Lalala! Nothing much to say, though I suddenly realised that I haven't been updating my other AshMay story for a while...and this one had more words than my older one. GASP.
I wrote this author's note in school, since I'm done with everything. Ugh, getting boring. Will write some at home, too, so I may write about something suddenly.
And if you read the previous story Cruise, just to let you know the four OCs who will appear here also appear there, so...read on.
King Ash stroked his chin as he watched the two 14-year-olds, the not-so annoying son of the very annoying King and Queen (even their names were annoying, mused Ash) trying quite hard to teach his very own daughter the basics of horseback riding.
The now 40-year-old king smiled as Charis almost fell off the horse, and he turned to Queen May, chortling at the two as they try, again, to learn.
Prince Daryl frowned as Princess Charis fumbled with the reins, and somehow the two looked at Charis' parents, with silly grins plastered on their faces. Charis raised her eyebrows. "What's with them?"
Daryl shrugged. "They're not my parents, you know." He shook his head, adjusting a Sir Aaron-like hat (how else can I describe it?), and he continued his riding lessons with Charis.
May smiled at the two. "How adorable."
Ash faced his queen, and he coughed. "Familiar, eh?"
The brunette grinned as she tried to gently smooth down Ash's jet black hair, unsuccessfully. She shook her head. In the very least Charis didn't get her father's messy hair, only the colour. She blinked as Charis fell down, again, as a bemused Daryl helped her get up to her feet.
"Ah, yes, I remembered..."
A 14-year-old Ash sat up on his horse, and offered his hand to May, in her dress. "C'mon, May, hop on!" he gestured for her to take his hand.
Princess May, however, was blushing painfully. "B-But Ash..."
Ash raised his eyebrows at the young stunningly beautiful princess before him getting all flustered. "Just grab my hand! No worries, c'mon!" He patted May's seat on his horse, right in front of him.
May sighed. This was getting nowhere, and at this rate they would be late for the ball. She took Ash's hand, the latter whom which much ease heaved May up on the horse. The brunette gasped, and she was so shocked she leaned on Ash's chest so much, that they both fell off the horse, still grunting at intervals.
Ash instinctively buried May's head into his own chest as they both fell, but May didn't struggle, even though she was lying on top of him.
"Yeoww..." Ash groaned, rubbing his sore head upon impact. May broke free from Ash's grasp, and she brought her face closer to Ash's to examine the wound he had sustained, causing Ash to blush.
"Ash, that looks...painful." she whispered, as she moved even closer to Ash's face, before she giggled. "Your face looks more painful."
Ash grinned cheekily. "It pains me and my face enough not being able to kiss you." he remarked, and he landed a kiss on May's lips before she could say anything else.
It lasted for a minute or so, before May broke it off, winked, and then she realised one thing.
"Ash! The ball starts in ten minutes!"
The prince got up to his feet gingerly, and this time, he got May up the horse first before he leapt up, and they both galloped back to the castle.
Ash smiled at the recollection, but before he could relax May jumped out from her seat, and she hurriedly rushed towards her daughter, who had landed on a pool of mud.
Daryl frantically called for a towel, May was frantically fussing over her daughter, but Charis was very amused at the turn of events. "Wow," she commented, feeling the...slushiness of mud, "so THAT'S how a mud bath feel like..."
The young prince almost puked. "Charis, it's a little..."
Charis' eyes sparkled with pleasure. "A little sick? Disgusting? HORRIFYINGLY COOL?! HECK YEAH!" And she stood up from her seat, and grinned. "Sorry, I'm no princessy princess."
Daryl was too stupefied for words.
May shook her head. "Charis, that was why we enrolled 10 instructors to teach you to act like a proper princess. And you scared them all away." Then May turned to Daryl, "Sorry, she's like that."
"Nah, I prefer girls like that. You should really meet my sister-in-laws though. They really act too much like a princess."
Charis blushed at the first sentence, before she shook it off, as the servant had arrived with a towel. The princess took it graciously. "Thanks, I need that..."
May smacked her forehead again, and facing Daryl she whispered, "She's too nice to the servants, don't you think?"
"No, not really. I play soccer with mine, and we play against the villagers." And the boy scratched his head modestly, "We always win."
The queen reminded herself never to compare her daughter to a normal princess, and never tell anything about her daughter to the soon-to-be king...oh, dear, I've said a tad bit too much.
Ash laughed, and he stood up from his seat too. "May, darling, you used to have an instructor like Charis too."
Charis looked at her mum, and then at her father, his hair still yet to grey. "Oh, really?"
Ash nodded his head. "You should have seen her first lesson..."
The instructor, a Madame Reychine glared at May, dressed in the type of dress Cinderella wears. She clucked her tongue in disapproval at her. "Oh, my, a queen-to-be should never be like this..."
May grimaced. "You're making me feel old..."
"Why, it's an HONOUR to be old. The young always respects the old, and the famed Lightning God heeds the cries of the old. You should be proud you're getting old."
