Hey everyone! Merry Christmas! Since it's the season of giving, I thought I'd give you all a little something to read. I meant to upload it last night, but the website decided to be a jerk to me; oh well. It's an Advanceshipping fic, so if you don't like that, you don't have to read, but if you do, no blowing up (flames, right?).
I don't own Pokemon, but you knew that already. Feel free to rate and review, but no "flames."
Enjoy! Merry Christmas!
"Wake up, ya Slakoth!"
"Hm? Hm…"
"I said wake up!"
"Five more minutes, Mom…"
"Come on, Ash! No time for slacking! It's Christmas Eve!"
"WHOA!" That got the raven-haired Pokemon trainer's attention, but he stopped himself from jumping up when he remembered the small weight on his shoulder. No, he hadn't hurt it. He was in perfectly good health, save for one disease he'd been suffering from for the past six weeks: a funny little disease called love.
The weight on his shoulder was the head of his girlfriend, May. She was still asleep. "How did she sleep through that?" he muttered. "Hm...uh, May, we need to get up."
"Mmm," she sighed in her sleep, a small smile breaking on hearing his voice.
"May," Ash repeated, lightly shaking her shoulder. "Yeah, I like it, too, but we need to get up." May just sighed in content. Ash sighed. "Well, if you don't want me to get you a present," he teased. To his shock, May didn't make a sound. "Okay, that's new."
"Huh?" May's eyes groggily opened. "Oh. Good morning, Ash."
"Sure is," he smiled. May giggled; even though he finally had a girlfriend, he was still dense as ever. "You do know what today is, don't you?"
"Of course!" she smiled back. "It's Christmas Eve. How could I forget the date of the most wonderful time of the year?"
"No kidding. That's what puzzles me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I tried to wake you up by saying it was Christmas Eve, and you didn't even make a sound."
May raised an eyebrow. "Really? Huh. Oh, well. What time is it?"
"About ten," Ash checked the clock.
"Perfect," she smirked, getting up and stretching. Ash did likewise, and they strolled into the kitchen.
"BACON!" Ash went gaga over the small strips of heaven laying side-by-side on a plate in the middle of the table. Delia Ketchum smiled as he and May dug in, taking in everything on the table. Thirty-minutes later, they were stuffed.
"All right," May chuckled. "Now what?"
"Well, we could go shopping for Christmas gifts," Delia suggested.
"Didn't you already go shopping?" Ash asked, puzzled.
"Nope!"
The couple looked at each other, confused. "But you had all the time in the world, didn't you?" May inquired.
Delia just winked. "Maybe."
"You know what?" Ash blurted, standing up. "That sounds like a great idea! Let's go shopping!"
Delia chuckled and went to go get some warm stuff to wear in the snow, and the three of them soon set out, along with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder.
"Oh, wow!" Ash exclaimed. "Look at all the snow!"
"It's like the whole world has been remade anew!" May added, nuzzling her hands against her face. "You gotta love the magic that's in the air at this time of year."
"What are we waiting for?" Ash jumped excitedly. "Let's go!"
"Pika-Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed.
"All right, you two go do your own thing," Delia sent them off into the mall together. "I've got some stuff I need to get done."
"Okay, Mom," Ash called. "Let's meet up at the Burger King right at the front, what say?"
Delia gave him a thumbs-up as she disappeared into the crowd. He and May looked at each other, smiling ear to ear, and they headed off into the stores. "Looks like it's just the two of us," Ash smirked.
"Pikachu!"
"And Pikachu makes three," May smirked.
"Well, we kinda count as one."
May looked shocked. "Does that mean I'm dating a Pikachu?!" Ash looked at her, raising an eyebrow. She laughed, and he followed suit.
"So, what do you want for Christmas?" Ash asked her.
"Hm," she mused, thinking. "If I'm honest, I really don't know what I want this year. I can't think of anything I need or want. Huh! Funny, I usually ask for a lot of stuff. I've never been at such a loss for what to ask for."
"Does that worry you?" Ash asked.
"No. It's surprising, but not concerning. What do you want?"
