Chapter 7 – The Shimmering Reef

"Come on, Ash... when's the last time you went out and had some fun?" Dawn goaded Ash.

It was later in the evening, and since Ash and Misty's battle that in the morning, the trio had gone out for a great lunch, visited the tourist sites around the city, and even spent some time on the beach. Ash thought that Dawn and Misty would have been exhausted from the active day they all spent together. Yet now, the two women stood at the doorway of the gym, waiting for Ash to hoist himself from his seat on the couch. He was reluctant. Despite being twenty-two, going on twenty-three soon, he had yet participate in what Dawn was calling 'a night on the town'.

"I have plenty of fun battling. I do it all the time!" Ash protested. He wanted to bring up all the times he had gone out with Dawn to the movies, to dinners, and even to few dance clubs. However, he couldn't because the duo hadn't yet discussed how they were going to tell Misty. They narrowly avoided having Misty find out by their relationship prematurely by her walking in on them as they slept in together that morning. They had only been spared by a loud knock on the gym's front door that distracted the gym leader and while Dawn took the opportunity to return to her own bedroom. It was a fortunate break, since Dawn had expressed a desire to make sure they told her together and in a manner that didn't shock Misty; especially since the last two times they told people, Ash had done the honours. He got to tell his mother, which was fine, but he accidentally let it slip with Brock. Since they were both friends of Misty's, Dawn felt it important to inform her together.

But that wasn't the issue at hand. It was getting out of having to do something he presumed was going to be excessively girl oriented. He didn't understand why the two ladies didn't just have a 'girls night' like Dawn had described when all his former female traveling companions dropped into Cerulean before.

"Ash, I don't understand why you're so apprehensive. We're going to a pretty cool club. They have food there too! You should like it. Just try not to stuff your face like you usually do and embarrass us..." Misty tried to be encouraging, but in her usual manner, her words of positivity descended into a critical remark towards the end.

"I'm not as bad as I used to be..." Ash dismissively stated, waving his hand so as to deflect the insult.

"No... but considering your age, you're still pretty bad," Misty criticized, her tone growing annoyed.

"I'm sure you'll have more fun without me- hey!" Ash tried to make an excuse when he found himself tugged by the ear by a quite impatient redhead.

"You need to hurry up so we don't have to wait in the line for hours!" she lectured, her iron grip causing a nostalgic, if somewhat sharp pain in his lobe. Dawn merely giggled as the two walked out with the third literally in tow.

It was a brisk twenty minute walk through the city in the dark of the post-sunset evening. Despite this, the city was lit brilliantly. The streets were lined with blue and green lanterns that seemed to cast an almost sea-like shimmer on the buildings. It truly was a city with the ocean at its heart. Their short walk brought them to a building which was stylishly designed. Ash knew why Misty had brought them here. It was a sea themed club. The face of the building was decorated with small stones that resembled river rocks smoothed by the current. Sections of these were coloured differently such that it created a mural of sorts portraying a scene of the ocean bottom, with blue stones dominating the upper half. Interspersed throughout were portrayals of water types that were surprisingly detailed due to the use of small clusters of pebble-sized painted rocks. The lower half of the design showed the rocky sea floor itself, complete with depictions of coral, seaweed and other Pokémon one might find on the stony bottom, like Corsola, Krabby, and Shellder. The sign directly above the doorway read 'The Shimmering Reef' in red neon letters. The name itself was plastered on an elaborate Clamperl-like shell. Beats of music echoed from within, confirming Ash's suspicions of it being a dance club. He hated dancing. He was no good at it.

"Come on, slowpoke!" Misty shouted, "We don't have all night!" The two girls had gotten ahead of him as they approached the entry while Ash had taken a moment to gaze at the remarkable stone mural. He caught up with them as they were about to enter and they each put a hand on one of his shoulders as the pulled him in with them. The beats of music ramped up in intensity the moment they passed through the doors. The dance floor was packed, as expected. The bar was partially open, with only a few patrons electing to sit during the song.

Ash tried to stay back as the girls pulled him to the dance floor. They laughed and Misty asked, "What's wrong Ash? Afraid to dance?"

Ash was about to answer when Dawn cut in, "Oh, he's tried before. It was a disaster!"

They laughed again, and Ash groaned dejectedly, "Do you really want me to embarrass you like that?"

"Oh, we'll just say you're a creep and we don't know you if anyone asks..." Dawn slyly quipped.

