Merry Christmas everyone! As promised I bring you all the gift of a long chapter. I've been working on it for a while, so I think it turned out well. Anyway this chapter is actually a dedication, to those who lost their lives in the Connecticut incident, and to both of my grandmothers, who I have been thinking of all this month. One grandmother I had lost at least ten years ago on the 15th of December, the other grandmother I had just lost last year in June. It's amazing how when people die we seem to think about them the most, not that we don't think of them when their alive, but when they're gone and we know we can't speak to them it seems like we think about them more and all the things we want to say to them. Well before I start to cry I better stop talking. Enjoy!
Chapter 8: The Perfect Christmas Gift
The sun began to fade over the horizon once again as Misty stood outside her gym. She loved summer and getting a chance to wear a bikini on the beach, but being a water pokemon trainer she would never admit in public that she liked winter the most.
She hugged her light brown winter coat closer to her as she smiled at the first star of the evening.
"It's getting late, I better hurry." She placed her hands in her pockets and began to cross the street. Having traveled Cerulean streets many nights, she adored the time during the holidays when she got to see everything decorated in tinsel and Christmas lights. As she inhaled deeply she could smell delicious food cooking from far away and she heard children laughing as they played with each other.
She smiled, enjoying every moment. She was especially happy today. After working hard for a few months, she finally got the night off from working and closed the gym up early. She and her sisters had spent most of the day decorating the interior of the gym, and after spending a while trying to decide where to put the Christmas tree, she had gotten fed up with it and decided to sneak away for a bit. Besides, there was something else she had wanted to do today.
As she turned another corner her mind began to trace back to the past. She remembered herself as a scared, frantic, distressed ten-year-old running this exact path. She had on short blue jean shorts with red suspenders from the rim set around her shoulders. She had on a short yellow tank top shirt that was a bit worn from weeks of wear and tear. She had on red shoes, carried a red bag, and wore her hair in a messy ponytail. She was sick of the teasing, sick of the disrespect, sick of being an outcast, and sick of the world. She wanted more, and she needed more, so she ran…and ran…until she came to a spot she never thought she would see again.
It was the very spot she stood today. She smiled weakly as she remembered the first time she came here, crying out of frustration and desperation. She sighed as she knelt down, and stared off into space for a while until the feel of the wind carried her back to the present.
"Oh, I forgot I have been holding these flowers all this time," she smiled as she laughed to herself. "You guys must forgive me; I've been daydreaming a lot today." She placed the flowers in a vase that was on the ground. "I hope the wind doesn't get too hard tonight and blow them away. I would hate for them to get trampled."
She sighed as she looked fondly into space again. Her eyes set upon an object that was brightened by the setting sun. She read their names on the tombstone for what seemed like the thousandth time.
Coral Waterflower
Loving Mother and Devoted Wife
Alex Waterflower
Loving Father and Devoted Husband
Then she read the short poem that was beneath these names.
Though you walk into the light hand and hand today,
Remember that our love never fades away.
Though we may grow older we will never forget,
The love we felt from you that we can't regret.
From your loving children: Daisy, Violet, Lily, and Misty
She remembered the day she cried when her sisters told her that they weren't going to put her name on the tombstone at first. Now all she could do was laugh and shake her head.
"It's funny the way life goes don't you think so? They hated me for all these years, and then they forget your birthday of all days." Misty laughed. "Happy birthday, mother. I'm sorry I couldn't get you anything this year, I would have but funds are so low at home."
She smiled and continued, "No, it's not that we aren't getting money, we're just not getting enough. The princesses spend it just as quickly as it comes." She sighed and looked around at the scenery. She was still pleasantly surprised that the grass was still being cut despite the weather. She laid her back to the ground and closed her eyes.
"You both are so lucky to have this relaxing spot. You have a small lake on one side and you face Mt. Moon on the other, not to mention you can still see parts of the city too." She sat back up. "And what about you, dad, how are you feeling today? Hopefully you've been keeping mom company."
She closed her eyes and felt the wind brush against her cheek. "Oh dad, I love you too. Don't be so emotional." She paused again. "Don't worry I'll come to see you both even after the wedding. I'll let you guys see Ash too. He's grown a lot from the pictures I had shown you. You will love him too he's absolutely amazing." She placed a hand to her heart and smiled. "He's my everything. I never thought I could love someone so much. I've been blessed just to know that he's in my life."
She didn't want to cry in front of her parents so she laughed instead. "But he can have a reckless streak and he still has his dense moments. But I wouldn't trade it for anything else in the world."
She laid back down on the ground, which was getting colder now due to the falling temperature. "I wonder…what mom thought of when she met dad for the first time. Or maybe when she was walking down the aisle on their wedding day, what was she thinking? I wonder…oh well I guess I'll find out in a few weeks." She looked at the clouds that were gathering. She heard of the chance of snow and she had wanted to see it, but didn't think she could last long in this cold weather.
She closed her eyes. "Mom…dad…when you both imagined your future what did you think of? A home? Kids? Or was it something more…?"
"Misty?"
"Mmmm…wha—?"
"C'mon, baby, wake up."
"Aww, do I have to…"
"Unless you want to freeze to death, and I won't let you do that."
Misty sat up. She didn't realize how dark it gotten, nor how cold it was either. "I must have…fallen asleep."
She looked to her left to see Ash's scowl. "Misty don't you know how dangerous that is? We were worried, we didn't know where you were, and you were out here all alone sleeping in the cold."
"I'm sorry. I was out here talking and must have dozed off." She smiled.
Ash wasn't so angry anymore knowing that Misty was safe and forgot his rant that he had planned for her when he found her. "Who were you talking to in a graveyard?"
"My parents," she said lazily.
"Huh?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly, finally waking up, "Let me introduce you!" She turned to the tombstone happily. "Mom, dad, this is Ash. Isn't he so handsome?"
Ash blushed. "Misty…you, I mean do you really…well how do you even…?" Ash flustered over his words, unable to comprehend what was going on.
"How do I talk to them? It mostly comes from your heart instead of your head. Just talk like you haven't talked to a good friend of yours in a long time, or better yet, talk to them like you're talking to your best friend in the whole world, someone you can tell anything to," she replied.
"I see." Ash nodded, then knelt down to the ground. "You know, I want to let you both know that you have a great daughter here," he began to blush again, "But she was a bit of a pest when we first met…"
"Oh shut up. You're just a big baby," she scowled and hit him on the back of the head.
"Ow! See she still hits people too!" Ash laughed.
"You want me to kick you don't you?"
He kept laughing and stood up to run away as she brought her leg back behind her, as if she was about to kick a football. She then huffed and turned back to her parents. "He was just as much of a pest as I was trust me, but at least he's a little smarter now. I'll see you both soon."
"Hey I heard that!" Ash pouted.
"It was a compliment silly. You're lucky to be getting one." She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed.
"Well don't I feel honored to get a compliment from the proud and gracious Misty of Cerulean City—"
"Aw shut up already," Misty joked, rolling her eyes at him. She had turned around to leave, but then remembered the vase of flowers sitting by the tombstone. "It's going to get colder tonight. Do you think they'll be ok?"
