Oh goodness...I am so, so, so, so, SO sorry for the ungoldly wait. Look to my profile for an attempt at an explanation. Until then...please enjoy chapter 10, and I promise the plot will start to get going here soon.
Disclaimer: Still not mine...
"A Passion Revived," chapter 10
May took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm herself down. It had been almost a week since she, Ash, and Brock had come to stay with Laura, and May had never trained so hard in her life. 'I'm starting to remember why I didn't want to be a trainer in the first place...' she thought to herself as she sat outside, near the lake she had found the first night they had come here.
There was a rustling in the grass behind her, and a familiar voice asked softly, "Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all, Ash." May replied, turning and giving him a small smile. "Since when do you ask something like that, hm?"
Ash's face reddened almost imperceptibly, but May didn't notice -- she just thought it was a trick of the light. "Well, usually when you go off by yourself...er...it means you want to, uh...be...alone." he finished lamely.
May chuckled. "Oh, Ash, I just wanted to relax, that's all. Laura's been working me -- us -- really hard."
"Yeah, I know. She's so strong, though!" Ash exclaimed with an excited smile. "It's really helping me and Pikachu to get even stronger, and she's even helped Grotle a lot with it's speed issues!"
May's face fell slightly. "Oh...well, I'm glad you're doing so well."
"Huh...May?"
May gave a small sigh, turning back to look over the water. "I guess I'm just starting to have second thoughts. No matter how I try, I keep reverting to contest tactics...I think Laura's getting disappointed with me."
"But May...you're a Coordinator." Ash reasoned. "I'm not even sure why you asked Laura to do this in the first place."
May sighed again. "Ash, I told you...I failed as a Coordinator in Johto, and I'm failing as one in Sinnoh. I'm failing as a Coordinator, so maybe it is time I followed in my father's footsteps...became a trainer..."
Ash looked away sullenly, picking up a rock and flicking it over the water. It skimmed low across the surface, skipping out a good fifty yards or so before finally sinking. Ash watched it sink, eyes dark and distant. "If you wanted to be a better trainer, why didn't you just ask me?" he muttered, more than a hint of bitterness in his voice.
May looked over at the other trainer, looking slightly confused. "Ash...are you...jealous?"
"No!" Ash answered emphatically, flinging another rock into the water. This was a little more violent than the first one, skipping once before sinking below the surface. "Why would I be jealous? Just because I've known you longer, trained with you before..."
'He is jealous.' May thought, putting on a concerned look. "Look, Ash...I didn't ask you because --"
"Because I lost?"
May's face fell. "Ash..."
Ash shook his head, standing. "You know what, May? Forget it."
"But Ash..."
"Forget it, May!"
"Ash, if you were so upset, why didn't you tell me that in the first place?" May pressed, worried. She'd never seen Ash act like this before. "If I'd known you'd feel this way, I would have asked --"
"May, you didn't even trust me enough to tell me why you were acting like this in the first place." Ash interrupted.
May sighed, lowering her head ashamedly. "I...I thought you were going to be disappointed with me." she admitted. "I felt like if I'd told you...I'd be letting you down, somehow." She brought her knees up, hugging them against her chest. "You always cheer so hard for me -- you always have. To admit to you that I'm a failure..." She shook her head slightly, closing her eyes.
Ash's face fell, all traces of his bitterness gone as he sat heavily on the ground, almost falling back onto his behind as he stared at May. "May, I..."
May shook her head again, tears glinting on her cheeks. "I can understand why you're mad, Ash, but --"
"Am I interrupting?"
May and Ash turned in unison to see Laura standing behind them, Cerbera as usual at her side. May quickly wiped her eyes. 'You were...but I don't know exactly what you were interrupting.' she admitted to herself. "N-no...you're not."
"Good." Laura said, crossing her arms. "I need you two to get packed up. We're leaving soon for Hearthome. The Tag Battle Tournament is in two days."
'That's right...I forgot about the Tag Battle Tournament.' May thought with a sigh. 'I don't feel ready at all...I just know I'm gonna screw up again, like I always do.'
"You're just going to leave all your pokemon here alone?" Ash questioned, raising an eyebrow.
