Chapter 5: Forced Date?

It was quiet… oddly quiet. There were no sounds of the morning birds or the squeaks of the wandering Pokemons that just so happens to past by. There was nothing. Anabel quickly got up the same time Ash did. "Good morning" they said to each other yawningly. "I'll go make breakfast" said Anabel. Ash nodded and made his way to the bathroom to get himself cleaned up. A part of the boy felt a little depressed. Since the Pokemon fair was over he had no reason to stay here any longer. He knew he had to head back to Pallet town or else his parents would be worried sick. A small part of him wanted to leave but an even bigger part of was telling him to stay just a little while longer. He already knew that the bus would be passing through this road in a matter of hours and it most likely would take him directly to Varidian city, which was pretty close to Pallet town.

The boy arrived twenty minutes later on the dining room. The smell of pancakes was absolutely stunning. Sat down with drooling just right above his food like a crazy man. Anabel giggled and smiled back at the boy's child like expression. Just before Ash sank his teeth on the delicious food, a sudden rang came upon his pocket. He reached out and grabbed his Pokedex which was also given the phone function. "Hello?" he answered, "Ash! Thank goodness! Where are you?"

"Oh hey Professor, I'm… at a… friend's house right now. Is something wrong?"

The professor sighed with relief, "Well we've been trying to contact you for sometime now. You should've been home a long time ago"

Ash flinch his face in embarrassment, "How long have I been staying here?" he wondered, "Oh sorry professor, there were some… issues I had to take care of ahehehehe"

"Well as long as you're safe than that's fine with me. You really had me worried there boy. Oh by the way. I heard that there was Pokemon fair in town. Did you watch the Pokemon competition?"

"…yeah…" the tone of his voice sank down.

"Oh… sorry about that. I forgot that you…"

"It's ok professor. I'll be going soon…" and with that he hung up. He resumed his meal but… at some point. It didn't look as tasty as before. He took a few bites before playing with his food. By the time Anabel joined him on the dining table, she could see the sudden change in his face. "Is something wrong Ash?" she asked while holding a box of orange juice. "Oh… nothing. It's just that I'm going home after this" Anabel's eyes slightly widened. The grip on her glass tightened as her heart beat faster. She tried to keep it cool, "Oh… I see… well then. I guess you have to pack up… soon"

"Yeah…" he said depressingly. The two of them remained silent during the entire meal. None of them wanted to say anything… heck they didn't even know what to say!

By the time they finished their plates; Ash went to the guest room and started packing up. Anabel went to the kitchen and washed the dishes. Her heart felt so depressed that she could cry. She only felt this way when she was watching her soap opera on TV with her Pokemon. Right now… it felt like a needle just pierced her heart. Her throat dried and her mind went into a state of a silent chaos. She scrubbed the dishes harder and harder making them crack. She calmed herself down with her telepathic abilities and sat on the sink. "What am I angry about?" she asked herself, "I mean… he's only leaving, so why should I care? Its not like I can stop him if he wants to go" the more she thought of it the more she felt she wanted to break something. Her train of thought suddenly stopped when Ash appeared, "Hey Anabel?" her anger quickly disappeared and turned into surprise.

"Y… yes?"

"I… I'm going… now"

Anabel escorted him to the door where he would leave. A part of was saying, 'Grab him! Hold him! Don't ever let him go!' and it seems like her other side was saying… well… nothing.

Conscious 1: "What the heck are you waiting for? Grab him already!"

Conscious 2: "Umm…"

Conscious 1: "Shut it! This is an opportunity of a life time! Don't you think she's been single long enough!"

Conscious 2: "YEAH! Go for it girl!"

Just when Anabel was reaching out for him, a heap load of white cotton flooded into the house when Ash opened up the door. Both of them pulled back startled on what just happened, "What the heck?" Anabel yelled out in surprise. Ash slowly reached out and touched the cotton… after then… he realized that it was…

"Snow?"

By the time they realized that it snowed last night, the house that both of them were staying was buried under a heavy blanket of snow. You could still see the sky from the second floor but anything below that was all white. The cabin where Anabel was staying was a little high up in the mountains but it was very unnatural for a blizzard to suddenly hit without them knowing.

With the large amount of snow blocking the path, it explained why the house was a lot colder than usual and why there weren't any sound of Pokemon outside. Ash quickly grabbed his Pokedex and explained the situation to his newly made father.

"… A snow storm?" said the professor in a confused tone

Ash nodded, "That's right professor. It's covering the whole road and I don't think it's gonna stop any time soon"

The professor thought for awhile and remembered, "Well it is almost winter, so I guess the mountain area should be experiencing the blizzard first hand"

"Do you know when it will stop?"

"I'm a scientist boy, not a weather man Ash" he said in a joking tone, "But if the weather is that bad then I guess you'll be staying there for awhile yes?"