He knew she was joking, but the words still had a sting to them. He pushed the feeling aside and, by no choice of his own, entered the dance floor with the two girls. They quickly found an open space not far from the center of the floor. Bodies shook back and forth in tight proximity, always threatening to collide, but never doing so; unless it was intended. That was exactly what happened a few times between him and Dawn. She and Ash still hadn't had a proper discussion of how and when to tell Misty about their relationship, but it appeared Dawn didn't really care right now. Maybe she figured that Misty would merely see it as her playful nature. At the very least, the entertained look on Misty's face gave the impression that was what she believed. She wouldn't have, though, if she caught the almost naughty expression on Dawn's face. The coordinator was playing a dangerous game, and she knew it. It was almost thrilling in a way, with Ash and Dawn exchanging sultry glances when they both knew Misty wasn't looking and allowing brief touches of their bodies that made lightning travel up their spines.

No one around them seemed to care that Ash was a bad dancer, much less Misty and Dawn. The trio took turns dancing with one another and often just danced as a group. Often, one of the girls would pull a maneuver that either caused them a screech of approval from the other, or a laugh from both the opposite girl and Ash. Eventually, more arrivals to the dance floor caused their space to nearly vanish, and they were quite nearly pressed together. In this small space, they often traded spots. Sometimes, Ash would come up behind Dawn with Misty facing away whilst she was in front of the blunette. This gave him free range to caress his girlfriend with little chance of Misty seeing. He ran his hands up and down her sides as she reached back and pulled his head forward alongside hers, all the while gyrating together. Sometimes Ash was pressed up against Misty as Dawn and the redhead playfully danced back to back as though they were some kind of on-stage duo.

But the strangest feeling for Ash came when he was sandwiched between the two. Alternately, he found himself in this position looking at either Dawn or Misty. When he was faced with Dawn, he had the chance to look deep into her passionate blue eyes that sparkled with the changing lights of the club. Sometimes, he was faced towards Misty and contact became inevitable. While Dawn mischievously worked his back, he looked on Misty, trying not to betray his look of pleasure from his girlfriend's actions. He had to admit, however, the gym leader was a vision in the ever shifting lights of the club. Her small smile was quite cute, her sea-green eyes shimmered with reflections, and her red hair moved dreamily back and forth with every movement. The sway of her body was pleasant to behold as well, as her well pronounced hips bounded from side to side. At times when they pressed together, the swell of her breasts were pushed into his own chest. All of it felt good to Ash, which caused a well of confusion to bubble up inside of him.

At the end of one of the songs, he managed to wrestle his way through the crowd and make it to the bar. He had no intention of drinking alcohol as he didn't feel the need to indulge such a habit, save for special occasions. But he was thirsty... and hungry. As another fast-paced dance song began to fill the air of the club with the sound of its deep bass beats, he managed to signal the barkeep who took his order for some water and some fries. As he waited, he noted that he couldn't see either Dawn or Misty on the dance floor, even from his elevated vantage point above the mass of people. He merely dismissed it, figuring they were hidden in the swath of people. He immediately received his drink, and his fries came not long after. As he lifted the fry to his mouth, he found it plucked at almost the last moment from his fingers.

"Thanks!" he heard the familiar voice from behind him, "I was getting hungry!"

Ash turned around faster than most people would. After all, someone had taken his food!

"Misty!" he exclaimed, "You could've asked!"

"Now where's the fun in that?" she heckled, quickly devouring the fry before Ash could object. She reached for another and gave him a devilish look, "Can I have another?"

Ash sighed, "Sure."

Rather than plucking one more, she pulled the whole plate over to her and began leisurely picking fries and eating them, giving him playful looks as each one disappeared into her mouth. Ash, fighting his nature, didn't wolf down his portion. Instead he decided to match her pace, giving her a scowl as they ate one fry at a time.

"You're not mad are you?" she asked sarcastically.

"Not at all..." Ash played along, knowing that the redhead was trying to press his buttons. He knew she was testing him, but he didn't know why. In the end, however, he just couldn't find himself able to become angry with the woman. It felt odd, especially since he knew he should be, considering his fries were disappearing at a decent pace.

"It's so nice of you to share, Ash. Normally this would've been gone before I had a chance to blink at it," Misty continued her sarcastically sweet side of the conversation.

"Yeah... normally," he mused, taking a drink of his water before turning back to the redhead who was slowly draining his plate of fries, "Where's Dawn?"

"Oh!" her face came to a state of realization. She had nearly forgotten she wasn't there, "She's gone to the ladies' room. You, on the other hand, look like you need some company."

"Thanks..." he replied dryly as Misty finished off the last of his fries.

She took a look at his drink, and asked with an odd tone, "No beer at the bar?"

"I don't drink," Ash replied casually.

