Questions of the Heart
Romance-PG13
Summary: Sometimes we can't find the right answers to certain questions. Misty, however, is about to learn that some questions will not go away unanswered by themselves. AAMRN, fluffy, mushy, etc. =)

A/N: This is just a little something I put together.  It is quite longer than a usual one shot, so I have decided to post the first half now and then the conclusion a little while after. ;)  Please note, that I did borrow dialogue and plot situations from an episode of Charmed so I cannot take complete credit for theses ideas.  The song used is Leann Rimes' 'But I Do Love You'.  Enjoy =)
Ash/Misty-23.Brock-25
--

I don't like to
Be alone in the night
And I don't like to
Hear I'm wrong when I'm right
And I don't like to
Have the rain on my shoes
But I do… love… you
But I do love you

Night had engulfed the land quite some time ago. The sun had set and passed from its brilliant pink sunset to a darkening gray sky. The ocean currents pulsated swiftly up on the cost, soaking the sand with every wave it made. A small crowd of people were remained on the beach, basking in the warmth that remained in the air still in the brisk autumn night they were in.

Ash and Misty strode down the beach, their hands entwined and toes sinking into the cool sand. The couple of five years had decided to take a stroll on the beach, due to the unseasonably warm temperature outside. It actually was quite the romantic setting despite their teasing comments being thrown back and forth through one another.

"Hey, you know what I hate?" Misty inquired randomly, looking up at Ash, her blue eyes wide with innocence and question.

"Hmm, bugs, carrots, peppers, ghosts..." he began to name a few and slapped him lightly for answering her rhetorical question. He grinned in response to her annoyed expression.

"I hate it when you're walking on the beach and the sand gets all underneath your toenails and you can't get it out," she explained, glancing down at her bare feet as she did so.

"Oh, yes, of course," Ash nodded, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

"Oh, really?" Misty inquired toward him in the same tone.

"Yup, its one of my biggest pet peeves, I lose sleep over it." She slapped him once again and he began to laugh.

"You're a mean, mean, boy, Ash Ketchum," Misty told him playfully in a pretend baby voice.

"Yeah? Well, you're... scrawny," he teased her back, an impish grin on his face.

"Dense."

"Runt."

"Bike-stealer." Their joking antics soon ceased as they both began to giggle at the memories of their past. "Oh my God," Misty began to comment, laughing. "We were such losers."

"Speak for yourself myself," Ash began to tease her once again. She stuck her tongue out at him and he returned the gesture. They soon both began to laugh again and he wrapped both of his arms around her, placing a slobbery kiss on her cheek.

A roar of thunder was then released from the sky as the dark clouds overhead moved inward to one another. And then, suddenly, a downfall of pouring rain was released from the sky, sprinkling down on the sand, ocean, and the people standing on the beach. The remaining small crowd of people quickly packed up their things, running back toward their cars, shielding their heads from the rain, not wanting to be caught in the storm. The beach finished emptying out and the only people who were left standing there were Ash and Misty.

Ash blinked back the droplets of water that got caught in his eyes and opened his mouth to suggest that they depart. He never got the chance, however, for Misty let out a squeal of delight and sprinted away from him to the ocean's edge.

"Misty!" he called out to her, moving in her direction slightly. "What are you doing? We have to back."

Misty did not respond to him, she was too busy spinning in circles with her arms wide open, trying to catch raindrops on her tongue. "Come on!" she yelled to him, signaling with her hand for him to come over to her. Ash reluctantly moved from his position, sighing in exasperation as he did so.

"Myst," he began, trying to reason with her again. "You're gonna get struck by lightening or something, let's go."

She looked up at him incredulously. "Are you kidding me? The only time the beach is fun is when it's raining outside," she explained, splashing her feet in the water coming over her ankles for affect. Ash shook his head, staring at her in amazement. There she was, a twenty-three year old woman and still she acted like the enthusiastic ten year old she once has been. Misty's free spirit and unique zest for life was not something that had diminished over the years.

"You are one crazy, water loving freak," he bluntly remarked.

Misty looked up at her boyfriend tenderly. "Aw, gee, thanks, honey, I love you too," she told him impishly, pressing her hand playfully to his cheek. Ash grinned back at her and continued to watch her prance through the ocean like a child.

