Always On My Mind
CrescentLight
For the moments you've been waiting for!! The fifth chapter of Always On My Mind. Read on and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon...I feel so sad for saying that but I don't. And I don't own the song (Miss)Understood(which I used as this chapter's title) which belongs to Ayumi Hamasaki and etc. Also, I don't own 'this unworthy one' which is sole property of Rurouni Kenshin, I'm just borrowing it. Anyways... Standard disclaimer applied!! peace.
Chapter 5. (Miss)Understood
Ash looked outside the window, hoping that the snow had stopped now but no can do.
"Brock, it's a snowstorm, isn't it?"
"I don't know." Brock answered dreamily as he watched Nurse Joy help a pokemon trainer.
"If it doesn't stop soon, I'll never get my next badge. I miss summer."
"Pika pi chukka,"The small yellow rodent nodded in unison. They had been stuck at this Pokemon Center for a week now due to the snow and he was running out of ketchup," Chu pika pichuka ka kachu pikachu chu chu."
"You're right, Pikachu. If we can't go out, then we can't buy ketchup for you, which means we won't be able to feed ourselves and that means we'll starve to death!"
"We won't starve to death, Ash. It's just a little snowstorm." Finally returning to his normal self, Brock reassured his friend.
Ash sighed. This was so boring and he had nothing to do. At last, he decided to read. So he made himself comfortable on the couch and started reading his Pokemon Guide while his mind wandered off to a certain summer day…
(Flashback)
It was the hottest day in July and Ash was beat. He and Misty had been shopping all day but there was no sign the redhead teen was going to stop anytime sooner.
"Misty, I'm hungry." He whined.
"Ash," Aquamarine rolled," We only had pizza fifteen minutes ago and hamburgers fifteen minutes before that."
"I'm a growing pokemon trainer."
"Right," Misty sighed," You've got a need for food. Let's get some smoothie."
"Yes!" Ash slapped high five with Pikachu. They were going to get food! He thought joyfully and did a little dance. 'Misty is so nice!' He thought. Then stopping suddenly, something clicked in his mind. 'Wait...isn't today her birthday?'
"Pichu kapi." The small yellow rodent shrugged as if reading the black-haired teen's mind. Who knows?
"Ta-da! Your smoothie, Ash." Misty smiled as she handed him the drink.
"Thanks...Misty, is today your birthday?"
"Huh?" She looked surprised for a second then sighed," Ash...my birthday is in August not July. You mixed up again."
"I did?"
"Uh-huh," Taking a slurp from her milkshake, she nodded," Last year you asked me if my birthday was in May and the year before that you wondered whether I was born in Januaryand the year before…."
"Okay, I get it," Ash yelled, stopping his friend in mid-sentence," Your birthday is in October!"
"Ash…"She gritted her teeth," It's August! I just told you a few minutes ago!"
"You did?"
"Pika chu." Pikachu sighed.
(End of Flashback)
Ash chuckled quietly to himself. Those were fun memories. Then glancing over his shoulder, he found it had finally stopped snowing.
"Awesome!" Throwing his book down, he grabbed his jacket.
"Pika?" The ears of his little friend perked up. Was he going somewhere?
"I'm going to the market. Come on!"
"Hey guys! Wait for me!" Brock got up and ran after the disappearing form.
"Hey, Brock!"Ash waved, holding a large plastic bag in his hands," Let's go."
"I'm coming!" He put down the magazine he was reading. As he turned, a thought flashed through his mind,' What if it started snowing again? I need to buy some reading materials to pass the time.'
"Brock, come on!" Hearing the shout, the Pewter Gym leader randomly grabbed several magazines off the stand.
Brock stared at the newspaper he purchased earlier, rubbed his eyes…and stared some more.
"Pika pi?" Pikachu cocked its furry head, was something the matter with him?
"Brock, what's wrong?" Ash managed to ask as he swallowed a piece of sandwich in one bite.
"Ash", He looked up from the newspaper in his hand," Are my eyes deceiving me or is that Misty on the cover with Gary?"
"What, no way!" The pokemon trainer exclaimed and grabbed the paper out of his friend's hand. On the cover he could see a colored photo of two teenagers sitting face to face in a café. One was definitely Gary since he was facing the camera, but the other one who looked suspiciously like Misty had her back taken.