Soon, the story of the Lightning God would strike a certain famed author Catherine Lim after technology was invented, and she would write about it, and a few years later, a young advanceshipping authoress would study the story along with another one for school, but decide not to so that she could type this out...oh, wait, I've said too much.
ANYWAY. May was learning how to ballroom dance. Ash seemed tortured by the lesson as well; he had to be both Madame Reychine and May's ballroom dance partner, the former dancing with him all the time to properly demonstrate to the latter about the steps taken.
The live musicians blared on, but they soon got tired. May noticed that, and she ordered, "You guys can take a break now. Go help yourselves to some coffee or cake, and later come back when I see some improvements in my moves."
The musicians quickly thanked May, and they ran off in pursuit of relaxation before Madame Reychine could stop them. She stared at May. "They're mere commoners, and yet you let them stop labour like THAT?"
"Hey, what can I say? I'm kinda hating the music now." May shrugged, and she plopped into a seat, much to Madame Reychine's chagrin. "Besides, my king-to-be is tired too." She winked at Ash, who simply chuckled.
Madame Reychine groaned. "Oh, oh, what sort of princess did they curse us with?" She clasped her hands, yelling at the...sky.
"The sky had blessed us with the most beautiful gorgeous best princess in the world." Ash whispered carelessly into May's ears, sweeping away a strand of hair, and with Madame Reychine looking away, he pecked her on the cheek.
"Mum, you actually DID THAT?!" Charis squealed. "Oh, that's great, thanks Dad!" She ran towards her father and hugged him, giggling as she did that.
"What for?" Ash asked, returning the hug, and mouthing something to Daryl that caused him to blush.
"For telling me that story." Charis replied, breaking off the hug to run back to the horse. "Now I know I can say that to my instructors!"
Everyone at the scene, including the servants and maids all sweatdropped.
Just then, two very familiar figures appeared. Queen Eve and King Shan Leong glared at Daryl. "Son," Shan Leong growled, "I hope you haven't done anything underaged during your one-week stay here."
Eve glared at Daryl. "I also hope you changed your underwear."
"MUM!"
Daryl groaned, and even when Charis saw a faint blush on his face when she looked him in the eyes, she still didn't get a thing. "Underaged things? Like...?"
Ash and May decided that Charis was far too innocent to know these things, and they shuffled towards their counterparts, shaking hands and exchanging greetings, while Daryl convinced Charis to sneak back into her bedroom to hide from their parents.
"Ah, Eve and Shan Leong!" May exclaimed, forcing a smile. "Daryl hasn't done any of that...things you mentioned."
Ash nodded his head vigorously, eager to sit back and enjoy some quality time with May. "Yes, yes, he's been a good boy. Very good to my daughter."
"And I assume we have to go through the terms of the arranged marriage too?" Eve and Shan Leong snapped in unison, before they looked at each other and giggled insanely.
Ash stared. "I suggest you ask Daryl for his opinion first. He may not like the idea of this."
He casually put his arm around May's waist and held her hand when he realised Shan Leong was hugging Eve. And Shan Leong grabbed Eve's hand and kissed it. After that he snickered when Ash gave up on the battle of intimacy.
"We'll stuff him with love potions if we have to!" Eve exclaimed, still unaware that Shan Leong kissed her cheek in victory, and she rubbed her hands with glee. "I always wanted to say that..."
Shan Leong cakled. "Wahahaha..."
Eve echoed. "Wehehehe..."
And the exchange between the king and queen continued, even when they realised that Ash and May had run off to settle the preparations for the night's ball.
"Ah, finally." Ash heaved a sigh of relief, as he jumped on his bed. "How tiring for poor Daryl to have such..."
"Crazy parents? Tell me about it." May whispered, placing her head on Ash's chest and snuggling into it. Ash smiled, and he caressed May's cheeks and played with her hair, enjoying the quiet, peaceful time.
May somehow managed to sleep soundly on his chest, and Ash, deciding not to disturb May by getting up and relieving her of his chest slept as well. The couple lay in bed, with the brunette's lips almost touching Ash's chest, and Ash with his hand on May's cheek, which slowly moved down to rest on her waist.
Right after Ash had drifted off into dreamland, Charis stormed into the room, oblivious to her parents having their...quality time together.
"MUM! DA- oh, crap." Charis covered her mouth. Daryl burst into the room, but when he realised that Charis' parents were having some time to themselves he grabbed the young girl away.
May stirred, and when she woke up she found her head on Ash's chest. His one hand was on her waist, while the other hand was clutching her hand. May smiled, and she kissed Ash on the lips, causing him to wake up. "Mmm...eh?" Ash rubbed his eyes wearily, and the first thing he felt was May's lips on his.
"Ah, it feels great to see my love the first thing in the morning..." Ash trailed off, and he jumped up in horror. "The ball! May, we forgot the ball!"
May widened her eyes. "Oh yeah! Aw, man, so that was why Charis came in..." The brunette took a comb from the dressing table and started straigtening her hair properly. "Not to mention Daryl...oh dear."
