Chapter 12:Mother
It was a warm day, normal for spring in the Kanto region. Ash and Cynthia were making their way down Route One from Viridian City, Cynthia randomly criticising herself and Ash constantly reassuring her.
You see, the two had been dating for a few months now and seeing as Ash had already met Cynthia's sister Emily, and her grandparents Caroline and Kaiza Shirona, he decided that it was time for Cynthia to meet his mother. Cynthia wasn't so sure. "How does my hair look?" She asked, pulling at various strands of her pale gold hair.
"It looks fine, your hair always looks great, Cynthia." Ash said for what felt like the tenth time that day. Ever since he brought up the idea of going to Pallet Town, Cynthia had been acting very out of character. She seemed very nervous, almost...scared? But that couldn't be right, Cynthia was NEVER scared. Cautious, yes, but never scared or nervous. He couldn't imagine what could scare her anyway, it was just his mom! The nicest person in the world! The greatest mom a guy could ask for! Why would that frighten her? The idea of anyone being afraid of his mom was ridiculous.
"What about my clothes? Are they okay? Should I have worn something else?" She asked, firing her questions off at a rapid pace.
"Cynthia, you always wear those clothes." Ash smiled, trying to say that she looked nice no matter what she wore.
In her state of panic, Cynthia didn't see it that way.
"I KNOW!" She shouted. "I always wear these same old clothes! What will she think? I know what she'll think! She'll think I haven't put in any effort at all!" Cynthia shouted, massaging her forehead with her thumb and index finger. How did she let Ash talk her into this?
Oh right, kisses. Lots and lots of wonderful, mind-melting, delicious kisses. Ash had better planned on kissing her a lot lower to make up for this...
Cynthia mentally shook herself. Those weren't exactly the thoughts one should have on their mind when meeting their significant other's mother.
"Cyn, you're just meeting my mom, not the Queen Ilene of Rota. Although, I wasn't wearing anything special when I met her, either." Ash mused to himself.
Ignoring the obvious story behind that casual statement, she latched onto another imaginary flaw. "My makeup looks terrible, I can't do this!" Cynthia felt like hyperventilating, was her breathing getting shallower or were her lungs just getting smaller?
"Cynthia, you don't own or wear any makeup besides that black lipstick." He told her. Apparently Cynthia swore off makeup at the age of fourteen, when it gave her a very bad case of acne that eventually lead to her infamous over-the-eye hairstyle. Although she did keep some eye-shadow and a tube of black lipstick, Midnight Kiss or something like that, for special occasions. Turns out love-bites on the shoulder are a lot easier to hide than pitch black lipstick kisses all over his face and neck, which was the partly the reason Cynthia wore it whenever they went on a date. The other part being that both agreed it made her look pretty damn good.
"Yeah," She said, mostly to herself. "I should just relax, I don't even wear makeup." She inhaled deeply and exhaled. "Okay, I'm relaxed, I'm calm. I can do this... Should I have worn makeup!?" Cynthia knew she was acting crazy, but could you blame her?
Ash loved his mom, whenever he talked about her it was always with a smile on his face. She was single mom who raised a wonderful son and she stole that son away from her. Okay, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but whose to say Mrs. Ketchum wouldn't see it that way?
She knew what she looked like, a lustful seductress moving in on her little boy, probably using his apprenticeship as an excuse to break him into an obedient sex-toy devoted solely to her pleasure... Maybe that was a little bit farfetch'd, but Cynthia wasn't in a state of mind to do too much rational thinking.
And of course, Mrs. Ketchum was a wonderful cook. Cynthia wasn't. She was to the kitchen, what being viciously punched in the face to death was to everything else.
Cynthia Shirona tried to cook three times in her life. The first time, she was nine and her grandma wanted to show her a basic rice dish that was easy to whip up while on the road. The Sinnoh Pokemon League agreed to replace all the furniture and plumbing in their house, as long as they signed a legal agreement to never discuss what happened ever again.
The second time, after trying to microwave soup, a new element had to be added to the periodic table and she was accredited as the discoverer of Shironium. The third time in a bid to impress Ash with her absolute lack of culinary skill, she made a sandwich for him, which was stolen by Muk.
Muk got food poisoning.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Muk, a poison-type pokemon, a pokemon that was literally a sentient pile of toxic filth, a pokemon that was HEALED while holding black toxic waste and she managed to put her in a Pokemon Centre for a week.
