The Thorns of the Rose, Part 2/3
@->->-
When I opened the bedroom door, I found Jessie standing in front of the mirror, adjusting her bow tie -- she was wearing the tuxedo!
"Jessie, what are you doing?" I asked.
"Putting on my disguise, of course!" she replied.
Now I knew why the tuxedo was too small for me...and why the dress looked like it was a little too large for her -- she never intended on being the bride! "But...but...that's the...that means...." I stammered.
Jerry: Hold it.
I could be misremembering something, but… weren't they about the same size back then? Why would there be a size disparity?
Tom: If anythin', y'd think it would be th' other way 'round, eh? *holds hands out from chest and makes vague cupping motions*
Guardian's Song: Stop reading the uncensored Toshiro Ono stuff. -_-;; But yes, he should have at least noticed that the tuxedo was cut… oddly… in the chest…
"That you're the bride," she said, finishing the sentence for me.
"Jessie, why do I have to be the bride?" I asked.
Jerry: Canon! That's why!
"Oh, stop whining!" she snapped.
"I wasn't whining!" I snapped back. "I'd just like to know why we can't be a normal bride and groom!"
Jerry: Er… because you're not?
"What's that supposed to mean?!" she demanded.
"You know what that means!"
"James, we wear gender-bending disguises all the time...I really don't see what the problem is!"
Guardian's Song: Miss Falls, you WON the Grand Prize for Sporking Yourself in perpetuity back in one of your rants, you don't HAVE to keep trying for it!
Jerry: She's trolling us! She's TROLLING us!
Tom: *winces* Did y' have t' say it so LOUD?
"This isn't about cross-dressing, Jess," I told her. "I wanted to...."
Her eyes widened as the realization of what I meant struck her. "What do you think this is, James?! A real wedding?!"
"No, but I thought it would be fun to pretend for awhile MAWILE, you know?"
Guardian's Song: Yes, I have foinking snapped, why do you ask?
"Pretend?!" she snapped. "So you think this is some sort of game?!"
Well, now I was actually starting to lose my patience with her -- she was being impossible! "What the hell do you want from me, Jessica?!" I demanded.
Tom: (Jessie) I want a Ponyta!
"You think I want a real wedding, and you freak out! I tell you that I'm just role-playing, and you freak out some more! No matter what I tell you, it's not going to make you happy, is it?!"
Jerry: So… she really IS Cori Falls's self-insert?
When I said this, Jessie looked at me like I'd just slapped her across the face.
Guardian's Song: As if she got karma for Blood on the Moon, you mean?
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that," I said more softly.
Jessie picked up the wedding gown and pressed it into my hands. "Just get dressed, James," she whispered.
"Jessie, why won't you tell me what's going on with you?" I asked.
Jerry: Because - she - doesn't - want to do so! Leave her ALONE!
She turned away from me and began pulling her long red hair into a bun, combing it over her head and into her face like a giant pompadour.
"Is it because you don't trust me?"
Jessie brushed past me and headed for the door. Even though her hair was in her face, I could see the tears streaming down her cheeks.
Guardian's Song: No! No! Make it teasers! :P
(Mad Sanity, in all fairness, was a good fic. However, it DID have one of the most unintentionally hilarious typos I've seen in the middle of a dramatic scene…)
"....Or is it because you don't love me?" I muttered once she was gone.
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||
@->->-
After the two of us were in costume, we set out for the park. Meowth had gone ahead of us so that he could check on things one last time. (After all, the presence of the Brat Pack has an annoying tendency to screw up even our best-laid plans -- Jessie's sudden change last night was a testament to that!)
Jerry: *desperately* Ketchum! Ketchum! Get over here! You have the power to restore the canon!
Drake: Hmm? Want me for something?
Jerry: Not you, brat! *throws him out*
The two of us walked down the street in stony silence. Even though our arms were linked, our hearts seemed like they were miles apart.