Laura shook her head. "No. The Daycare couple in Solaceon have an assistant. If I ever need to leave for an extended period of time, they come and stay here to look after my pokemon." she explained. "I'm actually on my way to go see them now. May, please come with me."
May gave a small internal sigh. She'd learned, even after only five days, that when Laura said 'please,' she was never actually asking for something. She was just giving a polite command. She got up awkwardly, dusting off her knees and twisting around. "Is my ass wet?"
At this, Ash blushed a vivid shade of red. "Er...uh..."
"Dry as my skin in the winter." Laura answered bluntly, not missing Ash's blush. "All right, lovebirds -- one of you's got to leave the nest for a bit. May, you and I should be back well before sundown -- Solaceon's only five miles up the route. How much do you have to pack?"
"Not much." May replied. Laura nodded approvingly.
"Good. Go pack up -- there'll be no need to bring your things on the trip to Solaceon. You can get them when we come back to pick up the boys." Laura said curtly. "Meet me in the entrance hall in fifteen minutes, and we'll get going."
--------------------
"Hey, Brock?"
"Hm?"
"Was I acting...jealous?"
Brock straightened up from his packing, turning to Ash. "That's a rather random question. But yes, you were definitely acting jealous. What got you thinking about it?"
Ash sighed, throwing a shirt in his bag. "May brought it up." he replied, tossing another shirt towards his bag. It missed, settling over the curled up, sleeping form of Pikachu.
A sleepy, muffled "chuu..." emerged as Pikachu awoke, working his head out of the collar and tilting his head at Ash. "Pikapi?
"Well, with the way you've been acting, I'm not surprised." Brock continued sensibly. "I've never seen you so sullen. The only time you've acted like yourself this week was when you were training with Laura, or when you were with May away from her."
"I don't get it." Ash continued, pulling his shirt off Pikachu and shoving it in his bag. "She said she didn't want to disappoint me by telling me that she only earned two ribbons in Johto; she said she thought I'd be disappointed in her, and that I was now, because she hasn't been doing so well in contests." Ash gave a small snort. "As if I ever could be disappointed in her. I just don't know why she didn't trust me."
Brock stayed silent for a few moments, continuing to pack. "I think," he finally said slowly, "that May has seen what you've done, and just wants to feel like she can do it too...like she can be worthy of traveling with you."
"Worthy? Why would she have to feel worthy?" Ash asked, now beginning to sound slightly annoyed. "She's my friend, Brock. I care too much about her to toss her aside for something like that."
"Is she really 'just a friend,' Ash?" the breeder questioned, looking firmly at Ash. "The only people you've traveled with longer than May are Misty and me. You've never said anything like this about Misty, or Dawn."
Ash's face flushed slightly. "Well, of course I care about you and Misty and Dawn."
"Mm..." Brock once again turned his back to the younger trainer, continuing to pack calmly. "Misty and I were teachers to you than anything else, back when we first started traveling together." he said after a long pause. "You and Dawn act more like siblings than anything else, when you're together. But with May...you had the chance to take on the role of 'teacher.' She looked up to you, just like you looked up to me and Misty; and I wouldn't be surprised if she still sees you as something of a role model. Admiration like that can easily turn into..." Brock cleared his throat suggestively. "Well, ah...something more."
Ash threw Brock a doubtful look. "You think May has a crush on me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm almost certain of it." Brock replied cooly, turning around to smirk at Ash. "After all, I'm an expert with women."
"Yeah; an expert in scaring them off." Ash grumbled.
Brock frowned. "Hey, May never told me that she didn't come close to making it to the Grand Festival in Johto." he pointed out. "Give it a chance, Ash. What's the worst that could happen?"
A soft knock came at the door, and without waiting for an answer, Laura opened it. "Got all your things ready, boyos?" she asked. Ash immediately noticed a difference in her; her posture was more relaxed, not so stiff and uptight, and her arms were crossed casually, instead of in a scolding manner. There was the faintest hint of a smirk on the older woman's lips, and a gleam in her eyes. She was surrounded by an air of confident excitement; the kind of charging energy Ash always felt well up in him before a battle. "The battles await."
Reviews are appreciated, with my promise that I will continue to write and update as much as my schedule allows.