Mad Season Chapter 3

Pairing: Misty/Gary, sort of Ash/Misty(?)

Rated: T

Genre: Drama/Angst

Summary: In which Ash reflects on missed opportunities.

XOXS

It was something about the rain.

The sound of distant thunder, or the whip of the wind, or the crackle of lightning; something about it always drew his attention back to the redhead who stole his heart,

then promptly ripped it out, and skewered it with a knife.

But it was his fault, at least that's what she, Brock, May, Dawn, Gary, and his mother told him. Ash screwed up, not Misty.

She wanted him to be around more, he wanted to visit Alola. She wanted more time together, he wanted more time to battle. She wanted to get married, he wanted to collect champion titles. She wanted to buy a house, he wanted to adventure to new continents. She told him that if he left again, she wouldn't be there when he returned, but of course he didn't believe her. It was Misty frickin' Waterflower. She had been in love with him since they were twelve.

How was he supposed to know she would actually leave?

She spent the better part of her teenage years, and young adult life waiting for him—why would he actually believe she would have stopped now?

"Because I'm turning twenty-six in June and the closest we've ever had to a real date is you taking me to watch a friggin' round robin tournament!" he echoed her answer to that question—when he had asked it two years ago before he left for the newly found continent.

Maybe he hadn't always been the best at romance, but she knew that. She always knew that. Ash wasn't even the best at calling, or relationships outside of pokemon at all, but that never stopped her before.

Imagine his shock, and absolute disbelief when he arrived at her door step only three hours ago to see a fumbling toddler at her feet. The terror in his mind when he saw that Gary was sitting on the green couch where he used to sit. The panic when he saw that her long slender fingers were decorated by a glaring, white diamond that only made the tap of her nails and frown of her lips three times more apparent.

How jarred he was when she slammed the door in his face, and how devastated he was when he realized his mistake.

Ash threw his arms up.

Maybe it was his fault! He had only spent the last three hours calling his friends and family to hear exactly that. Apparently, there was no other way to view the situation. Ash disappeared for two years, and Misty moved on.

As Brock plainly put it; "What else was she supposed to do?"

Oh, Ash didn't know—call him, travel with him, send a letter? SMOKE SIGNALS would have sufficed! Thunder cracked outside of his hotel one once again, and he leaned forward to hold his face in his hands, and groan to himself. It's not like they were kids anymore. They weren't teenagers. Misty was turning twenty-eight in two days, and what a lovely gift to share with her—Ash's complete, dense nature, expecting to return home as if nothing changed.

Slowly, his brown eyes turned to the windowsill, where pikachu rested, curled up beneath his worn cap, and Ash exhaled. Maybe it wasn't the rain that reminded him of her—but reminded him of everything he let go when he left.

Knock Knock

Pulled from his thoughts, he sat up in his chair, knocking over his bag which he had set beside it, and cursed as he slumped over to the door. He felt more tired than he actually was.

When he pulled open the door, he wasn't expecting the scowling redhead to be staring back at him with hateful, sea-green eyes.

"M-misty?" Ash hummed, trying to shush the excitement in his voice, especially if she was still angry. Judging by the appropriate glare and the way she shoved his shoulder when she walked in, he doubted the few hours he had been gone did anything to cool her temper.

She didn't speak when she walked in, didn't bother looking at him, she barely moved at all when she spun to stare at him as he closed the door as quietly as possible—as if even the slightest noise would set her off.

When she inhaled, it was unsteady and vicious, only, the sparks didn't fly until Ash found enough bravery to finally look at her.

"You..." She hissed, fists trembling. "...have some nerve."

"Sorry. I didn't know."

"Obviously!" She screamed and Ash winced.

"Shh!" He hissed back at her, holding his finger to his lips. "I don't want to get thrown out of here." especially not in the rain! He added as an afterthought, but he was pretty sure she could care less if he slept in the rain or in a garbage can, judging by her current appearance.

"I don't care! What do you think you were doing at my house?" She wagered, pushing one of her neatly manicured fingers hard against his chest. Ash recoiled at the strength of her finger, and rubbed the spot where she jabbed him.

"Like I said, I didn't know."

"Right! But why would you come to me? You didn't really think I'd wait for you!?" She bellowed, her voice cracking at the insane possibility. "I told you not to come back if you left! I meant it!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Ash yelled back in frustration.

"I think I made myself pretty clear!" She countered, but Ash struggled not to yell back again—yelling would amount to nothing. Yelling was exactly what he felt like, but it was far from what he wanted.

"If you don't want me around, why are you here?" He asked meekly, glancing away from her eyes. Hopeful, maybe.

