Disclaimer: Don't own pokemon or the songs that I may use in this fic (don't 
know if I will use any).

A/N: Well, I'm back with another one of my exciting AAMRN's. This is in Ash's 
POV for a change, so we'll see how it comes out, since I'm writing this as I go 
along. So read and enjoy!

Summary: Misty wasn't supposed to fall in love with Ash, and Ash wasn't supposed 
to fall in love with Misty, but when the time comes, will Ash be able to let 
Misty go?

Ash & Misty: 18

Guardian Angel
Part 1


"Run!" I yelled at the young teenage girl behind me.

"Just keep going! I'm fine!" She yelled back at me.

We quickly ran into the forest, in hopes of escaping our pursuers.

"We should be able to escape them in h-" I was cut short when, all of a sudden, 
we both fell into a hidden ditch.

"Shh..." Whispered Misty as she crawled next to me.

We heard footsteps stomping around near our hiding place. We kept completely 
still, wondering if they were onto us. Two familiar voices finally spoke.

"They escaped." Growled Butch angrily.

"This is not gonna go well with the boss." Cassidy spat out, just as angry.

I could hear their footsteps get farther and farther away, until they were 
inaudible. I lifted my head form out of the brush and looked to see if the coast 
was clear.

"Are they gone?" I heard Misty ask.

"Yeah, but we should spend the night here just in case." I replied.

She nodded while laying down on the side of the ditch. I then let out a small 
laugh, thinking about the events of the day.

"What's so funny?" Misty asked.

"I've just been thinking about everything that's been happening to us lately." I 
smiled.

"And exactly how is that funny?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You." I said simply.

"Me?" She asked, confused.

"Your always trying to be the brave one, telling me to go off without you. Ya 
think I was gonna leave you there by yourself?" I replied.

"Trust me Ash...your life is a lot more important than mine." She said barely 
above a whisper.

Surprised at her remark, I rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't say that." I said, noticing the forlorn look on her face. "What's wrong?"

She looked at me and gave me a weak smile.

"Nothing. I'm fine. I guess I'm just tired." She replied, resting her head on my 
shoulder.

"Well, you better get some rest then. We'll start off first thing tomorrow." I 
said, a little worried about her.

"Okay. Goodnight Ash." I heard her whisper.

"Night Mist." I whispered back as I put my arm around her and looked up at the 
night sky. I thought about what had occurred only hours ago...

We had just rescued our pokemon from becoming Team Rocket's slaves and were 
running down the long corridors of Team Rocket Headquarters, in search of the 
exit.

We came to a dead end with no where to go. Misty brought out her Staryu and it 
blasted a hole in the wall, and, fortunately for us, it led to the outside. She 
told me that she'd hold them back while I escaped, but I refused to go on 
without her. Lucky for us, we escaped unharmed.

And here we are, an hour later, sleeping in a ditch.

I sighed out loud at our current situation.

Things couldn't get any worse. And to top it all off, Misty was starting to 
worry me. She was acting as if it were her duty to protect me. She almost got 
herself killed. Its liked she didn't care about herself anymore. I didn't want 
to ask her because I knew that she probably wouldn't give me a straight answer. 
Its like she was keeping a secret from me and she didn't want me to find out 
about it. I'll have to keep a close eye on her for the next couple of days.

Yawning, I closed my eyes and fell asleep...

The next thing I knew, we were surrounded by Team Rocket members. There was no 
where to run. We were trapped.

Butch and Cassidy stepped up to us. I noticed that Butch was holding a pistol. I 
kept my eye on it until Cassidy spoke.

"We won't ask again. Give us your pokemon!" She demanded.

"Forget it!" I heard Misty scream.

"You don't have any other choice." Said Butch.

"Why don't you leave us alone and go back to that slime infested headquarters 
that you crawled out of!" I heard myself yell.

In one swift movement, I saw Cassidy swipe the pistol and aim at me. "No one 
makes fun of Team Rocket and gets away with it."

Before I knew what had happened, she fired. Everything seemed to be going in 
slow motion. I saw the bullet coming towards me...and then, all of a sudden, I 
found myself on the ground, unharmed. I looked to my right just in time to see 
Misty take the bullet.

"Misty!" I screamed while catching her in my arms. I could feel the tears coming 
and I could hear Butch and Cassidy snickering to themselves. How could anyone be 
so cruel?

I reverted my attention back to the wounded girl in my arms. Her eyes were open, 
but her breathing was labored.

"Mist...why did you do that?" I asked, tears cascading down my cheeks.

"Because..." She started. "Because I love you."

I couldn't believe it. I mean, I already knew that she loved me, but it sounded 
so much more sincere this time. The one girl that I had ever loved was dying in 
my arms. She saved my life...

