Hello :P It is late on a Wednesday night but I am back with another chapter. I'm not really sure where the idea for this one came from but I believe it stemmed on from me having a think of what Justin (Jessie and James' eldest son's) relationship with Misty would be. I've written lots about how she is super close to Jayden but never really Justin. I think this whole saga is maybe when she begins to notice him as well. It's another one set in the hospital when Misty is in her unconscious stage after Ash runs off due to darkness. But it focuses on James, Justin, Rey and Pikachu too. I hope you enjoy!
Ages:
Misty: 30
James: 37
Justin: 16
Rey: Less than A Week Old
Disclaimer: I own the story and all the OCs mentioned :3
The lavender haired male exhaled haggardly and like he had done often in recent days, he held onto his orange haired best friend's hand tightly and didn't let it go. Like Misty, his own eyes were shut but unlike the unconscious person, his mind was filled with so many thoughts. His brain was filled with millions of thoughts. And he couldn't switch them off, even if he tried. But he tried to ignore them. Though he wanted to shudder at each and every bleep of the machine that was sounding around the hospital room, he spoke over them instead. He talked quietly and softly and calmly too. He was trying to act as if a whole part of his world hadn't come crashing down. But it had.
"So that's really all that I've been up to today." James concluded with a slight shrug as he didn't let go of her hand, both of his hands clasping over her one and his thumb running over her knuckles. His hair was falling over his face but he didn't even care. It was right in his eyes but that was the least of his concerns. And truthfully, it made him feel slightly better. "Your little baby has been doing really well on her bottle so that's good. Maybe you want to wake up and see her now, huh?"
I swallowed as the lavender haired male couldn't help but add the last words to his other sentences. I breathed out. To tell you the truth, I didn't have the strength to look over at the unconscious Misty with hope or belief. For one of the rare times in my life, I was hopeless. I wasn't looking at anybody. I was looking down at the floor. And I was looking down at it and almost wanting it to swallow me right up.
Nothing was the same anymore. Since my best friend in all the world had left, nothing was the same. And I almost hated that that was the case. Surely my whole life hadn't revolved around him? It hadn't entirely. But a massive part of my life had revolved around him. He was my brother. And a part of me definitely left that day when he was consumed by darkness and had run off just moments after his baby girl had been born. A part of me was missing. And I knew that it would take almost a miracle for me to feel even slightly close to okay, let alone being back to my old and complete self.
James was trying to be as brave as he could be. He was trying to be strong and stable and positive but that was near enough impossible as well. A huge chunk of him had left him as well the minute that his orange haired best friend shut her eyes and slipped away. In a way, a huge chunk had made its way to him after he knew that he had to be the one to care for the new-born baby as his own. It was such a strange feeling. It was a push and pull. And even though I was disappointed with Ash, I knew that he was going through a similar feeling as well.
After trying to be brave, the lavender haired male had a moment where he couldn't quite keep that act up anymore. He tried to speak airy and casual and light-hearted words to his best friend but all of a sudden, his voice cracked. He was no longer talking. He was no longer making conversation. He was pleading. His eyes were filled with tears and desperation.
"God please, Misty. Can you please wake up? You have so much left. You've left so much of us behind while you're in dream land. You have me. You have your family. You have that little baby. You have another daughter now. She's perfect. Please come back to us. Please."
The sound of James breaking down and sobbing filled my body with a strange chill. Normally upon seeing or even hearing somebody else cry, I was close to shedding my own tears as well. I was just that kind of person, or rather, Pokémon. But that day was different. That whole week had been different. James' crying didn't move me to tears. It numbed me instead.
It made me feel shivery and cold and even ghostly. I couldn't believe my best friend. I couldn't believe that he had done this to us all. I knew that he was facing demons of his own and I very much understood that. But he had almost unleashed his demons on us the day that he left. And I was finding it very hard to forgive him for that.
