-May-

With Drew sitting across from me, and the others scattered around the room, I retold the story of how I had gotten here. This time, I included all of the small details. I mentioned how Ellis and Moira brought me back to life, I mentioned how we linked Max and Drew to the Resistance through the military's database, and I mentioned how I had traveled all the way up here from Slateport to accomplish what Ellis and Moira had brought me back to life for – joining the Resistance. I also explained the cause of my death; how Jericho, Verdana's protégé and leader of the Arbiter Corporation, was the one who killed me five years ago, using a detective alias to hunt down the people involved in his mentor's murder.

"Jericho Karvás is the leader of Arbiter Corp," Lionel said. "Why am I not surprised?"

I blinked. "Wait, the Resistance knows about the Arbiter Corporation? But Moira said-"

Max cut me off with a nod. "All of the military has known about Arbiter Corp for a while now. We've been trying our best to keep this fact a secret, because we don't want Arbiter Corp getting nervous and doing something drastic. That said, well…the reason we haven't stopped them yet is because we can't find them."

"So technically," Dawn said, "the Resistance isn't only for discovering stuff about the Chimera Project, but we're also assigned to locate and arrest members of Arbiter Corp. Since they're connected, it's kinda like-"

"Killing two pidgey with one stone," Paul said.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you have to be so gruesome?"

"Do you have to be so annoying?"

Lionel cupped his chin thoughtfully, ignoring Paul and Dawn's bickering. "We didn't know that Jericho Karvás was the leader of Arbiter Corp, though. That helps in giving our enemy a face."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out, because Drew stood up from his chair. Silent, his darkened eyes met mine. He exhaled slowly, turned, and then disappeared down the hallway that led into the staying rooms.

My chest ached. Ever since Drew had returned and saw that I was still alive, he had said nothing, only sitting down when I requested so that I could explain to him what had happened. Even through my story, he remained quiet, and now he had walked away as if I'd never came – as if the person talking to him wasn't May Maple.

"Uh…" Max trailed off, exchanging glances with Paul and Dawn.

"Go talk to Drew, May," Lionel said, helping me to my feet. "We'll worry about business later."

I nodded and made my way after Drew.

"Drew?"

I slipped through the door into Drew's room. It was medium-sized, with a bed, a nightstand, a couple of drawers, and lamps here and there. Drew stood by the bed, his back to me and his face in his hand.

"Drew…" I said, closing the door behind me. "Drew, look at me."

Slowly, he turned. His eyes were still dark. A few seconds passed before he crossed my gaze.

"Why did you walk away?" I asked, my voice soft.

"I…" He swallowed hard. "I don't want to get close to you."

"Why?"

"Because any second now I'm going to wake up, and you're going to be gone all over again."

"Drew…" I walked closer to him. "This isn't a dream. It's me. It's really me."

Drew shook his head. "But, how? How can you be here? It's been five years. I've spent five years thinking that you were…gone. I've spent five years thinking that I lost you."

My eyes grew wet. I touched his arm. His body was covered in black armor, but warmth still filled me as if I had touched his skin. "Drew," I said, "what Jericho did…I regret that it happened. Before I left that day, I made a promise that I would come back soon." I met his eyes again. "And I broke that promise."

Drew smiled weakly. "You broke your promise? May, when we were down in Enfer City, I kept a promise to myself that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, even if we got out of there. I broke my promise, May. I let that bastard hurt you, and…and by the time I realized it, you were already gone."

He stepped back and turned away.

"I've lived with the guilt for five years," he said, "and then Soledad died, and I knew that by letting that happen, I had let Harley down."

"Drew-"

"Ever since this shit began, broken promise after broken promise has followed me. I joined and stayed in the Resistance just so I could pretend that doing this would make up for all those broken promises."

