Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon.
Thunder Storms
by .Silver x Hearts.
"Look, look, I'm flying!"
"Oh, oh, me too!"
A four year old brunette girl laughed as she and her younger brother ran around the front yard, their arms raised up like airplane wings.
"Kids! Come back inside now, it's about to pour!"
At the sound of their mother's voice, the two children stopped instantly. They hesitated for only a moment, before adoration for their mom won out. Raising her arms back up – her brother following suit – she made her way to the front door.
The two children wiped their shoes on the mat whilst their mother ushered them in and began to close the door-
When the little girl saw a flash of colour on the pavement outside.
"Oh, mommy! I left my doll outside."
And before she could stop her child, the brunette was speeding off outside to get it. With a sigh, she simply called out for her to hurry.
Bright blue eyes searched the ground for her beloved doll and when she saw something in the corner of her eye she swivelled round. Scooping up the fallen doll in her arms she let out a big smile.
Just as she started for the front door once again, a deafening sound came to her small ears. She looked up in fright, and saw the grey skies illuminated with while light for a moment before flashing out, just as the ringing in her ears slowly faded away.
And soon after, she abruptly burst into tears.
.
.
.
Bright blue eyes jerked open.
May raised a hand, her heart pounded against it in her heaving chest. She pushed herself into a sitting position, steadying her breathing. Squinting in the darkness, she turned to the illuminated screen of the bedside clock. 11:47pm.
As she slowly came to, her mind cleared and she recalled the dream – or rather, the memory.
It was one of her more significant childhood memories. A storm was breaching that day – a thunder storm. It was her first experience of one and the suddenness of the horrible noise left her terrified at the sound of thunder for the remainder of her childhood days.
Thirteen years on since that day, and her fear had not dispersed in the slightest.
But if I'm suddenly reliving that now, then- she turned to the window. Dark, rumbling skies met her, rain pouring heavily against the glass.
Her heart sunk; no wonder she had a bad feeling earlier that night. Thunderstorms always meant restless nights for her. As a child, she'd evade this by sleeping nestled in between her mom and dad, finding security in their embrace.
During the rare storms on her travels with Ash and the others, they were generally quite controlled and so long as she could get to sleep before the first few rumbles of thunder, she'd be able get a decent amount of rest. Now though, that wasn't the case.
Lifting her eyes up towards the window again, she flinched at the scene. A slightly muffled rumble erupted from the sky, accompanied by a flash of light in the clouds. This was anything but controlled – especially if it was bad enough to rouse her from her sleep.
How she was going to get back to sleep now, she didn't know. Hoping against all odds that this would be the night she'd get over her phobia, she settled back into the covers. Maybe before she knew it, she'd be lulled back to sleep on her own.
Or maybe not.
She didn't know how long had passed since she had stayed in the same usually-comfortable sleeping position, but she did know that she would not be lulled back to sleep naturally any time soon. A few more shifts in the bed in an attempt at another position proved no use either.
A loud clap of thunder erupted from the sky, almost mocking her inability to sleep. With a frustrated groan, she opened her eyes and sat up. The only thing her efforts had done was wake her up even more. She looked to her left, and let out a mental groan.
00:34am the numbers stared back at her in bright red. She flopped backwards again, resigning herself to staring at the ceiling with a scowl. This was getting ridiculous!
They were heading out early tomorrow to get some training done for the upcoming contest, and she'd be damned if she didn't get some proper rest. Speaking of that, she turned her head to face the opposite side of the room.
Her eyes met a slumped figure in the bed, and her scowl faded as she caught a glimpse of chartreuse in the darkness. It was ironic really, he was the light sleeper whilst she could practically sleep through an earthquake. Yet in the event of a thunder storm, it was her that couldn't sleep through it.
Drew: her rival and recently-turned boyfriend. They'd been travelling together for a few years now, jumping from region to region. It'd been much less time since they'd started going out, but she loved the newly recognized feeling (and benefits) all the same.
She tore her gaze away from him, lifting them to the scarlet flower on her bed stand. He never had stopped his tradition of roses with her, and receiving the spontaneous roses had more or less become part of her routine by now.
Raising her hand, she fingered one of the soft petals, and felt a soft smile lift the corner of her lips. She kept doing that for a while, and eventually her lids began to droop of their own accord. Finally, a distant part of her thought, she could get some rest...
Another crash of thunder came, this time resounding through the room. This jolted her awake and she dropped her hand from the rose. At this point May resisted the urge to scream into her pillow. A string of colourful words ran through her mind as, she rolled over onto her stomach, laying there in self-pity.
She lifted her head up to glare in the direction of her sleeping boyfriend, jealously filling her at his ability to sleep through this. But pretty soon the glare subsided and she was left simply staring in envy.
A few moments passed by, before an idea came to her mind.
She contemplated the thought, it could very well work. It'd worked when she was a child, and it followed the same principles. And they were dating; she had the privilege to do these things... right?
