A/N: My apologies for missing my Wednesday update. I was without the internet the majority of the week. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Happy reading!
Chapter 8 – Hurricane Ash
The weather the next day accurately reflected the mood of the gym's denizens. Misty elected to keep the building closed to challengers for two reasons. Firstly, and most prominently, being the events of the night before. Her heart simply wasn't in it to battle anyone. The second reason was because the weather forecast issued a severe weather warning for the next several days. A typhoon was making its way up the Kantonian Coast, and Cerulean was in its path. Already the city was feeling its effects, the dark clouds having moved in during the bleak hours of sunrise, with the heavy rain starting not long after. Torrential winds tore at the city, keeping most people in their homes. No one in their right mind would come challenge the gym in this kind of weather; though Ash might've seriously considered it back in the old days.
"I'm glad we don't have to drag ourselves through this weather. It's awful nice of Misty to let us still stay here," Dawn remarked, looking out the living room window that seemed awash with the streams of water that poured down its face.
"If anyone should pack up, it should be me," Ash added lowly, "A guest shouldn't make his host so uncomfortable that she doesn't even come out of her room."
It was true that Misty had yet to emerge from her bedroom. Dawn had a brief conversation with her through the door, which ended with Misty insisting that the two visitors could stay in the house. The redhead didn't want to send them through this storm just to have to arrive at the public hotel that was the Pokémon Center. They were grateful, but Ash still felt immensely guilty for sending her into this spiral of depression, only to add to it by remaining to torment her further with his very presence.
"Ash, you had no control over the situation... she told you. It was her risk. She had to know that there was the possibility of rejection. She's smart, and would've prepared herself for it," Dawn explained, trying to alleviate his guilt.
"Still... even if she did, she got hit... hard," he stood up from his place on the couch, "And I'm not going to just sit here and keep torturing her. You can stay, because she'll need you. But I'm useless here."
"Ash, come on... you need to-," Dawn began to protest, but was interrupted by Ash's pokégear ringing.
Putting the watch-like device on his wrist to his mouth, he clicked a button and answered the call, "Ash Ketchum speaking."
"Ash, my boy! It's Professor Oak! I need to speak with you on an urgent matter regarding one of your Pokémon!" the elderly voice rang seriously through the tinny sound of the communications device.
"What's wrong?" Ash's voice grew concerned.
"It's your Torkoal, Ash... he's very ill," the professor's voice solemnly informed. Dawn, upon hearing this, gave an audible gasp.
"Is he ok? Are you treating him?" Ash frantically asked.
"Ash, Torkoal has contracted an extremely virulent offshoot of the Influenza Virus that is particularly problematic for fire-types. Unfortunately, there is no known treatment for it. Normally, it would be merely a nasty sickness that a Pokémon could get over in a week. But the way fire-types work with their elevated temperature, the virus causes a feverish state which elevates its body heat far above normally acceptable levels. It can get to the point where it can be physically debilitating and in some cases fatal," the professor elucidated in his most grave tone.
Ash's heart almost stopped at the word 'fatal'. He froze momentarily, before nearly shouting into his wrist-mounted communications device, "I'll be there right away!"
Dawn's face of concern turned to one of horror when he spoke those words. He gaze snapped to the soaked window she stood only a few feet from.
"Good! The faster the better! I'm doing all I can, there's no quick fix for this. All Torkoal can do is fight it tooth and nail with his willpower. Having you there may give him the extra bit of support and confidence he needs to beat this thing," the professor responded eagerly.
"I'll need you to prep Pidgeot for transfer to the Cerulean Pokémon Center. I'll be there momentarily to receive him, and then I'll be on my way. In the meantime, please do what you can for him!" Ash instructed desperately.
"Will do! And Ash!" the professor's voice halted Ash as he approached the door, "Torkoal is strong, but he draws much of his strength from you and your confidence in him. It's good that you're coming. It's the sign of how great a trainer you are. Never forget that!"
"Thank you. I'll be there soon," Ash replied curtly.
As Ash ended the call and approached the coat hanger to grab the wind-breaker that hung there, Dawn grabbed his arm in a panic. He turned his face to meet hers and she saw the worry in her eyes. The blue orbs shimmered with water that threatened to stream down her face in seconds. Ash couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart. She cried gently towards him, "It's too dangerous, Ash! The storm! The wind, the rain... the lightning! You could be killed!"
"And one of my Pokémon needs me," Ash answered her plea just as gently. He touched her cheek tenderly and drew closer, "I have to help. Torkoal is strong, but he needs me. He's been there for me, and now I need to return the favour."
