Until the Day, Chapter 8
He wasn't dying. She wasn't dying and they were both healthy, warm and happy.
But maybe a part of him should have felt guilty? It had to be wrong to be this blissful. Something had to go wrong because it wasn't normal. He wasn't this happy since he was a kid, since before he took on the weight of world—before he realized growing up was about growing apart. Ash's breath stifled in his chest while he leaned over, kissing her brow, before slipping out of the covers and trying to find his shorts.
Well, at least Ash would forever remember their first time having been in a motel room only about a block from the hospital. Getting to the gym quickly meant taking a taxi, and even in his hormonal driven state, he wasn't going to put himself, or Misty into any danger. Instead, he threw her onto the first bed money could buy, and it was romantic and wild, and by Misty's standards a little crazy.
A few months ago, he wouldn't have dreamed of it; he might have even felt like he was taking advantage of her, but now, after spending almost a year together, it seemed natural. It seemed normal, and Ash really loved her.
Plus, he was sure that if he didn't die at the hospital, Xerneas' message was nothing more than an empty threat. If anything, the pokemon was probably referring to what Ash's life was like, the years he put into his journey—what his life became after he and Misty's falling out.
If that's what it was, Ash could live; in fact, he had no problem giving those memories up in favor for the ones he had now. And if he was wrong... well, there was no point in delaying the inevitable, even if for a very short while—he was going to be happy; live every moment with a smile on his face, and forever helping the world, and protecting his friends—protecting Misty. Even if the legendary pokemon came to him now to collect his life; Ash was sure he would win anyways. He couldn't leave Misty. Not now. He would be at her side until the day she died. Only, he hoped that would be a lot further away this time around.
XOX
In the two years following the false allegations trial that Daisy dropped; the four sisters moved back into the gym together, Misty reinstated their rights as gym leaders only so long as they actually helped. Because of their helpfulness and retraining, they offered to manage the gym in the off season; therefore, Ash could steal Misty for months at a time for adventures of all kinds.
The first six months were spent traveling Kalos again—a place Misty had always wanted to see and explore, and it also gave Ash the chance to find mega stones for his fully evolved pokemon in preparation of the Master's Cup. Misty saw the Prism Tower, Ash introduced her to his traveling companions from Kalos, and they had a large dinner together in celebration. After their travels in Kalos—she returned for the seasonal matches at the gym, that Ash returned weekly, but often used her busy schedule as a time frame to see his mom, visit old friends, and prepare for the next Masters Cup while Misty well well on her way to being declared the newest Water Pokemon Master of the Kanto region—no thanks to him.
After the first year, life was wonderful. Normal.
Eventually, they moved passed the awkward faze; which was essentially Ash checking in on her every ten minutes when he left on his own travels occasionally. However, she would sooner lose an arm than see him settle down. Evidently, they fought, like normal couples do; complained about too much time spent away, and made up with ice cream and cliché television, odd apologies, and occasionally an over-whelming night of passion.
If Ash wasn't mentally scarred by the vision of her dying body, he might have even at one point forgotten what life was like before now. However, he could never forget about the time before he and Misty were dating happily and attending every league gathering together, and friends weddings and dinner parties. Because no matter how happy he was, it somehow felt...off.
Sometimes, when he would close his eyes and see her, she looked like the happy, sane Misty he knew well; and other times, she looked weepy, and tired, and bruised.
"I love you." he once mumbled from across the campfire they shared with his pokemon and new companions, which resulted in a pikachu flying at his head, and a scorched woman.
And of course, some days were harder than others...
The last two years flew as if her were in a blur. The physical and mental emotion were present, and real; but that never stopped them from moving forward. Three years from the day Ash arrived in this new time, Ash woke up before day break, stretching in his sleeping bag that he shared with Misty. It was still chilly out, with the sun bleeding through the horizon in slivers. IN an attempt to warm up, he nuzzled into Misty's back, immediately waking her up with fluttering eyelids.
"'morning." she uttered, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders while he squeezed her body next to hers. Silently, they laid like that for awhile.