Misty let out a long, harrowing sigh. "Gary told me to come."

Ash snorted, temper flaring. "Gary?" Ash mocked. "You married Gary? What the hell?!" Ash snapped, his resolve to not fight gone in a single world.

"When did you even have time to get to know him?"

Misty snapped next. "Oh, I don't know. The two years you've been gone!"

"Two years isn't that long!" Ash cried in frustration, throwing his arms up.

"Maybe to you!" She screamed, stomping her foot as she reeled back and cracked her neck. She couldn't stand to look at him. Staring back at her, however, was the gentle eyes of pikachu, who felt that if he greeted her with as much enthusiasm as he used to, Ash would feel betrayed—it stayed by the window, even after Misty briefly waved to the pokemon.

"I'm sorry." Ash offered, but Misty shook her head.

"Save it." she replied hoarsely. "I'm not here because of us."

Ash rolled his eyes and shoulders. "Then can you leave? I was kind of busy wallowing in my self-entitled-pity."

"I can see that." Misty mocked appropriately, and the tone of her voice sent shudders of anger down his spine once again. How dare she!

"Then what do you want?"

"Nothing, from you." She whipped, but then turned to face him, tongue in cheek. "But like I said, Gary told me to come here."

"And do what? Does he want to rub my nose in it by using you? Are you into that now? Belittling people?" Ash paused, and then gasped sarcastically. "Oh wait, you already did that."

Misty licked her lips with a scoff of disbelief, nodding her head as if agreeing with him. Somethings wouldn't change, not his snark, not her anger, and never their arguments. Maybe they were lucky to have dodged such a toxic relationship.

"You know, never mind. I shouldn't have come here after all." Misty adjusted her rain jacket, and shook her head, muttering to herself as she shoved past Ash once again, this time avoiding all contact as she brushed past.

Flabbergasted, Ash blinked several times and turned on his heels to look at her back. Her hair, which she wore short for the sixteen years he knew the woman, was well past her shoulders, but tied neatly into a braid—such a small change, but it exemplified everything. His heart twisted, and his stomach lurched.

As if feeling the exact moment his heart stopped, her feet promptly stopped as well, when her fingers wrapped around the metallic door knob.

"My son." Misty hummed.

Ash scoffed; "Gonna throw that in my face, too?" He muttered quietly, mostly to himself as he leaned against the wall across from her, folding his arms.

She paused for several seconds, mulling the thought over in her mind. In the distance, Ash heard the abrupt roar of thunder, as Misty inhaled and released stubbornly.

"He's not Gary's." Misty managed before swiftly ripping open the door, and slamming it shut on her exit. He was sure that if she had slammed just a little harder, the door would have flown right off its hinges; but his mind was else where.

Oh. Ash thought shortly after, his brain derailed as his fists unconsciously clenched, and unclenched several times before he fell backwards onto the foot of his bed, breathless.

Her anger made sense now, her reluctance to let him go, the house, the talks about marriage. Ash covered his mouth and let his hair fall into his eyes, darkening his brown face. Pikachu was there in a flash, sitting beside his long-time trainer with his paw on his thigh, and a deep look of concern over its yellow face.

Promptly ripped it out, and skewered. Ash thought once more, inhaling a shaky breath as he covered his mouth in absolute disbelief. Why wouldn't she have told him before he left? That would have made him stay. He flinched, even his own mind betrayed him. Misty would have never made Ash stay. She would have never put him in that situation—but that didn't mean that she shouldn't have. For once, he wished that she wouldn't have put his thoughts first.

Ash could have stayed, he would have stayed.

But why would she want him to, if he didn't already? She would have thought she forced him—and that would have made everything worse.

"Pikapiii" The mouse cried to his trainer as salty tears dripped down Ash's face. He hiccuped, on the verge of throwing up.

Okay. It was his fault.

Author's Note:

I know Razor of DOOM's request was supposed to be up. But, I sort of had the pokeshipping blues due to the current blah weather. So, here I am. My thoughts: what if Ash -always- put traveling first? Now this isn't necessarily something I could see him doing, since Ash is fairly noble and all that jazz; it's just a something.

-hides from the pitch forks-

fun fact: Pretty sure every time I've written about Misty living somewhere, she always had a green couch.

Thoughts about the chapter: This would be one of those more serious (sort of farfetched, if you'd ask me) stories, where Ash is completely blindsided by traveling and Misty is convinced telling him would 'ruin' his life, so if she can't convince him to stay without telling him, then she thinks it's best he not be around at all. Also, I like to sometimes write out the dynamic of Ash and Misty when they -aren't- all fluff and candles.