"Your gonna be okay, do you hear me? Just hold on Mist. Please don't leave me." 
I said, trying desperately to find any type of hope that still lingered.

She gently reached up and touched my cheek. She shook her head weakly.

"I fulfilled my duty...but its not how I wished it would turn out." She 
whispered weakly.

What was she talking about? Her duty? I knew I wouldn't get an answer from her.

"I love you Ash..." She whispered as she slowly slipped away.

"No...Misty...I love you too..." I cried, unable to believe that she was gone.

I looked up to see that Butch and Cassidy were laughing.

"Oh, look at this. Your all alone now little boy." Cassidy taunted. "There's no 
one to help you out this time. The girl's dead and there's nothing you can do 
about it. Don't you feel helpless."

"This could have all been avoided if you had just handed over your pokemon in 
the first place." Butch explained.

"How could you...?" I whispered, my anger rising.

"You brought this upon yourself."  Cassidy started. " Well, like they 
say...misery loves company."

She then aimed the pistol at me. "See ya round'."

"No!" I screamed as I jolted up.

I looked around and found myself in a ditch. The moon was still out, so I 
figured that it was around midnight. I then felt a warm hand on my cheek.

"Ash, what's wrong?" Misty asked me, worried.

I took her hand in mine and silently cried.

"Nothing...it was nothing." I whispered.

"When I heard you scream, I thought that something terrible had happened to 
you." She said.

"No, I'm fine." I said, squeezing her hand for fear of losing her.

"You don't sound fine. What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" She asked.

"I don't want to talk about it." I replied, sighing.

"Okay...but don't feel embarrassed just because you had a bad dream. I have them 
all the time." She smiled while resting her head on my chest.

"You do?" I asked, looking down at her.

She simply nodded.

"What are they about?" I asked, interested.

She hesitated a moment before answering. "Dying..."

"Dying?" I asked thinking back to my own dream.

"Well, not so much dying, but leaving the people that I love the most. That's my 
worst fear." She responded.

"Well, neither of us are gonna leave anytime soon, right?" I smiled at her, but 
I saw that her eyes were empty. They held no emotion like they had so many times 
in the past. What was wrong with her? I had to find out.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.

"Its nothing. Don't worry about me." She replied softly.

"But I do. You've been acting different lately and I want to know what's wrong. 
I want to be able to help you." I offered.

"I'll tell you one day...I don't know when, but I will. I promise." She 
whispered as she lightly kissed my cheek. "You worry too much."

"You give me good reason to worry." I countered.

"I'm sorry, but I'm going back to bed." She smiled as she nuzzled my chest with 
her cheek. I wrapped my arms around her and I soon fell asleep.

The next morning, I awoke to the sun shining directly in my face. I looked 
around and spotted Misty at the far end of the ditch, staring blankly in front 
of her.

"Good morning." I greeted.

She jolted her head towards me, as if I had startled her.

"Hey, good morning." She greeted back.

"Sorry if I startled you." I apologized.

"Its okay. I was just thinking." She said standing up. "You ready to get going?"

"Ready when you are."

And with that said, we both climbed out of the ditch and started on our way.

We were walking to the next city, in hopes of getting as far away from Team 
Rocket as possible. We didn't have a map, so we weren't exactly sure if we were 
headed the right way.

I looked to Misty, who was walking next to me, kind of in a daze. She had been 
like this all morning. It was as if she was in deep thought, wanting to shut out 
the world from her mind.

Just then, she fell to her knees and put her hand to her head. I rushed over to 
her and kneeled down.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked, worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My legs just gave out." She replied sounding very weak.

"Here, let me carry you. The next town shouldn't be too far away." I said.

"No, I'm okay. Don't worry." She said, trying to stand.

"Misty...come on. Your obviously not well so stop pushing yourself. Let me help 
you." I urged.

She stared at me in a way that I've never seen before. Finally, she gave in and 
let me carry her.

"I'm gonna get you to a doctor. You haven't been acting yourself lately." I said 
picking her up.

"No, that's okay. You don't have to do that." She said putting her arms around 
my neck for support.

"Yeah, I do." I said walking off towards the city.

"But Ash..." She started, but I cut her off.

"No buts, I'm taking you there whether you like it or not." I said, frustrated.

I saw her gaze shift to the ground as I continued to walk.

"I'm doing this because I love you." I explained sincerely.

I was greeted with complete silence.

"Mist?" I asked, wondering if she was even listening to me.

"I-...I love you too Ash." She whispered weakly.

I definitely didn't like the way that sounded. She sounded scared to say that 
she loved me...did she really mean it then? Of course she did. I'm just worrying 
myself, besides, she's sick.

