Twelve

If someone asked me, I could easily admit that I was an idiot. But I wouldn't ever admit it unless someone asked, so… well, obviously I'd never have to admit it. Who goes around asking someone like me if I was an idiot?

But the way that brat stared me down with that smug little grin told me that she didn't need to ask. She knew. Fair enough, since my mistake nearly cost the poor kid her life today. She made it, though—pulled through and became everyone's little hero. And now that she made it out alive from that death trap called the Cave of Origin, she just kept grinning at me through everyone's praise, probably waiting for me to say something to her.

Well, what could I say?

I crossed my arms and waited behind as Maxie stepped towards her first. The little scamp still looked beyond him and at me, staring expectantly and hoping for something she wouldn't get. A pat on the head like that silver-haired guy gave her? A hug just like that little boy beside her gave? It all made me sick, and I didn't get sick very often. That disposition came with being on the sea.

But when Maxie finished saying what he had to say to the girl, everyone's eyes turned to me. Yeah, yeah, I almost killed everyone… but did I really have to go all mushy like the rest of this sappy lot?

"All right, ya little scamp," I began, and her eyes lit up even brighter than those flashes of lightning not too long ago. At least that smug grin vanished. "You managed to use that Red Orb, so now let's see you try this on for size. If you give it to Kyogre, you should be able to control its Primal Reversion."

I held out the orb to her, and all of the light faded from her eyes. She let the sphere fall into her cupped palms, and her gaze rested on it with some disappointment.

How was that disappointing? I just gave her all the power in the world.

"Archie—"

I held a hand up to silence the little girl, and she cut off without anything else. If she wanted an apology or something, she wasn't going to get it. Not today. I already atoned for some of my sins, and that was about all I could manage right now. My body couldn't take much more—even one as devilishly handsome and built as mine.

"Farewell." I waved her off with my raised hand, and Shelly beside me nodded.

"See ya."

The two of us stalked off with Maxie right behind us. Sure enough, I'd get another lecture from him before I made it back to the base. But I could only hope that it would go in one ear and out the other. Problem was, it was that little girl's disappointed face that blocked my mind up tight.

Thirteen

Every once in awhile, I liked to sit back and relax, let my grunts handle the dirty work. Not that Team Aqua did that much dirty work these days.

Many of my grunts went out and got other jobs, but they'd report back to base every now and again. Others decided to actually help the Pokémon in the sea by cleaning up the water and taking up volunteer positions.

As for me, well, I had everything I needed right here in the base. You could call me a freeloader in my own home, but… I called it "relaxing" and taking a year off. It wasn't that unusual these days to take a year off before doing something useful. And it wasn't like I did nothing all day every day. Sometimes I'd join in on the fun and help the grunts out. Sometimes I'd scope out the sea, feel the wind in my beard hair.

But on occasions like today, I might throw myself down in a chair and lean my head back, just… existing.

"Hey, Archie."

Not much scared me, but the sound of a young girl calling my name when I didn't expect it in a place where she obviously shouldn't be? Well, I wouldn't call it frightening, but it was slightly disturbing and did freak me out. I jumped and spun around slowly, only to be greeted by that same old sly grin.

The scamp leaned against her fist, her elbow propped up on my desk, behind which she sat. "It's been a while. It's always so nice to see you!"

"I would say the same, scamp, but you're the one in my room." Was that my voice shaking? That scamp really did a number on me…

"I wanted to see how you were doing," she continued, and then she moved her arm and rested her chin on my desk.

Her smirk relaxed into a regular old smile, and I noticed how ordinary-looking she was. It had been… damn, almost a year since I saw her last, which was half the reason this meeting was so jarring. But looking at her now, not much about her changed in that time. She was still the little runt she was last time.

"I actually came here to give you this back." The scamp lifted her head off the desk and reached for something below the desk. When she came back up, she had the tiny, uh, "gift" I gave her the last time we met sitting flat in her palm.

"I don't need that," I grumbled, averting my gaze from the stone, if only because it reminded me of how helpless I had been against that Zinnia girl. She wasn't like the scamp. It bothered me that I lost to that one.

"You have your Key Stone back," the scamp pointed out, and I glanced down at my chest where the pendant weighed heavily down against it. "I got my use out of this Sharpedonite. I figured it was time to return it to its rightful owner. Right? You say you don't need it, but…" She sighed, letting her hand fall against the wooden table top. "Look, I came all this way just to give it back, so you're going to take it."

Feisty one, that scamp. Half the reason I didn't like teenagers. I had never really been one, myself. As soon as I hit thirteen, I became a man. Beautiful thing.

"Keep it, scamp," I told her a little exasperatedly, and she pouted.

"I'm just going to leave it here, okay? You take it when you're ready," she said, and then she stood up. "I hope you're doing all right, Archie."