James' crying as he tried to distract himself by stroking the hair of his best friend filled me with pain. But selfishly, I wasn't ready to share that pain with him. I almost wanted nothing to do with it. So I blocked it out. Like he was trying hard not to do, I tried hard to listen to the beeps of the machines. I focused on those noises. I honed in on a distant tap dripping. I noticed the wind whistling and blowing outside. I shut my eyes. And then I realised that I was hearing another sound – a far off sound.
It wasn't really anything at first; barely noticeable at all. But it was coming. It was approaching. It was footsteps. And they were coming. They were followed by a pause and a silence. And then they were followed by the sound of the door knob turning. Someone poked their head around the door. Someone breathed out heavily and poked their head around the door. It was Justin. And he was in his school uniform.
The lavender haired male was seemingly in his own world of overwhelmed emotion as he tried to compose himself by stroking the hair and the face of his sleeping best friend. He was hiccupping so badly that surely he wasn't going to be aware of the presence of his son. Right? Wrong. He very much heard it. Something in him seemed to know that someone was in the room without even hearing anything.
He turned around over his shoulder and looked towards the door. And as soon as he saw his eldest son's face as it bravely peeked through the door, he stood up. James stood up and he ran a hand through his hair, finally freeing his eyes from being hidden. He sniffed all of his tears and weeping back. He tried to smile. He tried to smile for his son. He tried to smile for his boy. And Justin noticed this. Justin noticed this about his father. He didn't hesitate to properly enter the room.
"Dad, no." the deep purple haired male began and that's all he needed to say in response to James trying to hide his feelings from the sixteen year old young man. He briefly reached his hands out to touch his father's fingers before shaking his head, frowning at him. He swallowed. He was insistent. "Don't hide. Please, don't hide."
These words sent a slight tingle down my spine but I was still very very cold and numb. I didn't react all that much. I just looked over at the two Morgan males. I was still unable to look at Misty so I decided to focus on them instead. I didn't smile but I found myself feeling slightly better. It was good to see two people care so much about one and other in a world that, for once, I believed was filled with selfishness.
The lavender haired male nodded his head in response to his son's words. He had certainly heard them. But following that, he paused and he momentarily thought to himself. He then shook his head, in quite the frantic way. He was insisting on keeping some of his feelings hidden from the younger male. He wanted to protect him. He couldn't protect Misty so he sure as hell was going to protect his son. But that didn't stop him from being grateful for his presence.
"It's good to see you. What are you doing here?" he asked his son and he wasn't ready to give him a hug so instead he just tucked the younger male's long locks behind one ear before gently cupping his face. He wanted to manage a smile but couldn't. He wanted to hold him but was afraid of breaking down even further in his arms.
But Justin wasn't afraid of this. In some ways, he was afraid of a lot of things secretly but he wasn't afraid of having to be strong for his father. And he certainly wasn't afraid of being the one in that moment to care for him. He showed off his confident and self-assured side by giving the older male a reassuring youthful smile and stepping forward. And after doing so, he wrapped his arms tightly around his Dad and held him. He answered his question as he held him.
"I didn't have any classes until the last hour of school so I came to see you." He told him in almost a mumble and he could feel James not hugging him back and in a way going limp in his arms through concern of breaking down if he hugged him back. This didn't deter Justin. He held him even tighter and rested his cheek on his shoulder. "I wanted to make sure that you were okay."
And that was it. That's what did it. James couldn't stop himself from hugging his son anymore and he couldn't stop his emotions from flooding out of him as well. But it didn't happen obviously. It didn't happen dramatically. Slowly and second by second, James relaxed against his son and allowed him to hug him. He rested his chin on the top of the taller male's head while he stooped for him and he shut his eyes.
Slowly and second by second also, the tears started flowing out of his eyes. He didn't hiccup that time and he didn't sob either. The liquid that was tears just gushed down his cheeks and dripped onto the deep purple haired male's locks. He didn't care. Even though it was freshly washed and certainly not water proof, he didn't even care. He just held his father tighter. And that's exactly what the lavender haired male needed. No words. No pity. No sad eyes. Just a hug and a chance to feel everything that he was feeling.
And because he did exactly that, when he pulled away, he was filled with a sensation of being able carry on for a little bit longer. My mouth twitched as I almost smiled wanly to myself. Maybe I needed to do that. But I knew that I was no way near ready at that point.
