Hey guys! Long time no talk, eh? Hehe...I'm sorry. I didn't realize that junior year would be so time-consuming and stressful; it's literally been sucking up all of my free time and motivation to write.

But here I am, uploading a one-shot in honor of Christmas (even though it's already over :P)! It's short, but I wanted to at least get something up. And guess what, guys? We survived the "end of the world" and there are only five days left of 2012! Want to know what my new year's resolution will be? To actually start writing on Fanfiction again...do you guys have any idea how much I've missed this site and all of you? I doubt it, but until that happens, please enjoy this one-shot! And if it's not too much to ask, leave a review on your way out? I promise, if school allows it, I'll try to start a story as soon as possible!

Merry (late) Christmas! Hope you all had a good one. Meet you in 2013. :)

Disclaimer: I have no ownership of anything affiliated with Pokémon.

A Christmas Diamond

Snow drifts down onto Lilycove City, adding to the thin layer that already blankets the streets. My coat is specked with little flakes of white as I stand under the enormous Christmas tree that towers over everyone and everything at the heart of the city. A radiant symbol of the holidays, it's adorned with colorful ornaments, laced with a silver garland, and topped with a dazzling golden star. Everything else in the city reflects the same amount of Christmas spirit.

This is the exact location and day that I got together with Drew four years ago, and the same location and day that I met with him every year since then for our anniversary. But there's something different about this year—Drew's late. It's strange, really, because Drew's never been late to any of our anniversary meetings; he was always the one waiting for me.

Where is he this year?

I let out a sigh that turns white in the cold, winter air and take my PokéNav out from my coat pocket. The device greets me with a ping as I flip it open. Nearly a quarter until it's officially Christmas Day and Drew still is no where to be seen. Growing slightly impatient, I debate for two seconds on whether or not I should call him before I'm punching in his number.

The snow continues to fall as I wait for him to pick up. Despite how much I love it, the fall is getting too heavy for my liking, so I duck under a branch of the Christmas tree and continue to wait there. After waiting out about four rings, he finally does.

"Any chance you'll be here soon?" I ask immediately, my impatience oozing into my voice unintentionally.

"I'm already here," he answers, a smile in his voice. "Just turn to your left."

My eyebrows furrow as I turn to the given direction. I try to spot him, but all I see is a short line of small kids, each holding a balloon in their tiny, gloved hands. The smile that grows on my face stays for only a moment because then, the first child in line runs up to me and hands me her balloon. Baffled, I accept it and then bend down so that I'm only slightly taller than her.

"What's this, sweetie?" I try to ask, but all I get in response from the cute little girl is a smile and then she's off. I don't even get a chance to thank her.

That's when the next child in line hands me their balloon and runs off. And then the next one. And the next one.

I'm beyond baffled now as the kids thrust one balloon into my hand after another. I can't fathom their reason for doing this, but none of them stick around long enough for me to ask. Luckily, I manage to stop the tenth and final child in time before he runs off.

"Hey, honey, could you tell me why you're all giving me balloons?" I ask him.

He beams at me then, the skin around his round grey eyes wrinkling. Two adorable little dimples form on his cheeks as he turns to point behind himself.

"You'll see," he exclaims happily, and then adds, "Merry Christmas," before running off just like the others.

I laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity and cuteness of the whole exchange as I straighten myself up, the balloons still held firmly in one hand while I tuck my PokéNav away with the other. I take one brief moment to marvel at them before I look up in the direction that the little boy pointed in.

That's when I see Drew, who is nearly as bundled up in layers of clothing as I am. A grey knitted hat hides most of his green hair and his equally green eyes twinkle at me like emeralds against his flawless ivory skin. The streetlights cast a golden glow on him, accentuating his handsomeness as he walks up to me.

The funny thing is, he's holding a balloon, too. I laugh when the first thing he does is hand it to me.

"What's this about, you goofball?" I inquire as I accept it with my free hand.

He smirks at me in response, the same charming smirk that never fails to get my belly stirring.

"I'm proposing to you right now, May," he declares.

My own smile drops from my face as my jaw slowly falls open in shock. My eyes widen slightly as I try to take in his words. But as I'm doing that, I lose all feeling in my body. Next thing I know, my hands are releasing the balloons right out of my hands. They drift right into the branches of the Christmas tree and are stuck there, but I'm still too shocked to give them any care.

However, Drew does. He blinks in shock and immediately looks up at to where the balloons are caught in the Christmas tree. He searches the large tree with his eyes as if he's checking to see if all the balloons are there. After seeing that they all are, he looks back at me. His mouth opens and closes a few times as he stares at me, wearing an expression caught somewhere between chagrin and disbelief. He seems at a loss for words for what seems like ages.

Is this the proposal?

I'm so confused.

"Drew?" I say carefully. "Are you okay?"

All I get in response is his mouth dropping further down to the ground. Looks like he lost his ability to speak.

"What'd you do that for?" he nearly squeaks after another moment.

Well, never mind; he can still talk after all.

"Do what? Let go of the balloons?" I ask, still confused.

