Three days after the Cave of Origin, May opens her eyes for the first time.
She is snapped out of intense nightmares only to be greeted by soft white pillows and the dull sound of someone nearby breathing. The room is dark, save for a few stars filtering light through the window, but where is she? She is not in the caves anymore, but this isn't her home, definitely not, because her home doesn't smell like antiseptic spray and it isn't so cold and-oh. The hospital. She is not sure why she's in the hospital, or why she is so cold, but there must be a good reason for being hospitalized if her mind is so foggy.
Who is in her hospital room? She tries to tilt her head to look, but her body is too sore to do much of anything; sore like she has been sitting in ice and her muscles have numbed. She settles for squinting out of the corner of her eye-her vision is blocked mostly by pillows, but she can faintly make out a mess of brown hair and something white on top of it. Who is that? Are they sleeping? Her mind is too foggy to remember, but it is certainly not her mother or father, and if it isn't, it must be someone else important. She doesn't have the energy to keep thinking, or else her mind might wander off again, to the caves, to the cold, to it.
As she drifts off to sleep again, she can barely hear footsteps and two voices, one loud and high-pitched and the other timid, barely audible. May is unconscious before she can figure out who, but the last thing she remembers before falling asleep is a new comfort she can't remember feeling in the past week, the comfort that people remember her and are coming for her.
Six days after the Cave of Origin, May speaks for the first time.
She has been awake for a while, though "awake" may not be the best word to describe her grogginess. The doctors say her progress is moving quicker than they expected for such a trauma like she went through, but she still can't recall what that trauma is. Is it why she is still so cold, freezing cold? She isn't sure, but whatever it was, she is almost glad not to remember it clearly.
Someone gently prods her arm that doesn't have the IV hooked in it. Who is it? They are warm, and familiar, and-oh. Yes. He has reminded her many times since she has been awake, and she can remember that his name is Brendan, he is the neighbor she is a friend of and he was traveling with her and he is warm, very warm. There are two other people that come to visit every day, but they aren't there; she can't remember their names, only how one of them doesn't stop talking and the other never looks up from his green bangs, and how they are warm too. Brendan always seems to be there when she wakes up; is he supposed to be there? Does he ever leave? Her mind is tugged away from wondering as she is poked again.
Are you okay? You haven't eaten or drank since you got here, she hears him say. She thinks he is concerned, but he is hard to hear, like he is far away instead of right next to her hospital bed. May doesn't want to eat or drink; they will only offer her water and soft food until she is well enough to eat properly, but the water is cold and she doesn't want to get colder, even if her throat is dry and her head aches. She does not answer, but she thinks he understands.
That's okay. You don't have to have anything. Lisia really likes the rice the food cart brings around, so we give your stuff to her. He talks a little too much for May's liking, but she can remember who he's talking about and how much of a chatterbox she is. May would rather have this boy over her when she's trying to rest; she assumes he's only talking so much because he is nervous, and Arceus, does he get nervous a lot. But he is warm, and warm people must be put up with because they will keep her from being cold.
She was trying to fix you up yesterday, I dunno if you can remember. I don't think getting a new hairdo is gonna make you feel any better, but Lisia's right about a lotta things about you. I've got a lot to learn…?
Good. He stopped talking. But why-oh, yes. May feels almost out of touch with her body, as it is numb and cold, but she reaches out her ice-cold fingers to grab his wrist, and she can almost feel her hand again. Almost.
Why're you doing that? Are you okay? She can hear him ask. May does not look up, but she finally answers, in a quiet, hoarse voice that no one in Hoenn would have expected to come out of her, even when she is in such a poor state.
"I'm cold," she rasps, "but you're warm."
Three weeks after the Cave of Origin, May laughs for the first time.
Littleroot Town smells like grass and wood, but it is a welcome change to the sterile environment of the children's hospital, even if the building design was meant to be as cheery as a hospital could be. A cool breeze blew through the car window, but to May's dismay, what should be pleasant just made her shiver from what shouldn't be cold feeling like ice against her face. Her father helps her out of the car and lets her lean on him as they walk up to the house; laying in a bed for weeks made May a very unsteady walker. Norman opens the door and turns the lights on, and there are her three friends who had kept her company in the hospital. Balloons hover up at the ceiling, and a crudely-frosted cake reading WELCOME HOME MAY! in red icing was placed on the kitchen table. And her Pokemon-her friends! Her family!-were lined up near them. Casey, her bulky Swampert who was still convinced she was a Mudkip, was being held back by the rest of her team from barreling over May in excitement. Her Sylveon slipped out of the crowd and wrapped its ribbons around her arm, like that was where they were supposed to be. They were warm, warm like Brendan, warm like her father.
Do you like it? We worked really hard for you. You, uh, you like strawberry, right? Lisia, does she like strawberry? I can't believe I forgot- (-Oh, oh, Latias, she's crying! Brendan, good job, you made her cry!) [Aaah! D-don't cry…we'll take it down, please don't cry-] Nononono, May, please, we're sorry-hey, wait, she's laughing!
And she is. She can't help but start laughing, a loud, kind of unattractive laugh that makes everyone else in the room laugh with her. She can feel a weight being lifted off her shoulders, even if it's just a little bit; sure, her nightmares would be back, she'd still wake up screaming and shivering from the repeating visions of the beast lashing out at her with its bloodcurdling screech and the ice cold water washing over her, but for once, it wasn't the only thing on her mind when she was awake. There was no Steven Stone, no looming responsibility, no legendaries trying to destroy the region, no criminal organizations trying to eliminate her. All she had to worry about in the moment was the edibility of that cake and Casey almost knocking over the couch. For once, May felt like a normal kid; not a hero, not a Trainer, just a kid with some silly friends.
And as her silly friends practically tackle her to the ground in hugs, for the first time, May feels warm.