Ash gave her a dumbfounded look and Misty elaborated, "Not my parents, silly, the flowers. I don't want them to get blown away or freeze. What should we do?"
Ash thought for a moment and then had a little idea. Misty watched as he took off his scarf. "Ash, what are you—"
"This should keep the flowers from blowing away." He wrapped his thick scarf around the vase and flattened it out at the bottom to provide a stronger base for it. He then tried to shield a couple of flowers from the wind by covering them with part of the scarf. "Hmmm, I don't know if it would be able to protect them completely, but at least from the western wind."
"Ash, that's your scarf, you don't have to do that. It's only going to get colder and you might catch a cold," Misty said.
"It's fine, Misty don't worry about it. Besides it's only a scarf anyway I can always get another." He turned to Misty and smiled. "Are you hungry? Maybe we should get something to eat before going back."
Misty was still shocked by the simple act of kindness that Ash showed. "Uh, sure. Thanks Ash for doing that, it was really sweet."
Ash smile seem to have gotten brighter at those words. "Anything for you, my little Corsola. It was nothing."
"So that's why you were at the cemetery," Ash said as he bit into a piece of steak. He and Misty had taken a turn into a small restaurant that happens to be known for the best steak in Cerulean. Having been there several times, Ash could determine this to be a fact. Misty sat across from him sipping on her tea and lemon.
"Yeah, today is my mom's birthday, and I was just sitting there and thinking about stuff and I just fell off to sleep. I didn't even realize it until you woke me because it was so comfortable."
"Comfortable?" Ash repeated. "Misty it's like 50 degrees outside no way is that comfortable. Especially without a blanket. After all the years we spent sleeping outside you should know that just as much as I do."
"Well, now that I think about it, I was never really that cold, especially when Togepi was with me. Besides, I always managed to keep myself warm," she smiled fondly as she remembered those days.
"Really? How? Togepi was really small so it couldn't have kept you that warm. What were you doing?"
"Uhhh…" Misty flinched a bit. She wasn't quite ready to admit that back when her crush on Ash was developing, she spent nights thinking about her and Ash snuggled up close together under the blankets. It always made her really warm…
As she felt a blush coming on she quickly changed the subject, "Uhm anyway Ash, thanks for coming to look for me, it was really sweet."
Ash smiled. "Well duh Misty you are my fiancée I have to look out for you." After saying this he cut a piece of his meat and picked it up with his fork. He then moved it closer to Misty's lips. "Open."
Misty happily obliged as she tasted the juicy meat in her mouth. "You're always sweet to me," she replied.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you weren't before."
"That was before I realized how beautiful you were."
Misty blushed for what seemed like the tenth time that night as Ash began to ask her another question.
"So do you always give your parents gifts for birthdays and stuff?"
"Only sometimes. I would usually get mom some flowers, but all the flower place had were daisies. Tulips went fast this year for some reason," Misty answered.
"Tulips? Is that your mom's favorite flower?"
Misty nodded. "Yes, mom always loved that flower, although I have no idea why. Daisy said that mom had grown flowers a lot as a child but I think it's another reason why she loves it."
"And why is that?" Ash leaned forward.
Misty winked at him. "Women tend to love the flowers they receive by their boyfriends. My guess is dad gave her a lot of tulips while they were going out, but I guess we'll never know the real answer. It's fun to think I'm right though," she giggled.
"I thought it was weird at first how you talked to your parents like that, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense," Ash replied, finishing off his steak. "I wonder if my mom used to do that too."
"Have you ever been to your dad's grave?" Misty asked.
"I don't even know where it is. But I suppose that's ok. It would be awkward to go anyway."
Misty nodded, "It was weird at first for me, but they were the only ones I could talk to at the time, and over time it felt like I was getting closer to them."
"How can you get close to someone that's not even alive?"
"I guess that's the part that's the hardest to explain." She closed her eyes as she tried to think of a good answer. "Maybe it's like how you wanted to win that battle against Lance. The determination was there but you just had to reach out for it. It's the same with me and my parents. I always knew they were watching me, but in the end I had to reach out to them because they couldn't do the same to me. I wanted to know them, to feel their presence, and for them to know that I could feel them. That way it's easier to stay in contact. Dreams are just dreams until you achieve them."
Ash's eyes widened at those words. He knew she could be deep, but the way she explained it all made so much more sense. "H-have you achieved your dream?"
Misty let her head fall a bit. "To be honest with you, I'm not exactly sure if I even had one to begin with. I wanted to be as close to my parents as I could but no matter how hard I try I can't feel them, I can't even see them, or touch them, or hear them. But…at least I know a bit about them, and that makes me happy. But if I had any dreams in life I could say for sure that I have achieved at least one dream of mine."
"And what's that?"
She smiled brightly. "I have you."
Ash awoke with a start early the next morning. He had ended up spending the night at Misty's gym because it was too late to ride back to Pallet. But getting back home didn't matter to him at the moment. He looked around him sleepily from his sleeping bag. He still slept in Misty's room, but respected her privacy enough to sleep on the floor instead of in the bed with her. He looked from his sleeping Pikachu to his sleeping girlfriend and smiled. He wasn't the first to get up often but he liked it when he was. He carefully crawled out of the bag, careful not to disturb Pikachu, and crept out of the room. Unlike the quietness of Misty's room, downstairs was a bit lively.
"Ashy, there you are!" Lily stumbled to him. "Good morning, darling," she laughed.
"Lily are you drunk? It's like 10 in the morning!" Ash said as he tried to keep her from falling.
Lily moaned happily, "Mmmmm, I'm always drunk around you, Ashy…" She laughed hysterically. Ash finally pulled Lily off him and sat her at the breakfast table.
"Sorry 'bout that Ash," Kai murmured, sipping on coffee. "She got into Daisy's eggnog hard this morning."
"Uh, yeah I can see that." Ash shook his head and laughed. "Hey by the way, have you seen Daisy? I want to ask her something."
"Oh, she's in the battle area training with Vi," Kai answered. "Hey, don't tell me you're having troubles with Misty again?"
Ash shook his head. "Nothing like that, I've learned my lesson. I didn't know that Violet and Daisy were training."
"Yeah, she usually trains with me every day, but today Daisy beat me to it. Do you want to watch?"
"But what about Lily?"
Ash halted his concern once he noticed her head was on the table and her light snoring could be heard.
Kai laughed. "Oh I think she'll be just fine. C'mon let's go."
When Kai and Ash finally got to the battle area of the gym they were witnessing an intense match between Violet's Chinchou and Daisy's Cloyster. As soon as they reached the bleachers that faced the pool, a strong cry was heard from the purple-haired trainer:
"Chinchou, thunder wave go!" Sparks flew from Chinchou's antennas as it shot forward like a rocket, heading right towards the purple shelled menace.
Daisy smiled from across the water, satisfied that her opponent had no choice but to charge in to attack. "Cloyster, use spike cannon!" The shelled pokemon hid its face with its armor and had glowed a bright white as dozens of spikes were shot forth and propelled right at Chinchou. The poor little blue pokemon had no choice to use its thunder wave as a barrier, but it only lasted so long before it took most of the damage from the attack and ended up spiraling backwards.