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": ||||
It was bad enough that Jessie wouldn't speak to me, but now she wouldn't even look at me, either! I wanted nothing more than to break that silence, but something told me that whatever I said was going to be wrong,
Jerry: In other words, you said nothing in canon?
so I kept my mouth shut.
When we arrived at the park, we found the Nidoran trainers, Ralph and Emily, fighting with each other while the twerps looked on.
Tom: *narrating* Th' little girl whispered, "Look, I've read the Kink Memes. They're due for wild hatesex against a tree in ten seconds."
"I don't believe you," th' sketchbook kid said, resting his hands on his hips as he looked over at her. "I'd put it at a minute, minimum."
"You're on! How much do you want to bet?"
"Uh… neither of us have much money… Trade me a water Pokémon if you lose, I give you five free sketches on the subject of your choice if you win?"
"Sounds great! Come on, you two, hurry up already…"
Th' brat scratched his head an' looked over at th' two'a them blankly. "What are you two talking about?"
Their Nidorans were in two little cages off to the side. This was going to be easier than I thought! Still, the prospect of capturing pokemon wasn't enough to lift my heavy heart -- it was this scheme that had ruined my romantic getaway with Jessie!
Guardian's Song: If I recall correctly, they both looked perfectly cheerful in CANON…
As Jessie and I approached, everybody stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on us.
"Oh! A bride and groom!"
"Congratulations!"
That was our cue.
"On this, our sunny wedding day," I began in a falsetto voice.
"There's a funny trick we'd like to play!" Jessie chimed in, not even making an attempt to sound masculine.
Guardian's Song: She sounded like Alfred Ashford, in other words?
(Not that it mattered -- those twerps never recognize our voices, either!)
Guardian's Song: On the contrary - whenever you two BOTH talk in normal voices, they recognize you. Analyzing what it takes for Pokémon characters to recognize Team Rocket would be interesting, actually…
Then, we each grabbed a Nidoran cage. "Our matrimony is a total phony! Now, we'll take your Nidoran away!" we said in unison.
Only then did they begin to suspect that something was wrong.
Jerry: They were probably just in shock. Their reaction times are usually pretty slow, aren't they?
It was time to confirm those suspicions.
"Prepare yourself for trouble, kid!" Jessie announced as Ash gave us another clueless look.
Guardian's Song: By that, I take it they mean "confused and surprised"?
"And make it doubler than you ever did!" I added.
After we began the motto, the ground beneath our feet began to rise, revealing the enormous wedding cake that Meowth had set up the night before. (A giant wedding cake?! Meowth was right -- I DID love it! What a great surprise!)
Jerry: …He did it ON HIS OWN?
Tom: One little Meowth installed an ENTIRE gigantic weddin' cake, attendant circuitry, an' all th' rest'a th' gadgetry OVERNIGHT, while excavatin' ALL th' ground necessary, with NOBODY noticin' him? An' he still had enough energy t' crawl back in th' window an' go bouncin' around happily?
T' heck with Machops! Give THIS Meowth construction projects, an' hire him fer Silph Co.'s engineerin' division while yer at it!
"To protect the world from devastation!"
"To unite all peoples within our nation!"
"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"
"To extend our reach to the stars above!"
"Jessie!" she said, flipping back her hair and revealing her face. (Even if she was dressed like a man, she looked so pretty when she did that!)
Guardian's Song: "Even if"? Hmm, way to insult butch lesbians, trans blokes, heterosexual women who like masculine clothes, and pretty boys all at the same time. I'll be in yonder nuclear flame shelter if you need me, kicking back and watching the fallout.
"James!" I said, pulling off my veil and tiara.
"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"
Some people genuinely don't believe there's a comma there, so I can't criticize her for that, much as I'd like to do so.
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
As we recited our motto, Jessie and I became the bride and groom dolls atop the wedding cake.
Jerry: HOW?
Guardian's Song: Some anime special effects just don't translate well to serious prose…
Then, the cake split in half, and the Meowth balloon, complete with cans and streamers attatched, rose out of it.