Ash cried for days.
So yeah, she sucked at cooking. There was a point during her journey where she was sharing Gastrodon's poke-food for a week, because she was worried that if she tried to make something for herself she might bring about a nuclear apocalypse. She could make poke-food for all her pokemon, create the spiciest, sweetest, bitterest, sourest poke-blocks, could and did bake poffins that brought a rampaging gyrados to tears of sheer joy.
Food fit for a human though?
No chance of that happening.
Ever.
Luckily, Ash had picked up enough between his mom and being taught a thing or two by Brock over the years to be able to make pretty much anything, so kitchen duties fell to him, since Cynthia lived mainly on take-out, which was easy enough in Celestic Town, home of Marco's Pizza and the best pepperoni pizza in the five regions.
Having pizza delivered to an island, however, well that was nowhere near as easy. But Bertha and the others were always willing to make something if she asked nicely. Oh look, it's the actual plot.
Ash stopped. "Cynthia, will you please tell me what's going on?" He asked with concern evident in his eyes.
Cynthia felt her insides slowly melt. Damn those auburn-brown eyes of his. Didn't he know what they did to her? Knowing that if there was one person besides Bertha, the woman who was the closest thing she had to a mother figure, that she could open up to, it was the man beside her, she relayed her fears to him. "It's.. What if she doesn't like me?" She whispered. "What if she hates me?"
"Why would she ever hate you, Cynthia?" Ash asked in confusion.
"I don't know, I know I'm worrying about nothing, but I just feel... Nevermind, it's ridiculous." She said, pushing past him.
Ash sped up to keep pace with her, which wasn't easy with her much longer legs. He reached out and grabbed her arm. "If you're worried about something, then it's not ridiculous. C'mon, Mom's gonna love you!"
"Are you sure?" She asked uncertainly. It had become obvious to Cynthia at a young age that she really wasn't good with mothers. Why would this be any different, she ruefully thought to herself.
"Cynthia," Ash began. "You are the woman who, for some reason beyond me, took an interest in an idiot like me and made me someone worthy of you. You are the woman who spends everyday making me happier than the last. You are the woman I love and the woman who loves me. Right?" He asked peppering her neck with kisses.
"Yeah." She smiled, giggles being drawn from her mouth at the feeling of Ash's lips pressing against the tender flesh of her throat. Why was she worried again? Why was she devoting conscious thought to anything other than the magnificent sensations Ash was sending through her body? Why did she bother...something...something...mind words?
"Say it."
Cynthia muttered something under her breath, a little too low for Ash's liking.
"Come on, say it." He repeated, beginning to suck gently on that one spot just below her left ear that just drove her cra-
"Aooowh...Loveyouloveyouloveyou!" She panted. "Lo-lower!" Ash pulled away, partially because he just to tease her and leave her wanting more, but mostly because anyone could walk onto the deserted street they were on. Pallet Town really was one of those small towns where gossip travelled faster than light.
"So, of course she's going to hate you!" Ash joked.
"What!" Cynthia exclaimed, being rudely shocked out of her pleasure induced stupor. If Ashton Bertram Ketchum (She later found out this wasn't his middle name either) thought she was just going to let that go... Then he had another thing coming...
"I'm kidding! Anyway, we're here!"
Cynthia blinked. Weren't they on the outskirts of Pallet Town a minute ago? Damn Ash Ketchum and his distracting kisses...
Still worth it, though.
They walked up to the door of a modest two-storey house, though it was obvious to see that it was well taken care of over the years, judging by the fairly fresh coat of paint and well kept flower-boxes in the windowsills. "You really think she'll like me?" Cynthia asked, tightly gripping his hand in her own.
Ash gently squeezed her hand back. "Mom'll be crazy about you. I am, after all!" He grinned. "Just you watch, the minute you walk through the door, she'll be acting like you're her long-lost daughter!"
Cynthia's worried frown turned into a small smile. Ash always knew how to make her smile, even if she didn't want to. Especially if she didn't want to.
"Promise?"
Ash leaned up to kiss her lips, washing away all of her worries and doubts. "I promise."
Cynthia took another deep breath. "Okay," she said bringing up her hand to knock on the door. "Let's do this."