"I don't know. Surprise me," he winked. "I'm going window shopping."
"Me, too," she smiled, feathering her hand into his. He grinned and they moved onwards. They looked into jewelry stores, antique stores, furniture stores, and everything in between, but Ash, who was set on getting May a gift despite her not knowing what she wanted, found that nothing really caught her eye – or his. Blast he thought. There's gotta be something in these stores that she likes, even if she doesn't think she wants it. For crying out loud, we've even passed a medical store for people! Could there be something in there that she wants? Yeah, right.
"Why don't we go outside a moment?" May suggested after fifteen minutes of this. "There's an outdoor store out there that might be more appealing." Seeing no objections there, Ash shrugged and followed her lead. Out there, they found some Christmas trees being sold along with other Christmas things. She was much more enamored with this stuff than she was with anything indoors, which surprised Ash a little bit, but then again, they were used to the outdoors.
"Oh my goodness!" May suddenly gasped. "Look at this!"
Ash looked and raised an eyebrow. May was looking at several carvings of people in a stable-like setting. There was a crib-like structure made of wood in the middle of them with hay and a baby inside. A woman was bent over the baby, a hand over her heart, and a bearded man with a walking stick standing over her, slightly bent over the crib. A number of boys and men were walking towards them from one side, some with Mareeps on their shoulders, and three men of varying ages were walking towards them from the other side, each of them carrying a box. An angelic creature flew over them, arms spread wide.
"Wow," Ash couldn't helped but be impressed. "I'll bet someone will make a fortune off of this."
"Silly," May playfully slapped him in the back of the head. "It's not for sale. It's on display."
"Oh," Ash's face fell slightly. "All right. What is it again?"
"It's a Nativity scene," May smiled at him.
"Oh, yeah!" he lit up when the term was said. "That's right. I knew it had something to do with the letter 'n.' Hm...so what exactly is this all about?"
May scratched her head. "I can't quite put my finger on it. I know it's all about that baby right there, but other than that, I can't say much."
"Hm," Ash observed some pedestals in front of each group. "Let's see here." He read the one in front of the baby and his parents:
Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place whileQuirinius was governor of Syria). And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
"No room at the hotel?" Ash repeated, surprised. "Talk about bad customer service." He moved over to the pedestal in front of the guys carrying sheep:
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."
"Well that explains what makes that baby so important," May smiled. Ash moved over to the men carrying three boxes:
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him."
"So he's a king, is he?" Ash noted. "Huh. Weird way for a king to be born."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
"'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.'"
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
"Frankincense? What's that?"
"I don't know," May shrugged. "But I think myrrh is what they use when they're burying a dead person."
Ash was confused. "That's a weird gift for a baby."
"Pika," Pikachu agreed.
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
They stood there a moment more, just staring at the whole scene which, despite being a mere image, was as lifelike as these could get. Ash couldn't describe it, but for some reason simply staring at this scene brought a strange sense of peace to his heart. He was used to being on the move a lot, always looking for another adventure, though he himself knew the value of a good rest every now and again. The feeling that washed over him here was like that, only twice as peaceful. It reminded him of a silent night long ago, a number of years before he left on his journey, when he was just sitting by his bedroom window watching the snow fall softly on the world while his parents played cards with friends downstairs. He sighed and blinked; emotions were starting to well up him, but he swallowed them down, not wanting to make a scene.
May thought similarly of a time when she was at home, some time before her journey began, watching snow fall. Only that night, she didn't feel as content as she felt now in the presence of this mystical scene. Rather, she felt alone and abandoned, as she had felt for much of her early life. The snow falling helped to soothe her somewhat, but not enough to bring her the peace that this scene brought. As she recalled this, a tear fell from her eye without her noticing. Ash, however, spotted this and instinctively wiped it away, surprising her out of her stupor.
"What was that?" she asked.
"I just saw a tear fall from your eye," he answered. "You all right?"
"Oh, yeah," she nodded. "I was just remembering."
"Yeah, me too," he replied.