The two Morgan male's pulled away from each other and after James looked at his son with a green orbed gaze that was filled with gratitude and a smile, he moved away from him and went to seat himself back on the edge of the best with Misty once again. Justin stayed standing. James went back to clasping his best friend's one hand with both of his hands. He didn't let her go. But he looked back over his shoulder at his son. He really was filled with a breath of fresh air. Good for him.
"How has your day been today, then?" he asked the younger male and he even moved one of his hands away from sleeping Misty's to tuck his own hair behind his ear before gesturing for Justin to come and sit down. He showed off another small smile for him. "Come sit down. Come tell us about your day."
I looked over at Justin because I was starting to find it really easy to do that. When I looked at him, I almost could pretend that everything was normal and we were just having a Morgan and Ketchum get together like how it often happened. But what happened next filled me with gut ache and nausea all over again.
You could tell that Justin was trying to be brave and casual and polite too, but you could read it all over his face that he really wanted to remain standing and was reluctant to come and sit next to his father's orange haired best friend while she slept. I quickly looked away. And finally, my eyes pooled with tears. I almost snarled.
It was there and then that I decided that everybody was selfish. It was the wrong thing to do and the wrong attitude to have. Maybe Justin's attitude was the wrong one to have as well. But he was just a teenager. It really was understandable looking back. But I didn't relate to him in that moment. And I didn't look at him because of it.
Luckily James was more understanding and accepting than me. You could see his face flickering with sadness at his son's apprehension but he decided to ignore it. It was early days and he had clearly overcome some sort of uncomfortableness by entering the room at all. The lavender haired male looked away from Justin but it wasn't in the same way that I had done. He was looking back over at his best friend and clasping her hand with his hands once again. He swallowed quietly and then he had words for his eldest boy.
"There's a chair in the other room." He told him in a mumble but it wasn't an annoyed mumble or a disappointed one. It might have been a sad one but it wasn't a judgemental one. He understood. Justin quickly nodded and left that half of the private hospital room in the search of the mentioned chair. He was rather worried that he'd been unbelievable. When he was out of sight, James called to him in a louder voice but it was still quite the mutter. "The baby is sleeping in there. Well, she should be. Don't make too much noise."
I heard Justin breathing out and, like my raven haired best friend, I was known for my stubbornness. My eyes suddenly widened. And in a way, because I knew that I shared that trait with the person that I was disappointed with, I suddenly didn't want anything to do with it anymore. I stopped being so stubborn. I forced myself to look at Justin and I watched him make his way around the sleeping baby's hospital bed.
Like he had done with her sleeping mother, he had tried his best to avoid looking at the little girl at all and moved around her as best he could as well. But after a few seconds, his curiosity got the better of him. He went over to the window to pick up the chair and on his way back out of that part of the room, he slowed down. He craned his neck. His eyes swivelled. And he found himself peeking into the little glass crib.
He peered in and he saw her face right away. His father was correct; she was sleeping. She was seemingly sleeping soundly and all swaddled up. And even though a part of him had wanted to see her after all, Justin let out another exhaling breathing noise when he saw that she wasn't awake. He looked at her for a few seconds more before he nodded his head. He was happy with the look he had had. And then he left to go bad to his father. And I was left noticing quite the nuance between them both.
The lavender haired male was always pretty nervous when he saw the dark chestnut haired little baby sleeping. Of course it was a good thing and meant he got some time to nap as well and it meant that she was peaceful, but with a mother that was sleeping constantly, he couldn't help but be concerned by it. So, the truth was, he always preferred it when she was wide awake. Justin was the opposite. He was almost glad that she was sleeping when he had a rare peek at her. Perhaps if she had of been looking back at him, she would have figured him out too quickly.
The deep purple haired male came back into the room with his father and seated the chair that he had picked up by the door. The lavender haired male couldn't stop himself from turning back and raising a slight eyebrow at this but after his initial feeling of guilt, Justin just looked back at him. His own eyebrow was almost raised. He seated himself in the seat and began taking his school tie off from around his neck to get comfy.