Many mornings were spent in the calm comfort of each others arms, only, Ash struggled to remember many of them now. Days meshed into one another, and he could only assume that was what it felt like to be happy. Or in love. Or both.
"...mm what time is it?" She hummed into his chest eventually while she nuzzled her bare arms into the quilted sleeping back below a maple tree.
"Five?" Ash mumbled, "Maybe."
"Why in the world are you awake so early?" She whined in protest of the cold. "Go back to sleep."
"I can't, Misty." Ash muttered, sitting up, though she objected by sinking lower into the sleeping bag. "The new qualifying matches for the next World Cup are out—you know we need to attend them all."
"You don't need to attend them all." she groaned, huffing. Ash felt her breath against his side and chuckled, brushing her hair with his fingers.
"Well, I want to." He clarified, listening to her groan beside his thigh while he slowly unzipped the sleeping bag and removed her cover. She wasn't please with his sudden actions. In fact, her glare brought a nervous grin to his face while she sat up, revealing her red tank top and frazzled hair to the world.
"One more hour?"
"No can do. We need to get to Sunnyshore city before noon, and it's still a few hours walk from here." He knew that a part of her hated how early he woke up when he had business to attend to. It was unnatural in comparison to his moody, long-sleeping days as a child.
"But it's coooold." Misty groaned loudly while she tugged on the sleeping bag to bring it back up to her shoulders and curl into a ball. Without warning, Ash pulled the bag from her fingers and she rolled out onto the cold dirt. Proudly wearing a playful smirk Ash leaned over to help her up.
"C'mon, you're looking forward to seeing me battle, Miss Water Pokemon Master." He grinned, kissing her forehead while her nose crinkled, and she smiled up at him.
"I am, but it would be so much faster if we could take a train—or a car, or something."
Ash snorted. "Walking is good for you." He mumbled while collecting himself. As he jumped into his shoes, he poked at pikachu who was just as opposed to waking up as Misty was while he trailed off to take care of his own business. In the distance, he could hear the pokemon protest while Misty tugged on her coat and shoes and took refuge on a lonely tree stump near their camp. It was sort of like old times, only without Brock, and his back ached from sleeping on the ground, and they weren't fighting all the time.
...it was familiar, and new.
When he returned, Misty was as good as new. Her yellow sweater was draped over her shoulders in preparation for the cold nature of Sinnoh, their sleeping bag was rolled up, and she was yawning and rubbing her legs with her bare hands.
"I told you that you should have brought warmer clothes." He scolded her while she shrugged into her sweater's collar.
"Yeah, well I didn't think we would be waking up this early, either." She snapped, knowing the afternoon weather was warm enough. "...You're really warm." She hummed, nuzzling into his side when he came near. He pat her hair affectionately, growing used to how often she would leave it down.
They stayed like that for a bit, her shoulder pressed into his stomach, her head leaned against his chest while he brushed the strands of her hair back and sighed mirthfully. What a good day to be alive! Pikachu hobbled to his ankle and looked up at his trainer with tired eyes while Ash latched onto Misty's upper back and brought her to her feet.
"Let's go, then!" Ash nearly shouted while he led-forced-the team down the path. Misty sighed, following groggily behind him while a dense, morning fog threatened their eye sight. Under the tree where they slept, there wasn't as much murky weather, protected by the low hanging branches of the forest.
"I really think we should wait, Ash. The fog is pretty thick through here." She noticed how litle they could see while snatching his wrist with her cold hands and stuffing her fingers into his warm sleeve. Ash looked over his shoulder at her, and rolled his eyes boldly.
"There's nothing to worry about, this trail is practically-" He looked around once again, recalling the specific density of the forest, and stopped walking. He as in Sinnoh before, when it happened. On a day much like this.
"What day is it?"
"Uhh, Thursday?" Misty suggested, looking at him curiously.
"I mean the date, what date?"
"Pika, pikachu." The mouse replied and the color in Ash's face whitened.
"Actually, Misty, you're right, I think we should stay here for awhile." How stupid! He lost track of time, and they were in the middle of no where! Actually, being in the middle of nowhere might have been favorable instead of being near moving cars, or people in general.