"Hurry up and cut the cake!" Meowth cried as the balloon drifted up to meet us.
While the twerps and the Nidoran trainers were screaming at us to return their pokemon, Jessie and I jumped into the balloon and took to the sky.
"The love birds are flyin' the coop!" Meowth called down to them.
@->->-
"Okay, youse guys! Let's get dese Nidorans to the pokemon center and transfer 'em to the boss!" Meowth exclaimed once we had made our escape.
"Yeah," I agreed. The sooner we got this over with, the better.
Guardian's Song: I quite agree - but there are THIRTEEN MORE PAGES LEFT IN THIS FIC! Good GAD, HOW is she padding it out so much?!
Jessie nodded. "But first, let's get changed out of these costumes."
"Aw, but youse guys look so cute dat way!" Meowth laughed.
Jessie scowled at him, and he relented.
So, we landed the balloon in a small clearing just outside of town in order to lose the bride and groom outfits and put our uniforms back on. Normally, Jessie and I always changed clothes together...even back in the days when we were just friends -- we never seemed to have a problem with seeing each other like that. But, for some reason, she went off alone to do it this time. And for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why.
"What's eatin' her, anyways?" Meowth asked, as if he could read my mind.
"I don't know," I replied, taking off the wedding gown and putting my pants back on. "But I've had enough of this!"
Meowth sweatdropped. "Uh...whaddaya gonna do, James?" he asked nervously.
"I'm going to find out what's wrong with Jessie, that's what!" I told him.
With that, I followed the path that Jessie had taken into the woods. After a few minutes, I found her beneath a large cedar tree. Her black tuxedo jacket and white blouse were lying on the ground, and she was just standing there, wearing nothing but her bra and her black pants. Her back was turned to me.
"Why?" she whispered, placing her hands on her bare shoulders. "Why won't he go away?"
I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard this. What was she talking about?
Guardian's Song: You figure it out, Mr. Yandere.
"Why won't he go away...why is he ruining everything?! God, I hate him...I hate him so much...."
Jerry: Er, correction, Jessie - Cori Falls is a she.
I tell you, if Jess had taken a knife and plunged it straight into my heart, it would've hurt less than what she'd just said.
Tom: *takes out switchblade and flicks it open* There's one way t' test that…
Why?! Why did she hate me all of a sudden?! What could I have possibly done to drive her away like this?!
Guardian's Song: Big Misunderstanding Plot, ahoy!
A sob escaped my throat as I listened to her. Suddenly, she tensed.
"What are you doing here, James?"
I couldn't falter now -- I had to be strong. "Jessie, you're scaring me," I said, wiping my tears away. "Why won't you tell me what this is all about?"
Silence.
"Please. Tell me. No matter what it is, I want to know!"
She turned to face me again. "It's...it's nothing...."
Well, that did it. She'd been cold and distant ever since last night, and now she was ranting SOBBING about how much she hated me, and it was nothing?! My patience had finally run out.
"Dammit, Jessie!" I snapped, grabbing her by the shoulders. "It's NOT nothing! Now will you please tell me what the hell is going on?!"
As soon as I laid my hands on her, a look of terror sparked in her wide sapphire eyes.
C!Syaoran: *looming over her* And with good reason.
"No...not again," she whimpered as she cowered from me -- she thought I was going to hit her!
In all the years I've known Jessie, I've never struck her...not even once! Sure, I've been angry with her plenty of times -- she can be pretty infuriating, and even I have my breaking-point, after all. But as many times as she's hit me, as many times as she's made me mad, I've never once raised a hand to her. Hell! It was a rare occasion when I even raised my voice to her!
Jerry: *winces* Could you try to make it sound… even a BIT less abusive, Miss Falls?
Guardian's Song: This is one reason why playing Rocketshipping for drama is, uh, NOT a good idea, to say the least.
So what made her think that I was going to hit her now?
Guardian's Song: …The entire "yelling at her and seizing her by the shoulders" part?
"I'm sorry, Jess," I said softly, releasing my hold on her. "I just wanted to...."
