Misty stuffed her frostbitten hands into her pockets and walked the icy streets of the city alone, it was only 5 o clock and the sky was already pitch black and scattered with stars. She looked around as she passed brightly decorated shops full of people in a rush. Only a week left until Christmas. The lightly falling snow made her shiver so she browsed for a cosy cafe to get a hot beverage and keep herself warm. She'd get ill if she kept walking around on a dark winters evening wearing no more than a pair of shorts, t-shirt and trainers. "I should buy a coat while I'm here, its freezing" she moaned, heaving her backpack over her shoulder.

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Hold me tight, strong enough to break me
If we meet in a biting cold blizzard
I won't feel cold, and
I miss you everytime I think of you
This scarf that I knit for you
I'm holding it alone tonight

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Ash scanned the crowds of Christmas shoppers for Misty's face as he squeezed his way through the busy streets. He massaged his pink frostbitten knuckles and stayed on a spot to get a good look at all the shops. "If I were Misty and I wanted to hide from me, where would I go first?" he wondered. "this is too hard!"

Misty slouched into a chair in the corner of a nearby cafe. She breathed gently on her cocoa before sipping it, every drop keeping her warm as she watched the snowflakes drifting around outside. The cafe was small and cramped with customers armed with shopping bags, standing around drinking tea to keep themselves from getting cold. "I'll be safe here. He'll never find me in a place like this"

Ash walked right past the cafe Misty was hiding in and looked at some clothes stores. "That's it! She told me last night that she wanted to buy a new coat. She must be in one of these stores shopping for clothes." He browsed one after another and searched frantically for her. He even walked to the changing rooms at the back to see if she was hiding in them, gently tugging at the curtains of each cubicle saying "Misty, is that you in there?" only to hear a shrieking woman scream "NO! Get away before I tell security about you" from behind the curtain every time. He gave up on that search tactic and decided to ask around a little, starting with the employees. He approached a sales clerk at the counter and leaned forward "Hey, you didn't happen to see a young red haired girl about my age come in here earlier and buy a jacket in the last 5 minutes, did you?" The sales clerk shifted his eyes around the store "No, I'm sorry. Can't say that I have. Is there anything you'd like to purchase sir?" Ash looked around the store at all the jackets they were selling. Then it caught his eye. A pretty charcoal coat hung at the back of the store, looking very comfortable, with fake fur around the edges of the hood. "That would keep her warm, its perfect! I'll take that one" He pointed towards it. The sales clerk looked at the price. "It's quite expensive, are you sure?" Ash opened his wallet. "Of course! No number is too high" The sales clerk scanned the tag of the jacket "Buying it as a present for your friend?" He asked. "Not just some friend." corrected Ash, handing the money over "my best friend"

After 3 cups of cocoa Misty was starting to get short on money and excuses to stay inside. She stood up and grabbed her backpack. "I should go check out what jackets they're selling around here" she took a step outside the cafe and felt the chill winds bite into her again, draining all the warmth from her. "I badly need one" She treaded along the icy path down to the clothes stores, bumping into dozens of tall adults, bustling in and out of stores, when out of nowhere she knocked into a young boy the same height as her, who was squeezing his way through the crowds too.

Misty rubbed her forehead "Hey! Watch where you're-"

She stopped dead in her tracks. Who she thought was a complete stranger in a hurry to get his Christmas shopping turned out to be the last person she wanted to see right now.

Ash's frosted lips parted slightly as he stared in awe at the girl in front of him. The colour had drained from her fragile body and her complexion was as white as the snow falling around them.

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If there were an eternally falling snow
This feeling I have for you, could I hide it?

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After an awkward silence that felt like an eternity for both of them, Ash finally broke it with "H-Hey Mist..."

She started to shiver again, she couldn't tell if it was the effect Ash's presence was having on her or if it was the harsh winter night. She tried thinking of something to say, but no words came out. She wanted to run from him but she was unable to move at this point, petrified from the snow and the unpleasant surprise he gave her.

He continued to make an effort. "I don't know exactly what I did to hurt you, but if it's about me breaking those two promises in a row then I'm really sorry."

She finally let out a gentle breath of condensation and spoke up "You just don't get it, do you? Yes that did hurt me... But there's something you did that hurt more than any pain I ever felt in my whole life"

Ash took a step closer to her "Then please tell me what it is, I can fix it!"

Misty's eyelids clenched shut, she refused to look at him. She knew that if she kept staring into his deep brown eyes she'd get weak and lose herself in them "No you can't! Nothing will ever erase the damage."

Ash tried to think of other reasons she'd have to be this way but still couldn't understand what he did to make her this upset. "Everything was going great for us apart from when I told her I'd follow back to the hotel room and take her to the double battle, if there's something else then what is it? All I did since she got here was hang out with Melody so I haven't done anything else to get on Misty's nerves - wait! Is that what she's upset about?" After a long pause he spoke again, this time with a challenging question. "Is it something to do with Melody?"

She didn't answer.

"It's something to do with her, isn't it?"

"...maybe"

"Why? If she's to blame then what did she do to make you hate me so much?"

Misty perked her head up and locked her eyes on his with a fierce glare "You think I hate you?"

Ash trembled, taken aback by her sudden question. "well.." he couldn't finish.

She scraped a star shape in the slushy iced pavement while thinking of something to say. "Just because I'm furious doesn't mean I hate you... You're stupid for thinking like that" she grumbled.

Ash let out a sigh of relief. "So what's the deal with Melody then? You're changing the subject"

She turned her back to him and faced the gentle breeze as snow pierced her delicate skin like a knife "I can't tell you that."

