A/N: Get ready for some serious cheesiness and fluff ;)

"I have to go back at sunrise. Arceus said that I can only stay for the night..."

-Ash Ketchum

One More Night

…

…

"May."

May's heart dropped as she heard her name be called from behind her, deeper in the backyard.

It wasn't so much that her name had been said, it was more what the voice saying her name sounded like it belonged to...

May refused to look at the source of the voice, knowing that there was no possible way he was there. Her grief was causing her mind to play tricks on her, that's all. It wouldn't be the first time that'd happened.

...

...

"May, please look at me."

The person said, once again in Ash's distinct and unmistakable voice. May was becoming frustrated at her mind for making this illusion seem so real. It was killing her.

...

...

"May...it's me. I'm here."

Finally, May stood to her feet and turned to face the source of the voice so that she could scream at the person. She'd concluded that someone must've been playing a prank on her as the voice was definitely not just in her head, and that infuriated her to no end.

But before she could say anything, May's eyes finally fell on the man who'd been speaking to her. Immediately, her breathing hitched and her eyes widened. She then began breathing rapidly, her heart pounding a mile a minute.

He was there.

He was actually there.

Ash was standing in the gazebo, smiling that goofy smile she'd missed so dearly right at her.

May couldn't speak. She couldn't move. It was as if her brain had completely shut off. She literally couldn't believe it. There was no way that he was here... It was impossible...

Noticing that May was frozen, Ash simply chuckled and continued to look her way. "Hi, May... You have no idea how good it is to see you again."

Ash had never been happier than he was in this moment. Not only could he see May, but she could see him as well.

After almost 30 seconds of silence and shock had passed, May threw any and all skepticism she still had away and ran to Ash. She didn't care if this was an illusion or some dream, not anymore. All she knew was that it appeared that Ash was there with her, and that was all that mattered. The only fear that still remained in her mind was that he would disappear as soon as she tried to touch him, that it really was just her mind playing a cruel trick on her.

But once she reached him and jumped into his arms...

He was still there, holding her close.

May knew she'd begin crying any second now, so she had to do what she'd been wanting to immediately. Without any hesitation, May pulled back just slightly and looked Ash in the eyes before going up on her tiptoes and kissing the taller man, putting all the love she felt for him into it.

May didn't even pause to think about the possibility of Ash not feeling the same way before dong this. But if she had, any and all fears of that would've gone out the window the moment Ash began kissing her back, which he'd done almost immediately.

The two stayed locked this way for a long while, only separating when the need for oxygen became too great. But even when they pulled back, they never once took their arms off of each other; May was still afraid that he might disappear if she were to let go.

Now that she'd done the one thing she'd always wanted to do, the tears began falling down May's face. But for the first time in two years, these weren't tears of sadness.

They were tears of joy.

May had never felt such happiness in her life. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought that it was going to pop right out of her chest. As tears rolled down her cheeks, May simply stared into Ash's deep brown eyes, the same eyes that'd comforted her so many times before.

Ash was also lost in May's blue eyes, having felt that he'd never seen anything so beautiful. He was so thankful to Arceus in that moment. He would have to do something to repay him. But that would come later. For now, all he wanted to do was be with May.

"Umm...hi!" Ash said, not quite sure what to say. His words caused May to chuckle through her tears before her face returned to its previous expression. She then proceeded to ask what was, to her, the most obvious question.

"...How are you here...? Are you... alive...?" May managed to get out, her angelic voice like the sweetest music to Ash's ears. Ash also couldn't help but notice the bit of hope in the brunette's voice when she asked if he was actually alive. This saddened Ash greatly as he was going to have to let her know the real truth of it and he was confident that she wouldn't like what he had to say.

"Well...not exactly." Ash started, confusing May as well as worrying her slightly. "Arceus is letting me have one night back on Earth. I begged and pleaded with him to do this for me because... I just had to see you one more time."

May felt even more tears begin to fall from her eyes as a wide, beautiful smile spread across her face. He'd come back just for her, and that meant so much to May.

"We...we have to go tell the others!" May said, grabbing Ash by the hand and preparing to rush back into the house.

But when she tried to pull Ash along, she realized that he wasn't moving with her. May turned and looked at him in confusion, which caused Ash to sigh before he explained himself.

"May...you're the only one that can see or hear me while I'm here." Ash told the lovely brunette.

"But why...?" May was saddened by the fact that her friends wouldn't get to experience the same elation she was feeling because of Ash's return.