"But the storm! It's too risky!" Dawn wept, her tears flowing freely now.
"Dawn what if it were Piplup, or Lopunny, or Mamoswine. You would do the exact same thing I'm doing now," he put to her softly.
Her grip tightened on his arm and suddenly she threw herself onto him in a tight hug, sobbing into his clothes. She was no stranger to her Pokémon being at risk before. Her Mamoswine had been injured once and she had to care for it when she was unable to find its pokéball while hiding it from Team Rocket, not to mention all the other times the villainous trio had kidnapped her Pokémon companions. But she knew the stakes were higher this time. She heard the same words Ash had.
...In some cases fatal.
The professor's warning echoed through her mind. She knew she couldn't stop him. He loved her, without a shadow of a doubt. However, he loved his Pokémon almost, if not just as much. She knew he had to help. It was his responsibility. It was his nature.
"Then, I'll come with you!" she declared looking up to him again.
"No."
"What?!" she shouted, nearly flying off the handle.
"Togekiss is not big enough to carry a passenger. It's dangerous enough, with one person on Pidgeot in this weather. My only other flying-type big enough to carry a passenger is Charizard, and he can't take this kind of weather. Besides, I couldn't bear for anything to happen to you. This is something I have to do myself," Ash explained quickly.
Dawn was on the edge between fury and understanding. All of his points were correct, but she was inches from not caring about any of them. She didn't want him to have to face this alone. But he would have to. She was so immensely frustrated at not being able to do anything, considering she held the same sentiment he had just expressed in her own heart. She felt her life would be irrevocably shattered if he were to perish in the storm.
She could only ask one thing of him, sobbing into his shirt, "Just promise me, you'll be careful. Promise me you'll make it through this storm and come back to me!"
Ash gave her a weary smile. The news clearly darkened his already bleak demeanour, but he was certain of this his reply, "I will. I promise I'll be careful. I promise to come back to you," he paused and embraced her, whispering into her ear, "I love you too much not to."
Her heart leapt in joy and seared with pain all at once. She loved how he said those words. She loved the feeling locked in every syllable. But at the same time, she fretted over how it might very be the last time she would hear it. He was about to fly into a hurricane and it tore her apart.
They took a moment to gaze into each other's eyes, memorizing one another's faces and the hue of their respective shimmering orbs. Ash's face was one that betrayed how violently his heart was being wrenched in two. He was just as aware of the danger as she was, and the thought leaving Dawn, perhaps forever if the worst were to happen, was painful to him. She could see exactly what he felt, and she knew that the grief was mutual.
So she had to do this. No matter what. Even if Misty was right behind them, she didn't care. She pulled Ash into a deep kiss whose passion rivaled the combined love and need of all the nights they had spent together since their first. Her grip on the back of his neck was crushing, but he relished it. His hands smoothing up and down her sides and back brought about a tingling feeling of such desire that she felt she would never be able to let anyone else ever touch her there ever again. But the feeling of their lips and tongues were the pinnacle of physical expression. He noticed just how supple and soft they were, and she noticed how hungrily his tongue sought her own. She wanted to it last forever so that he'd never leave. He desperately wanted the same.
Ash finally managed to summon up the will to release her and struggled to get her to let go of him. He gave her one last longing look that conveyed a melded amalgam of his love and sorrow. It was a look that nearly broke her heart then and there. Barely able to continue looking at his significant other for fear of losing his resolve, he put on his windbreaker and hood and ran out into the storm. She watched from the doorway as her love sprinted down the plaza and the adjacent street to the Pokémon Center in the distance. She could see how fierce the wind and rain was against him. He had to hold his arm to his face to prevent it from being pelted with rain, while his coat whipped all around him, barely affording him the protection its very name claimed to give.
"Good luck, Champion of My Heart," she whispered into the howling wind.
She closed the door, shakily carried herself back to the living room, and lay down on the couch face down, her face buried into a pillow. She wanted to scream so badly, but this was neither the place nor the time. She couldn't put more emotional turmoil into Misty's house. Not when the redhead needed peace and quiet.
"Dawn, are you ok?"
The blunette's heart almost jumped into her throat. She didn't expect to see her down here, having expected the gym leader to still be an emotional wreck in her room. Now here she was, viewing Dawn in her living room as the wreck instead. She didn't want to reveal her state to her best friend, so instead she grunted into the pillow and held back all other signs of her immense sadness and apprehension.
"I heard a shout come from down here. Did something happen?" Misty asked innocently.
