held her in place and glared into her green eyes.
"Are we okay?"
Misty felt her soul hiccup and shook her head bravely, a sad smile tugging at her lips.
"No."
Author's Note
FIN
Just kidding, you guys would kill me, amirite?
I wasn't sure how I felt about this chapter over all, but I decided that there needed to be a tipping point for the both of them at some point. (What drama is better than all the drama!?)
For those of you wondering, there have been events that alluded to the epilogue of Spitfire, and while I'm sure that there hasn't been enough information for you to see what's happening, there is a reason behind it (Not a very clever reason, but a reason) That we get to eventually (I'm so sorry I haven't replied to the reviewers asking this question ;w;) So technically yes, this is before the events of the epilogue at the end of Spitfire.
Lots of little things hidden in this chapter that allude to things previously and future events. Yay!
NINT
