Sunday
Hopeful brown eyes blinked at her in the low light as he hesitantly ambled over to the doorway. Pikachu, sensing the change in atmosphere where palpable awkwardness now loomed as large as the overhead bursts of light, scurried off to rejoin the others where the remainder of the group stayed fixated on the fireworks display in attempt to give the pair an attempt at privacy.
Unsure arms embraced the redhead as she scoured her mind for words.
'I'm sorry for leaving.'
'I'm scared things will change.'
'I promise I'm not running away anymore.'
Still she found herself mute for the moment, instead letting her pale arms encircle his waist, hopeful that the message could be felt in the way she pulled him in.
To be fair, Ash also found himself speechless. His usually unfiltered thoughts hitting a brick wall and refusing to budge.
'I thought you'd left.'
'I was scared I'd lost you.'
'I'm pretty sure I'm going to mess this up and I'll spend the rest of my regretting letting you get away.'
The intermittent glow of firework light stopped for a moment, their unbroken embrace letting them center themselves in star-dotted privacy before Ash's intrusive thoughts won out.
The first words out of his mouth caught her off guard.
It was a chaotic, unfiltered thought that while being unpredictable in content, was very normal stream-of-consciousness Ash.
"I think a ghost made our yukatas."
In response, all Misty could do was laugh, and with her responding laughter, her nerves found entropic escape. It was so ludicrous, so random, and so Ash, that she couldn't help but feel the overwhelming relief that he was unchanged by everything that had occurred during the week.
Some change would be welcome as they progressed, but as a whole her feelings for him had been forged from turnpike moments when she could go from one extreme (frustration, confusion, irritation), to an alternate (relief, joy, contentedness) at a simple phrase or action. It was part of his charm despite how frustrating the lead up could be.
"I'm all in. Whatever crazy weather, messed up directions, and ghost interactions I face as a part of your chaotic life, I'm ready for it," Misty smirked bringing her hand from Ash's side to his cheek.
"Pretty sure I'm going to be a terrible boyfriend," Ash sheepishly admitted, "that's why I left this morning. I'm worried about what happens if I mess this up for good."
"Lucky for you, that's part of your charm. Even messing up, you still manage to luck into what's meant to happen," Misty grinned pulling Ash into a kiss as the firework finale flared in the background.
There had always been electricity between them - sparks that in early youth took the form of fiery arguments or tactile jostling. Historically it was a stray elbow here, a hip bump there, and a constant threat of arguments that drew them to near kiss moments with noses and foreheads pressed together with both a little disoriented at the sudden proximity.
Still in all that lead up, Misty and Ash had never imagined how that spark would evolve and change with a proper kiss. Where excitement and newness still held a place, something deeper coursed below, a comforting current of warmth and familiarity that bloomed in the wake of change.
When they finally broke the kiss, the fireworks in the sky had doused, and the group was awkwardly pretending to be entranced by the stars to avoid having to pass the duo to the stairwell.
Ash gave a sheepish laugh and apologetically stated that 'this may have been a little overdue.'
It was well after midnight when Ash and Misty finally made their way back to the hotel. They had lingered at the gym, wishing the other's safe travels and exchanging goodbyes with Misty promising to see Bonnie again soon (as she still hadn't forgotten her promise to introduce the younger girl to Max).
"I guess I'm lucky the hotel let you keep the room after I checked out," Misty yawned curling up on the bed for what would be the final night of the trip. They both had scheduled flights in the afternoon and while this night had reconciled a lot of anxieties and concerns, they both were eager to return to the normalcy of their home region.
"Mhmm," Ash mumbled sleepily making no attempt to hide the fact that he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep with her as they had all week. It had become a creature comfort he was remiss to let go.
Returning home would bring its own challenges, but in this moment everything was simple.
Misty woke with a grin, finally comfortable in the vice grip embrace that a sleepy Ash employed to keep her from escaping him again, and she reflected on how happy she was to finally have him.
Years of waiting. Numerous times where she almost gave up, no, tried to force herself to give up. And somehow it felt like she held out because she knew it was always meant to be this simple.
A long time ago, he was just a boy who fell off a cliff trying to save his first Pokémon and she was just a girl with a fishing rod hoping to catch something special.
Smiling Misty glanced around the room and rested her eyes on Pikachu who wide awake and perched on the headboard staring down.
"We've come so far, but we're still the same, you know?" She whispered the small electric rodent.
Pikachu nodded, having been privy to the laments and frustrations from both teens over the years, but then the mouse nudged the cell phone at the redhead.
The phone lit up to indicate messages needed to be read, and Pikachu offered a small "cha" of apology.
Uncertain what she was opening, Misty's heart sunk when she saw the first text from Daisy.
'Really sorry, baby sis, but we failed the audit. The league will explain when you get back. I promise we tried our best, but it wasn't enough.'
Misty exhaled sharply which caused Ash to wake up with a jolt.
"What's going on?" He worriedly asked noting her sudden change in mood from the night before and fearing he'd already made some sort of grievous relationship mistake.
"They failed the audit," Misty groaned trying to drag the pillow over her head and hide from the world.
She should have insisted that they reschedule or cancel. It really wasn't fair that the league chose to proceed without her present.
"What does that mean for you?" Ash asked nervously.
He'd been wandering around the globe since he was ten so he had no semblance of how regulatory systems worked. A long time ago he had chalked it all up to gym politics and mentally filed it under 'more boring than pokemon battles.'
"They'll come back in three months and make sure I've made whatever changes they require. I think Daisy would have told me if there was something glaring that got us instantly shut down, but given we've been operating by the book and keeping everything up to code I can't imagine that's the case. It just means lots more work for me for the next several months," Misty groaned, "so much for vacation to reset and recharge."
"I'll be around more though; I can probably help out with repairs and such," Ash nudged her gently.
"If I want it broken again in a day, I'll be sure to call you," Misty teased playfully kissing the tip of his nose.
It was a long-standing joke that Ash left a wake of destruction wherever he went. He fixed larger problems, especially those related to legendary Pokémon, but the day-to-day repairs of a gym were not in his skill set.
"Hey, I've fixed a lot of fences," Ash retorted with a laugh.
"And how many more have you broken?" Misty chuckled absolving his point and being met with some sputtering in response.
She smiled, shaking her head with a lilted laugh before opening her phone back up to check the remainder of her texts.
The last text she checked came through at 4:56am from Gary, and sent a chill coursing through her blood that rendered her speechless. Ash, unable to elicit a response from her finally decided to read the text over her shoulder and regretted it when he did.
"Happy New Year, Red. I'm sorry to start your year off on a bad note, but from my research I'm afraid what you found in the caves was only a prototype."
-chapter and story end-
Look for the sequel coming soon:
Grit and Ground: Following a failed audit, Misty finds herself at the mercy of the league to restore her gym's standing. When the league forces her to go undercover to try and find answers about the organization behind the Kalos attack, she's forced to leave her friends and family behind. Can Ash and Misty's newly forged relationship survive the secrets, and what will happen when an old flame is brought into the mix? Sequel to Snow-where to go. Pokeshipping
It'll be a couple of weeks before I post again since I'll be venturing around Europe once more. I will likely be writing sporadically as I go, but I'm not bringing my laptop so I won't be able to edit until I return.
Favs and reviews are always appreciated!
-FWFT