"What?" She snorted. "C'mon, Ash, I was just kidding, we can still get to Sunnyshore city."
"No, it's okay." Urgently, Ash dragged her to the tree line. "Let's just sit for awhile, please?" he asked, and Misty's eyes narrowed.
"What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing." he said calmly, too calmly. He was being unusual, which meant that naturally, Misty jerked away from him.
"No, it's not nothing; remember the whole communications thing; you tell me what's wrong, I tell you what's wrong? Don't blow me off."
Ash rolled his eyes, immediately setting off Misty's rage sensors. "It's not like that, Misty; I am cold, too, and besides, I'd rather spend some time with you today."
"Why?" she snapped immediately and Ash licked his lips, trying to grab her, but she wouldn't let him. He was in no mood for her games! A mischievous glint took cover in her eyes as she glared at him.
"Misty, please." he urged her but she shrugged, a mischievous grin over her lips when she snatched his hat from his head.
"If you can catch me!" She cheered, then turned away from him suddenly, and started off into the dense fog where she immediately disappeared.
"Misty!" He shouted.
At his feet, pikachu looked worriedly at his trainer while Ash barreled into the fog after Misty. He had no reason to be so worried! She was a great trainer, an amazing athlete, and was more than capable of taking care of herself. However...she was exactly that before. As a result, pikachu tried to reason with Ash who shook the mouse off and struggled to find the words to explain himself, just that he had to find her.
"Misty, this is no time to be playing games! Come back here!" He shouted, looking around to no avail; he could hardly see his hand extended in front of him, there was no way he could see Misty. Then, he heard her giggling, and his rage boiled over.
"It's not funny!" He shouted after her, following her laugh, only for it to become silent as he waved his hands around to grab for her. He waited to move again until she called after him.
"Ashhh~" She hummed, and his heart fell.
"C'mon, Mist, I don't want to play right now." he muttered urgently, but she couldn't hear him over her own giggles.
"You always want to."
"Not right now."
"Well I didn't want to get out of bed."
"That's different!" he snapped angrily, and Misty fell silent again while he fell forward onto his knees and brushed strands of hair from his face. He felt so cold here, uncertain and tired.
"...Mist', please come here." he pleaded into the fog, and only seconds later, Misty emerged, chest heaving while she knelt beside him, and placed his cap back onto his head.
"Okay." She said quietly, smiling before his panicked look filled her vision, and she was left with his arms wrapped around her torso-his entire body nearly engulfing hers.
"...It's okay." Misty uttered finally, patting his back while he nuzzled into her neck and exhaled.
"Can we just stay here, like this today?" He questioned and while Misty felt worry envelope her heart as she shared concerned glances with pikachu; she nodded.
"Of course."
XOX
He couldn't explain it, not to her, or pikachu, why he was so determined to sit through this day. Surprisingly, she didn't pester him about it, and they spent the day swapping stories—occasionally spit—and talking about strategies in battle. This time around, greninja was going to Ash's secret weapon. Being that Misty was a water pokemon master, she helped Ash through some kinks, and his pikachu and greninja combination was going to dominated in the Masters Cup.
Other than the fact that Ash refused to leave her side unless she needed lady time, it was essentially a normal day for them, like many others. Night came quickly, and like the night before, they decided against a campfire only because they didn't want to spark a forest fire, collect the wood—and they were warm sitting together inside their sleeping bag against the tree. Pikachu sat in their lap, receiving warm scratches from Misty while the night closed.
"So... are you going to tell me what that was about earlier?" Curiosity inflicted her words while she peered at him, watching his expression drop quickly as he looked down, then away.
"I don't really want to." he admit, though after spending three years with her, it was about time that he did tell her something. Especially today—if they made it to midnight, he would. That was the deal he promised himself years ago, and he would keep to it.
She scoffed unpleasantly. "Okay." She mumbled, keeping her lips pursed.
"I will, just...not right now, okay?" Ash smiled, looking at her with such sincerity, she couldn't hold a grudge. So instead, she nodded.
