When the adults go away, the kids will play.
Elizabeth - 13 yrs. old
Salena - 3 yrs. old
The rest of the night went smoothly until Salena woke Lizzie up. "Lizzie?" Salena rocked the older girl's shoulder until she awoke. Lizzie yawned and stretched her arms up and out. She then saw Salena, who was crying.
"What's the matter Lacie?" Lizzie asked as she lifted the girl up and set her beside her in bed. The small girl's brown hair was a mess from bedhead. Salena grabbed Lizzie into a hug. "Lacie, come on. You can tell me."
"I..I miss daddy. I want my daddy. Can you get daddy?" Salena cried, her tears staining Lizzie's pjs. Lizzie sighed. Though the girl was very independent, she was still quite young. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea for Brock and Brianna to go away overnight while Salena was so young. Lizzie tried to comfort the girl to no avail. She didn't know what to do. If she cried much more, she'd make herself sick.
Finally, Lizzie left the room for a minute to get Salena a drink. After getting her some apple juice, she came upstairs to hear Salena crying even louder. "Darn you Brock. She's too young!" Lizzie murmured angrily to herself. Not knowing what else to do, Lizzie went into her parents room.
Usually Lizzie would go to her mother for something like this. But Misty had such a tiring day, Lizzie thought best not to wake her. Instead, she went over to her snoring father and started to shake him. "Dad, daddy. Wake up, please. I need your help." She said, shaking her father rapidly.
Ash finally woke, reluctantly. He turned over to face Lizzie. "What's wrong Liz?" Ash asked as he sat up.
"Salena misses Brock. I've tried to calm her down, but I can't. Mom's beat, so I couldn't wake her up. Help me, please?" Lizzie explained. Ash nodded and stood up, being sure not to disturb Misty. As Ash walked into Lizzie's room, he found Salena wrapped in Lizzie's blanket, on the bed, shaking in fear.
"Salena." Ash said gently as he picked the girl up and sat on the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "It's ok to cry. But you do know daddy's going to be back home tomorrow." He asked as Selena nodded.
"I know but I woke up and daddy not here. I was scared." Salena said as Ash rocked the girl back and forth. "Why did daddy go 'way?" Ash hugged the girl tight.
"Daddy just needed a break from work. He didn't mean to make you upset. I'll tell you what. If you want, we can call daddy in the morning. What about it?" Ash said, as the girl calmed down. Ash rocked the girl for a few more minutes then tucked her back in bed, making sure to take her hearing aid back out and placing it back into the small dehumidifier.
As soon as Salena woke up, she ran downstairs. Ash and Salena then called Brock on the videophone. "Hello?" Brock said, still groggy.
"Daddy! It's me Salena. I missed you!" Salena announced as Brock chuckled at the girl's introduction.
"Hey baby. How are you?" Brock asked, still chuckling.
"Good. Where's mommy?"
"Mommy's taking a shower. Are you being a good girl for Lizzie?"
"Yea. Weally good. Bye daddy, I'm gonna go eat." Salena said as she hopped off Ash's lap and ran to the kitchen. On the way to the kitchen, Brock could hear her say, "Love you." Brock and Ash laughed at the small girl's cuteness.
"is she being good?" Brock asked.
"She's fine. We had a few tears last night though." Ash explained.
"Oh?"
"She woke up scared last night. She missed you and was pretty upset. When Lizzie couldn't calm her down, she came to me. I rocked Salena back to sleep."
"I'm so sorry."
"Brock, it's fine. It's no trouble. As you see today, she's fine. Since I'm off today, maybe I'll take the her and Lizzie out today. Maybe the park." Ash said as Brock laughed at the inside joke. Brock remembered, even now, when he took Aiden out to pick up girls with.
"Ok, well I'll be back for Salena around dinner time." Brock said, putting on suntan lotion.
"Have fun Brock. Don't worry about Salena." Ash said. Brock then hung up, off to tan on the beach.
During the morning, while Lizzie was having her gym leader lesson with Misty, Ash and Salena went out. Salena was from a rock type pokemon environment, but she really didn't like rock types. Rather, she loved grass type pokemon. She especially loved her godfather's Bayleef. So Ash took Salena to Professor Oak's.
As the pair entered the research field, Tracey spotted them. "Morning Ash. This is Brock's daughter right?" Tracey asked curiously. Salena stood up tall and shook Tracey's hand.
"I'm Salena. Nice to meet you." Salena said, a huge smile covering the girl's face. "Where's Bayweef?" She looked up at Ash, waiting for the answer.
"Bayleef!" Ash called. The tan and green grass type ran over to him, almost tipping him over as she licked the man's cheek. "Woah Bayleef, down." Ash said as he knelt down and picked up Salena. "Bayleef, Salena and I came here so she could play with you." At this, Bayleef was very excited to play. "Salena, Tracey and I will be right on the bench." He said, pointing to the bench.
Salena nodded as Pikachu jumped off Ash's broad shoulder, running over to the girl to play. Tracey and Ash went and sat down and started to talk. Pikachu, Bayleef, and Salena ran over to the grass type lake, and sitting at the edge splashed their feet in the water. As Salena tried to stand up, she slipped on some mud and fell into the lake.
