Twilight Always Falls

Part 3

James awoke with a start, and as his senses slowly began to function again, the terror of the dream he had been having vanished without a trace as he felt Jessie still in his arms. He softened, and closed his eyes again as he buried his face into her sweetly scented and still loose crimson locks. “Jessie, my Jessie, I’ll love you ‘till the day I die,” he whispered nuzzling her nose with his affectionately. She didn’t stir, and not wanting to awaken her, James kissed her forehead lovingly and slipped from her arms, yawning quietly as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Mornin’ Jimmy!” Meowth called brightly over the top of the morning newspaper. “Hey pal! Did you check to see if have anything for breakfast?” James answered, a smug grin creeping onto his face. “Yup, and we gots nuthin’,” came the response, and James’ grin only widened, knowing absolutely nothing could ruin his exuberant mood, “and ya gots a message from da boss while ya was cuddling wid Jess on da couch!” James winced, perhaps one thing could, but he was sure it was nothing major and he would be feeling the same overjoyed and amorous mood he had been after it was over. “Really? What did he- Wait you saw us?!” he cried, nearly falling over with the sudden realization.

Meowth chortled and patted James, who had slumped onto the floor next him, affectionately on the head, setting the paper down. “Don’t worry James, I hoid what youse two was sayin’ last night, I-I hoid youse two say you love each odda, and you didn’t see, but I was cryin’. Dey were tears of happiness fer you, you desoirve each odda, really! I tink it’s beautiful!” he assured him, his smile widening as he witnessed tears of joy spring to James’ emerald eyes. “Thank you Meowth,” he whispered embracing the cat tightly, “that means worlds to me.” “Heh, I know,” Meowth answered.

James pulled away and discretely wiped his eyes, standing as he looked longingly toward the living room. “I’ll never love anyone but her Meowth, nothing will ever keep us apart,” he whispered dreamily. “Well duh, Jessie an’ James is a package deal! Don’t get one witout da odda! And Meowth will always be wid ya too!” he added picking the newspaper back up, and smiled to see that James had crouched in front of Jessie’s sleeping form. He held a blood red rose in his hand, gently tracing it over her perfect features and Meowth’s heart warmed as he bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. “Poifect, absolutely poifect,” he breathed, and returned to the land of the Team Rocket Gazette.

“Jessie,” James called softly, and in a melodious tone. She stirred under the gentle embrace of the rose petals and slowly opened her glittering azure eyes, a spark of confusion behind them. James put it to rest as he kissed her lips tenderly, and ran a hand through her hair lovingly. “Morning, beautiful,” he breathed, touching the end of his nose to hers. “So I didn’t dream it, I really did tell you how I really feel,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “You did, and so did I, I’ve loved you for forever Jessie,” James said pressing the rose into her palm. “James, I know for certain, you’re the only person I’ve ever truly loved, and the only person I will ever love in my life,” she answered cupping his chin in her hand to bring his lips to hers. They kissed softly and slowly, almost reverently, each wishing it would never end, each knowing it eventually would, but it was the beginning of an eternity.

James finally broke the kiss, looking balefully into his beloved’s eyes as he remembered Giovanni had requested his presence. “Look Jess, I got a call from the boss this morning, he probably just wants to discuss any injuries, or-or something, but I’ll be back in no time, okay?” he promised, caressing her cheek. “Okay James, but hurry back,” she replied, mimicking his affectionate act. “I will,” he assured her and stood, walking quietly to the bedroom to change into a clean uniform. Jessie sighed joyfully, closing her eyes again as she shifted onto her back into the soft cushions of the couch. “Finally, after all those years, my James loves me back, and I know I can trust him to always love me, and never leave me,” she thought to herself, losing herself in a blissful dream of walking down an aisle in a flowing white gown to meet a beautiful and smiling James at the altar.

Jessie didn’t know how long she had been lost in her thoughts, but she was awakened as she heard the bedroom door open, and James step out in a clean uniform. “Well, I’d best get going, anything I can pick you up for breakfast?” he asked brightly, picking up the keys to the jeep they shared. “Nah, just make some of your French toast when you get back, and what are you doing with the keys?” she inquired. “Just in case he needs me to go pick something up for him, an errand, he loves doing that to us you know,” he muttered distastefully. “Yeah, I know, sometimes I think that’s the only reason he keeps us around,” Jessie replied, recalling the numerous times she, James, Meowth, or all three of them had been scared out of their wits by being called down to retrieve his laundry or some other random task.

