Love and Babysitting Chapter 8: “It’s great to see you again.” –Jessie * * * "Misty?" Jessie pushed Ash aside and went up and hugged Misty. "It’s great to see you again." "You too." Misty hugged back, but pulled away when she saw the questioning look on Ash's face. "I don't exactly know what's happened between you two, but Ash, I don't blame her for what happened and you shouldn't either. She definitely had no control over it. Besides, she was the one that helped me out when I needed it." Ash just nodded. He knew he shouldn't be mad at the taller red head, but he needed to be at someone. They didn't have the best past, but there was something in her eyes that made him nervous. He didn’t see quick flash of pain when Misty went over and hugged him. He didn't see her struggle to fight back tears when Misty kissed him lightly on the mouth. He didn't see her heart break once again. "Come on, let's go tell the other's who's here." Misty said quietly, well aware of the tension in the room. Once more introductions were made and angry words were bit back Jessie spoke. "I can help you. I know where Gary is and what he's capable of." "Why? Why are you helping us? What made you decide to come over here and tell us this?" Brock said bitterly while standing in front of her, he remembered all to well the hell she (and James) put Ash and him through when they were younger. Jessie looked towards Ash and Misty and smiled sadly. "Because I did some stupid shit back then and I want to make it up to you, to prove that I'm sorry, knowing that saying it will never be enough. I hurt both of them and I'm going to make it up to them." She whispered the last quietly so only Brock heard her. Brock nodded, and the anger in his eyes slightly lessened. "I know already that Misty will be the first to forgive you, she probably already has, but the rest of us won't be so easy." Jessie just nodded. "So…what can you tell us?" Violet asked breaking the unwanted tension in the room. "Not much right now. No one knows I'm here. If Gary or James found out they'd kill me. I knew they were planning something for a while now. I've only got bits and pieces of the information." She laughed a little. "I haven't been able to get James or Gary drunk enough to tell me what's up. I'd like to tell you what I know, but I need to be careful first. For now all I can tell you is none of you, and I mean none of you." She pointed to everyone in the room, including Misty's sisters, Mrs. Ketchum and Professor Oak. "Should go anywhere alone. And make sure all of you have Pokemon with you at all times. I think, Ash that you should let them borrow some of yours since they'll need strong ones to protect them. Misty you too." "I haven't trained in so long. I don't think my Pokemon are that strong right now." "Oh don't worry about that sis, we've been training them for you." Lily said quietly as she held a sleeping Aurora in her arms. "Really?" Misty said a little disbelievingly. Her sisters just nodded in reply. "I also suggest that all of you keep Aurora in your sights at all times. If you go into another room, bring her with you. If you go to the restroom bring her with you. When you go to bed, bring her with you. Don't ever leave her alone, even for a second. Gary has men all over the place and you'll never know when they will strike. And when they do, it will be fast and soundless." Jessie said in all seriousness. She stood up and headed for the back door. "I've been here to long, I must go now." She turned to the door and opened it, only to turn around again. "I trust that none of you will mention me to anyone, and I mean anyone. Information leaks easily around here. I'll be in touch, and don't try to contact me, you won't find me." With that she took one last glance at everyone and quickly walked out. "Well, that was informing." Todd said as silence blanketed the room. There was nothing anyone else could say. They all needed time for the information to seep in and time never waited. * * * “Mommy?” "Yes, baby?" "When can I start t…tr…training Pokémon?" "Not until you're ten sweetie." Misty smiled sadly as she picked Aurora up and headed towards the backyard. I don't want to get her hopes up. I don't even know if we're going to stay here or not when this is all over. "Hey Misty, why don't you come outside? It's a bright and sunny day!" Ash yelled. Misty put Aurora down and opened the door. She watched her daughter run towards Lily before walking out to Ash and his Pokémon battle with Brock. She slipped her hand through his as he called out a command. "Bulbasaur, head but!" "Golem, tackle!" Brock yelled. Misty watched, amazed as the little plant Pokemon took down the giant rock. She knew rock was weak against grass types, but that had to be one tough little Bulbasaur to defeat a fully evolved Geodude. "Man Ash. Are you ever going to evolve that thing so that it looks like it's actually strong?" Brock called back his defeated Pokémon and slapped Ash on the back. "Nah, I like to make my opponents think they can win." He smirked. "So Mist, want to get a little training in?" "Better watch out for this one here. He likes to make you look bad." Brock whispered in her ear. Misty laughed. "Sure why not." "Alright! Battle of the sexes!" Brock yelled for everyone to hear. "Brock!" Ash yelled, slightly embarrassed. Misty just laughed again and walked to the