Ash sighed, and he walked behind May, planting a peck on her cheek as she stroked her hair. "Doesn't matter, we got some adminstrative matters to take care of."
The king took his queen by the hand and they left the room silently.
"Woah, nice revamp." Charis complimented the grand hall that greeted the two who strolled into the balcony facing the crowd of royal people. Daryl nodded his head, and they looked at Ash and May, who were chatting with Daryl's parents.
"Mmhm, wonderful job, Ketchums." Shan Leong smiled, and he started making kissy faces at Eve, who started giggling insanely.
Ash coughed abruptly, stopping the two from their...time together, while May pouted at Ash. "Why can't YOU make kissy faces?"
"I love you May, so don't ask anything."
May shut up for the next few minutes.
Eve looked at the two royal teenagers and she waved frantically at them. "Darling! Darling-to-be! Come over here!"
Charis groaned, but she quickly regained her composure, hissing at Daryl, "Your mum's weird!"
Daryl sighed and rubbed his forehead wearily. "Well, sometimes I find myself smarter than my parents. And how did they run the kingdom I may never know."
Just then, the trumpets suddenly blared out, and the announcer...well, did his job by announcing the arrival of all guests, and all the other stuff that needs to be announced before the dance. And finally, he announced, "Let the dance begin!"
By then, both Charis and Daryl had dozed off on the sofa, with Charis' head resting slightly on his shoulder, Eve and Shan Leong were cooing and taking pictures with their handphones like they had just given birth, and Ash and May managed to run away from the insane couple and started dancing.
Ash could still hear the cries of the two adults, and he cringed when Eve yelped out, "I am SOOO arranging a marriage!" May heard it too, along with everyone else, but they all knew how crazy the two were, so they left them alone.
He held May close in his arms, and slowly they started dancing. May smiled, and as they pulled each other closer she rested her head on Ash's chest.
"It's been a long time since we actually danced." May whispered, as she snuggled closer to the king, who nodded his head as he pulled her even closer than before.
"Yep, and it's the first time I'm holding you so close while dancing."
"Ash, we danced twice."
"...Really? Oh, darn it, I'm ageing."
May giggled, and Ash kissed her on her forehead, sweeping away her fringe.
"I still remember that time, when we decided that dancing was boring and we decided to play catching instead." Ash noted, sighing dreamily.
"Yeah, and there was a mistletoe above our heads, because it was almost Christmas, right?"
"May, you ruined my story-telling. Shush..." Ash murmured, pressing his finger on her lips to silence her, before cuddling her closer, laughing as he fondly remembered that time...
May was perspiring, despite the intense air-conditioning. She paused to straighten her dress, which was flying in all directions while running away from Ash in a game of catching, before slumping back against the wall. "Ash, I'm...huff. Tired..."
Ash laughed, and he faced May, grinning madly. "Whew," the boy huffed, "that was fun."
"Ye- um, Ash, what's that hovering between us?" May pointed to a funny-looking plant, which had a mini banner that said "Kiss. NOW!"
Ash looked up and he realised the cause of everything. Delia, his mum, had playfully attached a mistletoe to a fishing rod. "Do what the note says, Ashy!" she yelled, twirling her hair in mild amusement.
May blushed, and she gave Delia an incredulous look. "But, Mada-"
Ash silenced her by pushing his lips against hers, causing May to almost squeal in shock, and causing Delia to punch her fists in the air, before quickly retreating it back. "Owow...aching arm..." she groaned.
May decided that her first kiss felt funny, and she pulled away. Ash looked at her. "You don't like it?"
"No, but if you gave me more time my first kiss would've been much better."
The brunette, upon saying that grinned before pulling Ash back into a kiss again.
Ash smiled at the recollection. "I liked your tongue."
May got a little flustered. "W-Well...haha, I, uh, y-" She was cut off again when Ash kissed her on the lips passionately, stopping in the middle of the dance to do so.
He pulled away, and he smiled. "I did improve, did I?"
"Of course." May replied, grinning like an idiot. "Now, I think Charis is playing catching with Daryl." The two looked at their daughter, who had dumped her high heels on the floor, rubbed her feet with a disgusted look on her face, much to Daryl's amusement, and switched to her running shoes, which she had brought. She stuck her tongue out at Daryl, before running off. The prince was slightly stunned, but he quickly got to his feet and started chasing after her.
"Shall we go matchmake?" Ash asked, reading off her mind.
"Well, get me the mistletoes, some paper, and a marker!"
And the two, hand in hand, skipped off to their room.
And they all lived happily ever after! Okay, besides Charis who decided to kill her parents, and Daryl's parents who were sent to the Hospital of Insanity after they tried to make a love bomb and made it explode in the ballroom but it turned out to be a concoction of some weird leftover of food.
And the authoress lives happily ever after, happy that she updated, but later she would live sadly, because of examinations, and happily again, because the examinations are over and HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 COMES OUT! Oh yes and POKEMON RANGER BATONNAGE IN ENGLISH!...right? Okay, never mind. WOOHOO!