"Chinchou!" Violet yelled.
Daisy snapped her fingers, calling her next attack, "Let's finish this Cloyster! Ice beam!" Cloyster had opened up its shell again, revealing a dark, yet smiling face. A steady beam of ice came out of Cloyster's mouth and made contact with Chinchou before it had a chance to recover. Chinchou screamed out in pain from the freezing cold until finally it collapsed, unable to continue.
Violet sighed sadly, yet she gave her older sister a smile. "That was a good match." She recalled her pokemon and gave it words of encouragement. "You were great out there, little one. Don't be too disheartened, you held your own facing a high level Cloyster."
Daisy smiled and turned to face Ash and Kai after returning Cloyster. "Oh hi boys I didn't see you there. I see you liked the match right?"
Both men nodded. "It was great," Ash replied. "Your Cloyster is really awesome."
"Of course," Daisy shrugged, "I've had it since it was a baby Shellder and it was my first pokemon." Then she turned to Violet as she made her way from the other side of the pool, "But Violet did really well considering that fact. She managed to inflict some serious damage on Cloyster before you guys came in."
Violet nodded. "You're still as strong as ever Daisy, and thanks for training with my Chinchou I think it learned a lot. Unfortunately I don't know if it will ever be able to evolve and get stronger…"
"Aw don't be so pessimistic, Vi," Kai patted her shoulder, "When it wants to evolve it will."
"He's right," Ash agreed wholeheartedly, "Trust me pokemon are just as strong whether or not they evolve, but it all depends on the strength of the trainer. Just look at my Pikachu for example, he's got plenty of heart and strength and he didn't even evolve into a Raichu to get it."
Violet looked to Ash and smiled. "You're right. I guess we both still have a lot of work to do."
"No matter how strong we get we never stop learning," Kai said. "C'mon Vi, you can help me pick up your mess of a sister off the kitchen table and some place where she can sober up."
Violet rolled her eyes, "Aw geez that should be fun." As Kai and Violet left to face another challenge Ash remembered his question he had for Daisy.
"Hey Daisy can I ask you something?"
The blond looked a bit surprised but nodded reluctantly. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing like that, I just need help with something for Misty."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Ash rubbed his nose as he began to blush. "Well, it's just…Misty told me about her parents. I found her last night talking to them at their gravesite, and then she told how she had wanted to get closer to them, but this is pretty much impossible physically. I want to help her and make her feel better about the relationship she has with them, but honestly I have no idea how to do that. If there's anything I want to give to her this Christmas it would be to let her have a better closeness to her parents that she should have. Sometimes it just feels like there's something holding her back, besides the fact that her parents are long gone, and I want to help her through it. Since you know the most about your parents maybe you can help me? Anything to tell her to give her encouragement would do," Ash replied.
Daisy was shocked. "Ash…you really think I would be able to help you? I lost that connection with our parents too…I doubt I would be much help to you or to Misty." She saw the sadness streak across his face. She didn't want him to be sad…maybe there was one thing she could do, after all he would be just like a younger brother in about a month.
A younger brother…Daisy smiled. "Ash I think it's wonderful how you want to help Misty in this way. You're like the first person who actually came out openly about our parents like this, and the fact that you want to help Misty by doing this…you know," she placed a hand on her cheek, "there might be at least one thing I can do for you. Follow me."
Daisy led a confused Ash through the halls, and she couldn't help but smile a bit as she looked back at him. "Now I know why Misty likes you so much. At first I thought it was because you were cute, or because she knows you better than anyone else, but it's more to that isn't it? You don't like Misty just because she's cute, it's the connection you have with her. I see that now…so that's what it's like…"
"Huh? What do you mean Daisy?"
Daisy giggled and she shooed away his question with a wave with her hand. "Come on, it's just a bit farther now."
Ash looked around as he was heading into a long dark hallway, which he figured had to be on the far west side of the gym. He also noticed that compared to the other halls, this one was a complete bare white, although the darkening light was proving to be the contrary. Finally they stopped nearly half way down the hallway, and Ash was shocked when Daisy looked up. There was a long string attached to the wall, but a rectangular outline on the ceiling was clearly visible where the string was attached.
"An attic?" Ash questioned.
Daisy smiled. "For years no one else has been back through this hall except me. This is a secret place of the gym, not even Misty knows about it."
"What's up there?" Ash wondered aloud.
Daisy pulled the string. "Memories."
Once Ash had helped Daisy pull the stairs down, they climbed into a dark dusty room. Daisy had found the light switch and was surprised when the lights still worked. The room was revealed to be a bit old fashioned, with bare wooden floors and wooden walls with no windows. It had a ceiling fan, although it was covered in dust bunnies, and the wood that it was made out of was worn with age and nonuse. There was an old TV that Ash hadn't seen in years, he knew the brand didn't even make those types of TVs anymore. It too was covered with so much dust that the black color had looked more like gray. It was on an old dresser along with an old radio that also probably didn't work anymore. All the floor had to show was dents and weak points saturated with tiny holes, but it was still sturdy enough to hold Ash and Daisy. There was a light brown recliner chair in the far corner of the room that was surprisingly still intact and not as dusty as it should be. Finally there were a few boxes on floor, and Daisy knelt down to one of them and opened the lid carefully, as if she was afraid of damaging something valuable.
She smiled as she pulled out another small black box and showed it to Ash. "Inside this you might find a bit of what you're looking for," she murmured. Ash carefully took the box and held it in his hands. Daisy watched as he sat on the ground and opened the lid.
Ash widened his eyes, being a bit confused on what he was seeing. "All of these…are drawings." Inside were many were many sheets of multicolored paper, each with a certain childlike drawing. Each had either one stick figured human or many, and every one contained a certain water pokemon—from Staryu to Vaporeon—but the only thing that they all had in common was a drawing of a woman in a pink dress with long orange hair.
"Daisy what is all this anyway?" Ash asked.
She laughed. "Of course you wouldn't recognize Misty's own drawings. She did them when she was very little, and our mother kept each and every one."
"Really? All of them?"
Daisy nodded. "There's other stuff in there too, like birthday cards and holiday cards, and even old and withered flowers. Mother kept everything that Misty gave to her. Don't tell anyone, but I think Misty was her favorite, because of her love for pokemon at an early age. I mean we liked pokemon too, but there was something different about Misty…I could never put my finger on it, but it just seemed like water pokemon loved her. Well anyway, that's everything Misty gave to mother before she passed, I don't know if she gave anything to dad though."
"So I'm guessing this woman with the pink dress and orange hair is Misty's mom?"
Daisy nodded again. "Yep. Mom was pretty much the opposite of Misty. Although who knows she might have been a tomboy when she was younger," she giggled.
"Does Misty know about this?" Ash asked next.