other side of the field as everyone gathered around. "Go Misty!" Everyone yelled. "Hey don't I get any support over hear?" Ash asked. "Go Ass!" Aurora said from Lily's lap. Ash smiled. "Haha, Ash, you don't need any support." Duplica said as she sat down on Todd's lap. "Yeah, yeah. Let's start off a little light at first shall we? Go Flareon!" "Light? And since when did he have a Flareon? Where was I when this happened? And once again, this is his meaning of light?" Brock rambled on. "Honey, you've been in Japan for years. Ash has been back and forth between the two places. He could have gotten anything. And honey, take it in a joking way here, light and fire. Fire brings in what?" Suzie asked. "Heat?" Suzie shook her head. "Light babe, light." "Oh, but…" Suzie put her finger to his lips and shook her head. "Just watch." Misty thought for a moment. "Well, why not battle one evolved Eevee with another? Vaporeon go!" Misty waited for the blue pocket monster to appear before speaking up again. "I bet you think that I think I have this one, don't you?" "No, as a matter of fact I think that you think that I think you know not to think to underestimate me." "Well good, because that's what I think." "I'm confused." Todd said. "Just watch." Duplica said as her eyes were solely focused on the battlefield in front of her. "Flareon fire blast!" "V, agility and then tackle!" Ash looked on a little surprised as his attack barely scraped the water Pokémon as it hit his Flareon full force. "Hm, it's been a while since anyone hasn't done a direct attack with that one." "Well, I'm not anyone am I?" Misty smiled, it had been a while, but she still knew what she was doing. "V, skull bash." "No you're certainly not. Flareon use your own skull bash!" Everyone gasped as the two Pokémon smashed heads and flew back from the impact. "Nice job Flareon." Ash said as his Pokémon got off and shook its head. On the other end, Misty's Vaporeon slowly got up. "Hey, V, you alright?" She asked sincerely. "Vaporeon!" It nodded as it stumbled slightly. "Great." "Alright Flareon time to finish this, tackle attack!" Misty smiled. This was just too perfect. "V, you know what to do!" "Ash just lost." Duplica stated simply. "What are you talking about? Her Vaporeon looks like it can barely stand." Her fiancée said disbelievingly. "Like I said before, just watch." What is she doing? Ash thought to himself as he watched Misty's Vaporeon just stand there while Flareon was running straight at it. As Flareon hit Vaporeon the blue Pokémon kicked its legs so its counter part went flying in the air. Vaporeon turned it self around, skidded to a halt on the ground and then leapt in the air. As soon as it was level with the Flareon it tackled it, sending it to the ground. As it fell, the water Pokémon opened its mouth a let a large stream of water flow out hitting the fire Pokémon, causing it to hit the ground hard and faint. "What, but how, I mean…huh?" Todd said dumbly. Ash nodded. "That's what I want to know." "Well it’s quite simple really. Once Vaporeon was tackled it pushed off of Flareon, since its momentum was moving forward, causing your Pokémon to go the opposite direction, then Flareon did a ground type version of fly, tackled Flareon in the air and then hit it with Hydro Pump. Very efficient, I must say." Misty explained. "I didn't think it had enough energy left to do that." Ash stated simply. "Well, you thought wrong didn't you. Don't believe everything your eyes show you." Misty smiled. "It was something I worked on the last time I was here. I never did get a chance to use it in a real battle, didn't think it'd actually work. Great job V." Misted kneeled down and pet her Pokémon. “Guess I shouldn’t be so cocky next time” Ash laughed. "Mommy, mommy can I play with her?" Aurora ran out of Lily's arms and next to her mother. "Sure sweetie, just be careful." Aurora beamed, as the water Pokémon warmed up to her instantly, and went off to play him. "You need to teach me that one day." "Hm, maybe, but then I wouldn't have something to beat you with, now would I?" Misty wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and kissed him. "No, but see, if word gets out that my girlfriend beat me, well it could be trouble." He said joking lightly. "Well, you're just going to have to find a way to beat me then huh? I'm going to let some of my Pokémon out, why don't you go take yours to Professor Oak?" Ash smiled and kissed her again. "I was just going to do that. I'll be back." * * * Misty sighed happily as she let out her Pokémon. I guess you have to go through the bad to get to the good. She looked towards her daughter playing happily with Duplica, Susie and their Pokémon. Though I guess it wasn't all bad. "You finally used that move." Misty looked up at the figure in the tree. "It worked too, all thanks to you." "No, I just got you thinking of new moves, the rest was your doing." The figure jumped down, landing gracefully on her feet. "Jessie, it’s good to see you again." Misty said as she wrapped the older woman in a hug. Jessie laughed a little. "I said that yesterday and you agreed." As Misty moved back she missed the quick flash of disappointment in the blue eyes. "Mm, yes you did, but we didn't get to talk." Misty glared at the small smirk on the other girls face. "You know what I mean. I missed you." "I missed you too. I'm