"Hmm, me neither. Never been a fan. Besides my sisters do enough drinking to make up for me six times over," she spoke, her voice growing distant.

"You miss them?" the raven-haired trainer inquired. He knew they were on tour from one of the conversations that had led to his current accommodations on the day they arrived.

"Yes and no," Misty answered with a tone of indecisiveness, "I mean, they're family, and I love them and all that. But really... since I came back to Cerulean... they've done almost nothing to help at the gym. But at least they're doing what they've always wanted. Seeing the world, becoming celebrities... partying." Her tone grew almost distasteful the further along she went on her sermon.

"I missed you... and I missed traveling with you. Staying in one place had its appeal for maybe all of a month... then," she trailed off.

"You feel like you're rooted, and it just doesn't feel right," Ash finished, taking another drink of his water.

Misty turned her head and smiled at her old friend, "Exactly."

"Have you thought about finding someone else to run the gym," Ash asked, curious to see how far she'd gone to try get back on the road.

"I've looked into it. Sadly, there aren't many people who specialize in water types, or at least none that meet gym standards. It's not a popular specialty, since so many water types depend on a specific environment to be able to battle. That and it's not as flashy," she used finger quotes at this last word, "as other types. And every other water trainer I know or heard of that has the skill is already in charge of something, a gym, a school, a fire department, or they're a coordinator in charge of their own competition."

Ash snorted at that final bullet point and asked, "You tried asking Wallace?"

Misty herself let out a short loud laugh and snapped, "You really think I would ask an ex-champion and legendary coordinator to run a small gym in Kanto? Hah!" Misty gave him an amused look. She knew he was kidding of course, but the fact that he decided to even speak the question out loud was absurd enough on its own.

They both laughed about it and Misty eventually got herself a glass of water and drank along with Ash. There was a brief silence. But it was soon broken when Misty asked him a poignant question, "Ash... when you think about the time we travelled together, what do you feel?"

Ash was taken aback by the sudden inquiry and its apparent depth. He knew there was more to it than she let on, but he wasn't just going to ignore her, "It was one of the greatest times in my life. I was sad when it ended and you had to leave. Of course, I was sad when Brock left too, but that was pretty short-lived since he decided to come find me in Hoenn anyway."

"But there were good memories too right?"

Ash didn't even hesitate, "Of course!"

"Like?"

"Er..." now Ash stumbled. He had many things he could bring up. He decided to go with a neutral answer, "The Indigo Conference was awesome. My first major tournament. Kinda ended earlier than I liked but-,"

"Uh, Ash..." she interrupted, "I mean more... the day to day things. You know the journey, the crazy adventures... the people." Her voice grew soft at the last words.

"I," he paused. He knew what part she was stressing. He could've tried to play dumb and talk about all the people they met on the road. But he didn't want to be difficult, "I made some great friends. People who are stuck in my memories because of all the great times we had. People who are very important to me." His voice was very quiet. Misty could barely register it over the distant music, which was now dying down. A new song came on, a softer melody which carried gentler tones over the air. On the floor, people began to pair up. Slow dancing replaced the hectic and manic movements of before.

Still standing at the bar, the two were deep in thought. The music had its own effect on them. It seemed to compliment their reflective mood. The two, formerly sitting facing forward towards the bar now turned to face each other. Misty's face glimmered in the light of the bar, continually fighting to stay in its current form of contentment rather than dissolving into the amorous gaze it truly wanted to become. Ash's face betrayed nervousness. He hadn't had this deep a conversation with Misty in years. The last they had was after the Vertress Conference after he lost in the quarter finals to Cameron. He confided in her his great disappointment in his performance. He did better in the Lily of the Valley Conference the year before and had only grown worse in the intervening year.

"Ash, I need to tell you something. Something that I wanted to say years ago, but couldn't," she quietly told him, her voice on the edge between stern and pleading.

Ash gulped. He wasn't sure was this revelation was. Was it the reason she hadn't talked to him for years. Was it that she wanted to journey with again? He knew that she did, but she would only say if she truly knew she could do something to leave the gym. Or maybe it was something that happened to her during the time they didn't talk. A strange notion that she might've found someone crossed his mind. For some reason that he failed to understand, it didn't make him feel good.

She took a step towards him, drawing nearly as close as they had been on the dance floor. She was mere fractions of an inch for touching him. Her proximity gave the air a familiar charge. He couldn't place it at first.