James sighed, running a hand through his freshly combed blue tresses and opened the door, hesitating to leave slightly, a feeling of foreboding sweeping over him. “Jessie?” he called, turning back. “Hmm?” she replied gently, propping herself up on the arm of the faded blue couch. “I love you,” James said, smiling. “I love you too,” Jessie responded, leaping from her spot and wrapping her arms about his neck to give him one last kiss before he left. Nothing more was said as James quietly slipped from Jessie’s embrace, and he ran his hand along her cheek adoringly before heading out into the hall. Jessie watched her beloved until he boarded the elevator, the last image of his emerald eyes, for the first time in what seemed like forever glittering with true happiness behind them imprinting on her mind with a pleasant thought.

The gray metal closed on his image the car dinged at its descent, and Jessie sighed in disappointment when she witnessed the lights of lower floors illuminate. She resigned to less time with James that day and slipped back inside, joining Meowth at the kitchen table for a pleasant morning conversation before she inevitably fell asleep on the couch waiting for James’ return.

“You look chipper today James.” The blue-haired rocket looked up to a familiar face, a young violet haired co-worker who was employed in the scientific research faculty. “You have no idea,” he answered dreamily. “Heh, you look like you got laid last night,” she joked with a hearty chuckle. James couldn’t help but laugh with her, leaning casually against the mirrored interior of the elevator, shoving his hands along with the keys into his pockets. “Nope,” he replied closing his eyes, “but I did tell the one woman I know I’m meant to be with how I really feel about her.” The Rocket’s eyes widened, blanching as the full effect of his words permeated her psyche. “Y-You mean you-“ she trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

The elevator slid to a jarring halt, and James straightened his stature, standing in front of the doors as they slid open. “I told Jessie I love her, and she loves me back, but anyway, I’ve gotta get going, the boss wants me for some reason,” he began stepping out and into the red carpeted hallway. “I-I hope it all turns out well,” the woman replied, the elevator doors beginning to shut. “I know it will, have a nice day Deirdre!” James called, and turned over his shoulder, leaving a still pale and trembling young scientist as they shut completely, taking her past the floor she had chosen before.

James walked briskly past the secretary’s window, waving to her with a cheerful smile on his face as he continued down the ominous hallway. He slid carefully into the office to find it silent as usual, but unusually dark, the only light spilling grotesquely over his employer’s face from his computer screen. It deepened the creases in his aging skin, and shadowed the steadily deepening and sickly looking eye sockets of the tyrannical man, and James drew back in fear as he seemed to sense his presence and turned over his shoulder to look at him.

He said nothing at first, his skeletal frame shuddering with fatigue and obvious lack of sleep, a sly and demonic smile creeping onto his colorless lips as he spotted James in his office. “James LeBlanc, I’m surprised you showed up!” he called with far too much enthusiasm for someone looking as sickly as he did. James swallowed hard, and took a tiny step forward, depleting all the courage he could muster. “Meowth said you wanted to speak to me?” he ventured timidly. “Indeed I did, I have an errand for you, and I hope you don’t mind a bit of driving?” Giovanni asked briskly. “No sir, not at all,” James replied hastily, knowing his boss had not expected any other answer. “Good boy, now I want you to go to this address, and follow the instructions in this envelope,” Giovanni started, handing James the objects in question, “be sure to destroy all of this evidence after you get back, and bring what you receive straight to my office, understand?” James nodded dumbly, and pocketed the black paper sealed with red wax, bowing respectfully as he eased out of the door. “Whatever it is will be brought to you unharmed, I assure you sir, and I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he said, and the double doors slammed shut, leaving a smirking Giovanni alone with his computer, flinching as the error alert tone sounded.

