The Rose

Alternate Dimension Series #2

Disclaimer: I don't own Jessi, James, Meowth, Pokémon or Team Rocket, just so ya know!

Rating: G

Note: Romance alert!

The Rose

James settled on his sleeping bag, sitting cross-legged in his

pajamas, barefoot. It was warm out, and he sighed softly, content to just

be sitting there.

Until she walked up and sat beside him.

She was beautiful, with her hair down, her blue eyes happy.

"It was a good day, wasn't it, James?" she asked, curling up on the

end of his sleeping bag. She was wearing loose grey pants and a semi-tight

pink shirt.

"Yeah." he replied, raising his hand to push his hair back.

"Meowth is...um...down by the lake." she said.

"Oh." James said, his face getting hot as the first thought that came

to his mind was that they were alone together. He stared at her for a

moment, eyes tracing her figure, then her face, her eyes and lips. He

thought, one finger pressed against his lips.

Jessi looked back at him and couldn't keep her mind from wandering to

how cute he was, especially when he was sitting there thinking deep

thoughts.

"Penny for your thoughts." she said softly, tipping her head to look

into his face. He looked up into her eyes.

"You don't want to know." he grinned at her. Jessi sat up and stared

at him.

"Yes I do! Why wouldn't I?" she said, curious.

"Nothing." he said, dropping his gaze to look at the red sleeping

bag, probably so she wouldn't catch wind of what he was thinking in his

eyes. Jessi could read his face like a book. She let it go. If it was that

embarrassing, she wouldn't push it. James pulled a rose out and fiddled

with it, like he always did when he was nervous or uncomfortable. He

probably felt her staring at him. She dropped her eyes from his face to his

hands, with the long, thin fingers nimbly touching the perfect petals of

the rose and avoiding the thorns expertly.

"What is it?" James asked softly.

Jessi felt her heart pound in embarrassment, "What? Oh..." Jessi

thought hard, "I never realized just how beautiful...roses...are."

"They are." he said quietly, thinking about how much roses reminded

him of Jessi. Beautiful, red on top...and both had thorns. Painful ones.

He smiled a tiny ironic smile. He had wanted to tell her how much he

admired her strength and courage, how much actual love he felt for her. For

him, true love was a rare thing. He'd never really experienced it before,

for anyone, not even his parents. But, as she'd said once, 'Beautiful

things can be painful.' If he told her, she would probably just hit him,

and there was no chance she could feel the same way about him.

"James?" she said. He looked up, "Could you braid me...?" she asked.

He nodded, "Okay." he said, stowing the rose away.

She turned her back to him and he ran two fingers through her hair,

separating it into three even strands. He closed his eyes. Here he was, his

hands in her hair, helping her be so beautiful she blew his heart away.

Close enough to touch, but never close enough to make her his own. He

sighed.

Jessi felt his breath on the back of her neck and it made her shiver.

She continued to shiver, suddenly cold as the sun sank behind the hill. He

expertly wound her long hair into a thick plait down her back, never

pulling too hard, but getting it tight anyway. His fingers brushed the back

of her neck, and her heart leaped for a second. Was he going to put his arm

around her shoulders and pull her back against him for a snuggle? Maybe he

was getting her attention so he could say something, suggest that he cared

for her like she did for him...but...no...it was just a slip.

When he finished, he smiled at her and told her to get to bed before

she froze. The heat had left the day and she climbed gratefully into her

sleeping bag, just wishing he was there to keep her warm.

She pulled her head under the covers and curled into a fetal

position, having little daydreams of James calling her, giving her one of

his precious red roses, telling her he loved her, kissing her...

She knew it wasn't going to happen, but the dreams were nice.

Meowth came noisily into camp, and she listened to him and James in

quiet conversation. James whispered something, Meowth snickered and then

went to bed. Jessi fell asleep.

She awoke the next morning to James touching her shoulder through the

blanket.

"Jessi. Jess, time to get up." he said softly. She rubbed sleep out

of her eyes and poked her head out of the sleeping bag.

James stood over her in his white Team Rocket uniform pants and bare

feet in the grass. He'd just pulled on the black tank top he wore under the

jacket. She could see his shoulders and they were so cute she had to look

at the ground again as a blush spread to her cheeks, so she investigated

his toes.

She lifted her arms to undo her braid.

"No. Here, let me do that for you." James said softly, sitting behind

her and trying to keep the eagerness he felt out of his voice. He unwound

the braid, letting his fingers linger a little too long on her red hair. He

hoped she didn't notice. She shook her free hair, mesmerizing him for a

moment, and then scooped up her Team Rocket uniform to change in the bushes

in privacy. James stared at the grass, a blush in his cheeks.

"You like her don't'cha?" Meowth asked.

"Shut up, cat." James said harshly, his cheeks getting redder. The

blush had spread to his ears.

Meowth winked, "I'll keep yer secret. I didn't promise Jess that a

few days ago, though..."

"What?!" James demanded. Meowth winked again.

