Red
By S. Muffin
Ash remembered the very first time he saw May in Hoenn.
Her shirt was red.
Her bandana was red.
Even her shoes were red.
Red, he concluded (and later discovered once he asked), was obviously May's favorite color.
Even as the years passed to their current ages, May being sixteen and him seventeen, she always wore something red. The color had become her trademark, much like his cap was his. Whenever Ash thought of red he thought of May.
He could think of so many things to describe red. Red was strength. Red was energy. Red was power. Red was determination. Red was warmth. Red was passion. Red was desire. Red was love.
Everything he saw in red he saw in May. Her skill as a coordinator, her unwavering drive to be the very best, her care and devotion, the way she said "I love you" to him before they fell asleep, and the light shade of red her cheeks turned when she noticed him staring at her.
"What're you lookin' at?" she asked playfully, smiling at him as they walked down the dirt path that would lead them to the next town.
Ash returned the smile and shook his head. "Nothing. Just thinking about you." He laced his fingers through hers and swung their arms back and forth between them.
May laughed, her cheeks reddening further, and leaned her head against his shoulder.
He decided then that he really, really liked the color red. Because May was like red, and he really, really liked her too.
No, he corrected himself, his smile softening as he looked back down at her. I love her.
This is another one of those times where Ash isn't completely clueless.
And the ending's pretty corny, I know. I always lose my muse at the ending.