He ignored it and stifled a chuckle, the irony of James’ last statement humorous in his mind. “Perfect, it’s all perfect, and I know for a fact my cargo will be delivered unharmed,” he whispered turning to the computer. “Alert: specimen status does not meet previously determined standards, possible and likely chance of death after phase three of experiment, 90% chance of death after phase four, and calculations indicate a 100% certainty of death if phase 5 or above is performed. Suggestion is to locate another specimen before proceeding,” was all it said. “Bullshit!” Giovanni roared, slamming his fist down on the keyboard. It bleeped in protest, and the screen flushed black, the computer sounding as if it were deflating as it shut down completely. “He’ll make it I know it, the Twilight Project will be successful this time! Fuck what that damned machine says! It can’t predict the outcome of my experiment, it will work this time it will succeed, I will succeed, my ultimate weapon will be a reality.” The room was utterly silent, even through the peals of hollow and insane laughter that were audible only to a man lost in his own world and mind.

James started the Jeep with a loud sigh, having read the address in his instructions and recognizing the place, which was a good hour’s drive. “Damn it, I’m beginning to think last night was a bad night for a sincere confession of love,” he muttered, turning over his shoulder to back out of the parking lot, “well, it’s not my fault the boss picked today to torture me, and now Jess and I have the rest of our lives together.” He flipped on the radio absent-mindedly, her sweet rendition of the classic line of confession still ringing in his ears as he started along the street he knew would take him to the small building he had been instructed to visit.

The hours crept by at a Slowpoke’s pace, each love song they aired from the radio station worded slightly differently, but conveying the same message wafted their incoherently soft tones to James’ nearly deaf ears. He had been driving along the same highway for the past forty-five minutes, and barely noticed the words from an old song drifting from his lips. They came to a refrain he didn’t know, and replaced the melodious words with the rim of an aluminum soda can, letting the cold liquid slide down his parched throat gratefully. “I'll wait the signs to come. I'll find a way- I will wait the time to come. I'll find a way home. My light shall be the moon, and my path - the ocean. My guide the morning star as I sail home to you,” he sang the soft words reverently, the gentle and somber music lulling him into a blissful reverie, “Who then can warm my soul? Who can quell my passion? Out of these dreams - a boat. I will sail home to you.”

James relaxed into the ancient and worn seat, remembering the time he had almost been caught in the clutches of his vile fiance, but had managed to escape, right back into the arms of the woman he truly loved, the song inspiring the memories. “I know you’re afraid of abandonment Jess, but nothing will ever make me leave you, no matter what it takes, I’ll always find a way home,” he thought to himself, easing onto the brake as he approached a red light.

It remained red, and James stopped the car completely, taking his hands off the wheel, and placing them behind his head to gaze wistfully at the sky. No one was in sight, so he figured he could afford to just sit and think for a moment, and in his distanced, romantic frame of mind, he never saw the light revert to green. He sighed, picking out a cloud in the sky that oddly resembled and symbolized the elusive Pikachu, and raised his hand to mockingly capture it. “Gotcha Pikachu!” he laughed, “now Jessie, Meowth and I can quit this job, and get married and raise a family, now we can be happy.”

James sighed wistfully and gripped the leather-covered wheel again, noting that the light was green again, and had been for quite some time, as it quickly flashed to yellow. Not wanting to tempt the law should there be one of the many Jennies in the area by running a red light, as he was in his quite conspicuous uniform, he quickly put his foot on the gas, rocketing into the intersection.

Time seemed to melt away into nothingness as he first spotted the jet-black sedan, glistening ominously along the hood to an indiscernible hood ornament as it sped toward the ancient and shabby jeep. James gasped in terror and gripped the wheel as his stomach twisted violently in anticipation of the inevitable, the last sounds in his rushing ears the blare of a horn from the driver of the car going the opposite way on his now green light, and the screech of his useless brakes as he pressed them to the floor with his foot. The jeep did not comply to his wishes, and the blue-haired young man barely felt the scream of terror and agony exit his lips as the smaller vehicle plowed into the side of the flimsy jeep, completely annihilating the metal side of it with a cataclysmic explosion of twisted metal and broken glass. Closing his eyes as the first white-hot blades of pain tore through his body and soul, James no longer cared if he was screaming or not, all he knew was the utter cacophony of the sound of tearing metal so intense it blended into silence as the jeep buckled under the impact, folding in on itself and taking him with it as it rolled over to quietly die.

