Twilight Always Falls

Part 7

 

Strange how my heart beats

To find myself upon your shore.

Strange how I still feel

My loss of comfort gone before.

Cool waves wash over

and drift away with dreams of youth

so time is stolen

I cannot hold you long enough.

And so this is where I should be now

 

Days and nights falling by

Days and nights falling by me.

I know of a dream I should be holding

days and nights falling by

Days and nights falling by me.

 

Cool waves wash over

and drift away with dreams of youth

so time is stolen

I cannot hold you long enough.

Soft blue horizons

reach far into my childhood days

as you are rising

to bring me my forgotten ways

 

Strange how I falter

to find I'm standing in deep water

Strange how my heart beats

to find I'm standing on your shore

 

@->->-

 

“Ash, can we possibly get something to eat, and not have to put up with this incessant blubbering about losing one stupid match?” Misty groaned as the trio walked down the main street of Periwinkle Village, a town where upon reaching the outskirts of, Ash had been challenged by a young girl to a battle.  “Can it, Misty!  I know she cheated somehow!  How could a fire Pokemon, a fire Pokemon, beat Squirtle?  A water-type!  There’s no way!  I had the advantage!” Ash whined, seething.  “Well, she had the advantage over you in brains,” the redhead muttered disdainfully, and the chipper egg Pokemon in her arms trilled cheerfully.  “I guess Togepi agrees!” Brock commented amiably.

 

Ash crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his lower lip out dejectedly, and pulled the brim of his cap over his eyes to sulk.  “Some friends you guys are,” he whispered almost inaudibly, “I would have won if Pikachu were still here.”  Both Misty and Brock softened as they heard the genuinely hurt and mournful expression in Ash’s sullen voice, their eyes meeting briefly in agreement to apologize for stirring memories of the beloved Pokemon stolen successfully by members of Team Rocket who definitely weren’t Jessie and James.  “Ash, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, and we’re trying with everything we have to find it, and I’m positive it’ll turn up,” Misty began softly.  “That’s right, Pikachu is very smart, I’m sure it found a way to escape, and it’ll come running back into your arms any day now!” Brock added with a smile.

 

Ash sighed deeply and looked up, reassured slightly by his friend’s confidence and chuckled slightly.  “Almost makes you miss old Jessie, James, and Meowth, doesn’t it?  I wonder what ever happened to them,” he mused thoughtfully, and drew a laugh from his friends.  The conversation was light after that, and Ash even decided he could go for some lunch, so after asking directions and recommendations from a local Joy, the group wound their way to a small café near the lush green park at the town’s center.

 

They sat near the hedge which bordered the interior of the patio dining area from the sidewalk and had a pleasant lunch filled with laughter, good food, and most definitely gorgeous sights, until Misty noticed Brock staring intently across the table.  “Brock?  Hello?  Earth to Brock!  Come in Brock!” she said loudly, and waving a hand in front of his face.  He seemed to snap out of his reverie, and shook his head as if to clear it, but the concerned and almost disturbed expression he had worn before never left his face.  “Oh!  Sorry Mist, what were you saying?” he asked brightly.  “Well what were you staring at?” Misty retorted irritably.  “That girl over there,” Brock replied simply and Misty’s head hit the table.

 

She snapped it back up quickly and pointed an angry and accusing finger toward the incredulous looking Brock, and ignored Ash’s hysterical laughter to her side.  “Must you ALWAYS ogle every single pretty girl we come across?!” she shrieked, pounding her fist on the table and causing her silverware to rattle, and Brock held up his hands defensively.  “No Misty!  Really!  That girl is pretty of course, but that’s not what I was interested in!” he defended with a wavering voice.  “Then what?” Misty asked in a softer tone.  “Doesn’t she look, well, eerily familiar?” came the response and Misty turned around in her chair too look as well.

 

The girl Brock spoke of sat at a table a few rows away from the trio, and she sat alone, bent over a magazine as she sipped quietly from a steaming mug.  Her long mane of crimson hair spilled neatly over her shoulders and back, its incredible length almost reaching the floor when she sat, and her soft and inquisitive azure eyes reminded the trio poignantly of someone they had not seen in far too long as she looked up to thank a waitress who had placed a dish of whipped cream on the table.  The second afterward their suspicions were confirmed as a Meowth leapt nimbly from an unseen location to land neatly in front of the dish and begin to joyously lap the treat from the vessel.  Though she wore a dark swirled purple shirt with long sleeves that widened at the wrists, tight dark blue jeans and a pair of stylish black boots, there was no mistaking the companion, or the red hair and deep blue eyes of Jessie of Team Rocket.  Her hair now hung loose and wild, like fire, instead of the coil the group had remembered from long ago, and her expression seemed forlorn, her eyes dark and clouded with sorrow and pain, her visage one of a broken soul, or an angel with broken wings, but she was there, an entity from the past that Ash found stirred a long since dormant hatred and violence, and as he felt it spring back to life, he made no attempt to mitigate it.

 

A mutual gasp of shock and surprise rose from the group at Ash’s table, and Misty turned about again to face her friends with her hands clasped tightly over her mouth, her face twisted in terror.  “You guys, t-that’s-“ she started, but Ash cut her off as he stood furiously.  “Jessie,” he hissed abhorrently, “Of Team Rocket.”  “Ash don’t!” Brock protested, but Ash’s seat was already long vacant, and his audibly infuriated footsteps leading away.  Misty and Brock’s eyes met for only a second before the tacit agreement between them to follow, and abandoned their half-finished lunches regretfully to dutifully ensure their stubborn and forlorn friend caused no trouble.

 

Jessie sighed as she turned the page of the magazine she had been reading and leaned her chin into her hand, feeling Meowth’s sympathetic gaze but not acknowledging it, looking up only when she heard a familiar voice.  “Hey you!  How dare you show your face!”  The red-haired woman’s eyes narrowed as none other than Ash Ketchum, the twerp boy she hadn’t seen in well over a year, sauntered up to her table and slammed his palms down atop it, glaring at her with the hellfire of hate burning behind his tired hazel eyes.  “The twerp, what the hell are you doing here and why are you bothering me?” she muttered disdainfully.  “I’m here because you stole Pikachu and I want it back!” Ash retorted, sibilating.

 

Jessie smirked, and huffed at the boy, waving him off with a free hand as she picked up her mug and went back to the magazine.  “You’re wasting your time kid, I never laid hands on that damn rat for more than three seconds thanks to you, some other vicious mean ol’ Rockets must have taken your precious baby,” she said mockingly, and Misty and Brock arrived in the nick of time to prevent Ash from slapping the young woman across the face.  “You’re Team Rocket!  So maybe it wasn’t exactly you that took it, but you work for the people who did, and I’ll do anything it takes to get it back, and get my revenge!” he screeched, allowing Misty to take him tenderly into her arms, turning him away from the mere sight of the woman that had sparked such a fury in his soul.  “I had nothing to do with stealing that thing!” Jessie proclaimed indignantly, “And frankly I resent the accusation!”  “I know what this is, this is just a scam to get the rest of my Pokemon too!  Very clever Jessie!  Now where is James hiding with the net, or the bazooka or the glue or hole or whatever the hell else you dimwits thought of?!” Ash yelled accusingly as he let the tears welling in his eyes fall, turning to Misty with a loud sob.

 

Jessie gasped, looked away at the mention of the name she’d not heard in far too long, blinked away her own tears, and clenched her fists, managing to look back around in confusion, looking up to Brock, who stepped forward to hide the now sobbing Ash, and taking it upon himself to elaborate further without causing his friend more pain.  “I’m sorry to bother you, but it is true Pikachu was taken a few months ago, about seven or eight I think, and it was by Team Rocket.  We hadn’t seen you guys in a while, and we let our defenses down, it was by some other members who really meant business.  We contacted the police, but they haven’t found anything yet, and probably have given up, and Ash is absolutely heartbroken, you’ll have to excuse him,” he said kindly to which Jessie smiled slightly.  “And why aren’t you treating me like a criminal now?” she asked impishly, crossing her legs thoughtfully.  “Well lack of uniform, and ease in a public place I guess, you don’t really look like you’re still with Team Rocket,” Brock answered amiably.

 

Jessie chuckled slightly and closed her magazine, motioning to the table where she sat, and moving a few of her personal items out of the way, beckoning the children to take a seat with her.  “Right on Brock, you’re very observant!  Now, why don’t you guys join me for a bit, and I can try to make things a little better,” she said making eye contact with Ash.  She smiled, but Ash’s scowl merely deepened, Misty hugged him tightly once more before leading him to a seat and taking the one next to his causing Meowth to be forced closer to Jessie, a frightened almost primitive countenance about his presence.

