Hey everybody! Toadettegirl2012 is back with another lovely chapter of Hope is Never Broken! Hooray! Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while it's just that I have a short story to write in my langue arts class and that's like sucking me dry of all me creative fanfiction writing skills! But thank God I turned it in yesterday so now I can focus on more important things like writing some awesome Negaishipping fanfics :)! Anyway let's just cut to the chase and go ahead and read this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon

Chapter 4: Figuring it Out

The clock…ugh that damn clock is it even working? It's 7:38 am. At least that's what the digital clock on the night stand beside me says. I look over at the window; it's coming close to the time for the sun to start rising making the darkish sky a slight pink color. I sit up and heave a sigh, I've been awake ever since 5:00 am and no matter how hard I try I can't fall back to sleep, mostly due to how loud Cilan, who's bed is a few feet from mine, is snoring. Damn, he sounds like a freakin' Exploud!

"Ax…ax..axew…" I look down to see my green dragon type Pokémon clawing for the air, I smile knowing what he wanted, I lay back down and place a lock of my messy purple hair in his grasp. Axew give a sigh and stops his muttering. Axew always liked to cuddle some of my hair when his sleeps I think it's because it's soft or something, I don't mind it well despite the fact he sometimes sticks it in his mouth and gets his dragon type spit all over it. I look back at the clock, 7:40, ugh why is time moving so slow?! I lay in bed next to Axew, listening to Cilan snoring for another fifteen minutes before I can't take it anymore, in place of my hair I place a small amount of bed sheets in Axew arms and quickly get out of bed and slip out of the room.

Without all the lights and the lively bustle the Pokémon center usually undergoes in the day time, the center is now so quiet that all I can hear are people sleeping in their rooms and the sound of my bear feet against the title floor. I walk around in halls of the Pokémon Center watching the shadows dance from the windows to the floor until I'm distracted. Unlike the snoring that I hear from the other rooms around me one room gives a sound that sounds like a moan. I look up to see a door…huh it's the door that leads to Ash's room. There's another tired groan, I blink that groan belongs to Ash. I don't think much about it as I move over to the door and take a peek only to see my raven haired friend lying in bed, groaning loudly.

"Hey, Ash are you okay?" I ask stepping into the room; my voice must have startled him since at the sound of it I see his body jump.

There's a bit of silence, "Iris?" comes his tried sounding voice.

"Yeah it's me," I say closing the door before moving closer to his bed.

"What's the matter you can't sleep either?" Ash asks as he sits up slowly.

"Yeah, I guess I just have a bit on my mind," I take a seat on one the side of his bed and look up at Ash. Purple circles line under his amber eyes which look exhausted, "Ash what's the matter, it looks like you barley slept at all!"

There's a fait groan from Ash, "That's because I really didn't sleep at all…" he says as he runs his fingers through his messy black hair, watching him do that action makes my heart pound a bit faster and my face to grow warm…oh geez not that weird fuzzy feeling again!

"Ugh…my leg it's killing me," Ash moans, I turn to see Ash rubbing his injured leg that was still wrapped in bandages, "it's been keeping me awake since like 4:00 am,"

"Do you want me to get Nurse Joy, so she can give you something to stop the pain?" I ask standing up.

Ash just shakes his head, "That be nice, but I don't think you should," he says with a sheepish smile, "I asked Pikachu to go get her earlier so she could help me to the bathroom and…uh…"

"What happened?" I ask stroking the electric mouse's fur who is fast asleep at the foot of the bed.

Ash laughs a bit, "Uh, let's just say…i-it wasn't very pleasant,"

I look at him and grin, "No tell me what happened,"

Ash hesitates a bit before he starts to explain. He tells of how he needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and Nurse Joy, despite being half awake, helped him into the bathroom. After she had helped get close to the toilet and all, Ash started to empty his bladder of urine inside it. But Nurse Joy must not of had a good hold on Ash because he started to lose his balance just as he started peeing and when Nurse Joy reached out to grab him to help him regain balance, she somehow got in direct fire of Ash's junk! That's when the pink haired nurse found herself being sprayed all over with warm, gross, pee!

"Oh Mew, you pissed all over Nurse Joy?!" I ask covering my mouth to quiet that laughs that bubble out of me.