The sound and silence and pain finally ceased, and James found himself pleasantly at ease as he felt the hot, viscid trickle of blood down the side of his face. He didn’t dare move, though he knew that he couldn’t, even if he had tried with all his heart a soul, which burned with regret and loss, and of the promise he had just made and just broken. He let his eyes drop with fatigue as the car finally came to a halt from it’s skid, closing them when he finally felt his body remain still. “I’m sorry Jessie,” he whispered as the blackness closed in on his already black vision, “I’m sorry I failed you, and I’ll always love you, and watch over you. Please have the strength to move on.”

James knew no more in the rising light of the afternoon, letting his head fall to his battered and bloody chest as his entire world’s light finally went out, exhaling one last time quietly and peacefully. A gentle wind blew through the shattered windows of the jeep to find the radio still playing, a lament of a lost love wafting into the deathly silence left in the wake of a raging inferno of a tragedy. It gently tossed the glossy blue hair of the lifeless form, caressing it across his bloody cheek to stick there, and tracing a delicate pattern of crimson across the white uniform, blending with the blood red insignia already there. It traced one last time over the gently shut eyes that would open no more to gaze into his beloved’s, no more to focus intently on an activity of choice at home, never again to hold the friends he cherished in them again, and blew mournfully over the barren cityscape to bring news of tragedy to the world.

Ring Ring Ring- Ring Ring Ring- Phone call Phone call! Ring Ring Ring- Ring Ring Ring- Phone call Phone call! The squall of the phone was barely audible in Jessie’s ears as she awoke to its harsh tones. Ring Ring Ring- Ring Ring Ring- Phone call Phone call! She winced as it sounded again, and propped herself up slightly to search with groggy eyes for anyone but her to answer it. “Mmm, Meowth, will you get that?” she called, hoping it was James, calling to say he’d be home soon. She looked up to the clock hanging above their still operating television set and noted it was far past noon, and her friend had not yet returned. Ring Ring Ring- Ring Ring Ring- Phone call Phone call! “God that thing is irritating… Meowth?!” she yelled, frowning as no answer again came to her cries. Ring Ring Ring- Ring Ring Ring- Phone call Phone call! “Damn cat,” she muttered, slipping groggily from the couch and to the vid-link phone on the wall in the apartment.

She yawned broadly and leaned against the wall casually as she picked up the receiver, twirling her finger into the cord when it fell loose. “Hello?” she asked brightly. No answer came to her cheerful response save for a choked sounding breathing on the other line, interrupted by a small gasp, obviously laced with tears. “Hello? Who is this?” she repeated, standing straight up as she felt her stomach turn. “Jessie? T-There’s been an accident, and it involves your partner,” Giovanni’s somber voice finally rang through the line with a deathly clarity. Jessie went numb, forced to hold onto the counter by the phone to prevent her now useless knees from buckling and sending her to the floor. “W-what? What happened? Is James okay? Where is he?” she rattled, desperate for more information on the condition of the man she loved. “H-he…Jessie, please come down to my office, I’ll explain there, Meowth is here with me, please come quickly,” he answered, and before she could protest, Jessie heard the line hang up.

She too, hung the glossy black appliance back on its unit, and covered her mouth with her hands as she slowly sunk to the floor. “No, no James is fine! He’s okay, whatever it is it’s not bad, he’s just a little scraped up, nothing serious! He’ll come home into my arms tonight, I’ll settle into bed with him, and kiss him and tell him how much I love him, it’ll be fine,” she assured herself and stood, not even bothering to put anything on her feet or change out of her nightgown. She bolted for the door, and barely felt herself run down the hall to the elevator, tears streaming unfelt down her pale cheeks as time seemed to speed past with sickening velocity.

Jessie found herself quite unexpectedly in the reception area of Giovanni’s office, breathing heavily as she searched for any sign of his whereabouts. “Where is he?” she demanded, casting a hateful glare to the startled secretary. “He- well, is he expecting you?” she answered sheepishly. “Jessie! Oh Jess! Jess it’s awful! It’s so awful!” Jessie’s attention was turned from the young woman by the cries of her Pokemon friend and as he rushed from an unseen location into her arms, she stooped to receive him. “Oh Jessie I saw da jeep! He was in a car accident, and da jeep is totaled! Dere’s blood everywhere, Jess, it’s so twisted up! It’s like sumthin’ ya see on da news! James! Oh, James! Jimmy, please be okay! Please make it,” he sobbed into her shoulder.

