Ash stood in front of the ocean of the empty beach, allowing his shoes to be filled with sand and the raindrops to fall onto him. He gazed out longingly at the waves of water in front of him. Had it really only been this time several weeks ago when he had proposed to Misty? Right in the very spot he was standing in?

And now as he stood there currently, the possibility that he had lost her forever ran across his mind. Ash didn't know why he had asked her to marry him in the first place. It just seemed so right, lying there, staring at her beautiful, happy face in front of him. The same face he knew he wanted to see every day for the rest of his life... he may had just shut out forever.

Running a hand through his wet, disheveled hair, Ash sighed heavily. How could everything have changed so fast? Even if they had not been properly communicating they were still together technically.  And now the current situation had taken a drastic step further to the point where she was back at home thinking over if she loved him as much as he loved her... leaving him feeling more alone than he had ever been.

"You know, you're gonna get struck by lightening or something."

Ash stood there for a moment, trying to contemplate whether or not he had actually heard her speak.  Slowly and carefully he managed to turn around at the sound of Misty's voice and to his pure joy and relief it had not been a figment of his imagination. There she was, standing before him, looking just as beautiful to him as she had been to him in the same state that night. Her hair was wet and hung in limp strands on her shoulders and her eyes portrayed a look of regret and sorrow towards him.

"A girl once told me that the beach was only fun when it was raining," he replied simply.

A small smile formed on Misty's face. "What kind of crazy, water loving freak said that?" Ash smirked slightly at the comment but it soon dissolved back into a serious expression. Neither one of them said anything for a moment but suddenly, all the tension and confusion from the past couple of weeks was broken.

Misty let a loud sigh escape her mouth and she then rushed up to Ash, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him more passionately and with more fervor than she ever had before. He returned the kiss, snaking one arm around her petite waist and moving the other one up to caress her cheek. The kiss broke in a need for air and Misty looked up to Ash, her breath rampant and tears streaming down her face, mixing with the raindrops.

"I love you," she breathed into his ear. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you," she repeated over and over again, her words beginning to come out in sobs. "I love you so much, Ash. I'm sorry, God, I'm sorry..." she began to apologize, crying along with it.

Ash clutched her face in his hands delicately. "Shh," he soothed her. "Shh, it's okay, baby, I know, I know..." he trailed off, pressing his forehead against her's. His previous thoughts or irritation at her actions diminished, he was just too overjoyed by her reassurance.

"I-I don't want you to think th-that I don't love you, because I do. God, I do so much, it's just that I-I was scared and I didn't know if I was ready for this but now I know that I am because I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you..." Ash cut Misty's ramblings short by silencing her, pressing a finger to her lips.

"Sweetie, it's okay, it's okay," he repeated gently. Misty's sobs began to calm down and she struggled to regain her composure. A weak smile formed on her face as her crying ceased and she looked up toward Ash.

"I still never answered your question," she reminded him quietly after a beat. Ash smiled as a wave of realization came over him. His grin widened and he stared at Misty lovingly, moving his hands down from her face to take his hands in her's. "Ask me again," she whispered almost pleadingly.

Ash exhaled deeply, still reeling with nervousness from the words he had to speak. "Will... you... marry me?"

Tears spilled down Misty's cheeks except this time they were those of happiness, not sorrow. "Yes," she breathed. "I will."

And on that note Ash let out a laugh of relief. All of his worries and fears confronted and he put his arms around her, enveloping her in a tight embrace. He breathed in the toxic scent of her wet hair, allowing his own eyes to become moist with tears of rapture and delight. She was going to marry him... and they would forever be as one.

A large crash of thunder and lightening was released from the sky, breaking the serenity of the moment. Ash looked toward Misty, an impish smile on his face. "Although this is very fun, if we don't find shelter soon we will be struck by lightening," he informed her causing her to laugh in response.

Misty darted her eyes around for a place where they could move in to temporarily considering the car was pretty far away. She then spotted the lighthouse on the other end of the beach, but still not too far away from them. "Come on, let's go in there," she demanded Ash, taking his hand in her's and sprinting off in the other direction.