"Drew-"

"This isn't fifteen years ago," Drew said. "We're not teenagers anymore. We're not that happy family of four. We're not traveling the regions with the sun in our faces, competing in contests, and spending the end of the day laughing at dumb jokes like there wasn't a care in the world. Harley and Soledad are gone because of these Arceus damn fusions. That world is gone because of these Arceus damn fusions. Everything we knew is gone because of these Arceus damn fusions." He closed his eyes. "I'm not the person you knew fifteen years ago when we were still rivals, or five years ago when we were together. Before you were my lover, you were my friend, and either way I told myself I would always protect you. Those ten years where I was gone, we made up for them, but this…letting you die, because I didn't protect you, because I couldn't protect Soledad, because I couldn't save Harley…"

I reached for Drew, but I stopped before my fingers brushed his back. I wanted to tell him that what Jericho did to me wasn't his fault – that none of us knew of Jericho's connection to Verdana or that the fusions had survived Enfer's detonation. I wanted to tell him that Soledad was alive, and even with the ambush incident four years ago she wasn't mad at him for what happened to her. I wanted to tell him that none of us could've saved Harley; that his sacrifice had been his decision, that he did it so we could all keep going, and that how much Drew cared for Soledad would've been enough to satisfy Harley's expectations any day.

I wanted to tell him that he didn't need to make up for anything. He didn't need to be a hero as much as he just needed to be Drew.

But, I said nothing. Instead, I walked closer to him. I slowly wrapped my arms around his abdomen and leaned my forehead against his back. I could hear his shaky breathing. He paused at my touch, but I didn't pull away. No matter what he said – no matter what he believed – I wasn't going to pull away.

I stood high on my toes – enough to reach his neck, and I kissed the back of it through his hair.

"I remember," I said, my voice a whisper against his skin, "I remember the night we spent together down in Enfer City before the fusions attacked. I remember the feel of your touch, the smell of your body, and the taste of your skin. It was enough to make me forget everything else."

I trailed my hand up Drew's chest. I felt his heartbeat through his armor. He inhaled. I felt that, too.

"Even though I was angry," I said, "I realized that what my heart felt was far more important than what my brain did. Since we were teenagers, I had feelings for you, but I ignored them like an idiot, thinking they were just the result of how much we'd been through together – how much you really meant to me."

I moved my hand to his side. A belt-like switch held the armor to his chest. I undid it.

"The first thing I thought about when I woke up was you. Arceus, I had missed you so much. I worried for you and I wanted to see you; and I knew that even if another ten or five years passed, that need would never change."

I undid a similar switch on the other side of his chest.

"I would love you for you. Even in times where you thought you didn't deserve it, I would love you."

With a click, the chest piece separated into two. Before I could take it off of him, he grabbed my wrists. His gloves masked his touch, but even through those his hold was soft.

"Just be Drew," I said. "You never had to be anything else."

He inhaled again, and he let go of my wrists. I took the armor piece off of him and let it drop to the floor, along with his gloves. He still wore his wedding ring – the one I had given him. Warmth filled me. I brushed my own ring against his, just as I had done on the day I died. Then, I ran my fingers over his bare chest, feeling the dust of hair below his collarbone. I pressed a kiss to the back of his shoulder blade.

Drew turned and met my gaze. His eyes were dark, but not with sadness. They were dark with emotion and desire, focused on me as if I was the most important person in the world.

I kissed him.

He hesitated, but then his lips moved against my own. His arms pulled me closer, his fingers slipping into my hair. His goatee brushed against my chin. His scent of roses and mint flooded my senses, making my legs weak. It had been five years since we kissed, but the effects his touch had on me hadn't changed at all.

Slowly, he pulled away. I looked into his eyes. Emerald. Dragon-like. It sent shivers down my spine.

"I remember," he said, his voice as low as mine – a rumble in his chest that I felt beneath my fingertips, "I remember that night in Enfer City as if it was yesterday. I remember not thinking, just feeling. I remember never wanting to let you go. I thought I was stupid for leaving just because I thought coordinating should've been more important than you, and I felt even more stupid that I spent ten years living with that debate. But, you'd taught me so much – more than you could ever realize – and no matter how many times I tried, I couldn't forget it."

His hands slipped beneath my shirt. I closed my eyes.

"When you disappeared," Drew said, "when Jericho took you away from me and time continued to pass, I tried to move on. I tried to find someone else. But, nothing would work, because I could do nothing but remember you and the guilt I had for your death."

My shirt fell to the ground.

Drew brushed his lips across my neck. "I started to forget the memories – the pieces of time that made us all who we were. With that, I started to forget who I was, and I grew scared."

I reached for his belt. He mirrored me, his fingers tracing my waistline. It wasn't long before those clothes were removed and kicked aside as well, leaving us nude.

"But now you're here," Drew said, "and I can finally remember that-"

"You're not alone," I whispered, kissing him.

And with his body against mine, he lowered me onto the bed.