She gave a little wave and then pranced—quite literally, she bounced across the floor—out of the room. I sighed, letting my eyes trail from the warp panel back to my desk where the Sharpedonite still lingered behind.

I just leaned my head back and closed my eyes again. Maybe it was all part of some crazy nightmare.

Fourteen

It was no nightmare. Or if it was, then it was a recurring one where the scamp featured regularly and entered the base without permission. At first, she only came once or twice a month to see me, waiting for me to take that Sharpedonite off the desk. I didn't, which pissed her off quite impressively.

But after several months passed, she started to come weekly. And then twice a week. It was like I couldn't escape from the damn kid. Hadn't we put everything behind us? Hadn't I stopped trying to flood the world? I kept my end of the deal, started concerning myself with things that actually mattered. And here she was butting in again.

I wanted to kick her out, but no matter what I said, she kept on coming back.

Half the problem, too, was that the grunts loved her. I could barely go a day without one of them pestering me about when she was coming back—they had something to show her—or why she didn't just stay in the base like the rest of us—didn't she like it here?

Well, was she the Team Aqua boss or was I? Damn kid.

"Archie. Archie!"

I glanced up at the sound of my name, and Shelly stood with her hands on her hips in front of the warp panel. She shot me a look, and I frowned. "What? I'm listening."

"Yeah, right," Shelly muttered, and then she smiled. There was something scary about the way she smiled, though. "It's the monthly Aqua dinner. You know, that day once a month when everyone eats together? That monthly dinner? The grunts will be upset if their boss is a no-show."

"Aye, aye, I'm coming." Under my breath, I added, "Don't get your panties in a bunch…"

"I heard that. And you really think I wear panties in this outfit?" Shelly's smile turned a little suggestive with the narrowing of her eyes, and I laughed. "Come on. We need to go."

I rolled my eyes and then filed out of the room behind her. There was a time, a couple of years ago, that I had been a little worried that Shelly planned on leaving Team Aqua. I was glad that she stuck around, even if I would never admit it to her. Matt was expressive enough of his affections for the both of us…

She led the way to the docks where the grunts lined up practically all of the tables we had in this damn base and set up for our monthly dinner. It usually ended up with everyone drunk by the end of the night, and I was completely okay with that. Because I ended up drunk with them. Not a single regret.

But when I saw someone sitting in my seat at the head of the table, I slowed to a stop. "What's she doing here?"

Shelly glanced back at me and stopped, too. "May? She wanted to join us."

"And ya let her?" I demanded. Shelly winked at me and then kept walking. "Hey, hey, wait a minute. Tell her to leave!"

"You tell her if you want her gone so badly," Shelly shot back.

I growled and then stomped forward to the head of the table where the scamp stole my seat. I had every intention of telling her to leave—this was a Team Aqua dinner, and the runt didn't belong here.

"May, I got a new Poochyena! Want to see it after dinner? It just hatched last week."

"Oh, May, I tried that new massaging technique you told me about on my Carvanha. I cut my hands up real bad, but its skin is so much smoother now."

"And I read that care book you gave me last time, May! It was eye-opening."

I slowed my stomps as I watched the grunts talk May's ear off all at once. She laughed, the sound pleasant and naïve. And one by one, she responded to each of the grunts who called her out, patting them on the back and agreeing to see their Pokémon later tonight. Those grunts grinned like a celebrity just acknowledged their existence.

When May's gaze fell on me, she gave the same tiny wave she always did, and though her smile slacked a little, it was still there nonetheless.

"Scamp," I greeted, and she exchanged a look with one of the grunts and giggled. I tried to ignore that. "You…"

Damn it… How could I tell her to leave now?

"You're in my seat. Grab a chair over there and pull it up." I jabbed a thumb behind me, and she glanced over her shoulder at the chair rack, practically empty except for a few extras.

She skedaddled out of my chair and went to grab a new one, and I lowered myself into the seat a little hesitantly. Shelly stared at me from across the table, smiling too knowingly for someone who didn't know anything about what just happened, and I crossed my arms with a huff. Yeah, what did she know?

"Archie, this is so fun!" the scamp exclaimed as she pulled the chair forward and placed it right next to mine. "Thanks for letting me hang out."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. "Anything for you…"

Fifteen

Scamp was starting to get way too comfortable here.

"You play chess? I never would have expected that from you."

She pulled the board down from my bookshelf and set it on the desk between us, brushing the Sharpedonite, which I still hadn't taken, off to the side. She didn't comment on it like she used to, but her skin lingered against it for an extra second, like she was overly conscious of the fact that it was still sitting there.

"Will you play with me?"

"Ya know, didn't your parents ever tell you not to go snooping around other people's houses? You can't just grab stuff off my shelves like that," I snapped at her, and she pouted. I rolled my eyes—she was a little old for that now.