"Ash... this is hard to say. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I've always taken care of myself. Maybe the idea that I would need someone else is foreign to me. You of all people know how independent I am. But..." she put her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself to him. She was flush against him. His hands remained rigidly at his side, as he was frozen solid. The familiar feeling he simply couldn't associate in his mind grew exponentially. Her voice lowered to a whisper as her face was now incredibly close. Their noses were now just an inch apart. He could feel her deep breaths on his face, "the years have shown me that while many things change, some don't. I spent years trying to seal away and crush away these... feelings. But it didn't work. Recent events have proven that to me." She drew closer still, at a speed that even a video camera would scarcely be able to capture.

"Misty..." Ash breathed. She was being so vague, but the familiar feeling was setting off alarms in his brain. He couldn't for the life of him determine why. Something was clouding his mind, giving off the vague feeling of nostalgia and a strange form of tension. Was she this glad to have him back in her life as a friend? Had she been this dejected, being trapped in the gym while her friends and family travelled the world without her? He could certainly understand the notion.

"Please, Ash, just tell me tell you... that I..." Misty's breath hitched at the moment of truth.

Her face had drawn indescribably close in the time between his thoughts and her words. He wasn't sure what this strange charged feeling his body experiencing was. All he knew was that he felt it only in one other person's presence. Until tonight, only one person gave him this tingling, hazy feeling. Someone who he cared for deeply. Someone who gave him strength when he had none. Someone who had driven him from despair.

"Love... you..." she finished at last.

Love.

It's someone I love.

Dawn.

Dawn! I love Dawn! What are you doing Ash!?

His mind screamed at him and he quickly put his hands up between him and the redhead who now was clearly attempting to kiss him. She halted, and her face remained blank at the sudden loss of movement. Her mind was a different story. Her consciousness, which had hovered in a state of near-bliss, plummeted through her range of emotions until it crashed into horror and despair.

"Misty, I'm sorry... I can't," his voice barely registered as a sound at all. He found the words surprisingly hard to say.

Tears threatened to burst forth from her eyes, but her resolve held and she merely managed to ask in the smallest voice he had ever heard pass her lips, "Why?"

"I," he thought of the consequences of divulging information about himself and Dawn in the wake of the latest development, and he stuttered. It would destroy her friendship with Dawn, and could even affect his relationship with her. He couldn't find the right phrase, so he said the only thing he thought he could get away with, "I need time."

She was at a loss for words. To her, this had a thousand different possible meanings. Did it mean he loved her but was committed to his quest right now? Was he just trying to put her off to make an excuse? Did it mean he didn't love her at all? Did it mean he just got out of a relationship and was still hurting? The thought that he had been in a relationship before seemed almost impossible to her. After all, it was Ash she was talking about; and the Ash she knew was a dense, clueless, oblivious rock when it came to the topic at hand. And yet, after hearing those words, she couldn't dismiss it.

She had taken a huge risk. One she had put off for years. One that had tormented her every night before she went to sleep. She had made the gamble, and lost.

Before the tears that threatened to burst from their shimmering orbs managed to do so, she turned on her heel and dashed from the club. Her wavy hair swished back and forth behind her as she raced as fast as she could from his sight.

Instantly, Ash felt many things for her: guilt, sadness, regret, sympathy, emptiness. The last of these things perplexed him. He had remained loyal to Dawn, if only recognizing the threat at the very last second. And yet he felt as though he had done something horribly wrong.

"Ash," came a quiet, slightly higher pitched voice.

He turned to see the approach of the blue haired girl whose presence in his mind kept him from betraying the most important relationship in his life.

Panic gripped him. He didn't know what she had seen. The redhead had been very close to him. He and Misty were locked in what could've been viewed as a romantic embrace. Though he had not even touched Misty with his own hands or lips, she could easily interpret his reluctance to move as compliance. Now, wrapped in guilt on two fronts, he couldn't even muster the strength to move his mouth, let alone the rest of his body. Only his head turned to see her. She approached him and stood before him, taking Misty's former place.

"I saw everything," she told him, her tone somewhat bereaved.

Ash's mind began to spin wildly while his physical body did nothing. He knew those words could only lead to the worst outcome.

"I saw what she almost did."

Ash's bottomed out stomach lightened slightly.

"You stopped her. I think I know what was going through your mind Ash," she claimed.

Ash's finger twitched. He was beginning to relax, but the threat remained.

"You couldn't tell her about us. You didn't know what to say. That's why you couldn't stop her at first. But you did anyway. You had to hurt a friend, our friend, to keep us together," Dawn concluded, her voice heavy with sorrow.

Ash's face lit up in astonishment. How had she been able to deduce that?

As though answering his unasked question, she told him, "I know that look you had. You were thinking hard. That forehead of yours... the way it wrinkles."

Ash's composure melted in relief. She was mostly right. And that partial accuracy and perception managed to keep her from making what could have been the worst possible assumption.