Ash gritted his teeth, remembering what Brock said to him: "It's not my place to tell you. The only way you'll find out is if you catch up with Misty and hear it from her and no one else and if she can't bring herself to tell you, then it's just something you have to figure out by yourself" There was no way Ash could figure this one out by himself. He wasn't exactly the sharpest Scyther in the forest. He thought that after 4 years of travelling with Misty that he would be able to understand her more by now, but he never paid much attention to her, always distracted by battles. Even when he did make an effort to get to know her better she would just coldly drive him away, leaving him more confused than ever. "I don't get it. Melody distracted me from keeping my promises to Misty, but if that isn't what made her so mad at me then what else did Melody do to-" Then it hit him like a snowball in the face. "Because she tried to kiss me?!? how would that upset her? unless..." Ash let out a surprised "oh" and looked up at Misty, her back still turned to him, hands in her pockets, rooted to the spot using one foot to make patterns in the frosty pavement subconsciously. He ran in front of her and stared directly into her face "I figured it out. You didn't want Melody to kiss me. You wouldn't battle with me because I was supposed to follow you and you caught Melody trying to kiss me, isn't that right?" he said simply.

Misty's eyes widened. "how did he know that?"

Misty didn't answer. Her silence confirmed that his theory was correct so he continued talking, knowing that he finally got to her. "Look, even though she almost kept me from coming to the battle with you, the important thing is that I didn't let her kiss me and I caught up with you, didn't I?" He assumed that she was annoyed with him because he arrived late, not because she was jealous. He still wasn't aware that she was crazy about him.

"But, I saw her kiss you!" she protested nervously.

Ash tilted his head slightly like a confused Growlithe "You saw her kiss me? How long were you there?"

Her face went a pale shade of pink "I couldn't watch the whole thing, I ran away before she actually kissed you."

Ash blinked at her "oh... well if you stayed long enough you would of seen me back away from her and run out of the room. I haven't spoken to her since, you can ask Brock"

Misty felt her heart pound with hope again "r-really?"

Ash gave her a strange look as he saw the smile slowly spread back to her face and scratched his head "wait, why weren't you able to look anyway?"

Misty almost jumped out of her skin and quickly thought of an excuse "b-because I was going to be late for my battle..." she gingerly scraped her shoe along the ground, peeling a layer of ice off the pavement again, something that had been keeping her occupied for the last 30 minutes now. At least it felt like 30 minutes to her.

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Hold me tight if I think like this
I didn't want to know
What it was like to fall in love with someone
I love you; my chest fills up
I want to cry out to the winter sky
I want to see you now

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Ash wasn't able to understand what Misty meant earlier when she confronted him saying "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with Melody?" as tears fell down her face. But now it all made sense to him. "Misty felt neglected and jealous?!?"

Ash buried his hands in his pockets and admired the ground with her. "What almost happened yesterday in the ballroom... really upset you, didn't it?" They were both unable to drag their eyes away from the patterns of stars and swirls that were now engraved in the snow at their feet, a result of Misty's nervous fidgeting.

Again, he had shot another question at her that she couldn't bear to answer, kept her eyes fixated on the pavement.

Ash took a deep breath "You know, there's a reason I wasn't able to kiss Melody"

Misty lifted her head slightly "yeah?"

"Well just before she kissed me, I honestly wasn't even thinking of my promise to you. My mind was blank because she was so forward. I felt intimidated"

She narrowed her eyes "Are you going anywhere with this?"

Ash continued with his explanation "even though I felt cornered and unable to move, for some reason a thought popped into my head. A voice at the back of the mind was just screaming at me to get away so I just ran out of there. I mean, I'm still a kid you know? I'll become a pokemon master first, then I can worry about all that girl stuff years from now"

He hoped Misty would take this as a subtle rejection. The last thing he wanted was Misty, or any girl for that matter, to act romantic towards him.

Misty's lips parted slightly to leak a soft sigh as she arched her neck to look at the stars "someday you'll see what was right in front of you all along"

"...Hey, Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I forgot to buy a coat, can you come with me?"

Ash gave himself a self punishing slap on the forehead. "Oh that's right! Can't believe I didn't remember it sooner" he exclaimed, opening his backpack.

Misty got curious "What is it?"

Ash pulled out the expensive coat he purchased earlier. "spread out your arms" he commanded gently

Misty put her hand to her mouth in disbelief "Ash, you didn't! f-for me?"

Ash stood behind her and slipped the coat onto her freezing body, giving it a slight tug while fastening the zip for her and raising his eyes to meet hers. She was speechless, her eyes glazed over and reflecting the city lights like turquoise pools. "you look nice..." he commented dreamily, captivated by her. He wasn't even aware that he was saying it out loud until he noticed Misty giving him a strange look.

Now feeling uncomfortable, Ash quickly snapped out of his romantic mood and returned to his normal self "well consider it an early Christmas present" he chuckled jokingly. He took a step back and stroked his chin while eyeing her from head to toe in admiration "Do I have good taste or what?" He gloated proudly. "Yes you do" she giggled, starting to feel at ease again. "Maybe it really is possible for us to keep our strong bond. It worked that way for four years, nothing could change that now... could it?

Ash jumped to her side "Good to hear!... soooo, where's my present? Did ya bring me one, huh Mist? Did ya?" he gave her a playful poke into her stomach.

"Stop, Ash! that tickles!"

"No, of course nothing will ever change between us. He's still the same stupid, irresponsible, reckless Ash Ketchum I met four years ago...

and I love him.

I love him"

"I love you" she blurted subconsciously, surprising herself just as much as she surprised him. "damn I was supposed to be thinking that, not saying it!"