Island Wolf: I've been a wee bit antsy lately and I wanted to write some Redorb that wasn't specifically No Man's Land related. Some of my peeps on Tumblr will have already seen this, but I figured it'd be a good idea to put it up here. I'm labeling it a one-shot for now, but if I get the time and the mood I might add a few more. In any case it's a fun place to just spit out plot bunnies and relax.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm just borrowing Maxie and May for my own twisted amusement as per usual

The ocean air caressed her face like a long lost lover as she walked up the gangway. She felt the weight of her life, packed so neatly in the olive drab duffel bag she carried slung over her shoulder like a solider, and smiled at the Mightyena at her side. He looked up at her with ruby eyes, ears perked and tongue lolling out in a canine smile as he tasted the brine on the air. She spared a backward glance only once when she stepped onto the main deck. Lilycove looked small and quaint, sprawling lazily over flowered hills and strands of sandy coastline. She felt herself smile. So many adventures, so many tears, so many laughs...

Her Mightyena gently took the sleeve of her coat in his teeth and tugged her away. She pulled herself free and scratched him behind the ears. "Right, right, no turning back now."

She wormed her way through the crowd and headed below decks to the passenger cabins. May opened the door to the cramped little room that would serve as home for the next week as they jutted along the southern coast of the nation until they reached Unova. A narrow bed was wedged into the corner next to a tiny writing desk and chair. The burgundy carpet was threadbare and worn from the feet of thousands of travellers before her, but it was an altogether charming space and the porthole above the head of her bed was an added delight. She tossed her bag onto the bed and carefully pocketed the card key as the ship sounded her horn in a long blast, warning of her impending disembarkation. "Shall we go say goodbye Gabe?"

The Mightyena barked and rubbed his head against her hip affectionately. She smiled and quickly climbed the steps to the promenade deck. Others had gathered here with similar plans, taking their last look at the land they would likely not see again for some time – the long distance ferry run only happened a handful of times per year and it was not a cheap voyage by any means. May rested her forearms against the railing and felt the ship shudder from stem to stern as her engines roared to life. The vibrations pulsed into a deep, thrumming rhythm and the horn blasted one more time as the mooring lines were let go and the M.V Caspira, started pulling away from the dock. May felt her eyes burn and her lip quivered, but she did not let herself cry. It had to happen eventually – her eight years as Hoenn's Champion had been phenomenal and she'd been right up there in the records for holding the title as long as she did.

But all good things must come to an end.

She'd been beaten, and rather soundly. She had to tip her hat to that boy and wished him well, but now with no duty to shackle her down May Maple had decided to move on. Her parents had been gone for a long time; three years – three long, difficult years. Hoenn had been her start, her stomping grounds, her baptism by fire, but it wasn't home. Not anymore.

The decks pulsed with the engines' building power as they scudded past the breakwater and jetty, and on to open water. May smiled as she felt the ship start to roll slowly on the deeper waves of the open ocean. Big as the Caspira was, the sea's power still rocked her with a gentle hand. She looked back astern at Hoenn's shrinking coastline and felt her smile fade. She thought of Brendan, of Steven and the friends she'd made over the years. They'd begged her not to leave and for a while she'd considered listening to them, but quiet nights at home had made her anxious and nights spent out under Hoenn's stars had become too familiar.

"You look much prettier when you smile you know."

That voice.

She looked to her left and saw red. He rested his back against the rail, keeping his gaze firmly forward and off of the rolling waves below. His fiery hair was tossed playfully by the wind, leaving him looking rakish as he turned up the collar of his coal black coat against the stiff breeze – it was a startling juxtaposition from her memories where he stood tall with a spine like iron, nary a wrinkle on his uniform, not a hair out of place. The easy smile he wore was the most shocking of all and she had to grip the railing hard, a few flakes of paint and rust coming away on her hands. She took a deep breath through her nose and looked over at him. "Are you making a pass at me?"

"No, just stating a fact," he replied and then finally looked at her. His eyes, still the same impossibly deep, earthy shade of brown lacked the fervent fire they'd had in days gone by. Now they smoldered warmly, reflecting the light of a sun just beginning to set. His thin lips curved into another casual smile. "Of course I'm hoping the flattery will make you consider not arresting me."