Another thing, I have to admit, that scared me was the fact that she refused to 
look at me. Its like she was scared about that too...almost like she was lying 
to me. But I knew she would never do that.

Once in town, I found the nearest clinic and walked in, hoping that I didn't 
need an appointment. Lucky for us, we didn't. We waited for about five minutes 
until the secretary ushered us into another room and asked us to wait for the 
doctor. So, we waited for another couple of minutes, silence finding its way 
between us. Once the doctor arrived, I told him of Misty's condition.

"Okay, let me take her pulse. She might just be dehydrated." He explained as he 
brought out some kind of machine.

He wrapped the cuff around Misty's arm and pressed the button. It beeped and 
then started to make a buzzing sound. About a minute later, it stopped and the 
doctor took a look at the screen that showed her pulse.

"Now that's strange." He muttered.

"What is it doctor?" I asked.

"Well, according to this, you should be dead. Its not showing a pulse for you. 
Hmm..." He said removing the cuff from her arm.

"Maybe its broken." I suggested.

"That's what I'm guessing. I'll be right back with another one." He said as he 
walked out of the room.

I looked over to Misty and saw her looking at the ground nervously.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked, smiling at her.

"N-Nothing." She stammered back.

"Don't like doctors much?" I guessed.

"Huh? Oh, yeah...they kinda freak me out." She answered.

"Same here, but don't worry. You'll be fine. I promise." I said reassuringly.

"Ya know...you shouldn't make promises if you can't keep them." She whispered.

Now that had surprised me. What was this all about? She didn't think she was 
gonna die, did she?

"I never make promises unless I know I can keep them." I explained.

She continued to stare at the ground, never looking up at me even once. I lifted 
her chin up to look at me and I saw it...the scared face that matched her voice 
that I had heard earlier when she said that she had loved me. I then embraced 
her in a tight hug, and surprisingly, she returned it...but she was also crying.

"Ash..." She whispered, as I rubbed her back gently.

"I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, okay?" I said.

It tore me up inside to see her like this, but I didn't know what else I could 
do. If she wouldn't tell me her problem, then how was I supposed to help her?

Just then, she pulled away from me and wiped away her tears. I caressed her face 
and kissed her cheek.

"I'm gonna figure out a way to help you without you having to tell me what's 
wrong." I explained.

She shook her head slowly. "There's no way...it'll happen eventually." She 
whispered.

What was gonna happen? What was she talking about? Before I could ask her, the 
doctor came back in the room with a newer looking machine.

"Okay, here we go. Let's try this one." Said the doctor, completely oblivious as 
to the scene that had just taken place.

I watched as he slipped the cuff onto her arm and hit the button. After a few 
minutes, the screen lit up.

"Well?" I asked, nervous about what he would say.

"This one's reading the same exact thing as the last one." He replied.

"Are you sure your putting it on correctly?" I questioned.

"Kid, I've been working in this field for over 20 years. I think I know how to 
work this thing." He said, frustrated.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." I said, backing off.

"I'll just have to take your pulse myself." He said reaching for her hand.

"No, its okay." Misty said quickly, standing up.

"But Miss-" The doctor started.

"I'm fine, really." She interrupted. "I was just tired. I didn't get much sleep 
last night. I'll be okay." She said walking out of the room.

"Misty..." I sighed. "Thanks anyway, doctor."

"Your welcome, but I may warn you that I don't think your friend's completely 
healthy. Watch out for her." He advised.

"Okay, I will. Thanks." I replied, leaving in search of Misty.

I saw her walking towards the pokemon center and caught up with her.

"Come on Mist. What's wrong with you?" I asked, grabbing her hand.

"Nothing is wrong with me, Ash." She snapped. "I told you that I'm fine."

"No, your not," I said firmly. "One minute your crying in my arms, and the next, 
your mad at me."

She kept silent and I knew that she was taking in my words.

"Stop running away from me..." I whispered, loud enough for her to hear.

She turned towards me and we made eye contact. Her eyes showed a great deal of 
pain and something I had almost never seen in her before...fear.

"I'm not running...I'm just scared." She replied softly.

Now we're getting somewhere. " What are you afraid of?"

"If I told you...it would break the both of us." She replied, tears filling her 
eyes as she broke away from my grasp and ran towards the pokemon center.

I was left standing there, in the middle of the street...shocked and speechless.

She knew something that I didn't and was afraid to tell me. But what was it? 
That last sentence scared me. What would happen to us?

Thousands of questions floated through my mind. But the one that stuck out the 
most was...

"Now what?"


A/N: Yay!!! Finished Chapter 1!!! Sorry for the long delay, but my computer was 
down for about 3 weeks so I couldn't update. Anyway, hope ya liked it! Please 
review. AAML lover for life!!!