"This isn't even a house."

"Yeah, well, I live here. So, it's a house." She looked skeptically at me, and I waved her off. "Now, will ya put that away? I'm in the middle of something important."

She didn't put the chess board back like I asked, but she did stand up and lean over the desk to see what I was doing. "Are those your taxes?" she wondered, and when I shot her a look, she grinned. "Never thought I'd see you doing those, either. This is a day of discoveries. Next I'm going to find out that your real name isn't even Archie."

"It's Archibald."

May stifled a laugh, literally clamping her hands over her mouth to keep the sound in. But when she lowered them, the giggle still escaped, and she smacked a hand down on the desk. Clearly I shouldn't have said anything.

"Holy crap. That's awesome. What a name!"

I narrowed my eyes at her as I looked up again from my tax form. "Can you go away?"

"I guess it's only natural that you do taxes, too," the scamp continued thoughtfully, and I briefly considered slamming my head into the desk. "I mean, you got off easy with the whole Kyogre mess. Probably should've been arrested. So, if you went to jail over something as stupid as tax evasion, well… that'd just be cruel. And ironic."

"Just stop!" I shouted, and she stared at me with wide eyes. "I'm busy."

"Fine… I'll just be over here playing chess with myself…" The scamp scooped up the board and then walked over to the corner of the room, where she plopped on the floor and set up the chess set. Sure enough, she began playing against herself, and I watched her for a couple of seconds before shaking my head and returning to work.

After several minutes—several upon several minutes really—of silence, I managed to finish off the forms. I set them off to the side and put my face in my hands. I hated taxes. But who didn't? I couldn't wait until May got to endure that torture… then she'd finally understand.

When I glanced over at her, I noticed her staring at me, chess pieces of both colors scattered around her on the floor. I folded my hands together just to distract her, and she shook her head as she returned back to planet Earth.

"Archie," she finally started, "how come you're not married?"

I nearly choked on my own spit. "What?"

"You don't have a ring. So, you're not married, right? Please don't tell me that this will be another one of my discoveries for today and that you're actually married after all." She gasped, smacking a hand against her cheek. "It's Shelly, isn't it? Your wife! I should have seen all the signs! I'm such an idiot."

"You are an idiot, but not for missing the signs," I told her, and she pouted again. "I'm not married to Shelly. Won't ever be married to anyone. I'm a free spirit, ya see."

"Free spirit? Probably more like a guy who can't commit," May murmured quietly, just loud enough for me to hear. Then, louder, she added, "I bet if you really fell in love with someone that you'd marry them. Right?"

I put my elbows up on the desk and smiled at the little scamp. "My only love is the sea."

"Marry it, then."

"Yup, ya are an idiot," I concluded, and she fell back on the floor in a fit of giggles. When I noticed myself smiling at the sight, I covered my mouth so she wouldn't notice.

"Archie…" May sat back up and put her hands in her lap. "You say you're a free spirit, but… you're always here. That doesn't mean you plan on leaving, does it? Stay in one place for a few years and then abandon it?"

I shrugged, dropping my hand when I managed to get rid of the smile. "Maybe someday, scamp."

"Oh." She frowned and then pushed herself to her feet, leaving the chess pieces all on the floor. "I'm gonna go. I want to see some of the other grunts, and my boyfriend asked me to dinner tonight, so… if I want to make it in time…"

She started scurrying over to the warp pad, leaving the board on the floor even still. "Hey, scamp…" I leaned against my fist as she glanced back over her shoulder. "I'll play chess with ya next time. But just to warn you, I'm pretty damn good."

Her eyes lit up again, just like that lightning all those years ago, and she nodded. "Okay!" she agreed, and then she touched the warp pad and spun out of the room.

Sixteen

I got used to the scamp's random appearances in my base—hell, even in my own room—years ago at this point. She would always come visit me and come slouching around to check on what I was doing, as if I was the young one here who needed checking up on.

But I got used to it, all right. Her presence around the base was… familiar.

So when I warped into my room and saw her in it, I barely even blinked. It was the fact that Shelly was there, too, and had her arm over May's shoulders that made me pause at my desk. I tapped my fingers against the wooden surface, waiting for either one of them to look up, but neither of them turned. Only Shelly's hand moved back and forth against May's back.

I cleared my throat, and then May looked back at me. Her eyes were swollen and red, and her cheeks were shiny from tears.

My nails scraped against the wood as my fingers curled into my palm.

"H-hey," I greeted, and May sniffled. "If you're going to be crying, then you can leave. I didn't come in here to babysit."

I was mostly joking, so the reaction I got wasn't the one I intended. May pushed herself away from Shelly and stood up, facing me with her hands clenched and her eyebrows furrowed. I thought she might fight me, if not for the fact that I had no Pokémon with me right now.

