"Listen to your heart, when he's calling for you, listen to your heart, there's nothing else you can do. I don't know where you're going, and I don't know why, but listen to your heart before you tell him goodbye" - Roxette "Listen to Your Heart"

17 Finally!

The look on Misty's face was priceless. She seemed to blanch and blush at the same time, which was probably just the red glow of the lava reflecting onto her cheeks. I grinned, snickering. "Don't worry," I assured her with a clap on the back, causing her to jump. "I've stolen from the cookie jar too."

Misty looked shocked, then started laughing. "Yeah, and Paul never has because he's so innocent."

I shook my head. "Why can't he just admit he likes Dawn and get on with life? I mean, it's so obvious she's in love with him, though I can't imagine why."

When I looked over at Misty, a sly smirk was playing on her lips. "I know why she likes him," she said. "He's powerful, sexy, and mysterious. Girls love that kind of stuff."

I chuckled uncertainly. "Then I guess I'll need to be more mysterious," I laughed. "Otherwise I'll never get a girl."

"Yeah, because you're dark and sexy, right?" Misty said, grinning.

I leaned into her playfully. "You know it," I whispered. Had I whispered like that to any other girl, they would have melted right there. Misty was stronger, and I loved that about her.

Misty was smiling, but her cheeks were extremely red. She was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Ash flirting was a danger zone, apparently. "So I was thinking about how to get across this pit, and I decided that if I used Starmie's Ice Beam and froze the lava, we could… get… across." Her speech slowed down when she met my eyes.

"Something wrong?" I asked, though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

She blinked. "N-no. Nothing's wrong."

"That's a lie," I said instantly.

Misty, as expected, went red with fury. "Well, Ketchum, if you're so good at reading me, why do we even talk, hm?" She stood, outraged, and prepared to stalk off.

I grabbed her arm before she could go. "No, stay, please?" I begged. "I… I have something to admit."

This caught her off guard. She sat down, curious.

Suddenly nervous, I took a shuddering breath. "You know why I hate talking about Cináed?"

Misty shrugged. "He left and you never knew him, right?"

I did that weird semi-nod (you all know what I mean). "Kinda. It's mostly because, well, yeah, I never met him. But my mom always told me that he said he loved her, wanted to marry her and everything. Then he got her pregnant and left. I hate the fact that someone did that to her, destroyed her like that. He didn't even stick around to see me be born."

I focused on the bubbling of the lava. Misty's face was not something I wanted to see. Absentmindedly I fiddled with that stupid bracelet.

"Hey," she began. I looked up, attentive. "If Cináed means fire, like you said, and that bracelet—," she pointed, "gives you the power of fire, does that mean the bracelet has some connection to your dad?"

I smiled sarcastically at her, causing her to laugh. "Yeah, okay, I know it's a long shot, but maybe," she giggled.

I laughed along with her, leaning back to look up at the swirling clouds. It smelled like rain again. Maybe the rain would put out the lava. And maybe Paul would grow a pair and fess up to Dawn. "Hey," I said, copying Misty's wonderful conversation opening, "how can Paul be so coldhearted when Reggie is the nicest guy in town?"

"Hm," she replied. "Well, I've never met Reggie, and I don't even know what you're talking about, so…"

"Paul and Reggie are brothers," I explained.

"Ah," said Misty. "That makes more sense. That was a very good question, Ash, and to be honest, I don't know."

I sat up and nudged her playfully. "You still don't know what I'm talking about," I chortled.

Misty's perfect lips split into a grin as she shoved right back. I suddenly felt impulsive. Not like how I felt at the castle, but like my brain had suddenly forgotten the difference between thinking and speaking and my thoughts just ran right out my mouth.

I said, "Would it be weird if I kissed you?"

Misty's smile disappeared, and she stared intently at the tiny pebble that was resting in front of her. Looked like she was debating whether to kick it into the magma pool or just let it be. "A little bit," she said, sounding strangled.

Suddenly, I grasped what I had just said. Had I really just suggested I kiss Misty? Was I losing it? It was the mountain, for sure. Making me say things that I wouldn't normally say at a regular altitude. How do you recover after you say something like that? I had no idea, and wound up saying, "Oh." Yeah, real smooth, I know.

"Just," Misty said quickly, "a little." She raised her head, and those beautiful aqua eyes met mine. I couldn't look away. It was hypnotizing. I felt tingly all over, nervous, and I hadn't even kissed her yet. I must've stayed like that for too long because Misty sighed and looked away. "I mean, you know, we… we really shouldn't because… we don't feel that way about each other, and… I'm just… not pretty enough for you and you're so…"

Well, that was enough initiative for me. Not pretty enough? What was she smoking? Before she could utter another word, I had clasped my hand around her arm and put the other around her face so she was turned towards me. "Don't ever," I whispered, "think you're not good enough, because you are. You're more than I deserve and more than any man on this planet deserves. And now I'm going to kiss you, to show you that, and after that… well, I haven't planned that far."

She looked at me, blinking eyes that shone like the ocean. I stopped waiting for a response and leaned forward, inwardly praying that I landed on her lips.

I guess I hit my target, because she seemed to be kissing me back. If not, then she was really good at wiggling her nose. I wasn't sure what to do; we just kinda stayed there with our lips stuck to each other. I was enjoying it, of course, but it seemed like there should have been something more.

