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*A MOONLIT ROSE*
by Leigh King
5/25/00
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any associated characters. Thank you.
Category:Rocketshippy/Romance
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It was a quiet, peaceful evening in the Viridian Forest as Team Rocket set up their camp.
"Another day, another failure, another pay cut. GrrrrrrrrOH!!!" the cat-Pokémon yelled, kicking a pebble beside his sleeping bag into the lake.
"Sure is beautiful, huh Jessie?" the male Rocket said, as he admired the sunset over the lake shore.
It hadn't been a very good day for our villains, they failed, as always, at trying to capture Ash Ketchum's precious Pikachu.
"Well, at least ONE OF US is happy!!!" Jessie said in a sarcastic tone.
"Jessie's obviously not in a good mood," James thought to himself. She was probably still mad at him for not setting the trap as perfect as he claimed it would be. Or maybe it was something more. James thought back to earlier that day...
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"Aren't you two finished yet?!" Jessie yelled, impatiently.
"Almooooooooost!" James and Meowth yelled as they dug and dug, and after a 5 minute rest, dug some more.
"Will you hurry up?!" she yelled again. "Those twerp's and Pikachu will be here any moment!"
"MEEEEEEEOWTH!!!" the cat-Pokémon shrieked aggravatedly. "IF YA'S WANT US TA HURRY..."
"Why don't you help us!" James finished.
"I can't," Jessie informed them. "I just had my uniform washed and ironed."
Meowth fell over, anime style.
James just looked at Jessie, he could tell something was bothering her. If he only knew what it was... and how he could make her feel better. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Your fashion makes Meowth wanna puke!" Meowth was saying.
"Please Meowth, I just had lunch!" said James.
James and Meowth both dug as fast as they could, until they had finally finished the efforts of their labor, a hole.
"There, finally," James said, quite out of breath.
"Phew, what woik!" Meowth agreed.
"JESSIE! TOSS US THE ROPE SO WE CAN CLIMB OUT!!!" James called up to her.
Jessie nodded, and tied the rope to a big rock, before tossing the rest of it down
to James and Meowth. James climbed up while Meowth rode on his head.
"NOW! To cover it up!" Jessie said.
The two Rockets grabbed branches and shovels of dirt to cover the roof of the hole, while Meowth played lookout to watch for Ash and Co.
"HEY!! HERE DEY COME NOW!!!" he called to his companions.
The three of them hid behind some tall bushes near by. They eagerly
awaited for Ash and his friends to fall into their trap. They watched as Ash
and co. approach the trap and... nothing happened.
Ash and them continued walking as James, Jessie, and Meowth walked over to their trap and inspected it. The three Rockets walked onto it and *BOOM!* They screamed as they plunged through the roof of their own trap.
"Did you guy's just hear something?" Ash asked his companions.
"Like what?" asked Misty.
"I could've sworn I just heard Team Rocket's voices," he said, looking back.
"Pikaaaaaaaa?" Pikachu said, looking back with him.
"No way," Tracey said, as Ash and Pikachu looked back warily.
"We have more important stuff to think about," said Misty.
"We have to get that GS ball back to Professor Oak," Tracey agreed.
And our heroes walked serenely on.
*BAM*
"OOOOOOoooooch!!! That hurts!!!" James whined.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!! CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!!!" Jessie shouted.
James sat against the dirt wall with his head resting on his knees, crying a little.
"I radioed Mondo fer help," said Meowth. "We should be outta here pretty soon."
(3 hours later)
"T'anks Mondo, fer gettin' us outta dere," said Meowth, appreciatively.
"No problem," said Mondo, picking up his Ditto. "If ya need any more help let me know."
"Dittoooooooo!"
He and Ditto turned to leave, the three Rockets watched Mondo until he
was out of sight.
"Why can't Team Rocket succeed?" Jessie asked, more to herself than to her companions. "Why do we always fail? Why can't I..."
She stopped in mid sentence, grabbed her things and walked into the forest.
James just stared at her, the woman he loved. He knew she was hurting, but what could he do?
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James watched as the sky turned colors from the evening sun. He wanted to talk to Jessie, but was afraid of getting smacked. He watched Jessie unpack her things. She really didn't have an angry look on her face, it was more of a hurt expression. That was a rare moment.
"Jessie, I'm sor..." James began.
"DON'T!!!" she immediately responded, flopping down on her sleeping bag and turning over so that she would not be facing her partner. She had to get her thoughts in order.
What happened today didn't really bother her at all, but she used it as an excuse for her actions, so as not to make James or Meowth suspicious.
"Jessie?"
She did not answer him, she only replied by huffing loudly. It did not take long for James to realize that she did not want to talk to him.
"Why am I acting so mad at James? He's only trying to help..." Jessie thought to herself, reproachfully. "If only I could tell him how I feel about him... NO! No, Jessie, you can't fall in love... not with your partner. It would ruin everything... all your missions, your whole life in Team Rocket. James is just your friend and nothing more."
Despite how hard Jessie tried to convince herself, she wasn't succeeding
very well, and she knew it. Tears began to welt up in her eyes as she fought not to cry. "But why can't I love him? Why am I afraid to tell him? I sure as heck am not afraid to scold him, or hit him, or..." She began crying.
"Huh?" James yawned, who had just started dozing off against a tree. He heard a small, sad noise and noticed it was Jessie... crying.
Wait a minute... Jessie, HIS Jessie, was crying?
