Spitfire, Chapter 30: Counting stars
Ash's heart raced as he was lead through winding corridors of the boat. Only a few minutes ago, he ran through these hallways raging with Charizard and Greninja looking for Pikachu and Misty, who were now right in front of him, dragging him along by the hand, following exit signs. He stifled another sigh, feeling light headed even after the five minute walk of silence. Misty seemed entirely content as time progressed, but Ash wasn't sure what to say, or think, for that matter. He was torn right down the center, with one part, the weird, unfamiliar part, wanted to grab Misty and throw her up against the nearest wall; the sane, logical part of him wanted to talk about what happens next, where they go from here, and what do they tell their friends? Instead, his emotions met in the middle in one giant explosion, and he made a strange croaking noise from the back of his throat that Misty tried to ignore, but could not.
She glanced at him worriedly, and then returned her gaze forward. He regarded her, even though her lip was swollen and the skin around that yellowing slightly as a bruise threatened to form; she still looked so gorgeous. With her hair tucked behind her ears and her jaw clenched, she looked so serious, and yet breath taking. He let out a long, dreary sigh, questioning once again why it took him so damn long to acknowledge any of these traits.
He hadn't paid attention to where they were going, or how long they had been walking; his eyes were trained on the back of her head, watching the sway of her hair as she bounced in her step. Pikachu seemed to be enjoying himself too, finally reunited with trainers, it also bounced on her shoulder occasionally. While Ash kind of lagged behind, dragging his feet against the steel floors out of habit.
Therefore, when Misty did finally stop at an exit door, he didn't quite get the memo, and ran into her, knocking Pikachu off her shoulder and ramming her head into the metal door frame. Alas, his stupor was broken and he was left chuckling and trying to look at her forehead. She simply couldn't catch a break on the pain train today, could she?
"I'm so sorry," he muttered, touching her forehead with his free hand while the other squeezed her knuckles thoughtfully. Before, he was too nervous to get close to her, and now, it seemed so natural; too natural, it freaked him out a little.
"It's fine," She grumbled, pulling his hand away. They shared eye contact for a brief moment, allotting a short chuckle between the two of them. It was weird, now, finally 'together', but at the same time it felt fleeting and unofficial, and in Ash's case, petrifying.
Misty spoke first, hand against the door knob, "Do we need to talk about this before we go out there?"
Ash hesitated, opening his mouth, and then closing it several times; the correct answer was yes, but it was swallowed up by nervous speculation and shifting eyes. "Well..." he started, but in reality, how long could a conversation like this go? There were so, so many things he wanted to ask her, and talk about that hadn't even occurred before, yet at the same time, so many parts of him wanted to touch her, and kiss her, and simply embrace and hold her. And that wasn't including what Misty wanted to say to him. His chest fired up, staring at her, a red glow formed over his cheeks again. He almost didn't feel like himself.
He released her hand very gently, "Can we talk about it later?" he suggested innocently, though the proclamation hit Misty solid. She inhaled and smiled.
"Of course," She said, twisting the door knob, but her reaction swayed him, and he stammered.
"Not because I don't want to," He added quickly; if there was one thing he learned over the last twenty-four hours, it was to be very specific with one's words in regard to anything female; while the lost look didn't leave her eye right away, she did chuckle and take control of the situation again by planting a short, sweet kiss against his cheek.
"I know. It's not a good time." she added wittingly, swinging the door open so that they could return to their friends. Touching his face nervously he followed her out the door. His hand felt so cold with out hers, and the sensation gave him chills. He needed to get a hold of himself. The way that he looked at Misty gave her chills, that daunting love-struck gaze lost in his chocolate brown eyes, and she pursed her lips sadly. She couldn't just have both lovesick Ash and confident Ash, could she?
XOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXO
When Misty and Ash arrived from the ship, Dawn cheered loudly at them; clapping sporadically that Misty was okay. Unknown to either of the duo, Paul and Drew hadn't even mentioned that they walked in on the couple. Actually, Drew stood near a paramedic while both May, and Max scolded him, though, she had to admit that he looked okay with it, maybe even enjoying the attention; she smirked. Beside them, Gary couldn't bother to look up at Ash and Misty as they loaded Professor Oak into the back of an ambulance. Luckily, the older man had regained consciousness, but because of the wound on his head, they decided to take him in for x-rays, Gary was right there with them when they left.
It was odd, seeing Gary worried about anyone. Usually his egomaniac personality limited him greatly, but it was nice to see that didn't ring true about his grandfather. Dawn pat her stomach gently, checking around as Brock approached Misty and hugged her, she would have done the same but didn't want to interfere with the original trio and their antics, instead, she moved south to visit with Paul who was checking on his pokeballs after getting bandaged. Cilan took his place at the medical station, while the green-haired boy was injured, they weren't nearly as severe as they looked at the start. Most of his appearance came from the fact that he, like Iris back at the Ketchum residence, was covered in dirt.
Dawn took a seat besides Paul, though, she sat on her knees and kept pointed at her friends so that she could watch them, rather than facing the ocean like he did. They didn't speak at first, Paul only tossed her a unemotional nod to acknowledge her presence while she cupped her chin with her hand.
Ash stood beside Cilan while Misty's wrists were checked by the same person that helped Cilan. Whether Ash knew it or not, he stood a few, noticeable to anyone who paid attention, inches closer to Misty at any given time. Even when they removed her gloves to dress her wounds, and it wasn't a pretty sight, Ash only grimaced lightly and stayed awkwardly close to her, talking with Cilan about what she could only assume was their escape.
Cilan appeared to be reenacting Misty's escape, because her cheeks turned pink and Ash looked a little tipped off. Paul mentioned earlier, very briefly that she pulled 'some contortionist shit', as he phrased it, to get out of her binds, and Dawn had to give the girl credit where it was due. In fact, Misty didn't even flinch when the doctor applied antiseptic. Ash did, also turning slightly green. Misty noticed this and elbowed him away with her left arm. How cute. The injury on her left wrist was only a bruise, but her right had a deep cut engraved at the wrist joint—and while Dawn couldn't see it perfectly, she was pretty positive that it would scar. Brock didn't seem as grossed out, having dealt with all of this stuff on a day to day basis in the academy. In fact, while trying to hit on the nurse patching the red-head up, Misty yanked on his ear.
Everyone laughed in retrospect. It was simply wonderful to see them all getting along so well after the last couple of days. She sighed happily.
"You're okay, Dawn?" Paul quietly spoke beside her, tucking away the last of his pokeballs while she turned to look at him with her mouth drawn into a small smile.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just glad everyone is okay." she said, finally turning to sit properly. She slumped into her seat, suddenly exhausted over the day's events. Too much adrenaline pumped through her veins at once. She touched her face dramatically and sighed; though this did not reel Paul into conversation; she tried again, sighing loudly, but still nothing.
She cocked her mouth to one side, "Are you going to tell me how you got captured or not?" She questioned hastily, folding her arms in the process. Paul raised his eyebrows a little, but didn't give her much more than that.
"A story for another time."
Dawn pouted at his answer while crossing one leg over the other, "Well, I'm glad you're okay... but, how did you expect to escape if we hadn't come to rescue you?"
"...Well, we did escape." Paul said subjectively, but Dawn could only laugh.
"Only because of Professor Oak." she tried, but Paul shrugged, unwavering.
"I would have found a way."
That was so like him; he was confident, but in a slick, annoying way. Her eyebrow twitched as she sighed undramatically, "Here I was hoping to monologue about having a new perspective on life and all the joy and times we take for granted." She grumbled, staring out into the ocean. Only a slight smile tugged at Paul's cheek, even though he tried his best to bury it down.