But before I could continue, Jessie turned away from me and ran deeper into the woods. I wanted more than anything to follow her, but I knew that I couldn't. Never had I seen her so small
Drake: JESSIE used MINIMIZE! JESSIE's evasion rose!
Jerry: I told you, get OUT! *throws him out again*
or so frightened before me! I knew that if I followed, I would only scare her even more.
"Jessie...I was only trying to help you...." I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek like a liquid diamond.
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": ||||
@->->-
When I returned to the clearing, I found Meowth talking to the caged Nidorans, trying to calm them.
"Hey, James, ya find out what's...."
Then he saw the look on my face.
"....Oh."
"I just don't get it," I told him. "It's like...it's like she was afraid of me, Meowth!"
The cat gave me a quizzical look. "Afraid of ya?! Dat ain't like her at all!"
"I know!" I cried.
Jerry: Stop trolling us! PLEASE!
Guardian's Song: For the repeated self-sporking…
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| ||
He closed his eyes and considered the situation for a moment. He was probably as stumped as I was.
But before he could say anything, Jessie came back out of the woods. She was in uniform once again, and there was a grim look on her face.
"Jess," I began. "Jessica, I...."
She placed a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to say anything, James. I know you didn't mean any harm."
I closed my hands around hers and smiled. "I should still apologize," I said softly.
"So should I," she replied. "James, I've had some stuff on my mind since last night, and...well...I'm not really comfortable talking about it...."
"Then don't," I told her. "It was wrong of me to try and force you to, and I'm sorry."
"No, I have to talk about it, James," she continued. "You want to know, and I really do owe you an explanation for last night...for today...for everything...."
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |
An' I don't care about justifyin' that count. If y' don't see it, yer crazy.
"Go ahead, then. I'm listening."
Jessie shook her head. "Not right now. We'll talk later...in private." Then, she looked over at the Nidorans. "Besides, we have a little business to take care of first."
"Okay," I said, bringing her hands up to my lips and kissing her long, delicate fingers. "Later."
She smiled at me.
"So, youse two gonna be okay?" Meowth asked us.
"Yeah," I replied. "I think we're going to be just fine."
"You know, we should probably spruce these two up before sending them to the boss," Jessie remarked as she picked up the Nidoran cages. "Don't want to send him scruffy-looking pokemon, do we?"
Jerry: Do it at the Pokémon Center, you idiots! NOT now!
Now that sounded more like the Jessie I knew!
"Good point," said Meowth.
With that, the three of us took the Nidorans out of their cages and began cleaning them up. Finally! One of our schemes had worked, and for the first time since last night, Jessie actually looked happy!
But it was too good to last.
Just as we were putting the finishing touches on the Nidorans (dressing them in cute little outfits that Jessie had made with the leftover fabric from our bride and groom costumes),
Jerry: *FACEPALM*
the twerps showed up...and Ralph and Emily were with them!
"Oh, no! Not you again!" Jessie snapped, jumping to her feet.
"How did you find us?!" I demanded.
Ash smirked at us. "We followed your trail!"
Then, his new friend, Tracey, held up a bag of cans -- the exact same cans that had been tied to our balloon! "You should've picked up after yourselves," he reproached us.
Oops! (Tying the cans to the balloon had been my idea -- I wanted today to be as wedding-like for me and Jessie as possible, and I thought they made a nice touch! Now, our plans had been screwed up yet again, and it was all my fault.)
Jerry: You couldn't have done it for the sake of silliness?
"Maybe I should've tied the cans a little tighter," I whispered contritely.
"Maybe I should've dropped YOU out of the balloon instead!" Jessie shot back.
Jerry: Maybe YOU shouldn't have stopped to talk over your relationship issues! (And playing dress-up, while you were at it…)
Tom: An' I'm tackin' on a count just fer that.
"TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| ||
Oh, great! Now she was mad at me again! Just when I thought things were going to get back to normal, those little pests had to come and screw everything up once more! Damn them!