Ash nods with a grin on his face, he looks the least bit embarrassed about what he did to Nurse Joy and starts to laugh along with me, "Yeah, it got all over her pajamas and I think some got on her face too! It was freakin' hilarious she was all like 'Stop! Stop peeing all over me!'" Ash mimicked the pink haired lady in a high pitched voice, causing me to laugh so hard I almost fall of the bed!

"Oh…oh man, what did she do?" I ask trying to catch my breath.

"She just stood there for a few seconds, giving be this evil eye look, I swear to Acrus, Iris, she was like this close to cussing me out!" says Ash, then he gives a pain filled grunt as he grips his leg, it's obvious that's he's in quite a bit of pain.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get Nurse Joy?" I ask

"Yeah, I don't want her yelling at me," Ash says looking over at me with those amber eyes of his and a smile that makes my face heat up again, "but it was nice of you to ask, Iris…" his voice trails off as I turn away, I can tell by the burning of my cheeks that I'm blushing, but why! Damn it why am I blushing so much lately!

I get up from his bed and start over to the bathroom.

"Iris? Where you going?" Ash asks when I'm standing in front of the bathroom door

"Sorry I just uh…have something on my face," I lie grabbing the door handle.

"Uh, you might not want to go in there," Ash says stopping me with a sheepish grin, "uh Nurse Joy was so mad that as soon as she helped me back in bed she just stormed out of the room and didn't fix the mess in there so…"

I just roll my eyes, "Oh, Ash your making that women's life a living hell right now aren't you?" I say as I come back to his bed and climb up. For some reason I deiced to sit beside him with my head leaned against the headboard.

Ash just gives a chuckle as he looks down and fiddles with his thumbs. He says nothing more, so I don't either. I turn my attention to the window in Ash's room; the sky has changed from a light rose color to a nice dark pink highlighted with a few hues of purple and orange.

"Well it looks like the sun's starting to come up," Ash says breaking the silence that stands between us

"Yeah..." I say with a smile, "watching the sunrise is one of my favorite thing to do…cause you know it give you a warm feeling inside knowing that a new day is starting,"

"Huh…I never thought about the sunrise that way before…and yeah I guess it does give a warm feeling inside," Ash says his amber eyes looking out the window at the colors that painted in the sky, he hardly notices me starting up at him.

I can't help it, for some reason looking up at that face of his sends that warm fuzzy feeling rushing through me, and even though it's a bit annoying I…I think I might like it. I wonder why I keep feeling like this around Ash…his tan face, raven hair, amber eyes, z marked cheeks-oh mew my face is on fire!

I shake my head slightly to clear my head, and turn my attention back to the window, "Um, Ash you know before I started traveling with you and Cilan, I'd always wake up early to watch the sunrise,"

"Really?" he asked not taking his eyes off the window.

"Yeah…and since Axew was always too tired to wake up, this is the first time I've had anyone sit and watch it with me," I see him look down at me, I snuggle a bit closer to Ash, "and it feels nice to have one of my best friends watch it with me…" I let my voice trail off as Ash just continues to stare at me, those amber eyes… there so lovely…and for some reason I can't make myself look away from them.

"Yeah…watching the sunrise with you Iris, i-it does feel nice," what Ash says doesn't really register as I just sit there focusing on that…that attractive face of his…attractive…why is it attractive … to be honest, I don't know but at the moment I don't really care, looking at it makes that fuzzy feeling rise in me then in a sudden wave envelope my entire body. And instead of awkward and weird it actually feels…nice.

The staring last for a few more seconds before Ash does something a little unexpected, he starts to lean in close to me, his amber eyes, I was gazing into slowly, slip close and his lips form an odd shape-

"Ash what are you-" but I'm cut off when he suddenly presses his lips against mine! Ash's lips only touch touches mine for two milliseconds before I pull away, my face on fire, instead of the warm fuzzy pleasant/awkward feeling inside me it shock!

"Ash what the hell was that for!" I ask pulling away and slugging him hard in the shoulder with my fist.