Suddenly, a large wave arose, higher than the previous smaller ones. It rose up above Ash and Misty's shoulder levels and before they could react it came smashing down over their heads, entangling them in the surf. They both closed their eyes waiting for the effects of the impact of the wave to take place. The two of them found themselves entangled with one another on the sandy ground, Ash lying on top of Misty in a position that was usually only found in their bedroom.

Each one of them slowly opened their eyes, glancing around to see if they were okay from what had just happened. Their eyes met and their fear suddenly subsided as Ash and Misty both burst into hysterics over what had just happened.

"We have to stop meeting like this," Misty commented between laughs.

Ash stared down at her, giggling and smiling as well. Then all of a sudden, as he looked at her, he found him lost in her eyes like he had never been before. She was beautiful. Her red tresses were wet and messy and constantly fell onto her face in all directions. Her aqua orbs sparkled with innocence and through them he could see all the love she had for him and what he had for her. Her pink lips which rested on her pale skin were shaped in a smile of pure happiness. And as Ash gazed longingly at the love of his life, he knew that he wanted to be able to make her happy forever. And it was that thought that possessed him to speak the words he next did without even thinking of the repercussions of them.

"Marry me," he blurted out.

Misty stopped laughing and her smiled disappeared from her face. She stared at Ash, wide-eyed, trying to process if she had heard him right. Only one stuttering word was able to escape from her lips. "W-w-what?"

I don't like to
See the sky painted gray
And I don't like when
Nothing's going my way
And I don't like to
Be the one with the blues
But I do… love… you
But I do love you

--

The door to Ash and Misty's apartment swung open as they entered it, both still clad in their sea-water soaked clothing.

"Don't you think we should talk about this?" Ash asked her for the millionth time since they left the beach.

Misty turned to him, distractedly combing out the knots in her hair with her fingers. "Talk about what?" she inquired nervously in response.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Ash and Misty both stopped their arguing as Brock's voice filled the air. He sat at their kitchen counter, obviously having let himself in with the key they had given him.

"Man, what are you doing here?" Ash queried upon seeing him.

Brock held up a thick book in his hand. "Don't you remember? You two said you would help me pick out a name for the baby." Ash and Misty both sighed as they remembered what they had promised to help out with. Suzie, Brock's wife of nearly two years was five months pregnant with their first child. She had given her husband the ever-so-difficult task of naming their child but not without a long list of restrictions and requirements. "You forgot didn't you?" he inquired upon seeing their expressions.

"Oh, God, Brock, honey, we're sorry," Misty hurriedly apologized to him, feeling guilty.

"Nah, its fine, don't worry about it, you guys are here now," Brock reassured her understandingly. He then noticed their appearances and a smirk formed on his face. "So, I guess the answer to the question of whether or not you guys got caught in the storm is pretty obvious, huh?" he queried sarcastically.

"Speaking of unanswered questions..." Ash began to imply toward Misty, getting an annoyed sigh from her in response.

"Now is not the time for this, Ash," she replied in exasperation. "Um, look I'm just gonna go shower and then Brock, I promise I will help you pick out a name," Misty informed as she began to head for the bathroom.

"Shouldn't we make time for it?" Ash asked referring to her previous statement.

"No, not now we shouldn't."

Brock stared at his two best friends of thirteen years suspiciously. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing," Misty sighed, looking down towards to floor.

Ash sighed as well, somewhat hurt by her considering his proposal as 'nothing.' "Nothing," he repeated. "I'm, uh, gonna go get changed as well," he said quietly, before moving to walk into the bedroom, a depressed visage covering his face. Brock turned to his female friend questioningly.

"Did you two have a fight?"

"No, he just..." Misty shook her head, trailing off. "...never mind," she muttered, before heading in the direction of the bathroom, leaving a suspicious Brock to wonder what had just went on.

--

Misty tucked a dry strand of hair behind her ear and smoothed out the new clothing she had on as she looked at the book of names with Brock. "Okay, so Suzie's eliminated any name that begins with a vowel, any name with the same two letters in a row in it, and any name remotely related to her ex-boyfriend, Dylan's," she concluded before pausing to make a comment toward Brock. "She doesn't trust you with this, does she?"

