Ash and Misty's Love? Part 10 Written By TwistedReality A/N: Okay. This chapter is fast (by my standards) My bratty sister hated the cliffhanger and is now annoying the heck out of me until I finish this. Misty's POV I carefully wrapped my arms around Ash. A part of me felt like he was going to break. "Don't punish yourself, Ash...You tried your best to protect Pikachu!" I tried to reassure him. "My best wasn't good enough!" he cried, burying his face in his hands. I tried to reach for Ash to hug him again, but he moved away, shaking his head wildly. "No...No..." he whimpered, before he looked up at me with a very decisive look on his tear stained face. "I can't change my mind Misty..." his eyes looked uncertain for a moment. "I have to do this," he whispered, sounding like he was really trying to convince himself more than he was trying to convince me. I knew what he was going to say, but I didn't want to hear him saying it. "I'm going to quit pokemon training." "No..." I whispered, shaking my head softly. "Think about what you're saying, what you're doing!" I cried, grabbing his shoulders, trying to shake some sense into him. Ash didn't seem to hear me. His head was lowered, and I could feel his shoulders shaking. "I'm sorry...." he whispered, in a low voice. My arms fell to my sides, nerveless. What could he possibly be apologizing to me for? "I'm always getting you and Brock in trouble..." he apologized quietly. "No..." I denied, feeling weak. He looked up at me for a moment, and I could see the tears glistening in his eyes. "Misty...You know it's true....." "Stop it, Ash." I told him firmly, feeling warm tears running down my own cheeks. Ash's mouth curved into a fake smile. "Well...I..guess I got to...go.." he mumbled softly, before starting to leave. I stood up and grabbed his arm. "No." Ash looked straight at me, his watering eyes filled with pain. "Please....Let go..." he whispered, pleading. I had to look away. This was not the Ash I knew. The Ash I knew would never be crumbling before my eyes. My hand shook, but I didn't let go. A surge of anger came over me. This just wasn't right. "You know what!" I yelled, my throat tightening involuntarily. "If you want to be that way....Fine! Get out of here!" Ash's eyes widened at my burst of anger, and for a moment, I couldn't believe myself. A part of me wanted to hold him close, so I could tell him what I really felt, why I really didn't want him to leave, but something was stopping me. The same barriers that had been holding me back before started to come back up again. I was tired of his stubborn behavior. Couldn't he see that this wasn't his fault? Couldn't he see that he was never a burden? I let go of his arm, and turned away from him, but not before seeing Ash's eyes fill with more pain. "I....guess..we should be going inside..." he told me stiffly. "No...." I told him, shaking my head. I was surprised that the anger had disappeared from my own voice. I could hear Ash sighing as he plopped back down on the grass. "Misty...it's for the best..." he told me softly, "I...I've really thought about this..." "You really think it's for the best?" I asked him, not even bothering to hide the contempt in my voice. "You think that you can just give up something you love so easily?" "Misty...Sometimes you just got to do things....that you don't want to do..." Ash started. I couldn't take it anymore. I wouldn't even let him finish. "Do you think...that you aren't the only one affected by this decision?" I asked, with my back still toward him. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ash looking away, shuddering. "I....can't do it..." he cried, surprising me. Ash, who seemed too stubborn to give up on anything no matter how stupid it was, was telling me that he couldn't continue fulfilling his dream. I turned around and sat down on the grass next to Ash again. Words had abandoned me for the moment as I looked into his tear filled eyes. "You're afraid..." I realized, not believing it. "N-No..." he whimpered softly, avoiding my eyes. "Sometimes....things happen...that you can't control..." I told him softly. "No!" Ash sobbed, shaking his head fiercely. "I could have stopped it!" "Ash. There was nothing you could do." I knew I had to be calm, but it was close to impossible seeing such a strong person reduced to the state Ash was in. "It's not true!" he screamed, trying to get away. I grabbed his shoulders, holding him down. "It's not true..." he repeated to himself, weakly, holding his hands over his ears. I hugged Ash who seemed to crumple in my arms as he burst into tears, sobbing. I know what he wanted to hear. He wanted somebody to say that everything would be okay, that nothing this bad would ever happen again, that he would always be safe from now on. I knew I couldn't tell him that. I wasn't even sure if that would be true. It was starting to get dark, and I knew that everyone else would be worried about us, so I helped Ash up, holding his hand the whole time as we walked into the hospital. Brock looked a little surprised when he saw us come in holding hands. "Are you two...?" he started to mouth silently. I shook my head. Under normal circumstances, I would have freaked out, denied everything and pulled my hand away, but now...now I knew that I couldn't do that. Ash didn't even seem to notice anyone else. His grip on my hand seemed to tighten as his mother walked up to him, hugging him gently. She looked like she partly wanted to yell at him for wandering away, but the concerned part of her won out. "Ash...what have you been doing outside...?" she asked carefully. "Thinking..." He told her, without looking up. I could see that Mrs. Ketchum looked a little hurt from how distant Ash sounded. "About what?" she asked hesitantly. "I...I've decided..." My heart seemed to stop. "I...want to stay home..." Brock looked at me with concern, but I turned away, trying not to think about it. Mrs. Ketchum only nodded, her face showing no emotion. "Okay...Are you sure that's what you really want?" Ash nodded fearfully, letting go of my hand. "You should probably get some sleep...." Mrs. Ketchum told him, "The doctor just told me that you are going to be discharged tomorrow." Ash followed her to his room, while the meaning of Mrs. Ketchum's statement hit me. Tomorrow, everything would change. Ash would be gone. The thought made me feel dizzy and sick to the stomach. "Are you okay?" Brock asked me, scaring me slightly. I was so worried about life without Ash that Brock's question had caught me a little bit off guard. I wanted to lie, but I found myself shaking my head anyways. "I...don't want him to leave...It isn't right..." I told him, feeling my voice grow weak. "I....don't like it either..." Brock admitted, sighing. "I can't convince him to change his mind. He's just as stubborn as he always is..." Brock nodded, commiserating. "He won't stop blaming himself for....what happened to Pikachu." I whispered. "I know he blames himself. At first I thought he was just punishing himself because of that...but it...it's something else..." Brock looked up, surprised. "What?" "He...He's worried that this could happen again....He's afraid." I told him. "Ash?" Brock asked incredulously. "He....said that he *couldn't* continue. Ash never admits that he can't do something unless something is really wrong." Brock nodded slightly in agreement. "I...got to stop him..." I decided. "This is all a big mistake!" "Misty...You never really told me what *you* really felt about this...specifically..." I looked down, afraid to tell Brock something that I had told myself a long time ago. I remembered when Ash was unconscious in the hospital room and I had begged him to come back. "I can't lose him again..." I sobbed, "I need him..." I felt Brock patting my back encouragingly. "Then why don't you tell him?" he asked me unexpectedly. *** When I started this fic, I really didn't think it was going to be this long ::sweatdrops:: I planned on making this four or five chapters, until it started to get more and more involved...but at least the end is somewhere in sight now...I think... ::Yawns:: I'm sleepy....