"Wouldn't do you any good, I don't have that kind of authority anymore."

"Ah yes, I'd heard rumours you'd been...dethroned," he said – was that a hint of mischief she detected there? "I still wouldn't put it past you to make a citizen's arrest."

"As of – two minutes ago we hit international waters, I couldn't do a damn thing even if I wanted to," May said, turning her gaze back onto the sea. She watched a flock of Wingull dive for fish and marvelled at their grace. She did her damnedest not to look over at him. She still wasn't even sure it was him...

This wasn't the Maxie she knew.

Without a snarl on his lips or an acerbic criticism on his razor tongue he seemed so, dare she say it – normal? Her pensiveness must have shown because his soft laugh brought her hurtling back to reality. "Really, now the May Maple I knew, bleeding heart though she was, wouldn't have hesitated to do the 'right thing' and bring me to justice."

Oh, he had a point there.

She reached down and ran her fingers through Gabriel's coarse fur. The canine had been keeping a watchful eye on the man standing next to his Mistress, though now he tilted his head back, crooning at the sudden attention. "Touche. In all fairness you did help me for a while, at least where stopping Archie was concerned. That counts for something in my book."

"Complete vindication seems a stretch."

"Holding grudges is exhausting work Mr. Asher, I don't have the time or energy to devote myself to the task," she said with a wry grin and spared him a sideways glance. "I read the case file and kept up with the investigation team – you and Archie don't even crack the top ten wanted list anymore."

She turned to face him directly, leaning her hip against the rail. "Hate to say it, but you're small fish nowadays."

"Oh how comforting," he replied dryly with a roll of his eyes and she saw a sliver of the old Maxie shining through. For some god awful reason that made her smile. She quickly turned away, back to the sea to hide it and when she dared to steal a sidelong glance he was gone.

She met him again two days later.

They'd sailed into the calm, tropical seas that the southern ocean was famed for. The winds no longer swept down from the north, but were warm and wonderful from the west. To celebrate the fair winds and fairer weather the promenade deck had been changed into an outside bar area, festooned with lights, cafe tables and a small area towards the bow designated for dancing to the sweet, jazzy sounds of a bygone era. She sipped on her wine, a beautiful Beaujolais-style red from Kalos and smiled at the couples swaying to the time of the music and the waves of the south sea.

"I didn't take you for a social drinker."

"Red wine and a good scotch make life worth living," she said and tapped on the bar to get the server's attention. "A glass of 30 year-old Glenfiddich for the gentleman."

"Miss Maple -"

"Please, I didn't bother with a stateroom and I intend to spend a great deal of the money I saved right here," she replied, though the end of her sentence was muffled by her wine glass. He laughed and accepted the glass that was pushed towards them, raising it towards her in a silent toast before taking a swallow. He'd dressed himself elegantly tonight in charcoal grey slacks and stylish pinstriped waistcoat worn over a carmine button down shirt. She noted with some amusement that the colour was devilishly close to the deep red of her sleeveless chiffon shirt. She was glad she'd picked such a light garment and the night wind felt so lovely on the bare skin exposed by the key hole neckline and open back, though she felt a little bit exposed sitting next to him dressed as such.

"So, what has May Maple, the great saviour of Hoenn, fleeing from the land she fought so hard to protect?"

"Because it's not home to me anymore," she replied softly. "I – I love Hoenn, don't get me wrong. It's been good to me and I've met such good people there, but I've lost people too and -"

She leaned her head back and looked up at the stars, smiling when she realized that she couldn't find any of the old constellations that had guided her way so many times in the darkness of Hoenn's wilds. "I'm not 12 anymore. Hoenn's too small for me, she's got nothing left to offer. I need to see what else is out there. I'm not May the Hero, or May the Champion anymore," She looked at him fully for the first time since he'd sat down and smiled, even if it felt sad. "I'm May. Just May."

"Well, 'Just May' that's not a bad thing," he replied and he almost sounded kind. May took another swallow of her wine.

"And what has Maximilian Asher, the great leader of Team Magma, sailing across the southern sea, away from the land he fought so hard for?"