"She doesn't trust me with the throw pillows, what do you think?" he remarked causing Misty to slightly giggle in response for a moment before flipping another page in the book. Brock noticed her distracted expression as she skimmed the names on each page and his natural instinct told him that something had occurred between his younger 'brother and sister'. "So, um, are you gonna tell me what happened out there?" he finally inquired.

"Well, there's not really much to tell. I mean it started to rain and this wave knocked us down..." Misty started to explain.

"That's not what I mean," Brock cut her off and she sighed, knowing he was going to make him tell her either way. "What happened between you and Ash?"

"Oh, yeah, that..." she said, pretending not to understand what he had been insinuating before. Misty closed the book and drummed her fingers on the cover, looking downwards. "Um, I'm not exactly sure..." She arose from her seat and moved over to the sink as she nonchalantly spoke her next words. "He asked me to marry him."

Brock was taken aback. "What? He-he did what? He did?"

Misty smiled slightly, pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot near the sink. "More or less."

"Well, what did you say?" he asked her, still reeling from the shock. Ash had not informed him of any plans of proposing to Misty. He had mentioned it vaguely in the past but most of the time he was referring to it abstractedly. He had never confronted any actual plans of doing so, and these were the sort of things that Ash usually went to him for help about.

"I didn't know what to say, I was too surprised," she sighed, setting her cup down. "I mean I claim to know everything about him and what he does and yet I never saw this one coming."

"Uh, wow. This is... this is news to me."

Misty smirked. "Tell me about it."

"Well, Myst, don't kid yourself here, you have to give him an answer sooner of later. Because if you don't it's gonna be a source of huge concerns, especially for him," Brock told her seriously.

She looked up towards him. "I kind of have to be concerned with my own concerns right now." Sighing, Brock stood up and moved over to stand next to Misty. "I love Ash," she told him as he reached her. "You know I do. But, despite my obsession with romance, I don't know if I am actually, truly ready to be married."

"So, what are you gonna tell him?"

She looked at Brock, pouting slightly. "I don't know."

"Well, you gotta tell him something, because a question like that just doesn't go away all by itself."

"Are you sure?" Misty asked him in a playful whining tone.

Brock took her hand in his in a friendly embrace. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure," he told her in the same tone causing her to laugh slightly in response.

"Hey." They both turned to see a dry Ash, in new clothing as well. He was standing there with his hand in his pockets, looking somewhat nervous.

"Hey," Misty replied quietly.

Brock looked from Ash to Misty and began to excuse himself, knowing that he should probably come back another time. "Uh, look guys, thanks for all your help but I'm just going to head off now," he said, turning towards the door.

"Bye," the two of them bid him farewell in unison as he exited, leaving the two of them alone once again.

"So, did you guys find a name in that short time while I was getting changed?" Ash asked Misty, trying to break the awkward silence that was existing between them.

"Um, yeah, we discussed a few possibilities," she lied, averting her gaze away from him.

"Well, that's... good," Ash stammered. Another tension soon began to take place as neither one of them spoke. "Uh, I guess I'm going to..." He signaled toward their room and started to head in that direction before Misty approached him.

"No, Ash, wait," she stopped him causing him to turn to face her and cease his walking. "We should talk."

Ash nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. "All right," he agreed, waiting for her to continue speaking.

"It's just... hard," she tried to explain without much luck considering a hurt expression formed on his face as soon as the words left her mouth.

"It's just me."

"Okay, let me ask you something," she started, stepping closer to him. "When you, you know, proposed… um, did you mean to? Or did it just come out in the heat of the moment?"

Ash bit his lip. "Well, does that matter?"

"Well, yeah, it matters to me," Misty told him softly.

"It sorta just came out in the heat of the moment," he admitted.

A look of disappointment formed on her face. "Oh," she commented flatly.

"But that doesn't mean that once I said it I wasn't serious because I-I was, I still am," Ash stuttered as he tried to explain his reasoning behind his actions.

"Ash..." Misty sighed, coming at a loss of words.