 

She sighed, and accepted the cowering Pokemon into her arms, cradling him gently and looking back up to the sorrowful eyes of the three children, holding up a hand to assure them they had not caused the cat to run.  “Don’t mind Meowth he-We-We’ve been through a lot,” she said quietly.  “Well I’m glad you managed to get out of Team Rocket, so, making a good life for yourself?” Misty asked, relieved.  “I wouldn’t call it good, but we’re surviving as best we can,” was the mournful answer.  “Good life, hmph, yeah right, and what happened to your wimpy partner James?” Ash asked acidly.  “Ash!” Misty scolded, and the boy merely crossed his arms angrily over his chest.

 

Jessie drew in a sharp breath and let her stature drop visibly with a sigh, letting a single tear roll down her cheek at the question, and somehow managing to keep herself from looking down or away, clutching the warm metal of the golden locket at her chest.  She looked at the trio with such severity and mournful sorrow, they could do nothing but hold their breaths as they awaited what they knew the answer was, and even though it took Jessie quite a bit to gather the strength, air, and courage to speak, her solemn words still struck all three a hard blow.  “James-James is dead,” she whispered with difficulty, “He passed away a little over a year ago.”

 

No one had much to say after the revelation, and Jessie allowed her tears to fall freely, cuddling the also crying Meowth closer to her body in a vain attempt to console herself.  She’d promised herself that she would try and cry minimally over her lost beloved, but seeing the people she had chased after with him, insulted with him, and had endured so much pain from that had been bearable only with his presence had somehow revived old feelings of nostalgia she had tried so hard to forget.  “Oh, I-I’m sorry, we didn’t know,” Misty said softly at length.  “And it looks like it still hurts, so we won’t open old wounds,” Brock assured her, and Jessie managed a small smile.

 

Ash snorted haughtily and tossed his head, whipping off his cap and running a hand through his unruly ebony hair condescendingly, casting the former Rocket a sly and contemptuous look out of the corners of his eyes.  “So what?  James bought the farm oh boo hoo, you didn’t care about the fairy!  Anyone could see that!  You wouldn’t quit the team just because of him, I know you, you’re not like that,” he snarled harshly and Jessie’s brow furrowed angrily.  “People change Ash,” was her only response.  “No they don’t!  Team Rocket is evil!  Former member or not, it always has been, and always will be!  And so will its members,” Ash sibilated.  “And you don’t think I know that?” Jessie snapped, “I know how cruel they are far better than you do!  Why do you think I’m not with them now?”

 

There was a malicious silence after Jessie’s harsh and spiteful words, the only communication between the latter and Ash, their eyes locked with one another, spiteful electric hate passing between them.  “But you don’t know how I feel, you didn’t lose your best friend, and something you loved more than life itself!  And I bet this is all a ploy too!  I bet James isn’t really dead!  He’s probably waiting somewhere to spring your trap as soon as you gain enough of our trust to get us to follow!  Very clever Jessie, very clever indeed but it won’t work,” Ash said, finally breaking the silence, and Jessie noticed Misty and Brock wince at the words ‘best friend’.  She resigned to solely glaring daggers at the boy and reached behind her neck to unclasp the locket she had not taken off since the day she swore not to, making sure to show the trio what it was before closing it in her hand for comfort as she spoke.  “He is dead and I-I did Ash… I did lose my best friend,” she began with deathly clarity, “And someone I loved more than life itself.”

 

Misty felt tears sting her own eyes as Jessie restrained her sorrows, her face remaining carved from stone and not bothering to bush away the abundant tears that streamed down her cheeks.  She drew in a shaky breath and opened the rose encrusted locket in her hands, holding it out meekly so Ash especially could view the two photos clipped to fit snugly inside the two halves, and watched their expressions twist in sorrow.  “Ash, I loved him, and Team Rocket took him away from me forever, how could you think I would even want to mention the organization that would do that to me and on top of it demand I get reassigned to another partner and back to work after only one fucking day of mourning?!” she whispered, her voice breaking with her tears, feeling them fall harder as Ash laughed.  “One day huh? Very sad, so you cared about him, funny way of showing it… Now did he find pain enjoyable?  Or was he just so stupid he didn’t feel it?” he asked brightly.

 

Jessie snarled with anger and closed the locket with an angrily loud snap, pressing it against her chest as Meowth hissed angrily and bared his fangs at the boy.  “Meowth stop it!” she scolded, and the cat resumed crying as she looked murderously back up to the children, “Don’t you dare say that to me, or about my James, the day he was taken from me was the day I died!”  The hoarse and furious words settled over the group like a dark cloud of malevolence, their harsh tones ringing and echoing perfectly in their ears and they could only watch as Jessie struggled to gather the breath and composure to speak again, slamming her fist on the table spitefully.  “And James was not stupid!  He was a beautiful, sweet, intelligent, kind, and caring man, and he only put up with my violence because he knew it’s how I would react to the stress of Team Rocket!  He wanted to save me, he wanted so badly for us to get out, so we could live in peace, so he could finally tell me that he loved me, too.  He didn’t know the only way he would be getting out was through death, and the only way I got out was running away only after I realized what it had done to us, after he was already gone.  So if anyone here is stupid it’s me.”

 

Jessie buried her face in her hands as she finished her small tale, finally allowing herself to sob loudly, in no way consoled by Meowth’s soft mewing and purring into her side.  She held him close and looked away from the three others at her table ruefully, finally wiping the tears from her cheeks with shaking hands and looking back to the trio, smiling slightly with a half-hearted chuckle.  “I’m sorry,” she said noting Misty and Brock’s shocked and disturbed expressions, “It’s just that, James died very suddenly, and-and I guess I still really haven’t gotten over it.”  Jessie bowed her head dejectedly, and Misty placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder and smiled as well, making Jessie feel slightly less alienated to see tears of compassion and empathy in her eyes.  “It’s alright Jessie, Ash…Hasn’t been himself since Pikachu was stolen, I guess you can understand,” she said softly.  “I understand perfectly, and whether he believes it or not I know exactly how he feels,” Jessie answered and Misty nodded sympathetically.

 

“What about you Meowth?  You haven’t said a thing since we got here, you must have been close to him too,” Brock interjected softly.  Meowth scowled at the tender, and kind hearted words, knowing the teen meant well by them, but unable to control an anger he could not place and the defensive bristling of his fur as he pressed closer into Jessie’s body.  “Meowth won’t speak to anyone but me,” Jessie explained as Brock’s face fell, “After James died, he promised himself he would only use his abilities for me, because it-it was something special between us three.  It’s nothing against you I promise.”  Brock nodded in understanding and Ash swallowed hard, the evidence to prove that James really was gone beginning to outweigh even his own inane suspicions that he was waiting around the corner with a fishing net.

 

He softened his look at Jessie as she engaged quietly in a conversation with Misty, smiling as his red-haired friend pointed to the gold locket clenched tightly in Jessie’s grasp.  The latter smiled as well, and opened the delicate pendant gingerly, resting it gently in her palm and holding it out for all to see again.  “James left it to me, it-it’s the only thing I have left of his except for a few photos, his comic books, his bottle caps, and his uniform.  We didn’t really have much, but I can’t even begin to guess at how long it took him to save to buy this.  It was the only thing he truly cared about as well as his other things, but Meowth told me that he said it gave him strength, that maybe one day, he could tell me how much he loved me,” she explained fondly.  “There’s a stain on this one,” Brock observed softly and watched Jessie’s face twist at the mention of it.  “It-It’s blood, his blood…He was wearing this when he died,” she answered softly.  Misty and Brock gasped in consternation, and both tried to speak several times, but each finding that their voice would remain caught in their throat about the circumstances of James’ death, afraid of why there had been blood involved.  “It was a car accident,” Jessie finally clarified, “He bled to death, all because Giovanni sent him out on an errand, an odd job…That son of a bitch always thought he was god…And I never even got to say goodbye.”  “Oh…I-I’m sorry,” Brock stuttered apologetically.  “Don’t worry about it, it’s my pain, my sorrow, not yours,” Jessie answered with a small smile. “He’s kissing you, while you’re asleep!  Oh wow, you two really loved each other didn’t you?” Misty whispered in veneration and Jessie nodded.  “Oh yes, very much, and I still do,” she answered wistfully.

 

Ash gritted his teeth at last and clenched his fists, looking downward sharply at his dirty sneakers before casting an empathetic gaze back up to Jessie, who had a sad and loving smile on her face as well as tears as she looked at the photos in her locket.  “J-Jessie without James, is like…Me…Without Pikachu.  Oh god, and she has that same look in her eyes,” he thought to himself, looking at the deep pools of azure that belonged to the former Rocket.  They held the same reflection and dimmed fire of a soul once happy, the somber and haunting beauty about them almost empty, and longing for something forever intangible and eternally out of grasp, dangling just in front of them mockingly.  Ash knew the feeling all too well, and as he realized that she had lost much more than a friend, and perhaps someone she would have wanted to spend the rest of her life with, raise children, grow old, and die with, Ash let his impending tears roll down his cheeks as he looked back up to her.  “J-Jessie?” he ventured at last, and the young woman turned to face him, only a slight hint of annoyance lacing her voice as she spoke.  “What?” she asked as kindly as she could and Ash lowered his head so the brim of his cap covered his eyes.  “I…I’m so sorry about James, and I’m sorry if I made it worse,” he said softly.