"Okay."
Then, they waited. Minutes turned to hours, and while Misty gently fell asleep from boredom or exhaustion, his eyelids never grew heavy, but he grew more anxious with each passing minute they grew closer to midnight. What if something happened now? Today was the day she... Certainly, Xerneas wasn't so cruel that he would give Ash three, wonderful years only to rip it away at the last minute—was it even right for Ash to still be paranoid? He survived death time and again, Misty was happy, healthy, and normal, and they led a decent living. It wasn't perfect, he still got on Misty's nerves, and occasionally she got onto all of his—but that was life.
Life was about the good, and the bad, and everything in between. Even the bad parts were good if he had Misty; he just needed more patience some times.
The clock ticking fifteen minutes until midnight; and petrified he would rocket back through time to the hell he was living in before, or spontaneously implode, he shook Misty awake.
"Mmm." She groaned, turning away from him, he shook her again until her tired, bloodshot eyes faced him.
"What?" She growled and with a quivering lip, Ash kissed her, and held her forehead to his own.
"No matter what happens, I love you, and I know this sounds cheesy and cliché but I wouldn't be who I am without you. I need you, Mist, you're the other part of me I didn't know I was missing." He started to laugh awkwardly by the end of his sentence, and nervously, she started to look around in fear.
"Is something going to happen?" Her eyes shifted back to his. "What's going on?
"...I just wanted you to know that you're amazing, as a person, a best friend, a woman; a girlfriend and I couldn't imagine a day without you in it."
Now, the gut wrenching sensation in his stomach was mostly in due to the fear that swarmed her cerulean green eyes, and she swallowed hard against the lump in her throat while pikachu curled up affectionately into her lap—while the pokemon had no memory of Ash's experience, it felt what Ash felt, and if pikachu was catching a wave of his infliction; she was indeed worried.
Finally, her gaze softened into one of acceptance. "You... are either about to propose to me, or about to tell me you're dying—so cut the bull shit, Ash. You get like this too much, just tell me what's going on with you."
His face flushed at the suggestion of an engagement. After getting her back and having her, he hadn't even considered an engagement a possibility, in fact, he felt a bit guilty that it wasn't the case—he might have even lied to her if he wasn't preparing for the inevitable. In fact, he swore if they made it through the night and safely to Sunnyshore city, he would probably ask the very next day to make up for all of this confusion, the many times he would suddenly become possessive and weird so she wouldn't run off without thinking. It was as if their roles were reversed, Ash was the cryptic, worried one, and Misty kept telling him to relax.
"Do you remember when I told you I had a nightmare that you died?" He asked finally, and her shoulders fell very slowly.
"..Yeah, that was like two years ago... You're not still bothered by that, are you?"
"No... well," he cleared his throat, "Yes." He said, smiling at her; heart breaking as he revealed the truth he held from her for years.
"You got into a bad accident, and we weren't on very good terms and... you were dying. Getting worse everyday and there was nothing the doctors could do for you. Nothing I could do for you. I...ran away to find a solution instead of staying with you and..."
"...and that happened today?" The clear skepticism in her tone kept his voice low.
"Yeah. But technically...three years ago...?" Ash mumbled, Misty's face scrunched up.
"How?"
"I'm not from this timeline?" He offered, smiling at her and her lips made an 'o' shape. Aside from sounding crazy, it did make some sense in regard to how much he knew and how he acted. "I got sent back here for a price and... I still don't know entirely what that price is—Xerneas said I could save you if I gave up..." He stopped, watching her expression while she egged him on, intrigued by his story.
"Gave up what?"
Ash cleared his throat, breaking eye contact. "My life?"
Misty chuckled sardonically. "Your life?" She hissed, blinking the humor fleeting when she realized he wasn't joking.
In fact, she looked appalled. "So you gave up everything to come back and save me from an accident?"
Ash looked back up at her, nodded very slowly and for a brief minute, the flood gates opened and she looked sincerely touched by his commitment. She sucked in her lips, tears swelling at the corner of her eyes and Ash thought she was going to hug him when her hand rose from the blankets, but she shoved him hard instead.
