Unknown

By: Chibi-Suiko

A/N: Okay, it's Friday night and I just got done seeing PKMN 2000-The Movie and watching all the AAM flirtation made me want to write something so here it is. The most illustrious piece of work I can think of at eleven pm on Friday night when I should be sleeping for tomorrow when I can get up and watch YuGiOh, Shaman King, Teen Titans, and PKMN (Bashing everything May stands for along the way, I might add). I hope you enjoy.

Summary: A small piece taking place after the end of the PKMN 2000 movie. It'll start off with a conversation between Melody and Misty and maybe get into a little more AAMRN later on. I'm not sure whether it'll be a one-shot or a chapterized fic but it doesn't matter now any way!

Dedication: ... I'm not so sure but all you ego-maniacs who think that they're the best at writing AAMRN fluffiness might as well just come out and say that you consecrate this to yourselves. Lord knows I've done that with a lot of your fiction... (*Starts to whistle quietly and walk away*)

Disclaimer: Though it pains me to admit it, I went bankrupt and was forced to sell my work of PKMN, all of its characters, the plot line, the funny names, the completely tedious puns, and the AAMRN and JAJRN anecdote to Satoshi Tajiri and his Co-Directors. They completely bought me out and I'm sorry. If it had been up to me, I would have smuggled them out of the country (I do actually speak a little Japanese even though I don't sound like it, enough to get me a trip out of Japan any way) but they got to me before I could board the plane. Quite a fictional adventure wouldn't you say? Yeah, yeah, I know. Everything is indeed, though regrettably, owned by Satoshi Tajiri and his pals at the foreign filmmaking place in Japan...

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Melody: 15

Misty: 14

Ash: 14

Tracey: 17

***

Chapter One: Girl Talk

It had probably been one of the most eventful and, pretty much, suicidal days in Ash's life and he was now spending the rest of it upstairs of the Shamuti Island Legend Inn snoring away in his little cot. Misty personally didn't blame him. If not for a very strange and convenient case of insomnia, she'd be completely out cold right about now as well. You gotta admit that it'd take a lot having to spend half your life stressing over a little kid who'd like to spend a good part of his life thrusting himself over cliffs or letting himself plunge into a perilous sea. In fact, the only reason that she was currently still sane was the fact that she didn't have to worry about going through such a struggle on her own.

Brock had always held a strong grip on both their collars and, though Tracey wasn't as familiar with Ash's daily ritual of 'Doing the right thing even if it kills me', he had come to know that there was never a dull moment when around the squirt. Misty doubted that she'd ever forget all the times he'd played 'Suicidal Attempt' and this was probably game number one thousand thirty-five. She had to admit, though, it beat life cooped up at her old Gym in Cerulean. Sure, she liked to visit but having a solemn duty to sit there day after day on her butt... Really, it just didn't work with her. She'd decided long ago, of course never out loud because if her words had been overheard she'd never live it down, that she'd rather be with a self-righteous, twerpy, dense, rash Pokemon Trainer than her obnoxious, depraved of brain sisters.

It was almost dawn now, her eyes shifted to the sun, which rose over the mountains, and she sighed discontentedly. This was no way to spend good couple days on a foreign island in the middle of the Archipelago (I seriously doubt I spelled that right) on a supposed vacation away from Gym battling and thick masses of crowds on every dock... You'd think, wouldn't you, that being out at sea would promote fewer tourists? Unfortunately the Orange Islands held a population that could rival that of her Gym during one of those water ballets or when the S.S. Anne set off into the golden sunset from Vermillion to Olivine.

In any case, like she said, no good ever came of insomnia. You know, she'd been up for about twelve straight hours over the whole 'Lugia and The Chosen One' thing, when she'd spent at least seven of those hours praying to God that Ash would make it back alive and in no more than one piece (Apart from his hat and other accessories). And apart from that time, she'd not gotten any sleep in the last twenty-four hours since they'd even arrived on Shamuti. Her lack of rest was bound to make her more temperamental now than before. Yeah, she could all ready hear about fifteen arguments between her and Ash coming up in the next day...

" Mind if I ask what you're still doing up..?" Melody asked and Misty jumped slightly, turning to see the young, slightly older russet headed teen sit next to her. When Misty didn't answer (Not out of spite, at least not completely), she continued to speak, "You know, Ash has been out cold for hours. So's Tracey... Don't you think they'll notice when you throw glares at them when they tell you 'Good morning'?"

Misty still said nothing... She felt completely drained, even too much so, to insult the girl who'd been repeatedly taunting her relationship with Ash since they'd met. She grumbled lowly in her throat, that being the best a death threat she could make when totally drained of her usual adrenaline.

Melody only grinned at her in a friendly and apologetic way and sighed as she looked ahead. The wind blew her long, sensuously straight hair over her face but she didn't bother to remove it from her sight, "You know... I didn't mean to make such a fuss over you and Him." Misty froze, knowing immediately who she meant, "I only... Well, the only explanation I have is that's who I am, how I am. And I know I may have misjudged how you thought of him but, well, it was fun while it lasted. I kinda enjoyed mocking your feelings for him... And I'm sorry." She added hastily, catching sight of Misty's threatening gaze on her.

" I'm not much for sentiment... Especially towards people who just can't stop messing with me... So you'll forgive me if I say nothing apologetic to you in any way."

" What is there to be said about any of this? Will you talk to me a bit..? We can go inside, the mornings are usually chilly out here." She waited for a reply from Misty but all she got was a slight nod. Nevertheless, they both rose from their seats on the front steps to the shrine and walked in through the front doors. Misty smiled slightly after Melody as they slowly walked past the calming chime of the patio ornament blowing softly in the wind.

