Disclaimer - Don't own nothin'. (Creative, I know. . . =P)

Author - Chibi / Warlordess

Notes - Okay, this is going to be a combination of two one-shot series I wanted to write about Ash and Misty. (Apparently one-shot series are the new thing, though I hope mine will be a tad more popular than some of the others I've seen out there recently.) Some of these fics are going to be about methods of communication between the two of them (basically a bunch of phone-call fics showing that they're still close, still best friends who are trying to remain as such) while the other part of these fics was going to be about miscellaneous moments in time (both friendly and romantic). Because of that, these will all be out of order. I currently have one plot for each mini-series each that would have actually extended into two chapters, but even they weren't going to be written one right after the other.

Anyway, this is just for those fans out there - (please say that some of you are still out there!) - who are looking for an AaML fix. Also try to remember that this series will not always be romantic, will not always even be hinty. Some of these pieces may even be about Ash and Misty failing as a couple. Please read the title/summary of each piece to make sure, in case you're not in the mood to read that kind of thing. Oh, and to make sure, other than those two plots I mentioned above, none of these one-shots will be connected to one another. They will all exist in different universes unless otherwise mentioned. Because of that, this fic will be marked as complete right away, even though I will continue to add to it as inspiration comes to me. Feel free to favorite it or add it to your alert lists to keep getting updates.

Please review (so that I know you're interested in this series) and thank you to anybody who took the time to read that.

This series will be especially (specifically) for people who are fans of Ash and Misty's friendship as much as anything else to do with them. I pray that you're open-minded about any hints, even if you don't support them as a couple, but the point of this was to remind Pokemon fans that these two are best friends. Their relationship shouldn't be belittled simply because the staff removed Misty from the series.

OoOoO

Series Title - "Our Best", Ash and Misty Mini-Series

Inspired by the song, "My Best", sung by Vanessa Carlton.

OoO

OnE-sHoT tItLe - "Unlikely Coincidence"

Location - Shamouti Island, the day after movie 2000 ends

. . . bUeCsAe SmOe BnDoS aRe MrOe ItOmRaPnT tAhN lVoE . . .

Summary - Takes place the day after Ash defeats Lawrence III in Pokemon 2000. He wakes with a fever on Shamouti and is forced to stay for awhile longer. The thing is, he isn't the only one who got sick. . .

OoOoO

Ash groaned and curled up under the covers a little better as he felt the dizzy pounding in his head appear once again. He felt like he was sinking just below the surface of the ocean - which was exactly what he'd been doing just yesterday according to his mom and friends. He didn't remember much of it, partially due to the eighteen hour adrenaline rush he'd constantly felt running through his veins, let alone the fact that he was unconscious for that part in particular.

"Pikapi, pi chu pika?" Pikachu asked worriedly with a sniffle of his own, slowly easing himself up on his hind legs as he checked his master's condition. He swiftly leapt up beside Ash's face and bit down on the rag that had been placed above his brow to cool him down as he sweated out his fever, then dashed to the bedside table to dip it into the small basin filled with ice water. After the towel had been refreshed, he placed one end under his heel, twisting it round and clamping the other end tightly in his mouth as the excess water was squeezed out before turning to put it back where he'd gotten it.

"I. . . I have it, buddy. Thanks for your help. . ." Ash said affectionately, removing his arms from underneath the blankets and accepting the rag from his best friend, offering a scratch behind the ears as consolation. When he was done, he slowly folded the plush material back into a small square and put it over his own forehead, shivering from the cold that greeted the action. "Ugh!" He flinched again, muscles tightening as another wave of nausea crashed into him, though he mashed his dry lips together and braced himself through it.

"Pikapi. . ." The electric-mouse Pokemon sympathized with his trainer, licking him on the cheek before returning to his designated spot around Ash's knees and waiting for the next time he could be of some use.

"Would you please stop moaning like that?" A voice called to him from the bed to his left on the other side of the basin, stronger than the tone Ash had been able to muster since waking up and feeling like such crap. "Some of us may be trying to sleep this thing off. . ."

His eyes snapped open at the supposed insult, turning and glaring at his other friend who - for whatever reason that she had yet to explain to him - had also gotten sick after the perilous adventure they'd embarked on the previous two days. The redhead was facing the wall on the opposite side, so he couldn't see the expression on her face, but if her irritated tone of voice was any indication. . .