Jerry: Bless them - they bring canon with them!
Well, we had worked so hard and sacrificed yet another day off to get those Nidorans, so we weren't going to let the twerps take them back without a fight! Besides, I was already mad at them for what they had done to upset my Jessie. Revenge would be mine!
Guardian's Song: YANDERE!JAMES: |||| ||
"Go, Arbok!" Jessie shouted.
"Victreebel, go!"
{snip, Victreebel chomps Jessie}
And we soon learned just how dangerous two pokemon in love can be -- as valiantly as Arbok and Victreebel fought, they were just no match for those little Nidorans. The male Nidoran, Tony, did everyhing he could to protect the female, Maria, and vice versa. And to make matters worse, now that they had a common enemy in us, Ralph and Emily began working together, too!
Tony and Maria may not have been as strong as our pokemon, but they sure were fast! And they used that to their advantage, double-teaming to bite and scratch poor Arbok and Victreebel into oblivion.
Guardian's Song: But you're such great trainers that the only reason Ash and company ever win against you is that they cheat. RIGHT. SUCH great trainers that two unevolved Pokémon can beat the **** out of you, eh?
Unable to watch our pokemon take such abuse, Jessie and I called them back and retreated to the balloon. But we weren't about to admit defeat -- we had a contingency plan!
When Meowth prepared the balloon the night before, he had also installed a vacuum pump,
Tom: An' he did that, too? What does he need you two losers for?
just in case we'd have to resort to long-distance pokemon-snatching. And we did. Switching it on, we aimed the nozzle towards the ground, but before it could suck up the Nidorans, Pikachu got caught in the suction.
Well, this actually worked out better! (For some strange reason, the boss is obsessed with us bringing him that little rodent, too.)
Jerry: "Strange reason"? Miss Falls, did you ever NOTICE how powerful that thing was? It could harm Ground-types with Electric-type attacks! It violated the laws of Pokémon physiology as we know them!
Who needed a Nidoran pair now that we had Pikachu?!
But when he got sucked up, he somehow managed to bring a tree branch with him, and he jammed it into the vacuum hose when he reached us. And maybe it was just my imagination, but I swear to God I saw that monster give us an evil grin before Thundershocking the living daylights out of us.
Guardian's Song: You dare - you DARE complain about THAT when I know what's coming in New Directions -
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! *HURLS ARIANA INTO THE FIC*
Ariana: ?
*KABOOM*
Then, to add insult to injury, that little brat, Misty, sent out her Staryu and got it to blow a hole in our balloon.
And, of course, we ended up blasting off again....
@->->-
Now, as Jessie and I headed back to our room after dropping off Meowth, Arbok, and Victreebel at the pokemon center to get healed, there was another grim silence between us. I know she had promised to talk to me about what was bothering her, but I could tell from the look on her face that it wasn't going to happen. Once again, those twerps had ruined everything for us, not just on the job, but in our personal lives, too.
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |||
Jerry: You mean they tried to restore canon?
Guardian's Song: Also, my characterization of Cori-Falls!Team Rocket as deranged, bitter losers who blamed Ash for everything that went wrong in their lives, especially their self-induced problems, is looking more on-target than ever. Sign me up for the Saffron City Gym, because I'm apparently a Pokémon psychic.
As soon as we reached the inn, Jessie went into the bathroom and slammed the door. I collapsed on the bed and closed my eyes as I heard her turn on the water so that she could take a shower.
I just laid there and listened to the falling water, conjuring an image of it cascading down Jessie's beautiful body. Normally, I would've been in the shower with her, but as angry as she was with me, that was pretty much out of the question now.
Exhaling in a loud sigh, I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling. It was so hard to believe that at this time yesterday, Jessie and I were in each other's arms, planning a wonderful vacation together. We were supposed to be relaxing -- enjoying the serenity of the countryside and each other's company. But instead, the brats had to show up and put notions of pokemon-snatching schemes into Jessie and Meowth's heads.
