◊ (The Hours of Visitation) ◊
∆ (In the Car) ∆ - ¤ (Next Day) ¤ - VP: May
I was super excited to meet Drew's mom. If she's anything like Drew said she said she would be, which is just like him then this should be a great experience. I'm sure inertly he's happy to see her too. I just which he's be a little more happy on the outside. Yet again, we're talking about Drew.
"How much farther?" I asked.
"Not far May," I nodded. It was a good few days walk from his mom's to my house. I was glad that dad let us take the car. It was still about 3 hours drive. We had brought clothes just in case it got to be too late and we needed to get hotel rooms or she invited us to stay the night. I hoped it was the latter.
We finally arrived and I climbed out of the car. Drew just kept looking at it. "Is it the same as it used to be?" I asked.
"Sadly, no." He said.
"Then how so has it changed?" I asked.
"It has a lonelier, sadder appeal to it. It used to be a beautiful well cared for home, the envy of all neighbors." He explained.
"It use to be… how many years ago?" A Girl said behind us smiling.
Drew stared her down. "You know her?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. I remember people of significance and importance to me. If I don't remember her there must be no connection between us."
The girl sighed and walked over to me. She took my hand in her two hands and shook mine. "I'm Crystal Macy, who are you? Drew's girlfriend?" She asked.
I nodded. "I'm May Adena." A smile came to the girl's face and here eyes widened.
"I've heard so much about you and Drew here. It's been so long since you left Drew but everyone around here knows everything you've done since you left." She said smiling.
"That's good, it sounds like my hometown." I said smiling.
"Most towns are quite proud of their accomplished reps.," She said. I nodded.
"So how are you doing Drew?" She said turning to him and place her hands on her hips. This was a sign that she was somewhat disappointed in his lack of visitation here.
"Fine, I believe." He said.
"Always short on words weren't you?" He shrugged.
"My mom home?" He asked.
"She never leaves the house. You didn't come here just to look at the house did you?"
"Not really, May wanted to meet my mom before we went back to coordinating. So, here we are." He said.
"You're mean to your mom Drew. She along with Victoria and most likely May here, are the only ones who understand you." She scolded him.
"I'm here aren't I?" He answered.
"Not by choice, May asked you but nonetheless, you are here. So go visit." She commanded.
"Fine." He said. "Come on May." I waved to the girl and walked off.
"Bye." I called. Drew flipped his hair and continued to walk. "You should try treating all people a little better."
"You just think that because now you know that I have the ability to be more the fair to people." He responded. I sighed; he isn't the easiest nut to crack.
"Fine, let's just go in." I said.
He walked up to the door and knocked on it. The door was opened by a woman who had long green hair eyes. She was wearing a purple kimono and her hair was long but put up into a bun. She looked exactly like Drew. It was amazing, not surprising seeing it was his mother but amazing the resemblance.
"Come on in." She said calmly. It seemed so disfigured, her voice that is. She didn't make motions of someone seeing their long lost relative or signs of joy in seeing her son which is even closer a bond. She simply said 'come on in' not even with a tone that one would great a neighbor. It showed no emotions, it was scared, sad, and scornful. Drew seemed the same way since his eyes fell upon the house. "Sit down if you please yourself." She answered.
I got it; she was being as mild tempered as she can. The attitude of only someone who was doing everything in her power not to do anything to insult or upset us. She was afraid of our departure. More alike, she didn't want Drew to leave her.
"Thanks you…" I paused; I was not informed as to how I was to greet her. Good job May, you try to make conversation and you can't manage two words.
"Now a day I'm called Ms. Daniela Martina." She told me with a gentle smile still trying to see how I'd react."
"Well thank you so much for welcoming us Ms. Martina." I said as politely as I could.
"You're very welcome May." I was surprised, she knew me, and she knew my name. I looked to Drew; it was all too hard, all too scary. He needed to help me. He smirked and nodded. What was he nodding about? I just wanted to scream.
There was a long awkward silence between us all. I couldn't think of what to say, say something at least May! "You keep track of the contests?"
