Well this is it... the last part. Almost 2000 words, so enjoy.
As soon as the ship docked, Ash started running. His body knew he was getting tired, but he ignored it and focused on his goal. He didn't care about the things in his way, as long as he could get there.
When he finally reached Petalburg City, the sun was almost down. He ran straight to the gym, and felt a feeling of nervousness wash over him. 'Why am I nervous?' he asked himself. 'I love her, I should be nothing, but happy to see her'. With that he shook it off and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
Knock knock… The door opened and there stood Max. "Hey Ash, I was wondering when you'd get here," Max started. "Max, who's at the door!?" Ash could hear Caroline ask. "Come see, I'm sure you'll be surprised." Max told her. She made her way to the door, and her eyes widened in surprise.
"Ash, it's great to see you," Caroline paused. "This is a pleasant surprise, please come in." she said, as she and Max let him enter. "So, why are you back in Hoenn? I thought you would have left for Sinnoh by now." Caroline asked. Ash was pulling his thoughts together. "Well, I decided I had some things to take care of first..." this confused her. "Ah, Ash, good to see ya, what're ya doin' here?" Norman asked happily as he walked into the living room. "I uh...", this wasn't what he planned on. Norman looked at him with a puzzled look on his face, "Well, whatever your reasons, I won't pry. It's good to see you" he said. "Yeah, good to see you too Norman." Ash replied.
Why was he so nervous? Where was May? "Um, well, I was actually hoping to see May. I have something that I want to ask her." Ash replied. 'Well that was a little bit straight forward. I really hope he doesn't question it.' "Well, I guess I'm not that surprised about this. She has been up in her bedroom most of the time since she returned. She hasn't really said much, so I was kind of hoping that one of her friends could help her to come out of her shell." Norman told him. 'What does he mean by: I'm not surprised;?'
"Is she ok? What happened?" Ash quickly asked. "She's fine, Ash. She's just seemed down ever since you guys split up, that's all." Max responded. 'I didn't expect him to be so concerned about her...' Caroline and Norman both thought.
"So Ash," Caroline decided to break the silence. "How long did you plan on staying?" He hadn't thought about that. He had his mind set only on finding her, that he didn't think about anything else. "I shouldn't be here for more than a couple of days" Ash replied.
'I just want to ask her to stay with me and travel with me.' Ash thought. It wouldn't take that long, and as soon as he had an answer, he would leave. "Well why don't you stay here? You can take the guest bedroom." Norman suggested, with a hint of knowing what Ash needed to ask May.
"Sure, thanks." Ash told him. "You're welcome here anytime, Ash. It's always great to see ya" Norman finished. "Max why bring him to May's room, I'm sure she will start to cheer up when she sees him. In the mean time, I will start dinner." Caroline suggested. "I have one more challenger before the gym closes for the night, so I'll see you guys later." Norman walked off to the gym. "Okay, sounds great. Ash, come on!" Max exclaimed as he dragged Ash toward the stairs.
"Shhhh, you said you wanted to surprise her, so here's your chance!" Max whispered to him. They tip-toed to May's room and knocked on the door. "Go away Mom, I don't want to talk" May sounded like she had been crying. "I don't think I sound like your mom, do I?" a voice asked. 'That sounded like...' She got up and her door swung open.
Her eyes widened at what she saw. It was really him! "Ash! I thought you would have forgotten me!" she exclaimed while pulling him into a hug. "It was only a couple of days. It would take a lot more than that to forget you." he said as he returned it.
"Right… Well Ash, I think I'm going to go watch dad's battle at the gym… Have fun you two" Max walked away muttering under his breath, with a smirk on his face. Ash and May just stood there confused on why he left so soon, but Ash was actually sort of glad he did.
"Have you been crying, May?" Ash asked, heavy concern in his tone. Her eyes were puffy and she didn't seem to be as sad now. "No! Of course not" she quickly told him. "May, Max told me you didn't seem to ecstatic when you guys got on the ship." May just looked at the floor. "To be honest I missed you as soon as we got on the boat. I didn't want to leave, but I knew we both had dreams to fulfil." He could see tears falling starting to run down her face. He pulled her back into another embrace, "That's actually why I came." Ash admitted. "I didn't want to go on my next journey without you."
"Is that an invitation!?" May gasped. "Only if you want to come along, but there was something more important I wanted to tell you. This isn't the right time though." He said. "Ash, thank you for letting me go with you! I won't let you down." They looked deep into each other's eyes. They were trying to figure out how to continue the conversation, but it didn't need saying.