"Maybe I'm trying to be 'just Maxie' again," he replied with a half shrug. The gesture was disarming, but his eyes were dark and serious. "I was misguided and set on the wrong side for so long, and it was only due to the actions of an annoyingly skillful and belligerently determined girl to show me what a fool I'd been. Still, Hoenn – is no longer a home to me either."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know," came the honest reply and for a moment May felt glad that she wasn't the only one set on that destination.

A sizable wave managed to clip the ship broadside – it hardly made a difference to such a large vessel, but for a second her bow rolled deep causing the world to slant for a moment before all went level again. May glanced at Maxie who'd visibly paled and was clutching the edge of the bar with his free hand like a lifeline. She shook her head at him and took a swallow of her wine. "Christ, you really do not like the water."

"I'm not overly fond of it, no," he said through clenched teeth as he tried to compose himself. She watched him for a moment before sliding out of her chair and began heading towards the stern. "Where are you going?"

"For a walk, you're welcome to join me."

She didn't bother to see if he followed and slipped away from the lights and the music to the stern. The aft of the ship was cast in shadow by the wheelhouse, but there was plenty of ambient light from the half-moon and the light filtering out through curtained portholes. She leaned against the railing and watched the white wake of foam cutting through the midnight black waters. A warm wind caressed her bare arms and once again was glad she'd opted for thin clothing tonight. She heard footsteps behind her, but did not turn around. Rather, she drained the last of her wine and rolled the stem of the empty glass between her fingers. "So," she started, finally turning around to lean her back against the rail, "what on earth made you choose sailing as your preferred method of escape when the slightest roll gives you a conniption?"

"You know I do recall you being far more polite when you infiltrated by organization."

"Dodging the question?"

"As proud as I am of my Crobat he's hardly capable of flying me across regions – and the border patrols in the eastern mountains are dreadfully hard to dodge, and I really want to avoid being arrested."

"So, a slow moving passenger vessel on the open ocean was your next best choice."

"Beggers can't be choosers."

"Fair enough," she conceded. She tilted her head back to look at the stars again. "Want to talk about it?"

"About what?" he said. She didn't take her eyes off of the sky but she felt him stand beside her.

"Why a swell over two feet has you bloody terrified."

"You're so delicate," she heard him huff. "I have good reason to be terrified...believe me."

"Alright then," she said, closing her eyes and lowering her head. "Room 408."

"What?"

"That's my room number, let me know if you change your mind."

With that she started to walk away, twirling the stem of the glass between her fingers again. He made no move to follow her, but she heard him mutter so quietly she almost didn't hear.

"420."

He didn't come to her room after, but she found him at the bar again the following night. He'd swapped out his red button-down for one of deep forest green. It was an unexpected colour choice, but she had to admit it did look rather fetching on him. She'd decided to keep enjoying the tropical weather and had opted for a flowing black skirt and a blouse like top of cream that cut away to expose her pale midriff.

Maxie saw her coming and she could have sworn, just for a fraction of a second his eyes had widened in what she could only call surprise. Quickly as it had come, however, it disappeared and he gave her a nod, pushing a glass of wine – the same vintage she'd been drinking last night, towards her. "You know," she said, after taking a sip, "I'm surprised you don't just spend your time below decks. Wouldn't that cause you less anxiety?"

"I'd prefer to celebrate my escape from the law with good liquor over wallowing in solitude."

"Oh and here I was thinking it was my spectacular company that had lured you out of your hiding place."

The look he gave her was positively wicked as he watched her over the rim of his glass. Without warning he set down his drink and rose, offering his hand to her. She raised an eyebrow, but accepted the gesture nonetheless. He guided her towards the bow where people where dancing to the sweet sound of Edith Piaf singing La Vie en Rose. He kept hold of her hand, settling his other one on her exposed waist. She smiled – his hands were warm against her bare skin and she brought her free hand up to rest on his shoulder as he started to lead her into a slow, swaying dance. "So what brought this on?"

"I figured I owed you at least a dance for all the trouble I've caused you," he said, twisting her into an effortless spin. She huffed a laugh as she returned to her original position, though perhaps moving a little closer than she had been before.

"Months of terror and nearly destroying an entire region, for a dance?" she drawled. "I'll take it I suppose, if you answer this question."

"Go ahead."

"Who are you and what have you done with Maximilian Asher?" she asked teasingly. His wicked grin returned and he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. She shivered when she felt his breath against her skin.