"Well I'm sorry that the side-effects from my fever are so despairing for you to hear. Next time I'll be sure to muffle them so you don't have to worry about it." He turned his nose up at her - though she didn't see it, obviously - as his way of showing that he wouldn't be doing such a thing after all. Luckily, Misty knew better anyway without him having to say anything else and didn't thank him for his kind offer.

"Pikachupi, Pikapi, kachu pipipi pika!" Ash's Pokemon exclaimed, on his hind legs again and staring between his two favorite trainers as if admonishing them before they would have the chance to start another one of their legendary arguments. Togepi, curled inside her shell at Misty's feet (because Misty was too fearful that her fever was contagious to let her baby any closer to her), rolled over and popped out to grace them with her presence as well.

"Togi togepri!" She chimed, hoping to get their spirits up like any child hoping to distract their parents from a fight with one another.

"It's alright, Togepi. I'm sorry for worrying you like that. If it makes you feel better, I'll get up to feed you after taking a little nap, okay?" The redhead asked with a glance down towards the end of her bed before the dizziness got to her as well and she stopped forcing her neck to crane in that direction, letting it fall casually back against the pillow.

As if making a point, however, she refrained from moaning and groaning about it like Ash had a moment ago. (Though she almost bit through her lip at the same time.)

"How is that possibly a good idea?" Ash happened to ask with a tight-lipped grimace. He was starting to get chills despite having three blankets pulled over top him and the heat in the room set to a stable seventy-two degrees. "I thought you were scared that Togepi would get sick too from whatever this is?"

"Of course you wouldn't understand, Ash, you're not a parent. When your child is concerned for you, you have to alleviate their fears. You have to make them believe that everything's alright so they don't continue to worry too!" Misty held her breath for a moment, heaving in and out a few times (enough to make Ash fearful as to what was going on), before she gave a light sneeze and finished what she'd been saying before. "Besides, who knows? Maybe all I need is a little extra sleep to get over this. I could be better within the next few hours. You know, if you manage to stop bothering me so I can close my eyes and stop thinking."

"I didn't know you were capable of thinking, Myst. I guess you can learn something new every day, huh?"

"There are a lot of things you don't know, Mr. Pokemon Master. And no matter how much time I spend on it, I'll always be capable of thinking more than you do."

Darn, he thought he'd had her there. Even sick with a fever, Misty was still able to one-up him in a fight. Then again, he was sick too, right? So maybe he would be able to best her if he got better faster. Bearing that in mind, Ash pressed his eyes tightly closed and willed himself to sleep. If Misty was right (he almost wished she wasn't), then maybe he just needed a couple hours extra sleep in order to regain his full health.

Of course, as soon as he'd decided to do just that, the door to their room (or quarantine) opened and Tracey peered inside at the inhabitants. Neither one of them turned to see who it was or chose to acknowledge him. He decided to make this as quick and painless as possible then.

"Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that Melody and her sister are in the kitchen making you both some hot tea, and Mrs. Ketchum is working on her homemade chicken broth. Oh, and I wanted to ask if you need anything else." He said, hand still on the doorknob for a fast getaway.

"Some better company," Ash murmured immediately with a begrudging look at the upper right bedpost.

"Some peace and quiet," Misty ground out next in a threatening manner, still staring at the wall facing the opposite side of the room.

Tracey bit his lip in response. He was pretty sure that was his immediate queue to leave, and he'd definitely be taking advantage of it.

"Well, just-let-me-know-if-you-need-anything, bye!" And he quickly slammed the door shut behind him - loud enough to make both of his friends moan in agony from the stimulation to their headaches - and took off down the hall with an innocent whistle.

What the Pokemon watcher had said caused another thought to race across Misty's head, although she prayed it would flutter away soon enough. She had expected Melody to sit at Ash's bedside and flirt constantly with him like she had during the beginning of the legend ritual. As irritating as it had been, it was also just as harmless seeing as Ash didn't understand any of it, but it didn't stop Misty from worrying. After all, Ash didn't have to fall for Melody to decide that he rather liked her company more than Misty's. She was doting and put a lot of faith in him through her forward behavior. It was kind of strange that she had suddenly backed off so whole-heartedly.

". . . Besides, he's never alone because he's got. . . me."

But what had Misty meant by that anyway? Obviously she was Ash's friend, she wanted to be there for him, and prove to him that she wouldn't just sit back when he most needed her. She did care, even if her fierce words and actions sometimes made him think that she was rather rough around the edges. He was her friend, her best friend. As often as they fought against each other, she had decided quite awhile ago that her place was at his side. She rather liked it there. So maybe what she'd meant, as possessive as it sounded, was closer to. . .