Daisy sadly shook her head. "There were so many times I wanted to tell her, but I was afraid. She went through such a difficult life when she was younger and I thought that if I brought her up here it would bring back painful memories for her. I was so afraid of making things worse and pushing her over the edge that I couldn't say much to her without her bursting into tears." She dusted herself off as she sat up. "This room was mother's place to come and meditate alone. Only dad and I knew about it." She slowly walked to the chair and sat down, after dusting some of the cobwebs off. She looked at the ceiling and sighed slowly. "I often wondered what she thought about when she sat here…"
"Daisy…" Ash spoke slowly, speaking his idea as it came to him. "What if we…give Misty this for Christmas. You know…this," he said holding up one of the old drawings, "If we somehow show Misty that her mother and father were thinking about her, that she was always loved by them, that there's no need to be so distant anymore…we could do this for her, Daisy. We can give her the closure she's been wanting all this time."
Daisy looked at Ash and began to frown. "I don't know Ash, things might get bad if she sees all this."
"But don't you think she should know Daisy?" Ash stood up now and looked around, taking in the scenery once again. "All of this…these drawings…Misty should know about them, she has to know! If she doesn't, she's going to go through her whole life wondering what her mother really thought about her. I'm sure Misty knows she was loved but she wants to see it, to feel it and touch it and know it's there! I know she might get pissed that this was here the whole time, but she might not. I think she really needs to know, and besides I think she's gotten a lot stronger over these past few years, don't you think so?" He clinched his left fist and looked down to it. "About two years ago I made Misty a promise. I promised her that if she ever felt like she can't go on, then I would be there for her, and wouldn't let her fall down that same path she did all those years ago. Trust me Daisy, she'll be fine. I will take care of her, even if I die trying."
Daisy looked up at him. She saw his determination in his eyes, and he could see the love that he had for her radiating like the rays of the sun. So this is what it's like…she repeated to herself. To have a man care for you like this…this is what it's really like…Daisy smiled. Misty is such a lucky woman.
She stood from the chair and nodded. "Ash, leave it to me. If you want to do this then I'm with you. I must learn to trust in Misty's strength." She nodded again to make herself sure of this. "Don't worry, we'll make this the best Christmas Misty's ever had."
Ash flashed a bright smile. "Thanks Daisy. Maybe we could get everyone else to help too. I already have a plan to make this work out perfectly."
A few weeks later had found a happy Delia Ketchum humming Christmas music on Christmas Eve. The holidays had always made her happy, but she was especially happy today. She kept humming in a high tune as she dusted her living room table.
It's not often that I get Ash to myself for Christmas since his journey started. I had a wonderful two years with him, but now that he's getting married, he would obviously have to spend the holidays with Misty more than me…
She began to tear up at this but quickly wiped her tears away. No I won't do this, not tonight. I promised I wouldn't cry again until the wedding. She giggled a little. She still found it hard to believe that Ash was actually settling down and getting married, even though he has been engaged for about six or seven months now.
Just a few more weeks, she reminded herself. It won't be long now.
As if Ash could hear motherly thoughts, he came bounding down the stairs a few seconds later yelling for his mom in a childish whiny voice.
Delia giggled, turning around after cleaning a clock on the table. Her slight giggles turned into hard laughter as she looked upon her son. There was Ash, with a hopeless look on his face, covered with pieces of tape and wrapping paper on his hands and clothes, and even a piece of tape sticking out of his messy hair.
"Mom don't laugh. I need help here!"
"Yes you do sweetheart," she gasped between bursts of laughter. She walked over to him and pulled the tape out of his hair. "Having fun wrapping presents dear?"
Ash tried to give an irritated look but only ended up smiling, "We were trying to wrap Misty's present, but I'm not good at wrapping stuff."
"We?" Delia questioned, but then noticed Pikachu standing behind him, trying to get untangled from a mess of pink and blue paper wrapped around him. "Are you sure you aren't giving Pikachu to Misty as a present instead?" She laughed again.
Ash sighed. "Darn for a second I thought Pikachu was lost in the paper world," he laughed. He handed his mom a small blue box. "Do you mind wrapping this? You aren't busy are you?"
Delia giggled. "For you, honey, never."
Well, I'm glad to know that he still needs my help for some things. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Oh that must be Misty—hide this quick!" Ash hopped down the last few steps and opened the door for Misty. He forgot that he still had tape and blue wrapping paper on his body and received a laugh at the door from Misty.
"Are you wrapping yourself for me as a present? Darn and here I thought I was getting something a whole lot better," she laughed.
He rolled his eyes and replied sarcastically, "Oh very funny, you should be a comedian Mist. Get in already, it's freezing!"
Misty smiled as she came in from the cold, taking off her scarf in the process. "I'm sorry to intrude on you guys like this. The last thing I was expecting was for everyone to leave the gym at the last minute," she said bitterly. She was actually hoping to spend a Christmas with all of her sisters this year, since it would be the first one they would have spent together in a long time.
"Oh don't worry about it honey," Delia said. She had just walked out from her bedroom with a paper-free Pikachu in her arms. "We're glad to have you here!"
"Pikachupi!" Pikachu leapt out of Delia's arms and into Misty's.
Misty smiled down at the small rodent. "Hello, Pikachu, hope you're having a happy Christmas!"
"Pika!" he cheered happily.
"Besides," Ash added, "There's no way I would let my baby spend Christmas all alone." He kissed her cheek.
"Well I guess I can't argue besides it's going to snow here tomorrow and I want to see it! It makes me so excited!" Misty replied, elated.
"Oh me too, I love snow and I haven't seen so much in a while," Delia agreed. Ash and Misty watched her for a moment as she fondly remembered a part of her past. "Ah, well, don't worry we'll have lots of fun! Oh I should start on that cake now, Ash try not to annoy Misty too much," she giggled.
"Don't worry mom I don't annoy her as much as I used to," Ash laughed.
"Ha, I don't know about that," Misty joked. Delia smiled and began to hum again as she dashed off into the kitchen.
"Well, what to see what's on tv? I think there's a pokemon match on," Ash said as he went to sit on the couch. Misty was still holding Pikachu and sat down next to him.
"Ash…? Do you think your mom still thinks about your dad around this time of year?" she asked.
Ash raised an eyebrow. "She thinks of him every day. Why do you ask?"
"Around the holidays…it must be so tough to think of people that aren't here," she murmured. "I wonder if the dead know we think about them? What would they say I wonder?"
Ash casted his eyes down. "Misty…?"
Misty shook her head. "Never mind me I'm just thinking that's all. I wonder if your mom needs any help in the kitchen." With that she got up and walked in, eager to get away from Ash's worried eyes.
Pikachu hopped back on to Ash's shoulder. "Pikapi?" He tilted his head a bit to the right in confusion.
Ash absentmindedly petted Pikachu on the head, still looking at the kitchen where Misty just walked in. "Don't worry about it, Pikachu. I guess we'll figure out what that was all about later on."
Later on in the night, Delia had sent everyone to bed early, saying something about giving Santa Claus enough time to put everyone's presents under the Christmas tree. Ash and Misty laughed about it, but went to bed anyway, since it was after 11pm. They slept in Ash's room, but he had given Misty his bed while him and Pikachu had a makeshift cot in the middle of the floor. As they both laid there in their beds, both found themselves unable to go to sleep and ended up looking at the ceiling with their hands behind their heads.