 

Jessie smiled warmly at the boy, as well as the gasps of surprise from his friends at the unprecedented event of an apology, and reached across the table to put a hand tenderly on his shoulder.  “Hey,” she whispered amiably, “I don’t blame you for seeing evil in me, but it looks like we both hate Team Rocket with a passion, because it took something away from both of us that we loved.  But you should look on the bright side!  James is dead, gone, and buried, and though I wish like hell I could go back in time and tell him not to leave that morning, he died, and there’s nothing I can do to change that, but I know for a fact Team Rocket doesn’t even kill Pokemon unless it’s absolutely necessary, so I also know Pikachu is still alive.  You can find it Ash I know you can!  It’s just a matter of time before you guys will be in each other’s arms, tears of joy running down your face like there’s no tomorrow!” 

 

Ash mirrored Jessie’s smile vaguely and nodded, tears of empathy, hurt, and anguish running down his cheeks as he realized what a strong person the crimson haired woman was, and even though she had lost her beloved James, her fierce determination to survive willed her on.  He realized he must learn from her, make her strength his own, and find his lost beloved, for though Jessie had lost James forever, and would never again feel the love he sensed must have been so strong, she seemed to know that pain was not the end of everything.  She had a certain noble air about her and Ash knew she felt empty inside, that she would grieve for eternity without him, but that she possessed the knowledge that many people overlooked, that the afterlife, and the common belief of bliss after the tumult and turmoil of life, would welcome her back into the arms of her soul mate with warm adoration and acceptance.  Perhaps, Ash thought, she was only trying to forget the extreme and sudden loss, or denying still that it had happened and that her death was still far too out of her grasp to even think about, but Ash caught the meaning of what she was trying to tell him.  Her subliminal message of finding his own inner strength she saw, and that he should never let something he loved fall from his grasp as she inadvertently had, and not to become the hollow shell of a person he knew she felt like.  “You’re right, Jessie, you’re very right, and I-I have to be strong for Pikachu,” he breathed softly and at length and Jessie actually chuckled good-naturedly at him.  “There!  You see?  Sitting around and whining about it isn’t going to get your buddy back, I’ve shed plenty of tears for James, and I’ll continue to, but I’ve got to hold on, just like you do too.  He wouldn’t want me to live a life wallowing in misery, he’d want me to get up, get my dream job, go out with every guy who asked me, though I’d NEVER do that, and make a good life for myself out of my former one of crime.  I still love him with all of my heart, and I could never betray him like that, but a life doesn’t last forever, so I like to think of it as a temporary separation,” Jessie explained brightly, “Wherever we go after we die, be it heaven, or some other undocumented paradise, or hell, I know James will be there, and he’ll be waiting for me.”

 

“Oh, Jessie,” Misty breathed, “Oh, Ash…”  “Wow, I mean, I had no idea…I always suspected that James was, well…” Brock trailed off, afraid to finish.  “Gay?” Jessie did the work for him, “Don’t worry about it, a lot of people did.  He was just…Very pretty, a very beautiful man, and he was very sensitive.  He loved art, and poetry, and beautiful things, but just the way he told me he loved me, the way he held me, it was all just too wonderful…”  “You two really were deeply in love,” Brock added fondly.  “Yeah…” Jessie trailed off, and glanced to a clock situated in the interior of the café and gasped, startling Meowth from her lap, “Oh!  Crap!  It’s been great talking to you guys, believe it or not, but I’ve gotta get home, you guys have someplace to stay tonight?”

 

Without thinking after finishing her question and not bothering to wait for a response, Jessie stood to gather her things, leaving the money for the coffee and lunch she had ordered and finished before Ash and his friends had shown up, then glancing warily at the trio who wore nervous smirks upon their faces.  “We uh, weren’t intending to stay here for long,” Misty started, but stopped as Jessie held up a hand.  “Say no more, I insist you stay at my place tonight,” she said warmly and Meowth looked up at her injuriously.  “R-Really?  You sure?” Brock asked warily.  “Absolutely!  I can set all three of you up in my living room nicely, and it’ll at least be better than the Pokemon center or camping out right?” Jessie said gesturing over her shoulder.  “We’d love to, Jessie,” Misty affirmed softly and the group gathered their things as well, as casting one last cynical glance over his shoulder as Brock lingered behind, his face crimson with embarrassment.

 

The young breeder directed his attention to his shoes and put a hand to the back of his head nervously, clearing his throat to speak, not even noticing Jessie roll her eyes amicably.  “J-Jessie?  I-I just wanted to, you know, offer to-If you ever feel you need-Well, if you decide to-You know, see someone?  I-I would be more than-I wouldn’t mind…” Brock trailed off, embarrassed, and Jessie shook her head, placing a hand on his shoulder affectionately as she led him after his friends and out of the café.  “It’s very sweet of you to offer, but you have to understand.  I’m still in love with James, and I-I just can’t let him go.  I made a promise to myself to wait for him, and I’m not going to break it,” she answered solemnly.  Brock smiled and nodded in understanding, chuckling softly to himself as he rejoined his friends, following Jessie and Meowth’s lead to wherever she would take them and followed dutifully, striking up a light conversation with both the former Rocket and Misty.  Ash however lagged behind, staring at the gentle swishing of Meowth’s tail, the cracks and variations in the pavement, and eventually, the laces on his sneakers, mulling over the impeccable words of courage he had just heard from Jessie’s mouth.  He was comforted by them immensely, and somehow seeing the former Rocket so forlorn, and perhaps even carrying with her a mauled, twisted, bleeding and broken soul, he felt had somewhat dulled the pain.  He sighed and frowned, knowing it wasn’t because he willed revenge upon the unfortunate woman, but the fact that there was someone else in the world who had suffered as he had, at the hands of the same organization, and who refused to let their beloved go as well, made him feel less like a psychopath.  Ash looked up to her one last time, and smiled sadly as she turned over her shoulder to say something to Brock, and caught merely a glimpse and a glint of her crystalline Sapphire eyes, followed by a bolt of glossy crimson as her loose and fiery hair followed her head to face forward again.  “She’s gorgeous, her body and her soul,” Ash breathed to himself, “James was a lucky guy, still is, to have a woman like that in love with him, and I’m sure if I had gotten to know James, I would have said the same thing about him.”  Ash finally breathed in contentedly, jogging slightly to catch up with his friends and join the conversation on the way to Jessie’s house, forgetting for a moment the sorrows that had befallen his life.  He talked easily at last, finally trusting the young woman, and realizing she knew all too well how he felt, but though she smiled and laughed with them, Ash would never forget the excruciating pain and the haunting look of sadness in her empty eyes.

 

@->->-

 

Blue, all he could see, for what seemed like an eternity stretching ahead of him was a vast endless sea of the deepest most beautiful cerulean blue he had ever seen in his life.  He laughed joyously at the sight, a sound quite alien and long absent from his ears and dove into the benevolent miasma, letting it embrace him lovingly, filling his senses with a brilliant light and a pleasantly soft touch that caressed his body sensually and adoringly.  “I love you, I’ll always love you, I’ll never let you go…”  A gentle and beautiful voice filled his ears with its melodious and whimsical tones, and the blue became streaked with a shimmering crimson, and he watched with a genuine smile on his lips as it entwined itself around his body, exciting all of his senses.  “I don’t know you,” he answered, closing his eyes in a blissful reverie and sexual pleasure, “Oh god, oh I love you too, don’t ever leave me, I need you, I love you so much.”

 

The blue laughed, and swirled with golden color to solidify in front of his weary eyes into the amorphous form of a young woman, the crimson streaking to her long mane of hair, the blue draining from her body, leaving it milky alabaster as it retreated to her sparkling sapphire eyes.  She stood majestically before him, clothed only in the euphoric light behind her as she walked toward him, arms outstretched to receive his embrace warmly and smiled, her eyes dancing with a mischievous and loving light as he took her tenderly into his arms.  “You left me!” she cried softly, “I’ve looked for so long, I thought I’d never see you again.”  “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!  I promise I’ll stay forever, just don’t ever let me go, please please don’t let me go,” he replied, tears of joy streaming down his cheeks.

 

The woman pulled away slightly and smiled, putting one hand behind his head adoringly to bring his lips to hers, kissing him as passionately as she possibly could, her own tears mingling with his as he kissed her back.  “Please, I need you, I want you, make love to me, I need to be close to you,” she whispered between kisses.  “I’ll stay forever, don’t let me go,” he whispered back and watched his world explode into a flash of light.

 

He heard a sigh of pleasure as his eyes were able to focus again, and caring not where he was and knowing only the ethereal golden light spilling down upon him and his beloved and the seeming cloud they rested in, took her into his arms to pledge his eternal love to her forever.  “I love you, I love you more than anything else in the world,” she assured him, loose crimson hair spilling in a cascade down her bare back as it flowed through his fingers.  He kissed her passionately and held her tightly to his body, echoing her moan of pleasure as their bodies became one, laying her down into the soft satin of the cloud they floated in, and reveling in the feeling of his body inside of hers.  She snaked her arms about him to ensure he would stay close, murmuring his name with each slow gentle thrust of his hips between her legs, hearing her own name back yet not, for neither knew what they were saying to one another.