"No, let me do this. You have your own obligations. And please. . . don't get any closer to him."

". . . get it."

"What did you say?" Misty asked before she could stop herself. Well, she really was curious about what he'd said.

"I don't get it."

"Uh, what are you talking about?"

"Well," Ash seemed to hunch further into himself as though sort of embarrassed for even wondering about such a thing, like he had only just started considering the specifics of it, "you're sick."

"Wow, can't even begin to imagine how you figured that out. . ." She muttered with a nearly vicious darkness woven into the words.

"Geez, let me finish, will ya, Myst!" He exclaimed, regretting it almost immediately and taking a few steady breaths to calm his nausea before continuing on. "What I meant was I'm sick, and you're sick. . . but nobody else is. I mean, Pikachu has some sniffles, but that's it. Togepi seems fine, Tracey is obviously okay if he's running away from us like normal, and Melody hasn't said anything - at least, not to us. I just. . . I'm trying to figure out how you of all people got sick with me. Is there something I'm forgetting or. . . ?" And he fell silent as though he really was putting together the events from the previous few days and working through the details.

Misty shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant way before realizing he couldn't see that, so she decided to use words as well.

"Who knows? Maybe we just have weaker immune systems than the others."

". . . The what's-it system?"

"Immune system, like white blood cells and anti-bodies and stuff. The part of our bodies that fight off illness and disease." And though she could have laughed at him for not knowing what it was, she chose to hold her breath, obviously hoping with all of her heart that he would leave it at that. After all, she'd only just admitted to herself that he was her best friend, that she would do most anything for him, let alone having proven it the day before. She really didn't want to have to tell him as well, so she would live with force-feeding him this farce.

"Oh. . . you think so?" His aggressive tone had vanished as he continued trying to work the equation out into a solution. "It's just. . . well, we've been traveling together for so long - almost two years - and neither one of us has gotten sick before. Do you really think it's coincidence after all this time that we would both suddenly get these fevers at once when nobody else did?"

"Or maybe it's an energy thing."

"Energy. . . thing? What's that mean?" She could almost see his brows furrowed as he sounded it out, unsure of the answer. The thought brought a small smile to her face, though it vanished just as soon as she realized it had come on its own.

"Like, maybe we both used up more energy during what we went through these past couple days. More-so than everyone else anyway."

"Really? But then, maybe I am forgetting something. . . No offense, Misty, I just don't remember you doing anything that none of the others did back there." Ordinarily she would have been upset about him undermining all that she'd done to keep him alive, you know, except for the fact that she was trying to prevent him from learning just what she'd done to keep him alive anyway. Crap, she felt more suffocated by the second as her best friend began to unravel the faults in her explanations. And yet, even now, a part of her felt just the tiniest bit guilty that he was struggling even to remember all that he'd accomplished the previous day.

"You wouldn't remember that. Don't worry about it Ash, just go to sleep, okay?"

"Wh - what? No!" Ash leapt up into a sitting position, though he groaned for the first time in over half-an-hour, his head falling slightly forward and meeting one of his palms for support. He wiped the sweat from his brow before swallowing thickly and turning to face the redhead in the bed to his right. "Geez, Myst, what kind of stupid secret is worth keeping from me? Like it really matters or not!"

"If it doesn't matter then drop it and go to sleep! I'm tired and you're making me angry. If you don't leave it alone, we can't get better. We'll be stuck on this stupid island forever and you'll never become the Pokemon Master!" Dammit, where the hell was Melody with that tea?

"I meant that it shouldn't matter to you. . ." He grumbled to himself, though it was still loud enough for her to hear. Ordinarily, he would have cracked a joke about how she'd sort of, kind of admitted that she thought he'd maybe, possibly become a Pokemon Master one day, but the weight of the moment was pulling him down. It was obvious that his friend wasn't telling him something. It could have been stupid and pointless for all he knew, though he doubted it if she was guarding the truth from him so completely.

"D - don't I have a right to know? I mean, I did save the world yesterday, didn't I? Shouldn't I know everything that happened?"

Misty remained silent for a few moments after. Pikachu and Togepi feigned sleep. They would have usually interrupted by now, though their trainers didn't seem to have degenerated into argument like they did most of the other times before this. Whatever was going on now. . . seemed different. They couldn't even touch this.

Finally, with a sigh, she continued, "What's it matter, Ash? I mean, really, is this about you or about me? Because now I'm just confused. . ."