Guardian's Song: Oh - oh GAD! She LITERALLY just said they MADE Jessie and Meowth mug them! Oh GAD!
WORSE THAN TWILIGHT: ||
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| |||
(Yes, both counts - because the vampires DID have a 'The woman did tempt me' attitude in Midnight Sun, but it was portrayed as misguided at best. Here? Dear gad, she wrote in all but phrasing that Ash and company were asking to be… mugged. Oh gad, that is HORRIBLE. That… that is BEYOND WRONG. That is on a level with Draco joking in the Draco Veritas Epilogue that Seamus, after being mind-raped by Tom Riddle for several days straight and suffering severe PTSD as a result, was forever tainted and damaged goods.
Dear gad, I hope Cori Falls got her head unscrewed after she left fandom, because DEAR GAD…)
Instead of relaxing, we had blasted off, and now Jessie was mad at me.
I covered my eyes with my hand, but just as I was about to cry, I heard the bathroom door creak open. Looking up and wiping my tears away, I watched Jessie step out. Her crimson hair, which was no longer styled, was now spilling down her back, all the way past her knees. She was also wearing a short lavender sundress with white roses printed on it and strappy sandals that laced up her perfectly-shaped calves. I swear, at that moment she looked too beautiful to even be human -- she looked more like an elf, or a wood-nymph, or some other enchanted creature of the sylvan forest that surrounded this town.
Jerry: Either that, or severely soggy.
Tom: Fifty-fifty chance she looks like a Piloswine…
"Jessie," I gasped. "You're...you're...."
Tom: (James) A MAN! *faints*
(Jessie) How dare you! Just because I haven't had the operation…
She looked down at me with tear-filled sapphire eyes. "I'm going for a walk," she said curtly. "Alone."
"But Jess...."
"Please, James. I want to be alone," she muttered.
"But that doesn't mean you should be alone," I whispered as she went out the door.
Guardian's Song: For stalker-vibes to the max…
YANDERE!JAMES: |||| |||
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| ||||
(Me, petty? :B)
@->->-
I wanted to go with her, I really did, but I knew that it would be wrong.
Guardian's Song: Okay, maybe she isn't Stephenie Meyer's beta.
Let's wait and see if this holds…
She didn't want to have anything to do with me, and if I tried to follow her, I'd only end up making things worse.
What had happened between us anyway? I honestly didn't know. Everything was perfect yesterday, but when I looked into my lover's eyes just now, I had seen a stranger.
Jerry: Yes, that's because she was IN-CHARACTER.
Stop sporking yourself, Miss Falls! Please!
As I mulled over the events of the past twenty-four hours and tried to figure out what was going on, I began to cry.
I was so confused -- the only thing I was really sure of was that I had lost Jessie. It felt like my heart had been impaled on a knife and torn from my chest,
Tom: *toys with switchblade* Don't tempt me, emo.
and I was left completely empty...completely hollow.
Tom: Y' don't have any lungs?
My feelings of loneliness consumed me, and I cried like I'd never cried before.
Tom: Y' do that like that Potter kid hates like he's never hated before.
"TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| ||||
I don't know how long I had been lying there in the throes of misery
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| ||||
when I suddenly felt a paw on my shoulder.
"Whatsa' matter, James?"
"M-meowth?" I whimpered. The room was dark, and I couldn't see a thing.
"James, what happened?!"
"It's Jessie!" I sobbed. "She doesn't love me anymore!"
Tom: He said that with a straight face? *stares incredulously at the fic, then bursts out laughing*
"TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |||| |
Jerry: …Are we sure this isn't a deadpan parody? A VERY deadpan parody?
Guardian's Song: Jerry, I started saying that about Draco Veritas at the end. It's probably a sign you desperately need a detox.
I heard his soft footsteps on the wooden floor and a clicking sound as he turned on the light.
"Oh, God! James, ya look awful!" he cried when he saw me.
"I feel even worse," I muttered.
Meowth jumped onto the bed and sat next to me. "Now, what was dat about Jessie?"