"Dawn... I-we... she's hurt bad," Ash managed to push out of his paralyzed throat.

"I know! We need to help her... but tomorrow. She needs space right now," she began to pull him away, towards the front doors of the club, "And we need to figure out what to say. If we tell her about us... she'll never speak to us again." Ash could only nod in agreement.

They passed the threshold of the club and quickly strode back to the gym. Dawn continued to instruct Ash, "Ok. She's probably going to want to confide in me about this whole mess probably. So we need to come up with something before we get back to the Gym. Any ideas?"

Ash finally managed to find his voice, "I told her I needed time..." He started his explanation, but Dawn cut him off again.

"That's damned lucky, Ash!" she nearly shouted, "We can tell her you just got out of a relationship!"

Ash frowned. He hated lying, and especially to Misty. But this was a delicate situation and he knew it.

"What's more... if we're even luckier... the open-endedness of your response might give her a little glimmer of hope," Dawn explained, her voice the epitome of seriousness.

"But... Dawn," he objected, stopping her movement and turning her to face him, "That means that we'll be leading her on, making her think she might be able to get together with me! But I love you! She'll just hate us even more, later, when she finds out that I'm already with you!"

Dawn eyes widened in surprise. She didn't expect her formerly love-dumb boyfriend to come up with such a good point in such a complicated issue. However, she saw no other way. She hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I know... I know... but right now... we just need to do this. We'll figure this out and fix it when she's got her feet back under her. Right now... we've got work to do."

She withdrew herself from him, and quizzically asked, "Since when can you ask such... incisive questions about relationships and feelings?"

Ash was shaken by the question. He didn't fancy himself as being relationship-savvy; he just didn't like the idea of covering up the truth. He bluntly answered, "I'm not... must've been a fluke."

Dawn gave a 'hmmm' of consideration before grabbing his hand and continuing to drag him to the gym. He was glad Dawn wasn't looking back at his face because he was sure he looked guilty. His thoughts swirled about the idea of how much a hypocrite he might be. Then again, he wasn't sure if he was or not. Those feelings he had as Misty closed in on him. They were the same feelings he had with Dawn. The strange feeling of static in the air when she drew close. The feeling that only grew when she pressed her body to his. He wasn't able to make the connection until the last possible second, but it was made nonetheless. Now the revelation tormented him. He had feelings for Misty... while he was in love with Dawn. It almost made him angry at himself. The idea that he of all people could be swayed from the love of his life. He was a determined and devoted man.

No... I can't be. It's impossible. You can't love two people like that at once. I love Dawn. What happened tonight is the product of Misty's affection and the amount of time we have been apart. Maybe battling her today after so long shook something loose. Or maybe I'm just... flattered... or something. His mind raced to concoct excuse after excuse to explain away the guilt. He might've succeeded consciously, but deep inside, the doubt lingered.

"So... who were you in a relationship with?"

His thoughts were ripped from the clouds as he was brought back to earth by Dawn's stern voice, "Huh?"

"Who were you in a relationship with? If she asks, we need an answer!" she persisted.

Ash was fed up with the idea of brewing more lies to feed to Misty. He spoke sharply, "I'm not inventing a person just to lie to Misty about!"

"What if she insists?" Dawn pressed.

"She won't. If anything, she'll just close herself off to me again," Ash nearly growled. Dawn was surprised by this change in tone. She knew it wasn't directed at her, he just hated the situation. He hated lying.

"Ash, I swear, we'll clear all this nonsense up... I promise," she turned back to Ash and pressed her lips to his. They were just around the corner from the Gym now, and it would be their last chance to do this for a while. Ash relaxed into the kiss. If anything could calm him down, this was it.

Ash exhaled, feeling like he had just breathed most of the toxic weight that pervaded his body from the last half-hour. He opened his eyes again to look on the vision that was Dawn. He knew he loved her, no matter what other feelings tainted his heart. He could deal with it in due time; he knew their love would last.

"So do we talk to her tonight?"

"No," Dawn stated matter-of-factly, "We wait for her to come talk to... well, probably me, but either or both of us could be the target of her confessions or questions."

"I'm already the target of her confessions. It's probably all on you now," Ash commented dejectedly, "I just hope I haven't broken her. She's so... tired. She wanted to move on from the gym, and from me. But she couldn't unbind herself from either."

"If it's on me to comfort her... I'll do my best. It's call I can do," Dawn mirrored his emotions at that moment.

Slowly, they walked towards the gym.

Dawn was determined, but doubtful.

Ash was steadfast, but guilt-ridden.