"Well…"After a few minutes of inspection, Ash swallowed another sandwich," She does look like Misty except for the hairstyle, I guess, but that doesn't mean anything. Lots of people have…red…hair?"His statement turned into a question as he noticed the boots the girl was wearing. They were white and glittering softly in the winter sunlight, but there was also two ugly patches of green on the heels.
"Aren't those Misty's?" Brock asked.
"Yeah…I got them for her birthday when we were in Johto." Ash replied absent-mindedly," And her Psyduck accidentally colored the heels green."
Gary Oak was found yesterday at the Cerulean Café with a mysterious redhead who is said to be contestant in the singing competition held by Sapphire Inc. The two of them talked for over an hour. Is she really the new girlfriend of Gary? Stay tuned!
"Ka chu pi chu?" Pikachu patted his trainer on the shoulder. He didn't look well.
"I'm fine, Pikachu, I'm fine."Muttering, Ash reached for another sandwich.
Misty paced around in her room, groaning. Stupid paparazzi! She only had tea with Gary and now it's as if they were dating each other. Stomping on the ground, she grabbed her pokeballs and thought,' Stupid Gary!'
"What like has like happened to like our little sis?" Violet whispered to her sister as she watched Misty KO'ed another trainer with one hit.
"Don't know," Daisy shrugged," She has been like this like ever since this afternoon, who knows what like happened?"
"But like what like happened to Lily?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since like she heard that like rumor about like Misty and Gary, she's been like totally weird too." The blonde cast a worried side-glance at their pink-haired sister.
"Better luck next time." Misty shook hands with the trainer and walked off the large pool. Looking at the calendar, she thought,' the semi-final is tomorrow. Maybe I can fix things right.' Then casting an apologetic glance at Lily, she ran off to her room.
"Hello, this is Gary Oak speaking"
"Hey, Gary. It's Misty. I was wondering whether you'd come watch my performances tomorrow tonight."
"I wasn't planning…"Then he chuckled," It's no use."
"Gary, you used to be so confident in yourself and that's what Lily likes about you. Come on, this might be your last chance to explain things with Lils."
After a long pause, he said," Guess I don't have a choice. What time?"
"Yes! It's at Vermillion City, eight o'clock pm. Oh, and don't forget to bring your present!"
"I won't. See you tomorrow, Misty…,"Pausing, he added," And thanks too, for doing this for me."
"Look who's talking, future brother-in-law," She joked," See you later."
Hanging up, Gary sighed and buried himself deep in his hands. Even though he appreciated Misty's help, he knew, deep down, Lily would never forgive him.
"It was a mistake, a simple misunderstanding," He whispered to himself. He never imagined things would take off in the wrong direction and he never wanted to hurt Lily," It hurt me more."
(Meanwhile)
"Lily, are you like okay?" Violet knocked on the door. She hasn't come down for lunch and they were all extremely worried about her.
"I'm like fine." The door opened, revealing Lily standing in the doorway.
"Can I like come in?" Violet asked cautiously.
"Like I'm sorry, but like no. There are like some things I'd rather you like not see." A weird smile glued itself on the pink-haired woman's face.
"Like okay then. See you like later and like don't forget Misty's like performing tonight."
"Okay," Then without another word, she closed the door, leaned on it, and heaved a great sigh,"Who am I like kidding? I'm like so like not okay." Crumbling to the floor, Lily buried herself in her arms. All she wanted was to be alone.
"It hurts…a lot,"She murmured to herself,"What like happened to yesterday, Gary?"
(Yesterday)
"So what like did you like wanted to talk about?" Lily asked, watching the snowflakes melt on her palm.
"I love you, Lily." After what seemed like eternity, Gary replied, sounding as if he was talking about the weather.
"What?"She whirled around, eyes completely round. Sure they have been going out for two years but he had never confessed before.
"And I was wondering if you would marry me."
"What?" It was just too much for Lily to handle and that was all the short-circuited brain could manage to order her to sputter out.