Jessie too, burst into tears at hearing the small anecdote of what had happened to their friend, holding him close and stroking the back of his head in a futile attempt to calm him. “Shh, Meowth, James’ll pull through, he’s a fighter, I know he’ll be okay,” she assured both the cat and herself. “Jessie I saw dem bring him in ta da hospital, he was so…Mangled, he didn’t even look alive. But den I saw him open da only eye he could, and he saw me, and-and he smiled at me, like he knew he wasn’t gonna see me again! Like he was tryin’ ta make up fer all da stuff we’d ever fought about, and remind me dat he’d always be our best friend, no matter what happened after he got in dere, Jess I don’t tink he’s gonna…” Meowth trailed off quietly, Jessie’s tears falling harder as his voice grew more sincere and less hysterical. “No, no, he’ll be fine, I know he’ll-“ her sentence was interrupted by a sharp gasp of utter terror.

Meowth turned in her arms to look in the same direction as his human companion, and his jaw dropped at the sight of a somber, and exhausted looking Giovanni standing ominously in the entrance of the hallway that led to his office. He held something in his arms, and the instant Meowth was able to view accurately what it was, his limbs and body weakened in fear and he found he was quite unable to move. “NO! NO!” was his only utterance, bolting with a fury for the door. “Meowth, wait!” Jessie called, leaping to her feet to give chase, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. “Jessie, oh Jessica, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” came the soft words of her employer.

Jessie couldn’t feel a thing, not her body, not even her emotions, as she turned back around to face him, holding out her arms to accept the bundle he offered in his own outstretched arms. Just as she had expected, it was the Team Rocket flag, the red ‘R’ insignia emblazoned on a pure ebony background, wrapped around a neatly folded uniform; their personal show of respect, and mourning. Respect and mourning for the dead. “No, no it’s not true,” she breathed, her knees involuntarily buckling beneath her. “I’m sorry, but please bear with me as I give you the facts,” he started, pulling a clipboard from the secretary’s desk, “this morning I sent your partner, James LeBlanc, on a small errand for me, and he left in the jeep registered to both of you at roughly 10:30 this morning. He was driving along a highway in a rural area of Saffron, and stopped at a red light. Apparently he missed the green, according to the other driver, and thinking he would see the light was red again and stay put, he continued through. Unfortunately James noticed a bit too late, and- and the other car hit the side of his jeep going over the regulatory speed limit of fifty-five miles per hour at sixty-five. His car hit the jeep dead on, and I’m sorry to say, but it was a flimsy model to begin with, and an old one, and it-it just didn’t stand a chance against the other. The driver was unharmed, and called us, as he is an employee here as well, and we rushed James here a soon as we could. He spent a good two hours in our intensive care, but I regret to inform you that James passed away on the operating table at about 2:04 this afternoon. He suffered serious internal injuries, internal bleeding, and severe hemorrhaging, which was eventually what failed him. We tried to stop it, but the damage was far too extensive, we didn’t get him back in time, and he’d lost too much blood before we could help, but I hope it will help ease some of the blow to know he wasn’t in much pain, and he died quietly.”

There was an awkward silence as the full impact of Giovanni’s words struck Jessie’s psyche with their devastating poisons and toxins, taking root there for what she knew would be an eternity spent without her best friend, and the man she loved. She could feel the tears flowing down her face, but inside, she felt numb, and empty, as if she had been drained of her very essence, repeating the phrase over again in her mind, something about it very wrong, and horrifically out of place. “James passed away…James, passed away, James, is dead. James, my James, is gone forever…” “There’s something else, in the bundle with his uniform, it’s something that belonged to him, and in his bouts of consciousness, it was obvious he wanted you to have it,” Giovanni said, motioning to the flag Jessie held tightly in her arms.

The disconsolate young woman nodded numbly, and felt her world screech to a miserable halt, not even feeling herself sit heavily into one of the worn chairs in the lobby, dimly aware that she was now alone, and didn’t hear Meowth return to join her. Jessie’s attention was now fully turned to the black death shroud in her arms, and gently unfolded the flaps with cold fingers as Meowth took the seat next to her to watch. She let an anguished gasp escape her lips as the first objects in the layers of possessions were James’ black gloves, and as Jessie gently lifted them, she could almost still feel his familiar warmth inside of them. “Oh James, I…Oh god,” she moaned, crumpling the black fabric against her chest.