"Yes I do, I love them very much." I smiled happily. She probably coordinated too. That's where Drew got his skill from, his mom.
"So you've been a coordinator before?" She nodded. "Did you win a ribbon cup?" I asked excitedly.
"Yes, would you like to see it?" She asked. Yes, she was beginning to open up. Yes. She and I looked to Drew who nodded and I nodded back. "Alright then, excuse me as I go to retrieve it." Long complicated phrases for simple things, she's a lot like Drew, so much it really is scary. He doesn't seem to be anything like his father.
She came back and handed it to me carefully. I treated it as carefully. It was beautiful. I had never seen a cup like this one; it had ribbons all around it, 10 of them. Those must have been the qualifier ribbons she tied to them, but why 10. "Excuse me, but why are there 10 ribbons?" I asked.
"Well you see, I only coordinated individually for 2 years. I didn't think it was my calling because I didn't see as much beauty in what I did as others did. I always figured that I was never good enough, I had never lost a contest but I lost in the finals at the last round because I figured there was no way I could win, I had no confidence. Then… well… I went to the pairing matches with someone… competed and won with them."
"Who was your partner?" I asked interested. Drew snorted obviously knowing the answer having heard it before.
"Drew's father,"
"That's interesting he didn't seem like the coordinating type." She looked down and shook her head. "Hm?" I asked.
"My father died May." Drew stated. I gasped. Man May, you messed up major this time.
"It's alright May, no one talks about it. Well I won the grand contest there and the ribbon cup is given to the top coordinating pair." I nodded. "I owe him for our win though. I would have left if not for him. I didn't have the confidence to go out in front of the people as a team. He told me that why start small, we went to the top pair coordinating contests and won the 10 we competed in, all in a row, in one month we had one all 10 ribbons, twice as many as were required. We were unstoppable because, my shy nature caused the way I displayed my pokémon and myself to steer clear of contests with many people. Coordinating wasn't very popular to watch then, now it is but it wasn't so when I saw that many people. I would well just run away crying, I was super scared. He was one who was a leader, a caring, take charge kind of guy and we won because of how he took care of me."
"It reminds me of Drew and me." Drew smiled and so did she. I think I'm doing well, at least I hope I am.
"Well that's it."
"I sure hope we do that well, we've worked really hard and I feel truly bad that because of my accident we missed 3 weeks." Drew placed a hand on mine which was next to my leg.
"It's alright though, we'll win the next ones we still have a month and a week, we have more then enough time to get our next two ribbons and more." I nodded.
"Thanks Drew," his mom was smiling happily.
"I felt the same way when we returned after my… hospitalization during that period." I looked at her.
"Why?" I asked.
"I was pregnant and gave birth right before the season started. We were married a year prior to that. The doctors wouldn't allow me to compete for 2 months and I felt horrible but he said I had no reason to. He said we'd write down routines and the when I was allowed to do it again we'd master them all in one night, when Victoria was asleep. Then we'd go for one month and win all the contests."
"And you did." I said amazed. She nodded.
"Yes, we did." She said smiling. "I know you to will too. I've seen your combinations, talent and teamwork, it's superb. The best contests I've seen have been ones you've been together but by far you two are much better when you work together." She said smiling happily.
"Thank you." I said. Drew nodded in gratitude of her kind words.
"Mom, I'm sorry." Drew said finally taking courage to talk to his mother. The only things he had said today were directed at me. "I haven't visited or came to saw you. I really am." He said.
"It's alright Drew, honestly you weren't allowed until your 16th birthday anyway since you were under your father's custody and he got a restraining order against it." I was surprised who would marry someone and hate her so much as to divorce her like that. I want to know, but that would be rude.
I clenched my fists, it hurt so much to understand the pain they both suffered because of her father's mistakes. Drew looked at me understanding what I was thinking about this. He placed a hand on mine and nodded but shook his head. He meant, he knew what I was thinking but I shouldn't ask. "I'm still so sorry. Honestly, I wasn't told I couldn't visit you so my not visiting wasn't because that, it was because after I left. I became separate from everyone and everything."