"Misty, listen to me. I know it was crazy to ask, and I know it doesn't really make any sense to just decide out of the blue, but that shouldn't matter. If things like that did we never would have fallen in love in the first place," he told her gently. She looked at him longingly, placing both of her palms on either side of his face. "I love you, Misty," Ash continued. "And I don't know where we go from here but, I do know where ever it is, I want it to be with you."

Misty nodded, trying her hardest to absorb the information she had just learned. "I know," she whispered tenderly to him. "Look, um, can you just let me sleep on it and we'll talk more in the morning?" she asked him after a beat.

Ash nodded understandingly. "I can do that."

"Thank you," Misty said to him, her voice grateful and relieved. "I'm going to turn in." She began to head towards the bedroom door but stopped, pressing a small peck on his cheek rather than the long passionate ones on the lips that she usually gave him. She stepped into the bedroom, leaving Ash still standing by himself in the kitchen, alone with his own thoughts.

--

Night passed and morning soon came. Ash sat in the kitchen, eating a bagel and allowing his thoughts to reflect on the events that had taken place over the past twenty-four hours. He hadn't said a word to Misty since their short discussion last night. When he walked into the bedroom she was already asleep and when he awoke in the morning she was already bustling about, getting ready for work.

Misty had become a social worker at the Viridian Social Services Center. She had been working there for about a steady two years and she was currently doing very well. It was quite different from her childhood goal of becoming a water master but she loved what she did. Ash, on the other hand, had accomplished his dream of becoming a master and still held the title he won at the age of sixteen. He currently worked for the League doing the usual paperwork, but still battling and taking trips which were the part of the life as a master that he fantasized of as a kid.

Ash's musings were interrupted as Misty walked out from the bedroom. She was dressed in her usual work attire which this time consisted of a short sleeved, fitted gray dress and heels. She hurried over to the table, pouring herself a cup of coffee and still not saying a word to Ash.

"Well, good morning there, sunshine," he greeted her, hoping to get a laugh out of her but had no such luck.

"Morning," she replied emotionlessly, not even making eye contact with him.

"D-did you sleep well?" he asked, trying to start up a conversation that would lead into the topic she said she would think about overnight.

"Uh, yeah, I slept fine," Misty responded absentmindedly once again, taking a sip of her coffee in-between. She moved over to the other side of the kitchen table, retrieving her keys which lay there and moving to place them in her bag. Ash watched her as she quickly moved around, trying to find the proper time to cut in.

"So..." he began to inquire suddenly. "Did you think about it?"

Misty looked up at him for the first time. "What?" she asked, zipping her bag as she did so.

"Y-you said that you would think about it and you'd tell me your answer in the morning."

"Ash, I said that I would sleep on it, I never said that I would make a decision," she reminded him, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"Oh, I know, I know," he hastily reassured her. "But, um, you still said we would talk about it?"

Misty ran a hand through her crimson locks nervously. She was not ready to have another conversation like the one they had the night before. That would require her coming closer to making an actual decision and she was too scared to do with that yet.

"Uh, actually, honey, I'm gonna be late for work," she told him, glancing down at her watch in a desperate attempt for an escape.

Ash looked down at his own watch. "You still have fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, okay, I gotta go, sweetie, see you later, bye," Misty hurriedly said as she gathered her belongings and hurried out the door without even giving him a further chance to question her and just left him sitting there.. feeling completely and utterly dejected.

--

Misty sat at her desk in her cubicle as the busy ramblings and information of Viridian Social Services were passed throughout the office. Her boss had told her to call one of the clients that had hired the company but she put his requests on hold at the moment as she kept the phone pressed tightly to her ear. She had a much more personal call to make, she needed advice about her current situation.

"I still don't understand why you didn't just come out and say yes," Daisy told her sister on the other line after learning her dilemma.

"I already told you, Daisy, I was too shocked to even say anything," Misty answered, trying to explain her reasoning yet again.

"Well, I was shocked too when Craig asked me to marry him but I accepted the second after and look how happy we turned out to be," Daisy reminded her, referring to her current husband of seven years.

"Well, you know, you had an idea that Craig was going to ask you. This happened completely at random. I mean, one minute we're splashing in the ocean in the rain acting all cute, get knocked down by some giant wave, and then the next thing I know he pops the question."