I wonder what Misty is thinking about…Ash took a glance at her. She's been in a daze ever since she came here, and she hasn't been talking much, even now. I can't help but be worried, I love her so much, and I know something's wrong that she's not talking about.
Less than five feet away from Ash, Misty was off into a mess of thoughts, many of which she hasn't been able to control since she walked into the Ketchum household a few hours earlier. I wonder why did my sisters leave? Do they really hate me so much that they can't even stand to be with me for more than a few months, and on Christmas of all holidays? Guess I can't blame them, it's been literally years since we spent any holiday as a family…of course they wouldn't want to be with me. What's wrong with me? I'm not that horrible am I? If Ash can tolerate me, then why can't I? After all these years, why do I still have issues with who I am? Ash…I haven't talked to him all night. He's probably mad at me. This is Christmas Eve after all, but I haven't even acknowledged it much. Poor Ash, I always neglect him. Why is he even marrying me? He must be insane. Delia…I wonder how she is holding up? I didn't ask her about her late husband but I can tell she's thinking about him. I wonder what things would be like if he was alive…if my parents were alive would they be like? What would I be like? Can people really change a person that much?
She heard Ash give a light sigh which interrupted her from her thoughts. She snuggled in closer to the blue sheets that covered the mattress and slowly turned to him. "Ash, are you awake?"
Ash didn't turn his head to answer her question, but answered it anyway. "Yeah I am Mist."
She weakly smiled. Well, at least he's still calling me by my nickname. He's not pissed then. "You can't sleep?"
Ash shook his head. "Nah," he turned his head to the right to face her, "You too?"
Misty nodded. "Ever since I was little Christmas always had me excited."
"Me too." He turned his entire body on his side now. "I always remember waking up to the smell of chocolate chip cookies, and the living room always seems a little brighter than it was the night before."
Misty's smile fell. "That must be nice." She didn't mean to say that out loud but it came out before she could even think twice. Darn, now he's going to ask what I meant…
To her surprise however, Ash didn't but she could see his eyes flash with sorrow for a split second. He decided to change the subject, "So are you going straight back to the gym after tomorrow?"
Misty shook her head. "If it's ok, I want to stay a little while longer with you. I'm in no hurry to get back to working."
Ash chuckled. "Good. I would love it if you stayed with me—I mean us."
Misty smiled, but she felt fresh tears coming to her eyes and turned around quickly before Ash could see them.
"Misty?" he wondered in alarm.
"I'm fine," she whispered. "My eyes just started burning for some reason. No need to worry about me."
She didn't hear anything from him for a few minutes and figured he wasn't going to push it. She had let out a strangled breath in relief but unexpectantly inhaled it back in quickly when she felt something move beside her. She slowly turned around to see Ash laying in bed next to her.
"A-Ash?"
He smiled slightly. "Just to show you I'm here if you need me," he whispered as he placed his left arm around her waist.
Her random rambling thoughts flashed back to the last time her love said those words, then without any warning, she burst into tears, covering her face with both hands as she sobbed into them. Ash was a bit startled but wrapped his arms around her. He didn't say a word as she cried on his shoulder and her body shook in his arms. Ash remembered this scene, but honestly didn't expect it. He knew depression was always a hard thing to cure, but he didn't expect Misty to cry with such sorrow. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't no matter how hard he tried. All he could do was to bring her body as close to his as possible and laid his head on hers.
I'm kind of glad Pikachu is asleep, Ash thought. I think I'm beginning to cry too…
They both cried together, deep in each other's arms, for around ten minutes. Misty finally looked up to realize her soul mate's tears were in her hair.
"Ash? Why are you crying?" she asked.
Ash gritted his teeth and then finally said what he wanted to say all night. "Misty…why don't you ever tell me when you're feeling this way? Can't you see I want to help you? I love you, and I can tell when you're hurt or sad or angry, so why can't you tell me when you're depressed? You know I won't tell anyone…"
"Ash…" Misty interrupted. "I-I wanted to, really, but I just didn't want to burden you again. People get tired of those who are depressed. They want happiness in their lives, and I don't blame them. There's so much hatred and cruelty in this world, who wouldn't want to be happy? I couldn't put you through that, not again, I promised myself I wouldn't."
Ash rubbed his hand in her head as she talked. He felt his fingers go though her long orange strands and rest on her back before going back up to the top of her head and starting the whole process over. "God Misty, you sound just like mom. She always felt that way too. She began to kill herself because she thought she wasn't doing a good job of taking care of me, and she didn't want to burden me with her illness from the loss of dad. I wish people wouldn't feel like they have to protect me from everything. I am an adult now I can handle things better than I could when I was ten or eleven. Misty, I love you and I don't want you to ever feel like you have to hide things from me. I'm not helping you because I feel like it, and I'm not marrying you because I feel like it either. I'm marrying you because I love you and I'm helping you because I want to. There's nothing I rather do with my life than be with you."
Misty smiled a little. "What about training? Isn't that more important?"
Ash smiled back. "Nothing is more important than you. I wouldn't even be a trainer right now if it wasn't for you and your 'advice'."
They both laughed. "You know I didn't mean to hit you so many times back then," Misty said.
"I know. Those were just love licks right?" Ash laughed again.
Misty smiled as she felt herself melting in Ash's strong arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and said, "Ash I'm sorry. I get just so used to do things on my own, especially stuff like this, and I'm always neglecting you…"
"You're fine Misty, really," Ash interrupted. "It's true that you don't have to tell me anything you feel you don't want to tell me, but if you ever need anyone to talk to, I want the first one you talk to to be me. You can tell me anything Misty, really."
"Well then now that you're mentioning it I should tell you something."
"What is it?" Ash asked.
"I love you." She tilted her head up to kiss his lips and she felt herself shiver again, this time not from sadness, but from pure excitement. She felt satisfied hearing him moan as she lightly sucked his lower lip. She was also happy that for the first time during the night, all of her thoughts were on him. Her leg began to subconsciously rub on his, causing Ash to pull away in surprise.
"Ash…" she breathed.
"Misty…I—I don't think we should do this…" Ash began.
Her eyes widened. "Do what, Ash?"
"This: us in bed together, wrapped around each other like this. It's just I don't want to do anything we might regret."
As Misty was about to ask what would they do she realized her right leg was draped over Ash's legs. "Oh!" She hurriedly pulled her leg away, turning crimson from embarrassment. "I'm sorry…I hate being so emotional like this."
"It's ok," Ash murmured still surprised that he couldn't release Misty from his hold on her just yet. "I'm emotional all the time."
Misty shook her head. "No you're not. You're a lot stronger than me."
"Oh really? This comes from the scrawny girl that kicked me in my sleeping bag every morning to wake me up." They both laughed again.
Misty couldn't help but get distracted at this moment, this time from the light of the moon shining through Ash's window. She knew it must have been at least after midnight. She giggled to herself.
"What's so funny?" Ash asked.
Misty snuggled deeper into Ash's chest. "I think this is the first Christmas we spent like this. I didn't know I could get this close to you."
Ash began to wonder if she meant physically or mentally, but Misty cut him off once again from his train of thoughts.
"Merry Christmas Ash, I love you," Misty whispered.