James was left having to accept Justin's gestures of proving that he really wasn't ready to sit near Misty and the older male just had to go along with that. He shook his head slightly but he didn't make a massive deal about it. After all, he was sixteen years old once too and he was also grateful for the company. He hadn't had to go out of his way to visit him. But he had. So he was thankful.
"Let's hear about this day of yours then. Did-" The lavender haired male remained clasping the hand of his orange haired best friend and he had since half turned around to properly face and listen to his son. But that's all he had time to do. All of a sudden, he was interrupted. His phone began buzzing in his pocket. He dropped Misty's hands to answer it quickly. I wondered whether he was caught between worrying if the noise would wake the sleeping baby or he was hoping that it would wake the sleeping baby and Misty too. He clicked to accept the call before putting it on mute to talk to his son. He stood up. "It's Delia. I really need to take this. I'll be back in a second, okay?"
And with that, the older male turned to give Misty a kiss on the forehead like he often did before he left her and then he tried to leave the room. Justin had been doing his best to be subtle and polite before but at his father leaving him, he suddenly felt very uncomfortable and afraid. His eyes widened. He stood straight up, almost knocking the chair over at the speed in which he stood.
"No, Dad, don't! I-" Justin tried to begin and he felt almost like a little kid again with the way that he couldn't stop himself from holding onto his father's sleeve. But he knew to let go right away with the look that he was given. His eyes widened even further with remorse and he seated himself down out of respect. I watched James finally somewhat explode with emotion and disappointment. His eyes pricked with tears.
"She's not going to bloody wake up, Justin! She's shown no signs of that happening since the day he left." The lavender haired male snapped at his son with disappointment and he tilted his head towards him before he properly left the room to answer the phone to Delia. He shut the door with a slam. Justin was left gulping. Justin was left feeling very very small indeed.
He seemed to sink back into the chair, his arms folding over his slim chest. People told him that he had some of the longest legs in the world but that moment, they were almost invisible. He felt very small. He looked very small too. He looked very vulnerable. And because he was as emotional and vulnerable as his father despite the differences, his own eyes pricked with tears. He buried his head in his hands. He didn't cry. But he was very disappointed in himself.
Justin thought that he'd been very inconsiderate and very selfish indeed. Why had he felt the need to almost beg his father to stay? He didn't need that. He didn't need his teenage son acting like a baby and he didn't need him thinking he was afraid of a woman in a vulnerable state. That wasn't it. That really wasn't it. He really didn't know what it was. But it definitely wasn't that. He was disappointed in himself, very much so.
But despite my shunning and disappointed feelings towards him not too long ago, I certainly didn't feel that way. As I was looking over at him, I felt almost sorry for him. It wasn't his fault. He was allowed to feel however he felt. He was allowed to be afraid. He was allowed to be scared. He was allowed to feel as though he couldn't be left alone. He was allowed to feel however the hell he felt. I was too. I came very close to slinking off one of the other chairs to climb onto his lap and offer him some comfort. But I didn't have the time.
All of a sudden, Justin started shaking his head at himself. He felt very small and guilty and disappointed in himself but he wasn't just going to sit and sulk and stew. He was going to do something about it. He stood up off his chair again and even though his heart was secretly hammering in his throat, he started to make his way over to Misty.
He seemed to walk in slow motion, both for him and myself too. He seemed to take ages to arrive at her side. But after a while, he got there. And at first, he just stood over and looked down at her. He didn't really know how to feel. He didn't really know what to do. And then he did. Instinct took over. Out of respect, he remained standing for a few more moments with his feet planted firmly on the floor. He stayed hovering over the sleeping lady. And then he was ready. Inch by inch, he lowered himself onto the bed and sat next to her.
After his initial anxiety and though he was still feeling that way and feeling very unsure, he was just running off instincts at that point. He had seen the way that his father had jumped up and left her as soon as the phone rang. He had seen her kiss her forehead but her arms had just been left sprawling there. So Justin reached out. He held his breath and he reached out.