Ash blushed a little, "I… I guess so"

"Well as long as you remain in contact then I won't worry. If you need anything just call ok?" and with that the professor hung up.

Ash quickly put his Pokedex back into his pocket and rushed to Anabel's side to get the snow out of the house. "Well, it looks like you won't be going anywhere today" she said with a slight hint of happiness in her voice. Ash smiled back and nodded in reply, "Yeah. The professor said that the mountain areas are the first place to get hit by snow storms"

"I know that but it never snowed this hard before. I mean… yesterday was almost as hot as the Orange Islands but now it's as cold as the North Pole brrrrrr" she shivered as she spoke. Ash giggled at her unusual expression, "I think we're gonna need some help with this. Come on out Aipom" Ash's Aipom appeared and quickly assisted Ash on moving the snow out of the house. Anabel made sure that all the windows and doors leading to the outside were locked and well barricaded.

After finishing with cleaning up the messes, Anabel went into the kitchen to fix up some nice warm chocolate. Her anger and sadness were quickly forgotten and before she realized it, she was whistling Ash's favorite Pokemon theme. It felt like this blizzard was more of a blessing that a curse. She imagined herself snuggling with Ash on a nice cozy sofa right next to the fire place. She could see herself snuggling closer to his face… closer and closer… until…

POP!

Her thought balloon was blown out when the popcorn she was making began popping. "What am I thinking? I can't start a relation with him. I'm a Frontier Brain member, I can't… I… I can't…" she couldn't bare to even think of the word. It wasn't just because she was a Battle Frontier member but because Ash was a Pokemon Master. If news gets out then she'll be on the front page of every news paper in Kanto to Shinou region and that wouldn't bold well for her. By the time the coco and popcorn were ready she took them out and decided to think of that topic on some other time.

Ash sat on the couch happily petting Espeon while Aipom and Pikachu were playing around. Most of the furniture were used as barricades so there was plenty of room to move around freely. This time they wouldn't cause any more damage like they used to. Anabel sat next to Ash and handed him his coco. "Here Ash, you might need to warm up" she said with a smile on her face, "Thanks" he replied. They both sat there… quietly without a word. Both of their minds were running thoughts of their own. So without saying anything, they just decided to watch TV. They didn't mind the silence between them. A hot cup of chocolate and some popcorn was all they needed to make the afternoon perfect.

After several shows ended, Anabel remembered that today was Sunday and that it was also her movie night. She looked at the clock, 3:00 PM. "Hey Ash" the boy turned his attention away from the TV, "Yeah?"

"I was able to buy a good movie when I left town. Do you want to watch it with me tonight?" she took the video out of her bag and showed it to him. Ash quickly scanned the title and the summary of the movie and remembered that it actually came from a famous novel he read a few years back. He couldn't remember all the detail but if he read it then it must be good. "Sure, I don't mind. I wonder who's playing the main role though"

With a happy answer Anabel gathered the cups and bowls and head back into the kitchen. She took out the roast beef that was eaten by the intruder a few nights ago. She remembered the event clearly as if it was embedded into her soul. The blood shot eyes and grin that the man gave was so horrifying that it scared her every time she imagined it. She took out the beef and placed it in the oven for awhile. She cooked some rice and some other things that would go well for the night because she knew that Ash had a black hole in his stomach and it won't be easily content with just one lump of meat.

The night came faster than any of them would ever think. Ash really hoped for the day to last just a bit longer cuz he couldn't take the pressure of eating with Anabel. The couch he sat on was good for three people and the atmosphere was great. A nice movie on TV, a fire place to keep them warm and the smell of the food seemed to take your heart away. Espeon quickly jumped off his lap and played with the other two Pokemon.

"Ash?" the boy's thoughts were disrupted when Anabel shouted from the kitchen, "Yes?" he replied, "Dinner will be ready in a minute, can you put the video in?"

"Ok" he sounded happy for once. He slipped in the video in a high tech VHS/VCD/DVD player and played it. As the previews showed up Anabel came by with a tray packed with dozens of her delicacies. Everything he saw on the small 4x4 square table was all of Kanto's famous dishes. His mouth began to drool as he completely ignored the TV. He was now more interested in the taste. It took nearly all of his will power to hold himself before lunging towards the food and stuffing his face. He retrained himself with own hands but the smell… "Uh" the smell was too good to be true. It was tickling his nose as if it was pulling him. Anabel giggled as she came back with two bottles of soda. When she finally sat down, Ash release the grip from his body and began chomping the food down one by one. He totally forgot all of his table manners and ate so fast that he nearly choked. Anabel patted him on the back and so he was able to breathe again. It would be a real shame if the great Pokemon Master should die from eating beef. They'll probably say, 'The Meat did it' in the news paper.