"I understand, so have I. Victoria and Lily told me that you've been apart from it all."
"Have you seen Victoria lately?" He asked.
"No, she woke up a month ago and after calling someone she grabbed her bags and left. She said 'I need to take care of my baby brother, bye.' I nodded and left." Drew looked down not because of the embarrassment but because he knew that, he had caused problems.
"I felt… alone, like no one could possibly understand me, like me. I was like so different from anything I had ever felt before. I didn't feel how I use to. I was lonely without love and then it was just so hard to face knowing that I had been left with him, without true care. It hurt. I needed to escape. Then I just couldn't find that feeling for so long, and when I did. It seemed truly unreachable."
"Huh?" She asked not quite understanding. He squeezed my hand.
"I remembered how caring for someone else felt, worrying about something other than yourself. The only time I had felt like that since I was with you was with my pokémon. I figured I could never care about another person again, because they'd hurt me. Then I met May and she showed me that she cared about me regardless of whether I cared about her, and eventually I realized that I needed to take steps to be with her. But still it seemed so hard."
"But you are, so how? Did you?" She asked.
"No, Lily, Victoria as well as one of May's friends got fed up our feelings of hopeless togetherness and pushed us together." I smiled and she smiled at me.
"I'm glad because that's what you needed. I didn't think that was what Victoria was doing when she left. You seemed so happy in most of your contests." He nodded.
"I was, I had my pokémon to take care of, to protect and be proud of but it was so lonely all the other times. Lily took it hard when she realized that I couldn't love her as much as I loved my true family."
"I understand what you mean." I said to him. "The fact that she wasn't always there for you. You're not sure how you feel about her, and then you realize that you care, it's just a question of to what degree."
"How did you know?"
"That's how I felt about you. I had only loved and been loved by people who had always been there for me. It was a new concept to me to love something that I had always known, to trust them. Which is why I was easily tricked my Harley all those times, I couldn't figure out if it was safe to trust him. Love is just the highest extent of friendship. It's a level not a new feeling you create." I said.
"Yeah, I get that now. I couldn't figure out why I cared about how you were doing, if I saw you again, if you were sick and stuff. It just didn't make sense because I didn't care about other people like that. I could care less about most of those I met but you were different and I was confused." He said.
"Love is an unusual thing, you see. You trust the person to never hurt you by knowing that you care about them and them not being hurt. It's a huge mistake to give trust to a person who doesn't care about you back because you just end up being hurt." She said looking down at the floor. "The pain of unreturned feelings is never much because you can't feel love without it cares from both sides. Normal feelings for people disappear and can be ignored. Love can't because it hurts you when they hurt, when they're gone you long for their return."
"Do you have any other words of encouragement for Drew and my start into our new form or relationship?" I asked.
"Hm… not that I can think of. I've seen it on live television the trust you have for one another, the love and care. Your relationship is 100 bound to succeed May, Drew. You have no worries. I only warn you, not to allow yourselves to be tricked into thinking that what you feel for each other is anything different then what it really is, which love is." We nodded. "I'm glad you guys have each other. Love is something everyone needs after all." I smiled.
"Thank you so much."
"Mom, I'm sorry for not visiting." Drew apologized again.
"Think nothing of it." I burst out into laughter.
"I'm sorry; I can't hold it in any longer. You guys act exactly alike. It's not even different at all. I can't find the difference. You're so alike, personality wise." I said laughing. Drew and she both stiffened laughing too. I'm not sure if it's at me or at them as I am. Most likely, it's my stupidity again.
After a while, we calmed down again and began to talk as if we were family. "So May, how are you doing after your accident?" She asked.
"I'm doing a lot better, it was supposed to be another week but it turns out, it's only 3 weeks. I healed extra fast."
"And how about your pokémon?" She asked.
"They were amazing. Luckily both Drew and I recalled them right after the blow so they weren't hurt or injured but we had them checked out as well." I said.
"I love your choices of pokémon and how well they work together as well as suiting you. Your combinations are just spectacular; I've never seen anything like them. I was especially surprised when May still competed when she went blind. That's pure determination for you." I smiled and nodded.