 

He closed his eyes in absolute rapture, feeling his breath come short in his chest, tears of joy, and sweat of exertion drip down the sides of his face as their lovemaking reached a brilliant climax, exploding with one final rush of pleasure and passion as they both fell back to the cloud, breathing heavily with pleasant exhaustion and holding each other as close as possible.  He felt the almost non-existent kisses fly gracefully over his neck and chest, allowing the woman to gently lay him down beneath her instead, pressing a finger to his lips before he could protest and grinning at his small gasp of delight and surprise.  She straddled his hips and smiled impishly down at him, a small movement of her lower body allowing him back inside of her, and bending down to gently and lightly kiss his stomach, her hair spilling onto his body like fire as she continued to his chest and finally on his lips again.  He welcomed the soft velvety touch of her lips anywhere she would place them on his body, and matched the movements of her hips gently, almost afraid of hurting her, but yearning for the sheer bliss she had offered with her love and body.  He wrapped his arms around her adoringly, whispering her name into her ear and sighing softly in pleasure as his hands trailed listlessly up her back, but opened his eyes for what seemed like the first time in months as he felt something foreign in his palms.

 

He pulled away from his beloved only slightly, watching her expression shift from euphoria, to confusion, then to utter horror as she witnessed his jaw drop at the sight of a pair of gossamer wings spreading great lengths from her back.  She gasped in consternation and drew back, standing up swiftly and backing a few steps away, not even bothering to cover her naked body and using her hands to conceal her mouth instead, folding her wings as far as they could go behind her.  “Oh god, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!” she whispered brokenly.  He sat up at last, reaching for his beautiful angel and calling out to her, but found that when he tried to stand up to comfort her, the golden cloud they had just been making love in had begun to close around him, swallowing his body slowly to make him one with its sovereignty over the skies.  “No!  Please!  I love you, don’t leave me!” he called but gained no response from the woman just barely out of his reach.  “I’m sorry, I have to go,” his beautiful angel said at last, turned over her shoulder with a fiery burst of crimson hair and fled.  “No!  No please!  NOOOO!” he screamed as his vision filled with light, and another voice was audible.  It was black, and distorted, hardly sounding human and he suddenly felt himself falling, his world fading to black and stomach lurching as he plummeted to the ground.  “Lazy, worthless, good-for-nothing!”  He let his tears fall freely, and allowed himself to be consumed by the darkness and the vindictive voice, knowing that the angel he had given himself to was gone and that nothing but darkness awaited him wherever his plunge should end.

 

“Specimen 616!  It’s about time you got up!”  Through the darkness and the occasional voice that spoke within the blackness of the world of dreams, a foreign and agitated voice rang out.  “Speci-“ it trailed off before it could finish again with a frustrated sigh, and the rustling of paper could be heard.  “Twilight Project subject beta?  So they don’t call you by your specimen name…Pfft, odd, and stupid if you ask me,” it said again.  Light slowly began to filter through dull senses, and as the specimen in question slowly became aware of his surroundings, he shied further back into the reaches of the eternal darkness of his lair.  “Okay, name, name…Where is, aha!  James!  James, Giovanni has requested a private audience with you!”

 

James frowned at hearing his name, and opened his eyes fully at last, not quite sure of where he was, or even who he was at the moment, flinching as the rattle of his chains echoed perfectly in the silence.  Hearing it alerted him of his body and as he moved again he felt a sudden twist of fear in the pit of his stomach, the blissful feeling of making love to his beautiful angel fresh in his mind.  He shook his head gently to clear it and put a hand to his forehead, lustful thoughts of her still in his mind and still quite aroused by the erotic dream, yet the intangible image slipped away and he sighed in frustration as he could no longer remember the face of the woman.  Resigning to his fate, James sighed dejectedly and rubbed the sleep from his eyes with his forearm, yawning and raising an eyebrow at the ray of sluggish and orange light coming in through his window, watching the dust motes float lazily to the floor.  “W-What?  Why me?” he asked groggily at length, and barely even realizing what he had said, or who had answered to.  “Do not question it!  Just get up as instructed!  Boy he really let your discipline sink to a new low didn’t he?  Too bad, the idea of a creating a Pokemon and human chimera as an assassin was truly ingenious,” the harsh voice quipped and James finally looked to see who it was.

 

Instead of the kind and soft voice of Deirdre as he was accustomed to waking up to every morning, it had been replaced by a harsh and vindictive toned voice belonging to a thin wiry woman with jet black hair tied back tightly behind her head in a bun.  Her cold and dark brown eyes peered from behind thick glasses as they glanced disapprovingly in James’ direction and then back to the clipboard she held in her arms as she scribbled something down with a pen.  He instantly sensed her hostile and callous natures, and even the fact that she had called him a chimera, a creature blended of many and generally regarded as evil, though he realized only then it was true, caused a spark of fury to be born in James soul.  “Who’re you?  What happened to Deirdre?” he queried, yawning.  The woman rolled her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest, obviously annoyed, and pushed her glasses further up her nose with a bony middle finger.  “Deirdre was found this morning in her apartment in a puddle of water and her own blood.  Turns out she slit her wrists and had been dead for quite some time before another scientist found the brat, and as for me, my name is Darcy and I will be your caretaker as of now,” the woman replied haughtily and James pressed a hand to his chest.  He gasped in terror and shook his head in disbelief, news of the warm, loving, violet-haired scientist’s death hitting him like a furious slap across the face, barely even believing what he had heard.  “Deirdre, no…Callie, then…Then Deirdre too?  She-She killed herself over me, over what I said to her…But, it was all true,” he whispered to himself and Darcy cleared her throat agitatedly.

 

The blue-haired man shot a virulent glare in the direction of the new scientist and sighed, rising from his cot solemnly and making his way to the front of the cell, leaning against it casually and staring abhorrently into the icy eyes of the woman.  They stood there for what seemed like hours, tacit hatred passing between them, until James found her silence quite irritating and tossed his hair at her condescendingly as he turned away. “Well are you going to let me out or not?” he asked peevishly.  Darcy scowled and nodded, pulling the key from a ring in her pocket and jamming it into the lock as she glared malevolently one last time at the chimerical assassin, throwing the door open with a creak to step inside.  James met her halfway and pulled back the collar of the black coat he always wore to reveal the lock and chain attached to the metal collar he wore about his neck, allowing her to free him of merely the chain and escort him out of his cell.

 

“Follow me please,” Darcy said quietly and James bowed mockingly, allowing her to step past him and show the way.  The woman brushed past the weapon rigidly, picking up her pace slightly to stay far ahead of the sound of his steady and nonchalant footsteps, swallowing hard and fixing her glare straight ahead and promising herself not to look back until James was safely in Giovanni’s office

 

James shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat disconsolately as he passed the open door covered in tape and peered inside to see a few Rockets mopping up the still bloody floor of Deirdre’s kitchen and muttering various disapproving obscenities at the job.  “Deirdre, I’m so sorry, rest in peace now,” he breathed softly and directed his gaze back to the linoleum of the hall.  He found himself suppressing a sick and falling feeling in the pit of his stomach as he was roughly thrust into the sterile white temporary office of Giovanni, kept spotless for his few visits to the forest complex, and swallowed hard as he lowered his head submissively.  “You wanted to see me sir?” he asked quietly.

 

James flinched as he heard the gentle rustle of fabric as Giovanni stood up, and the door slammed shut behind him with a malicious thud, body trembling slightly in fear of the black figure that moved almost seductively toward him.  “I’m terribly sorry about the Pikachu thing and your beloved scientist,” Giovanni began softly, cupping James’ chin in his hand, “But you should have known they’d leave you eventually.  You belong to me.”  James tried desperately to look away from the devious and amorous eyes of Giovanni as he forced him to look into them with a slight stab of panic tearing through his body, feeling his knees weaken as his master forced him against the wall.  “You killed them, not me,” James answered sheepishly, but with a definite air of defiance in his words.  This caused Giovanni to smile wickedly and trace his hand gently down James’ chest to his belt, fumbling with the clasp teasingly and grinning passionately at his possession.