Ash slowly felt his eyes close to take him off to dream world. "Merry Christmas Misty, I love you too."
Ash bounced up the stairs early Christmas morning. It was a miracle that he was up before 9am, especially on days that he wasn't training, but of course today was a special occasion. As he walked in his room to wake up Misty, he wasn't surprised that she was awake and dressed already. She didn't see him walk in because she was looking out the window, so he took the opportunity to admire her outfit.
She was wearing a very appropriate red and white skirt outfit, a long red skirt with white cotton ends reached down to her knees, while the rest of her legs were covered with red pants that stopped just short of her regular red tennis shoes. The skirt outfit was long sleeved, but also managed to cover nearly half of her neck, which was also shadowed by her long flowing orange hair. Ash stared at it so much he began to wonder if it was tight on her, since it accentuated her curves perfectly, but then shook his head out of slight embarrassment.
Gosh Ash, could you not act like Brock this early in the morning? You already had a tough enough time controlling yourself last night for goodness sake.
He cleared his throat, "Uhm, Misty—"
"It's cloudy outside," she interrupted, "You think it's going to snow today?"
"Well it was in the forecast," he replied, "Hey how long did you know I was standing behind you?"
"As soon as I saw you come in by the reflection on this window," she turned around and smiled, revealing more of her Santa suit. "Didn't your mother ever tell you it's impolite to stare?"
"Oh, shut up like you never did it," he rolled his eyes, unable to stop the heavy blush staining his cheeks.
Misty giggled. "Merry Christmas Ash. You were right, I woke up to the smell of your mother's cookies. I almost forgot how good a mother's cooking was."
Ash smiled. "C'mon Corsola, I got a present for you downstairs." He grabbed her hand and led her downstairs. "You know, you are really beautiful today. I didn't know tomboys looked so good in red skirts."
Misty playfully smacked him on the back of his head. "You are so lucky you're mother is up or I would get you for that."
Ash began to laugh, when a female voice could be heard at the bottom of the stairs, effectively scolding her. "Misty I see you're already causing trouble early in the morning, and on Christmas day of all days!"
Misty looked down the steps to see a pleasant surprise. "Daisy, Lily, Violet, Kai! You're all here!" She ran over to them where they were sitting on the light brown couch and gave them all hugs. "What are you all doing here? I thought you were off to Trovita Island or something."
"We were," Lily spoke up, "but then we realized we couldn't leave without wishing our dear little sister a merry Christmas! Besides we forgot to give you your presents!"
Misty smile fell slightly. "But I didn't know you all were coming here, I would have brought the presents I got for you."
"Oh it's alright, Misty," Daisy spoke, "This is for you not for us."
Ash took her hand. "Come on you can sit by me." He led her to the couch and sat next to Daisy. Pikachu instantly jumped into Misty's lap and allowed her to hold him. Kai was sitting in a dark brown recliner with Violet in his lap, and Lily was sitting in another chair a few feet away.
"Oh this is so nice, everyone is together on Christmas day!" Delia said. "I'll go get you all some of my cookies and since you all are here I'm going to bake some more as well." She dashed once again into the kitchen, humming another Christmas tune.
Misty giggled as she laid her head on Ash's shoulder. "She always keeps herself so busy."
"I can't wait to taste her cookies though," Kai remarked, "As we came in I saw Ash stuffing his face with about twenty of them."
Ash laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.
Daisy smiled, "Well let's get started. Misty you should open my present first." Misty happily accepted the older sister's present, decorated with yellow wrapping paper adorned with yellow and white daffodils.
Misty noticed the rectangular shape right away. She must have given me a book, since she knows how much I love to read. As she tore open the paper her suspicions were correct: it was a thick book with purple felt fabric as the hardback covers. The spine of the book was bare besides a long notebook wire and yellow string holding the thick book together. The front cover only had Misty's name on it, which was done with a gold color thread that was sewed into the fabric. Misty nearly squealed in delight: "Daisy did you make this?" she asked.
Daisy happily nodded. "I sure did. It took me a while but I finally managed to pull it off. Not bad considering I haven't sewed anything in a while. Go on ahead and open it."
Misty did just that, and was shocked beyond belief over the very first page she saw. "Th-This is…" she whispered. "This is…mine…my drawing…" She looked upon an old picture she thought she would never see again, a white sheet of typing paper that had a stick figured orange-haired woman beside a star-shaped pokemon with a circle-shaped gem in the center of its body. Under these two figures were the words: Mommy and Staru. Misty laughed at her terrible spelling. "Daisy…I can't believe this…"
"I found it. There's more in that book too, which is why it's so thick," Daisy replied.
Misty turned the pages to find out Daisy was right, many more drawings graced the pages, along with cards, flowers, and even little hearts made out of paper. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "Daisy…how did you find all of this?"
"Long story short they were in the attic in a small box. Mother had kept every picture and item you made for her," Daisy answered.
"We have an attic?!" the other girls asked, which caused Daisy to giggle.
"I'll show you all later."
Misty shook her head. "She really kept everything? I made most of this stuff when I was three, even I hardly remember it all. I can't believe she really kept it all…"
Daisy smiled. "She would always say the same thing whenever you gave her something, do you remember? She said: Oh sweetheart this is lovely I'll cherish it forever!" She laughed, "Well she kept every single thing and put it in a small box. She loved you a whole lot, Misty."
Misty smiled softly. She looked at the book again, letting the tears fall on the pages. "Daisy…thank you."
"Ok enough of the mushy stuff," Lily replied. "My present is next, and it was crafted by moi." She bowed gracefully as she gave her white wrapped present to Misty. "Of course you'll love it because who wouldn't love something created by yours truly!"
"Don't be a show off Lily," Daisy warned, "It makes you look less attractive."
"You're just jealous you don't have my artistic talent!"
"This isn't a competition you know!" Daisy shot back.
Lily was about to reply back but was stopped by a gasp from Misty. In her hands was a medium sized wooden picture frame, inside was a small canvas with two lifelike images panted on it.
"Is this…mom and dad?" Misty wondered aloud. Ash leaned over her shoulder to take a closer look at the photograph.
"Wow you really do look just like your mother," Ash remarked, "but it looks like you have your dad's nose."
Misty laughed, "You think so?"
Lily, proud of her work, couldn't help but explain how she ended up making the picture. "You see, Misty, I had found an old picture of mom and dad standing next to each other just like that one day when I was cleaning out my room. I was going to blow it up and give it to you like that, but since I wanted to show you I still haven't lost my touch when it came to drawing, I just recreated the photo for you! It took me a while to get all the details, but I know it came out perfect—"
She was interrupted by a brief hug from Misty. "Thank you Lily. I love it, it's really beautiful." Lily smiled and hugged her back. It was at this moment that Delia came in to the living room, with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies in her hands.
"Aww isn't that sweet. Who wants cookies?" she said with a bit of a singing voice.
"I do!" Ash yelled but Delia stopped him.
"Not you, you had more than your fair share," she replied as she placed the plate on the table. "Misty are those your parents in that photo? Gosh you look just like your mother."