"I wouldn't have been able to if not for Drew though, he led me around the place, helped me train my other senses with a gym leader. He guided me around the place. Stopped me from walking into lakes, cliffs, and such things. He saved me from a lot of unexpected accidents." I said smiling.
"It wasn't anything much." He said.
"It was a lot and it was very important to me that you'd help me." He shrugged. Drew will never change.
"Drew, I was very proud of your care and protection of May throughout the last few contests. It was very polite and something I was glad to see." His mom said.
"Yeah, thanks, I guess." She rolled here eyes.
"Can't you ever be a little more reactive to things that are going on?" She asked practically yelling.
He smirked. "Like you?"
"Drew…" I said. "That was so uncalled for." I said. Everyone burst out in laughter.
"It's quite alright May." She said.
"I don't think it is. Well, I'm going to make lunch." I said.
"It's not necessary May, I will."
"Not because, I am." I said nodding both Drew and his mom were giving me weird expressions. I got up and walked into the kitchen while making a lunch for them. I listened on their conversation secretly. I would have guessed they'd know me to do that, or do they care? Hm. I don't care I'm just listening.
"May's really special Drew. She's the kind of girl I'd figure you'd like."
"How so?" He asked in response.
"She's more open to people, a real problem solver who is friendly and kind natured to everyone. People tend to fall in love with those who are 50 different then them because the person has something they don't. It was just a matter of time until you find the missing half of you who's name happens to be May." I smiled. They're talking about me.
"I guess that's true, in some aspect me and May have different thoughts. Yet again, it most we don't. We agree on most things, just the details are different."
"That is the makings for an amazing relationship. A perfect one if I do say myself." I can imagine Drew smiling.
"Yeah, it really is. It's been perfect since we got together. I just don't get why we were colliding some much when we were just friends."
"It was just the start. It's all focus, you focused on what their faults were or that they were your rival. Once you get over that, you jump on the opportunity to complete yourself."
"I understand that. Since I really got to know May, I've wanted to date her but."
"I know you're afraid of being rejected. I think everyone in the world goes through that at least once some lucky of those only once some millions and millions of times. Some they never do. Someone who they've spent their whole life just eventually moves to it without a second word but sometimes those are the most difficult. Sometimes meeting a random person and asking them out is easier but there always is the fear of rejection."
"For you and my dad?" He asked. Drew and I have the same mindset. I wanted to know too.
"That was one crazy fear. We had just met and we were both heading to the partner contests. However, of course neither of us would admit to the other that we'd do it perfectly together. However luckily someone signed us up, but back then if you were signed up, you were signed up, there was no way out, we had 3 years before they'd start up again. Since it was every 4 years thing, well we got to know each other, lived with each other, and eventually we became inseparable. We competed in normal practice pair contests, until the real deal came. We were great but since they weren't real we had no way of seeing who would win if it were real. It was us in the end though."
"Then what?" He asked as interested as I was.
"Well about four months after we met, he took me on casual dinners every night. It was weird at first; I thought it was his way of saying would you like this to be a date?" I silently laughed. Drew did the same thing. "Then I realized he was afraid to ask me out. So I said. Do you consider these dinners dates? After a while, he answered, "If you want them to." I laughed, just like drew.
"So eventually?"
"By the end of the third year of living together he asked me to marry him, I accepted, we got married a few months later. And then so on from there with the rest of our lives." She said.
"That seems like an ideal way to go." I'm sure she nodded and smiled as if Drew would.
"May you need help?" She asked. I looked at the sandwiches and such. Surprisingly, they were done. Huh? I don't remember finishing, whatever.
"No, I'm done. Come on in." I called back. They walked in the kitchen and I laid the sandwiches. Surprisingly I was right in guessing his mom liked the same kind of sandwiches as he did. No one said anything but with the way she looked not surprised and happy seeing them as it had been forever or something since she's had them. I figured I was right.
"May, these sandwiches are superb." She said complimenting them.