A few seconds later, a pink blur had opened the door and slammed into her boyfriend, speaking at a pitch and pace only members of the zubat evolutionary line could understand. "Oh, Ash look at you! You've gotten so tall, you're taller than me now! And you've gotten so handsome, you look just like you're father! He'd be so, so proud of you! And I'm so proud of you, too!" Delia Ketchum, a woman of average height with auburn hair and bright light brown eyes, wearing her usual outfit of a pink cardigan, yellow shirt and skirt, exclaimed jubilantly, obviously delighted to have her baby boy back in her arms.
Ash laughed, feeling slightly guilty that he hadn't seen his mom in months, unless you counted video-phone calls. "I missed you too, Mom. But there's somebody really special I'd like you to meet."
Unnoticed by Ash, Mrs. Ketchum had already seen Cynthia and one thought ran though Cynthia's mind. 'So, that's where he got those eyes...' She thought to herself, feeling stunned by the similarity between mother and son.
The same eyes that she loved to get lost in, the same eyes that held boundless adoration whenever she looked into them. The only difference between her lover's eyes and Mrs. Ketchum's eyes though, she had never seen such of a look of cold indifference in his.
Mrs. Ketchum regarded her as Moltres would regard a caterpie, something small and insignificant, something that better shut up and stay down or it would end up in a world of hurt. Not being accustomed to such a glare and definitely one of such frigid intensity, it was enough to make her what to run back to Celestic Town, sea be damned, hide beneath her bed-covers and eat five gallons of ice-cream, her waistline be damned too.
She had no idea what she had done to warrant such a baleful look, she had never met or even spoken to Mrs. Ketchum before, not even over the phone. But that could be it, she had never met her, so clearly, Mrs. Ketchum had no reason to like or trust her. Cynthia barely managed to stop a groan escaping. Not even half a minute in and her boyfriend's mother already hated her.
Mrs. Ketchum pulled away from Ash and levelled another frosty look at Cynthia. "Ah, so you're the...girl..." She smiled brightly, making the word "girl" sound like the most horrendous insult she could bring herself to utter.
Cynthia ignored her tone and decided to try and make the best of a bad situation. "I'm Cynthia Shirona. It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Ketchum." She rubbed her boyfriend's shoulder affectionately in an effort to redirect Delia's focus to him and away from her. "Ash has told me a lot about you." She said, smiling so widely she was sure her cheeks would rip.
Not being one to notice minor details, like the extremely uncomfortable tension between the two most important women in his life, Ash took Cynthia by the hand and lead into the kitchen. Sitting her down at the kitchen table, he turned to leave. "I'm heading over to Tracey's place so you two can get to know each other better."
Suppressing the urge to scream "Don't leave me!", Cynthia reminded herself that she was a strong, confident, intelligent woman. She could and WOULD do this. How hard could it be, right?
Mrs. Ketchum walked into the kitchen and sat on the opposite side of the table. "So... I love your house..." She began lamely. Nice opening, Cynthia, she thought to herself.
"Thank you. May I offer you some tea?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.
"Yes, please." Cynthia responded, confused by the oddly polite question.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, the kettle boiled, sending a high-pitched scream through the room. Mrs. Ketchum rose from her own chair to prepare two teacups. "Milk, sugar?"
"Milk, with two sugars, please."
"Ms. Shirona..."
"Yes?" Cynthia quickly replied, feeling as if she was in a doctor's waiting room and was about to hear terrible news.
"Ms. Shirona, first of all, I'd like to thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yes, thank you. I always knew that Ash would become someone amazing, and I know it's because of your help." Mrs. Ketchum said, handing Cynthia a scalding hot cup of tea.
"So thank you," She continued. "For helping him become the person you and I both knew he could be." Just for a moment, Cynthia wondered if her mother, if she were still around, would speak about her in that way, with such a large, proud smile and happy eyes.
Although she quickly crushed that train of thought, Cynthia felt the sharp dagger of envy pierce her heart, if only briefly. If this was how a mother usually looked, Cynthia wasn't surprised that Ash loved his own so much.
"Oh.. Well, you're welcome?" She said, feeling slightly better about the meeting, now that Mrs. Ketchum's eyes had warmed greatly when talking about her son. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as she thought?
"That was the first thing I wanted to say," Mrs. Ketchum's eyes quickly frosted over again. "The second thing I was to say is... What are you doing with my son!?" She fiercely demanded. Or maybe it was a lot, lot worse than Cynthia thought?
"Wh-what do you mean?" Didn't Ash tell his mom they were together? No, of course he didn't. Her dork would've wanted to keep it a surprise.