Meowth was silent; accepting the garments as his friend handed them to him with a fresh onset of tears, and coiling his tail about his legs in a meager attempt to console himself. Jessie, deciding to spare herself the agony of pulling James’ white jacket from the bundle, went straight to the bottom, wondering what James had with him that he would want her to have so badly. She soon found her answer, for as she lifted the last memory of James out of the flag, the final item that remained glinted sorrowfully at her from the black depths, a golden beacon of hope.

Jessie allowed herself to cry harder as she lifted the object from her lap, and clasped her hand sharply over her mouth at the sight of a tiny, golden charm hanging daintily from a thin gold chain. It was a heart shaped pendant encrusted with a delicate design of rubies and emeralds, and as Jessie strained her eyes further, she realized they formed a tiny, but delicate rose. She realized then why James had wanted her to have it, and smiled vaguely, but it quickly shifted to a frown with noticing a small imperfection in the gold at the side.

Jessie shifted into a position with more light to inspect it more carefully and cocked her head to one side with the clarification of it not being a flaw, but a tiny clasp. She slid her nail underneath it and gently pried it up, the, what Jessie now knew was a locket, opening with a satisfying click. Inside the two halves were a pair of neatly cropped photos; one of James alone, a sort of portrait, and he was smiling broadly, two fingers up in the air as a victory sign. Jessie smiled vaguely at it, and touched it with her finger gently, noticing a small stain of red near the corner where James’ blood had seeped under the glass covering the photograph. She was almost comforted by the small mark of life on the image, feeling as if she would forever hold a piece of her beloved James close to her heart, the same blood that had pumped through his.

She removed her hand carefully from the first picture, and looked willingly to the next, a picture of them together, and a rather candid one at that. They were nestled into each other’s arms, obviously asleep and in one sleeping bag, somewhere out in the woods. Jessie didn’t bother to wipe the tears from her cheeks as she stared at their content and joyous expressions, obviously drawn simply from being close to each other, but her stomach twisted as she noticed something else; James wasn’t asleep. A sob escaped her throat as she realized that though she was soundly in the realm of dreams, James was holding her close, and pressing his lips gently to hers in a gentle, and subtle kiss, but there was no mistaking the obvious love and respect behind it. “I took dat.” Jessie looked up as she finally heard the cat Pokemon speak. “W-Wha-“ she started, but was interrupted. “He loved ya a long time Jess, I noticed it from square one. He loved you da day he saw ya, and since I’m awake at night a lot, and I’d hear him talk ta ya. I figured he’d want it, maybe as inspiration, ta help him gather da courage ta finally tell you,” he said quietly as Jessie closed the locket.

She closed her eyes as well, and pressed the locket to her chest as her silent tears ascended to sobbing, burying her face into her hands with the wracking of her body. “I loved him all that time too Meowth! God damn it why was I so afraid to tell him? Why did I wait so long to tell him how I really fel-“ she stopped abruptly, and looked to the cat with sorrow and guilt behind her dull and glazed sapphire eyes, “this is all my fault. Why didn’t I realize sooner?! It’s my fault! I killed him Meowth! I killed him!”

Meowth leapt into Jessie’s lap as her hysterical scream of anguish and a crushed soul echoed throughout the office, shaking her shoulders gently to calm her. “No! Jess get ahold a yerself!” he cried, slapping her across the face as her sobbing reached a hideous crescendo. She collapsed into her lap at this, holding the cat to her body for comfort. “Ya didn’t kill him Jess,, it was an accident, no one coulda known what would happen,” he soothed, stroking back her crimson mane affectionately. “But I loved him, and it never fails, when I love them, I lose them. I loved James more than anything else in the world, and-and now I’ll never- I’ll never see him again. I still can’t believe he’s gone!” she sobbed. “Jessie, dat’s not true, ya love yer Arbok! And she’s been around since ya was a kid! And she’ll be around fer a lot longa den dat, Likitung too! And you love Meowth right?” Meowth asked quietly, the unmistakable hoarseness of tears apparent in his voice. “Of course I do Meowth, I love you and Arbok and Likitung so much, you’re the only ones I have left,” Jessie replied tearfully, but finally managing to sit up again.