"I said she doesn't love me anymore!" I told him, beginning to cry again.
Tom: …*covers face with one hand* This is just embarrassing.
"TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |||| ||
"Why else would she have started acting this way? Why else would she refuse to talk to me...to have anything to do with me?! God, Meowth, when we were in the woods earlier, I even heard her say she hated me!"
Guardian's Song: …New Moon? Is that you?!
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| ||||
Meowth closed his eyes for a moment. "James," he began, "while I was at the pokemon center, I got ta thinkin'."
Jerry: (James) You did?! Are you feeling all right? Should we get you to Urgent Care immediately?!
"About what?"
"Jessie. What she's been doin...and more importantly, why she's been doin' it."
I wiped my tears away and looked at the cat. "You think you might know what's wrong with her?"
He nodded.
Suddenly, I felt a glimmer of hope in my broken heart.
Tom: "TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |||| ||
"What is it, then?! Tell me! Tell me!!!"
"I think it may be dat ex she was talkin' about yesterday."
My heart sank again when I heard this. "The one who dumped her? But why would she get so worked up over him?! Don't I make her happy, Meowth?"
"Of course ya do!" he told me. "James, ya make her so happy...."
"Then why is she so sad?!"
"James, dere's somethin' ya gotta understand," said Meowth. "Ya don't have an ex -- and Jessiebelle don't count since ya weren't with her by choice -
Guardian's Song: Nonconsensual trauma doesn't count as trauma? What?
so ya don't really know what it feels like ta be dumped...."
"I do now," I sighed. And I did -- to think that Jessie had left me was the worst feeling in the world!
"Well, it's different with you and Jessie -- youse two really are meant ta be!" he continued.
Jerry: So much so that you have relationship problems EVERY SINGLE FIC?
"But even if dat ex was no good for ya, and ya know it, it still hurts ta get dumped. Take me and Meowsie. I know she was selfish and shallow, and dat she never loved Meowth,
Guardian's Song: I don't recall her as being THAT selfish and shallow - just that she wasn't interested in Meowth. Good gad, I'm not interested in PLENTY of nice and wonderful people. (I'm heterosexual, for one thing. :\) That doesn't mean I'm selfish and shallow. There are plenty of OTHER reasons why I'm selfish and shallow! Jeez…
but it still hurts when I think about her leavin' me for dat Persian."
I closed my eyes and reflected on his words for a moment.
"And it's the same deal with Jessie, I'm bettin'," he continued. "I think somethin' made her start thinkin' about her ex...about why he left her. And no matter how happy ya make her, it probably still hurts her ta think about him. It ain't dat yer not good enough for her, James -- cuz ya are! Youse two are so perfect together. It's just...she's probably been hurt so bad dat thinkin' about it again scared her."
Tom: An' now he's a therapist? Why's he need THESE two losers? He oughta start up his own consultin' firm. Mebbe he can run fer League Head next. Won't even need PokéBalls, if he just gets th' Pokémon t' sign up fer some sorta "Battlin' Fer Pokémon Rights" campaign.
My mind flashed back to when we were in the woods. "That's right!" I told him. "She did look like she was afraid of something earlier...afraid, even of me...like I was going to hit her, or something...."
That's when it all came together.
"Oh, my God! She still loves me!"
Guardian's Song: *literally starts beating self in the face with a random tardigrade-plushie*
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| |||| |
Meowth nodded. "Of course! James, she loves ya so much...."
"Now I understand!" I said, taking a red rose from my pocket and holding it out to him. "You know why I always carry this rose, right?"
Tom: An' just how decayed is it by now, if y' carry it ALL th' time?
"I can take a wild guess," he replied.
Tom: (Meowth) 'Cos ya need it for ya routine?
I smiled. "Yes...it's because it reminds me of her.
Guardian's Song: *whaps self in face with tardigrade-plushie again*
*takes it away and looks at it* Sorry, little buddy, but you may become part of my routine at this rate.