Misty giggled. "Thank you Ms—I mean thank you Delia." Even though she was told months ago that she had no need to call Delia Ms. Ketchum any more, she still had a hard time breaking the habit. As she sat back down and gazed at the picture, her thoughts wandered to what she had thought of last night before she went to bed: I wonder what would the dead spirits say if they knew we thought about them? Are they communicating…through Daisy and Lily?
Breaking her from her thoughts was the sight of a blue colored gift in her line of vision. Surprised, Misty looked up to see Violet looking at her. "It isn't much, but I knew I had to give this to you." There was a stunned awkward silence as she walked back to where Kai was sitting. "Well, aren't you going to open it?"
Misty ripped the paper off with excitement to reveal a long brown envelope. With curiosity building, she opened the small metal flaps and pulled out a small stack of stapled white papers. It only took a few seconds of reading to realize what she was holding.
Ash noticed it as well. "Hey, that's the deed to the gym!"
Violet began to blush a little. "Heheh, well…you see…" she looked to Kai who nodded and she continued: "To be perfectly honest with you Misty, I hated it so much when I lost to you two years ago. I wanted to do anything I could to make you suffer, so I took the deed to the gym. But being away from everything for a while made me realize just how childish I was acting. I wanted to make up for it…and for everything else."
Misty had a bit of a disgruntled look but Violet continued.
"You see the truth is…I was jealous of you, Misty."
"Jealous?" Misty repeated.
Violet nodded. "I was always jealous of you. Ever since you were born it was like mom and dad paid more attention to you than the rest of us, and then when they died, I was just so angry I just need something to take it out on. In my frustration, I chose you. I neglected you for so long, I got used to it, I accepted it, I even got others like Lily involved in it. After all this time, I now understand how foolish I've been all this time, and I guess what I want to say is…I'm sorry…I'm sorry for everything I've done."
Violet could see Misty's eyes widen but she had to say this, otherwise she knew she would never gain the courage to say it again. "I just felt so angry back then, I needed something, anything to make me feel a least a little better—and I didn't care if I had hurt you in the process. I know it was awful of me, but I was so naïve then, and I hate myself for being that way. But now I know I was wrong, and I want to make it up to you. That deed was the only thing I had left of my parents, or so I thought. But they left so much more for us, and I couldn't realize it until later on. The things I was holding on to were only physical, but the most important things are the emotional feelings that I had for them, the precious sweet memories that I will always have for them. It was then I remembered that you don't have many memories of mom and dad so I knew I had to give that deed back to you. The gym is rightfully yours and no one can argue with you on that, not even if they wanted to. Anyway…this is my first step of moving on now, and if it also brings us closer as well then I'm happy to do it. Because we're sisters, Misty, we're family, and I think our parents would have wanted us to show our love and appreciation for one another. Don't you think it's time for us to move on and actually be sisters for once?"
Throughout Violet's entire monologue Misty's expression changed constantly. It went from surprised, to shocked, to sad, to a calm stillness that no one could read. She held her head down, her hair shielding her eyes, her body held close to Pikachu's body by her arms. It was a weird silence, and for a minute or so it seemed like no one even dared to breathe. Pikachu finally looked up at the young woman and quietly asked if she was ok. Then Ash placed a hand on her back and began to move it in an up and down motion.
"Misty?" he asked, "Are you ok?"
It was at this that her body began to shake, Violet casted a nervous look to Kai, who gave a worried look to Daisy, who gave a frightened look to Ash. She gripped his shoulder, afraid that her worst fears were going to come true.
Violet made a brave move and walked to her slowly. She knelt down in front of her and used a shaky hand to touch her knee. "Misty?"
Finally Misty slowly looked to Violet, her eyes were saturated with tears and her body stopped shaking. Her lips quivered, and her cheeks were rosy, but she managed to choke out, "Oh Violet…thank you!"
"Huh?" Violet leaned back a little in surprise.
"Oh Violet for the past fifteen years that's all I wanted to hear you say to me. When mom and dad died when I was four you were so angry, and when I asked you why you told me you were mad at me for killing mom and dad. You called me a murder and hated me from that moment on. I hated you so much for treating me so horribly, but as I grew older I realized that it wasn't my fault what had happened back then. But I didn't want to just think that, I wanted to hear it and feel it in my heart. I had so much hatred for myself and this world that I just felt I didn't belong anymore. I wanted to go away…I wanted…I wanted…" Misty couldn't continue anymore, due the fact that the tears were streaming down her face like a rushing river, and she had gotten so choked up that she couldn't finish her sentence. Ash wrapped his arms around her and she buried her head once again into his shoulder.
Violet eyes widened, wondering what Misty was getting to she asked Daisy: "Daisy what is she talking about? What does she mean by that?"
Daisy sighed. She put her head down and shook her head. Violet looked back to Misty, who was trying to wipe the tears from her eyes with both hands, but fresh ones fell as soon as she wiped the old ones away.
Finally she found her voice again, "I wanted to die, Violet. I used to think that if I was dead, you wouldn't be mad anymore and our parents would come back. It was all I could think about at the time, so I—I would try to take my own life."
Everyone gasped in surprise, except for Ash and Daisy since they already knew about this startling revelation. "You did? When?" Lily asked.
Misty's body shook again, "From the time I was eight until I was ten," she answered.
Lily gasped again, realizing the correlation between that time frame and how she was back then. "Oh my gosh, Violet that's when we were the worst to her!"
"Dear heavens…" Violet whispered. "Misty I'm so sorry! If only I knew what you were doing to yourself I would have stopped! I promise I would have! Oh Misty I love you so much and if only I wasn't so damn selfish…you wouldn't have done all of those things. To think that you almost…you could have…" Violet began to cry now, beginning to understand that she almost lost her sister due to her harsh cruel words that she used to say. "I feel so awful."
The tears finally stopped, and all of a sudden she felt a little better. Misty looked at the papers in her hands and then back at her older sister. "You shouldn't, none of us should, after all we were all innocent and foolish back then you had no control over your actions and neither did I. We let our emotions get the better of us."
"But—but—" Violet began but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
Misty shook her head and began to smile. "I forgive you, Violet. Now that you finally have wised up and told me that my parents' death wasn't my fault I can finally move on the way I want to, and you can move on too right?"
Violet nodded. "I can little sister. I know I can just like you can."
Later on that cold winter's day, Misty took Pikachu with her to the supermarket in the small town of Pallet, running an errand for Delia to get a few more groceries. "I'm glad you decided to come along with me Pikachu," Misty said. "I would have been a bit lonely going by myself, but don't tell anyone else that."
"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed happily to the small promise. Misty laughed.
"It's been a great Christmas don't you think so? In fact I think this has been the best Christmas ever! All this time I thought I could only rely on myself, but now I know for sure that I have a great boyfriend and family that I can also rely on! And of course, I can't forget you Pikachu, my favorite little electric type."
"Pikachu pika Pikachu," Pikachu replied, taking its tiny fist and slightly beating it on his chest.