"You can still talk." he suggested carefully, sparing her a brief, thoughtful glance. She stared back, but then twisted her lips up into a smile.
"That was all I had," She laughed, surprisingly getting Paul to chuckle as well.
"You're one of a kind Dawn." He said while patting her on the shoulder gently as he stood up. He shouldered his bag with a look of profound determination, and Dawn followed suit, standing up on the bench to appear taller than him.
"You're in a hurry?" She asked and once again, Paul shrugged. Trying not to fume, she smiled, "You're still pretty beat up, I'm sure no one would object if you stayed the night." Dawn offered but his gaze seemed to shift downward as he looked past her to Ash and Misty.
"Mmm, better not." He suggested while stepping around the bench; Dawn did a flip over the back and put her hands up.
"C'mon Paul, don't be a party pooper!" She yelled, catching attention of her nearby friends. Ash, in an exceedingly good mood, covered his mouth while he sat beside Misty, Brock and Clian on the back of the ambulance.
"Yeah, Paul, don't be a party pooper." Ash crooned getting an elbow nudge from Misty that silenced him. He rubbed his side playfully whining that "Misty was hitting him again" to Brock and Cilan, but the later didn't seem to mind.
Dawn watched Paul's face contort into one of minor annoyance, to one of frustration, until it finally settled on acceptance; he was exhausted, surprisingly so, and wanted nothing more than to be able to relax for a few days; but his strict regime didn't allow him time for that. Plus, Hoenn league gym for the new league were opening soon; and he wanted to be the first to sign up. He glared at Dawn, who's smile didn't waver the slightest at his cold stare, unlike most girls.
"Please?" She suggested, and a short pang penetrated his stone flesh and he exhaled,
"Fine, but only for one night."
"That's great. Then we can leave together in the morning!" She suggesting, while hooking her arm around his. He drew his face into a deeply embedded frown, appearing as miserable as possible as his palm ran down his face.
"I didn't agree to that." he mused
"You didn't have to, there's only one train that leaves in the morning so we'll be going in the same direction!" Dawn sang happily while dragging him along to the forest path that would take them back to the Ketchum residence. He lolled behind, slanting his eyes bitterly. Secretly he fancied the idea that Dawn would join him tomorrow; if only for a little while.
XOXOXOXOXOXXOXO
Anyone who wasn't too injured to walk began the slow trek back to the Ketchum residence; some, like Dawn, who had an endless, bountiful plethora of immense energy lead the pack. Others, like Cilan and Misty, who hadn't had a full night of sleep in over two days, straggled behind.
"I can't believe you two were stranded in the ocean for six hours." Misty commented while Cilan shared the story about how he and Iris arrived in town. Ash walked along side them, an oddity for the boy who was usually the leader. With Pikachu perched on his shoulder, he stuffed his hands into his pocket while watching his friends in front of him.
Apparently, Iris arrived on the boat to Vermillion City two days ago where she planned to meet with Cilan. They were going to then take another boat leading to Pallet Town harbor, but were unfortunately interrupted by Team Rocket, who had high jacked the boat they were on. Ash glanced back at the boat sitting in the harbor now and laughed slightly. After rounding up most of the deck, they shipped them off, tied up in life boats while Cilan and Iris stowed away, hoping to save the ship from being overthrown.
This was where they heard all of their plans to raid Pallet Town and kidnap well-known trainers. Unfortunately, they were discovered. While Cilan told the next part, he tugged on his collar slightly, a feeling of nervousness that Ash was familiar with after his own time spent with Misty. He laughed remorsefully and shook his head side to side. Cilan was intentionally skipping a few parts.
"Anyways, they found Iris and I, and we were being escorted into the boiler room when Iris kicked the man holding us captive, and threw us both over the edge of the boat and into the water. With no pokemon, we floated on our backs for awhile, but found a piece of drift wood later that we managed to stay on top of until we eventually breached the rocky shores of Viridian Forest." he grimaced at the memory and tugged on his pants for reference.