Ash smiled softly before responding. "Because when I talked to Arceus, I specifically asked for him to give me one more night with...with you. Of course, I would love more than anything to see the others, but Arceus told me that was too risky right now."

A look of understanding joined the smile that was still on May's face. Just then, May remembered the one thing she'd always regretted not telling Ash. She felt some fear over what she was about to do, but she didn't care. She wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.

She wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away.

"Ash...I love you." May revealed in the sweetest, softest, most loving voice possible. "I love you more than anything in the world. I've loved you since I first met you, and my love for you hasn't faltered in the slightest since you've been gone. You're absolutely everything to me, Ash. God, it feels so good to say it. I love you so much, Ash Ketchum!"

Ash's heart filled with a warmth he'd never experienced before upon processing May's revelation. Even though he'd already known about her love for him, hearing her actually say it to him was something else entirely. It had to be the best feeling in the world.

Ash smiled softly before speaking. "I know. And I love you too. More than anything."

May's face lit up as tears once again began streaming down her cheeks. She'd thought that simply seeing Ash again was the best feeling in the world, but this proved to be even better. The man she was in love with loved her back. After experiencing it first hand, May was sure that there was no better feeling than that.

Once again, the two leaned in for a kiss, with Ash being the one to initiate it this time. It was almost unbelievable just how much passion and love was behind the kiss. To both parties, this was the greatest thing they'd ever experienced.

Ash had actually been to 'heaven', and he could say with confidence that being what many considered paradise didn't even come close to being as amazing as what he was feeling in this moment.

Once again, the two only broke apart when they needed to breathe. But after they separated this time, they rested their foreheads on each other as they panted, having kissed for over a minute.

The two stayed silent during this time, just staring into each other's eyes They both would've been perfectly content just staying here, staring at each other all night.

During this period of silence, May remembered something Ash's said. Hoping to get an answer to the question she had circling her mind, she began speaking.

"Wait...you said you knew that I was in love with you. How?" May inquired, thinking that she'd hid it better than that while they were together.

"Well, when I first...left, I talked to Arceus and I... requested something. And because I'd helped him in the past, he was more than happy to do whatever he could for me. My request was to be able to watch over all of my friends, to be able to see how they were doing, even though I couldn't actually be there. So, I've been watching over you and the others for the past two years, you just didn't know it." Ash revealed to the brunette.

May was surprised by what Ash'd said. "So you were there for your..."

"Funeral?" Ash finished for May. Seeing her nod, Ash chuckled. "Yeah, I was And I must say May, your speech was one of the most beautiful, yet heart-wrenching things I've ever heard. And before you ask, yes, it was weird attending my own funeral. I wouldn't really recommend it. It's actually pretty creepy."

Ash used a joking tone in order to lighten the mood. It seemed to have worked as May chuckled at his words.

With nothing else to say at the moment, May simply embraced Ash once more, holding him tightly. Ash did the same, relishing in the touch of the woman he loved.

After a few minutes of simply hugging, May began to speak. "You know, when you were coming to Hoenn to visit me, I was planning on telling you my feelings while you were here."

"No way. Really?" Ash asked, surprised. He felt May nod into his chest, causing him to half scoff, half laugh. "That's really funny... because I was planning on confessing my feelings for you during that trip."

The two shared a laugh at the situation, ignoring the sadness that would typically come along with remembering that Ash had never made it to May's house for that visit.

May then puled away, for the first time letting go of Ash as she reached into her pocket to grab something. When she pulled the items out and showed them to Ash, he smiled.

"Our ribbon." Ash spoke fondly, earning a nod and a sweet smile from May.

Ash proceeded to grab his half of the ribbon from May's outstretched hand and stared at it for a few moments. He was incredibly glad that when he'd done what he could to make sure his pokemon would reach land somewhere and be saved, he'd attached the ribbon to the belt that held his pokeballs. This was Ash's most prized possession, and he never wanted to lose it, even if he was gone.

Ash held the ribbon out in front of him and smiled at May. "Two halves of a whole..."

May smiled warmly in response and matched her ribbon with Ash's, making it whole once again. "Reunited once again."

The two relished in this moment for a while before they returned the ribbon to their pockets. Now, there was something else Ash wanted to do.

Before Ash'd come to Earth, he'd made sure to get a few things ready for his time with May. One thing he'd wanted to do for a long time was have a dance with May. Now Ash wasn't much of a dancer, but Ash remembered how badly he wanted to dance with May while they were in Rota as he knew she would've liked to. But he couldn't do that whilst they were there, which disappointed both Ash and May. But now, this was something they could do.