Ash looks at me a bit shocked, as his cheeks flare up into a crimson red color, "Oh…uh I uh I-Iris I di-didn't mean to I-I uh…"

I get up from the bed, "Ash why you kiss me?" I ask as my fingertips rest on my lips, Ash doesn't answer me he just looks at me with wide eyes, "ASH WHY DID YOU KISS ME LIKE THAT?" I repeat, as my voice rises as I start to feel angry.

"I just thought…I-I mean I was just I…uh…I um…" Ash stammers his neck and ears quickly turning the same shade of red as his face.

I feel confused and at the same time the fuzzy feeling's back! But it's mixed with anger and now it was a feeling that I couldn't really describe! I stand there as Ash continues to babble as I continue to give him a glare.

'Why did that little kid just do that?' I think, 'that was so awkward! He just leaned in and kissed me…well it was more like a peck on the lips but still! It was so weird but at the same time it felt really good…and his lips were soft too…oh mew my face is burning…but that's only supposed to happen if… ' I flinch slightly as I start to realize something, 'that feeling could it be…t-that I'm starting to have….a crush on Ash?' I gasp, that's it! No…well could it be it? I mean it could…but could it really be true?!

Suddenly feeling embarrassed and awkward, I don't know what to do but just quickly head for the door. Ash stops his mumbles for a second and calls out my name but I can barely make it out as I rush out of the room and down the hall and back to my bed. I yank the covers over my head and stuff my head under my pillow as I think about what had just happened…and at the same time try to ignore Cilan's loud snoring.

"Alright everything about to go under way with Ash's surgery," Nurse Joy tells us at 9:15, she turns to Virgil who had shown up an half hour earlier, "now all I need are those Psychic Pokémon of yours, Virgil and we can go ahead and start,"

"Right," Virgil says and pulls out a pokeball, "Espeon deploy!" in a bright flash his pink Espeon appears and elegantly says its name.

"Now, Espeon can use Psychic very well, correct?" Nurse Joy asks

"Yes, and it showed it yesterday when it went up against my Pansage in battle," Cilan says, "it packed quite a punch but it had a hint of elegant flare-"

"Alright Cilan we get it," I snap rolling my eyes, at the connoisseur who gives me an odd look, but I quickly brush it off.

"My Umbreon also knows Psychic just as well as my Espeon so if it gets tried I can just switch it out," Virgil states holding up what I believe is Umbreon's pokeball.

"Perfect," Nurse Joy says, "now this way Espeon and I show you exactly what to do," nurse quickly starts to leads the way to the room she'll be giving Ash the Psychic surgery.

"Now this Psychic surgery, how long is it going to last?" Cilan asks

"Um abut a good ten of more hours depending on how bad the injury is" Nurse Joy says.

"How long will Ash's surgery take?" I ask Pikachu and Axew look at the nurse wondering the same thing.

"Well the way that Ash's leg broken and since it's my first time doing Psychic surgery on a human…" Nurse Joy stops to think for a second, "I'd have to say about thirteen to fourteen hours"

"But what about the Pokémon Center?" Virgil asks, "Who's going to run the front desk and take care of the sick and hurt Pokémon that'll come in today?"

Nurse Joy waves her hand in the air, "Don't worry about that, a substitute Nurse Joy and her Audino are coming in to take over for the day, ah here we are," Nurse Joy stops at a door, which she then opens and walks inside.

"Now Espeon make sure to do everything Nurse Joy tells you to do alright?" Virgil instructs to his Pokémon who give a nod of its head before slipping into the room after the nurse, Pikachu and Axew do the same, I guess they want to see Ash before he goes under a thirteen hour surgery.

Cilan and Virgil starts to go in as well but then stops as they realizes I'm not following, "What's the matter, Iris, don't you want to say anything to Ash before he goes under surgery?"

I look briefly down at the floor, "Uh yeah I'll talk to him…it's just that…" to be honest I still felt awkward about what happened this morning.

"Oh…we get it," Virgil says giving Cilan a nudge, "you want to talk to Ash alone, don't you?" at this both boys snicker.

I narrow my eyes at them, "What's so funny?" I ask, wanting to get in on whatever joke they were laughing about, "besides what's wrong with talking to Ash alone? I mean I don't want to…er uh…I'll talk to him later that's all!"

"Oh, Iris we completely understand" Cilan said, before going into the room followed by Virgil.