Misty pulled back first. "Well," she choked, "that was… different."

"Uh huh," I agreed. My cheeks felt redder than the lava. "I guess I'm not very good at it."

"I have just as much experience," she assured me.

I hesitated. "But in movies, it always looks so much more…"

"Passionate?" she supplied.

"Yeah," I confirmed. "And professional. Like they know exactly what the other person is going to do."

She remained silent for a moment. Finally she said, "You only got my upper lip, Ketchum."

I felt myself blush even harder. "Whoops," I said. "Guess I'll have to try again." Immediately, I regretted saying it. Stupid, stupid Ash! Why would you suggest doing it again when she clearly didn't enjoy it? Your friendship is ruined, and you've lost your best friend because she didn't return your feelings. Stupid, idiotic Ash!

Slowly, she started laughing. "Great follow-up, by the way," Misty snickered.

"Well how am I supposed to come back after such a terrible kiss?" I question, slightly frustrated.

Misty shifted her body position so she was facing me, yet she kept her eyes trained on the ground. Desperate for distraction, she rapped her fingers across the back of my hand. "I don't know. Usually in movies they kiss again because they enjoyed it so much."

"Yeah, but should we really go off Hollywood?" I laughed nervously, since I was inclined to believe kissing again would be… amazing. I wanted to push her lush red hair behind her ear. And it was so tempting. Like its color.

She flicked her eyes up, glaring faintly. "It's Hollywood or May and Drew."

I shuddered sarcastically. "What terrible choices."

Misty fidgeted a little. Like she was impatient. She squirmed like a Caterpie, nervous and anxious.

Impulsively, I grabbed her by shoulders. "Would you hold still a minute?" I laughed, and then, I don't know why I did it, but I kissed her again.

Misty the Caterpie suddenly evolved into a Metapod, stiff and rigid. I felt her tense at my touch, and this time I was sure I had landed on both her lips. Another moment and she became a Butterfree, breaking free of her nerves and wrapping her delicate arms (that's a lie. Her arms aren't delicate. They're really muscle-y and something I wouldn't want to be punched by) around my neck.

We broke apart for a sighing breath and then were right back on it. I felt her fingers curl into my hair and pull slightly, and it felt amazing. I entwined my fingers in her lush red mane, feeling her soft scalp beneath it all. My other arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer. Our chests touched warmly, sending another electric spark through us.

Breathless, we pulled away and stared into each other's dancing eyes. Our cheeks were pink and warm, and we giggled nervously.

"About time!" someone called.

We twisted to see Brock, May, Drew, and Dawn all sitting up and watching us. Brock rolled his eyes (supposedly). "We knew it was coming for, what, how long?"

"Six years," May supplied. She was sitting cross legged and rocking back and forth, evidently bored. Her shirt was still rolled up from where she had been fiddling with her bandaged stomach. "We've been sitting here for a while, too, and Brock wouldn't let us talk."

"May, if you'd talked, they would've heard us and we never would have witnessed their two magical kissed," Drew said, rolling his eyes (Now, we can see his eyes). "By the way Ash, that was pretty smooth."

The blood couldn't get to my cheeks fast enough. I glanced at Misty and saw she was redder than cherries. Yet even in such a state, she was quick. "Are you guys really so deprived that you have to watch our sensual life instead of living your own?"

Caught, Brock shrugged. "Well, you know how the Jenny and Joys are," he laughed.

"I wanted to record it," Drew said nonchalantly, "but my phone wouldn't turn on." He pulled it out and pushed a few buttons before showing us a black screen. "See?"

I sent a silent prayer of thanks to God, Arceus, Mew, all of them. I would have died if Drew had recorded that on his phone.

"May and I were playing Tic-Tac-Toe in the dirt," Dawn told us. She waved a stick in the air and gestured to the dirt, where squares had been drawn along with X's and O's. "She won."

I didn't think it was possible to win at Tic-Tac-Toe, due to the fact that it's such a stupid game, but I guess with Dawn, it's a whole other story.

"Great, are you done peeping on us?" Misty spat. She grabbed my wrist, as if hoping I would back her up.

I cleared my throat and said something like, "Erm, yeah."

They all started laughing, causing Paul and Max to stir in their slumber. "Look, why don't you two lovebirds come to bed and we'll talk about this later, okay?" Brock chuckled.

After a few more daring accusations of the four of them being perverts and similar things, Misty and I unrolled our sleeping bags (right next to each other. o_0 Yeah, we're so naughty) and crawled inside. We endured a brief round of kissing noises from our peep group before they got bored and went to sleep.

Misty and I stayed up all night, whispering about anything we could think of while our cheeks reddened. We were nervous about kissing again, yet impatient as well. When we fell asleep, which I don't remember doing, I woke up with our hands interlocked. I smiled and fell back into a blissful sleep.

*AN: So, I'm done with all my important EOCs, so I updated really fast for you guys. And you're welcome, romance lovers! I'm sorry it took so long, but I hate it when my stories revolve around romance. It's too easy of a topic. I can't wait to get to summer! I'll be updating every other day, probably. So, be sure to review, folks! Reviews are loved similar to the way milk chocolate is. Which is a frickin' lot.*