"The trek in wet clothes to get here wasn't an easy one, as you can imagine; and the Viridian forest without some type of pokemon to defend ourselves was..." He stammered slightly, and pumped his fist as crocodile tears formed in his eyes, "Terrifying!" he yelped, getting a nervous laugh from Misty.
"I hear that." She referenced, remembering her fear of bug type pokemon, and how many bug type-mainly beedrill-were in the Viridian Forest. Ash only chuckled and slithered his hand down Misty's back as if reading her mind.
"Oh no, there's a bug..." He teased, but it didn't last long as she had violently twisted and pegged him in the shoulder with her right elbow, careful not to use her wrist in fear of opening the newly patched wound.
"Shut up, Ash! You know I can't stand those things!" She yelped, to which Cilan only let out a gutful of laughter as the trek continued.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXO
Even though everyone was exhausted when they returned home, eager faces all awaited them; Tracey, Delia and Serena had taken to sitting on the porch, waiting for Ash and the gang to return, while Bonnie and Clemont paced the area just below the porch; prepared for battle just in case Team Rocket did escape. That wasn't the case, however, as they emerged from the forest, and walked to the deck happily.
"You're all okay!" Delia shouted as one by one they funneled back into the house to take assorted seats on the couches. Misty collapsed onto the love-seat beside Tracey while Ash was assaulted by his mother and unsurprisingly, Serena, who hugged him abruptly, much to Misty's anger. She bit down the scream she wanted to belt out to 'remove her hands', and had to remind herself that before they were dating, they were friends. It was no different than when Ash hugged Misty when Serena was dating him.
Her face scrunched up, saying it like that sounded horrible.
"Is everyone okay?" The blonde asked him while touching his elbow, but he shrugged her off with quick, clumsy answers, apparently realizing how uncomfortable the physical contact with his 'technical' ex made Misty. The small gesture generated a shudder through Ash's body; one high in guilt. He tried not to think too much about.
Around him, everyone shared stories about the battle, making jokes about Team Rocket, while others dozed off. Max filled Bonnie and Clemont in, while Dawn spoke with Delia briefly, before returning to sit aside Paul, who had isolated himself by sitting on the rocking chair. Dawn happily sat on the floor beside him with Bonnie, much his chagrin. Misty checked up on Tracey, while keeping a moderate eye on Ash and Serena.
"Something bothering you?" Tracey asked the red-head skeptically, but she cleared her throat and tore her eyes away from Ash. She didn't answer him, instead, she sucked in some air and shook her head. In the hallway near Ash, Cilan, having become mostly acquainted with Brock; asked the older man where Iris ran off to while Delia excused herself to get Cilan set for a shower.
"Delia made her take a shower." Tracey answered for Brock, watching Cilan's shoulders relax.
"Thank you," he said politely, his appropriate mannerisms oozing a foreign concept to most of Ash's ill-mannered friends. Misty and Tracey shared a look.
Tracey's use of the word 'made' was a little heavy, because frankly, Iris wasn't willing to leave the porch until her friends returned; but she was also covered in dry mud, and with her hair, it was a little gross. So, the mother assured her that everyone would be fine, and after some coaxing, managed to get Iris into the shower without further complaint.
"I could go for a shower right now." Misty hummed as Cilan disappeared down the hall. Tracey sniggered beside her.
"I could go for a lot of things right now, like a big cup of 'please don't tell Daisy about this'" He laughed nervously, catching Misty's arrogant gaze. She grinned.
"I dunno...I could..."
Still unmoving where Serena had parted ways after their brief reunion, Ash seemed otherwise occupied watching his friends return to their moderately normal afternoon—after all, Team Rocket was a fairly normal invasion of their privacy. If someone didn't try to steal their pokemon on a daily basis, something else was usually wrong. Yesterday, for example, he was a mess about a lot of things. While he stood at the entrance to the living room, leaning against the door frame casually. Serena had listened to Max and Dawn's reiteration of the story, as May and Drew were busy with each other. Watching her, Ash couldn't correlate the correct words in his mind, and so as his eyes fell on Misty, who chatted tiredly with Tracey with one knee crossed over the other. Ash's stomach felt stony.
