CHAPTER 4: SPRING / STABILITY AFTER A NIGHTMARE

His room was being cleared out; his personal items packed in the couple of boxes necessary for the task. Ash watched the process from the hallway, holding a pale bundle of white clothes under his arm. The therapists had thought it a perfectly acceptable idea for him to take his uniform with him when he left…shunning the recollections of a rough time was what had first put him in this mess in the first place, after all. He remembered their final words to him as he now awaited his friends and family, who were all coming to take him home….

"Well Mr. Ketchum, I do believe our task here is complete. Since we've seen no indications of anything amiss with your behavior, we've deemed it fit to release you from our care. Considering this state has been continued without your medication since back in January, it is our professional opinion that you've recovered from the accident that took your daughter's life, and that of your pokémon."

"Congratulations Ash. You can go home."

And their smiles had been genuine…he was ready, finally, to return to the world, to his life. To his wife and everyone else who'd been so long waiting for him….

A hand slid into his…he turned, finding Misty there. She'd arrived early. Dare he imagine how she'd manage to elude Officer Jenny when she'd surely been speeding? Giving her a small smile, he looked back to what had been his residence for over a year. He had never belonged there in all that time…and now he would be returning to his true haven, to his true home.

"So, is everything resolved Ash?" she asked.

His grip on her hand tightened, "…As much as it ever can Misty. The pain's not going to fade completely, but…at least when we mourn this time, it'll be the healthy way. And afterwards…we can try again. No matter what happens…there's no need to sink back down so deep into grief. Sunny wouldn't want us hurting or torn apart because of her…and neither would Pikachu."

He gazed at her, his eyes watery, his grin widening somewhat, "So, um…well, if you need to break down too Mist', go ahead. I'll be there for you if you do…just like you've been for me."

She hugged him then, sighing…she would weep later. For now, she was too happy and thankful at the idea of finally bringing him back home with her. There was so much they needed to return to…so much they both wanted to go back to. And yes…Ash was right for once. No matter what happened, their mutual love was certain to keep them afloat, even when the waters of life got rough.

Hours later, the gang was riding back to Pallet to celebrate privately of the event of Ash's return, filling Ash in on everything he'd missed. In general, the atmosphere was filled with life and laughter…but for Ash and Misty, the giddy feeling was somewhat detached. For while the wounds had mended, the scars were still there…and it would take some time yet for those to fully heal and fade as the old memories of their life together was replaced with the new….

And a couple weeks later, they crouched beside the small nest they'd created in their room, watching as an egg twitched and sounded with tiny chirps. It was a small, spotted thing, warm to the touch and so thin in the shell that the unborn creature's movements within it could be felt by the fingers. It's mother, Pikachu's mate, a Marill, fretted over it worriedly…she'd lost its father, and was fiercely making sure the humans who would train her baby was not going to force the infant to hatch. It had to do that on its own!

Hairline fractures appeared on the shell's surface, before abruptly the egg began to crack and split, a piece of the shell being pushed away, falling to the fabric that cradled it. A dark, wide eye looked out at the three of them…a yellow paw clutching the edge of that small hole. Then, with a charge of static electricity which exhausted the youngster, the energy of the attack shattered the egg, making shards of it tumble away, the infant hatching in a flash of white light. Bits of shell littered the floor and the fabric it had been incubated in after its mother had laid it. The newborn Pichu fell onto its tail, squeaked, and blinked up at them.

Out of the tragedy of the past, a new life had come into being.

Somehow, that seemed miraculous to the three of them, who had lost so much into eternity….

Ash and Misty made sure mother and child were comfortable, before laying back into their own bed, watching as Marill licked what remained of the amniotic fluid from her child's damn yellow and black fur…the little kit was exhausted and eager for milk, which was swiftly provided for it. The little Pichu was later revealed to be female. She would not be Pikachu's replacement…however, several weeks later, she could be found perched on Ash's shoulder so much like her father had once done. She could sense the man's wistful longing, and made it her personal mission to sooth that sorrow and live up to her father's legacy.

Her name, which all of them had agreed on without argument, was the very essence which she represented to them all:

…Hope.

Even in the darkest depths of sorrow and grief, the light of it was always present, if one only knew where to look for it. If there was anything to have faith in when wandering in this strange, bittersweet world, it was in that truth. Because there is always a reason to go on living…it is only when you deny yourself of that possibility that you crumple under the weight of misery. So hold your hope close, no matter how frail and tender it may be…because in the end, hope is the only thing that can never be stolen from you. Never doubt it.