"Stupid!" She shouted and Ash sat forward, eyes wide open.
"What?" He shrieked watching as her fingers looped around his arm and she brought his face in close to hers, to make a point.
"Don't you ever give up your life to save mine." She scolded and Ash blinked.
"Well...I think he just meant the life I had after I won the Master's cup."
"You won the Master's cup?" Misty gasped and Ash shifted uncomfortably, and nodded.
"It was just a title, one I could win again, and if not—that's okay, too. You're more important than-"
"I don't care!" She shouted and Ash blinked at her sudden accusation. "What about everything else that happened? All the lives you changed in the years after that? You gave all of that up for me because of an accident and you aren't even sure now if the consequences are happening? What if you died now, huh? How do you think I would feel!?"
"I—You'd be alive at least."
"But you'd be dead!" She screamed, throwing her arms up. Had it not been so cold, she would have started pacing, but the bitter cold kept her stationary, and the winds chill caused shivers to run through her. Ash stopped, and looked away from her shamefully.
"Everything happens for a reason, Ash, you can't change things just because it's hard!"
"Hard?" Ash snapped in response. "You were dying!" He yelped, grabbing her hands and she jerked out of his grip.
"So? People die all the time, that's life!"
"But it wasn't fair, Misty! You didn't deserve to-" He winced, and Misty poked him in the chest to keep his attention on her.
"I'm a big girl, Ash, I always have been. I can take care of myself and if I made poor decisions that ended in a horrible accident that was my fault. Not yours."
"But it was!"
"How?"
"I stopped talking to you, Misty! I wasn't there when your sisters sued you, and you found this jerk of a-"
"That doesn't matter; you don't control my life!" She insisted, grabbing his shoulders warmly. He at least had some control—look at how happy they were now. Couldn't she see that?
"I mean, really, Ash, was it all bad, or just a little? Or were you more guilty you weren't in my life anymore? There had to have been good things about my life, too."
"But I saw... Xerneas showed me..."
"Glimpses?" Misty asked too quickly, and Ash looked up at her with watery eyes.
"What about the small moments? Like two days ago when we had ice cream; or a week ago when Brock called? You don't control that—you weren't around for four years before coming back after the Master's cup, and I was managing fine—I have lots of cool stories from then. Something horrible happened...but that doesn't mean it's your fault, and it doesn't mean you have to trade your life to fix it. Stop being such a weirdo about these things. Even if that was real, it's not anymore."
His mouth opened to protest, but he wasn't sure what to tell her.
"They were my decisions. Not yours. Even if you had been around, I might have still made them because we didn't know the future then, did we?"
Ash sniffled at her words, lips quivering while he grabbed her into a warm hug, and buried his face into her neck, tears streaming down his cheeks, and wetting her sweater.
"I don't want to lose you again." He whined, and Misty stroked the length of his back, from his shoulder blades, to his lower back and breathed with him.
"You won't."
"You don't know that." Ash whined, and Misty forced a smile.
"...I'll still be here when you wake up." She reassured him, listening to the young man cry until the wee hours of the night, and sleep eventually took him.
XOX
Ash woke up in a complete panic, startled and wide-eyed and grabbing for Misty who wasn't where she was supposed to be. He fell asleep!
"Misty!" He shouted, jolting forward to see her sitting at the middle of the path with pikachu beside her, starting a fire.
"Good morning." She called to him, watching him rub his eyes as he made his way to her and pikachu. The weather was better today, the sun even broke over the horizon and he smiled affectionately at her.
"Hey." he said happily while she poked the low fire with a stick, and pikachu grinned at him.
"Hey." She called back, before a silence enveloped them.
"So, I was thinking about what you said last night." She announced, and Ash looked at her worriedly.
".My sisters didn't sue me, I have the gym, my title—you know, everything I've sort of always dreamed of." She smiled at him and he nodded.
"And you have a great battling career, and the Master's cup is in a few months—but as I was sitting here, watching the sun rise and listening to the birds, I thought about everything." She paused for a long time.