"You jerk!" she cried, and then she ran out of the room without saying anything else. I glanced between the warp panel and Shelly several times before shaking my head.

"What's up with her?"

Shelly narrowed her eyes at me. "Yesterday was her birthday. Her sixteenth birthday."

"What, was she upset that I didn't get her a gift or something? I didn't know." Under my breath, I added, "Here I thought she was selfless…"

"Her boyfriend broke up with her yesterday morning. Damn tool, I said—better off without him. But she's completely heartbroken," Shelly explained, her eyes thin as she looked off in the corner.

The pain in my chest had to be the result of some indigestion from the breakfast burrito I ate this morning. What happened to May sucked, but… it didn't really affect me one way or another, other than the fact that she somehow ended up in my base uninvited, as per usual. But she wasn't exactly a pest these days, so that was a trivial matter.

The lurch in my stomach, the boiling of my blood—it was all just coincidental indigestion. I'd be fine with some antacids.

"She comes here to see you, Archie." Shelly sent me a pointed look, and I immediately averted my gaze. What the hell was that supposed to mean? "The least you could have done was act like you care for her just a little bit."

I nearly burst out laughing. "What? When she's the one who comes here to annoy me?"

"She worries about you."

"A little young to be worrying about someone my age, ain't she?" I scoffed.

"Well, she does. For some stupid reason, the kid looks up to you. If I had my say, she wouldn't, and she'd stay away from a good-for-nothing like you—but she'll do what she wants," Shelly told me, her words laying on thick, and I kept avoiding her gaze. "If she wants a little comfort because her boyfriend broke her heart on her birthday, you best be giving it to her."

I rolled my eyes, but that led me to the mistake of meeting Shelly's dangerous ones. "Not my job to be her dad." I played my slight fear off well, as I should, being Shelly's superior and all. "She has one, doesn't she?"

"One who's not around a lot. He's the gym leader in Petalburg. Which you would know if you paid any attention to her," she added.

"Again," I snapped, "not her dad. The real dude should step up to the plate."

Shelly sighed then, and she approached my desk and sat on the corner. "Archie, are you saying that you wouldn't be upset if she just stopped coming here? After all of these years?"

Her hand moved over the Sharpedonite in the center of the desk, the first of us to touch it in all of this time, and she slid it across to me. When she lifted her hand, I stared at the little round orb, and something lurched in my stomach again.

"Nah," I finally managed to say. I pushed the mega stone back into the center of the desk with the tip of my index finger. "It's time she goes."

Seventeen

It was awkwardly quiet around the base these days. May hadn't been around in over a year, ever since she ran out the day after her sixteenth birthday.

I, personally, didn't find what I said that mean, but apparently it bothered the scamp enough that she wouldn't drop by anymore. Good riddance. It made me nervous having the brat around all the time, and she didn't belong here in the first place. She was Team Aqua's enemy, no matter what anyone said.

But the questions from the grunts were endless. "I wanted to show May my Mightyena. It evolved from the Poochyena I showed her. You know when she's coming back, Boss?"

"I got my massage therapist license! Where is May so I can show her?"

"May lent me another book that I finished months ago. Is she coming back around base soon? I want to return it."

But it was Matt whose question made me pause in the hall. "When is May coming back? Haven't seen her in awhile," he commented, and I turned back to look at him. He smiled, like he always did, but there was something sentimental about it. "Man, she always makes me laugh! I love that kid! Wish she'd stop by again, and I'd show her how much I love her!"

It kind of weirded me out, even though Matt was harmless. He said stuff like that to me all the time, actually…

The thought of it all—that Matt and the grunts missed having May around—really annoyed me. Her name started to sound like nails on a chalkboard to me.

"For the love of Arceus… I'll go find her! Is that what ya want to hear? Huh?" I finally shouted, and Matt nodded emphatically. I slapped a hand against my cheek and groaned, unbelieving of what I just agreed to do. "I'm so sick of everyone saying, 'May-this, May-that.' If finding her will make you all shut up, I'll go."

"I love you, man," Matt said with a smile, and he threw his arm around my shoulder.

"And I hate you all… in the most loving way possible," I added, and Matt gave me a thumbs up as I pushed him away and started for the exit.

What had I just signed up for? Where did I even begin to look? I didn't know where the scamp was from or what she did now. She might've mentioned it once or twice… but she came by the base so frequently then that I couldn't expect she had a job at all. And now, more than a year later, there was no saying that she was doing the same thing.

Good golly. Yup, I was an idiot. I'd admit that to myself now.

Oh. But Shelly mentioned that her dad was a gym leader in Petalburg. Involved or not, he ought to know where his own daughter was.