"Well, a certain meddlesome girl forced him underground for quite a long time and he had to take a good, long look at his life."

"And?"

"He may have realized what a colossally egotistical prick he'd been," he said, drawing back. It didn't make any sense – she should've been furious with him, ready to rip him apart for what he'd done, the pain and suffering he'd caused and yet all she could do was dance with him and smile like a fool. How could she berate him when she didn't even have the courage to stay in her own homeland. She was running away from life just as much as he was and she'd meant what she's said before – holding grudges required far more energy than she was willing to give.

"And I may have been a self-righteous little brat."

He seemed caught off-guard by the sudden remark, but he was quick to recover, laughing as he lowered her into a dip and brought her back up with agonizing slowness. The song ended and he kissed the back of her hand. "Certainly not anymore."

May watched him go, weaving through the crowds and off into the darkness of the unlit stern. She wandered back up to the bar and ordered another glass of wine.

The next night there would be no dancing or drinking under the stars.

A storm had come flying out of the east and caught them on the unawares. Seas heaved and tossed the ship like a toy as gale force winds whipped the blue-grey ocean into a foaming tempest and rain lashed the decks in stinging sheets. All services aboard had been shut down and for good reason – even from her room she could hear the dishes smashing in the galley and people getting violently ill from the rolling motion of the vessel as she dipped into the troughs and crested the peaks of the waves. She'd never been one to suffer from seasickness, but the same could not be said of her poor pokémon. Gabriel had retreated into his pokéball after a miserable evening.

Her mind drifted to the man staying just down the hall. If a low swell had discomforted him she could only imagine how he was handling a storm. Steeling her resolve she snatched the bag she'd prepared earlier in the day and left the room. It was a hard go travelling the few rooms down that she needed to, bouncing off of the walls as the ship rolled and heaved. Finally she came to the door marked '420' and rapped her knuckles against it. "Maxie, open up! It's me!"

It took a moment, but eventually she heard movement inside. The door cracked open, revealing a darkened room. "Miss Maple?"

She pushed the door open the rest of the way despite his protest and sat herself down in the desk chair, switching on the lamp as she did so. He looked white as a sheet and she could see him trembling from head to toe as he shut the door. "What are you doing here?" he hissed, still clutching the door knob for support. She rolled her eyes and rose, pulling him over to the bed where she forced him to sit down. It wasn't a difficult task as his knees practically gave out with the effort of moving from one end of the room to the other.

"Trying to make sure you don't die of a stress induced heart attack before we reach Unova," she said as she dragged the side table next to the bed so that it stood between them. She pulled over the desk chair so she could sit opposite him and revealed the contents of her bag. "Come on, we're getting faced and playing cards."

"I hardly think this is the time," Maxie growled as she pulled out a bottle of liquor and a deck of cards. He eyed the label and shot her a suspicious look. "Where on earth did you get a bottle of Glenfiddich?"

"Nicked it from the bar," May replied without batting an eye. She chuckled at his shocked expression. "What? Didn't think the great Champion of Hoenn was above a little rule breaking?"

"Absolutely."

"Oh how little you know," she grinned and placed two tumblers on the table, measuring out a sizable amount of amber liquid in both glasses. He eyed the alcohol incredulously and she sighed. "Maxie, if you want me to leave I will, but is trying to ride this out by yourself going to be any better?"

"Point taken," he muttered and snatched up the glass. May smiled knowingly and opened the deck of cards, shuffling them with deft fingers. "So what do you propose we play exactly?"

"Ordinarily I would say cribbage, but alas we lack a board," she sighed, feigning a sorrowed expression. "How about poker?"

"And what would be the stakes?"

There was a wicked gleam in his eye when he spoke and for a moment he seemed to be his old self again. Her lips twisted in a wry smile. "Out of the gutter mister. How about we do drinks at the bar?"

"Fine," he said, shifting over to the edge of the bed as she dealt out the first hand. "What's the first bid?"

"Two drinks," May answered casually as she glanced at her cards; two sixes heart and club, a three of diamonds, a jack of clubs and an ace of hearts. "but I'll raise to three."

"Call," he said and tossed down three of his cards to discard. May frowned slightly and did the same before dealing them both three new cards. His expression was deucedly unreadable and she was starting to fear that he had a better poker face than she'd originally thought. Her new cards didn't offer much security, a seven of spades, a king of hearts and a ten of hearts.