A surprise for her to reveal. Shame he didn't tell Cynthia about it first, because she was pretty damn surprised too.
"I saw the way you were touching Ash when you were at the door, you were holding hands. So I'll ask again, what are you to my son?"
"Well, I-I'm his mistress?" Cynthia spoke, sounding as if she was questioning her own statement.
"And that's it?" Delia asked, her aura of motherly protectiveness beginning to suffocate Cynthia.
"Uh, no, I mean, not exactly..." The champion, normally so confident in herself and her words, stumbled over said words. "That is to say, I'm also his girlfriend..." Cynthia tailed off, biting the proverbial bullet.
If the older of the two was surprised, she didn't show it. "You?" Came her nonplussed reply.
With the main revelation, and the main source of her worry out of the way, Cynthia went on the defensive. "Excuse me? What do you mean 'you'?" She bit back.
Mrs. Ketchum made a show of looking her up and down. "You definitely aren't who I expected to be his girlfriend. I know there are a lot of girls who wouldn't mind being with Ash..."
Cynthia clenched her cup tightly. She really didn't need to be reminded. Some people just didn't have any respect for other people's property. "Oh?" She spoke through her gritted teeth. "And just who were you expecting?" The blond quickly found herself trying to stay calm for an entirely different reason.
"Ash is just like his father, a heart-breaker without realising it." The auburn woman replied, her glare clashing with her fond smile. "I always thought that it might have been Misty, such a nice girl."
Misty? That psychopath? The one that always hit Ash every chance she got? Sure, Cynthia hit Ash and a lot harder than Misty, but she had a reason, sparring, something she and Ash both enjoyed, not just because she was annoyed.
"Or maybe May, they have so much in common." Delia continued.
Huggy McBigtits! The girl who was a year younger than her boyfriend, she was eighteen or so, yet had more than a whole bra size over her? What teenager had a freaking D-cup chest? And of course she just absolutely loved groping her Ash!
Cynthia wasn't exactly the bustiest woman in the world. She was a respectable 36B, but her tall frame worked against her, making her chest seem smaller than it actually was. Ash certainly never complained. In fact, he still got that dazed look in his eyes, like that time he walked in on her changing.
It was a huge confidence boost to know that she could do that to him, but it just wasn't fair for a little girl to have that kind of chest, dammit!
"Or maybe..." Cynthia silently swore to herself that if Mrs. Ketchum said Dawn then she was getting a face full of hot tea.
"Look," Cynthia interrupted, now returning the harsh glare. "They aren't his girlfriend, I am! Is that a problem for you?"
"I know your type, little girl!" Delia nearly shouted. "If you plan on hurting him, tell me now so I don't have to track you down later!"
"You think I'd hurt him! You're crazy!" Cynthia retorted, her knuckles turning white, her iron will being the only reason she didn't smash the teacup over the other woman's head.
"Is that so? I know how girls like you work, toying with my son's emotions until you're bored, then moving onto the next poor boy! Nobody breaks my Ash's heart!"
Cynthia's narrowed eyes flew open, unblinking for a full minute. Then, without warning, the cup in her hand shattered into a thousand pieces, sending porcelain and dangerously hot tea through the air. And with the deliberate force of a encroaching hurricane, she raised her head, her long blonde hair casting a shadow over her only visible eye and she spoke. "What. The. Fuck. Did you just say to me?" Her use of a "sentence enhancer" as Bertha and Flint referred to them, shocking her.
Cynthia Shirona was a woman with thick skin. She had to be. Hint that she was a lesbian, she didn't care, she was confident in her sexuality. Say that she was a S&M fan, well, people were allowed their fantasies and she could be a little too rough with Ash sometimes. Claim that she was the high priestess of a Giratina death cult, she'd just laugh and take that in her stride too.
But don't you FUCKING DARE to imply that her love for Ash Ketchum was anything less than one-hundred percent genuine.
Delia took pause at the blond's calm rage and like a tsunami on the horizon, she could only try to survive it's crushing force. "Listen, you probably think I don't deserve to be with your son and I get that, I really do. And I know I wonder why he wants to be with me, but he loves me!" Cynthia explained or rather shouted to Delia, who was now carefully eyeing the younger woman.
Cynthia continued, her words coming faster and louder. "Even though I'm a slob, even though I'm one leather whip away from being a dominatrix, even though it took me three months to say what I felt for half a year, even though he deserves someone so much better than me, he still loves me! And I love him!" Cynthia panted.