 

“Please, don’t,” James protested weakly pressing his back harder against the wall, but Giovanni silenced him with a gentle finger to his lips.  “You’re very beautiful, and very perfect, did you know that?  My James, my pet,” was the only response, James’ eyes widening in terror as Giovanni caressed his cheek lovingly.  Jessie had been the only one to call him, “my James” and hearing it from the man who had ripped him away from his love, his happiness, and his life sparked a fury for revenge in James’ soul which he had not the courage to exact, merely whimpering pitifully as Giovanni’s hand moved between his legs.  “Don’t do this to me, I beg of you, you’ve done enough,” he pleaded softly.  “Oh James, don’t you know?” Giovanni replied in ecstasy, his eyes shutting with pleasure, “I’m the only one who will ever love you, not that idiot Deirdre, or that whore Jessie, they’re both gone now, and its for the best.  Deirdre was a pathetic weakling and Jessie, well, she was a raving bitch who did nothing but hurt you.  You belong to me James, you’re my creation, my possession and my slave.  You can’t ever have anyone but me, give in to it James.”  James squeezed his eyes shut so hard sparks and fires danced in his black vision, willing the torment to stop with ever fiber of his being as Giovanni pressed his lips to his after speaking.  The blue-haired young man fought the urge to bite the foreign tongue that entered his mouth then vomit upon the foul creature who dared defile him in such a way, but only when Giovanni seemed to enjoy the terrified tenseness of his lithe and muscular body did James feel truly ill.

 

The kiss continued until the chimera could no longer handle the gentle movements inside his mouth and the almost harsh and lustful caress between his legs, turning his head sharply away as Giovanni pulled slightly away.  “Damn you,” he breathed with difficulty, eyes widening as the rough and callused old hands moved deftly up his chest.  They found the collar of his black trench coat and slid gingerly underneath it, bringing it off James’ shoulders before moving down to his belt, leaving the thick black fabric to hang between flesh and the floor on James’ elbows.  “Shit!  Don’t, please don’t,” he breathed, panic rising in his voice.  “Oh James, just give in to it, you know you want me to, and I want you, I want you so bad I can taste it,” Giovanni breathed, the only sound following the gentle jingle of metal against itself as the silver clasp of the belt finally came undone.

 

James held his breath and looked away as he felt Giovanni’s fingers gently twirl themselves into his silky cerulean locks, a hot crimson blush rising in his cheeks, and his body trembling ever so slightly with fear and loathing of the beast in front of him as he prayed silently to anything willing to listen to make the torture stop or to strike him dead on the spot.  It seemed the fates were on the blue-haired young man’s side, for the moment his master reached for the last barrier that stood between himself and his much desired prize, a gentle knock sounded at the door, and he was forced to look up.  “What do you want?!  I told you I wished to be left alone!” he cried indignantly to which he was answered by a shocked gasp.  James saw his chance and backed away, pulling his coat tightly over his shoulders once more and falling to his knees, bending over as far as he could go, wrapping his arms over his head as if to shield himself, the utter humiliation the only thing present in his panicked and frightened mind.

 

Giovanni’s expression shifted to one of hurt as he watched his creation rock himself gently on the floor, muttering something incoherent and too soft to be heard, hands wrapped wretchedly in his tangled blue tresses.  He sighed softly to himself and moved to open the door, biting his tongue bitterly one last time to clear his mind of any further lustful thoughts and feeling only mildly guilty that James seemed so disturbed by his actions.

 

The knob twisted easily and he flung the door open only a small crack angrily, allowing only the side of his face to be seen by the terrified young man on the other side.  Giovanni looked harshly at the youth with a critical sneer, and the boy responded with a widening of his soft, playful brown eyes and running a hand through his equally warm colored earthen hair as he cleared his throat delicately.  “Yes?” Giovanni snapped, to which the boy straightened considerably.  “Uh, sir!  A-Agent Mondo reporting sir!  They found out the information you wanted, sir!” came the stuttered reply, and the younger Rocket held out a small, tightly sealed manila folder to his employer.  “Ah!  Thank you very much, now, resume your duties for the day,” the man hidden in the shadows crooned brightly, waving Mondo off with his hand as he turned back inside the office.  “Y-Yes sir, but please, don’t hurt her…” he replied, but his soft words were heard only by the dark red wood of the door.

 

James looked up from the floor at last, and held his coat even tighter around his body as Giovanni sauntered gingerly toward him, grin plastered across his face as he read the information inside the folder he had long discarded to the floor.  “Oh dearest James, I do believe I have a lovely job for you!  This one should be the most fun out of any I’ve sent you on!” he chirped brightly.  James merely huffed loudly and looked away, attempting to hide his expression of disgust and unwillingness, but he was forced to lock eyes with the man he loathed more than anything in the world as he felt his chin cupped lovingly in a rough hand to force him to look in the direction it desired.  “You will do this, and you will have fun,” he hissed, pressing a slip of paper into James’ palm, “This is something that should have been done much too long ago.”

 

@->->-

 

A lone soul stood on the balcony, watching the sun’s annual death at the end of the day reverently, losing herself in the burst of blood spattered about the horizon at the fiery disk’s vain attempt to retain a grasp on life.  She watched as a light wind blew her equally blood colored hair across her vision, and sighed loudly as she brushed it across her cheeks and behind her ears, hands stopping only briefly on the pair of emerald green studs she always wore in her pierced ears.  Twilight finally fell in front of her eyes and she turned to go back inside, a particularly cold winter wind cutting through her body as she slid the glass panel to her apartment from the balcony shut and she shivered, looking mournfully one last time to the slowly darkening horizon.  “Another day gone, more hurt, more pain, this damn cycle never ends…James, I miss you so much, why did you leave me?” Jessie whispered pressing a hand to the icy glass before turning to go answer the door for the pizza she had ordered for her guests.

 

Jessie forgot the pain briefly as she talked brightly and easily with Ash, Misty, and Brock over the cheese and pepperoni laden slices of pizza, apologizing profusely for her lack of prowess with cooking utensils.  “I can eat what I make, but I’d never serve that slop to a guest!” she laughed amiably.  “That’s perfectly alright!  We’re just grateful for an old friend and a nice place to stay!” Misty replied.  “Well this is hardly nice, but I’m glad you’ll be comfortable!” Jessie answered, laughing still, and her ease gave the rest of the weary travelers a sense of good times long past.  The evening passed pleasantly, and after watching the same movie Jessie had admitted her love for James at the end of, the friends decided to turn in for the evening.

 

Night fell over the small apartment slowly, the pale silvery moonlight filtering through the sheer curtains of the open window fluttering in a midnight breeze to trace over the gentle curves of Jessie’s body under the thick quilt she slept under, and flickered in the dim shimmering of its iridescent sheen as she turned over, unable to sleep.  The young woman opened one Sapphire eye experimentally to glance at the digital alarm clock and groaned as she noted it read exactly midnight, stuffing her head beneath her pillows with a frustrated oath.  Suddenly unable to breathe, Jessie sat up furiously and scowled at the gray carpet of her bedroom, and then to the balcony lit with an almost ethereal light from the full moon and sighed, casting a furtive glance to her open door to see if her guests were asleep.

 

Jessie could see nothing, so she gently slipped from bed, shivering as the cold air cut into her only slightly clothed body and the short, pink satin nightgown she had worn the night she had spent nestled in James’ arms and the last one they had spent together.  She padded softly into the living room and cast a gentle smile down at the three children coiled tightly together for warmth and felt a sudden sense of comfort, somehow, the fact that she had finally found souls from her past, familiar and friendly ones, making her feel just slightly less lonely.  Turning back on her heel, the red-head pulled the blankets more tightly about Ash, ran a hand through his hair affectionately and proceeded back into her room, noting a puddle of water on the bathroom floor she swore had better be gone by morning.  She closed the door and crawled gently back into bed, careful not to disturb Meowth and snuggled closer to his body, breathing in the warm scent of his fur before closing her eyes to sleep.  “Meowth, it’s going to be a much longer and harder road, but I think that we’ll be okay,” she whispered quietly, and soon fell into a deep and relaxed sleep.

 

@->->-

 

Ash awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in bed with a sharp gasp of consternation and confusion.  He pressed a hand to his chest and glanced down to see Misty and Brock sleeping peacefully at either of his sides and, temporarily forgetting where he was, searched about his surroundings with wild eyes.  His gaze finally fell upon his jacket draped over the arm of the old, faded blue couch and the empty pizza box on the coffee table and the knots in his stomach released as he finally realized and remembered what had happened.

 

The boy considered briefly checking on Jessie and sat up completely, turning in the direction of her room to merely peek, but leaping to his feet at what he saw.  A black amorphous form of what seemed to be water loomed before him, bent maliciously and rancorously toward the closed door of the back bedroom as it slithered from the bathroom located in the hall and swirled with color, forming a rough silhouette of a man.  It finally solidified with a dull pulse of light and left in its wake a slim, but muscular man clad in all black, save for the utterly distinct and reviled bloody “R” embroidered over his heart, and as he turned to meet the boys gaze, Ash felt the color drain from his face with the recognition of the icy blue jaggedly cut blue hair and piercing emerald eyes.

 

A spark of recollection flared in the intruders eyes for a spilt second and he took a small step forward, stern expression never faltering as Ash took a step toward him as well, fists clenching tightly at his sides while he willed his eyes to burn a hole through the Team Rocket insignia emblazoned on the long trench coat.  “It’s you, isn’t it?” the boy asked defiantly receiving no answer from the strangely familiar man, “I know its you, and you’re still with those bastards that took Pikachu…Jessie told us you were dead, and I wish you were.”  The man flinched at the words, the name and their meaning ringing hollow in deaf ears and he lowered his eyes abhorrently, glaring daggers at the young boy he had not seen in so long, answering simply, “I am dead.”