"Check."

"Raise two drinks."

"Call," she answered and laid down her hand for him to see. "Show 'em."

"Well, look at that a pair of kings to your sixes. Looks like you owe me five drinks Miss Maple."

"Yeah, yeah don't look so smug. The night is still young."

Three-quarters of a bottle and a number of hands later they had just about evened out in terms of how many drinks they owed one another. May was sitting sideways in the chair, legs dangling over one arm and he was looking significantly more relaxed, though he still had a tendency to grip the edge of the table every time they took a hard roll. Still, she found the whole situation highly amusing – here she was, nearly three sheets to the wind, giggling and playing poker with a man who'd threatened here well being on several occasions. What a funny little world they lived in. "I'll raise to – how many are we at now?"

"You know what...I've lost count."

She stared at him for a moment before dissolving into a fit of giggles. "That's – oh wow did we drink all of that?" she hiccoughed and drained the last of her drink. He was handling his liquor better than she was by a significant margin, but at the very least the healthy dose of scotch seemed to make him more inclined to smile. In her drunken state of mind she decided that she liked the way he smiled.

Feeling decidedly bold she took a moment to really look at him. His features were sharp and not so much handsome as they were elegant. In eight years he hadn't aged much, a few more lines about his eyes perhaps, but his hair was still that startlingly bold shade of red, combed neatly back with not a speck of grey to be seen. Eyes the colour of black coffee stood out starkly against the paleness of his skin watching her carefully over his cards. He was bloody attractive, she realized and felt her face heat up at the thought. A few strands of his fiery hair had fallen to frame his face and her fingers twitched with the sudden urge to brush them back. Oh damn. "Well what now?"

"We could wager something else?"

"Hmm, now that's a fair idea," she mused, abruptly sitting upright in her chair. "But what to bet..."

She traced a finger along the rim of her emptied glass, humming thoughtfully. "How about a kiss?"

Shock was the first thing that crossed his features, quickly followed by confusion and – was that trepidation she detected in those impossibly dark eyes of his? "Miss Maple surely you can't be serious."

"Why not?" she asked and slowly began dealing out the hand. May smirked as she glanced at her hand, four hearts and a spade – how lovely. "Call the bid or fold."

"Miss Maple, this is wildly inappropriate."

"Call the bid or fold."

"You cannot be serious."

"Call the bid or -"

Looking back on it May realized that the ship must have taken a rogue wave broadside, but at the time all she knew was that the world lurched suddenly and violently to one side. The table tipped and the lamp was thrown off of the desk and onto the floor, darkening one half of the room and throwing the other in to sharp relief. May fell to her hands and knees, thrown out of the chair from the violent motion and Maxie was tossed off of the edge of the bed completely. Metal groaned and creaked ominously, undercut by the startled, if muffled cries of other passengers as they were thrown around their cabins. Slowly, everything became level again and May slowly sat up, blinking dazedly as she tried to clear her head of the shock of what had just happened. She shook her head and suddenly realized that Maxie had not moved from where he had fallen. Quickly, she crawled over to him and carefully rolled him onto his back. He was conscious, but his eyes were wide with fear and his expression was one of absolute terror. It seemed all he could do to keep himself breathing and even that was ragged and uneven. What was left of her drunken haze immediately cleared and she gently placed her hand against his cheek. His skin was cold and clammy and it was clear he'd broken out in a cold sweat from his fright. "Maxie? Maxie, everything is okay, we just took a wave, but everything is fine. The ship is fine, you're fine," she said, as soothingly as she could. "Come on now, look at me. Please?"

His dark eyes, made all the darker by the fact that they were now cast in shadow turned towards her. She smiled at him and smoothed back his hair away from his face. "There we go. You're okay, you're safe."

He stared at her for a moment, his expression once again completely unreadable before his hand was suddenly on the back of her neck, pulling her down until her lips met his. It wasn't anything extraordinary, just the gentle brush of flesh against flesh and the taste of the shared scotch, but she was suddenly overwhelmed by an all encompassing warmth and a feeling of completeness she hadn't felt in years. When they finally parted he gave her a weak smile. "Call."