And standing here, in the beautifully lit gazebo, was definitely romantic. Ash was proud of the fact that he'd managed to get a romantic atmosphere going, even though it'd been more due to luck than anything.

Ash reached into and pulled out a music player he'd had Arceus whip up for him for this occasion. He searched through it's contents before stopping on a slow song and playing it.

He then set the music player down on the railing of the gazebo and reached his hand out toward May.

"May I have this dance?" Ash questioned formally.

Without a second thought, May smiled excitedly before softening it and grabbing Ash's hand with her own. "Of course, my love."

And so, the two danced slowly to the song, leaving no space between them as they did so. Just feeling each other's body heat and smelling the other's scent was intoxicating to them both.

This was by far the best thing that'd ever happened to them.

…

…

Back inside the house, enough time had passed to where May's parents thought that they should now go check on May. With this in mind, both Norman and Caroline approached the back door. Though instead of going through it, they looked through the large glass window that was situated next to the door first; they wanted to make sure May was still out there and had calmed down a bit.

They quickly noticed May in the gazebo, seemingly dancing. The only problem was, to them, there was no music and there was no one else with her, even though it appeared she thought that there was.

Both Norman and Caroline were immensely confused by this.

"What is she doing?" Norman questioned, baffled by what his daughter was doing.

Caroline didn't have an answer, so she didn't respond. Though, it seemed that Norman had been loud enough to earn the attention of a few others in the family room, as Grace, Johanna, Professor Oak, Delia, Serena, Dawn, Misty, Max, Bonnie, Iris and Brock entered the room that housed the back door and the large window.

"What's going on?" Grace asked.

Instead of responding verbally, Norman and Caroline simply moved to give the others more space to see outside. Immediately, they all noticed May dancing in the gazebo.

Everyone was confused by what she was doing, and they were slightly worried about it.

"Should we go talk to her?" Johanna inquired.

Caroline, still looking out the window, shook her head before responding. "No, let her be. Look at the smile on her face. I haven't seen her smile like that in years. Whatever it is she's doing, it's making her happy, so lets just leave her be."

Everyone noticed the amazingly happy look on May's face, which led them to accept Caroline's suggestion. They would simply go back into the living room and return to the 'party'. Everyone had stopped crying a while ago, and they had only just began conversing again. Though, stories of Ash were once again being swapped and the atmosphere had become light. They were actually all looking forward to returning to their conversations.

The group then returned to the family room, leaving May to her own devices, glad that whatever she was doing was making her happy.

…

…

Ash and May danced through a few songs, enjoying each other's touch more than anything. Though once the third song ended, the two pulled away from one another. And while they did separate, their hands still remained on each other.

With a teasing glint in her eye, May spoke. "I'm impressed, Ash. You only stepped on my feet like, twice!"

Ash chuckled at May's words before he huffed, crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue at her. "I was doing my best, you know!"

May giggled at Ash's reaction before she uncrossed Ash's arms with her own and placed them around her. "I know, I'm only teasing. But seriously, this was wonderful, Ash. I was really disappointed when we didn't get to dance at the ball in Rota. But you just had to go and win that tournament."

May's words earned another chuckle from. "I really wanted to dance with you that night too, believe it or not, even though I was even worse at it than I am now. But that old lady that was keeping me in my seat was scary! She had a cane, and she was not afraid to use it!"

May laughed at Ash's over exaggerated fear of the elderly woman before the two fell into another silence. As they simply held each other, May's mind began to focus on something.

Ash noticed her face fall slightly, which worried him. Seeing him looking at her the way he was, May addressed him.

"So...what happens when the night is over...?" May inquired, terrified of the answer.

Ash sighed deeply before responding. "I have to go back at sunrise. Arceus said that I can only stay for the night..."

May's face fell even further as the reality of losing Ash again plagued her mind. May looked down, a few tears already falling from her beautiful blue eyes.

May only looked up when Ash placed his thumb and forefinger and raised her head, allowing her to see his comforting smile.

"Hey, we still have a lot of time before then. We just have to make the most of it." Ash told the beautiful brunette.

Ash's comforting words and look caused May to stop crying. And after a few seconds, a smile appeared on her face as she nodded her head in agreement.

There was nothing she could do about Ash leaving at sunrise, so she simply had to make the most of her time with him, just like he said. And she planned on doing just that.

"You're right, Ash. We'll spend as much time together as we can. And as long as I'm with you, I don't care what we do," May said to the man of her dreams. "I love you, Ash. More than anything."