"Please, Lily, marry me," He took her hands into his own and put them over his heart," I can't promise you love for eternity because nobody knows what the future holds but I can promise you that now, at least for now, I love you with all my heart. I can't promise I'll be your knight forever, but I'll try my best to protect you from harm now. I can't say that I'll always be with you, but at present I'll never leave you alone," He looked at her in the eye," I can't promise you anything, Lily, yet I can promise you everything. I can't promise the future is bright, but I promise I'll try to make it shine. Lily, will you marry this unworthy one?"
By now, Lily's eyes were brimming with tears. She knew it; she had found a man who loved her so much that he won't make any empty promises to her. As she was about to say yes, she faltered. Was she really that great? Yes, she is one of the Sensational Sister and has won many beauty pageants, but is she really worthy of his love? Did she love him just as deep? Did she? Lily never felt more uncertain before in her life.
They stood in the middle of the park for a long time, letting the snow fill in the silence.
"So what's like Misty performing tonight?" Lily forced herself to ask.
"Like she didn't tell us, said like something about like a rock song like titled Sick." Violet replied, trying to squeeze between the crowds.
"Hush, like the show's starting."
The light was completely turned off at this moment and Lily felt someone grabbing her wrist.
I'm sick of all the moments
You averted your gaze
I'm sick of all the things
You kept hidden
I'm sick of you running away
Why is it so hard to face the truth?
One gloved hand grabbed the microphone and sang the chorus which was filled with sounds of heavy metal and rock:
You aren't just hurting yourself
It tears me up inside
To see you battling with yourself
I'm sick of sick of all this mess
The light turned back on and Daisy shouted to Violet," Where's Lily?"
"I don't know!" She screamed back.
Under the stage light, Misty Returned to the previous light tune,practically humming out the next verse:
I'm sick of all the days
You isolated yourself
I'm sick of all the things
You don't look my way
I'm sick of you hiding away
Your biggest enemy is yourself not me
'Is my greatest enemy really myself?" Before Lily had time to ponder on that thought, Gary began.
"I'm sorry!" He shouted so to make himself heard.
No reply.
Upstage, repeating the chorus part one time, the redhead sang with no music in the background:
You're slowly killing
Your inside beauty
You're slowly falling
Surely losing
The world was quiet for one second but the next, everything crashed down as the beat of drum joined the melody, each beat stronger than the last:
You aren't just hurting yourself
It tears me up inside
To see you battling with yourself
I'm sick of sick of all this mess
I'm sick of sick of all this mess
Your biggest enemy isn't me
Your biggest enemy is yourself
I'm sick of you averting your gaze
Just sick of sick of all this mess…
"Gary, what like are you doing here?" Seeing the song has finished, Lily turned to Gary with a cold look on her face.
"Lils…" He took her hand and began.
"Don't like call me that." Jerking out of his grasp, she snapped.
"But how can I stop?" He snapped back," You've already taken my heart, how can I stop?"
"Right, so like do you like say that to like everyone you meet?"
"Only to you," He replied seriously, then grabbing her hand, he forced Lily to face him," Listen, I was with Misty because I wanted her to find me a present for you. I was so afraid that I might mess up, I was so afraid that I might lose you because I couldn't get the perfect gift for you." Gary told her and enveloped her into an embrace.
"But I'm not like that." Very quietly, she started to cry for no reason.
"I know…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have thought of you like that."
"But like how?"
"What?"
"How did you like find me in the crowd, Gary?"
"Because, to me, you're one in a million."
"Like only a million?" She teased him.
"A gazillion then." He replied.
"Yes! Yes, I will!" Lily grinned at him.
"What?"
"I will marry you! I may not be perfect, but I'll try my best to learn!"
"Lily..."
"I love you too, Gary, really."
'Seem things are back to normal.' Misty inwardly smiled to herself as she, standing on the stage, watched the couple below make up. Then another thought occurred to her, 'What if...Ash saw the news?'
But he trusts her...right?
I revised this chapter as to make it more chapter-ish. lol. So how's the revised version? And yeah, I know, it' s so OOC for Gary to say those things, but well, I have my creative license:) Gary and Lily are from two different planet, but tons of my family members got married this summer(which is really weird btw)so I …hehe. As always, flames are welcomed! Please review!