Misty opened the door to the lighthouse building, the dry atmosphere a huge relief for her and Ash. She closed the door behind them and took a look around. They were in a small room which was at the bottom of a long, winding staircase. It was a small area which was completely empty except a first aid kit on a nearby ledge and a cot lying in the corner.

"This is good, we'll just stay in here until it's safe enough to go back to the car," Ash remarked toward her. Misty didn't respond, she just simply thrust her arms around his neck and enveloped him in a passionate kiss, similar to the ones they had been indulged in before. He looked at her confusingly after they broke apart. "What was that for?" he queried, somewhat confused.

"What the future Mrs. Ketchum is not allowed to kiss her fiancé?" Misty asked him impishly causing him to grin.

"Well, I never said that..." Ash responded in the same tone before pulling her into another kiss, seating her on his lap as they plopped down on the cot. They were just making the kiss more passionate when Ash realized something as he felt a small object poking out from his coat pocket. "Oh, I almost forgot," he exclaimed, breaking the kiss and beginning to reach into his jacket.

"Forgot what?" she inquired.

Ash pulled out the object which appeared to be a small velvet box. Misty's eyes widened as she immediately knew the contents it held inside and she gasped as he opened it to reveal a magnificent diamond engagement ring.

"I got it on the way home from work a couple of days ago," he sheepishly told her, scratching the back of his head. "I thought maybe we try one more time to get this right?" She smiled, nodding along and willingly urged him as he got down on one knee. "Misty Waterflower..." Ash began and she immediately laughed at his serious tone. "...my love, my life, my best friend, my everything through anything..."

"Honey, I get the idea, can we just cut to the chase already?" Misty interrupted him.

Ash smirked at her tone and began to wrap it up to her requests. "...will you be my wife?"

She stared at the ring aimlessly. "Yeah," Misty sighed, adding fake carelessness and sarcasm to her voice. "Again." He leaned in and promptly kissed her after sliding the ring onto her left hand. They fell into a series of long passionate kisses before something caught her eye and she broke the clinch they were in. "Hey, the rain stopped," Misty commented upon glancing out the window.

Ash stood and wiggled out his fingers, signaling for her to take his hand. He did so and they stepped back outside to the cool evening walking along the still wet sand. "Hey, so which one of my proposals did you like the best?" he impishly inquired after they had been walking for several minutes.

Misty laughed at the comment, flinging a damp strand of hair aside. "Hmm, well they were all very, er..."

"Pathetic?"

She looked at him sympathetically. "No," she firmly told him. "They were all very unique."

Smirking, Ash removed one of his hands from hers and placed it around her shoulders as she leaned in toward him. "I'm sorry it took me so long to finally get it right," he halfheartedly apologized.

"Aw, don't worry about it," Misty giggled in response. "You know what they say, third time's a charm." There was a brief pause before she spoke again. "And Ash?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry it took me so long to finally give you an answer," she told him seriously, her blue eyes filled with sorrow and guilt. Ash noticed her expression and tilted her chin up, embracing her in a reassuring kiss.

"Don't worry about it," he said as the kiss broke. "I don't think it could have come at a more right time."

With that, he rather elegantly kissed her once again, letting the tender gesture last longer than the previous one.  They both turned in the direction toward the ocean after they broke apart, gazing at the now clear night horizon.

The newly engaged couple simply held one another while listening to the gentle current of the sea water pulsated through the air. The salted scent of the ocean was sent over the sand and into the atmosphere of their surroundings. It was not raining, but that did not mean it was not an exciting time at the beach… it most certainly was.

And 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
But I do love you
But I do… love… you

Fin.

A/N: Okay, I know that ending was a little rushed and cliché but I couldn't really think of a better way to make it longer.  And also, I don't really think that Ash and Misty would let a whole two weeks pass without coming to an adult discussion about their situation but that's just what I put in here, lol.  I hope this wasn't a disappointing second part, reviews are greatly appreciated. =)