"How...perfect things seem to have become; how easy it's been to live the last few years." The way she spoke sent a chill down his spine while Ash took a collective seat beside her. She didn't look up from the burning embers.
"Since three years ago, I knew something was off, and for the longest time I thought it was you; you were weird, and mature, and surprisingly charming when you wanted to be...I just thought that..."
While she spoke, Ash looked up at her while she pursed her lips, then looked down at him. "Everything worked out perfectly."
"So?" Ash questioned.
"Well, I was thinking about what Xerneas is, a magical pokemon who is said to share eternal life with those who find it—but he doesn't have any time-molding abilities, at least, not to researchers knowledge."
Ash blinked a few times at her. "What are you saying?"
"You still feel it everyday, don't you? That sense of overwhelming dread that fills your chest, spreads from your heart, into the back of your throat, to the spot between your knees."
Ash blinked at her, confused.
"So that's just me then?" Misty asked and Ash's dull expression fell immediately, realizing what was happening.
"It's probably good you didn't tell me right away, you know. I thought they were bad dreams at first, too."
Ash's heart raced in his chest while Misty spoke, poking at the first that never seemed hot enough. "Have you realized how obscure our time together has been; one day feels like a month; years felt like seconds?"
Ash looked down at pikachu who hadn't been his usual self in awhile, but always supportive, and Ash lowered his head into his palms.
"I was happy Ash, I'm happy now but-"
"No!" Ash said suddenly grabbing her shoulders. "No."
Misty smiled. "I know one of us isn't where we're supposed to be."
"No! You're wrong!" Ash screamed while she leaned forward to place a kiss on his head before everything disappeared in a quick spiral and Ash was left feeling like a pile of dirt, ran over six times as darkness consumed him.
It wasn't supposed to be like this! They weren't supposed to—she wasn't supposed to. Oh god, what was wrong with him?
….they were supposed to be together until the day...
XOX
"And Misty Waterflower takes the match! We have our new Water Pokemon Master!"
Ash remembered from the time he was small, he wanted the girl he fell in love with to be amazing. To be kind, and gentle—actually, he wanted someone who mimicked his mother; wouldn't argue with him everyday. As anyone could imagine, the day Ash Ketchum realized he was in love with the silver tongued, sarcastic, bluntly rude and overly honest best friend, who couldn't cook for her life and spent more time working than she did on her make up and hair—well, he was as surprised as anyone.
He never imagined the girl that he would fall in love with would be exceptionally everything he didn't want in his life. Headstrong, stubborn, obscene and a little unorthodox, but become everything he needed.
...He also didn't expect that he would fall in love with someone he could never have.
She won the title of master shortly after their last meeting at the gym, where he said they could never be friends—but secretly wished he had stuck around. They were past the point of publicly insulting one another, but unless some generous soul opened a portal into some unobtainable land, they would never be friends again. Ash could only hope that someday, they could rekindle their friendship—once the burning hole in his chest stopped hurting, of course.
Ash destroyed that ship, then stepped on it several times; all with the help of his angry redhead. They were a match made in heaven, if heaven was full of small devils and heart breakers.
Ash watched the screen quietly from the corner store where they sold televisions. It was cold in Kanto the night she was declared a master, and while Ash would have wanted to be there to celebrate for her as she was for him; he settled on a letter instead; one that he folded and refolded a million times, and still had crunched in his pocket.
"...Congratulations, Misty."
Author's Note:
-hides from the lynching-
WELL, it's less dramatic than I was going to have it originally. BEFORE, I was going to have where she died again, but I kind of like how 'realization' settled in before that, especially because I've been hinting at it through the story (seriously, did anyone notice? XD) There was one reviewer who asked not to send them back to that 'horrible reality' but... ;w; was this really that surprising? I need to work on my foreshadowing. Either its too obvious, or you're pulling at straws.
Anyways, two more chapters. DO YOU GUYS WANT A SAD ENDING OR A HAPPY ENDING? (I already have it written, but it would be nice to know so I can weep with you)