"Well, I don't know. . . It's about you and me, you trusting me with what you did to help me yesterday that nobody else did."

"Oh." He was either smarter or more intuitive than she gave him credit for. Whatever the case was, he obviously had already figured half of it out. Did it really matter if she kept the rest from him after all? And maybe he was right. After everything he'd done, everything he'd put himself through yesterday just to keep some madman collector from destroying the natural balance of the world, he was owed every answer he asked for about the situation.

Would it really hurt her (or their relationship) to tell him how she'd followed him out to sea? She supposed not.

"Fine, Ash, I'll tell you. But don't read too much into it, okay?" She forewarned him, waiting for his response before finally deciding to be honest.

"Uh, sure. . ."

"Alright. . . So we - Tracey, Melody, and I - were still on the small island with Slowking while you were gone with Lugia visiting the final shrine to get the third orb." Yes, she still remembered how painful it had been standing on the sidelines waiting for her best friend's safe return. She sometimes felt that was her place, maybe misguided by the fact that she was traveling with him on his journey and not realizing that some situations were independent of such idiotic beliefs. But this time, waiting impatiently for the familiar shadow of a large legendary Pokemon and Ash's call upon seeing his friends' faces again had not been good enough. She was so nervous, would have been biting her nails off if not for having to hold on to Togepi so she didn't wriggle out of her grasp. . . and scared. The funny thing was that, though the world was so prominently in danger, the only thing on her mind was Ash.

Ash.

ASH.

So she couldn't just sit there and wait like a loyal pet, she had to get active, she had to help. Screw the legend, the prophetic words that said the chosen one had to complete this mission. The chosen one had friends and family who would feel burdened and guilty and ashamed if he didn't come back safely!

"Awhile later we saw shadows above the clouds. I thought it was just lightning at first, or maybe Articuno, Moltres, and Zapdos continuing to duke it out so high up in the sky. . . Until that crazy psycho released these strange chakrams that whirred out and above the clouds too. . . And then we saw a huge something that was enveloped by them as it hit the water. We were pretty sure it was one of the legendary birds, though we couldn't tell which one. . . But. . . I, we, knew something was wrong. So we made a plan to help you just in case.

"At first Melody thought we could try and repair the boat and go out to sea but we were worried it would take too much time, if we could somehow figure it out at all. So then we decided someone might have to go out alone. None of our Pokemon would be able to handle the water after the balance was upset so badly, at least it wasn't something we were willing to risk. . ."

Without knowing it, both of them had turned to face each other during the shift of the conversation. Ash was staring at her, not wide-eyed, not excited, just. . . Misty would almost call it patiently. He wanted to know, honestly wanted to know everything that had been a huge blank to him. She had seen his gaze briefly light up in acknowledgement of the one thing he did remember so far; that was, when Lawrence the III had sent his huge contraptions out into the air hoping to catch his ultimate prize, Lugia. And then a cold electricity had circulated through his body and forced him into unconsciousness. He was dead to the world before even hitting the water he was sure was still swarming underneath him.

"Tracey found a rope among the supplies in his bag and we tied it around my waist. I was the strongest swimmer among the three of us. Melody's lived on the water a long time but she's fonder of sailing than swimming. . . So finally, after that, I left them both behind too with Togepi to find you." Her back hunched forward as her arms encircled her knees, which were folded towards her chest. It wasn't a fond memory for her.

"Find me? You mean you. . ."

"Yeah. The water, it was so cold. At first I thought I'd lose consciousness on impact, and then I thought I'd fall asleep before ever finding you. There was no way to know where you were other than to keep looking and calling your name, hoping you'd catch my attention somehow. My fingers and toes prickled like needles before they finally went numb, but I kept going." She didn't want to continue confiding in him how her lungs seemed to be filling up with ice, how her breath had slowed and her sight had wavered as a few frigid waves crashed over her. She felt guilty when thinking about how long she had taken to find him, how she had stopped once or twice for a minute to catch her breath and make sure her joints were functioning properly.

She had even wondered if they'd both die out there before having the chance to finish this thing.

"I don't remember how long I was looking for you, it felt like hours but. . . the world might not have had that much time, so who knows?" She gave him a wry, almost bitter, grin at the prospective memory. "Finally I heard Pikachu calling as loud as he could, trying to reach the ears of anyone or anything that was brave enough to venture out to find you or try to save the world on their own. I grabbed a hold of you and helped keep your head above water and then tugged the line around my waist so Tracey could pull me back inland.

"And that's basically it."