Dawn almost gritted her teeth. That had been her that had shouted. She had been the one to force Misty from her room and now she was going to see the younger coordinator in a way she didn't want to be seen right now; not only because she didn't want to be seen in such a manner, but because she knew it wouldn't do Misty any favours either after what she had to endure.
"No," Dawn stated plainly through the pillow as she lay on the couch motionless.
"You're acting odd," Misty's tone changed from concerned to suspicious, "Spill it!"
Dawn didn't react, so Misty decided to take matters into her own hands. She forced Dawn to roll on the couch so she could see her properly. What she saw was not what she expected. Dawn's face was red, and her eyes puffy. It was still wet from tears and her mouth was in a frown that clearly held back and even more depressing visage.
"What the hell happened?" Misty demanded, noting the absence of Ash. She tried to restrain her anger but clearly failed.
Dawn sighed and her shoulders slumped as she pulled herself up to sit on the couch rather than lie. Misty realized that she needed to reign in her emotions if she was going to help her friend, so he took a moment to collect herself. The redhead took her place on the seat beside Dawn and held her close. Dawn let out a few sobs and Misty pressed gently, "Tell me what happened. It's fine, I'm here."
"A-... A," she tried to speak but involuntary sobs kept her from finishing the first word of her sentence.
Misty noted the way the word started, it almost sounded like she was trying to say... "Dawn? Where's Ash?"
The younger woman shook her head vehemently.
"You don't know?"
Dawn pointed out towards the hall leading to the Gym's entrance.
"So you do," Misty confirmed.
Dawn nodded.
"But you don't want to say?" Misty prodded gently.
Dawn nodded again, sniffling in the meantime.
"Did he hurt you?"
A shake of her head gave another negative response.
"What did he do?"
She pointed out towards the door again, this time with more force.
"He left?"
"Yes," Dawn croaked, speaking to Misty for the first time during the entire exchange.
"Why?"
"He had to," Dawn hoarsely answered.
"What made him have to go out in this weather? I told you both of you could stay in the house... I won't make you leave because..." she paused, almost shuddering in anxiousness at the thoughts that passed through her mind, "...of that."
"Not... to do with you," Dawn choked out.
"Dawn, I'm sorry, but you need to open up a bit, I can't play twenty questions with you all day," Misty stated, growing slightly impatient.
"Oak called," Dawn uttered, "Torkoal is sick. He needs to be there."
"Wait... so he's going to travel through this... to get there," Misty questioned, motioning to the water stained window.
"It's really serious, so not just travel. Fly..." Dawn gulped.
Misty grew pale. Ash Ketchum... was going to fly... through a typhoon.
She knew he was a daring –no, reckless – man who didn't think things through. But this took the cake. She didn't want to be reminded of how many times Ash had almost died. And now, he was ready to throw his life away once again.
"How many times does that boy have to almost ... no... ACTUALLY DIE... before he stops taking stupid risks like that!" Misty shouted, pacing around the living room. She came to a rest before the window and looked out through the streams of water to the darkened skies outside. It was only getting worse.
"Torkoal might die," Dawn said in a tiny voice.
Misty whipped around at this little nugget of information and her eyes narrowed, "Is that true?"
Dawn nodded silently.
Misty felt her anger subside quickly. More quickly than she expected, actually. But still, her mind churned with angry and frantic thoughts, Of course he would do something stupid like that if one of his Pokémon was in that much danger. Damn big hearted idiot. I could kill him if I didn't love him so much. DAMNIT! No! Stop thinking about that! Stop! Stop! Stop!
Misty's face twisted in confusion and conflict. She wanted to pull her hair out. She wasn't going to kick Ash out, but she thought his absence would help her recover from last night. She rued the idea that this was literally the only situation in which Ash leaving was torturing her even more.
Then her thoughts turned in another dark direction, If he gets into trouble... I won't be there to save him. I mean... I know I wasn't there for years... but I'm close by now... I feel responsible for him again. DAMNIT! Why!? Why do I feel like that?! He doesn't love me! Why should I care so much about him?! It's Ash! Even if his dimwitted brain is capable of harbouring those thoughts, it won't be for me. I'm just a friend... a damned friend who can't even keep him from rushing out into a typhoon on the back of whatever foolhardy Pokémon that chose to help him!
Misty almost felt like smashing something, but held her cool. Dawn still looked fragile at the moment. Frankly, so was the redhead, and she didn't want something else to regret on top of the heap of things she already had to deal with.
"Dawn... I'm so sorry," Misty apologized, "I'm so wrapped up in myself right now... that I'm ignoring your pain. Clearly you're worried for him. And so am I. I'm just so twisted over last night..."
