It's Not Over

Ash smiled as he looked at his surprise; it had taken him a while to find it, but he knew it had been worth it. It was a gorgeous gold ring with a diamond that was cut in the shape of a pink ribbon. He remembered how much his girlfriend, May, loved ribbons and he knew that this would be the perfect thing to show her.

"She's going to love this." Ash said to himself as he closed the blue box the ring was in. Ash's little partner, Pikachu, jumped up onto Ash's shoulder to have a look at the ring as well. Seeing his little friend's curiosity, Ash showed Pikachu the ring.

"Like it, buddy? I wanted to get May something that I know she'll love. It took a while to get this, but it'll be worth it when May gets it." Ash said. He then put the box back in his jacket's pocket and started to head off to find May. May could see him from nearby, and then she started to look down in worry. She had gotten him something too; it was a replica of the Terracotta ribbon she and Ash won. She was looking forward to giving it to him, but she wasn't sure of what he would say when he got it. After some thought to herself, May had an idea.

"Maybe I should go talk to someone." May said. Knowing exactly who she had in mind, May started to head off. Arriving at the right place, May smiled when she saw her friend nearby. "Dawn?" she asked. Sure enough, a girl about a year younger than May with dark blue hair, wearing a black dress with pink near the bottom and matching pink boots with a white cap on her head, looked to see May and a bright smile crossed her face.

"May, it's great to see you!" Dawn smiled; she and May were close friends since they had met, and May knew she could go to Dawn about certain issues. "It's nice to see you too, Dawn. There's something I need to talk to you about." May explained. Dawn's smile was replaced with an expression of curiosity when she heard this; it sounded like this was serious unlike most cases.

"What is it?" Dawn asked. May then started to show a soft smile; she was happy to know that she could turn to Dawn about this. She did need someone she knew well to address this to, and she knew that Dawn was the right person to go to.

Meanwhile, Ash was just on his way to find May. "May? May, where are you? There's something I'd like you to see." Ash said. As he started to get closer to where he was certain May could be, he could suddenly hear someone from nearby and looked to see it was May and Dawn. He started to take one step forward to see May, when he could hear the two talking to each other.

"Really, May? You're going to go through with this?" Dawn asked. Ash raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly Dawn was talking about. But then, he heard May speak up a second later.

"Yeah, I am. I haven't been sure of what he would say and it wasn't an easy decision to make, but I've decided on what I'd like to do. It'll really make both of us happy." May explained. Ash could hear this, and he was starting to think that May was talking about both of them. He had to wonder what it was that May decided to talk about it with Dawn; if that was the case, it had to be something serious.

"I don't know, May. He might be upset when you tell him that. But I think it's a good idea; it is always best to be honest." Dawn said. Ash's eyes then started to go wide at this; there was something May wasn't telling him? But as long as she was going to be honest, he knew that there was nothing to worry about and then he started to smile; he liked to have no secrets between him and May.

"That's true, but we've both known each other for so long. He might be devastated if I tell him." May responded. Ash's smile immediately started to fade when he heard May say that. If he didn't know any better, it almost sounded like...she was going to break up with him. But how could May do that, especially after everything they've experienced?

"But it's time to be honest, May. It's probably best for both of you to know." Dawn said. May then smiled and nodded in agreement with Dawn; she was right that it was time to do the right thing.

"You're right. Thanks, Dawn." May said. Dawn brightly smiled at this, but then the two turned to see Ash standing there in disbelief and his head was lowered, with tears starting to build in his eyes. "Ash! How long have you been here for?" May asked. There was silence for a few moments, before Ash looked up at the two girls.

"Long enough to work out what you were talking about." Ash responded softly, and then he looked over at May. "How could you do this, May? What were you even thinking? And talking about it to Dawn, no less?" Ash asked, looking up at May with tears slowly streaming down his cheeks. May nearly jumped at those questions; Ash must have overheard their conversation, and he was getting the wrong idea from it.

"Ash, what do you mean?" May asked. A frown then appeared on Ash's face, though the tears didn't seem to stop flowing down his face.

"You know very well what I mean! I could hear you talking to Dawn, and I heard every word of it. Why would you even consider thinking about something like that, after everything we've been through? I honestly thought you would never even think about it, but I guess I've just been lying to myself." Ash responded, his voice barely audible, but May and Dawn could still hear it and it was clear that there was both sadness and anger in his voice, and it was completely directed to May.

"Ash, why don't you hear May out first instead of making untrue accusations like that? Do you even know what May was talking about?" Dawn asked. Ash then turned to Dawn and raised his voice. "Mind your own business, Dawn! This is only between me and May! It doesn't have anything to do with you!"

