Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ When Hearts Are Aglow ❯ Questions And Answers ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. Pokémon and all of its characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

 

 

Chapter 3: Questions And Answers

 

Misty's heart was beating fast, awaiting that special kiss. But suddenly, she snapped back to reality and realized there was a very important reason for her not to kiss him. She avoided Ash's lips just in time and moved to whisper something in his ear.

 

“She's gone.”

His advance was abruptly stopped. “What?”

“The girl I'm imitating, Ash. She just disappeared and I didn't notice,” she explained.

“So what?! I don't care!” He said, quite annoyed.

“I can't do anything if she's not here. We can't go on playing.”

“Misty... she left about five minutes ago.”

“Then why didn't you tell me before?”

“Because...” he hesitated. “I don't know.”

“...Ok. I'm leaving.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“I'm going home. Maybe that's where the girl went, to her house.”

“And you'll leave me here alone?”

“The boy you're imitating was left alone, so it's not my fault. I'm sorry.”

“Misty...!”

“Enjoy the film,” she told him, before turning around and leaving the theatre at a quick pace, not looking behind to see the boy she had just disappointed.

“Yeah, as if I could...” He sighed in irritation, sinking into the chair with his arms crossed.

 

Misty arrived to the gym feeling really sad, but with the satisfaction to know she'd done the right thing. Yes, she wanted to kiss him, but not if something so important was missing. Then the phone started to ring again, scaring her, and she silently cursed it before picking it up.

 

“Hello.”

“Hi sister, it's Lily here. How are you?”

“...I'm fine, but I thought I wouldn't hear from you until tomorrow. Is everything alright?”

“Oh, yes. It's just that I received an e-mail from your friend Brock. He invited me to the Christmas party Prof. Oak is going to organize.”

“Really? We were going to ask you tomorrow if you wanted to go. Daisy and Violet can go too, but I don't feel like calling them right now...”

“I'll talk to them, don't worry. Oh, and I'm not going home. It would be convenient for me to go straight to Pallet.”

“But where will you stay?”

“I have a friend there who wouldn't have any problems if I stayed with her. By the way, Brock said he's staying at Ash's house.”

“Well, then we should go tomorrow too. I have to tell Ash about it.”

“Ok... I have to hang up now, but I'll see you soon Misty.”

“Yeah, see you Lily” she said, before hanging up.

 

Misty wasn't fine yet, so she went to her room to calm down, falling fast asleep. When Ash arrived, the sky was already dark, and he unintentionally made some loud noises opening the main door, waking Misty up. He had felt rejected, but still he wanted to understand why she reacted the way she did. He went to her room to talk about it and know if she had any excuse to leave him like that. He knocked twice but he didn't get an answer, so he decided to enter her bedroom, only to find her lying on her bed, drying her tears.

 

He frowned, worried. “Are you Ok?”

“Yeah, perfectly,” she lied, sitting on the bed. “How did the movie end?”

“Oh, come on, Misty. You're not perfectly. I know something happened to you.”

“Something like what?”

“I don't know... Something that made you run away when everything was fine.”

“Ash...” she looked at him, exhausted. Didn't he realize what they could have done? “We were about to kiss! ...And that girl wasn't there anymore.”

“I know!... Wait a minute. Do you think I was still playing?!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Why? Weren't you?”

“You know I wasn't, and neither were you!”

“What are you talking about, Ash? I was just following the rules!”

“There were no rules, Misty! And it wasn't a game either. It was just an excuse to get to... forget it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“What do you mean it wasn't a game?”

“It doesn't matter anymore!” he half shouted angrily, walking towards the door.

Misty stood up to confront him. “Yes, it matters to me! If it wasn't a game then why did you touch me like that?!”

“Because I knew you wanted me to, and don't tell me you didn't like it!”

“I didn't!”

“Yes, you did! If not, why did you kiss me?”

“I never kissed you!”

“You kissed my fingers!”

“Ok, that's not what I thought you would call a kiss!” she said in her defense.

Ash sighed, now calmed. “...Exactly. Misty, you are my best friend. You know I want you very much... And if there's anything you want to talk about, I'll be glad to listen.”

She showed him a serious expression. “Why did you suddenly change the subject?”

“I didn't change it. I just think that maybe you need some time to think why you didn't kiss me when you could really have.”

She looked at him astonished, her mouth open in surprise. “...Excuse me?!”

“You already heard.”

 

Oh, Gosh, she couldn't believe it. Was that the Ash Ketchum she knew? He had never said anything in that tone before. He'd just said she could have kissed him, but she had to ruin it all by abandoning him in that place. Was it possible? She brought her attention back to him again, and he seemed to be packing some clothes in his bag, but what for?

 

“What are you doing?”

“I'm going back to Pallet Town.”

“But we're going tomorrow. Lily called and said--”

“You go tomorrow if you want,” he interrupted her, “but I'm going now.”

“Ash, I--”

“Don't say anything, Misty. We'll be able to talk in Pallet.”

 

Misty stood still all the time as she saw Ash getting ready to leave. Once he was done, he took the bag next to the main door in the hall, leaving her to her thoughts in the bedroom. He decided to go to say goodbye to her, but when he turned around, he saw Misty was already there, staring at him. He flinched at the sight of sadness in her eyes.

 

“Well... I'm leaving now, Misty,” he told her.

“I see...”

 

Unexpectedly, she ran up to Ash and embraced him like there was no tomorrow.

 

“Don't leave, Ash. Please. Don't leave me alone,” she begged, unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears.

