Jesse and James walked down the road leaning on each other. James had his arm draped around Jesse's neck, pulling her close. She had her own arm clenched tightly around James' waist. Neither of them had said anything since leaving the hospital. They both just wanted to enjoy being together.
Meowth walked ahead of them, deep in thought. They were going to call the boss, who they hadn't talked to since before Jesse's accident. Meowth feared Giovanni was going to bite their heads off.
He was not looking forward to this, but they all knew they should do it now and get it over with. They found a phone booth a little ways down the road. Since none of them had any money, they called collect.
Giovanni was actually glad to here from them, but he certainly wasn't going to let them know it. After they told him where they were, he said; "So you incompetent fools finally decided to report in, eh? I suppose the three of you decided to take an unscheduled vacation on MY time."
"No, no, you... you see Jesse was in the hospital, and... and... " James couldn't get anymore than that out.
Giovanni was amused by the nervous expression on his face.
"In the hospital for what?" he asked.
Feeling responsible for the whole mess, Jesse felt she ought to explain. "Well, you see, I..."
"She hit her head and lost her memory for a few days," Meowth piped in.
"Why didn't either of you call me?" Giovanni asked.
This question was directed at James and Meowth.
It took a moment for James to respond. "W...Well I... I couldn't just leave her, a...and I..."
"Enough!"
James shut up.
Giovanni noticed that Jesse and James were holding hands.
"Good," he thought. "It looks the choice is clear..."
They both noticed he saw their joined hands and quickly let go.
"It doesn't matter," he told them. "In the days to come, unity will be Team Rocket's greatest strength. While the three of you have been out of contact, this organization has begun to face a great crisis."
They were all silent, waiting for what was coming next.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. Members of Team Rocket have begun to turn on each other. Teams have disbanded, turned on other teams, or disappeared altogether. A rival organization opposing the Team Rocket gang appeared out of nowhere and is trying to take down Team Rocket from the inside. They've obviously got someone on the inside. Also, several teams reported being followed, and then disappeared sometime after reporting in. I thought the same had happened to you."
His listeners were speechless. None of them knew what to say.
"The three of you have failed me continuously in the past, but that no longer matters. Your greatest strength has always been your unity. You are loyal, despite your consistent failure. Loyal to Team Rocket, loyal to each other. That's why I've never separated your team. And it is that loyalty that I need now."
He noticed Jesse and James had joined hands again.
He continued.
"Two days from now a Pokémon convention will held near your location. In the next town, actually. I've ordered most of my best people to steal rare and valuable Pokémon from there. I need someone to locate and flush out the spy or spies that are wreaking havoc and reporting to my enemies. You fools may not be my most effective team, but you're the only ones I can be sure won't turn on Team Rocket or on each other."
He paused a moment. He looked carefully at each of their faces, looking for any trace of deceit. Finally satisfied, he continued.
"Be secretive, and be successful. Do not doubt each other. Your unity is your greatest strength. Stay where you are today, and do not go near the town until tomorrow night. There's an abandoned cabin you can sleep in tomorrow night, but don't go there until tomorrow evening. I have another team sleeping there tonight and I don't want them to know you're here."
Jesse, James and Meowth knew the cabin he was referring to, they had used it before.
"Do NOT sleep in town. Don't check into any of the hotels, and stay away from the pokémon center. I don't want any member of Team Rocket to know you are here. Contact me on the day of the convention for further instructions, understand?"
"Yes, sir!" the three of them said in unison.
"What should we do in the meantime?" asked Jesse.
"It doesn't matter, just don't fail again!"
"Uh...boss?"
It was James.
"What?!"
A large sweatdrop appeared on James' head.
"We're all out of money, could you have our paychecks sent to us?"
"Fine, I'll have them sent to the town you were in before. They should be there by the time you get back. Remember, strength through unity is the key to success. Unity is power!"
Then, without anything more, he hung up.
No one said anything as they headed back to town. They were all dumbstruck.
Later, after picking up and cashing their paychecks, Jesse and James decided to get something to eat. Meowth said he would see them later and took off.
"I wonder what he's up to?" asked James.
Jesse said nothing. She had been unusually silent since they had called the boss.
"What's the matter, Jesse?" James asked her. "You're never this quiet!"
He ducked, waiting for her to hit him with a fan, or mallet, or whatever she chose to pull out of nowhere to hit him over the head with, but the blow never came. She didn't even look at him, she just walked away, staring at the ground.
All through lunch, James tried to cheer Jesse up, without success.
When they got back to the cave, Meowth still had not come back.