"Ha ha ha, of course I am, he says, Pikachu I think you might be turning into Lily." She laughed. Pikachu giggled, blushing slightly. She adjusted the bags in her hands slightly, feeling the weight of the bags pulling her down after about thirty minutes of walking. A chill in the air had breezed through between the traveling gym leader and the tiny rodent perched on her shoulder, and caused Pikachu to hide underneath Misty's hair—or at least it tried to. "I'm afraid my hair isn't that long, Pikachu," she laughed. She shivered slightly, her shoulders beginning to tense, and looked at the clouds hanging low in the sky.
"It's definitely going to snow," she confirmed. "I can't wait to see it."
"Need some help little sister?"
Misty took her eyes off of the overcast sky to see her sister Daisy standing in front of her. Misty smiled. "Thanks but I can handle it." She began to walk ahead but then remembered her secret promise to herself to be a bit more open with everyone. She turned her head around to face her. "Actually, here you take a bag, my hands are a bit strained."
Daisy gave a sly smile. "I thought so." She took the bag and held it in her right hand, then continued to walk back to Ash's house side by side with Misty and Pikachu. "So Misty, how did you like your gifts today?"
"They were really great and thoughtful, Daisy, thank you guys so much for them," Misty responded.
Daisy shook her head in opposition, "Nope, there's no need to thank me you should thank Ash instead."
"Ash?"
"Pikapi?" Pikachu repeated.
"Yep, a few weeks ago he came to me asking for a favor. He said that he wanted you to get closer to our parents due the fact that you have been talking about them a lot lately. I know the holidays must be tough on you, especially knowing the fact that you can't spend any time with them. So the girls and I wanted to give you our memories of our parents, since you were so young when they died compared to us. Ash knew that our memories would not only make you closer with their spirits but also would give you a chance to know more about them. At least you can have a little comfort in knowing how much they meant to you before they died." Running out of things to say Daisy shifted her eyes nervously to the ground and exhaled deeply. "So yeah it was Ash's idea…"
Misty laughed. "That's just like him. He's knows my emotions so much it startles me. The crazy thing is I never have to tell him much he just knows. I don't know if I can ever be that way with him. In fact a few months after he proposed I kept thinking that maybe I wasn't good enough for him. I wanted to call it off."
"Really?" Daisy looked into her sister's eyes with surprise. "Don't think that way Misty, you're a really great person!"
"Apparently Ash thinks so too. I didn't even have a chance to tell him how I felt, he just knew. He took me by the hand one day, and led me to a pond not too far away from the church we're getting married in. I sat down next to him and he said: don't worry about a thing, Misty, I'm going to be here for you always to show you just how much you mean to me!" She laughed happily, her voice brimming with love. "He always knew just what to say, even if he goes about it in a stupid way."
Daisy smiled. "You have a great man, Misty. I know he will take care of you."
Misty nodded. "So do I, and I will do my best to take care of him."
Later on in the night Ash and Misty were sitting under the moonlight of the night beside the window in Ash's room. Everything was quiet and still and not even the sound of Rattata underneath the floorboards could be heard. The young couple sat by Ash's bed, too excited to see the snow to go to sleep. Unfortunately the forecast had been moved back a few hours, and everyone else guests and family included would probably be asleep when the first snowflakes would begin to fall.
Misty's head was placed on Ash's shoulder and Pikachu had already fallen asleep in Ash's lap. Ash laid his head back on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes. "So did you really like the way everything turned out today?" he whispered to his bride to be.
Misty hummed a medium pitched sound in approval. "You're so wonderful to me."
"Are you still awake?" He asked next.
"Yes I am," Misty answered.
"Good. I want to give you a late gift. Mom had it in her room and had forgotten about it until after dinner."
Misty began to raise her head. "Another present? Ash your thoughtfulness is more than enough for me, besides I don't deserve another gift."
Ash shook his head in disagreement. "I only wish I could give you more." He reached into his jacket pocket, which was laid on the floor beside him, and pulled out a small box covered with blue and white wrapping paper. "It's a little late but merry Christmas."
Misty took the small token from her future husband. "I thought I told you I didn't want jewelry," she smiled sweetly.
"Too bad you got it," Ash chuckled. "Just open it."
Misty sighed, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was happy about it. She tore open the paper carefully and opened the little box. "Oh wow Ash…" she whispered.
Inside that little blue box was a pair of earrings, but Misty's cerulean eyes weren't just gazing on any pair of earrings. They were a pair of silver earrings, featuring the pokemon Vaporeon in a sitting position, dangling from a little chain attached to a silver loop where it would connect with the lucky woman's ear. Embedded in the chain was a small bow just above the Vaporeon, lined with crystal and cubic zirconia.
"Ash they're beautiful! Oh this must have cost you a fortune," she said in a loud hush.
"Not really," Ash smiled. "They were my mother's."
Seeing Misty's surprised look he elaborated, "I was looking for gifts to give you a few weeks ago when mom found those hidden somewhere in her room. She said dad had given them to her, and I could give them to you if I wanted to. I was against it at first, but after I got them cleaned and they looked so pretty I couldn't help but keep them. Then I was told that they were rare earrings that had stopped being produced about twenty years ago, so only a few were ever made. I know you don't really like hand-me-downs, but these earrings came from my heart because they reminded me of you. But I understand if you don't want to wear them and you don't have to if you don't want to."
"Ash, don't be silly I would love to wear them! These are beautiful and of course Vaporeon is my favorite water type," she replied.
"But I thought Gyarados was your favorite." Ash said, smiling a little more and allowing his cheeks to turn red at the thought that his present was accepted happily.
Misty giggled. "Well today it's Vaporeon. Gyarados was last week."
"I'm glad you like it Misty."
"I love everything you give to me."
Ash wrapped one of his arms around Misty's body, enveloping her neck and shoulders and allowing his hand to rest lazily on her arm. They both looked out the window at that instant and were happy to finally see the first snowflakes of winter beginning to fall. They spoke no words, for they already understood each other's hearts. They gave each other warm looks of bliss then continued back to watching the snow fall freely to mingle with the ground below. Misty placed one of her arms around the front part of Ash's waist while another arm swung around his back. Then she snuggled her nose into the crook of his neck and exhaled softly. Ash looked at her comfortable position and kissed her forehead, then went back to admiring the flurries of snow. They would soon fall asleep in that position about fifteen minutes later.
Meanwhile downstairs Delia was tucked safely in her room, but like Ash and Misty she wasn't in her bed, but in a wooden rocking chair seated by the window. Also like Ash and Misty she saw the December snow fall and smiled. She sighed, raising her hands up and interlacing the fingers around in a praying position. She then placed her forehead slightly on her fingers and said a silent prayer that only she and the spirits would hear:
"I hope you're looking at the snowflakes as well my dear. I hope you're feeling as warm and happy as I am at this moment, I hope that you can hear me just as well as I can hear you. Be safe my love, may we see each other soon." She lifted her head and gazed at the ceiling, although the ceiling was the last thing she was looking at. "I pray you're still waiting for me, for I have never forgotten about you…Jo."
Well that's it for this chapter and I hope you all liked it. Unfortunately I don't have many ideas for the next chapter so I'm going to have to think a bit before I can post that one. Hopefully I'll be done with this story by the beginning of the new year. That being said I hope you all have a great Christmas and a happy new year! Please let me know what you all thought of it and I'll see you all again in 2013!