Here's chapter two. Hope you like it!

Misty's eyes fluttered open and she closed them almost immediately from the rush of blinding white light that filled her vision. She slowly opened them again, giving herself time to adjust.

Where am I?

A figure suddenly filled her line of sight. She recognized it as her older sister Daisy.

What is she doing here? Am I still alive?

"Misty…can you hear me?" Daisy asked.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud.

Daisy's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Oh thank goodness you're awake! We thought we lost you. You're in the hospital. I found you in the pool and I thought you had drowned."

I thought so too. That's what I wanted.

"Is she awake?" another voice asked.

"Yeah. Come on in girls."

Misty looked over and saw her two other sisters Violet and Lily walk into the room.

"How are you feeling Misty?" Violet asked.

"Tired, but other than that, I'm okay," she answered.

"Daisy, what happened? Did she hit her head or something?" Lily asked.

"No. She didn't have a bruise and she wasn't bleeding."

"She couldn't have run out of breath. She knows when to resurface." Lily said.

"Girls, can I talk to you in the other room for a second?" Violet asked.

The other two nodded and they left the room.

Misty closed her eyes, trying to sort out her current situation. She didn't know whether to be grateful or angry. On the one hand, she was pleasantly surprised that Daisy had saved her life. She knew Daisy (and by extension Lily and Violet) did love her, though their treatment didn't always show it. On the other hand, had she been allowed to drown, she wouldn't even have to be contemplating this. She'd be free from all her emotional pain.

She was sure that Ash and Brock had been contacted by now. She had to come up with a plausible explanation as to why she nearly drowned. She didn't want to have to answer a barrage of questions about why she wanted to kill herself. Misty heard her three sisters conversing, although she couldn't make out exactly what they were saying.

"What's this about Violet?" Lily asked.

"When you and I were at the gym, right before Daisy called us, I went up to Misty's room and I found a note on her bed."

"What did the note say?" Daisy asked.

"It was…a suicide note…"

Daisy and Lily gasped in horror.

"What? Why would she want to kill herself?" Lily asked.

"I have no idea…" Violet said sadly.

"I do…" Daisy said softly.

Her sisters turned to her aghast. "Daisy, what are you talking about?" Lily asked

"Ash," she said simply. "We all know Misty's feelings for him and being away from him has been tearing her apart. She never gets to see him and that's mostly our fault because we're never around the gym anymore. Plus, since he hardly ever contacts her, Misty probably thinks he doesn't care about her anymore."

Lily and Violet looked down sadly. Daisy was right.

"Maybe when Ash gets here, he can help," Violet said.

"I hope so…" Daisy said.

Ash and Brock were waiting outside Misty's room. Her sisters were still talking to her and they had to wait their turn. Ash had his head down trying to make sense of all that had just been relayed to him.

Why in the world would Misty try to kill herself? She's one of the strongest people I know! There's no way she would just give up on life. In the letter she said her life had no purpose, but that doesn't make sense. Her dream had always been to become a Water Pokémon Master. I just don't get it! Maybe I can get some answers when I talk to her.

Ash was extremely thankful to Daisy for finding Misty before she drowned. Had it been a few minutes later, she might've already been gone. His eyes filled with tears at the thought. If he lost Misty, Ash would die, literally. He was sure that if Misty was gone, he would want to die. Ash looked up at the sound of the door opening and saw Misty's sisters come out.

"How is she?" Ash asked immediately.

"Physically, she's fine. Emotionally, that's another story," Daisy said.

"What's wrong? Did you find out anything?" he asked, beginning to sound desperate.

"She was stubborn, but we finally managed to wrangle some information out of her," Violet said. "She feels like her life has no meaning anymore. She's alone almost all the time and that's mostly our fault."

"No, it's my fault too," Ash said. "I was so busy with traveling, I just never thought to actually go visit or even contact her more often."

Violet continued. "She obviously misses traveling with you guys and she misses Togepi too."

"Well, that's understandable," said Brock.

