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Was it love when I found you unconscious in the snow and took you home?
Was it love when I woke up and your sapphire eyes were the first thing I saw?
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Jessica Rachael Lillis peered oddly at the little boy she'd found in the snow. He didn't seem to be waking up. She'd taken him to the abandoned barn she called 'home' these days and wrapped him up in some old blankets. His chin-length bobbed blue hair was matted and wild from the wind. He seemed to be alive, but she couldn't really tell... she put her ear to his chest. He had a heartbeat. Satisfied, she sat up and looked at the little boy's face. He was pretty cute, really. He groaned and stirred. His large emerald eyes fluttered open, and focused on her own blue eyes. He looked afraid.
"Who are you? Where am I? Where's Growly?"
"Growly?"
"My Growlithe..." The boy sat up.
"Well, I didn't see any Growlithe, just you! You're in my house."
"This is a house?" He surveyed the old barn dubiously. Jessie's eyes narrowed. "It's good enough for me. What, not good enough for you?"
"No, no, it's fine! It's just I didn't know anyone lived in barns," the boy said quickly, making warding motions with his hands. He didn't want to make an enemy out of this strange girl. "Where's your family?" "Dead." She said it so matter-of-factly that the boy was horrified. He didn't have time to say anything, though, as she extended her hand. "I'm Jessie."
Hesitantly, he took her hand and shook it. "My name's James."
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Was it love when I got us that scholarship to Pokemon Tech?
Was it love when you made sure we would be together?
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"James! James!"
James looked up from a stolen book as Jessie burst into the barn, waving a handful of papers around.
"Huh?"
"I got us scholarships to Pokemon Tech! Now we can actually do something with our lives!" The ten-year-old girl was clearly happy with this.
James looked at her with wide eyes. "I thought you had to be a millionaire to get into Pokemon Tech!"
"Well, these weren't easy to get. Just don't ask how I got them." He face brightened again. "But I made sure we'd both have one! We're made to be together, don't you see?"
James blinked his big green eyes, bewildered, then smiled and nodded. A handshake signified the next step on their life's journey.
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Was it love when you comforted me after we failed?
Was it love when I told you it would all be alright?
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"I don't believe it," Jessie sobbed. "The lowest scores in the history of the whole school! On the biggest test of the semester! We're such losers..." James, sitting on the sidewalk next to her, frowned and put his arms around her comfortingly. He was as mortified by this as she was, but if she was going to break up like this, he had to be strong. For her.
"Jess, it'll be okay... it'll all be alright. We'll pull through." He patted her back. "If it helps, I know of a bike gang over in Sunny Town... I'm sure they'll take us in. They wouldn't turn down a cool person like you."
Jessie wiped her eyes and looked up gratefully at James. "Really?"
He smiled and nodded. "Really. Come on, let's get going..."
He helped her to her feet, and they shook hands.
Another confirmation.
Another step.
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Was it love when you begged me not to abandon you?
Was it love when you promised you wouldn't leave me?
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"I can't cross that inferno!" James panicked, looking at the blazing chasm beneath them. His life was at stake, but... "Jessie and Meowth, you go ahead! I'm staying here!"
"James James James James James!" She smacked him repeatedly. They were made to be together. Had he forgotten that? But she couldn't show her emotions now. "How long do you think you'd last on this side?!"
Gentler now. "Now, let's go. We'll cross together."
"Oh, Jessie..." His voice quavered as he held a hand to his face. He hugged her loosely, tears streaming down his face. "Please don't abandon me!"
"Don't worry, I won't leave you."
After a little incident with the vines, which caused Jessie to dislike the twerps more than ever, she managed to get onto the tiny bridge, holding James' hand tightly. He followed, shaking.
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Was it love when you didn't want to go with the ghost?
Was it love when you fought the ghost to keep me safe?
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"Hey, girl! You can't take him! You haven't got a ghost of a chance!"
A splash was heard, and within moment, James had scrambled up the cliff. He smiled, eyes shining. "You really DO care!"
"It's not 'cos of you," Jessie said, refusing to look James in the eye. "Girls like her disgust me. Always waiting around for her man, as if she were his faithful pet! She cries, but I say "Seeya later!"
There are plenty of other fish in the sea." Although none of them like my James.
"I could sure go for some fish," Meowth muttered.
"I've been waiting. You can not interfere!" the ghost said coldly. With that, she summoned a flurry of skull-like apparitions. Jessie and Meowth reacted by jumping into the huddle with the twerps. Ash tried to identify the skulls with his Pokedex. No result.
A thought entered Jessie's head. James was still hanging from the cliff. She grasped his hand and pulled him up, not even hearing as the Pokedex found an entry for the ghost itself.
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Was it love when you came back to me, leaving all that money behind?
Was it love when we gazed into each other's eyes after I came back to you?
-
"Oh well," Jessie said miserably. "I guess James chose to hang up his Team Rocket costume."
"Ehh, all that money and luxury was just too tempting for James to give up," Meowth sighed, also unhappy.
"I guess you're right," Jessie said with a sigh, hanging her head.
Before too long, a male voice was heard, with an almost apologetic tone. "Prepared for trouble?"
Jessie and Meowth looked up. There, smiling down at them from the Meowth balloon, in full Team Rocket uniform, was James.
"Hey, it's him!" Meowth exclaimed.
"James..." Jessie whispered, not sure what to make of this. Finally deciding it was real, she smiled. "Make it double!"
As James maneuvered the balloon down, she ran alongside it, laughing like a young girl as he grabbed her hand and pulled her up into the basket.
"I guess we're not going to get rich this time, either," she said softly.
"Guess not... they wouldn't give me the inheritance,"
James said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh well, there's always next time. We may not make a lot of money..." She looked him in the eye and smiled.
"But we sure have got our freedom!"
"Yeah..." He held out his hand to her, smiling.
"Double trouble time, right?"
"Sounds great to me, James."
Their hands clasped. Emerald eyes and sapphire eyes gazed into each other lovingly.
A simple handshake. And their journey approached its close.
-
Jessie woke up to find herself looking up at a starry sky. She was barefoot and gloveless, the same with James. Aside from that, though, they were still wearing their uniforms. James was fast asleep in her arms, smiling like a little boy who has just received his first Christmas present. Jessie smiled fondly at him, stroking his back.
In the full moonlight, something on her finger glittered. She smiled wider, holding her hand up to her face to examine the precious artifact. Set on a simple silver band were an emerald and a sapphire, cut to resemble to interlocked halves of a heart. It was the deepest affirmation of the bond they'd made and strengthened with each handshake over the years. An engagement ring.
Jessie hugged James a little tighter and lay back down in the soft grass, soon lulled to sleep by his warmth and heartbeat.
And in the past...
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"We're made to be together, don't you see?"
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