"We've brought food!" James called, but Meowth did not materialize.
Jesse sat against the wall of the cave, deep in thought.
"James?" she asked.
"Yeah?" He sat down next to her.
"If Team Rocket is brought down, what would happen to us?" she asked.
"We'd survive," he responded.
"Of course we'd survive!" she snapped angrily. "We always survive! From the streets, to a bike gang, to Team Rocket. That's not the point! All either of us wanted was a place where we belonged. I don't necessarily want to spend my whole life working for Team Rocket, but right now this is where we belong. If Team Rocket is brought down, we'll be losing our home."
James thought about that a minute.
Finally, he took Jesse's hands in his own and said "Jesse, no matter where we are or what we do, we are home as long as we're together. Don't you see? We wished our whole lives for a place where we belonged, and we found it. You and me, together. That's exactly where we belong."
He kissed her.
She was completely drawn into the kiss. Snuggling close to him, she passionately kissed him back.
"I need him so much," she thought. "To be close to him, always.."
James was totally oblivious to the fact that she had taken off her gloves and was removing his jacket and shirt. He finally realized what she was doing when she stopping kissing him long enough to pull his shirt over his head to get it off.
"Oh Jesse..."
He began to remove her jacket as she unbuckled his belt.
And then Meowth walked in.
"Show's over, lovebirds," he announced, making himself at home.
Jesse's face flushing red with anger. She could just kill Meowth for interrupting them.
"Go away, furball!"
"Get a room," Meowth replied, as he sat down to eat the food they had brought back for him.
Jesse and James both sighed. They wanted to be together, but they certainly weren't going to do anything in front of Meowth.
James reluctantly put his shirt and jacket back on.
"So where'd you disappear to?" he asked Meowth.
"I had ta tink," was Meowth's reply.
"Think about what?" James asked.
"Wadda ya tink, ya moron!" Meowth yelled. "About what we're gonna do at the pokémon convention! We can't afford ta mess dis up like usual!"
James knew he was right. Too much was hanging in the balance. Failure was not an option.
He turned around to ask Jesse a question, only to realize she was gone.
Jesse walked through the forest in silence. She needed some time alone, time to think. She didn't want to be alone, she wanted to be with James. But she certainly wasn't going to do what she wanted in Meowth's presence.
Finally, she sat down against a tree and put her head in her hands. She had denied her feelings for James for so long. Now that their feelings for each other was out in the open, she needed to express those feelings. She felt as though something inside of her was going to burst if she did not do so.
She closed her eyes. Out of nowhere, Giovanni's voice popped into her mind...
"Remember, your unity is your greatest strength. You fools may not be my most efficient team, but you're the only ones I can be sure won't turn on Team Rocket or on each other..."
"That's right," said Jesse. "I've got to protect James, protect Team Rocket. I've got to be strong. The boss is right. Our unity will give us the strength to succeed. James... I'll protect our unity. I've got to be strong and lead the team to victory. I won't fail!"
It was evening when Jesse came back.
James asked her if she wanted anything to eat, but she said she wasn't hungry, that she just wanted to go to sleep. She got into her sleeping bag and closed her eyes.
James stayed by the fire long after Jesse and Meowth had fallen asleep.
He wanted to do something for Jesse. Suddenly he had it: the perfect idea. He would get up early in the morning before Jesse had woken up and implement his plan.
He put out the fire and went over to Jesse. He kneeled down beside her and kissed her, before getting in his own sleeping bag and going to sleep.
When Jesse woke up the next morning, she found herself holding a rose.
Meowth was still asleep, and James was nowhere to be found. Her sleeping bag and the surrounding area was scattered with rose petals, and there was a trail of them leading out of the cave.
She got up and put on her boots, and then followed the trail outside.
The trail wound around to side of the cave, leading to James, who was sitting on a picnic cloth covered with rose petals. He had set up a feast for them, and had been sitting there patiently for over an hour waiting for her to awaken.
"What's all this?" she laughed, sitting down next to him.
"A private party," he smiled, "Just the two of us."
Jesse laughed. "When did you do all this?"
"This morning, while you were asleep."
"Well, yes, I figured that," she said. "I mean, where did you get all this stuff?"
"In town this morning," he told her. "That's the end of my paycheck."
Jesse's mouth dropped open.
"YOU SPENT YOUR ENTIRE PAYCHECK?!"
A sweat drop appeared on James' head.
"Why did I tell her that?" he asked himself. He didn't want her to find out what he had really spent his money on. At least, not yet.
