Title: Close to you
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Pairing: Championshipping (Lance x Ash/Red)
Fandom: Pokémon
Theme: #17, Close to you (Theme Set #2)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Warnings: AU, het, anti-AAMRN, cross-dressing

After all, big sister, anyone would fall in love with the younger and prettier of the two, even your fiancé…

Yes, perhaps Misty was right, though Catelyn personally thought that her view on beauty was debatable. Just because she wasn’t fond of mummy powders and corseting herself to death didn’t mean she was ugly, did it? Perhaps she was too tall…or too old.

She angrily yanked the hairpins out of her hair, tossing them on her vanity without another word. She brushed her hair out of its elegant coiffure, before she started undoing the fastenings on her dress. The corset fell to the floor, along with her many petticoats, and she stood there in her shift, staring at herself.

“Maybe I am ugly, but that gives her no excuse…!”

Well, if Misty was that determined, and if Ash was that fickle, she had quite enough of him! She scrubbed the cosmetics off her face, before her eyes caught on a pair of her nail scissors. Perhaps…

Ten minutes later, she was gone, and no one was any wiser.

It was actually quite easy to be a boy. With her plain face and short hair, she blended in, and after a few weeks and several applications of strong lye, the vibrant red color had dulled to a perfectly respectable light brown-blonde. Her jewels had done well for a supply of cash, and now, as she wandered the streets and sold newspapers, she decided that even being poor and having to work – though not destitute – was better than being a beautiful girl.

Even her accent was not under suspicion. There were plenty of penniless aristocrats, after all…

Her family, of course, was quite distressed, and in the newspapers soon appeared an article that she had wasted away from a fever. Quite distressing, but certainly common, and no one investigated.

She was happy.

Disaster struck about two years later. She was doing her job as usual, when a commotion began to sound. She blinked as she saw a tillbury rushing madly down the road, on the back of a horse she recognized quite well. It seemed that it had gone mad, and without a thought, she dashed up and grabbed the reins. The horse stumbled, but at least it stopped the carriage nicely.

What she did not expect was for Ash and a hugely pregnant Misty to come out of the carriage, followed by Ash’s older brother, Count Red.

They gave her thanks, and she kept her face away, accepting the money they tossed her carelessly without words, but as she left, all of them felt strange, as if they had seen her before. Of course they had, but…

Red simply frowned as he put down his newspaper, trying to remember. Ash and Misty gave it no more thought.

Lance was very unpleasantly surprised to find Red waiting for her when she returned home. He was sitting on her bed, glancing at the surroundings with a look of indescribable surprise.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, keeping her voice low.

He looked at her, and she glared right back, golden eyes sharp. “… Lady Catelyn? Is that you?”

“It’s Lance now.” She shrugged. “What’s left of her, I suppose...”

“My Lord… what are you doing here?” He sounded quite aghast. “Your family told me you were dead.”

“I am dead in all ways that matter.” She deposited her parcels on the little writing desk and began to comb out her shorn hair. “Did you wish something?”

“But why…?”

“Didn’t you know? Your brother cancelled our engagement. He preferred my sister. My parents cared little for it, and now that I am gone she is heir to the estate. I suppose it is pride that I am here, and alive, and as long as I live, I shall still have that.”

“How can you live like this?” He sounded honestly distressed.

She chuckled. “I don’t need much, and embroidery is no useful skill. But I’m not short of money, really, I sold all of my jewels and I’m quite comfortable.”

“B-But…”

“I don’t need maids. I’m perfectly capable of dressing myself, and I can cook a little. I’m free, and as long as I’m a boy, no one cares about me.”

Red was speechless, and he had to admit, she did look rather charming as a boy, with her hair cut close and straight, though the color was odd – nothing like the beautiful hair he remembered.

Lance finished with her hair and began to unwrap her parcels. Feeling uncomfortable, Red excused himself, and caught a cab home to think upon the situation.

“She’s alive?”

“It seems so, and can you believe it, she’s working as a boy.” Red shivered.

His sister looked thoughtful. “That is extraordinary brave or foolish.”

“I know.”

“So what are you going to do about it?” Charlotte smiled. “Surely you’re not going to leave her there?”

“I’m not sure. She might be happier, but….”

“But what?”

“I…I was glad when I learned that Ash had rejected her, because then I thought I could marry her myself, but when I returned her family told me she was dead, and…”

“And?”

“Now I know she isn’t dead, but what can I do? She – she might not agree, and… and…”

“You must admit that if you married her she would have to live here. I daresay it would be uncomfortable.”

Thinking of Ash and Misty, Red had to agree.

“Maybe… it’s better if I leave her alone…”

A few weeks passed without incident, so Lance was quite surprised, upon her return to her flat, when she saw Count Red waiting with an armful of roses. She raised her eyebrows, but ushered him inside.

“Well?”

“Lance, I mean Catelyn, well… I’ve been thinking, and I… I love you, though I’m not sure I ever told you, and I’d like you to marry me…”

Lance just stared at him. “What? Are you serious?”

“Of course I’m serious!” Red colored. “Why would I lie?”

“Your brother said the same thing, and look where that turned out.”

“… That’s because he stole my love poetry.”

Lance blinked at this, and Red colored. “It’s just that, I’ve always admired you, and this – situation just proves that you’re a wonderfully smart and resourceful woman, and I like that, and… um…”

He trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Lance blinked. “I…I thought you disliked me.”

“I don’t! I was just distant because I wasn’t quite sure how to be, and then you and Ash were engaged, so I didn’t have a chance…”

Lance cut him off with a quick kiss, and Red blushed.

“I don’t want to live with Ash and Misty though.”

“That’s all right.” Red grinned. “They can have the house here. We’re going off to Africa.”

Africa? It had potential, and there, no one would know her identity. Interesting… Red had planned this well.

“All right then. I accept.”

Red cheered and hugged her, and two weeks later, they were married and off to a new land, leaving the sorrows of the old one behind.

End Fic

Completed 12/5/06

I don’t think Misty is pretty. In fact I find her very ugly! In the actual story this fanfic is vaguely based on, from Godchild, the older sister tried to throw acid into the younger sister’s face, was splashed instead, and went insane. Lance of course, isn’t so emotional, so she left and got a job.