It was nice being with Misty, well, for the last thirty minutes that they were 'together', anyways. He didn't feel any pressure to commit daringly, in fact, he was grateful that Misty was so accepting that they would talk about whatever 'they were' later. He reminded himself that he would have to thank her later. Oddly enough, he wondered if it upset her that he didn't devote his entire being to her at the drop of a hat... but at the way her cheeks flushed when she noticed that he was staring, he doubted that she was upset; gratefully so. He smirked slightly and looked away.
Her quirky mood was better than the alternative, which May was currently presenting by bickering Drew's ear off about how worried she was and how if he did that again, even though it wasn't his fault, she was going to hurt him. Ash applauded Drew because he had the patience of a saint, allowing May to hang off his arm both sleep driven, and worriedly, and didn't complain. In fact, he almost seemed to be enjoying the attention that he was receiving from May, good or bad. That was admirable. Ash couldn't say he would be able to manage the same attention.
Ash squeezed pikachu slightly. The simple fact that Drew and Paul didn't tell anyone anything about what they saw when they stumbled upon Ash and Misty was a blessing and a relief in of itself; though Ash questioned why. He wasn't mortified by Misty, or even embarrassed; or confused like he had been with Serena. In fact, thinking about her left a small buzzing noise in his head. However, the idea that no one seemed to notice that there was anything different about the two of them excited him. Even though everything was different and exciting for him, he didn't have to share that, or her, with anyone else. Not the news, not the media; or his friends.
...and frankly, Ash really enjoyed that. He definitely liked the Cerulean City gym leader a lot, more than a a lot, he added as an after thought as a slight blush crawled over his face. But, after spending an entire week dodging around Serena, having to rack his brain for appropriate answers, second guessing himself, and acting oddly just so he could appease his own guilt; it was nice to catch a break. He was ready to finally know more about his relationship, in stead of everyone else knowing more than him. He didn't feel rushed, or pressured. It felt natural. He felt normal, oddly so. He smirked at that, shoulders squared as he licked his lips, her subtle taste still fragmented there.
Suddenly the urge to touch her rushed back to his finger tips, and he had to groan internally. There was a time and place for everything, but here wasn't the time. Luckily, Serena returned to his side, and the feeling fell away immediately, leaving him feeling cold. At least thoughts of Misty didn't leave him paralyzed anymore. He was taking baby steps in the right direction.
"Your mom wants to take a picture of everyone once Gary gets back." Serena said while rubbing her ribs gently; most likely where she had gotten hit earlier.
"Oh?" Ash replied thoughtfully, willing to make the effort to pay attention to her. He didn't feel strange around Serena anymore, when before he felt his stomach grow heavy and his entire body fall limp; he could honestly say he felt about as relaxed as he did around her before she kissed him a week ago. Yet, he couldn't stare at her, as the guilt that he associated with it was brutal.
"Yeah, first group photo of everyone."
"Well, not everyone. Richie did have to leave before everyone else got here." Ash muttered while letting Pikachu down from his arms. He could feel Misty stealing glancing at him, but forced himself not to stare back.
"Well, mostly everyone." Serena corrected herself politely, feeling the tension that funneled through Ash's body, she watched him with those big, crystal blue eyes, "Did...did something happen out there? You're acting a bit strange." She said honestly, and Ash inhaled.
Where did he even begin to explain?
Author's note:
I promise this is the last note before the final chapter. Just letting you all know there are 5, or 6 chapters tops, remaining. They're already drafted, I just have to review and edit them. (I stole a peek at the reviews for the last chapter and kept running into this question, so I thought I would let you all know)