Dawn, though still emotionally burdened, saw the small opening Misty gave as she sat down beside her. The two wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and sat still. Dawn decided to see if she could begin the process to help. Maybe she would open up if they thought they were on the same level emotionally, "Did... you want to talk about it?"
Misty sighed deeply, "Not really... but it's probably best I do. Keeping stuff like this bottled up won't do me any favours in the long run."
Dawn tilted her head onto Misty's shoulder, "It isn't. But I understand if you want your privacy. Two nights ago, you didn't want to tell me about why you stopped talking to him. I'd imagine that you want to even less now."
"You're so kind Dawn..." Misty replied lowly, "I wish I met you earlier. I could've used a friend like you back then."
Dawn managed to give a small chuckle, "You're four years and some months older than I am. I probably wouldn't have understood when I was that young. That and, in a way, I was a lot like your sisters back then. So obsessed with appearance, fashion and stuff like that. And I sorta still am... but not to that degree. With coordinating and Pokémon in my life, there's so much more now."
"Oh, I bet you were never as bad..." Misty drawled.
"You should talk to my mother sometime," Dawn giggled.
Misty joined her laughter, but then the silence returned. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was just there. They needed each other's comfort, and regardless of whether or not speech accompanied it. The silence was helpful. The feeling of Dawn against her in their mutual hug, and the warmth it offered, was something she desperately needed then. Misty almost began to regret not having let Dawn into her room earlier. Then again, this wasn't just about her either; they both needed this. Dawn was just as broken up about Ash's courageous, if slightly foolhardy, mission to help his Pokémon. The comfort of the gesture they shared was clearly helping her as well.
Misty finally broke the quiet of the room, "I'm just gonna come out and say it... not like it's really a big secret now, but I should tell you all the same," she paused. She never imagined confessing her love for the raven-haired trainer twice, let alone in the span of two days, "I love Ash Ketchum. I've loved him for as long as I could remember. Even when he stole and destroyed my bike. I was so angry at him for it, and I never let him hear the end of it. But I knew he took it to help Pikachu. At the time, I don't think even I knew it, but later I realized that might've been the point at which I feel in love with him. Everything else after that just compounded it."
Dawn knew this was coming. Still, hearing it from Misty's own mouth still had an impact of its own. Even though her brain tried to suppress it, and was disgusted by the idea that she even felt the emotion, a small tinge of fear crossed her mind. The kernel of apprehension that Misty might try and take Ash away from her was definitely there. Dawn, however, quashed the irrational thought almost immediately with the knowledge that Ash loved her so truly and deeply that he would never betray her. He had given himself body, mind and soul to her.
"Even after he went to Hoenn, and I took over the gym... I still thought about him. I turned down dates, I abstained from anything that might potentially lead to me even meeting people that would give me the opportunity to forget about him. I was practically a hermit in this gym, only going out for food and gym business. I made sure trainers' visits and challenges were strictly business-only, so that I wouldn't have to turn people down. And I always thought about him before I went to sleep. Damn, I thought I was becoming obsessive," Misty began to spill her heart before Dawn.
"That must've been hard," Dawn empathized. She recognized a few of the symptoms she described. She found herself holding out for Ash's return. The only difference was that she had to face people routinely as she traveled around as a coordinator. She had to deal with the suitors and such on road. Still, she felt that Ash set such high standards for her; such that should couldn't even consider anyone else but him. But she wasn't going to tell Misty that though.
"Then came that phone call after the league competition in Unova. He kept a good face in front of Iris and Cilan, but he laid it all bare for me. How disappointed he was in his performance, and the fact he couldn't understand why he was going backwards rather than forwards. I wanted so badly to tell him then and there, to give him comfort in the form of my love. But something stopped me. I'm not sure if it was the fact that I thought it would be too much for him at a time like that, or if I was just being a coward. But I couldn't say it. The fear of rejection held me back, and only now am I paying for it. In fact, it might've hurt less if I had done it then. I wouldn't have had another seven years worth of shattered feelings to drown in," a tear fell from Misty's eye as she confessed this.
Dawn gripped Misty tighter, putting her other arm over Misty. The coordinator couldn't help but sympathize with the gym leader. Misty returned the gesture, such that the girls were in a semi-sideways hug as they sat on the sofa.
Misty continued to tell her story her voice growing unsteady, "I felt it was too much for me. Years of holding out. Barely a sign from him that he held any similar feelings for me. I know he trusted me, and considered me a great friend... but if he couldn't see through my mask to the core of my emotions for him, or even that small but steady trickle love that always seemed to spill from it, then I knew he couldn't love me. So I ended all contact with him. Tried to forget him. Tried to purge away the feelings and pain. Every once in a while, I heard something or saw something about him. But otherwise, I abstained. And after he went dark, I thought I might've gotten over him."