sorry I never wrote back, I just, well…I'm sorry." Jessie hung her head, more ashamed than embarrassed, as she felt the wetness on her cheeks. Misty smiled sadly while she lifted the ex-team rocket's head and whipped away some of the tears. "Hey, let’s not bring that up right now." Misty paused, trying to think of something that wouldn't bring up the past, but there was nothing she could think of. * * * "Isn't that Jessie?" Lily asked as she looked across the large backyard at the two girls standing under a tree. "Yeah, it seems to be." Daisy said as she looked at her younger sister. She grinned and nudged her sister. "Stop staring." "Wha…I was not staring!" "Uh huh, sure sis, whatever you say." Daisy laughed when Lily continued to stare at the strawberry red haired girl. * * * "Your sisters are looking at us." Jessie mumbled as she sat down on the grass next to Misty. Misty nodded and leaned back on her elbows. "Nah, they're looking at you." Jessie just looked at Misty, confused. The carrot-top laughed. "Aw come on, they know beauty when they see it." Misty's laugh stopped abruptly when she saw the pain cross Jessie's face. "Oh god, I'm sorry Jessie, I know, I mean, I didn't…" Jessie cut her off. "I know, it's just sometimes when you say things like that…" Jessie trailed off. "I'm sorry." Misty said as they fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence. * * * Duplica walked up next to Daisy and sighed. "She's hurting herself by doing this." "Who, Lily or Jessie?" "Both, actually. I don't understand them." "They're scared, scared of rejection, scared of getting hurt again. You know, the usual things to unrequited love." Daisy explained with a slight smirk. "I just hope it doesn’t take something disastrous to bring them together." Duplica laughed. "Oh now you've done it. Someone's going to get seriously hurt now." The two of them laughed and then stopped. "Ok, so that actually isn't that funny is it?" "Um, no." * * * Daisy walked into the kitchen, throwing away a few cans of soda. She jumped when she saw a figure standing by the sink, staring out the kitchen window. "God, Lily, you sure know how to be quiet when you want to be." She waited for her sisters’ response, but when she didn't get one she looked up from her search for more soda. "Lily?" Daisy walked up from behind the blonde and looked out the window. Daisy shook her head sadly. "Lily," She paused not knowing how to form the next words. "You…you want to know what happened don't you?" She stated more than questioned. Lily glanced back at her eldest sister and nodded, a small frown on her face. “I’ve talked to her before, when you guys weren’t around, I knew you didn’t really like her. She’s a good friend when she can be there. But she’d never tell me what happened.” "Come on then." "Where are we going?" The younger girl said softly. "Upstairs, I don't think we need to let everyone know what happened between them." Lily just nodded and followed her sister upstairs. Lily sat down on the bed fidgeting slightly. Daisy just sat there for a few minutes, ignoring the uncomfortable silence that seemed to be in the room. "I'm not exactly sure where or how to start. But when Misty found out that she was pregnant, well you were there, she was scared and ashamed and all those other bad feelings that come along with, with, well you know." Daisy said. She still couldn't believe she couldn't even say what happened to her youngest sister. "That's why she moved out she couldn't deal with us anymore, or she didn't want to, either way she left. She stayed here for a couple months with Duplica sand then they moved out to Japan. That's when she ran into Jessie." Daisy smirked at the small smile that tugged at Lily's lips when she mentioned Jessie. "It wasn't all peachy keen at first. Misty recognized her from a picture James had and things got off to a rough start. Jessie hated Misty for her being the one James went to after their break-up and Misty was mad at Jessie for it being all her fault. Well at least that's what they wanted to believe anyway. After a while things got better and their friendship grew. They still fought constantly, but it was like a friendly fighting, no harm in it. After a while I think Jessie started to really blame herself for what happened to Misty. She kept thinking that if she hadn't broken things off, then this never would have happened, I think it was at that point Jessie wanted to kill James and then Gary, but Misty told her no." "Why did Misty stop her?" Daisy smiled ruefully. "You know Misty, she wouldn't harm a fly, ok well maybe she would but she would never go that far, no matter what happens. Anyway, throughout Misty's pregnancy Jessie was always there, helping, doing what ever she could, she even got a job to help pay for some things. Duplica was with her too, but she couldn't always be there like Jessie. "I'm not too clear on all the detail, Duplica’s the one you want to talk to for those, but I guess along the way Jessie…" Daisy really didn't want to go on; her sister's feelings for the strawberry redhead were painfully obvious. She sighed and continued. "Jessie fell in love with Misty and for months she said nothing. Duplica said she could tell, and Jessie seemed to be slowly going into a depression. She finally cornered Jessie and asked her about it." Daisy chuckled. "After a few small fights