Ash felt that warm feeling return in his heart as he processed May's words. "And I love you, May. And that will never change, no matter what happens. I want you to remember that. Always."

The two smiled warmly at each other before sharing a short, yet passionate kiss. They then decided to simply sit on the deck and talk for a while.

Ash and May chatted for hours, laughing and smiling joyously; they''d almost forgotten how much fun they used to have together, even when they were just doing something as simple as talking.

After a while, the two then decided to go lay on the grass and cuddle close together. May'd gone inside and grabbed a blanket that they could lay on, not acknowledging anyone else that was in the house. And like before the others simply let her be as May seemed incredibly happy with whatever she was doing, and they didn't want to possibly rip that away from her.

The two had their bodies intertwined as they looked at the sky. It was a clear night, giving them a breathtaking view of the stars. Ad while they had been content simply laying there with each other, they did get a bit... frisky... at one point, making out and just having fun. That being said, they didn't do anything too serious. But even if they had, this was normal for people at their age who are deeply in love .

By this time, without even realizing it, it was nearing 6:15 am; the time had passed quicker to them than ever before. They only figured this out when Ash checked the time on the music player he'd brought. It was amazing how fast time flew when they were together.

May was laying with her head on Ash's chest, her arms around him and her legs intertwined with his, with Ash holding her closely with his arms. For a while now, May had been struggling to stay awake. For the first time in years, she was truly comfortable, and all of the sleep she'd missed out on over the past two years was finally catching up to her. But every time she'd begin to doze off, she'd snap herself awake, not wanting to lose a single moment with Ash. And as much as he wanted to spend more time with her as well, seeing her do this broke his heart.

The sun was due to rise at around 7, which meant that Ash and May's time together was coming to an end. Both of them knew this, but neither of them were willing to acknowledge it, lest they both break down completely.

Ash noticed that May was having a harder and harder time trying to keep herself awake. And while he would've liked to spend more time with her, he wanted her to be comfortable more than anything; he wasn't going to force her to stay awake when it was clear that she needed sleep.

Ash ran his hand through May's hair a few times as he spoke softly. "It's okay, May. You can sleep."

"But Ash...the...sunrise...soon...leaving..." May tried to form a coherent sentence, but she couldn't while being so tired.

Ash momentarily looked at the sky, seeing that it was beginning to brighten slightly as the beginnings of the morning's sunrise had begun. Ash felt tears well up in his eyes, but he didn't let them fall. He wanted to at least try to stay strong until the very end. So instead of crying, he simply smiled sadly and toothlessly with slightly misty eyes as he continued running his fingers through May's beautiful brown hair. That being said, the agonizing pain he was feeling could still be seen in the slight quivers of his smiling lips.

May knew that Ash was going to be leaving soon, that this would truly be the last time she would ever see him. But even with that in mind, she couldn't keep her eyes open. Not with the immense amount of comfort Ash provided her. Plus, it was hard to stay awake when you were finally comfortable after feeling nothing but exhaustion for the past two years.

"Shh...it's okay, May. Just rest. It's okay..." Ash reassured her softly.

"Ash... I love you...so much..." May barely managed to get these words out.

This is what finally made a couple stray tears fall from Ash's eyes as he fought back his emotions so that he would cry out in sadness. He brought his free hand to his mouth, closing it in a fist, and biting down on it lightly as he tried not to sob. After a few moments though, the sad smile returned to his face and he lowered his hand. That being said, tears were still streaming down his face.

"...I know, May. I love you too. Now and Forever." Ash told the woman in his arms, trying as hard as he could to keep the emotion out of his voice.

It was but a few seconds later that Ash heard May's breathing pattern change, indicating that she had finally gone to sleep. Ash let out a quiet sigh as a few more tears left his eyes.

And so Ash laid there, embracing May, smiling sadly with tears pouring from his eyes while looking between May's beautiful face and the sunrise. The sun would be coming up any time now. There was nothing else he could do at this point.

Knowing this, Ash closed his eyes and waited for when the time would come for him to disappear.

As he did this, only one thing remained on his mind.

"Thank you, May... for everything... I love you, and I'll wait for you... forever..."

A/N: This is probably the shortest chapter you'll ever see from me. I just had to end it where I did. And it was cheesy as hell, but I warned you all! And Ash may be slightly OOC, but think about it. Not only is he older (21 in this chapter; May is 20), but this is all he'd wanted for so long. I think it's not hard to believe all the things they did.

So they were given one more night, but can that ever be enough? I doubt it...

See Ya!