"Oh, come on," she tried to persuade her youngest sister. "Just because he didn't have the ring, he was actually lying on top of you instead of kneeling down on one knee, and the fact that his proposal was more of a demand than a question... doesn't mean you shouldn't marry him."

Misty face-vaulted as her sister's reminders. "Aren't you the convincing one?" she inquired sarcastically.

"Come on, Myst," Daisy protested. "Why are you being like this? You love him, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed.

"Well, then what is the problem?"

Misty sighed heavily. "I don't know. I just don't know if I'm ready for that type of commitment yet."

Daisy's voice changed to a much more caring than joking tone. "Honey, I know that you're ready. You've been ready since you were ten years old." Misty smiled at her words, thinking about them in the brief silence. "Ooh, sweetie, I've got to go, Chelsea just got home," Daisy informed her, speaking about her five year old daughter. "Call me later with info?"

"Okay, sure."

"I'll help you start planning the wedding," she commented playfully.

"Cute," Misty muttered sarcastically.

Daisy giggled. "All right, bye."

"Bye." Misty hung up the phone, thinking over her sister's words of wisdom. Her musing was interrupted as soon as it began when the telephone rang again. "Misty Waterflower," she answered, trying to sound as professional as she could.

"Hey," Ash's cheerful voice on the other line greeted her.

"Ash," Misty replied, with much less enthusiasm than he held in his voice. "I mean, hey, what's up?"

"Well, I was just thinking, you know, since we didn't really get to talk about our... situation, this morning.."

"Oh God, yeah, I'm sorry about that but I just had so much work to get to here," Misty added a slight chuckle at the end of her sentence, trying to make it sound the least bit believable when they both knew it was a pathetic attempt at a lie.

"Yeah.." Ash responded, his voice flat and somewhat hurt at her obvious fib. "Anyway, I was thinking," he began, in his usual tone. "Since we didn't have a chance to talk this morning, that I'd take an early lunch break and I'd take you out for lunch when you go on yours."

Misty paused, biting down on her lip. She knew she had no right to be putting Ash through such anxiousness, but when she suggested they discuss the situation in the morning it was just an escape from the current conversation. She did not want him to corner her in a position where her decision would affect the future of their relationship, she still needed to think things out and would have to come to him on her own time.

"Um, honey, that's sweet, but I'm totally swamped here," Misty explained to him, trying to find an excuse to avoid the scenario that was coming to mind.

"Oh." The disappointment in Ash's voice was evident. "You can't even go on your lunch break? I mean, Myst, come on, we have to talk about this."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm sorry but I can't make it, I'll see you at home later. Bye." Misty ended the call without even giving him another chance to speak. She hung up the phone on the receiver, massaging her temples to reduce the impending headache.

"Hey, who was that you were on the phone with? It didn't really sound like a typical business conversation." Misty looked up to see her coworker and friend, Anna, looking at her with questioning eyes after overhearing Misty's conversation.

"Oh," Misty laughed lightly in response. "Um actually that was.." She paused before choosing her next words. "...my fiancé," she finished, surprising herself as she spoke.

Anna arched an eyebrow at her. "Your fiancé?" she repeated upon hearing it. Misty had not informed her of any news of becoming engaged and she was surprised to hear the news.

"Yeah, I just wanted to hear how it sounded," Misty admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"And?"

"Kinda weird."

Anna laughed out loud at Misty's remark. "Hey, Misty, you might your relationship issues on hold for a moment because Mr. Cowan asked you to call the Petersons about their adoption papers fifteen minutes ago," she advised her, reminding her of their boss' previous orders.

"Oh! Right.." Misty exclaimed, realizing. She quickly picked up the phone and dialed the given number, pushing her personal thoughts aside momentarily as she returned to work.

Love everything about the way you're loving me
The way you lay your head upon my shoulder when you sleep
And I love to kiss you in the rain
I love everything you do
Oh I do

TBC

A/N: The conclusion will be posted shortly, so for now just tell me what you think of this beginning part.  Please nobody tell me that Misty is OOC for not wanting to get married because even the most romantic people who are very much in love have their doubts about taking such a drastic step and I did try to have her explain her reasoning for not being ready within the story. ;)  Thanks, and R+R =)