Eternals

It was no lie that Jessie was not the most nicest person in the world and the fact that she was often feared by her partners, James and Meowth was no secret. But she had known that she had hurt them. James had gotten a good deal of it but she had only recently gotten the courage to tell him that she was sorry. He had already forgiven her and although she felt a little better knowing that, she couldn't feel completely better without the forgiveness of probably the one she had hurt the most.

Meowth.

She knew she should've told him sooner but she kept losing her nerve. Normally that was unheard of for her, but whenever she got close to saying it, he would always look at her, and her gaze would meet his. She would see the Meowth she had grown close to but also a completely different person, someone new and darker, someone who would never forgive her, no matter what she did.

And she was afraid of him.

She knew that the unture Meowth she saw now was tougher than the one she had grown to love. This one was less forgiving and more willing to kill than the other. But she knew that deep down, the Meowth she loved was still there. He just needed to be coaxed out.

She had planned it for days, planned how she would tell him she was sorry but all plans she had refused to go through with, knowing that they wouldn't work. But eventually, she didn't have to choose an approach, for Meowth chose it for her.

He had wandered towards her one day, not being sneaky about it and went straight up to her, his eyes slightly narrowed as he briefly shook a few droplets of blood from his claws. "What is it dat ya wanna tell me, Jessie?" he asked, calmly but as if he wasn't going to like not getting an answer.

She would be perfectly honest and say that she was at a sudden lost for words. This wasn't the first time though that he had been able to sense if there was something wrong with her or if she wanted to say something to him. In a way, he had always had that ability though he had rarely mentioned it before to avoid being hit or something from her. That was exactly the thing though.

Even with his Eternalship making him more quieter and sensitive, he still seemed more at ease to confront those he was close to, like he knew that they wouldn't hurt him. Even if she wanted to, she could easily try to hit him but knowing his abilities, that would not end very well. But she also doubted that he would hurt her either. If anything, his Eternalship had also softened his heart. If he could fall in love with his former arch-enemy than that was all the evidence you needed for that statement.

Avoiding his direct eye contact, Jessie shifted in her sitting position, searching for an excuse to his question. Finding none that he would believe, she finally sighed. "If you already know, then why question it?" she asked him.

In response, Meowth smirked slightly, a glint hitting his darkened eyes slightly as a spark of his true self took over. "I dun know what ya wanna say ta me. All I know is dat ya wanna say somet'in' an' I guess ya're taa..." he paused, narrowing his blue eyes slightly, his smirk widening. "Nervous an'/or afraid ta say it" He cackled to himself quietly.

If this was before, she definitely would've hit him for that and judging by the way he took a steady step back, he expected it too. She wouldn't lie that she felt the urge but the aftermath may or may not be good and having let her own heart softened, she couldn't risk it.

But it seemed like his abilities were intact and he did know that she wanted to say something but was she nervous and/or afraid? Yes, yes she was. She was nervous because of how he will react but also afraid of what he might do. But seeing that glint in his eyes told her a different story. She saw him. She saw her best friend, her partner, her brother. She saw the real Meowth.

"You're kind of right" she started, noticing his slight tilt of the head. Though he remained silent, for once. "I do want to tell you something, but I don't know how you will react" This definitely caught his attention, for his smirk faded and the glint in his eyes wavered to an expressionless one. That was what she was afraid of.

"Is it somet'in' bad?" Meowth asked cautiously, his voice turned to a quiet manner. She could see the fear in his eyes, the fear of being betrayed, the fear of being hurt. And that was what she was trying to fix.

Forcing a small smile, she answered him as light-heartedly as she could. "I hope it's not but I don't think it is" She reached her hand carefully out, wanting to gently touch her friend in reassurance but he didn't approach her and instead took the smallest of steps back. She could easily touch him now but knowing he didn't want it, she just stopped.

Pulling her hand away, she waited for a moment, to see if he would do or say anything. When he didn't, she sighed once more to herself before averting her eyes to lock with the feline's. Now there was no going back, she knew that she had to say it finally.