"We just feel so guilty," Lily said. "I know she's upset about how we always treated her as the runt of the family, but we never thought it would come to this." She blinked back tears that threatened to fall.

"The worst part is, with no one around her, Misty's gotten to the point where she feels people have stopped caring about her," Daisy said.

Ash stood up. He had heard enough. "Well, I'll just have to make her see different." He walked past them and into her room.

As soon as he saw Misty, Ash grinned and walked over to her. He saw her smile back at him, so he took that as a good sign.

"How are you feeling Myst?" he asked.

"Okay."

He knelt down to get eye level with her. "Misty, I have to know. Why would you want to take your own life?"

Misty stiffened. She knew that question would come up. "I just…didn't feel there was any point. My life as a gym leader had become monotonous, and even though I could've gone to Indigo Plateau and become a Water Pokémon Master, there seemed to be no reason to. Afterwards, there would be hardly any place in my life for pokémon. I felt alone and…unloved to be honest. I missed my friends and they never seemed to keep in touch and my sisters…well, you know that story. Since no one was around that seemed to care, I figured nobody would miss me if I were gone, at least, not for long."

She was crying at this point and Ash was in complete shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Ash turned her to face him and wiped her tears. "Misty, how could you think that? You know we all care about you."

"I know you do. I guess I thought that if I was gone, everyone would eventually forget about me, even you and Brock. You seemed to have forgotten about me lately."

"Misty, you don't know how wrong you are. I thought about you every single day, sometimes throughout the day. Why do you think I kept the handkerchief and lure you gave me?"

Misty looked somewhat surprised by this revelation. She didn't speak so Ash went on. "I could never forget you Myst. Neither could Pikachu, Brock or your sisters. And if you were gone, I would never be the same."

"I know you'd be devastated, that's why I never went through with this until now."

"No Misty, you don't understand. Devastated isn't the right word, not even close. I would be broken, completely broken beyond repair if you ever died."

One look in his eyes told Misty he wasn't lying. "Ash, I didn't know I meant that much to you."

"Of course you do Myst." She smiled at Ash and he smiled back, inwardly sighing in relief. "So, does this mean you've abandoned this crazy suicide idea?"

She was silent and that unnerved Ash. "Misty, don't tell me you're thinking about trying this again!" His voice was raised and he sounded panicked.

"I don't know Ash!" she yelled, tears in her eyes once again. "Once I'm out of here, I'd just be going back to same thing! You and Brock would go back to traveling and my sisters would once again be absent from the gym and my life. I'd just end up being alone again!"

"Then ask your sisters to stay at the gym or have Tracey come over. Hell, I'll stay with you if that's what you want!"

She looked at Ash in disbelief. Did he say what she thought he said? Looking at the tears in his own eyes, Misty got her answer. "Ash, you can't mean that. I couldn't ask you to put your dream on hold for me."

"My dream means nothing if you're not there to share it with me," he said. "Please don't do this," he said, the tears falling freely now. "I'll do anything, just please don't kill yourself."

"Ash, why? Why are you willing to give up so much for me?" she asked.

"Don't you get it Misty? I can't live without you." He wiped his tears and his expression hardened. "I can't and I won't!"

Misty gasped. "Ash, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that if you decide to die, I'm following right after you!"

Misty's tears began to flow again. "Tell me you're not serious," Misty said, praying he wasn't.

"I'm completely serious. Misty, I love you. Can't you see that?"

Misty sighed. "I know you love me as a friend Ash, but still-"

"No Misty, not as a friend, as a soulmate. You mean more to me than life itself. I would do anything for you."

With tears still flowing, Misty smiled. "Ash, I love you too. Thank you."

"So…will you live?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes Ash, I will. I'll live for you. You and all my friends and family."

Ash smiled broadly. "I love you Misty, so much. I promise you, I will never leave your side again."

They leaned in closer and their lips touched in their first kiss. They eventually pulled apart for air.

"Will you stay?" Misty asked.

"Forever," Ash said. "Will you?"

She smiled and said, "Always."