"Nevermind that," he told her. He picked up a strawberry, dipped it in cream and held it to her mouth. "Now, say Aaahh!"
When Meowth woke up, he didn't see Jesse or James anywhere. The whole place was littered with rose petals. He followed the trail of rose petals outside to around the side of the cave.
He found Jesse and James having a picnic. They were laughing and feeding each other strawberries. Jesse had just gotten whipped cream all over James' nose.
He ducked back in the cave without being seen. He was glad to see the two of them happy. They had a lot of work ahead of them, but they didn't even have to be at the cabin until evening. No point in spoiling their fun.
Yawning, Meowth curled up and went back to sleep.
The day turned out to be one of the best Jesse and James had ever had. After their picnic, they went and saw a movie, followed by lunch at the most expensive restaurant in town. (Which Jesse paid for since James had somehow spent his entire paycheck)
Finally, after a walk in the woods, they came back packed their stuff before setting off for the cabin.
Although technically the cabin was deserted, it was fully furnished. Different members of Team Rocket used it for a meeting place, hiding place, or for somewhere to sleep if they couldn't afford a hotel. The kitchen was fully equipped, and the bedroom was complete with a large bed. The cabin even had huge fireplace in the living room.
When they finally got there, the place was a mess. Whoever had been there before them had totally trashed it.
After they cleaned it up, James cooked a fabulous dinner, and then Jesse excused herself and James while Meowth continued to stuff his face.
"Where are we going?" James asked.
"To unite two people within our nation," Jesse replied with a wicked smile, leading him to the bedroom.
When they had closed the door and made themselves comfortable on the bed, James pulled a box out of his pocket and said "Um...Jesse, before we go any further, I... I want you to have this..."
"What is it?" she asked.
"A rose for my rose," he replied.
She removed the lid of the box, revealing the most beautiful rose-shaped locket Jesse had ever seen.
"It's beautiful," she said, her eyes filling with tears.
James opened the chain and fastened it around her neck.
"Like I said, a rose for my rose," he said.
"So this is what happened to your paycheck!" she laughed.
James smiled shyly.
"I love you, Jesse," he said. "With everything that I am."
Jesse pulled him close to her and kissed him.
This time there would be no interruptions.
An unknown figure watched them through the window. His face bore no expression as he watched the young couple remove each other's clothing piece by piece. He waited.
James was covering Jesse with kisses. He wanted to envelope her, to cover every inch of her body with his. He committed every precious moment to memory as he slowly, joyously, became one with her.
"Jesse," he said "This is it. This is what everything that's ever happened in our lives has all led up to...this moment. I feel like I've waited my entire life for this...for you. I love you so much."
The tears in Jesse's eyes blurred her vision as she whispered "I know."
The figure outside continued to watch in silence. He watched as their lovemaking reached its climax, until finally the blue-haired man fell exhausted on top of his partner. Finally, the figure motioned to his team to surround the cabin.
Meowth lay curled up in front of the fire. He knew he had heard something from outside. He got up and opened the front door. Nothing there. He went out to investigate further, leaving the door open. He did not come back.
James lay in Jesse's arms. His head rested on her chest, and he could hear her heartbeat. He sighed contentedly as Jesse ran her fingers through his hair.
"I don't want this moment to end," he told her.
"It won't," Jesse replied, fingering the locket around her neck. "It'll just keep coming back again and again. Do you hear my heartbeat? Every beat says 'I love you, James... I love you, James..."
They laid still for a few minutes.
Then Jesse laughed as a thought came to her.
"The boss was right."
"What do you mean?" James asked.
"Our unity is the greatest power in the world!"
They both laughed.
"Well, it's definitely the greatest feeling in the world!" James replied.
Suddenly they heard noises from outside. At first they thought it was Meowth, but somehow it didn't seem right.
"I'll go check it out," said James.
He got dressed quickly and went out to see what the problem was. He noticed Meowth wasn't in the living room as he passed through it. The front door was open.
"This is weird," he thought.
He went outside, following the direction of the noise.
Suddenly he felt a sharp pain as something hit him in the back of his head.
Everything went black.
After about ten minutes, Jesse began to worry. She got dressed and went into the living room. No James or Meowth. She noticed his boots were gone from by the door, so obviously he had gone out and not come back. She pulled on her own boots and went out.
"James! Meowth!"
She walked around to the right side of the cabin. Nothing.
She walked behind the cabin to find a gagged Meowth and an unconscious James tied up together. A hand grabbed her and covered her mouth. She heard a gun trigger click.
"Make a sound, and you both die."
