Surprise, Surprise! Hey, guys…its me, and this is another one-shot for pearlshipping here. I'm seriously very sorry for not updating my other stories, but I will eventually, I'm not giving up. That's a promise. Anyways, so Christmas is just a day away! How awesome is that? I'm really looking forward to it.

So, I'm writing this because of Christmas coming up, I was just in the jolly mood here so..yeah xD I really hope you guys like it. Read on!

I do not own Pokemon.

The alarm rang, causing me to snuggle in my blanket even more. The alarm clock rang once more and I hit the snooze button, and attempted to drift off to sleep once again. Then it hit me! Today was a very special day to the whole family. I smiled and quickly jumped off of bed and ran downstairs. It was Christmas, the most special day to me every year. I loved it especially, because it brought our whole family together. Every year, we would pick a Christmas tree and decorate it, bake sweets and desserts, even sing carols once in a while. It always brought me in a good mood and I was really looking forward to this year.

I saw my mom in the kitchen making some cookies. Her cookies were just awesome and simply could not be resisted. As I took a bite, I could feel the warm chocolate chips just melting on my tongue. She quickly gave me a kiss on the forehead.

"Good morning, Dawn. Merry Christmas." She smiled.

"Good morning, mom. Merry Christmas." I repiied.

"I have great news, Dawn." She said.

"Really? What is it?" I asked, curious.

"Dad's coming home!" She said and I immediately lit up.

My dad was barely with us for the year. He had recently got a job as a business man and had to constantly keep travelling to conduct meetings and whatnot. I only saw him three times around the year when he visited and the fact that he was coming to spend Christmas with us only made my day better. I quickly brushed my teeth, got dressed in a black leather sweater, some warm boots and gloves and earmuffs, and then headed outside. I gasped.

It was as if a white blanket of snow had just randomly gotten in our driveway and as I looked around, I noticed little drops of snow were dropping from above. The neighbourhood was a little peaceful-maybe a bit too peaceful if you ask me. I nearly fell over myself as a random snowball just knocked me in the head. I turned around to see him smirking at me.

"Hey, Dawn." He grinned.

Ash Ketchum. He was so annoying and he just happened to be my next door neighbour. We had known each other since childhood and we always hang out with each other. But, it had come to a point where he had gotten somewhat annoying and suddenly change character. He was a generous, sweet innocent boy when we were little, but it seemed he got a little naughty over the past years. His attitude was now a bit cocky and grumpy.

"Ok, what was that about?" I asked, a little annoyed.

"It was just a little snowball, Dawn, I didn't throw a time bomb or anything." He said.

"I know, but still…it's kinda annoying."

"Anyways, I have some good news..for myself, that is. I'll be going to New York soon, like in 2 hours." I raised an eyebrow.

"New York? You're going away for Christmas?" I asked.

"OH, so you'll really miss me, huh?" He teased.

"Yeah, sure." I said, sarcastically. "Why would you go to New York on such an amazing day like this? Its Christmas, the day of joy and giving. It's the day that brings families closer."

"Dawn, I don't need you to lecture me about that, ok? Plus, I'm going there to visit." He said.

"But what about your mom? Won't she be lonely?" I asked.

His face suddenly fell, "None of your business!" He erupted suddenly, causing me to jump a little. Before I could ask anything, he bolted in his house and closed the door.

"Well, that was odd.." I said to myself and went back inside.

I proceeded to my room. I wondered about Ash and honestly was a little worried. What caused him to suddenly explode? Was it something I didn't know of? I simply shrugged it off. Then I heard the phone ring downstairs. I wondered if it was Dad calling, so I picked up the phone beside me on the dressing table and began to listen to the conversation.

"Hey, honey." I heard my dad's voice on the line.

"Hello, dear, are you almost here?" My mom asked.

"Actually, there's some bad news. My flight got delayed because of the storm here, so I'm afraid I'm not gonna make it during Christmas." I think my heart fell when I heard this. I hung up the phone and not a second passed by before I started to shed tears. How come this always happens to me? And on this special day? I continued crying as I lied down on my bed, getting my pillow wet with tears. I had so many things planned for Dad and I to do together, and it was all ruined. I was utterly disappointed and I considered myself to be the unluckiest girl in the world.

