Vanish

Chapter 19

Ash tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the table late that night. He found that he couldn't get to sleep, and he decided to just sit down at the kitchen table. He had propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. He was just staring ahead, thinking about what had happened so far. Thinking about what he would do once Caroline and Norman let him go.

He looked to the clock. 2:27 AM. Ash realized he had been there, doing nothing, for almost four hours. It wasn't his fault he couldn't sleep. Maybe he would stay there all night. But on the other hand, he might be tired enough to get back to the couch.

"Ash?" a voice whispered from behind Ash. "What are you doing up so late?"

Ash turned to see Misty, her red-orange hair let down to reach a little past her shoulders. "Uhhh... I could ask you the same thing."

"I just came to get a drink of water..." Misty seated herself in a chair across from Ash. "What? You can't get to sleep?"

"Something like that," Ash answered in a slightly preoccupied voice.

"Why'd you just leave after Beautifly got attacked? Didn't you give a damn?"

"Oh, no, I didn't give a damn about Beautifly," Ash responded, sarcasm dripping from each word. "Of course I cared. But at that point, it was just the perfect way to hit the road. No one would notice me missing when Beautifly was hurt. I'm sorry, but I had to..." He looked at Misty helplessly. "I just got to get Pikachu back... I can't explain it..."

"If you want Pikachu back so bad, why don't you let me and the others come with you? If we were all there, I bet we'd be able to get Pikachu back together."

"Maybe so, but I don't want you-"

"-getting hurt," Misty finished in a bored voice. "Don't give me that crap, Ash Ketchum. Why can't you just see that it makes more sense if we all go?"

"Because, Misty. You, apparently, don't understand. If anything happened to you-to any of you, I'd never be able to forgive myself." Ash held his arms out, as if expecting Misty to see the cuts and burns underneath the long sleeves of his sweatshirt. "I don't want Team Rocket hurting you like they hurt me."

"Come on, Ash, it's Team Rocket. They never really posed a threat."

Ash shook his head. "It's different now. Now that they have Pikachu, they feel like they can do anything. They're not afraid to hurt us anymore. They wanted to kill me, Mist. They almost succeeded. If they did succeed in killing you or May, or Brock or Max... I don't know what I would do."

Misty was silent for a long time before commenting, "It must hurt a lot...losing Pikachu..."

"I know it hurts. It was meant to," Ash replied. "Why do you think I try so hard to get him back? It's not like I want to hurt forever, you know. And just thinking about Pikachu being with Team Rocket all the time gives me the creeps. Thinking about Pikachu being with their boss just gives me bigger creeps. You know they're eventually going to give Pikachu to their boss, so they can get that promotion they're always blabbing about. That's why I've got to work fast... Before that happens..."

"I don't know why, but I don't think Team Rocket will give Pikachu to their boss for a while," Misty commented dryly. "Since Pikachu considers Team Rocket his friends, it changes the whole situation."

"I know. They're revenge-hungry. They want to kick my ass." Ash shook his head. "And what can I say? They've been doing a pretty good job so far."

"Just don't let them get you down. You don't need that now."

"I know," Ash said again. He glared. "But they just piss me off so much." He clenched his fists so hard, he could feel his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. "I wish they would just die!" He tried to hold up all the anger he felt burning inside him, the burning almost overpowering the pain from his wounds. "They've been giving me this shit ever since I was ten. I'm frickin' sick of it! And now that they actually succeeded in stealing Pikachu, it just makes it that much worse!"