“Wow, guys!” Misty said. “Look at this!”

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu walked in the direction that Misty had been scouting for a place to camp.

“Wow...” they said in unison.

Just beyond the forest, Misty had found a vast lake, glowing gold in the light of the setting sun.

“I think we should camp here!”

“Yep, this looks pretty good!” Ash said.

“Pretty good?” Misty mocked. “Ash, this is one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen! And traveling with you, I’ve seen a lot of places!”

Ash put his hand behind his head. “Well, we DO travel a lot...”

“And it’s so romantic!” Misty clasped her hands, eyes glittering.

Brock studied the map. “Hey... This must be Lake Serena! YAY!! We aren’t lost anymore!!”

“Whoohoo!” everyone cheered.

“Okay Ash, you go get the firewood while Misty and I set up the campsite,” Brock directed.

“Man, why do _I_ always have to get the firewood?!” Ash complained.

“Ash, I got the firewood last night,” Brock said.

“No you didn’t! You promised you would in the morning, then you got that cough right when we set up camp, so I got it, and after that you felt better so you promised me you’d get it tomorrow!” Ash protested.

Brock sweatdropped. “Er...”

“Aw, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ll get the stupid firewood.” Ash walked off.

“That was kind of mean, Brock,” Misty said, annoyed. Ash listened, picking up firewood while keeping within hearing range of camp.

“Well, yeah...”

“I think you should apologize. Right when he gets back.” Misty’s voice was firm, with a hint of danger.

“Yeah, I will.”

“And you should get the firewood next time.” Misty still sounded dangerous.

“But--”

“No buts!” she yelled. “You have been duping Ash for a long, long time, and you are going to apologize!! TONIGHT!!”

“But it was just--”

“I am not just going to just stand by and watch you cheat Ash!! I don’t CARE if it’s just firewood, I don’t care if he even minds, you are going to apologize, Brock!!”

“Well--”

“ ‘Well’ NOTHING!!” she screamed. “Just DO it!!!”

“Okay, okay!!”

“And you had better not do it again, mister, because...” she trailed off. “Because I’m very sensitive about fooling people.” She sniffed. “So DON’T DO IT AGAIN!!!”

“I won’t, I swear!!!” Brock said quickly.

“Good.”

“Whoa,” Ash whispered to Pikachu.

“Pika...” he agreed.

He waited a few minutes before returning to camp.

“Hi!” he said cheerily.

“Ash, I’m sorry.” Brock sounded penitent. “I’ve been making a fool of you for a long time and I’m so ashamed!!” He fell down at Ash’s feet. “Please forgive me!!” he said, sobbing.

Ash resisted the urge to giggle. “Um... Okay Brock, I forgive you.”

“THANK YOU!!” Brock yelled, still sobbing. He wrapped his arms around Ash’s neck.

“Um, okay, man! Um... Would you please get off me, Brock? You’re scaring me.”

“Oh, okay.” Brock quickly let go and started to cook.

Over on the other side of the campfire, Misty started to giggle. Ash found he couldn’t hold it in any longer and started laughing with her. Soon, the whole group was laughing....

It was later that night.

Ash was wakened by a muffled sob. Sitting up awkwardly in his sleeping bag, he saw, by the moonlight, a huddled figure sitting by the lake. It was Misty, in her sleeping bag.

Ash scuttled over. “Misty? What’s wrong?”

She jerked her head up and blinked. “Huh? Nothing’s wrong, why do you ask?”

“Ha ha. Nice try.” He looked into her eyes. “Now seriously, what is it?”

“Well... fine, if you want to know, I guess I’ll tell you,” she said haughtily. If you must know... I was thinking about my parents.” She looked up at the moon. “Dad told my mom that their whole marriage had been a mistake.” She laughed bitterly. “After triplets and another daughter!

“So, he left one night and never came back. Mom tried to live without him, but--” Her voice cracked.

Ash’s eyes widened. “She didn’t--”

Misty laughed hollowly. “Kill herself? No. Not quite. She just tried.” She looked into Ash’s wide eyes. “So, she went to the asylum, and we managed the gym,” she said matter-of-factly.

“Whoa...” Ash said softly.

“So.” Misty said abruptly. “I haven’t seen your dad anywhere. And tonight seems like “National Tell-All-Your-Secrets night, so...”

“Well, fine,” Ash said, “I guess after you told me about your parents you deserve to hear my story. Actually, it starts a little like yours.”

“He left?”

“Yeah, but there’s more to it. You see, I’m not an only child.”

Misty gasped.

“It was a shock to me, too. Mom only told me last time we were at Pallet.” Ash sighed. “Apparently, I had--have--a sister named Serena. She was--is--about three years older than me. One night, Dad left and took her with him. And seven months later, there I was.”

“Oh my gosh...” Misty breathed.

“And a few months later, my grandfather called and said that Dad had left a kid with him. So Mom rushed over there. But it wasn’t Serena. It was another kid. My grandfather was so removed from our family that he didn’t even know that Serena was three years old, or a girl. This was a baby boy, about my age.”

“Oh my gosh, Gary?!” Misty said in shock.

“Huh? Oh my gosh, it MUST be!! Mom told me we never moved again, and--it all makes perfect sense now!!” Ash said, awed in this sudden revelation.

“You hadn’t realized it before?” Misty said skeptically.

“Hey, you yourself said that I’m pretty thick...”

“Ash...”

They both broke down crying in each other’s arms.

“Ash...” Misty said a few minutes later. “I don’t think you’re thick. I don’t hate you, either.”

“Well, that’s nice,” Ash said, smiling weakly, “Because I don’t hate you either.”

It was one of those moments of romantic possibility that only come along so often. Their faces slowly came closer together, and closer...

And then they fell asleep.

“HA HA HA AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

“PI HE HEE HE HEE HE HEE HE!!!”

Brock and Pikachu collapsed with laughter.

Ash slowly opened his eyes...and saw Misty’s slowly opening eyes.

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!”

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Still in sleeping bags, they yanked their arms from around each other and leapt apart.

“I swear it wasn’t what it looked like!!” Ash said, blushing furiously.

“Yeah! What he said!” Misty said, even redder.

It only made Brock and Pikachu laugh harder.

Ash and Misty looked at each other, getting more annoyed by the minute.

*WHAM*

Misty and Ash had leapt out of their sleeping bags and attacked the laughing pair, with mallet and club respectively.

“Ow! Ow! STOP THAT!!”

“You never mention any of this again, is that clear?” Misty yelled, emphasizing her remark with a swing of her mallet.

“Yeah!” said Ash, following suit.

“Ow!! All right already!”

“Pika!” <Fine!!>

“Good,” Misty said, and put her mallet away like nothing had happened.

“Brock?” said Ash. “I seem to remember a promise about a certain someone gathering firewood for once...”

“Oh yeah,” Brock said, laughing nervously. He and Pikachu went out to do just that.

Ash and Misty looked at each other, grinning, eyes sparkling.

“AAH!! I’VE BEEN BITTEN BY A RATTATA!!!” Brock screamed.

“Pika pikachu pika!” <For crying out loud, it’s only a branch!>

“Oh, it was only a branch. Never mind!” Brock called.

Ash and Misty looked at each other and dissolved into helpless laughter.

~