I stare back at the floor, 'Stupid jerks, ugh what's there problem with all the laughing whenever I talk about Ash?' but this only brings blush to my face as I then start to think about those amber eyes I started into this morning.

I keep my eyes locked on the floor but it only takes a few seconds (and my impatient nature) before I find myself looking up and peering right through the door and into the room, Ash was in. He's sitting on a bed, dark circles still line under his eyes I guess he still couldn't sleep after I left his room earlier, Pikachu is cuddling him and Axew sitting on Ash's lap waiting for a hug. Nurse Joy in the corner showing Espeon the x-ray machine she'll be using and seems to be explain what the Psychic Pokémon will do during the thirteen hour surgery.

"When you're up on your feet again Ash, I'm challenging you to a battle," Virgil says

"Sure anything to get some extra practice in for the Unova League," Ash says with that goofy smile of his, "besides I want to see Team Eevee in action!"

"Pika pi chu!" Pikachu says giving a tiny fist pump and looking determinedly at Eevee who sits on Virgil's shoulder.

"Eevee vee eevee!" she exclaims giving the same determined look, before giving a smile and jumping down from Virgil's shoulder and starting a game of chase. Axew jumps down from Ash's lap and starts into the fun as well but it short lived when Nurse Joy stops them.

"No, no!" Nurse Joy exclaims, "no running around the x-ray machine you three, if you want to run you must outside,"

"Aud audnio!" Audnio says shooing the three playful Pokémon towards the door.

"Oh, sorry," I say as Audino squeezes around me as she continues to force Pikachu, Eevee and Axew out the door, when they're out of the way I find myself standing in the door way of the room with Cilan, Virgil and Ash all staring at me.

I ignore the green haired connoisseur and Pokémon Rescue team member and look over my raven haired friend. I look up at his face, only to have his amber lock with mine, heat rushes to my face, but I finding myself giving Ash a small wave of my hand. I mean I still felt awkward and weird from this morning so it's the best I can give. Ash feel the same way about this morning because as he looks at me I notice how bright pink his cheeks turn and he gives me a small lopsided smile before looking down at his hands, which he quickly starts to mess with. I can't tell if Ash's actions are out of embarrassment or maybe it's out of-

"Have you changed your mind about talking to Ash, Iris?" Virgil asks, breaking my train of thought.

"Huh? Oh…I was just uh-" I start

"We'll leave if you want some privacy" Cilan adds

I narrow my eyes at them again, "No, guys I'm fine I don't need to talk to Ash, I was just…" as I say this I notice how Ash's looking at me, but the second I catch his gaze he looks away quickly his smile gone from his face, "um…I going to go cheek on how Axew, Pikachu and Eevee are doing,"

I quickly make my way out of the room, as I do so I think about what I had confirmed to myself a few hours ago.

(Flashback, normal POV)

'I do I really do…´ Iris thought in awe to herself, 'I mean it explains everything…the blushing and the nervousness around him…' her fingers brush against her lips where she had received a small peck form Ash a few moments before, '…I just wonder what took me so long to figure it out…I mean he's right there all the time every day and it's just now that I figure out I have feeling for him damn it sometimes I'm so stupid! But…*sigh*…that cute little kid,' a warm feeling filed her as she thought of the raven haired boy, 'wow…who knew I'd fall in love with a little kid like Ash?' she then frowned, 'but what do I do now…do I tell Ash about liking him…pffth no, Iris that's a retarded idea it'd be best if I kept it to myself…I mean telling Ash about love is like talking to a brick wall besides he's too dense to understand love…'

The purple haired girl then stopped and suddenly sat up in bed, "Then what did that peck on the lips mean?" she wondered aloud.

Hmmm…what did that kiss mean? And what will Iris do with these new found feeling for Ash and what does Ash think about Iris? And more importantly what about that blue notebook and what does hold? Find out in the next chapter of Hope Is Never Broken!

Sorry it was a bit short and it took me so long to post it but school has been a pain in the ass lately! Ugh, and testing starts tomorrow for me, wish me lucky guys!

BYE:Toadettegirl2012

PS: I'll get the next chapter as soon as I can

PPS: Review please (they make me happy!)

Chapter edited: 8/1/13