"Maybe, but I'm the one May went to and I should be able to have a say as well." Dawn responded. Ash then glared at Dawn, so she decided to keep her mouth shut for the time being. Seeing that she was quiet for now, Ash then looked back over at May.

"May, I can't believe you gave such a lie as terrible as this. You said that you love me, but here you go and stab me in the back like I meant nothing to you." Ash said, while May found herself completely wordless. She couldn't believe that Ash was saying things like this; it didn't sound like him at all. She had hidden her surprise for him behind her back so that she wouldn't lose it by mistake.

"Ash, I never wanted to..." Before May could finish, Ash got out the blue box from his jacket pocket and held it up while May watched on.

"You can keep this as a reminder of your mistakes." Ash said, and immediately threw the box at May, prompting her to catch it flawlessly. She then looked down at it and looked back up at Ash, who was turning around to leave.

"What's this?" she asked. "It's a reminder...of the decision you'll never be able to take back." Ash responded, and then he started to run, not wanting to stay for another minute. May stood wordless for a few moments, and then she started to run after Ash before Dawn held him back.

"I think I'll be the one to get some common sense into him. Ahs needs to think before he makes assumptions like that." Dawn said, and then she started to head out after Ash. After a few seconds, May quickly gave pursuit; she had to be right behind Dawn if she wanted to even seem like she was being truthful to Ash. She didn't have any idea why he was saying things like he did, but she knew that he had to understand that it wasn't true.

Ash sat on the hill looking out at the sky, and he was thinking about what he had heard earlier. "How could that even happen? What did I ever do to convince May to do this? True, I haven't exactly been the best person May knows, but that doesn't mean she had to leave me." Ash sighed. He didn't have any idea of what to do now, but he didn't feel like going back to May for the moment; he felt too upset to do so. Just then, he could hear footsteps behind him and turned to see Dawn approaching him.

"Dawn?" he asked. He then stood up as Dawn stopped short looking at him. "You know, Ash, you really need to think before you say things like that. May never intended to do that to you; she would never even give it a thought." Dawn said. Ash then frowned; he knew Dawn was talking about the conversation he heard between her and May.

"Really? How would I know that? I could hear every word you two said. I know what I heard, and you can't change that fact." Ash said, and turned away crossing his arms.

"Do you know the whole thing, though?" Dawn asked. Ash's frown faded being replaced with an expression of surprise, and he slowly turned to Dawn who still stood there. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"See, Ash, May was going to tell Drew about how you and her are now together. But she wasn't sure of what Drew would say, so she went to me to work out what to do, and I told her to be honest with Drew and tell him the truth. It didn't have anything to do with you." Dawn explained. Ash then uncrossed his arms as everything started to fall into place; May would never even give the thought of leaving him any consideration. Yet again, he had been speaking before thinking, but he just had to be sure.

"So, May didn't intend on leaving me?" he asked. "Of course not. May loves you too much to even do that. You should know that better than anyone else." Dawn responded. There was stunned silence, but then a smile of immense relief started to cross Ash's face as he realised Dawn was telling the truth.

"There you are, you two!" Ash and Dawn both noticed that it was May; she had just caught up with them and she stopped to catch her breath. "Ash, I just wanted to give you this before you ran off. I hope it makes up for what you heard." May said; she walked over to Ash and gave him the replica of the Terracotta ribbon. Ash stared at May for a few seconds, and then he placed her replica down on the ground beside her and gave her a tight hug.

"May, I'm so sorry. I should have watched what I was saying, but I guess that I just wasn't thinking. I didn't mean anything of what I said; I don't know what I was thinking." Ash said, as tears started to stream down, this time out of relief that May wasn't leaving him. May then started to smile and returned Ash's embrace.

"It's all right, Ash. I know how tough it can be when you hear something that isn't true. But it's okay; I would never even think about doing something like that to you." May responded. Dawn brightly smiled as she watched the two; there was nothing that made her happier than seeing something like this. She felt glad that the two were able to work it out. After Ash and May let go, May then looked at the blue box that Ash threw at her before running out.

"So, Ash, what was this?" she asked. "That was my surprise for you. You can have a look at it if you like." Ash responded. May then opened the box to see the ribbon ring and a bright smile crossed her face.

"This is wonderful. Thanks, Ash. I love it." May smiled. She gave the ring out and slipped it on one of her fingers, and she had a look at it with a big smile. She and Ash then both smiled at each other and tightly hugged again; they were both happy they could set things right, and still remain together as a result.

There was nothing more rewarding that making it through conflicts.

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