Disclaimer – I do not, and never will own a lot of things in my life and Pokemon just happens to be one of those things.

Pretend to be Nice – Driving Me Out

Misty glanced around hopefully praying she would catch even a glimpse of Westlife. 

At least, that's what her mind liked to believe.  The truth of the matter was that she was looking for Ash, waiting for him to appear and lift her off her feet in a loving embrace just like every dream she had ever had in the last eight years.

"Are you going in, Miss?" a stout old man with greying hair and a face lined with kindness and hardship asked in a pleasant voice.  By the looks of him Misty presumed he was some kind of guard or usher for the concert.

"Maybe," she replied automatically, distracted by the kindness and concern in his voice.  "I mean," she began, catching herself before she related to him her whole life story, "I'm waiting for someone."

"Ok miss," the grandpa like guard, who reminded her very much of her own grandfather or Santa, replied almost sceptically, "but whoever he is he better get here soon or you'll miss the first set.  It's not right to keep a young lady waiting."

"I'll tell him that," she replied before the guard walked away with a fake smile on her face.  She turned her back and let the smile drop off her face the moment he was far enough away.

Part of her was relieved to have him gone.  If she'd spoken to him any longer she probably would have ended up telling him all about Ash and cried on his shoulder, but on the other hand it was nice to have someone else there to talk to.

She felt so alone out there, with nobody to comfort her ten minutes later when the band began to play and tears pricked at the back of her eyes.

'He's not coming,' her mind taunted.  'He hates you.  He doesn't care.'

The crowed began to roar loudly from within the Indigo Plataux Arena.  Westlife had arrived and people were going crazy with adoration.

It was the hugest arena in the whole of Kanto and it held so many familiar memories to Misty.  It was where Ash had competed in his first league and also where he had won one of his first leagues.  It was where the ceremony was held to commemorate Ash on receiving his first Master's title.

It was where she had first admitted that she was in love with him.

Inside the noise of the crowd was beginning to dull down and she could hear the opening bars to a familiar love ballad began to play.

She smiled slightly and sang along quietly to what was probably one of her absolute favourite Westlife songs.  She closed her eyes, picturing herself inside, wishing she could be in there sitting in her perfect seats and savouring every second.  And then she immediately felt guilty and the smile faded from her face.

"Bad Misty," she scolded herself.  'No singing.  No wishing.  You're a bad friend and you don't deserve to be there.'

She sighed, hit by the irony of it all.

Inside, beyond those cold stone walls that denied her entrance, they were playing her favourite song.  It was a song that described perfectly her situation right now.

She sighed.

She was going to have to face facts.  Ash wasn't going to come, he didn't feel the same and he didn't care.

Her heart broke.  It hurt more than she had ever imagined it would, but then she had always hoped she would never have to feel this kind of pain; that Ash would never hurt her.

But the truth of the matter was that he was the only one that could hurt her and even if he didn't know it, this seperation was killing her right now in a way she could barely understand.

She was so sure he was her soul mate; that they were destined to be together but I guess she was wrong because soul mates required love and how could Ash ever love her?

And with each second that passed by her heart broke just a little bit more . . .

And then it happened.

It doesn't take much to learn

When the bridges that you burn

Leave you stranded feeling alone

It doesn't take much to cry

When you're living in a lie

And deceiving that someone who cares

And if I could turn back the time

I would put you first in my life

And I

Would risk it for you

To prove my love is true

I build a wall around my heart

That would only break apart

For you

Can change the way I feel

So tell me what's the deal

Don't say

Don't say it's too late

And now

The hills are getting hard to climb

I'm running out of time

My decisions are pending on you

I will accept the blame

For burning out the flame

Hoping the story will twist once again

And if I could turn back the time

I would put you first in my life

And I

Would risk it for you

To prove my love is true

I build a wall around my heart

That would only break apart

For you

Can change the way I feel

So tell me what's the deal

Don't say

Don't say it's too late

Now I'm laying it all on the line

For you

And I

Would risk it for you

To prove my love is true

I build a wall around my heart

That would only break apart

For you

Can change the way I feel

So tell me what's the deal

Don't say

Don't say it's too late

And I

Would risk it for you

To prove my love is true

I build a wall around my heart

That would only break apart

For you

Can change the way I feel

So tell me what's the deal

Don't say

Don't say it's too late

Don't say

Don't say it's too late

(Westlife 'Don't Say It's Too Late')

It didn't make sense.  It was completely wrong.  This wasn't the way things were supposed to go.

It was supposed to be the other way round.  It was supposed to be her.  She was the one. 

(A/N: I really considered stopping it right here and leaving it up to your imaginations to decide what was so wrong but that would be mean and seeing as I'm in a generous mood today I will continued . . . for now.  Mwahahahahahhahaha!)

She was the one who had done all the awful things.  She was the one who had screwed up, the one who had put some stupid boyband (A/N: so don't mean that) before their friendship.  She was the one who had compromised everything for something so trivial.

She was the one who was supposed to be apologising!

Misty took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves before she tried to speak.  "Wh-why are you apologising?" she asked anxiously surprised he was even talking to her at all.

"Because I was late," he replied calmly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  As if the last few days just hadn't happed and everything was just the same as it had always been and should be.

"But what I did . . ." she began but Ash cut her off with a flick of his hand before she could get the words out.

"I could never stay angry at you Misty, no matter how hard I try," he explained as he looked sincerely into her eyes.  "I guess I just love you too much.  You mean the world to me and I couldn't stand . . ."

It was Misty's turn to cut him off, but not with a gesture.  Overcome with joy Misty had allowed her self to run into his arms and kissed him with all the longing and love she had kept inside for far too long.

It was the most amazing kiss known to man.  A kiss born of a love truer than any of us could ever imagine.  It was like every dream come true, every wish made reality.  It was like fireworks and shooting stars and oceans and warm sunshine and spring and chocolate and silk.  It enhanced every sense, making their hearts beat faster and their skin prickle with electricity.  It was perfect.

When they pulled away Ash was speechless. 

Misty smiled shyly making his heart beat even faster, if that was even possible.  She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek as she whispered in his ear the words he had longed to hear for so long, the words he still didn't quite believe in spite of the fact that he had read them about one hundred times in her letter.

"I love you too, Ash," she whispered lovingly in his ear.

Ash's own smile widened a she kissed him again, a kiss even greater than the first.  He didn't think he ever wanted to stop kissing her, but of course breathing came into play and he was forced to pull away.

"Shall we go in?" he suggested to which Misty nodded and entwined her fingers with his.

They walked hand and hand towards that same old guard from before who smiled kindly at them while he took the tickets from Ash.

"Is this him?" he asked.

Misty smiled and nodded.

"He worth the wait?"

Misty nodded again as she looked towards Ash.  "Yeah, he is."  Ash kissed her cheek lightly and led her into the concert.

And this was the beginning of something beautiful, or better still something magical.  This was the beginning of Ash and Misty, of a love that will span across lifetimes, and continents and galaxies and will survive whatever life (or insane an author) throws at it.

For this is a love truer than any other that could possibly exist.  A love so strong it will withstand time and heartache and nothing will ever break it.

There's something that can be said for love, it's true to every word spoken about it.  It moves mountains, it makes buildings crumble in its path, it makes oceans part.  It's worth being brave for, fighting for, dying for.  It's worth risking everything for and I guess the thing that matters the most is that if you don't risk everything for it, then you risk even more.

The End

So, I hope you all enjoyed 'Pretend to be Nice'.  Hopefully now that I've got that out of my system I can get back to 'On Angels Wings'.

Please review.