Well it was definitely one of her more spontaneous plans, a bit too much for her liking. With a glance at the rumbling sky, she decided to take the risk, what'd she have to lose anyway? Throwing her blankets off, she slipped out of her bed and quietly padded across the room to her partner's bed.
But as she neared the bed, she reassessed her impromptu plan. With the spur of the moment gone, embarrassment flooded through her as she fully considered the actions she'd be taking. Girlfriend or not, it'd be rather sudden to just ask, and they'd only been going out for a few months now, what if it was too much? Her boldness faded each passing moment, the plan crumbling in her mind.
Biting her lip, she glanced over at the bed less than a meter away. Drew was softly snoring away. Watching with a soft gaze, she brought a tentative hand to brush away his bangs from his face. He shifted slightly, but remained asleep.
At this she made up her mind and she abandoned her plan. Whether they were dating or not she refused to disturb him because of her own problems – she'd simply suck it up and somehow force sleep to come.
However just as she turned to make her way back, an unexpected and particularly loud clap of thunder came, causing her to let out a squeak and stumble forward. And as she did, she knocked painfully into a table situated oh-so-conveniently near to the bed holding a decorative vase.
A hand reached up to her left side, where a dull ache had formed. Well I'll be seeing a new bruise in the morning she noted bitterly.
Thud!
She flinched at the loud noise that seemed to echo in the room. The brunette looked down in horror at the fallen ceramic, but noted gratefully that the sturdy vase hadn't shattered. A groan coming from the bed made her tense up again. Of course, Drew had woken up due to the sound. She felt like pulling her hair out, she'd only wanted some rest! How in the hell was she going to cover this up?
"May?" Drew called out groggily, as he sat up in his bed.
Okay, calm down. You can still get out of this, May thought. "Sorry, I forgot something in the lobby and I knocked into the table on my way back," she explained softly in a voice more composed than she felt.
As more thunder was heard from outside, May fought down her shivers and mentally coaxed Drew to go back to sleep undisturbed. To her appreciation Drew seemed to accept her answered and was already moving to lie down again.
Then another shrill clap of thunder came. Ugh, what great timing.
This time, May couldn't push down her agitation. Her bent form froze in the midst of picking up the vase, her hand visibly starting to shake. And this time, Drew noticed. Instantly he was more awake, and he sat up completely; worry flooding his features at his girlfriend's trembling form.
He reached over, touching her arm lightly. "May? What's wrong?"
Said girl swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, willing her voice not to waver. "Nothing, don't worry."
Emerald eyes hardened. "Something is wrong May. What aren't you telling me?"
She didn't answer, but as her uneasiness visibly grew along with the thunder grew louder along her uneasiness, it clicked. His gaze softened, "Are you scared?"
"Well- I couldn't sleep, so... I-I didn't mean to wake you up," she replied, dodging his question. It didn't matter though; he'd already seen enough to know the answer.
Drew sighed, and after a moment, pulled his blankets over slightly. "Come here," he'd said it in such a nonchalant manner, you'd think that this was an everyday thing.
Up to this point, May had kept her gaze towards the ground. Her head snapped up at his words, and she felt her face heat up. "Uh, but-"
Her boyfriend rolled his eyes and, tightening his grip on her arm, he pulled her down to the bed in one swift motion. "It's what you came here for in the first place, isn't it?" was all he said.
Despite her embarrassment, she crawled underneath the covers without any argument. Before she could turn to face away from him, an arm encircled her waist, effective trapping her.
"Besides, it's not like we're going to do anything," he added "right?" Even in the lack of light, she could see a smirk form on his pretty face.
Mau flushed a deeper shade of red. She inched closer and ducked her face into his chest, and just about felt his smirk widened. A few silent moments passed before May began to speak, answering his unspoken question.
"Let's just say I had a bad experience as a child," she explained in a murmur. Drew hummed an agreement, and she felt herself smile. He'd leave it for now, but she would definitely be asked again in a less vulnerable state.
She took in his distinct scent, warmth spreading throughout her body. Already her uneasiness had faded. It did work; looks like she had nothing to worry about. Maybe now, she'd even look forward to thunderstorms if it meant an excuse for this.
Even as more thunder was heard, she stayed content. She could faintly feel Drew's fingers running through her hair. For the second time her eyes started to droop shut out of their own accord, but she knew she'd be able to fall asleep this time.
"Thank you," she managed to mumble out sleepily.
And maybe she was imagining it, but she could've sworn she felt his hold on her tighten.
A/N: That last line is so over used, but yeah, thought it fit the situation. Anyway, as promised here's a remake of my previous Thunderstorms fanfic. A bit shorter, but I am satisfied with how this turned out, and it's a definite improvement over the old story (Bleh). This was originally 800 words, now it's over 2000! I just I didn't over describe some things in this one. But anyway, reviews are much appreciated, tell me what you think!
- Silver.