 

Ash snarled under his breath at hearing the velvet voice he knew belonged to only one person, and though it was low, mournful and subdued, there was no doubt in his mind as he lunged forward, picking up the knife left in the pizza box from cutting it and barreling toward the man with tears in his eyes.  “You killed me, and now, James, I’m going to get my revenge for what Team Rocket did to me!” he screamed.  He flew through the air to where he expected the blue-haired demon to remain, but watched with wide eyes as James phased out of view and his own body went hurtling through the empty space the rocket had once occupied. 

 

Ash regained his balance quickly and whirled back around wielding the knife, blinded with an indescribable rage he could not control with seeing the person he knew had betrayed Jessie, and helped take his beloved Pokemon away from him.  “James!  Show your face coward!” he yelled, searching frantically about only to find his arm gripped securely from behind.  “Ash!  Calm down!” Misty’s voice rang distantly in his roaring ears and he whirled around to face her.  The young girl drew back at the sight of her friend, teeth bared and black hair wild, looking more like a snarling beast in the silver light than a human, and with a demeanor just as animalistic, he snarled loudly and turned to the kitchen window where he was just able to see a rapid blur of cloaked shadow pass nimbly past it.  “Shit,” Ash breathed and dashed toward the door, running down the hall with only one goal in mind.

 

“Ash!  No, wait!” Misty cried, reaching out to him, but was stopped by a firm hand on her shoulder.  “Misty!  Brock!  What in the hell just happened?” Jessie asked, suddenly audible from behind the terrified duo.  “We don’t know, Ash was screaming and then he just-“ “Follow him, “ Misty found herself cut off.  “But-“ Brock protested but was answered only by Jessie’s pointed finger and a sharp demand of, “Now!”  They dared not protest, and nodded in unison as they bolted after their furious friend, leaving Jessie alone to phone the nearest police station, for Ash had not been the only one to catch a glimpse of the seemingly living black shadow.

 

James winced as he felt the ground beneath his feet once more, clenching his fists together furiously as he gathered his bearings noticing only then the glittering sharp points of light in the winter night sky above him.  “Shit!  Where the hell did the twerp come from?  Great, there goes my chance of calmly saving whoever it was I was killing,” he muttered to himself, suddenly feeling a gentle breeze waft through his hair.  James shook his head gently to clear his thoughts and of the sudden terrifying feeling of nostalgia the boy had instilled in him, and the sinking suspicion of why they were staying in the particular apartment, and whom it belonged to tearing at his psyche rabidly.  He found himself to be walking calmly to the edge of what he then recognized as the top of the apartment complex and peering over it cautiously, wondering how much it would hurt and how quick a death it would mean for him should he jump.

 

The chimera slowly sank to his knees at the very edge, letting the freezing updrafts of indifferent and apathetic wind carry the loose strands of blue hair about his pale face gently, and sighed deeply feeling almost as if he should do something he hadn’t done since the day he had taken the one life that had changed his for eternity.  He quickly decided against it, and instead raised his burnt and scarred hands to his face, scowling at the marks from various attacks and the small reddened and constantly irritated areas at the bases of his palms where the vines found their leave into the world.  “What am I?  What did he do to me?” he breathed softly and buried his hands in his pockets bitterly, “And why is that fucking kid making me feel like this?”

 

James squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying to drown out the furious voices and sobbing inside his head, cursing Giovanni for bestowing the powers of psychic Pokemon upon him, for the attacks they possessed caused him the most pain the learn, and drained the most energy and emotion from him.  Emotions he had tried to forget had been instilled deep within his soul with seeing the familiar boy and his friends, reminding him of the love he thought he’d forsaken, was relieved in the knowledge that he would be haunted by it no more, but yet stabbed at his heart with pangs of longing and regret.  It was not the same love he had cherished however, but a dull ache in the pit of his soul, and what drove James the most mad at the moment, was the realization that he did not know why he suddenly felt so angry.

 

Clenching his fists contemptuously in front of his face, James watched his vision fade to black with fury, unbridling the hatred toward the world and all of its creatures for the first time in far too long.  Careful to repress the perturbed scream that seared the inside of his throat, James stood, visions of Giovanni, Deirdre, Callie’s dead body and other people of his new life flashing across his blinded eyes, and not even feeling the soothing winds toss the black fabric of his coat majestically about his body.  Framed in the moonlight, the man turned slowly over his shoulder to face the boy who panted heavily at the door to the fire escape, his stolid yet unwavering expression somehow clearly crying out a message of sorrow, guilt, anger, and odium, narrowing his subdued emerald eyes abhorrently.  “James, I swore I’d get revenge for Pikachu, and you’re perfect, I’m sorry Jessie loves you so much, but I can see now you betrayed her too.  You are the lowest piece of Team Rocket slime I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” Ash hissed virulently.

 

James took a gentle step forward and stood proudly and almost derisively to his full height, he severe gaze focused only on the soul who dared spark such a fury in his naturally gentle and broken soul.  “Ash, you’re in way over your head this time, you don’t have a clue what you’re dealing with.  It would be much better if you forget about Pikachu, and me, forget about Team Rocket, they have ways of getting what they want and you are most definitely not an object,” he said plaintively.  “Do you think I would believe you?” Ash snarled in reply, “After what you helped do to me?  After lying to your best friend and the woman who loved you?  Who still does love you?”  “Whether you believe me or not is no matter to me, your aggressions and resentments are sadly misplaced,” came the snide remark without answering the many questions fired at him.  “Don’t fuck with me James, don’t even dare, I’ll kill you, I don’t care who finds out, I won’t be happy until one of us is dead, and I don’t intend on dying until I have Pikachu back,” Ash seethed with the blade of the knife pointed harshly at him and James’ expression softened.

 

He took a kind step forward, sudden compassion rising to meet the anger and pacify it enough to ebb the rage, and allow the severity of the situation and take control, holding out his hands defensively.  “Ash, please, calm down, this isn’t what you want,” he soothed gently.  “Like hell it isn’t!  All I want is the satisfaction of feeling your blood on my hands!” the boy retaliated fiercely, drawing the long kitchen knife into the moonlight as if to prove his point.  “Ash, you can’t win, Pikachu is gone, please let her go,” James pleaded, “This is no way to get justification for what happened to you or to Pikachu.”  Ash assumed an aggressive stance, glaring at the regal form bathed in otherworldly light before him, his aura of intelligence, wisdom, and eyes that had already seen all a man could take in a lifetime radiating outward like a halo from some fallen angel.  His own brute hostility and snarling beast like manner seemed suddenly crude to him, and furious that James had insulted his pain one last time, Ash readied his blade and straightened his stature.  “The only justification I’ll ever need,” he began, placing one foot behind the other to spring forward, “ Is your blood!”

 

Time careened to a halt as James’ mournful emerald eyes widened in terror as with a furious cry of bloodlust, utter abhorrence, and bitter sorrow poured from the depths of Ash’s soul and finally out his lips, the chimera watched in almost slow motion the slight form of the child hurtle through time and space to plunge the knife into its target.  Left with no other options, James executed a swift teleport and phased out of harm’s way, and just as before, Ash hurtled through the empty space so dangerously close to the edge of the building and launched his body into flight.  The screams no longer resounded over the cold barren desert of roofs as Ash felt his body lose all tangible form and let the winds carry all sounds, sights, and pain upwards and away from his mind.  The boy smiled peacefully one last time, barely even feeling the tears he shed whip upwards to be lost in the infinite strata above him and let his body plummet, his last thoughts of his beloved Pokemon he could just barely see in front of him.  “Pika…Chu, we’ll always be a team,” he thought to himself, and followed the exuberant cries of his partner.  The blackness rushed to meet Ash and he felt a brief second of excruciating pain before it enveloped him completely, a single light dancing seductively in front of his eyes.  He followed the light, and knew no more than euphoria and the tearful cries of a Pikachu somewhere he knew now he could reach.

 

James dared not look over the precipice where he had just seen the young boy careen off to his inevitable death, instead, wincing at the bloodcurdling scream from the street below and clasping a hand to his mouth.  He took several steps backward, shaking his head in disbelief and anguish, running the other free hand through his hair as he turned his back to the edge of the building.  “No, no not another life, no more blood on my hands, please, oh god please don’t let me be responsible for a fourth life,” he whispered but the loud sobbing he recognized caused him to squeeze his eyes shut with a meek cry of despair.  James sunk slowly to his knees, gripping either side of his head as if it would help to ease the pain, to dull the shock and mitigate the guilt and fury rising in the depths of his soul, throwing his head back and screaming as loud as he possibly could.  “No…” he breathed quietly, “NOOO!”