"That's it?" He asked her, quirking a brow. It sure sounded like a more perilous journey than she'd summed it up as. What she'd done should have merited a thanks, or maybe even a medal. Hadn't she just admitted to saving his life, let alone helping him save the world? But she was blowing it all off as though swatting a fly away that had been bothering her. She was trying to make sure this wasn't a big deal.

And then something strange happened; Ash felt a flutter in his chest. It was in no means anything romantic, it was just. . . sympathetic. After all, Misty was the first friend he'd had other than Pikachu who would put herself at risk for him. As hard-headed as she sometimes behaved, she almost reminded him of his mother. Someone who watched him as he grew as a trainer, as a person, and stepped in without any doubts in order to assist him when necessary, even if she didn't word it that way.

His mother, who had fed and clothed him all the years prior to leaving on his Pokemon journey, who supported him even now with encouragement and care. And Misty may have liked to start the occasional fight and may have insulted him once or twice, and sure the knowledge she offered was sometimes riddled with a negative nickname or prod to his ego, but. . . when had she ever just sat there and let him suffer? In her own way, she was supporting him too, wasn't she?

Neither his mom nor Misty had been the most influential part of his journey, neither of them may have been a barrier between him and any trials he had ever faced but they both lessened the blows, they helped him succeed and pursue his dreams. They were so important to him because of that.

"Yeah, that's it." Misty's tone was somber as she let her head ease back into the pillow, took a deep breath, and finally turned away from him again after finishing her story. "See? You didn't miss much Ash, so don't worry about it."

Ash remembered waking on the beach with Misty's hand to his chest as she shook him around, easing his consciousness to the world, heaving breath and drenched in seawater. He remembered leaping to his feet, stumbling and fumbling up the path and praying that he didn't pass out again before finishing what he had to do to save everyone, his friends holding him up and asking him if he was okay. He had not questioned anything about it even once since then. How could he have been so remiss so as to have not wondered how he'd even reached land? He remembered thinking he was surely going to die as he plummeted into the frigid waters of the Archipelago. . .

"Pikapi?" His best friend asked, and he shook himself out of his blank stare and gave him a pat on the head out of acknowledgement, accompanied by a small smile.

"I'm fine, Pikachu. . . Thanks for asking." He pulled Pikachu up into his arms, gripping him an almost too-tight hug out of gratification. If not for his buddy holding him above the water until Misty had come to find him, he would have died. Both of them would have died.

He couldn't die yet.

And thanks to his friends, he didn't have to.

He allowed Pikachu to regain the place he'd been laying in before, but then slowly removed the blankets that had cocooned him in the bed for the past fair few hours. He twisted himself to the side, draping his legs over the edge and trying to put some weight on them even as his vision blurred from the dizzy wave that swept through his head. He shook himself to clear his mind and then attempted to stand up.

Unfortunately, that didn't last, and he fell to his quaking knees.

"Oof!" He exclaimed, causing Pikachu to peer at him from the bed and make sure he was okay, and he wasn't the only one. Misty's head whipped around fast enough to cause her neck to crack but she ignored the discomfort.

"Ash, you idiot, what are you doing?" She practically shouted, snapping up into a sitting position again. The vision at the corners of her eyes darkened but she ignored it for fear of her friend who seemed to have forgotten how sick he really was.

"It was! It was important!" He said affirmatively, apparently to her, as he crawled to her side. She stared down at him as he knelt there, catching his breath after his first movement since the day before. His whole body was so tired and aching after facing that inevitable end that he had somehow managed to prevent but he just had to tell her this!

"What the. . ." She gaped at him, nearly withdrawing from him and wondering if he'd lost the little bit of sense he'd been granted from birth. "Ash, get back in bed right now! I swear, sometimes you're so stu-"

"-Yeah, stupid, dense, idiotic, bike-wrecker; I gotcha." But he smiled at her anyway, and she felt her lips quirk upwards just a little bit as well.

Bike-wrecker. It had been awhile since she'd heard that one.

"But you'll still call me your friend anyway, won't ya, Myst?" And his gaze turned suddenly serious as he continued to speak. "What you did for me yesterday. . . Say what you want, act like it was nothing. . . but it was important. You helped me make it through. So thanks. I appreciate what you did for me. That's all I had to tell you."