"Dawn.." I heard my mom's voice. "I'm really sorry." She tried to comfort me.

"This isn't fair, mom! I-I really was so exhilarated for Dad to come home, I had a lot planned and this happens all of a sudden?!" I erupted, I didn't mean to, but the situation was leading me to.

"Honey, his flight is delayed. I can't do anything about it, besides, he'll be here tomorrow."

"But what's the point? That's the day after Christmas. I wanted him to spend time with me on this day. I was looking forward to it."

"But you will see him, Dawn, I assure you. And we can have a good Christmas too. It'll be worthwhile, I'm sure of it." She smiled.

"NO! I-I wanted him to be here with us. This-this is the worst Christmas ever!" I said, running downstairs outside the door. I heard my mom call my name, but I couldn't bother listening to her. I sat on the porch, grumbling to myself. Then Ash came in front of me.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked. I looked up at him.

"Shouldn't you be bragging about going to New York now?" I asked.

"Well I should be.." I rolled my eyes, "But, apparently, there's this storm brewing, so it got cancelled. I guess I'm stuck here." He said.

"You should be thankful, you're spending time here with your family." I said.

"Yeah..what a great time.." He said, sarcastically. I raised an eyebrow.

"Anyways, meanwhile, I'm having a terrible time. My dad was supposed to come home for Christmas, but now he can't make it because his flight is delayed. I can't believe everything wrong happens to me only!" I said, flaring up my arms.

"Well, its not his fault, really." He said.

"I know, but this stuff always happens, and I don't like it. I was really looking forward in spending time with him. I swear, I'm having the worst Christmas ever." I said.

"OK, that's it!" He suddenly erupted again. He stood up, glaring at me with his brown eyes. "You should be lucky that you have a father or a mother! You are being so selfish right now! I can't believe this!" I stared at him.

"You think you're the only one with problems? I have problems too! I just figured out that my mother is close to dying any minute now because she has cancer, plus my father ditched her the last 3 months from now! I have to spend time with her, looking after her, when I should be having a good time, playing in the snow. At least your father will be here, Dawn! You should appreciate that!" I slowly got up as I looked at him. His eyes were full of pain, and I realized that my childish behaviour was unexpected and immature. I didn't even realize what a terrible friend I was to him, being completely unaware of his hardships. I was being really inconsiderate and stupid. And I thought I was having a terrible time.

"Ash, I'm really sorry to hear that." I said as I slowly hugged him tight. He put his arms around me. We stood there for a few minutes, and we let go after a while. I felt he really needed comfort right now.

"Ash…did you really have plan to go to New York?" I asked.

"Of course..not. I couldn't."

"Why'd you lie?"

"I guess I wanted you to be a little jealous of me. I didn't want you to know any of this." He said. I smiled a little. "It totally worked though, didn't it?" He smirked. Yup, that's how he was, changing his attitude just like that.

"You know what? I'm coming over to spend the night. You need someone." I offered. He widened his eyes.

"Really?" I nodded. "OK, thanks, let's go!"

So I spent the night with Ash and we bonded and got even closer. He really was going through a difficult time. I thought he deserved better. At least he spent time with me, that's all that really mattered. His mother was in a bad condition and I helped take care of her as well. So what if my dad couldn't make it today? I happened to have a better Christmas than I thought.

"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells…Jingle all the way" The kids singing carols could be heard in the distance. Ash and I went outside and they commenced singing. I gently smiled and then turned to Ash, grabbing his hand.

"Merry Christmas, Ash." I said. He smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Dawn.

And that's it. Yes, it's not really romantic or anything, it was just a thought that came into my head. Basically, this is saying that all of us are going through difficult times. We can't have everything in life, but we should be happy in what we do have. Christmas is about giving and not getting.

Anyways, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed this. Merry Christmas, everyone!