Duplica finally got it out of the girl, they were both unaware of Misty standing outside the door and she heard everything. A few days later Misty confronted Jessie. After many minutes of silence Jessie finally confessed what Misty already knew." * * * "I…I've…God this is so hard." Jessie took in a shuddering breath and held out her hand to stop Misty's words. "I've fallen in love with you." She whispered, as tears seemed to blur her vision. "And I know, I know you don't feel the same way, but I'm glad I told you because, I don't know, I feel like I've been set free of something, I know it sounds stupid, but it’s true. I love you, and sometimes…sometimes it's too much." Jessie couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face, and she didn't want to. "Jessie…" Misty placed a hand on the other girls' cheek and got Jessie to look up at her. Misty smiled sadly and wiped away some of the tears that continued to fall. "I do love you, just not in that way. I wish I did, you’re a great person, funny, smart, talented, you taught me how to take care of myself. It may be hard to believe but I really do wish I could love you like that, you've been great to me, but I can't and I just really wish I did, but there's someone out there for me, I just haven't found whoever it is. There's someone out there for you too. I'm just a small detour it seems." Jessie smiled a little and wiped away her remaining tears. "That wasn’t exactly what I expected from you, but, thanks, I think." Misty pulled Jessie into a hug and just held her as the older girl broke into sobs of pain and rejection, but also of love from a friend. * * * Lily didn't bother to wipe away the stray tear running down her face; she stared at a spot in the carpet as Daisy continued. "A year later, after making sure Misty could handle her new born daughter and Duplica was there to help out more, Jessie left and Misty didn't hear from her again until now. And it seems as if nothing has changed." Daisy wanted to hit herself in the head for the last sentence. Stupid, hello! Your sister here is pining over another girl and you go and tell her that girl is still in love with your other sister! Stupid, stupid, stupid… Daisy's mental assault stopped when Lily spoke. "Thanks for telling me." Lily whispered. She slowly got up and started to the door, her hand froze over the doorknob when Daisy spoke up. "Lily, don't give up hope. Give it some time ok?" "It’s been almost four years! Isn’t that long enough?" Lily said dejectedly and walked out. Daisy lied back on the bed and let out a frustrated sigh. "Can this get any worse?" "You did it again. Now someone's going to get hurt and everything's going to get a lot worse. Murphy's law. Maybe you shouldn't speak anymore. Oh and we'll all have a parade! It'll be called the 'Daisy can't talk anymore parade!'" "Duplica, do me a favor and shut up." "No can do. Hey you want to take a walk with Misty and Mrs. K?" "Sure, everything's getting stressful around here; a breath of fresh air would do some good. Is Jessie still here?" "No, just after you disappeared she needed to go. Said that she shouldn't have been here this long, something about getting her ass kicked." Duplica chuckled at Daisy's shocked expression. "Not literally, you know Jessie, throwing in things she probably shouldn't but she does anyway." * * * The three women walked silently down the path through the park. Even though Duplica suggested the walk, she stayed behind to help with all the Pokémon. Just as Daisy was about to speak something from behind took out her legs. "What the hell?" * * * Violet opened the door and gasped. "Oh my god! What happened to her?" She looked at Daisy who had her arms around Misty and Mrs. Ketchum. Violet moved aside, closed and locked the door once everyone was inside. "We kicked ass." Daisy stated while laughing. Violet looked as though Daisy had gone mental. "We were attacked in the park, a Nidoran knocked Daisy over and she twisted her ankle pretty badly. There were two members of whatever organization Gary owns and they attacked us with Pokémon. It was a little tough but we mad it out. Mrs. Ketchum over here kicked some Pokémon butt; I think I know where Ash gets it now." Mrs. Ketchum blushed at the compliment Misty gave her. They heard a knock at the back door and realized who it was. "Looks like the information has arrived." Brock stated as he came down the stairs with Susie in tow. Jessie walked in looking a little shaken up. Lily put a hand on her shoulder to help steady the older girl. "Thanks." She turned to face everyone in the room and took a calming breath. "It seems to be a little difficult to get people to not tell on you." Jessie laughed contritely. "We need to be extra careful now, I mean we already were, but now it's eminent. Something's going to happen and it's going to happen soon. I don't know what, but I can't stress enough that you can not go out alone, its best to stay in a group of at least three, no less. I don't want any of you getting hurt." Jessie stumbled a little and glanced back as small arms wrapped around her from the back, steadying her. "Thanks again Lily." Lily just smiled and nodded. Not seeing the knowing exchange between Duplica and Daisy. "If you don't mind do you think I can crash out here on your couch? I don't think I'll make it to my apartment tonight." * * * TBC…