Temptation

Yay, AAML. I love AAML. Anyway, here's a cute ficlet with some strong hints of Misty/Ash.

I do not own Pokémon. Game Freak and Nintendo do.

The silence was so thick that she could even pick out the sound of her breathing. Once in a while, she would hear the rustling of leaves, the snap of a twig in the far off distance or the cry of some nocturnal creature prowling around.

Misty sat up and turned her head, looking aside to where Ash lay curled up in his sleeping bag, slumbering with a peaceful expression on his face. His dark hair was tousled and stuck out in several places. It was no surprise that he wore that baseball cap all the time with hair like that and she was glad, otherwise she would be constantly having to suppress the urge to attack him with a hairbrush.

Actually, it just made him look even cuter than usual, she thought, a light blush creeping across her nose and cheeks. It suddenly occurred to her that this would seem kind of creepy to outsiders, staring at someone in their sleep, but there was nobody to see her do it. Brock was fast asleep as well and there was nothing to worry about.

There was nothing wrong with watching him, was there?

Misty just couldn't help it. She wanted to keep watching him, while he was like this.

It was just too much temptation.

Before she really even realized it, she had already slipped out of her sleeping bag. Misty's face became even warmer as it occurred to her how close to him she was now. Looking right down at the sleeping Ash, she was seized by desire.

Surely, while he was asleep, she could at least try it?

She would never admit this to anybody, but sometimes she fantasized about what it would be like, though he was usually awake in those fantasies.

Anyway, it wasn't such a big deal.

Just one quick kiss and that would be it.

It was okay, right?

Her heart pounded rapidly as she moved her head closer, her face feeling intensely warm. The rational voice at the back of her mind was yelling at her, asking what she thought she was doing, but she ignored it.

Those brown eyes of his looked really nice up close.

Wait...

Misty slowly blinked, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead.

Ash stared at her with a confused expression, wondering what he had just woken up to.

"Kyaaaaaaah!"

Ash winced at the sound of Misty's scream and sat up, looking bewildered. "What is the matter with you?" he exclaimed.

"Idiot!" Misty responded, throwing a shoe at his head. Ash hurriedly ducked, barely avoiding the projectile as it sailed over his head. Her face was redder than a tomato. "What did you wake up for?"

For once, Ash had found himself lost for words. Eventually, he managed to speak. "What about you?" he retorted. "You were just sitting there and staring at me like some weirdo!"

"Uh... uh..." Misty was flustered, unable to come up with a good excuse. How could she explain why she had just been sitting there and staring at him? "Well, I was just checking on you. You know, making sure you hadn't stopped breathing in your sleep or anything!"

Oh yeah, great excuse, Misty, she thought, chagrined. But it's Ash. Maybe he'll buy it.

"Pika?" Pikachu mumbled sleepily, opening one eye.

"Eh?" Ash raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting an answer like that. Then again, he didn't really know what kind of answer he had been expecting. "I appreciate the concern, but that's just a little bit creepy. You haven't been doing that every night, have you?"

"Of course not!" Misty snapped, crawling back into her sleeping bag. She was mad at him now for ruining the moment and wished he hadn't gone and woken up. It was just so typical of him.

A long silence followed, as Ash continued to watch Misty in confusion. He simply could not understand what was going on. How come Misty was so mad at him? She was the one acting weird in the first place and he hadn't even done anything wrong.

"I'm going to have a hard time sleeping now," Ash grumbled, lying back down when it was apparent Misty wasn't going to talk anymore. "No thanks to you."

Misty just closed her eyes and curled up, letting out a long sigh. She had come so close to kissing him at that moment and it was certainly disappointing that Ash had to go and wake up then. Still, it could have been worse. If he had just opened his eyes a couple of seconds later, he would have woken up to find her actually kissing him.

Now that would have been even harder to explain, especially to someone like Ash who just didn't get it. He really had no idea why she had been getting so close like that. It was just like him to be so naive and not understand.

Maybe some day he would finally get a clue and Misty would be waiting until then. For the time being, she was just going to stick to her fantasies. Trying to actually kiss someone while they slept was a bit too risky and it just wasn't the same. She wanted Ash to kiss her as well.

Unknown to them, Brock was smirking as he lay in his sleeping bag. He had been woken up by Misty's scream and heard enough of their conversation to understand what was going on. Of course he could guess why Misty had really been doing that, it was plainly obvious.

Good luck, Misty, he thought, drifting off back to sleep. You'll need it.

Ash closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him once more. He wondered why Misty had really been doing something like getting so close while he slept. Did she honestly expect him to believe that excuse about checking on him?

There had to be something more to it than that. He swore that it had actually seemed like Misty was about to kiss him, but surely not?

No way. That's just crazy. Misty would never kiss me. Not in a million years.

But what if? Before he could ponder on it anymore, he had drifted off back to sleep.

Misty snuck a glance over her shoulder at the young trainer, looking guilty. Sorry I got so mad at you, Ash. It wasn't really your fault... She turned back over and shut her eyes.