James first instinct was to run to her and hold her close and promise her it would be all right, but he knew that Jessie's pride would never allow anyone to see her weak side, let alone comfort her. It hurt him to see Jessie, his Jessie, in pain, he wanted to hold her and love her so much that the thought of doing it ate away at his soul.
Jessie noticed that James was staring at her. She started to get up and sock him for not minding his own business, but she didn't. She just looked at him thoughtfully.
"Why do I always act in anger against James? Why do I hit him, and for no reason sometimes... here I was, about to hit the man I love most, just for sitting there..."
Her thoughts were beginning to give her a migraine.
"That's why I'm afraid to love him, that's why I'm so scared to tell
him..." It all made sense now, Jessie just realized the reason why she was hurting so much, and she only had herself to blame. "How can James love me? He'll probably laugh if I tell him, or think lowly of me if i do, or ask me why I treat him the way I do... I've got to get away from here..."
She got up quickly and ran off into the forest.
"JESSIEEEEEEE!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!!!!" James called out to her.
"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOWTH!!! WHAT'S GOIN' ON?!!!" The startled pokémon screamed, awakened from his sleep.
James stared after Jessie. "I'm not sure..."
Jessie ran through the forest, not knowing where she was going, not even caring, all she wanted was for the hurt and pain welted up inside her to go away. She ran down steam of the lake and sat on a tall rock and just stared at her reflection in the water.
"I don't know what to do anymore," she said, crying miserably. "I feel empty inside... I don't feel like me, and without James, there is no me."
She cried as her tears ran down her face and fell into the water. She watched the ripples as they started out small and spread out wider and wider, until they were gone. She felt like the ripples in the water related to the pain she was feeling right now. It starts out small, and then gets wider as it eats you up inside until there's nothing left.
"Why?" she cried, as she huddled her legs against herself and buried her head in her knees.
That question floated around in her mind repeating itself, she continued crying, until she heard a small splash. She looked down at the water and saw a beautiful red rose floating in the water.
"Jessie..."
Jessie quickly dried her tears but it was no use, she knew her face was probably red from crying so hard.
James walked up to her.
"Oh, Jessie..." he said, putting his arms around her and holding her close to him, afraid if he let go, he would lose her.
She returned his hug and buried her head into his white Team Rocket jacket, crying uncontrollably.
"It's okay," he reassured her, stroking her long red hair.
"I'm so sorry, James..."
"Sorry for what?" He asked, looking deep into her sapphire eyes.
"Everything," she said, continuing to cry.
James couldn't believe how she was acting, this was so... unlike her.
He now began to understand why Jessie was always yelling and frustrated, and the way she treated him. No wonder, she had bottled up her feelings for so long the tension and pain had finally gotten to her. Her past, feelings, and their failures had all caught up to her. And the way she was right now was truly heart breaking.
"I've treated you so terrible, and... and Meowth, too..."
"Shhhhhhhh... It's gonna be all right," he told her, rocking her gently back and forth, trying to calm her down. "You haven't treated me terrible, Jessie."
"Oh no?" she responded, still crying. "What about at the Port of Vista, when you said that some woman was always causing you trouble?"
James did remember saying that, but he always thought that Jessie had never known.
"And you were right," she continued, "I am a curse..."
He had hoped that she had not remembered that part.
"Sometimes when your frustrated, you say things you don't mean," he told her.
"You were right, or else you wouldn't have said it," Jessie argued.
"Haven't you heard?" he whispered in her ear, "You hurt the ones you love."
"L... Love?"
She looked at her partner, her love, into his deep emerald eyes. Oh, how she could get lost in those bright, beautiful, caring, and understanding eyes.
James nodded.
"I love you Jessie," He told her, wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks. "With all my heart."
"I need you so much," Jessie whispered, "To be forever close to you, so close that you can feel it..."
James pulled her into another tight hug. The tears still flowed from her eyes, staining his jacket with them.
"I love you..." she said, through her tears, "...always love you..."
He smiled, with a few tears running down his own face, he brushed her hair with a kiss.
"Forgive me?" Jessie said, in a small voice.
"I already have..." her partner replied.
She smiled and hugged him even tighter. His warmth and touch made her feel so secure, and without it she was alone.
"C'mon," he said softly, "Let's go back to camp."
She nodded.
James lifted her up into his arm and carried his Jessie back to camp.
When they returned, Meowth was asleep in his little poké-tent.
James carried Jessie into theirs and sat down on her sleeping bag.
She looked so beautiful lying there, her eyes, the way she looked at him, made his heart throb. He leaned closer to her, and closer, and closer until their lips touched.
Jessie wrapped her arms around James's neck as she pulled
him closer to her. "I need him so much." she thought. "I love him... I want him..."
James broke their kiss.
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she responded.
He began to kiss her again, only this time, more intensely.
"This is what love is..." Jessie whispered, "To have it... share it... make it..."
James could feel all the love and passion welt up inside him, and he couldn't hold it in any longer, he began loving on her. He committed every kiss, every touch to her. And from that moment on, nothing else seemed to matter, except him and her, together.
A few hours later, Meowth awoke.
He wondered where his two human friends were, he remembered awakening after Jessie left, and James running after her. He got up and walked into their tent to see if they had returned.
When he peaked in he saw James and Jessie asleep in each other's embrace. He grinned and zipped their tent door, to give them privacy, and
returned to his tent.
Along the way, he noticed something floating in the lake. He got a little closer and noticed it was a flower. A moonlit rose.
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