Meowth managed a still sorrowful smile, but it gave his friend some consolation to know that he was still with her. “Meowth is gonna be wid ya foreva, and ya can count on it! Plus,” he began, holding up the locket so it glimmered lovingly in the low lamplight, “James’ll always be wid you, and I’m sure he’s watchin’ ova us from his spot in heaven, and he always will, and he’ll always love you Jess. I know it hoits bad, I’ve neva felt dis way before. I-I feel like a part of me’s missin’ and-and I know it’ll neva be da same, but as long as we stick togedda, we’ll be togedda again in da end, we just gotta pull through Jess. James woulda wanted us ta survive, he woulda wanted us ta be strong.”

Jessie smiled vaguely as the cat burst into fresh tears, as well as herself, but it quickly faded as she again held the locket in her tearful vision. “It hurts so bad, I think it hurts physically,” she muttered, “my life my be empty, but you’re right, and I already know our first course of action.” Jessie set her face into a stern line of sorrow as she stood, gently clasping James’ locket about her neck, silently vowing never to take it off, and kissing it softly before gathering the rest of his uniform into her arms gently. “Jess, what on earth-“ Meowth started, Jessie finishing for him. “Consider James’ funeral the last Team Rocket function of our lives. Once he’s been laid to rest, we’re running away, that’s what he would have wanted too, he always hated what this job made me, and now I know what he meant, and it’s killed my best friend and the man I love. I don’t know what we’ll do after, but whatever it is, we’ll do it for him,” she answered firmly, and ushered the cat out of the door. “For James,” he repeated, watching his tears hit the ancient red carpet of the hallway as he dashed toward the elevator with his friend. “For James,” Jessie echoed and the duo made their way to their apartment.

The rest of the day was spent coiled on the couch and sobbing, nearly everything reminding them in a painful way of their deceased friend, a friendly, everyday way that would forever be absent from their now shattered lives and souls. Jessie was suddenly struck with the grim realization that she would no longer feel James’ tender embrace, or taste his sweet lips on hers again, nor would he grace her life with the same charm, wit, and childlike enthusiasm he had before. She found in one swift, omnipotent blow the utter grief of his sudden death, and everything he had been to her, suddenly gone, and all she could bring herself to do that day was cry.

Jessie could almost feel her soul and spirit shatter in her hands, along with her already mutilated heart, knowing the other half of each was now gone from her life forever. She could hardly bring herself to pack away even her own possessions, as everything reminded her of James in the most painful way it could. She could still see him in his favorite pair of boxer shorts and a rumpled shirt at the stove in the morning, tossing the pancakes into the air with artful dexterity and precision. Occasionally he’d scrape together the ingredients for her favorite, French toast, and he’d always make sure she got the first and best piece, drenched with syrup and a light dusting of powdered sugar. She could still taste it, still hear the light conversation, and even the way he would always turn over his shoulder, blue tresses still hanging tangled and in his face and call her twice shortened nickname cheerfully, always accompanied by a sweet grin as he turned back to breakfast. “Morning Jess!” were always the first words she heard in the morning.

Jessie was also painfully aware of the absence of his mere presence, the air that seemed to follow him always cheerful and enthusiastic, and it had given Jessie all the happiness in the world to simply be around James. She knew now he was truly gone forever, for the feeling was gone as well, the warm close and loved sensation she had felt for most of her life in the presence of her best friend was gone in an instant, never to return again.

Jessie mulled through her thoughts as she stared bitterly out the window of the apartment with clouded and sorrowful sapphire eyes, the soft whisper of the rain on the glass panes just inches in front of her little consolation. She sighed deeply, and wiped the nearly perpetual tears from her pale cheeks, her hand slowly and involuntarily moving to the locket she still wore around her neck. The metal was warm with her own body heat, and Jessie was forced to look upwards to the stars as she imagined that it must have felt this way after James had worn it. “I miss you so much James, why did you leave me? I thought I could trust my heart to you, and you wouldn’t be like the others, I thought I could love you. James, it hurts, and-and this time you’re not here to make it go away! I’ll never love anyone else, and I know you still love me, wherever you are, and I still love you too, and I always will,” she whispered to the sovereigns of the night sky, “and I’m going to live like you would have wanted, I’m getting out James! I’m escaping, and I’m doing it for you, and now, when I can join you, and my momma, I can say I lived a good life, but it will always be empty without you. I’ll love you forever James, and a passion as strongly as I feel for you, will never die. Goodbye James, my best friend, my soul mate.”