As the show progressed on to the semi-climax part, the two of them began to get a little scared (it was a famous horror-mystery movie) Anabel held tighter onto Ash's hand. The climatic part was so scary that Pikachu and Espeon hid under the pillows and covered their ears from the sound. When the monster (in the movie) finally appeared Anabel screamed and snuggled onto Ash. The boy himself was also scared that some of his hair would've turned white if they could. They stayed in a hugging position until the action sequence began. Upon realizing their awkward position they quickly broke off blushing.

They both went silent for a long time until the movie turned into an ending kissing scene. There was an unusual silence between them and in the end it would be Ash who broke it, "Umm… Anabel… I uh…" he was blushing even more. He couldn't control this feeling inside of him. It was alike a whole inside his heart was filling up yet he could not get enough of it. This wasn't the first time he felt like this. He felt this sensational feeling a year ago after he defeated the Pokemon league in the Indigo Plateau. As he was trying to speak up, Anabel placed her head on his shoulder, "Hey wait a minute, Anabel! Huh?" the late night tension was increasing dramatically. Ash could feel his pulse racing and his stomach churning like it had gone through a washing machine. Just when all of those emotions were bottling up his head he suddenly noticed that the girl had already fallen asleep. "Oh… she's asleep…" he whispered.

Gathering up the courage, he slowly wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer to him. The coldness outside seemed like nothing now. The snow continued to fall silently in the winds and the sound of the fire cracking was soothing to the ear. Ash switched off the TV with the remote and put his jacket over Anabel. It was strange… this morning he was planning to go home but after awhile he stayed here all day and perhaps even all night. He didn't want to think of what happened that event that took place long ago. Right now he just wanted to bury that memory inside an impenetrable fortress and have it guarded the fiercest army his mind could create. As the atmosphere became cooler, Ash threw a log into the fire place to keep himself warm. As he glared at the blazing fire, he suddenly began to cough. He coughed about six or seven times until it finally stopped. "Oh man… I'm still sick" he took out a small box in his side pocket and gently opened the lid. He took two unmarked pills and glucked it all down with a glass of water.

A few minutes later, Anabel suddenly felt the urge to wake up. She yawned loudly and looked at the clock, "(yawn) It's that time already?" she said sheepishly. Ash giggled and decided to walk her to bed. Pikachu and Espeon followed them drowsily going left and right until they finally made it to the master's bed room. Ash remembered this room well. It was the time when he first woke up to meet Anabel for the first time in so many months. He could still see several first aid kits scattered along the area. Anabel hadn't cleaned her room ever since he got here, "Hmm… I'll have to clean this place up tomorrow" he took down a mental note and slowly tucked Anabel to bed. She was so sleepy that the moment she closed her eyes, she already began to snore.

Ash back tracked to the guest room and laid on his bed like a piece of log. He removed his black T-shirt and laid there with his upper half naked. His eyes fluttered as his Pikachu and Aipom slept side by side. He was jealous… jealous of them sleeping so peacefully like that. Their faces were so cute and innocent that it would be a sin just to wake them up. After gazing at his two Pokemon, he forcibly closed his eyes and tried to find a peaceful way of going to sleep. As he curled his body into position, he heard the door to his room slowly opening. He sat up on his bed and looked at who was entering his room. A lone figure stood at the entrance of the door with a pillow on its arm. Ash took a closer look and noticed the purple hair, purple pajamas and the fluffy slippers, "Anabel?" he said out. The girl seemed to be in a sleep walking mode and thus she has no idea on what was happening or what she was doing.

Without warning, she came towards the boy with her pillow, "Anabel… are you-" before he could finish his sentence, Anabel hugged him and flung herself onto his bed. (Well, technically its her bed because it's her house… but you get the idea) Ash was in shock. A girl he knew a for a few days was hugging him and better yet, she was on his bed with only a thin layer of PJs and her undergarments. Ash wasn't really sure how to act on all of this. His hormones were really acting up and hell was probably laughing at him right now. Just when snuggling onto him wasn't enough, Anabel extended her arms and held Ash by his stomach. She snuggled her head onto his chest and slept peacefully.

(Ash's Mindscape)

The fortress of virtue stood against the horde of maturity. Ash looked both ways and saw them fighting for supremacy on his mind. The leaders of both sides came to him with great determination in their eyes. The man of maturity spoke first, "Ash my boy! Now is the time to grow! Be a man and reach for her! She's all yours!" but then the valet of virtue pushed him away, "No Ash, you must learn to restrain yourself! There is nothing to gain from this but pain and-" man of maturity gave his an uppercut, "Listen Ash, you don't exactly get a girl like that every dynasty! Go and reach out! There's nothing to stop you! Alright everyone! Stand tall and charge!" with that, Ash was left alone while his two unrelated sides battled it out.

(Back to reality)

After having his mind working and battling tirelessly for dominance, Ash was seriously getting tired. His visions began to blur as the room around him began to spin violently. And with the dizziness, he slept. With both teens sleeping on each others side, arms wrapped and bodies melded… none of them could see… the pair of red eyes… gazing through the window.

"Hee hee hee hee"