He felt the urge to comfort her, and returned the embrace. “...It'll better for both of us, Misty. I'm not leaving you forever; it's just for one day,” he held a chuckle.

“Anyway, please. I'm really sorry for what I said. I always knew it wasn't a... I mean, I think I wasn't playing either. I'm sorry...”

“Can you tell me now what happened to you?”

“Can we please stay like this without speaking a word?”

“...I don't know. I really don't like the part of not speaking a word,” he told her, but the moment he saw her face he just had to give it up. “But... well, fine, Misty. I think we can talk about it later. I'm staying.”

“Thank you so much!” she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

Ash took her hand and walked to the nearest couch, inviting her to sit down next to him. “So...”

“Can I ask you something, Ash?”

“Sure, what?”

“...Why did you come back so late? I mean... the movie ended long ago.”

“Uhm... I just wanted to walk and see the Christmas's decorations of the shops...”

 

He didn't lie, but the real reason was he'd been doing some Christmas shopping. If Misty knew it, she wouldn't forgive him for not telling her to go with him, but by no means could he let her know what he had bought for her. She would just have to wait.

 

“Uh, Ok. Were they nice?”

“Yeah...”

She didn't stand the awkward silence that started to grow, specially after everything that happened during the day, so she just kept talking. “...I've been thinking... you know, about what happened at the cinema... have you ever acted that way? Have you ever... caressed a girl?”

The question totally took him by surprise and his cheeks became instantly red. “...No. I haven't.”

“So... you never kissed one, did you?” Ash shook his head in denial. She could have been the first, she thought. He tried not to look at her but his eyes kept slipping back to her face. “Oh, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you with my questions, I didn't realize--”

“No, it's Ok. I can ask you too, right?”

“Yes... you can ask anything you want.”

“Well... there's something but…”

“Come on!”

“...Misty, are you in love?”

The question almost left her speechless, but she knew it wouldn't be fair not to answer him. “...Well, uhm... I think... I am.” She stared into his eyes before nodding. “Yeah, definitely. Are you?” she asked, hopeful.

“Yes, I am,” he said. His tone was firm, holding nothing but truth.

“Have you told her already?”

“Not yet, have you told him?”

“No.”

“Do you think I should tell her?”

“Only if you think you'd be fine if she rejected you.”

“It's that... I think she does feel the same but she's afraid of telling me.”

 

Obviously, Ash was talking about Misty, and Misty was talking about Ash. But despite the little incident a few hours ago, they weren't sure of each other's feelings. However, Misty thought of the possibility of being the person Ash wanted, since she was also afraid of telling him the truth. If that was the case, then she would cheer him to confess his heart out.

 

“Well, in that case, you should do it. I think it's important to take the risk to know if she feels the same for you.”

“Yeah, I see...” he studied the ceiling, then continued speaking. “Hey, you know, I have a doubt.”

“What?”

“Don't you feel uncomfortable being like this with me? So... close?”

“No. We're best friends. We're only hugging, not kissing, are we?”

“Of course,” he chuckled. “And to think we actually almost...” His words drifted away as they both now felt indeed uncomfortable.

“I still wonder what could have happened if I hadn't left at that exact moment.”

“Who knows?” Obviously, they knew. “It never crossed my mind that you would leave the theatre. And that game... who was the winner at the end?”

“I was. I realized that the girl wasn't there anymore. So I must claim my prize.”

“Not so fast. I followed each and every move the boy did, so I deserve it more than you do.”

“So, what do you suggest? An other round?”

“No, something better. Let's decide it with a tic-tac-toe.”

She laughed. “Just like that? ...Well, fine. I don't mind.”

 

They looked for two pens and a paper and played for a minute, and finally Ash won with three crosses across the grid.

 

“Yeah! I won! Nobody can beat me!”

“Ok, but don't be so credulous...” she said before biting her lower lip.

“Now I have to think of my prize.” His eyes grew distant, and he started to tap the pen on the table.

“So? What do you want?”

“Anything, right?”

“Right. What is it?” It couldn't be that bad, now could it?

“Well, it's something easy, really. You'll just have to help me with a little revenge.”

“Revenge? On who?”

“Oh, you know him. Actually we're good friends now, but there's something he did to me some time ago, and though it was very silly, I'd like to play a little joke on him too.”

“Let me guess... Gary?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he do to you?”

“Uhm, it's complicated to explain. It doesn't really matter. Just say you'll help me and then I'll give you the details.”

 

Misty still had in her mind what happened a few hours ago. But she thought it would be good to distract with something else, so she accepted.

 

“Ok. I just hope you won't get me into trouble, Ash.”

“No, Misty, I won't,” or at least he would try not to.

“Alright. You can count on me.”

“Thank you very much!”

“Well, what is it about?”

“It's about letters. Love letters.”

She frowned. “Love letters? I don't understand.”

“Ok, listen. You'll use those romantic ideas of yours to write some letters to Gary and make him think some girl likes him. And that's it.”

“And what's that for?”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure.”

“So can I.”

“Ash!” He chuckled.

“Come on. We need to hurry up and start writing.”

“Why so fast?”

“Because I want to send it to him tomorrow. And after one or two more letters we'll tell him the truth just before Christmas. I'd like to see his face once he finds it out!”

“I really don't think it's a good idea, Ash. And about telling him, it's not we, it's you who'll do it because it's your joke, not ours. I wouldn't be part of this if it weren't for that silly tic-tac-toe. You know he'll probably be furious.”

“You're right, but I don't care if he'll be mad at this or not. I'm taking revenge, remember? He started it.”

“Yeah, whatever.”