Gently and quite tenderly, he lifted her wrists up and rested her hands so they were in her lap. He didn't move his hands away from her even after he had done this. In fact, his pinkie remained touching hers the entire time. He started talking to her as well. I wish James could see the way that he was proving that he wanted to be better.
"My Dad said to tell you two about my day but here's not here anymore. But you are. So I guess you're going to hear about it." He began and he mumbled to her in quite the self-conscious way. His tones were a lot different to the confident and well-spoken ones that I had heard throughout his life. But I found it endearing. He was starting to melt away my numbness. "It was pretty good I guess. I only two classes in the morning and then it was break so I stayed around for that because I was practicing on my guitar but then I decided to go. I decided to drive here so here I am. That's all there is to say really."
I found myself showing off a fraction of a smile as I stayed sitting in the other visitor's seat. I breathed out. He had done such a nice thing. Even if he didn't touch her too much or speak to her too much, he had tried to give it a go and he started off strongly. He didn't really have that much to say or maybe he didn't really know what to say. And that was okay. My mind was already changed and in my eyes, he was already a sort of hero of that day. And that was before he even encouraged himself to continue talking to Misty.
"Ben and Katie have come back from their journey to see you now. I'm not sure if they've had a chance to visit you, but they're around. My brother, Jayden, is around too." Justin continued talking to Misty and slowly but surely, he got into his stride. His eye contact was still looking down at his own lap but he had started holding her hands like he had seen his father do. He was beginning to stroke her fingers absentmindedly. And as he started to talk about what he really wanted to talk about, he started smiling. "Jayden's really stepped up during this whole thing. Maybe he's not here at the hospital like Dad is but he's really doing a lot behind the scenes. He's making sure everyone's okay. He's especially making sure Katie is okay. I'm not sure Ben is very pleased about that!"
I really started to feel that cold and numb exterior of mine melting away. That wall quickly came back up when I thought about Ash but it definitely lowered all over again when I heard Justin talking. It especially vanished when I heard him talking about Ben and Katie and Jayden too. My heart clenched but it didn't pain me too much. I missed them. They were good kids. They didn't deserve anything that had happened to our family. None of us did.
"You would be really proud of Jayden, you know? I know I am but I also know that you always had a super soft spot for him. I'm sure you still do. You'd love to see him I'm sure. He'd love to see you…" Justin started to trail off when as he continued talking to Misty, he began to realise that the situation was a whole lot bigger than it was from his own perspective. He had been apprehensive about being so close to her but she had had the love of her life run off. He really was the insignificant detail in all of it, he felt. He suddenly swallowed. He wanted to apologise for his initial childish fears. "I should be doing this in front of my Dad. I'm sorry. I-"
And as if the little baby in the other room knew that Justin needed a second chance to redeem things for himself, she woke up and started wailing. She wailed softly and like a kitten at first so you couldn't really notice it but when she gave it her all, you definitely could! Justin's eyes widened. But he didn't stand up and drop Misty's hands like James had when his phone rang. He just turned his head around and looked towards the gap in the door before looking back at the orange haired sleeping female. He couldn't help but say.
"Do you want to wake up and get that?" he tried to ask almost humorously and with a smile that showed off his dimple but soon enough, he shook his head at himself. He shook his head at himself before he could see my expression and my eye roll. He scrunched his face up and apologised, even though he wasn't sure if he believed that Misty could hear or not. "Fine, I guess I'll do it."
He told Misty and he told me too and he made sure her hands were resting comfortably on her lap before he headed off to pick up the crying baby. I wasn't exactly sure if I'd ever seen him as a teenager with a new-born baby before so I found myself finally hopping off the chair to follow him. My legs ached with lack of use but my heart did even more so passing Misty's side. I almost sniffed. I wanted to be near her, I really did, but I was afraid of all the emotions engulfing me and swallowing me up. I knew that I would in good time and in my own time.
But in the meantime, helping Justin was the easiest option for me. And I got ready to do that. But he was seemingly doing well on his own surviving on his own instincts. He had an endearing fumbling quality that James lacked when it came to babies.