There's nothing more beautiful, more soft, or more gentle than a rose...but there's nothing more fragile, either.
Jerry: I can think of many things. An Abra out of Teleport PP…
Tom: A wildflower stickin' out'a th' pavement…
Guardian's Song: Greece's economy…
And that's why a rose has thorns, Meowth -- they protect that beautiful, delicate blossom from harm.
Jerry: The herbivores don't CARE about the flower! They want to EAT the whole thing!
Those thorns may hurt people and scare them away, but the rose isn't bad because of that. If you can look past those thorns, you'll see just what a glorious flower the rose truly is...and that there's nothing more precious.
Jerry: (Vileplume) Plume, plume? ):@
"And that's why I love Jessie -- she IS a rose!" I continued. "She's got thorns, Meowth...sharp ones. And I've been hurt by them on more than one occasion. But you know what? Once I learned how to get past her thorns, she became a different woman -- she really is as soft and gentle as a rose blossom!"
Tom: Yeah, an' she'll last a few months, at best? Y' know, Aesop had a fable about this:
An amaranth planted in a garden near a Rose-Tree, thus addressed it: "What a lovely flower is the Rose, a favorite alike with Gods and with men. I envy you your beauty and your perfume." The Rose replied, "I indeed, dear Amaranth, flourish but for a brief season! If no cruel hand pluck me from my stem, yet I must perish by an early doom. But thou art immortal and dost never fade, but bloomest for ever in renewed youth."
S' y' would've been better off sayin' that yer love's like an amaranth, with everyone lookin' at th' twerps, but they'll fade an' you'll stay 'round ferever -
Jerry: *looks at him in surprise* How do YOU know all this about flowers?
Tom: *turns red* I - I listen t' Nightwish, all right? That's all! Really!
The cat studied the rose in my hand for a second. "Yeah! Yer right!"
I stood up and ran a hand through my hair. "I guess I was just so wrapped up in how beautiful and wonderful she is that I forgot she still has thorns...that I still have to be careful around her.
Guardian's Song: Abuse! You should NEVER have to "be careful around" a loved one! NEVER! James sounds like a battered wife here!
Unless…
Don't make me start an 'Ariana/Aberfort tally' here, Miss Falls…
But maybe...maybe now I can make her realize that she doesn't need her thorns anymore. That as long as she has me, nothing will ever hurt her again."
Guardian's Song: *pained face* That sounds Aberforth-ish to me. It really does.
This is not helping.
"Exactly," said Meowth.
"It's funny. In all the years we've known each other, Jessie's always been the strong one. She promised that she'd always protect me, and she has.
Guardian's Song: Uh… Hello, Bad Boy/Wimpy Childhood Friend shipping! Good to see you've branched out to genderswaps as well!
But it's not just her responsibility anymore -- I think I have to protect her, too."
Jerry: By which you mean 'ALWAYS be the one protecting her while she cries her lungs out'?
Meowth grinned. "To protect the world from devastation, right?"
Jerry: Jessie = world?
***FATAL ERROR***
I returned the smile. "Right!"
Now I knew what I had to do. I didn't care what Jessie had said about wanting to be alone -- I knew that my intuition was right...that she needed me by her side.
Guardian's Song: YANDERE!JAMES: |||| ||||
CORI FALLS IS STEPHENIE MEYER'S BETA: |||| |||| ||
Just like the last time Jessie's spirit had been crushed -- the night we became lovers -
Jerry: *BURIES FACE IN BOTH HANDS AND MOANS*
Tom: That… that ain't how y' make a pairin' sound good. It just ain't.
An' also -
"TH' PAIN IN MY EMO SOOOOOUL": |||| |||| ||
I had to be the one to take charge. I had to find her and put an end to her pain once and for all...
Guardian's Song: D8
YANDERE!JAMES: |||| ||||
to let her know just how much I cared.
Guardian's Song: Oh, um, that's better. I think.
Jerry: You've done this before. It didn't help.
And that's exactly what I set out to do.