She sat on the couch and waited as Melody disappeared into the kitchen, soon returning with some steaming Green Tea. Misty smiled thankfully and picked up the mug, rubbing her hands over the porcelain surface. It felt so warm... Almost like Ash's breath on her face yesterday as she dragged him back to shore by rope, or should she say, since Tracey dragged them both back to shore.

Shocked at her own thoughts, she almost dropped her mug but, tightening her grip, she lay it on the small coffee table and sat back, finally feeling some of the lost exhaustion begin to claim her. It had only taken about thirty-five hours... She moaned softly under her breath, catching the thoughts of lost time slowly creep around her head before she was interrupted by Melody.

" You know, you really surprised me out there yesterday Misty." She said simply. Misty tried to ignore that statement but, unsure whether she was being given a compliment or not, she quickly retaliated.

" Not so much as you surprised me..." She was about to continue but Melody took control of the situation again, steering it back in the soon-to-be-stunned-stupid red-heads direction.

" I mean, the way you said you didn't care for Ash as more than a friend and all... Then taking pretty much full control of that situation in helping Ash back to shore... In a way, you and Tracey are as much to thank for the safety of the world as that gloating, Pokemon-entranced hero..." She giggled.

" Yeah, well... The guy can hardly train on his own let alone save the world. Can you imagine what it'd be like if it were truly up to him alone..? We'd all be in a rage of pandemonium..." They both laughed a bit and then Melody asked a question.

" What shocked you so much about me..?" She blushed in an embarrassed way and Misty felt it growing contagious, revealing itself upon her cheeks.

" Well..." Really, she'd been more than willing to insult the young teen but when hearing her complimentary language, she was forced to think of something else, "...You surprised me a lot when you chose to help, I guess you could say..." Melody was confused and, quite unmiraculously, so was Misty. If she hadn't spoken herself, all ready knowing full well what she meant, she'd have been completely dumb struck, "Remember when we first met? You didn't seem too interested in playing Lugia's Village Maiden when you came from the cliff on shore... In fact, you looked positively downhearted."

" Yeah, well... Hardly any people have any idea what it's like to be forced into something by a family member, especially a village-kiss up of a sister..." Melody ended with a grumble, not noticing when Misty gripped the couch cushion in fury, obviously remembering some of her own moments of downsizing by her sisters.

" But then..." Misty continued with a grunt, "It was a real shock when you got so into it. I couldn't tell which was the act; hating the thought of being the ceremonial maid or living it during the chaos..."

" Well, when you've spent your entire life believing it's just a stupid legend you can get an overwhelming lift of adrenaline after you've found it to be real."

" ...Yeah..." Misty sighed, picked up her mug of-now cool-tea, and put it down again.

" So... Are you going to get any sleep before you guys’ head off today?" It was true, Ash had said yesterday that the sooner they got out of there the better, especially with his mom breathing down his throat. It was really becoming a nuicense in his opinion.

" I don't know... Guess I better try though..." Misty got up to head upstairs where her cot had been sitting all night, ready for her but then--

" Misty..?"

" Yeah..?" She asked, turning back around.

" You know when you told me about Ash never being alone 'cause he had you..?" Misty blushed, remembering quite well how she'd worded that seeming poetry before forcing herself to swim through the torrents of the wild ocean to save Ash from drowning, reminding herself of how important it was that Ash live long enough to complete the Lugia ritual.

" I... I do..." Why was she saying this? Why was Melody bringing this up? Why did they have to talk about such personal matters now?

" Well... I really just wanted to know, why me?"

" Huh..? What?"

" Why would you tell me how much you cared for him? After all the mockery and insulting and everything... I mean, I wasn't being serious about it or anything but still... Why would you mention such deep emotions to a girl you hardly know, plus one that could very well be in the same running for the same guy..?"

There was an everlasting silence as Misty stared exhaustingly at the young brunette. Why? How was she supposed to know why? Really, she'd only done it to keep Melody from risking herself and her ability to reawaken Lugia by jumping into the sea after Ash but when she truly thought about it, her influence had always been enough to change people's minds. It really hadn't mattered that she say something so cliche, and definitely not to her...

" I suppose..." Misty halted a moment, "It was because I knew that, in the end, I could trust you with that secret..." And she began to walk off, all ready knowing what would be asked next.

" Does that mean, then, that you do care for him more than a friend..?" She asked, all ready smiling at Misty's last comment.

" Yeah... I guess that it does... Why?" She grinned slyly and asked, "Are you going to back off or try harder to get him?"

" I think that I've all ready been taken out of the picture..." Melody smiled back and picked up the two cups to place them in the sink for washing later.

Misty headed upstairs, deeply in thought over the sudden revelation that she was considering Ash as more than just a friend. Downstairs, Melody poked her head out the kitchen entrance way and up the staircase but saw nothing. Then she turned back.

" I hope you're happy. Cause now you know exactly what she thinks of you." Ash sat at the table, holding a mug of his own tea halfway to his mouth but clearly about to drop it from shock. Melody had mysteriously woken him up at seven a.m. for tea but had disappeared no more than a few minutes later only to return for two more glasses and then leave again.

Now here she was, back with that smile on her face, watching him stare straight ahead for lack of a better way of relieving himself of the urge to collapse. Suddenly, he broke free.

" Why would you do that to her? For her?" For he was unsure whether Melody had made such a plan or crafted such a scheme.

" Hey, you two helped save everyone's lives, I figure that I owe you something. And I figured happiness would be the best gift."

***

A/N: Okay, the end of this piece. Now, I'm not sure whether to leave it at that cliffy or make it into a very small-but cute-chapter story. What do you think? I thought it was quaint enough but you'd better let me know. Review if you want (Hey, with an author who gives you a choice, who wouldn't grace her with a review?)