"A-hem" Caroline said snapping them out of their trance. A small blush appeared on each of their faces when they heard her. "Dinner's ready. I just thought you should know" She said politely. "Thanks, mom" May said, embarrassment clear in her tone. With that Caroline just turned around and walked back down the stairs. "Well, let's eat!" May said enthusiastically, as she grabbed his hand and basically dragged him along with her.
When they arrived in the dining room, their hands were still being held tight by each other. Caroline came in carrying some silverware when she noticed this. "Would you like some help mom?" May asked like she didn't even notice that she was still holding Ash's hand. "Um, sure can you guys go get a tablecloth?". "Sure", they both said.
When they returned, Norman and Max were already sitting down conversing. "Hey, dad" May said. "Hi May, how're ya feeling". "Better.", she said with excitement lingering in her voice. "I knew that would cheer her up" Max whispered to Norman who laughed.
Once the table was all set up, everyone was sitting around having different conversations. At one point Caroline decided that they all discuss what May and Max's next moves would be. "So May, are you planning on doing more contests, or just staying home for a while?", she asked. "Well, I was going to go with Max and re-challenge the Hoenn Grand Festival, but Ash invited me to go along with him. I'll go to compete in the Sinnoh contest circuit!" she exclaimed. Satisfied with her answer, and not really want to ask any further than that, she moved on to Max. "How about you Max?". "I'm gonna get a Treecko as my starter Pokémon, and challenge the Hoenn League!" Max happily replied. "Sounds like a lot of fun, Max. Ash, I assume you will be challenging the Sinnoh League," she said, stating the obvious. "You betcha," he stated, "and with May by my side I can't lose!" 'Damnit, Ash', he thought. "Well, I'm sure you both will do well.", Caroline stated, as if not even noticing his enthusiasm about being with May.
This didn't, however, get past Norman. Though he didn't say anything, he knew exactly how the boy was feeling. 'Good for them.' He thought. 'I'm glad he is so good to her… they'll make the perfect couple!' He chuckled. "What is it dear?" Caroline asked him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Oh nothing!" he quickly went back to eating.
They had just finished dinner. Caroline and Norman were cleaning up, Max was in the greenhouse playing with his father's Pokémon, while May and Ash were sitting in the gym, discussing their journey.
"Ash, I'm glad that you are letting me travel with you." May told him. "I'm glad that you want to travel with me… I don't know what I would have done if you'd told men no.", he replied. "How could I say no? I love y-," she caught herself. "I mean… uh… I love traveling with you!"
He thought for a minute, on what to say. Had she just told him that she loved him? Then he remembered what he was going to tell her earlier. "May, remember how I had something else to tell you?", he asked quietly. "Yeah, what about it?" she finished.
"Well, listen. I don't want to go all Brock about this or anything but…" He thought for a second. "Listen May, you mean everything to me. The reason I came here to ask you to travel with me, is because I can't imagine being without you again." She was really surprised. 'Is he really saying what I think he's saying!?' she asked herself hopefully?
"May, I don't love you," he continued. This hit her like a bullet in the chest. She was starting to cry. "No, this goes beyond that, infinitely! I've never, ever, felt anything this deep for anyone. Even my Pokémon.", just as quick as the feeling of dread overtook her, the feeling of joy swooped right over, as fast as a shooting star! "When you left, I felt like a part of my was torn away! It was a pain that I can't even begin to describe!" he finished.
She was crying and gripping his hand right now, but they weren't tears of sadness, no. They were tears of joy. "Ash," she sniffled. "No one has ever said anything that sweet to me before." she continued. "I've never felt so accepted, so… loved."
If she didn't know it before, she knew it now. She was completely in love with him. All those feelings of completeness when he was around. All of the emotions that ran through her whenever she said his name. It all made sense now.
Ash leaned in close to her face, so their lips were almost touching. They shared a kiss. Their first kiss. It was deep, passionate, and they poured all of their feelings into it. Everything they had felt with each other. Confessing it right there.
They soon pulled apart, and smiled at each other. They started to talk and discuss how they felt. They told each other everything from when they started to fall for each other to now.
May was leaning with her head on his shoulder, while he had one arm around her, while the other hand was holding hers. They were getting really tired, from all that had happened in that day. Saying that they would be friends forever at that point was a vast understatement.
"I love you" May said as she drifted off to sleep in his arms. "I love you too, May", as he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep. The next day is the day they start their new journey… Together.
Don't forget to check out the Pearlshipping fic that I am working on right now: An Adventure of Romance in Sinnoh; This was a lot easier to do because, well I don't have that big of a plot that I needed to work with on this one. Thanks for reading.