The deep purple haired male managed to lift her out of her blanket from being swaddled after she punched her own little arms free and he began slowly picking her up, making sure to cradle her head. He held her close to his body like she was the most delicate and precious gift ever. She was. He walked in a comically slow way back to the bed and back to sit next to Misty. He showed off a great improvement by feeling more relaxed in Misty's presence when he was holding the baby. He started to move her away from his body so she could see her little face. He cringed slightly when she tried to move her head to suck on his school shirt. He knew exactly what that meant.
"Oh, you're hungry are you? Oh, well. I really don't think I can make you a bottle. I think I need a degree in engineering to do that. And I definitely can't feed you the other way!" He told the little girl apologetically but light-heartedly but her face scrunched up even more unhappily. She really was hungry. Justin tried holding her back close to him and comforting her with a hug instead. It had worked with his Dad. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can offer milk right now. I can't really offer much else. Can I?"
Justin was speaking to the new-born baby airily and in a friendly way like his true self really was but after he had said these words in front of Misty, his head tilted and he started thinking to himself. I could feel his brain almost whirring as it thought. He didn't have much experience with very tiny babies as a teenager. They were so helpless and hungry and loud. He thought to himself. Sometimes he felt helpless too. He certainly was hungry a lot of the time as well. And he could be loud. He liked things that were loud. Justin suddenly had a 'eureka' moment. He breathed out.
"Wait here…" he mumbled and I wondered who he was talking about but after he stood up once again and kept hold of the small baby, it was obvious that he was talking to the orange haired female and I. I was the only one to swivel my head as he went to leave the room. But he didn't properly leave the room. He opened the door and reached his hand outside for something that he had left out there.
It was his guitar in its case. He had bought it from school. He started bringing it back into the room with Misty and I and began smiling almost shyly. He sat back on the bed with the orange haired female positioned the grizzling baby so she was lying on her back on his long legs. He spoke to us all as he got his beloved guitar out of his case and commenced in making sure it was properly tuned.
"I don't know how to work bottles but I do know how to work blues." He murmured in an airy tone but you could tell that he was beginning to feel slightly uneasy at the sound of the unhappy baby. After positioning his guitar on his thigh and using his fingers to play a soft tune, he looked down at her. She quietened right away and he got her attention. She opened her blue eyes for him. "I don't know what music you like. What do you say?"
I was enamoured by the sight. I was worried about being engulfed with unhappy feelings but instead I was starting to feel almost blissful. That hospital room was our own little bubble. What was going on outside was unhappy. But as long as we stayed there and stayed being nice to one and other and supporting Misty, it would be okay. I knew in that moment that I almost didn't want to leave.
Of course, the little new-born baby didn't reply to Justin but she seemingly gave him an answer in her own way. Her head appeared to turn towards her sleeping mother while she lay on Justin's lap. He quickly noticed. He didn't hesitate to nod his head. He smiled sadly and pouted his lips as he plucked a few more strings.
"I think your Mother would like to hear something that reminds her of Ash. So why don't we give that a go?" he asked the little baby and after he looked over at the orange haired female, he looked down at the blue eyed little being and focused on her while he started to play a particular song. He didn't need to look at what he was doing to the fret board and the strings. He looked at the sweet baby instead. He didn't know all of the words so he hummed along instead. This soothed the little baby Ketchum even more. She didn't close her eyes. I did.
The sound of Justin playing an oh so familiar song on the guitar and humming along with it in that low voice of his when he wasn't trying that hard seemed to fill me with every emotion in the world. I was afraid of snuggling too close to Misty in fear of feeling all of that sadness but Justin's music had the same effect on me. From the chair, I started weeping. From the chair, I started feeling everything. Every fear. Every pain. Every betrayal. Every damn emotion under the sun that had been caused when Ash left. But nobody heard.
Nobody heard the baby's crying because it had long since died down at Justin's playing. Nobody heard my crying either. All that could be heard was Justin's sweet and melancholy music. It was perfect for the rainy day that we were having. But someone else heard something over the deep purple haired male's strumming. James heard the machine bleeping. From outside, he had quickly hung up on Delia and come rushing inside. And almost as soon as he did so, the bleeping machines became louder and even more obvious.