Jessie closed her eyes at last, exhausted from crying, and fell asleep, one hand securely wrapped about the handle of the tightly packed suitcase at her feet, the other tightly clenching the rose encrusted locket she wore about her neck. Meowth eventually joined her to keep a silent and watchful vigil over her, unable to sleep, and dreading the dismal and painful event that was to occur the next day, and making a resolution for himself; never again would he speak English to anyone but Jessie. It had been something special between him, and the two people he cherished most in the world, and they had been the only ones who truly appreciated his unusual ability and loved him all the more for it, treating him like one of their own instead of a Pokemon. The faithful feline slept not two minutes that night, and when morning finally dawned, he awakened his slumbering friend reluctantly, and they prepared silently for the day’s tasks at hand.

James’ funeral was held that dismal day in the midst of sorrow and gray, accompanied by a sporadic rain Jessie swore grew worse as her mood did. She sat in the back row, as far as she could possibly get from the ominous black sheen of the casket, the only decoration on it an enameled crimson R, and elaborate silvers handles along the sides. She refused to speak or be spoken to, not caring about anyone associated with the organization that had murdered her best friend, and as soon as the brief service was over, she made her way to the final resting place of the man she had treasured for almost half her life.

She made no attempt to hide her tears as she ran a hand down the slick black surface to the ornate bouquet of white lilies atop it and scowled at them. “Well James, I was positive they’d pull some shit like this, so I-I brought a little something extra for you,” she whispered, and drew a single, tiny, but very perfect and very red rose from the folds of the coat she wore to conceal her attire. She gently eased the stem into the ribbon along with the snow of the lilies, and stepped back to admire it. It shone like a beacon in a bleak and impassable maze, a drop of blood on perfect snow, another wound to a scarred and lacerated soul. Jessie was forced to look away, cupping her hands over her mouth as the full meaning of what she had just done struck her, and her tears began anew. “How can I live like this? For god’s sake I just put my best friend’s favorite flower on his…Oh lord…” she whispered to herself as her eyes met with the simple, standard Team Rocket headstone. It read simply, “In loving Memory, James LeBlanc.”

Jessie stifled a sob, and turned back to the casket, breathing heavily as she put her hand atop its cold and indifferent black surface. “Until we meet again, I promise I’ll come back here, I’ll never leave you James, ever. Please stay with me, guide me as I try to make an escape. Protect me, and Meowth, and all the Pokemon, help us achieve what you so desperately wanted, and what I know you would want for me. I want it too, Team Rocket has hurt me, and you, for the last time. I love you James, I always will, and I promise I’ll always wait for you. Now’s the time for Meowth and me to leave, but I’ll never forget you, and you’ll never die in my heart. Goodbye my friend, and rest in peace.”

These were Jessie’s final words, spoken reverently and in a soft, tearful voice before Meowth tugged at the hem of her coat, nudging the bulging suitcase in her direction. No communication passed between the duo as Jessie slowly curled her fingers about the cold and rain dampened handle of the luggage discretely, and proceeded away from the small graveyard selected by Giovanni for James’ burial.

A sorrowful wind whistled through the trees along the path two lost and broken souls wandered, carrying the stinging drops of a spiteful rain along with it. A few foreign drops were introduced to the natural tears of the sky, and they were set apart, forced to the ground more quickly, and still warm from the cheeks they had been born upon. The tears were then lost in the general sea of indiscernible water, just as their owners disappeared into the sea of people, to lose themselves, to forget. They could almost feel a pair of emeralds watching over them from the gray cloud of morose that covered their worlds, and though they could sense the warmth and familiar benevolence and love they possessed, it seemed barely out of reach, never to be obtainable again. A piece of themselves had been scattered to the wind, and Jessie didn’t even look back upon the Team Rocket building as twilight fell, and pressed onward, finally knowing both she and Meowth were utterly alone.

Chapter 4