"Look, Meowth. I know what I did to you before... you know, all of this, I know that what I did wasn't... good. But that's just the thing, I didn't mean to hurt you like that and I will not hurt you like that again" she paused, noticing a slight flinch of the scratch cat as he probably remembered all the times she had gotten angry at him and then hurt him for it.

Shaking her head to rid such thoughts from her own mind, she slowly inched a little closer to Meowth, who didn't move, although he did seem to tense a little bit at her movement. They were silent for a few moments before Jessie finally reached her hand forward and placed her hand reassuringly on her best friend's shoulder. Although he did seem to relax a little, he did not make any sort of move or react and/or speak.

"I've already said this to James, and he forgives me but, I need yours as well" Jessie stated. "Meowth, I am sorry for all of the things I did to you. I truly, truly am. I know that you may not forgive me, but I need you to know this. I-I'm sorry" she finished, causing a serious reaction from Meowth.

Jessie just stuttered. Out of anyone who could stutter, it had to be her. She stuttered because she was sorry and she was... afraid of his reaction. Something clicked in his mind, something he had kept bottled up inside of him this entire time. It was more like a confession than anything, for even though he had told James and he was fine with it, Jessie knowing and forgiving him was his main priority now.

"I-I'm sorry taa, Jessie" he whispered, pulling his darkened eyes away from her, actually being comforted by her gentle touch to his shoulder.

Jessie tilted her head slightly at this. What could he possibly be sorry for that could match her own? "What are you sorry about Meowth?" she asked gently, lowering her voice which was oddly caring and soft.

Pricking his black ears at the tone of her voice, he refused to look at her before he turned back to her, tears brimming at his eyes, watering his vision in the process. "I-I-" He flattened his ears to the top of his head in shame. "Re-Rememba when y-ya an' J-James became E-Etern-nals an' G-Giov-vanni tried ta get ya ta r-rejoin da I-Immortals b-by ex-exploitin' what I-I truly was? W-Well, dat was m-me..." With this, he turned away, pushing her hand off of him as tears dripped from his eyes.

She didn't know what to do, let alone say. She remembered joining the Eternals with James and then Giovanni sending messages over the border to try and get them to hate Meowth. How could those messages be Meowth's doing and why would he do that to himself?

Noticing his tears, she instantly knew that her question should not be directly that. She instead needed to take a much more quiet and gentle approach, one that would hopefully not harm him in any way.

"Meowth, I-I don't understand. How could that be you and why?" she asked as gently as she could. The reaction she got made her shift backwards a little. She wasn't afraid of him, she just didn't want to hurt him any further.

"'Cause I didn't want ta force youse guys inta bein' someones ya weren't! I hacked inta one of da computas an' altaed ma own voice ta sound like him. I-I wanted ya ta see what I truly was, so ya would choose ta stay or leave. An' den, youse guys... didn't leave..." Meowth screeched at first but slowly began to quiet done, back to a whisper as he was overwhelmed with tears.

That had all been Meowth's doing to make them choose to stay or leave? No wonder he constantly revealed himself to them. He wanted them to choose because he cared about them. It was such a thought that just strengthened her affection towards the Pokemon she had adopted as her brother along with James.

Seeing him now with tears flowing down his face, it was not a nice sight and although he made no crying sound, she could feel the tension in his aura. He needed comfort and she was doing to give it to him.

Without much effort, she carefully leaned forward and wrapped an arm around his body and pulled him into a warm hug. For a moment, he remained silent before he looked up to her, his blue eyes meeting her own blue ones.

His eyes were darkened but were hinted with pain and love for his family, and his breakdown was no surprise to her. By this point, they had become normal to her but never did she grow bored, she knew he needed the comfort to help him gain the confidence to act like his true self once more and also to continue moving forward in his life.

"Meowth, I forgive you" Jessie stated gently, placing her hand gently on his chest and petting him calmly, knowing very well that the action always calmed him down.

He stared at her for a few good moments before he leaned into her, still looking up and into her eyes, comforted by both her words and her actions. "I forgive ya taa Jessie" he said with a small smile, his tears fading.

Smiling herself, she continued to pet him, enjoying the way that Meowth hugged into her and knowing that he was happy. She wouldn't have it any other way. And neither would he.