My Crobat led me to Petalburg on its back. It had been ages since I'd been here, even though it wasn't too far onto the mainland. I didn't like it much. Small, quiet, quaint. Not my style in the least. I liked things to be busy, always moving. Like waves on the sea.

Man, I was deep.

"Hello, sir!" I announced as I entered through the automatic doors of the Petalburg Gym. The room I entered was plain, just a normal old room. But the man standing in front of me wasn't quite so plain. He resembled May greatly—or, more adequately put, she was the spitting image of him, except for the hair.

"Pirate?" the man, May's father, wondered, and I pulled at my bandana. "Ah, no… Team Aqua, isn't it? You're from the group that caused quite a lot of trouble several years ago. Nearly killed my daughter, I heard."

I shifted my feet awkwardly. I wasn't one to get intimidated easily, but this man had quite the death glare down. And, well… he was correct. I really did almost kill his daughter. But that was in the past, right?

"I'm looking for her. Name's Archie." I held out my hand to May's father, only to have it ignored. "I'm, uh… just here to make amends, mate. Nothing… evil."

The man nodded slowly, one of his eyebrows raised as an indication that he didn't believe me. Damn. No wonder the little scamp didn't get along with her old man. The guy didn't have a sense of humor nor the will to give the benefit of the doubt.

So, I sighed, lowering my head and putting my hands on my hips. "Listen," I began, as if the dude would actually do as I said. "I owe your daughter an apology. Can you just tell me where to find her? It would be a lot easier than me searching all over creation for her, which I'm gonna do if you don't tell me."

Her dad sighed, and he jabbed his thumb behind him. "May's in the back. She's been helping me with some bookkeeping."

"Wonderful! Thanks, mate!"

I clamped the man on the back as I walked past, which was probably a little much, but he made my job about fifty times easier by telling me where she was. And the fact that she was here, and I didn't have to travel anywhere else, was an added bonus.

I pushed through the doors, one after the other, all the way to the room in the back. And when I saw the familiar chestnut mop of hair—a little shorter now but still pulled away from her face with a bow on top of her head—suddenly the air felt lighter. I didn't have any doubt that she'd be okay, but seeing her here was like a weight off my chest.

"Dad, can you stop checking up on me? I've got it," she snapped, not bothering to look to see who walked in. Her usual feistiness, and that it never changed, made me grin.

"Aye, scamp, but just wait until you've gotta do taxes."

She flinched at the sound of my voice and turned slowly to look at me. Her lips parted slightly, leaving her jaw a little slack, and her eyes darted back and forth as she searched my face. As if anyone else could be this ruggedly handsome!

"Archie!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and taking a few tentative steps towards me.

"I'm here on behalf of the rest of Team Aqua. It's got nothing to do with me," I explained quickly, and the corners of her lips flickered. "Some of the grunts have stuff to show you, and they won't stop asking me when you're coming back to the base. And then today Matt asked me to come see if you'd visit. So… you know… I'm just trying to keep the team happy."

I thought May would smile. I really thought she would. But she narrowed her eyes and became serious, so unlike the scamp I knew.

"Grovel at my feet," she demanded, pointing down to them. I scrunched my face, but her expression remained serious. "Grovel, seaman. Now."

What the hell happened to her? Did I miss something here?

"You're joking."

May smiled then, and I sighed in relief. "Of course I am. I don't want you anywhere near my feet," she joked, and then she took a few more quick steps towards me and hugged her arms around my waist. "Hi, Archie."

"Uh." I patted her back awkwardly until she let go. "Hi."

"I got angry with you, told myself I wouldn't go back for awhile, so I didn't," she explained. "But then my dad asked me to start helping out at the gym, and I got so busy that I couldn't drop by. I think he'll understand if I take some time off, though. Not today, but… I can probably stop in tomorrow?"

"Okay," I agreed, only because I had to. The grunts would be happy to see her. The things I did for my team…

"Okay," May said back, and her smile grew a little wider. "See you tomorrow."

"Yup. Oh, and sorry," I apologized. "You know. For what I said. And almost killing you… and everyone else on the planet."

May laughed, and then she waved a hand at me. "Don't worry about it. I don't hold a grudge, if you couldn't tell. My dad, on the other hand…" She rolled her eyes, and I stopped myself from nodding. Some things were better left unsaid by strangers who only just met the guy. "He'll warm up to you. I'd bank on it."

"I wouldn't," I whispered, and then I turned towards the door. "Tomorrow."

Eighteen

These days my back hurt. I wasn't getting old—as the adults said, I just celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday for another year in a row—but I was old enough that some things kind of ached every once in awhile. Being a man of the sea, it was no wonder that my back was one of the first things to start causing problems.

And I found a gray hair, then more the next week, more this week. That hurt. Stung real deep.

"Oh. You're looking frosty."