Doctors and nurses from all over the hospital ward started rushing in as well. Justin was very alarmed. He had been in his own world with his music and with Misty and with the baby and with me. When his father burst in, he suddenly hit a duff note and almost dropped his guitar. But he didn't drop the baby. He wouldn't have let anything happen to her.
"Justin, keep playing!" was all the lavender haired male managed to speak out as while nurses and doctors bustled around the room when the machines started indicating that Misty was beginning to respond, he took the baby off his son's lap and tried placing her on his best friend's chest instead. Justin didn't know what to do at first and he certainly didn't know whether to pick his guitar up or not. He was overwhelmed and he was surprised. After placing the baby on her mother's chest and praying that she would wake up fully, James didn't hesitate to leave her side and hold his son's face more lovingly than he ever had before. He didn't smile. But his eyes were filled with gratitude and pride. "Your music started to bring her back to us. God, I can never thank you enough."
I was certain that Justin was going to feel even more overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing this because I felt that very way. I had started sobbing even more since a doctor had seen me crying and lifted me onto the bed to be nearer to Misty. That made my cheeks get even wetter. As soon as I heard Justin play one of Ash and Misty's songs, I knew that I wanted them back together. I was mad at Ash. I was so mad at Ash. But I wanted them together. Nothing was right when they were not together.
But Justin proved that he was braver than I was. He heard his father's words and was grateful for them because he knew that they were an apology for what had happened between them before. He was touched. And he was grateful. But that wasn't important. Only Misty was important. So he picked his guitar up and tried playing for her all over again. And all over again, combined with the touch of her new-born little girl and the skin on skin contact, he machines sung as if to say she truly was responding.
James broke down into tears. I continued doing so of course. The little baby did as well and I knew that it wasn't just hunger or change of body she was laying on. She knew that her mother was in there. And she knew that her mother would come back to her within the next few days. The lavender haired male was filled with hope and belief and thankfulness for his son. He tried to reach out and hug him all over again after he put his guitar down and he did hug him back. But he hugged him back only briefly. He knew that someone else needed a hug more. And it wasn't James. It wasn't Misty. It wasn't the little baby either. It was me.
As my body ached and seemed to double over with me finally expressing every feeling that I had felt since I lost two of my best friends, Justin picked me up and held me in his arms as tenderly as he had held the little Ketchum baby. He didn't care when I sobbed against his chest. He didn't care when I dug my claws into his chest. He didn't care when I screamed. He was just there. He was just there to hold me. And he was just there to offer comforting words.
"Just let it go…" he mumbled to me as he held me tighter than I had ever been held before and he patted my back understandingly. His eyes watered with tears alongside me. I was wrong about him. He wasn't selfish. He truly cared. He truly cared about everyone. He truly cared about me. He was the only one who had really noticed me and cared enough to hold me. And he cared enough to comfort me. He whispered in my ear. "Let it go, Pikachu. Everything is going to be okay."
And it was. For us all. And for the both of us. In the end. We just had to get through the darkness. Together. And we did.
The End.
There you go! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :3 This was a really enjoyable one for me to write. I liked writing a more self-assured (sometimes) and lighthearted Justin. He's only 16 here and this is before he really has too many relationship worries and personal worries. Probably because he's too focused on making sure his family is okay in this scenario. Writing him being a little unsure around Rey was interesting as well. Like the story mentions, he differs from James in that way. I think he's actually the Morgan son who doesn't take to looking after children/parenting naturally - but he definitely wants to be good at it. Pikachu was also quite angsty and different in this chapter too. I think that was important. I always write him as this pure being who is supportive but of course after life goes wrong, even he is going to lose faith sometimes. And you see that here. But you also see him get it back because of the kindness of others. And especially Justin who made sure he was okay :3 Thanks again and I will be back next Wednesday for the first chapter in the month that will be PokeShipping Month so see you then!
AmyBieberKetchum signing out :P