At first, the two Pokemon with her were in shock. As her head bobbed up from the water she yelled. "Help, can't swim!" After bobbing up and down a few times, she started to drown.
Pikachu saw and ran as fast as he could to get Ash. Bayleef, however, seeing Buizel, called to the water Pokemon. "Bay, bay. Bayleef leef bay bay leefbay!" Buizel immediately jumped into the lake and retrieved the girl. Bringing the girl up and laying her on the ground, the two Pokemon heard Ash running over.
"Salena!" Ash said franticly. "Tracey, go get Professor Oak!" Ash called to Tracey who was still running behind him. "Come on Salena, wake up!" Ash checked the girl's pulse. It was a bit slow. Ash was worried she may have gotten water in her lungs.
Soon, Professor Oak was over the girl, looking her over. "The good news, there seems to be no water in her lungs. The bad new is obvious. She still isn't awake. Ash, get her on her side. Tracey, give her three firm, but gentle pats on the back." As the two men followed the professor's instructions, Salena started to cough up the water.
Soon, however, Salena started screaming. Ash instantly knew why. He took out the now dead hearing aid as water drained out of the girl's ear. She calmed down a bit, but was still crying. Mostly from fear, but Ash also saw a small cut on her auricle. Although it wasn't bleeding, Ash could tell it was hurting her badly.
Ash had to hold her while Professor Oak fixed the small cut. It was a fact, Salena hated anyone who touched or fooled with her "special" ear. As soon as the professor finished, Bayleef and Salena settled on the couch. Ash couldn't figure out how to tell Brock. Of course, he'd find out when the girl returned home with no hearing aid.
In this instance, being the Pokemon Master paid off big time. As Lizzie and Misty watched Salena during the afternoon, Ash took the broken hearing aid and went to Dr. Neal's office. Fortunately, he referred Ash to a place across town that quickly replaced the hearing aid at no charge. The man at the hearing aid store also replaced the hearing aid in the same color as the old one.
It seemed to Ash, that the only difference was that this was a BTE hearing aid, so it wrapped behind the ear. But the tube, earmold, and case were all hot pink. As soon as Ash got home, Salena was excited to get the new hearing aid in. She placed into her ear. And after a few minutes of Ash helping the girl wrap the cord behind her ear, she said they were quite comfortable.
For lunch, the family and Salena went to the restaurant Ash's mother managed. Delia, of course was thrilled to see Salena. Salena was especially hungry at lunch. Lizzie nudged her father. "I think you're starting to rub off on her." Lizzie said, chuckling at the young girl's appetite.
After lunch, Salena fell asleep on the drive home. Ash carried the girl upstairs and laid her on Lizzie's bed for her nap, setting Buster in her arm.
The rest of the day went smoothly, until Brock came. At first, he strolled in, taking the girl in his arms. If Salena would've kept her mouth shut Ash could've gotten away with it. Well, at least till they got home. If Misty hadn't been mad enough for the both of them, not he had Brock.
"So daddy. Today was gweat. Unkie Ash and I went to Pwofessor Oak's this morning. I was splashing my feet in the water with Pikachu and Bayleef. It was fun until I fell in. That's when Buizel saved me from dwowning. Then we went to Mrs. Kachem's restaurant. I ate a whole cheeseburger and all my fries. Then Lizzie and I came back here. Lizzie and I played Candy Valley until Unkie Ash came back and gave me a new hearing aid. It's so cool." Salena explained as both Ash and Lizzie's jaws were dropped in shock at the girl's vivid description of every detail of the day's event.
After sending Salena out to the car, Brock looked so mad that Ash thought he might pop. About to give Ash a punch to the face, Misty stepped in, threatening to swing Ash and Brock with her mallet. "That's enough!" She yelped, taking both men by surprise. "Brock, I know you're mad, but Salena is fine. As for you Ash, never, EVER leave a three year old alone on the research fields without supervision. I can't really blame Brock for being mad. That is his daughter, after all." Both men were shocked at Misty's tone. Well, Ash less than Brock.
"Now." She continued. "Lizzie's already beating herself up for what's happened." At this, Brock's face fell. It certainly wasn't her fault. She hadn't even been with them. Slowly, Brock went up to Lizzie's room, knocking on the door.
"Leave me alone dad!" Lizzie yelled out the door.
"Lizzie, it's me Brock. Can I come in?" Brock said, waiting at the door.
"Sure." The girl mummered . Brock came into the room, seeing the girl under the covers, obviously in tears from the sounds.
"Aw, Lizzie." He said sitting on the bed, as he uncovered the blanket. Lizzie grabbed Brock into a hug.
"I am so, so sorry. I wouldn't blame you if you never loved me or wanted me near you again." At this, Brock was devastated.
"Lizzie, that's ridiculous." Brock said as the girl looked up at him. "No matter what you do, I'll always love you. Plus, yu weren't even there when it happened. Plus, Salena's fine, and your mother already yelled at your father enough." Brock held the girl and gave her a kiss on her head. Lizzie couldn't believe Brock actually forgiven her, but she wasn't gonna complain. She hugged her godfather and silently thanked God for her amazing family and friends.