She returned it and rose, helping him back onto his feet as he did so and helped him back onto the bed. She righted the table and lamp, picking up the mess of objects that had been scattered by the wave's power before turning back to him. He'd moved so that he was sitting with his back against the headboard, still looking pale and visibly shaken.

"Raise," she murmured, feeling the alcohol's effects slowly returning as the adrenaline faded away. She sat down on the bed next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. "Maxie...what happened to you? Why are you so afraid?"

"I – if you'd seen what I have, you would be afraid too," he said quietly. "You're probably to young to remember, but you've heard of the Northern Civil War yes?"

"Yeah, that was about 20 years ago wasn't it?" May nodded. The realization struck her like a freight train and she looked at him, startled. "Maxie...don't tell me -"

"I was just a young private at the time. We were being shipped up to the battle grounds when our vessel was torpedoed by an enemy u-boat."

The breath caught in his throat and he seemed unable to speak, but he didn't really need to. May could only envision the horror that he must've witnessed; the deck being blown up beneath his feet, smoke and gunpowder, the screams of drowning men... "Maxie, I'm sorry I teased you earlier – I had no idea."

"It's alright," he said, resting his cheek against the top of her head. It was wildly inappropriate to be cozying up to him like this – she knew that, but dammit how could she not after seeing him like this? It was startling really. Even in her earliest memories of him, he'd always been such a proud and passionate figure and it was oddly painful to see him so pale and afraid on the floor. Yes, he'd been power-hungry and more than a little threatening to him in the past, but never had he actually made an attempt to hurt her, and he had actually been very helpful when the time came to stop Archie. Misguided? Yes, evil? No, she couldn't call him that by any means. Still, it was conflicting to sit with him like this – and then there was the kiss she'd goaded him into.

She really needed to stop drinking so much.

Similar thoughts must have been running through his mind because he suddenly sat upright and shifted over slightly so that their shoulders were no longer touching. "Miss Maple, I apologize -"

Perhaps it was the scotch making her bold, but May rolled her eyes and huffed, shifting her position until she was lying down, resting her head on his lap. He started to protest and she abruptly shushed him, lightly smacking his chest. "Just – stop, alright? I instigated it so why feel sorry? If anything I should be the one apologizing, but I'm not going to because I think you needed it."

"Is that the scotch talking, or the bleeding heart I know so well?"

"Bit of both," she admitted, folding her hands neatly over her stomach. "Yeah you made mistakes, some catastrophic ones at that, but you did try to make things right. That's got to count for something doesn't it?"

"It hardly makes up for years of borderline terrorism, nor does it expunge all of the atrocious things I said to you."

"Maybe not, but you've been making up for it the past few days...at least to me."

He sighed and started toying with a few locks of her hair. "I don't know if you're just incredibly naive, or ridiculously kind."

"Bit of both," she said again and shot him a crooked grin. "Are you saying you'd rather me curse you out or attempt to get you arrested?"

"I deserve it."

"And that's exactly why you don't," she replied, closing her eyes in contentment as he continued to play with her hair. The ship took another sudden roll, nowhere near the force of the wave that had caught them off guard earlier, but she felt him tense up and inhale sharply all the same. Sighing, she sat up and wrapped her arms firmly around his torso.

"What are you -"

"Oh shush you," she grumbled, settling her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beating hard behind his ribcage. "I don't like seeing you so afraid."

"And why is that?"

"Because it's not right. You're – you were always so strong and, I just – I don't like seeing you this way," she muttered, half to herself. "It makes me sad to know you had to go through all of that and...I'd much prefer to see you smile. You have a nice smile..."

"You don't – you don't want to see me upset?"

"Of course not."

He laughed softly and carefully drew her up onto his lap, studying her with curious eyes. "May Maple you are without a doubt one of the strangest creatures I've ever had the good fortune to meet."

"...I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not."

"Silly girl," he chuckled and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. The ship dipped sharply as she crested another wave and her hull groaned from the strain. May felt his grip on her tighten slightly, but is a far sight better than he had been all night. "Tell me, why did you feel the need to take it upon yourself to see to my well being hm? A casual drink is one thing, but this was personal."

"When I asked you where you were going you told me you didn't know...I – I don't know, I felt comforted by the fact that I wasn't the only one."