 

Allowing his body to slump plaintively over itself, James wrapped his arms about his waist in a meager attempt to console himself and drive away the now raging and icy winter winds, and could do nothing but stare blankly at the door to the fire escape rising like a arbitrating monolith in the barren space of the rooftop.  “I’m a murderer,” he whispered emotionlessly, “A cold hearted killer, an assassin, the ultimate weapon, The Twilight Project, James leBlanc has been dead for over a year now, and it’s time to let him go.”  The chimera stood with his own words, closing his eyes and pressing two fingers to his forehead to focus his energy for a teleport, he knew that no matter what he could possibly tell himself, the person he had once loved to be had been the fifth victim of his blindness. 

 

With the amount of energy he needed to flee, James took a deep breath and prepared the long teleport distance in his mind, but a small gasp from a mere feet in front of him caused the fingers to drop, and his eyes to open.  What he saw standing in front of him, framed in a brilliant halo of crimson hair and the dim lights of inside the stairwell and clasping both hands to her mouth and completely disregarding the torrent of tears that cascaded down her cheeks, caused his eyes to widen, and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach to intensify so greatly he had to put a hand to it.  “Oh...My...God...” the young woman breathed, leaning against the doorframe for support, “J-James?”  James recognized the terrified sapphire eyes of someone who had haunted him only in his fleeting memories and torturous dreams, the specter who had been wounding him, taunting him, tormenting him, and the beautiful yet pale face of a spirit from his past, jaw dropping open with only a single utterance, “J-Jessie?”

 

She drew back at his verbal response, hardly recognizing the seeming holy and divine ghostly shell of a man she saw before her, standing majestically and staring evenly at her with tortured and subdued emerald eyes.  She sank to her knees, knowing nothing but the torpid and tormented gaze she had once been able to lose herself in, feeling nothing but love and happiness of a soul who had found its mate for eternity, but now feeling nothing but ice behind the dull, glassy jewels.  “No, oh dear sweet mother of god, I’m dreaming, I’m dying, I’m dead.  No, my James, he-he can’t be alive, this can’t be, it just can’t be!” she sibilated brokenly, watching as her vision swirled with colors and light.  The black apparition moved toward her gently like a shadow of death, and stopped close enough for her to reach out and touch, but finding she had not the strength to do so, closed her eyes and allowed the darkness to overcome her body gratefully.  James reached out to his lost beloved wistfully as she collapsed and lost consciousness, but quickly withdrew his hand, ashamed of what she had seen him as, and knowing they could never be together again.  They were two different people, in two painfully different worlds, realms of light and dark, regions of good and evil, fire and ice, chimera and human, beauty and the beast, Jessie and James.

 

Deciding not to leave her out in the frigid winter night upon the rooftop, James walked slowly over to her and knelt almost reverently before his fallen angel, gathering her cold, lithe and slender form into his arms and picking her from the dirty tiles.  He stopped for only a moment, gazing harshly at her pale and twisted face, feeling her loose and fiery crimson hair billow about both their bodies in the icy wind and felt his own face contort with horror, and almost empathy and sorrow.  “Jessie…” he breathed painfully and looked away, unable to stand the sight of her any longer, and to reduce the time he would have to endure the pain of her being, decided to teleport down to her room.  He freed an arm for the act and quickly pressed two fingers to his forehead to focus his energy in his brain and selected the attack, holding Jessie tightly to his body as if he were afraid of losing her somewhere in the folds of dimensions he traveled with no ease.  The ground was a most welcome feeling under his feet after a split second of intense sensual stimulation that had wracked his body horrifically the first time he had attempted it, and after only a moment to clear his senses, he realized that he was indeed in the apartment he had been in before, and it did belong to the red-haired woman in his arms.

 

With a small sigh, James immediately laid Jessie’s unconscious form gingerly on the bed and smoothed her silky crimson hair away from her twisted face with the utmost tenderness and reverence, as if she were some perfect and revered goddess he was not allowed to honor his eyes with the sight of, much less touch.  She stirred softly as he shied away, whispered his name under her breath and reached out in her dream, tears sliding from beneath her closed eyelids almost drawing the same from the blue-haired man’s as he turned to go, sighing regretfully and mournfully while he pulled his coat about his shoulders more tightly.  “James, please…Don’t go, don’t leave me again,” Jessie’s oddly soft and subdued, almost child-like and pitiful voice froze the chimera in his tracks and he turned slowly over his shoulder to meet the tearful azure eyes he’d not seen in eons.  The woman he had seen on the rooftop, the one laying before him like a lethal weapon apt to strike at any given moment, his beautiful strong Jessie, his Amazon warrior, he suddenly understood with fury, fear, and sorrow, had indeed been slain by Giovanni, and she had died the same day he had well over a year before.  He bit his lip apprehensively with the realization, shrinking back like a threatened animal as Jessie reached out and laid a hand gently on the side of his face, her own countenance one of shock, and almost terror, but a hidden joy deep within her soul, sparked by hope and flared with seeing her love again was apparent in her eyes.  “Is it really you?  Am I…Am I dreaming?  Or dead?  Because…You’re dead, James you left me, you can’t just…Come back, now!  You…You can’t…” Jessie sobbed brokenly, to which James could only sigh.  “I’m sorry, but the man you knew is dead, don’t fret, don’t suffer anymore, he died very quietly and painlessly with your name on his lips,” James answered solemnly and gently slid the cold hand off his cheek.

 

The man turned to go with his words, closing his eyes remorsefully and feeling the tiny sting of tears in the corners of his eyes, but was forced to stop as his hand was gripped by the one he had just brushed away.  “No!  Don’t go, I know it’s you James, please, please tell me what happened,” Jessie pleaded.  “I…”James began, turning about to face her once again, his once stern and somber expression finally breaking and twisting with pain, “I can’t, you wouldn’t understand.”  He hated seeing the once assertive and vivacious woman so broken, so torn by sorrow, loss and regret, the air about her conveying all to James so clearly, as he drew back he was aware of a hot trickle of a tear down the side of his cheek.  He gasped and wiped it away with the back of his hand quickly, frowning as he shook his head in an attempt to clear the pressing feeling of despair rising in the pit of his stomach, and could do nothing but sit heavily next to Jessie on the edge of her bed.  “Do you think I fucking care if I understand?  James, I thought you were dead!  I thought my life was over, done and I was just waiting around to die, but I knew that you would have wanted me to live, I was only living with your memory because I…I knew how much you always wanted me to be happy.  Please tell me what happened to you, and I don’t care what happened outside, just please, help me, help us,” the red-haired woman assured him, taking his gloved hands and turning his face to hers.

 

James’ lip quivered and he allowed a small sob to escape his throat, closing his eyes to clear them of the tears as he gently lifted the blood red ‘R’ for Jessie to view.  “So, you’re still with Team Rocket,” she breathed bitterly with a frown, and James cringed at the contempt and almost disappointment in her voice.  “But not by any choice of my own Jessie, this…”Death”, was all a deception…A blatant lie by a psychotic old man to cover up his own twisted wishes,” James answered softly, pausing ever so often with crying, wondering why the tears slid so rapidly down his face, and why he suddenly felt he should be euphoric to see his love, but yet completely empty and alone.  He knew they still belonged in separate worlds, and somehow seeing her again had reminded the young man of all that had transpired, who he belonged to, and the torment and humiliation he had come to accept as fate.  So sure that suffering was what he deserved, James had forgotten the beautiful crimson specter, and she had existed as only a bloody memory of a reoccurring dream, a fleeting moment of joy on a television lit couch and a kiss he would feel for what seemed like eons.  The light had exploded in a cataclysmic fury, swallowing one and batting the other out of harm’s way, toying with two innocent souls like its toys, as if it were sovereign over all it saw, and as James lost himself in the pools of blue that reminded him so much of yet another fleeting dream, he allowed a small scream of fury to escape his lips and soul.

 

“Giovanni,” James seethed through his tears, cold resentment giving way to the hellfire of rage engulfing every fiber of his being, “That…That son of a bitch…He thought he could be God, some divine creator, and he decided to play with both of our lives for his own sick benefits.”  Jessie drew back in fear at the sudden unleashing of pent up frustration, her own tears falling again as James leaned his forehead onto his arms crossed over his lap and said no more, simply cried, laying her hand gently on his back.  “That bastard!  How dare he?!  I hope he’s happy…James, what happened?  What did he do to you?” she repeated again, running her hands through his silky blue tresses and smiling as she let it pour through them like glimmering strands of fine material, missing the feeling of him doing the same for her.  James responded to her delicate touch, and sighed deeply, sitting up only enough to extend a wrist outward and allow the thick green stalk of his vinewhip lash out into the frigid air of Jessie’s bedroom.  “This, is what happened,” he muttered abhorrently, and it was all the red-haired woman could do to keep from collapsing to the floor.

