A Journey's Link

Chapter 40 - Past

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"W-what did you do!" Miette yelled, watching the place where Ash had flown off. "You made him leave!" She yelled at Chloe, who nervously looked back at Miette. "I-I thought you two were... you had a smile on your face and I..." Chloe stuttered, trying to defend herself, unable to get out any words.

"Yeah, I had a smile on my face!" Miette yelled again. "And?" She was getting angry at Chloe because it was true. The small moment where her kissing Ash was a reality was enjoyable to her, but she now realized the consequences of her own personal gain. "And it made him go away!" Chloe exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes.

Miette felt the breath leave her body at those words. She weakly sat down and whispered, "You're right. It did." She put her hands in her face and groaned, realizing that, by trying to make Ash fall for her, she made things worse. Before, he wasn't by her side, but now, he wasn't by anyone's side.

She began hearing soft sniffling and looked up to see something that confused her. Chloe was silently crying and was softly wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her arm. "Are you crying over Ash leaving?" Miette asked in confusion.

"It's not just that!" Chloe defended herself, wiping away the last of her tears. "It's just that I had a fight with my best friend, and now his only other friend beside me has just disappeared! He's going to be devastated!" She passionately explained, feeling immense guilt and sorrow for Goh as she realized she was going to have to tell him that Ash went missing.

Miette opened her mouth a little as she realized that this was true. It's my fault that Ash is gone! She thought, the gravity of the situation weighing on her. He was supposed to protect the world, and I drove him away. Her mind went to Serena, and how she would have to tell her that Ash had just left them all behind.

Miette quietly stood up, emotionless, and walked over to Chloe. "Here," she said, offering out her hand. "Let's go find the others. We were all looking for you." Chloe warily took her hand and stood up, wiping off the leaves on her clothes. "Really?" Chloe asked, seemingly shocked that everyone dropped what they were doing to search for her.

Miette shrugged and said, "Well, yeah. They're all your friends." She began walking along the path that she and Ash had taken to get there. "I would've done the same if you were my friend." Chloe rolled her eyes at this statement, thinking, That's not true, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

Chloe decided to keep the conversation going. "So, even Goh was worried about me?" She asked nervously. It worried her that Goh might've not even cared at all to come looking for her, given their recent quarrel. Even if it was his fault for starting the fight and being so assuming, she still cared for him and worried their bond may have been severed.

"Oh yeah, he was the most concerned," Miette answered, still walking through the dense bushes. "He came running to the gym, looking like he lost his mother, wondering where you went." She softly smiled as she recalled the look on his face when they told him that they hadn't seen Chloe in a while.

Miette felt a hard slap on the back of her head. "Ow!" She yelped, reaching to the back of her head to rub it. "What was that for!?" She whined, glaring at Chloe who angrily stared back at Miette. "Just because Goh cares for me doesn't mean he's a wimp!" Chloe exclaimed, fighting for Goh's dignity. "I think it's good that he was so worried about me!"

Miette clenched her teeth and was about to fight back when they heard rustling in the bushes. "Who's there!" Miette exclaimed, forgetting all about the fight that was about to happen between her and Chloe. "Guys! It's us!" A pair of voices came from the bushes. Chloe's eyes widened when she recognized the voices.