"Hn, two nomads without a home...a natural inclination to gravitate towards one another I suppose."

"You know," she said thoughtfully, her tongue still feeling bold from the last dregs of the scotch, "you're a rather nice person."

"Beg pardon? I'm quite sure I didn't hear that correctly."

"Of course you did," May huffed, rolling her eyes. "You've been perfectly pleasant these last few days and I – well I've rather enjoyed your company."

"Now that is a compliment," he said softly. May smiled, blinking drowsily. The seas had finally started to calm and the rocking motion combined with a belly full of liquor had started to lull her into a doze. She felt him delicately shift her off of his lap so that she could lay down properly. She sighed appreciatively and curled into his side. "I've rather enjoyed you as well Miss Maple and I – I am glad you came to see me tonight...I needed that."

"May."

"What?"

"May," she yawned and closed her eyes. "Just call me May."

When she awoke the next morning she noticed two things: one, that the seas were no longer raging, but rather lolled placidly beneath the hull and two, she was back in her own cabin. She sat up, blinking blearily as she tried to make sense of where she was and how she'd gotten there. Slowly, the memories of last night returned and she realized that Maxie must have brought her back to her room after she'd fallen asleep in his cabin. She smiled and rubbed the back of her neck ruefully...that had been an interesting evening to say the least. Changing into fresh clothing she headed up to the promenade deck.

He was nowhere to be seen.

A visit to his room yielded similar results as her knocks and calls went unanswered. May sighed and shrugged her shoulders. Perhaps this was the way it was meant to be. She climbed the stairs back onto the deck and headed to the stern, resting her arms on the railing as she watched the ships wake. Several pods of water-type pokémon were frolicking in the foaming water and she couldn't help but smile at their lively behaviour. A glance to her right saw the first signs of coastline they'd seen in several days, rapidly drawing nearer as they steamed ahead towards their Unovan port of call. In a couple of days they'd be pulling into Castelia City where they would disembark and she would start a brand new chapter of her life...a solo one by the looks of it.

She turned around and gazed up at the sky, smiling at the unfamiliar bird pokémon flying above them. Last night had been lovely and she would keep that memory tucked away very carefully in a special little place all its own. Maximilian Asher was no longer a shadow looming in the darker corners of her past, but a man – pure and simple, he was just a man, and one she would have liked to have known better. Maybe one day she'd find him again and fulfil that wish. Besides, they had a drinking debt to settle.

The sun was at high noon, beating down at full strength but despite the heat Castelia City remained a hub of activity – even moreso today. It was one of those rare occasions where one of the large trans-regional ferries were pulling into port, this one coming all the way from Hoenn, or so Hilda had been told. Sitting on a park bench, she watched the massive vessel pull into the harbour, slowly nosing her way into her designated berth where dock workers stood waiting to tie down her mooring lines. They did so with speedy precision as the ship docked and the gangway was let out allowing crowds of people and pokémon alike to take their first steps into Unova. She marvelled at the foreign pokémon, the likes of which she'd never seen in person before, accompanying their trainers as they walked up from the docks, some running into the open arms of waiting relatives while others walked quietly away into the streets having no such friends or family to call upon.

One young woman in particular caught her eye. She wasn't an extraordinary figure upon first glance, a rather petite thing in her early twenties perhaps with a fine looking Mightyena by her side, but her eyes, a breathtaking shade of azure that glinted fiercely in the light of the noon day sun bespoke of someone who'd seen remarkable things. Hilda watched as she hefted the olive green duffel bag higher on her shoulder, keen eyes scanning the city before her with a mixture of wonder and determination until they focused onto the dockside pokémon centre.

"You look much prettier when you smile."

The words were nearly lost in the buzz of the crowd, but Hilda heard them and so did the young woman with the Mightyena apparently. A man, darkly dressed with strikingly red hair was standing behind her, his dark eyes hopeful as the woman turned around. Hilda couldn't see the young woman's face, but whatever was said between them must have been good because she abruptly dropped her duffel bag and threw her arms around him, holding him tightly as he returned the embrace. Hilda smiled at the affectionate scene, though she appeared to be the only one to take notice.

Everyone else walked by them without a backward glance, slowly melding into the Unovan crowds, passing each other like ships in the night.