 

Jessie reached one hand out to touch to seemingly simulated, or hallucinated vines extending from the wrists of the man she had thought dead, and covered her mouth with the trembling free hand, “W-Why?” her only utterance.  “Because he’s a sick, tyrannical, selfish old man,” James began slowly, “I’m an object to him, nothing more, no more than his twisted experiment to gain more power, or at least that’s what he claims.  Jessica, I’ve had to kill myself to survive, this…This is the first time I’ve cried in over a year.”  Jessie could only hold James’ sobbing form close to her own, tears running unabashed down her cheeks to land in the silky blue locks of the top of his head, which he had allowed her to cradle gently beneath her chin, stroking his back in a futile attempt to quite him.  “Oh James, oh my god, James I’m so sorry, but it’ll be alright now I promise, you’re back, that’s all that matters,” she whispered tenderly.  “No, it won’t, Jessica, I can’t stay, I…I have to go back to Giovanni now, please let me go,” James answered bitterly.  “I lost you once James, and it almost destroyed me, I would be an idiot to let it happen again, please please don’t leave me again, just let me hold you, even if its only for a minute more,” came the tearful reply, and James’ tears fell harder.

 

The chimera felt the familiar warmth of the crimson specter again embracing him, the woman he had killed by breaking his promise, and brutally murdered in a bloody reoccurring dream he could only remember vividly with seeing her again.  She was times long past, she was love, and a shining beacon of hope, goodness tearing through the black miasma of evil he had allowed to envelop his heart to salvage him, rescue him, liberate him, and still love him.  Holding Jessie at last, James finally realized what Callie had meant, and why he was still alive, running one hand nervously through her hair as he spoke, “Jessica, I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I murdered you, I failed you, I broke my promise!”  He felt almost as if he was sinning to merely look upon her, much less touch her, hold her thin muscular body in his arms and smell the sweet fragrance of her hair he had long forgotten to the stench of blood and medical equipment in his enclosure.  She almost glowed in the moonlight pouring like a river of silver through her open window, casting rippling shadows across her wracking body as she cried, and he made no move to stop himself from embracing her tightly.  “James…Oh James,” was all Jessie could manage to reply as she threw her arms about his neck and allowed her being to be saturated in his warmth and the feeling of light and love finally returning to her empty soul.

 

The two people said no more, merely clung to the shred of a memory, gone in a fleeting instant to suddenly return when it was long forgotten, but never extinguished in a blaze of glory, the darkness submitting at last to a single ray of light from a pair of valiant sapphire eyes to a pure yet broken soul.  Regret and loss, self-deprecation and the pressing, gnawing, bitter feeling of worthlessness and futility were all slain by a holy warrior shrouded in the garb of a uncorrupted being to vindicate an existence, and liberate a soul, and the shattering of the barrier of ice James had placed around his heart could almost be heard in the deathly silence as he lifted Jessie’s chin to direct her eyes to his.  “Jessica, I must leave now, and please, I beg for your trust, though I broke my solemn oath to you long ago, I will never break another promise,” he began softly, but paused as Jessie gently caressed his cheek with her hand.  “I believe you James, I know you’d never willingly hurt me, but please, please promise never to leave me again,” she said plaintively.  “I can’t do that, but I will promise one thing,” James answered, standing up and turning to face the open balcony window, where the flashing lights of the ambulance and other vehicles and the wailing of sirens could be seen and heard clearly.

 

The chimera sighed deeply and walked to the edge of the high concrete and metal precipice, peered cautiously over the edge, and, satisfied that the emergency crews and police were too distant to see him, leapt elegantly to the top of the coiling railing.  “James wait!  Promise me what?  James don’t go!  Damn it!  Don’t do this to me!  Come back!” Jessie cried as she rushed from the bed outside, and reaching out to James’ black form framed by an aura of moonlight, stopping only when he turned over his shoulder with a sad and miniscule smile on his lips.  “Jessica Burkely, I swear one thing to you, I will come back,” he said reverently, a small spark flaring behind his emerald irises which looked as if some of their life had been breathed back into them.  Jessie let her tears fall again as she pressed a fist to her chest and nodded, gently fingering the locket she still wore around her neck and stifling a sob at the sight of her beloved James turning back over his shoulder, the breeze tossing the black coat majestically about his frame.  The being in front of her looked more like a demon, once an angel savagely torn away from grace to be infected with evil, but his heart never quite becoming black, an innocent soul forced to the ways of darkness than the James she had fallen in love with, but as Jessie watched him spread his arms gracefully to accept the winds into them, she knew that he would keep his promise, and that soon would come a day where she would hold her beloved in her arms again.

 

Without another word, James’ muscular body coiled and he sprung with a lissome and graceful dive into thin air, not even staying in the area long enough to hear Jessie’s small shriek of terror and then gasp of confusion to find nothing but empty space between herself and the street below.  She looked over the edge to the dingy and severely dilapidated street she had the misfortune of living over and saw nothing but the red and blue lights of the ambulance as it sped away, the dumpsters of a nearby restaurant, and a few stray Pokemon picking at the meager bits of refuse still edible.  Jessie hesitated only a moment, watching a single tear roll from her cheek and into the infinite black space below her and turned to go back inside, still feeling James’ emerald gaze upon her, and that she had finally found what she had been looking for since her beloved had died what seemed like eons ago to her.  She smiled slightly and closed her eyes, wrapping her hands wistfully around the locket around her neck and walked slowly back inside, not even turning over her shoulder to see if her black angel was still there, and knowing his eyes were still upon her.  She closed the glass panes of glass to the balcony and smiled as she drew her sheer curtains over it standing by the coolness radiating from the chilled winter’s night outside, pressing her back against the doors gently.  “James, after almost a year and a half, you show up out of nowhere as an assassin, half Pokemon, and yet, you’re still James.  Your eyes are dying, but I know in time, you’ll come back to me and we’ll both be happy again, because my James never broke promises, ever, and you still are my James,” she breathed tearfully, and finally turned away to go back to bed, not even noticing a small streak across the moon, and a mournful whistle of wind for a young life lost to be reunited with another.

 

James touched down to the street gently, bathed in the dull orange light of a street lamp, exhaling gratefully and watching his icy breath hang sharply in the air in front of him coiling in on itself and dispersing in a crystalline burst.  He turned on his heel to cast a wistful gaze back to the apartment building, and seeing its dark and ominous, yet strangely benevolent and loving looming stature in the confines of the analogous city, he smiled.  “Jessie,” he whispered under his breath and reached a hand out as if to touch her once more, and the chimera made his decision.  He clenched his fist in front of his face defiantly and reluctantly banished the genuine and much missed smile from his lips his crimson specter acknowledging the change in his spirit, and his long forgotten will.  James once again felt the warm touch of happiness on his heart, if only for a brief wonderful blissful moment, but something inside of him exploded in a brilliant flash of light and he knew then what his duty to himself, and the rest of the world was.  He allowed his genuine smile to creep back onto his lips as he spotted a red rose bush in the garden of the building and crouched by it, moving the leaves until he found a spot he could place his fingers to snap it off.  Pressing the fully bloomed flower to his nose and inhaling deeply, he stood again, and began his slow trek on foot until he would teleport back to the Team Rocket base, closing his eyes almost in rapture with its sweetly romantic scent.  “Heh, roses, damn have I missed them,” he mused lightly, but stopped beneath another street lamp as the full realization of what he had said permeated his psyche; he had forgotten.   James had meant to forget, for he had known nothing but pain, and he had accepted it as fate and forsaken the simple pleasures that had once had so much meaning.  Tears once again stung at his eyes as he remembered why he had adored roses so much, and cursing himself and Giovanni for what they had both helped do to his soul.  “A pawn, a game piece, a toy…” he began softly, his only audience the winds,” That’s all I ever was to him.  He thought he was a god, he thought he could manipulate and control me, break my spirit, and he thinks he’s succeeded!  But a god has no power if no one believes in him, I never did, and I never will, I believe in Jessie.”  James knew that since he had seen the light again, he could find the way bath to the path of it, and walk alongside the woman who had been by his side all along.  He had danced with the darkness, betrayed it and himself, he had fought with the devil, and was more determined than ever to deliver the final fatal strike and end his misery forever.  Hope, once long charred, its ashes scattered to the wind had returned, and deep inside his being, James could almost feel the love he knew Jessie still had for him, though he thought perhaps she too had forgotten, and the wind now whipping across the barren cityscape almost fanned the embers of his will back to life.  He nodded to her, as if she could see, and pocketed the rose as he placed two fingers to his forehead, closed his eyes to concentrate and without another word or thought, phased into nothingness and was gone.  The first golden rays of dawn began to filter through the mountains guarding the small city protectively finding the sidewalk empty and touching the cold grays of the night and illuminating them in brilliant pastel shades of morning.  Night knew it must retreat to the sovereignty of the light, for if it was present, unless there was something to block its paths, darkness could not exist against the presence of the greater force.  Light enveloped the miasma of the darkest hours of the night and vanquished its solemn dirge of broken souls, for twilight had long since fallen, as it always had, and it had been followed by the ebony evil of blackest pitch, but after the seemingly endless reign of despair as darkness, dawn always broke upon the world, and all it seemed would be right again.

 

Chapter 8