"Draw yer own conclusions." the infuriating little cat said and

walked over to the fire on all fours.

James started cooking.

Jessi walked back out into the clearing, tired and comfortable. She

was in her tank top and miniskirt, barefoot. It was almost too warm to put

on her jacket, gloves and boots. She would've gone for a swim if they

didn't have to catch that Pikachu.

James was cooking breakfast. Cooking was one of the things he did

best. Well, along with looking good, being sweet, suave and kind and a

little evil...which Jessi absolutely loved. He was just a nice guy with an

edge.

The bacon and eggs he had cooked were an unusual treat, but Jessi was

too stressed to be hungry, what with all the nerves and longing to tell

James how she felt, so she just pushed it around on her plate.

James smiled at her a little shyly, "Come on, Jess, eat. Can't let my

Jess starve herself, can I?"

She smiled back, trying to make it brilliant. It just came out kind

of sad. His Jess? Maybe...

"Does it matter?" she asked, hoping for a little hint of where

the 'my Jess' might have come from.

"Yes." he said, in such a tone where she couldn't tell how much it

mattered, "Now, eat up." he continued, shoveling down a mouthful himself.

He was so polite until he had food in front of him.

Jessi managed to choke down some of the breakfast, and what she

didn't eat James and Meowth were glad to finish. She fixed her hair after

breakfast, James helped her get her boots on and she put on her jacket and

gloves while James did the same thing. All ready and set, a little pumped

to win, they set out to steal Pikachu.

As always, their plan failed.

After blasting off and landing, rather painfully, near their still

set up camp, they dragged themselves home and collapsed on their sleeping

bags.

James rubbed at his lower back, "Ah...that hurts..." he moaned.

"It was all your fault that we lost!" Jessi yelled at him, angry that

she was sore and dirty and too scared to tell James how much she liked him.

James didn't say anything, so Jessi stood up and stalked around camp

getting stuff ready for supper, just for something to do, trying to get her

mind off it. James stepped up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Here, let me..." he started.

"Don't touch me!" Jessi screamed, spinning and slapping him so hard

across the face that he sprawled backwards onto his sleeping bag. She

stared at him as he painfully brought a hand up to the side of his face,

then turned away from his slightly quivering eyes, stomach churning, trying

to hold back tears.

"I'm sorry." James mumbled from his bed, "I just thought you could go

for a swim and I'll make supper."

"Thank you." she mumbled, and 'I'm sorry.' came to her mind, but she

didn't say it. It was out of character. Heck, thank you was out of

character for her. She snatched up a bikini and ran down to the lake. The

tears came before she'd changed.

'What's wrong with me?' she thought, 'He was trying to be the

sweetheart he is and I hit him for it! How could I ever even dream he'd

like me? I'm such a...a...witch...'

She walked into the cool water and sat on a rock she stumbled on a

ways out. She pulled her knees to her chest, crying and feeling miserable,

up to her shoulders in cool water.

James was getting water for the rice from a spring near the lake and

hoping for a glance of Jessi in her bikini when he heard soft sobbing

sounds. He peeked through the bushes and saw Jessi crying into her arms out

in the lake. Instantly he wanted to go to her and put his arms around her

and hold her, comfort her. He wanted to make her happy. But he knew Jessi.

That would only make it worse. She hated people to know when she was weak.

James thought hard, almost overflowing his pot, and came up with an

idea. He walked back to camp with a little smile on his face. By doing this

he risked being slapped, but there was a slight chance she might skip

killing him and decide to take it well.

She walked into camp trying to keep her face looking like nothing had

happened. James glanced at her, looking slightly nervous, but otherwise

completely normal and happy the way he always did a few minutes after she

hit him.

She sat on her sleeping bag and was about to lie down when she saw a

rose lying on her pillow. She glanced over at James, who was making a point

of not looking at her.

She scooped the rose up, her heart pounding with nerves and heat. Was

this it? Could it be? Were her dreams coming true? There was a note

underneath on a pretty little paper with beautiful roses drawn in red ink

around the edges.

She read it:

"To my Jessi, my rose. Cheer up. Every dark cloud has a silver

lining. Love, James."

She held the rose against her chest, eyes filling with tears. He

was...it was signed 'Love'...he...

"James...?" she whispered. He looked at her.

"Yes Jessi?" he asked.

"Thank you...I-I'm sorry for...for hitting you...I...there's no

excuse..." she said. He looked at her and Meowth grabbed the pot.

"I'll cook, you talk!" he said.

James sat beside her and took her face in his hand, "I don't care

Jess." he said, "I...love you anyway."

"You...do?" she asked, and he looked right into her eyes, his own a

little fearful.

"I...feel the same way." she said softly. A tear rolled down her

cheek and he tenderly brushed it away.

"May I kiss you?" he asked softly.

They kissed, and Meowth prudently looked at the rice.

"I think you're my silver lining, James." Jessi murmured.

Author's note: Please give me some feedback. I love it!

(frogwoman_66@hotmail.com)