I covered my beard with my hands as May approached, and she leaned in towards me and squinted. "Shut it. It's a glare from the light."

"My dad started getting gray in his thirties. It's not a huge deal. And my friend Steven, well… he was gray when I met him, but I think that was kind of his style, you know? More silver than gray. But if that's what you try to go for, you can make it work," she encouraged, walking over to my desk when she scrutinized me enough and plopping down behind it.

"Don't patronize me."

She stuck out her tongue, and then her gaze moved to the Sharpedonite that still sat on my desk. She snatched it, holding it between her fingers up to her face.

"Are you ever going to take this back or what?"

"What, probably."

"Look who's being patronizing now," May remarked, and she slammed the stone back on the desk. "Wouldn't your Sharpedo like it back?"

I pulled the chess set down from the bookshelf and carried it over to the desk. "We've got on without it."

She moved first without even asking, but it was well-established between us that the winner from last time got to move first the next. Pawn first, her typical start move, and one would think I would've caught on to her style by now. I hadn't. She beat me almost every time.

"I'm going to college in Johto," May said flatly, as if this was just part of the game. "The school where my dad went."

"Oh? Didn't realize I had an academic in my presence. My apologies, oh Wise One." I smiled at her and then moved my knight, which required way too much thought considering May would probably beat me again.

"I'm heading out there tomorrow."

Another pawn, two spaces forward. Her finger lingered on the piece, and I noticed that her whole hand was shaking.

"You tell the grunts, scamp? They're the ones who should know, and it wouldn't be fair to make me have to tell them."

My knight knocked her pawn off the table, a sacrifice that wouldn't go to waste. That was the good thing about her games—all of those pawns that ended up with me, she would make it up to them by winning. My pawns were lost forever.

But then she moved another pawn forward, right in my knight's path.

"I'll tell them. I just wanted to tell you first."

I took out the pawn. "Check."

"The match is yours." May knocked her king off the board and stood up, and I followed after her as she hurried towards the warp panel.

"Hang on a second there, scamp. Ya really want to leave on a forfeit?" I asked, and she paused by the edge of the panel. "That ain't like you. Hell, I won't even be able to remember that I'll need to go first next time, it's so unusual."

May turned and threw her arms around my neck, her cheek pressed against my chest. I was a pretty short guy, but May didn't grow much since she was twelve. It was no wonder that she barely made it to my shoulder.

"I'm going to miss you the most," she told me, and then she let go and stepped back into the warp panel without another word.

Nineteen

A whole year without the little scamp. It was easy to get used to because she already vanished for a year before, and I knew where she was.

It was hard to get used to because no one asked me where she was or when she was coming back.

Twenty

Two years without May. I didn't even know if she visited Hoenn anymore or if she just stayed in Johto all the time. I liked to think she'd stop by the base if she came around Hoenn.

Twenty-One

Three years. I had no idea how May could play chess by herself. It was boring. Shelly wasn't much of an opponent either, and Matt had no luck with it.

I used to play with my dad when I was but a wee scamp, but I was beginning to think I lost my touch by now.

Twenty-Two

May would have graduated by now. I wondered how being an academic worked out for her. As a free spirit, school was never for me, even though I went and suffered through it with Maxie. It wasn't long after we graduated that we joined the same team. Not too long after that, the team broke apart.

I didn't exactly peg May as a student, either, but… what did I know about her?

Twenty-Three

I had been slapped awake before. It didn't feel good then—and it didn't feel good now.

"What, what?" I shouted, my arms thrashing in front of me to fend off the person hitting me in the face. This was really no way to wake up in the morning. Afternoon. Whatever time it was. I wasn't exactly sure.

"Archie," a voice sighed. "It's so good to see you."

"Yeah, well," I muttered, too groggy to really care. "I can't see you right now, so… not really that good for me."

I blinked a couple of times, and the haze in front of my eyes eventually cleared up. And when I pushed myself up on my bed and looked at the owner of the voice, I nearly passed back out again. Maybe I did pass out. I couldn't remember.

But I remembered her, even though she appeared so different after these five years since I last saw her. Her hair was cut straight, a perfect little bob that worked well on her perfect little head. There was no bow. And she wasn't in her usual sporty attire, either, but a gown of some sort—she looked like she was dressed for a ball or something.

"May?"

"It's been a long time. You're even more frosty than the last time I saw you. Look at all that gray hair. You're old," she joked, and that was when I knew for sure that it was her.

"I'm twenty-nine," I told her, and she snorted. Good to see that even dressed up like a princess she could still be the rudest little girl I'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. The first hint should have been the slapping, but… I had been a little tired then.

"Maybe ten years ago," she commented, and I crossed my arms.

"Why are you here?" I asked, groaning as I threw my legs over the edge of the bed. But then I realized that I was only in my boxers, and I put my legs back under the sheets.