"Yes!"

"I don't know; it just happened. What's the big deal, though?"

He stares at me in shock again. I'm really beginning to think that he's forgotten about the proposal. But before disappointment can sweep me, I'm taken over by confusion again when he suddenly kneels down in front of me and demands that I get on his shoulders.

"What?" I ask as if he's lost his mind. Truthfully, I think he has.

"Get on my shoulders now!" he demands again.

"Are you crazy? We're in public, Drew! People are watching!"

"I don't care! We need to get that balloon I gave you!"

I look up at the only blue balloon buried within the branches of the Christmas tree. I scoff at the clearly impossible height; it must be at least ten feet off the ground.

"There's no way I'm going to attempt to get that with you," I say. "Do you see how high up it is? It's just a balloon. Forget it."

"No," he groans and shakes his head in frustration before snapping it around to look at me. "May, we can't just forget it. I attached your engagement ring to it!"

A brief silence lasts between the both of us as I take in his final sentence and look back up at the blue balloon. This time, I actually notice the diamond ring attached to the end of the string. It beckons to me with a bright glimmer.

I scramble onto Drew's shoulders in seconds.

The embarrassment that ensues is just dreadful. Almost everyone in the area is watching us make fools of ourselves, some even laughing. I reach for the ring and call directions out loud for Drew while he desperately moves and tries to follow the directions. It's such a long process, and we hardly get anywhere. Whenever I get close to reaching the ring, either the wind moves it out of the way or Drew swerves too far in the wrong direction.

I can't even come up with words to describe the level of humiliation I feel right now. This is not the way I envisioned my marriage proposal to be.

"Did you get it yet?" Drew asks after another minute.

I resist the urge to growl at him as I make another pitiful grab for the ring. He squeezes my calves to steady me when the lunge nearly throws me off his shoulders.

"No," I respond, groaning instead, but I have to at least scold him. "Why'd you even decide to tie the ring to the end of a balloon, anyway? Why couldn't you just get down on one knee and propose normally like every other guy does?"

"Because I wanted to make it memorable and special," he grumbles dejectedly.

"I swear, Drew, if I don't get this ring in the next minute..."

"I swear, May, if you don't get this ring in the next minute, I'm getting on your shoulders."

Another frustrated sigh escapes me, the hundredth one in the past five minutes. I'm getting frustrated beyond reason (other than the fact that I may or may not be getting my engagement ring), but I continue to try to get the ring.

All the while, I'm praying to Arceus and Santa Claus.

Please...just let me get this ring. I promise I won't peek at my presents next year if you would just let me get this ring...

The thing that happens next is just incredible and ridiculous because I refuse to believe that my prayers have been answered this quickly.

But lucky for me, they have. At last, my hand finally closes around the end of the balloon. Glee rushes into my body as I clasp the small silver ring safely in the palm of my hand. With one gentle tug, I get the balloon out of the tree.

"Drew! I got it!" I cry in delight.

"You did?" he exclaims, his voice mirroring my delight as he looks up at me.

I nod at him, a huge smile on my face.

"Yes!" he cheers.

The crowd that gathered around us joins in.

Drew impresses all of us as he somehow manages to remove me from his shoulders and place me into his arms in one swift motion. All the while, the balloon is grasped tightly in my hand. There's no way that this is escaping me again. We may not get it back if it does.

"Alright, May, time to do this properly," he announces as he sets me on my feet. Then, he offers me the charming smirk again and holds his hand out for the ring.

I can feel the blood rushing to my face as I carefully place the ring into his waiting hand. My heart beats in anticipation and I try hard to relax myself as he slowly gets down on one knee. The look in his eyes is pure determination, and he doesn't break eye contact with me once. I secretly take a deep breath as I wait for his words.

"May Vanderwoode," he begins, all amusement gone from his tone. "It's been sixteen years since we met and five years since we've began dating. As ridiculous as this may sound, I knew I wanted to marry you from the beginning of that time. I don't want to wait another year in order to be able to call you my wife. I love you so much, and I'd love nothing more than to be able to do so from this moment on. Will you please marry me?"

Now that's the way to propose.

My heart swells in my throat and I can't even bring myself the say the word. But honestly, I think the exuberant smile on my face and the excited nod that I give him is more than enough to answer his question.

Now, he's slipping the ring onto my finger. The crowd laughs because the balloon's still attached to the ring, but I don't care because as cliché as this sounds, the ring's a perfect fit.

This is the embarrassing moment where I let my self-restraint fly away. With a barely concealed squeal, I leap into his ready arms and straddle him around the waist. Then, I eagerly press my lips to his, ignoring the fact that I'm displaying more PDA with him right now than I normally would. He chuckles against my lips, thinking this too, while the crowd erupts into applause and cheer for the both of us.

There's only one thought in my mind at this moment as I continue to kiss him for the rest of Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day.

I love this man.

Author's Note: And there we go! Hope you all enjoyed enough for you guys to leave a review on your way out! Thank you all very much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Can't wait to hear from you guys soon. :)