She stared at him for another moment, wondering what she could possibly say to that. She'd come a long way from praying that she could take the secret of how far she'd gone to save Ash the previous day to her grave. Still, she was at least mildly surprised that it did indeed seem to matter to him. Whether it was lucky or unfortunate, she chose to held her breath for a few more seconds. . . which proved to be just enough time for the door to crash open once again, causing the two of them to flinch and Ash's resolute status beside her bed to falter so that he could crawl back over to his own.

"Hey you two, how are you doing, hm?" Melody grinned widely (almost mischievously) at the two of them, before her eyes trailed in Ash's direction and she gave a faint gasp, almost dropping the tray lined with small teapot and porcelain cups to the very ground he kneeled on. "Oh, Ashy, is something wrong? Did you fall?" And she immediately stepped up to his side, placing the tray on top of the bowl of cold water, and looping arms with him to help him to his feet.

Misty tried to ignore the faint prickling of something that was igniting almost like a warning bell in the back of her head. It only seemed to make her headache worse anyway. And strangely enough, as soon as it had come, it vanished once again along with Melody easing Ash into a sitting position on his mattress and letting him go. She seemed almost rushed about it.

"Fall? Yeah, maybe. . ." Ash smiled up at her in thanks for her assistance but didn't offer any further explanation.

"Wow, you might be sicker than we thought then. . ." And the brunette in turn placed one of her hands to her forehead and another one to his, ". . . though I can't tell since your head is still cool from the towel you've kept on it all day. I should go find a thermometer. I can get you guys more medicine too. I think it's been long enough since your last dosage." She turned to look at Misty here, the redhead strangely silent for her taste.

But then Misty couldn't help thinking of it. . . Yeah, Melody was more irritating now when she had given up on flirting with Ash compared to when they'd first arrived on the island and she'd been throwing everything in her arsenal at the guy.

"Well, anyway, before I do that, I'll pour you both some of my special ginseng green tea so you have something to drink to wash the pills down. I hope you don't mind, I brought honey instead of sugar since it's healthier for you anyway, and I - huh, I guess I must have forgotten the cream. Do you take that in your tea anyway?" She rambled on, waiting for them both to shake their heads before getting back to work, pulling the two small china cups over to her and carefully tipping the small pot over, watching carefully so she wouldn't spill it on accident. And without asking how much they wanted, she took the honey bear and squeezed some into each cup, picking up a small spoon from the tray and stirring the tea around before handing it to her patients.

"Well, I'll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to drink what you have. I can always pour you more when I get back." And then, without so much as a glance at either of them, she vanished from the room again, snapping the door shut behind her. She seemed to be in too much of a hurry. . .

Well, that's not weird at all, Misty thought to herself suspiciously as she finally did as she'd been recommended and took a sip from her tea.

"Eh?"

Ash turned to stare at her confusedly, eyeing the way she seemed to be staring at the tea in wonder.

"Something wrong, Myst?"

"Uh. . . I don't know, it's just. . . this tea. . ."

"Does it taste bad or something? Melody acted like it was special or something but, well, sometimes special can mean a lot of things. You know, like disgusting."

"No, it's not bad, that's not what I meant. . . It's just that it's. . . not as hot as I thought it'd be."

She waited for him to say something to that, something that confirmed her suspicions. But of course, he was Ash and just didn't understand where she was going in the slightest. In fact, rather than saying anything, he just continued to stare her down with a quirked brow, waiting for her to elaborate on this development.

"Ash, Melody was supposed to have been brewing this a little while ago while we were laying here. Remember? Tracey said that she was working on it when he came to check on us."

"So. . . ?"

"So if it's cold now, I can't help wondering how long she was standing outside our room."

OoOoO

Notes - The end of the first one-shot in this series. Truthfully, the finishing moment/line was a lot better sounding in my head, but I guess since it's just supposed to be one moment in time, a very small fraction of the huge journey Ash and Misty have ventured on together, it should be alright. The point was to prove - beyond crushing on him - Misty will do a lot for Ash. I'm not saying something as blunt as taking a bullet, since they've never faced a situation with an actual gun (in the English version). . . but as far as friends go, she's proven herself in my eyes. What she did for him in the movie 2000 seemed so crucial to me and yet it was never reflected upon, something I would consider a mistake. Ash isn't the only one who should have his heroic feats documented time and time again, especially when all he really is is a kid who cares so much for his friends and the trampled rights of honest people, that he can't just sit back and accept doing nothing.

Well, in my opinion anyway.

Tell me what you think, offer suggestions, if you have a specific thing you think should be written out between them, feel free to let me know. That is, in case you don't mind my possibly being inspired to flesh it out in the process. I'd give out credit for the idea of course.