That... That was the first time she said that to someone besides Ash... Not wanting to lose her momentum, she continued. "I don't care what you think of me! I don't care if you hate me, I'll keep smiling at you if it makes Ash happy, because that's what matters to me! Even if he is your boy, he's my man now! And I certainly don't care if you think somebody else is better for him, because I own him now! He's mine and I won't let anyone else have him!
I know I'm selfish, I know I don't deserve somebody who can make everyone's life better just by being it, someone who sees me as perfect even though he knows I'm not! But if you think for one second that I'm going to let you, or anyone else, take away the most amazing man I've ever met from me? Well, you can just FUCK OFF!" With the adrenaline wearing off, Cynthia noticed that she was leaning over the table, only inches away from Mrs. Ketchum's face.
Oh boy...
She quickly sat back down but the damage was done. Mrs. Ketchum rose from her chair and walked over to Cynthia, she almost tried to make a break for it, but she held firm, straightening her back and resolve.
Then, like a seviper striking at it's prey, Delia pounced, wrapping Cynthia in a tight hug.
"Oh, I'm just so glad Ash found a woman like you!" Delia gushed.
"Wha-"
Delia, in her happiness, didn't allow Cynthia a word in edge-wise.
"I knew Ash would need a certain kind of woman to keep him in line, goodness knows what would happen if he went for Misty or May! But I'm so happy he has a strong woman like you around!"
Cynthia, in a small state of shock, managed to find her voice. "Mrs. K-Ketchum?" She squeaked. She wasn't exactly used to people she just finished shouting at to start hugging her out of nowhere.
"Oh please honey, call me Delia. after all, it will get confusing if there are two Mrs. Ketchums!"
"T-t-two Mrs. Ketchums!" Cynthia was certain that her last exclamation went supersonic.
"What's going on in here?" Ash asked in amusement as he walked into a strange scene in the kitchen, his mom clinging on to an even paler than usual Cynthia.
"Ash, you're back!" The obvious "Thank Mew!" went unsaid.
"Turns out Tracey's gone to Cinnabar Island for the day, he won't be back until tomorrow. I see you two are getting on well." He smiled. He knew these two would get along get like clefairy and moon stones.
"Oh, we've just been chatting! She's such a lovely woman, Ash. I think she's a keeper!" Delia told him, releasing Cynthia from her surprisingly strong grip.
"Yeah, she's the best, isn't she?" Ash kissed Cynthia forehead as she held onto his arm as if he was a life preserver and she was a baby charmander who barely avoided drowning.
A couple of hours later, when Cynthia had gotten over whatever was wrong with her and Cynthia, Ash and his mom talked about how his training was going, how the two had gotten together, you know, the kind of stuff a mom asks about, she and Ash sat on the couch in the living room. "You know, your mom really loves you..." Cynthia spoke from her position on his right shoulder. Not his left shoulder, she and Pikachu had come to an agreement.
"I know." Ash replied.
"You're really lucky, you know that, right?"
Ash held Cynthia a little bit tighter, hearing a slight waver in her voice. "I know." He repeated.
"It's late, too late for flying, should we find a hotel in Viridian City?"
"What? No, we'll stay here, I'll take the couch, you can have my old room."
"Why can't we sleep together?" Cynthia asked.
"Well, I've had that bed since I was eleven and I haven't slept in it since I was sixteen, it's gonna be pretty cramped."
"Ash, you realise that I basically sleep on top of you, right?" Cynthia laughed, the slightly sombre tone leaving her voice.
"If you want, I guess." Ash shrugged.
"Come on, show me where it all began." She giggled. "I want to see where little Ash once dreamed of becoming a Pokemon Master, not knowing that one day he would meet that one person who would push him to his limits and pry open a space in his innocent heart!"
Cynthia got a contemplative look in her eye. "You know, it sounds kind of like a movie..."
"Hey, don't get too big-headed, your Highness. But then again, if it does, it'll catch up with your hair."
Cynthia snorted. "Wow, great comeback! Come on, let's get some sleep." Ash stood up, taking Cynthia by the hand and leading her to his old bedroom.
"Wow, nice batchelor pad!"
"Ha, ha, I'm dying of laughter!"
A half-hour later, as both of them were on the verge of sleep, Cynthia whispered. "Hey, Ash?"
"Yeah, Cyn?"
"Your mom is pretty awesome."
"Yeah, she really is."