She smiled, a little too innocuously. Suspicious. Very suspicious.

"Don't shoot me down right away. But I need a dancing partner," she said, and I burst out laughing. Dancing! I loved it! She really wanted me to be her dancing partner?

"For what, the chicken dance? That I can do. Anything else, no."

"It's a father-daughter dance."

I laughed again. This was honestly the best way to wake up in the morning. A stand-up comedy routine just for me. Genius. I should've hired her as my alarm clock years before now. I could do without the slapping, though.

"You've been away so long that you forgot who your dad is?" I asked, and May's cheeks went pink. Huh.

"I asked my dad, he agreed, I bought the tickets for a hundred bucks a piece, and he told me this morning that he can't go. Which is… typical, and I should have known better than to blow that much money on him, but…" She trailed off and then shook her head. "I don't want two hundred dollars to go to waste. I'm a frugal woman."

"And you're asking me because I'm such a good father-figure-role-model-type guy?"

"Good?" May repeated, a little unsurely. "No. Not good necessarily…"

"Find someone else. Ask Matt. He likes dancing," I suggested, and then I rested my head back against my pillow and rolled over.

Nothing changed in these five years. It didn't matter how long May was gone. She came back, and everything was exactly the same again. Little rascal. I wanted her to apologize, at least, for being gone for so long.

"I want you to go," she said, and I felt her hands on the edge of my bed, tugging the sheets down. "I don't want anyone else. You've been more of a father to me than my own dad, so I should've just asked you in the first place, but—I mean, how would that look to my dad? So, I couldn't ask you, I had to ask him. But now that he backed out, I can ask you, so I am. And I want you to go to the dance with me."

My face burned. I didn't know why. I barely understood half a word she said because she spoke so quickly. But the words I did understand… they were a little embarrassing. Kind of… flattering. But still embarrassing.

And clearly she felt the same way. Her cheeks went bright red, which was quite the contrast from the light pink blush earlier.

"Well?" she snapped.

"Fine. But I'm not a good dancer. And if people ask why we look nothing alike, you have to be the one to make the excuses," I told her.

She smiled, but her cheeks didn't turn any less red. "Everyone in Hoenn knows who I am, and most people know who my dad is. They won't ask why I have a stand-in. I'm sure everyone will understand. Even more so if they really know my dad."

"Hmm?"

"You're married to the sea?" she asked, but I didn't respond. It was clear enough to me that it was a rhetorical question. "My dad is married to his work. And he's actually married. I can't even imagine what it feels like for my mom to be forgotten for something that's not even real. Cheated on with a concept."

"Jobs are real enough."

"Not more real than his wife and daughter, though. But it is what it is." She clapped her hands together and spun around, so her dress swayed back and forth. "Do you have a suit? This is a formal event, if you couldn't tell." I nodded. "Good. I'll wait outside. We need to leave by one."

She left me, and I sighed, whacking my hands against the soft fabric of my bed.

I missed her.

I'd never admit that. I'd sooner admit that I was an idiot. But while she was gone all of those years, I missed having her around. I wasn't ever going to get married—I was sure of that—and I certainly didn't want any kids. But she was about as close as I got to having a daughter. I watched her grow up all of these years.

She turned me into a sap…

After a quick shower, I found my suit in a dusty old drawer where it definitely didn't need to be, and it was completely wrinkled. But it fit, a little snuggly, and I looked pretty damn good in it. I couldn't remember the last time I wore this thing, but I would need to more often.

May, as promised, was waiting outside for me. It had been a long time since I saw that sly grin of hers, like she knew something about me that I didn't, but she presented it to me again.

"Ready, Archie?"

Oh, she knew, all right.

"Let's go, scamp."

Twenty-Four

"You clean up, Archie."

I rolled my eyes and fixed the bowtie in the mirror. "You saw me in formal wear at the dance last year. This shouldn't be this shocking to ya."

"But that was just a suit. This is a tux!" May gestured to all of me, and then she rubbed her chin. "I'll admit, though, I like your usual pirate look. It's so you, you know? You don't look the same without the bandana. Or the skirt."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What skirt?"

May waved me off, and I rolled my eyes. I never wore a skirt in my life. Well, maybe when I was a little boy, but that was only because I was forced into one. I really worked it, though. So, if I did decide to wear a skirt right now, I'd—

What the hell was I saying?

"Why are you here?" I asked, and May leaned against the wall and smiled. "Shouldn't you finish getting ready?"

"The wedding can't start without me. I'm kind of a big deal," she said with a wink. I shot her a look through my reflection in the mirror. "I wanted to see you before it starts. You're my guest of honor, so…"

"You don't have much time," I warned.