Misty pressed her head into the crook of Dawn's neck. The blunette felt the teardrops on her shirt. Misty's words grew into sobs, "But he came back with you. And the dam burst. Everything he did, the talking, the battle, the club. It all made me fall in love with him again. Or maybe it's that I never truly stopped. Either way, I just couldn't fight it. And I knew that I wouldn't know any sort of peace if I didn't at least tell him. So I did last night. And well... you know the rest."
The coordinator, still latched onto Misty as the gym leader was onto her, couldn't help but feel sorrow for her heartbroken best friend. Despite the fact that Dawn knew that Ash loved her, she almost wanted Ash to love Misty just so that she didn't have to see the pain in the redhead's sea-green eyes, or hear it in her wavering voice. It was a strange sensation to love a man and want her friend to be happy when said man was the common denominator. Dawn continued to massage Misty's back in a slow, comforting gesture in the hopes that she could alleviate some of the pain. The blunette knew she was at least partly responsible for this. Had she and Ash came right out and told Misty about their relationship, Misty wouldn't have made that leap and fallen to where she was now. It might've been a shock, or even painful to her to have found out. But this was far worse. Dawn cared for Misty so much, and it absolutely tore her up inside to see that she had contributed to this level of pain.
Misty gulped as she continued to get the rest of the story off her chest, "After I told him... he just said, 'I need time'."
Dawn put on a face of thoughtfulness and turned to Misty and told her, "That's ambiguous." Much like Ash, Dawn hated lying to Misty, but she had to appear as though Ash hadn't told her about it. Her reasoning was, at the moment, an acknowledgment of her knowing what Ash said might lead back to the idea that Dawn was in a relationship with him. And the coordinator knew that in this state, that would absolutely shatter the poor gym leader.
"It's probably a lie. He just didn't want to say no to my face. And if I talk to him about it, he'll probably just say something like: He didn't want to hurt me."
"Well... you don't know that for sure, for one," Dawn logically put forth, "And two, even if he didn't want to say it to your face... can you blame him. He just rebuilt his friendship with you. He cares for you deeply, that's no lie. But he wasn't expecting this. You've never said much about Ash when I came to visit, but what little you did say about him usually consisted about how romantically inept he was. He must've panicked, or something."
Misty seemed to acknowledge her words, and the pain lessened. The idea seemed to give her a sliver of hope. It left her with the hope that she didn't completely ruin her chances, and that at the very least, he still would be her friend. Her brain worked hard to process this in conjunction with the entirety of her history with Ash.
"I know this is going to be hard for the next little while... but remember, no matter how it turns out, you'll still have the respect and deep friendship of a man whom I admire above all else. Maybe even more than my mother. And that's saying a lot." Dawn finished.
"But will he ever love me? I don't know how I'll get over this. I've been pining for him for over a decade only for it to come crashing down on my head. I feel like I've wasted my life," Misty lamented.
"You never know. Maybe sometime in the future, he'll be ready. Or maybe, you'll meet someone else who captures your heart in the same way and you won't have to wait for him," Dawn tried to comfort her.
Misty gave another deep sigh. Her crying had ceased, as had Dawn's. Misty just looked out the window. The wind and rain pounded at it worse than ever, "Look at me... fretting over the love of a man who is braving this! I shouldn't be so selfish and worry about my empty love-life and worry more about whether or not he makes it, and if Torkoal beats his illness."
Dawn hoisted Misty up, something she found slightly difficult as the gym leader was almost a head taller than the coordinator. As she pulled the redhead to the kitchen, she assured her, "No need to worry. Ash has been through so much, he'll get through this. And with Ash at his side, his Pokémon will power through that sickness!"
Misty gave a small smile, "I don't know where you get all that optimism from."
"It's just who I am, and the friends I have," Dawn answered, the perkiness finally coming back to her voice.
"Well... I'm just glad I'm among them," Misty softly spoke. The smile on Dawn's face widened as Misty's own small smile grew as well.
Dawn gently tugged Misty hand as she began to lead Misty in the direction of the gym battlefield, "Come on, Misty. Let's tend to your Pokémon. They haven't seen you all day."
Misty nodded. Though Ash, the rejection, and now his mad task of flying through a hurricane were still swirling through her mind, she had Dawn there with her to help her through it. And she felt nothing but an excess warm gratitude towards her best friend. It reminded her of just how much Dawn had been there for her in recent years, and helped to reassure her that the sun would eventually break through those dark clouds that hung over them both.