"Pikachu," Pikachu felt their emotions as clearly as his own, though he wasn't particularly affected by the scene like they were.
"We should probably find Mom," he suggested.
"Yeah," May smiled, holding his hand once again.
Back at home several hours later, Ash and May happily celebrated Christmas dinner with his mother. It had been a rather simple day after the shopping spree they went on and, suffice to say, they knew they were going to enjoy Christmas. Before they knew it, they were sitting side-by-side on the couch, ready to sleep, Pikachu in Ash's lap.
"That was quite a day," Ash smiled.
"Sure was," May smiled back. Ash frowned slightly. "What is it?"
"I just feel kinda bad," he replied. "I got Mom a gift, but I feel like I left you in the dark."
"You and me both," May sighed, her smile unwavering. "It's all right. I said I didn't feel like I needed or wanted anything, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't get you a gift."
"No, I guess not," she shrugged in defeat, her smile turning neutral a moment before she brightened up with an idea. "We could go get gifts tomorrow."
"We could."
She sighed again, leaning her head against his shoulder. "But why should we?"
Ash blushed slightly. "Well, I thought you really liked that...uh...nativist scene, and –"
"What scene?"
"Uh...the one with the 'n?'"
"Nativity?"
"Yeah, that one."
May giggled softly. "You're such a sweetheart, Ash. Of course, you know that it wasn't on sale."
"Yeah," he sighed, bummed. "I'm sure there are smaller ones out there."
"It's all right," she smiled again. "You do know the point about that scene, right?"
"The birth of a king in the strangest place possible for a king to be born?"
She giggled again. "No, silly! Well, not exactly anyways. It's about love."
"Oh," he shrugged. "Well that's cliche."
"Is it?" she asked, raising her head up. "What do you think of when you think about love?"
"A guy and a girl."
She giggled once again. "Please don't ever change, Ash."
"No guarantees," he teased her.
"But if that's what you think of when you think of love, then how is that whole scene being about love cliche?"
That one caught Ash off-guard. He thought about it a moment, then nodded. "You're right. It's really not that cliche when you think about it. But who were the lovers?"
May giggled yet again. "Ash...the love originated from that baby." Ash still looked confused, so she continued: "Love isn't always between a guy and a girl. That's a special kind of love, but not the only love. Love never thinks of itself; it's always concerned with someone else's well-being, to make sure they're happy. It doesn't give up, and it's every good thing you could think of."
"So what does that have to do with the baby?"
"Simple: that baby gave up everything so that everyone could be happy: that's called love, and it radiates on everyone in the scene."
Ash shrugged. "Okay, I guess I understand a little better, but there's still a lot I don't get."
"Me neither," May sighed, laying her head on his shoulder once again.
"I didn't know you knew so much about religion," Ash smirked. "How long have you been an expert?"
"Since last night," she winked. Ash chuckled. "But you know, I think I know why I didn't feel like I needed or wanted anything this year."
"Why?"
She smiled and looked up at him, and he looked at her. "Because what I said about love being everything good…"
Ash nodded, indicating she could continue. She closed her eyes and put an arm around him, her smile unfading.
"You are all of that, Ash," she finished. "You're kind, good-hearted, persevering...and you're always looking out for others. What more could someone ask for in a friend? Or, in this case, boyfriend…?"
Ash's smile dominated his face. When he thought it through, he realized she was right. Without another thought, he put his arm around her shoulder and laid his head on top of hers, closing his eyes.
"Thank you, May," he whispered.
"No, Ash," she whispered back. "Thank you." There was a brief silence as they sat there, serene peace washing over them.
"Merry Christmas, Ash," May whispered.
"Merry Christmas, May," Ash whispered back.
In less than a minute more, they were fast asleep. Outside, a bright star shone brightly over the world, if only for one night, and the bulk of its light was right over the Nativity scene that they had seen earlier that day, but the rest of the light illuminated that small house in Pallet Town that was fast asleep, enjoying the calm and bright night. It was nothing spectacular, but for the two friends sitting on the couch in the house, it was a Christmas to remember as they celebrated the most beautiful gift of all:
Love.