"Which means I don't have much time with you." She walked forward, stepping in front of me and blocking me from my reflection. She reached up and fixed my bowtie for me, and then she put a hand on my shoulder. "You're not the one walking me down the aisle today, but please know that your opinion is most important to me. I still want you to give me away."

Give her away? Give away the little girl, now a woman, who I never thought would mean anything to me? Give away the little girl who became everything?

Give away my little scamp?

"Is he good to you?" I asked, thinking back to that incident many years ago that caused a bit of a drift between the two of us. I didn't want to think about this guy leaving her on her birthday… or any day. She nodded. "Is he as handsome as I am? I know that's difficult, but a girl's gotta have standards, right?"

May scrunched her face in pure disgust, and I chuckled.

"You've met him before. I know I should've properly introduced the two of you before now, but… we were over here in Johto making plans. Our engagement was so short, too," she explained, as if I needed to hear her excuses. I understood.

"I thought his name seemed familiar…"

She nodded, and then she turned away to face the mirror. "I'll still visit you sometimes, Archie. I promise."

"Go on, ya need to get ready." I brushed my hands towards her, and she patted me on the back once more. "Go on, May."

"I'll see you after. At the reception."

She waved as she exited the room, leaving me alone again until it was time for the wedding. Time passed slowly until that point. But that was okay with me. I'd rather this whole thing pass by slowly. That way my little scamp might be little forever.

But eventually time had to move forward, like it always did. I ended up in a seat in the aisle next to Shelly and Matt and a bunch of the other grunts from Team Aqua. We all cleaned up well, I had to say. I barely recognized some of the grunts.

And then the music began.

We all stood, and I turned around to watch May step forward with her arm hooked around her father's. She was beautiful, a vision in white. Her chestnut hair had been pulled up in an elaborate bun, and where her veil met it was a small white bow. It would have made me laugh had the occasion not been so serious.

And it stung a little, watching her father, a man who didn't respect his daughter the way she deserved, hold her with a straight face. Not a smile, not like May's, not a tear.

As she passed by my row, she reached out towards me and brushed my hand with hers. "Hi, Archie," she whispered, her voice as soft as her skin, and then she pulled away.

"Bye, scamp."

The two reached the end of the aisle where her future husband waited, and I couldn't see May's face at all. But I could tell by the boy's that she was smiling at him because he smiled, too—an amused smile, one that indicated he was laughing silently to himself, probably because May made a silly face at him.

"Who gives this woman to this man in marriage?"

"I do," Norman said, his voice as straight as his face.

"Archie?"

I went rigid as a finger brushed my cheek, and I became immediately aware of the damp smudge across my skin. When I looked over at Shelly, she held her fingers up in front of her face, the tips wet.

May made her promise, but I knew all the same that this really was me giving her away. She might stop in sometimes, but it wouldn't be the way it used to be. It wasn't like last year when she returned and things ended up being exactly the same. Everything would change.

Well, everything already had. I almost killed her twelve years ago. And now I was a sappy idiot crying at her wedding.

She was right. I got old.

I reached into my coat pocket and pulled a small orb out, turning it over in my fingers as May stood up in the front of the room with the one to whom I'd have to give her. She probably hadn't noticed that I took it off my desk, and she probably wouldn't ever. But I'd keep it in my pocket, and I would remember.

"Is that the Sharpedonite?" Shelly whispered to me, gesturing towards the stone in my hand. "You finally took it back?"

I nodded, and then I curled my fist around it. "I took it back a long time ago. I just kept putting it on the desk," I admitted, and then I pocketed it again.

There were claps, and I faced forward once more. May leaned into the boy beside her—the man—and the two kissed, finalizing the union between them. And just like that, she was gone. I let her go.

Maybe she would come visit every now and again, and I hoped she would. But I hoped, above all, that if she didn't, it was because she was perfectly happy.

Before anyone could see, I snuck out the back. Shelly didn't reach for me, didn't try to stop me. Matt didn't call me back with all of his love. They let me go, too. And none of them, none of my teammates, would make me come back.

You say you're a free spirit, but… you're always here. That doesn't mean you plan on leaving, does it? Stay in one place for a few years and then abandon it?

I glanced back when I reached the door, slightly afraid to meet May's eye at the other end of the hall, but she wouldn't see me. Everyone was standing and clapping, and she was so distracted by everything that she'd never see this far.

"Bye, scamp," I told her one last time, and then I walked away, letting the door fall shut behind me with all the knowledge that my little scamp had a wonderful future ahead of her.

Author's Note: May and Archie's relationship in the games give me a lot of feels, okay? I can't help it. The idea of them having a father-daughter thing going on just… oh man, I have so many feels.

I purposely left May's first boyfriend and then her husband's identities ambiguous. Do with that what you will. ;)

Until next time! Happy New Year!