"Thanks, I learned from my friend Brock, he's a pokémon breeder so he makes not only our pokémon's food when I was traveling with them but our food as well and one summer day he taught me how as well." She smiled.
"Cooking is the one skill everyone needs, especially when you're going to the pair coordinating because you don't have enough time to stop every meal for lengths of time. It's useful."
"Yeah, that's why when I planned on coordinating independently; I asked that he'd teach me how to cook. It's not something I've needed to use much but it's a good skill to have." I answered.
"You haven't cooked much. I didn't think it polite to ask you to."
"Don't worry about; I did cook a bit for my family but not more much than that. This is the first time that I've cooked for anyone other then my family and you." I answered him.
"Hm, it's really good." I smiled.
"Thanks." I answered back.
"About Victoria, you don't know where she is either?" His mom asked.
"No, sorry." Drew said.
"I don't either. She left us notes but none included her location. I figured she'd return here, if anywhere." I said.
"You would think." She said back.
"I think we should just wait until the time is right, then she'll show up again." I nodded.
"I hope you're right Drew. I hope she didn't do anything crazy." I said.
"She's not like that. She is probably just in the forest thinking. Drew and Victoria did that a lot when they were thinking or upset." His mom said.
"I still do a lot of the time."
"Yeah, you are hard to find."
"You just don't look in the right places." I sighed, great.
"Well, are you guys going to spend the night? I'm more than glad to have you." She said. I looked to Drew looked indecisive.
"I guess we can. We brought clothes since it's a decent distance away from home and it's late. If it's not imposing or anything."
"Of course not. Drew will show you to the guest room, and he'll take the other one." I nodded and followed Drew to the room. We settled in for the night. He walked into the doorway and leaned against the wall.
"I've already told my mom that I'm going to turn in for the night. So I'm going to head in alright?" I nodded and smiled. He faintly smiled back.
I got up and walked over to him. I kissed his cheek. "Night Drew," I said then walking into the living room where his mom was sitting looking at a picture frame. I came up behind her. She wasn't startled. She turned to look at me giving a faint smile.
"Hi May, you need something?"
"No, just want to talk some more."
"Oh, that's good."
"Yeah, so what's that a picture of?" I asked.
"Oh, Drew's father, him, Victoria and me when I hosted the partner festival in the end of the summer. It's a great event to be apart of. It brings everyone who's there together." I smiled. "Drew was about 5 and Vicky is 10. About 2 years later, their father died. 2 more and I married him. He divorced me a year after that sadly taking Drew from me. I didn't make sense when they were legally not related to him but the law said it was fair. It wasn't to me."
"I agree, Drew had no relationship to him yet had to be stuck with him. I see it from both ways through both your eyes and it seemed to be perfect just before then, then it was horrible." She nodded hugging the picture to her chest.
"I messed up our family. I figured they needed a father. I rushed it, and he figured that I needed it to. I didn't think any harm would do because of it. He was younger then me by about 6 years and soon he left me, for another women; taking Drew with him."
"It seems like a disaster for both of you." She nodded.
"It's alright now. I want to thank you." I was confused.
"Why?" I asked.
"For bringing my son back to me. I'm not stupid May; I know that Drew wouldn't come to me by his own will. It did take a bit of prodding to get him here, didn't it?" She asked.
"Yeah, I guess, a bit. I think he needed it, and I was glad to meet you. You were the only person who I figured knew Drew because besides Victoria, no one I have met has."
"You know him much better then you think you do. I can tell. I'm just so glad that he came back to me."
" Victoria said the same thing however you understand that we have to leave right?"
"Of course, I know that you two belong together and my love for him is only as his mother. I can't keep him here; I'd be a horrible mom if I tried. He belongs with you, he needs you more then he and you know. Victoria and Lily didn't understand that did them, when they got you together that is?"
"No, they didn't. They wanted Drew to come home with them. He was a bit harsh about it. He told them that you couldn't expect him when he finally got together with me and was happy to be dragged away from it, or something quite close to that. Lily was devastated and so was Victoria."
"I figured. Victoria needs her baby brother who was taken from her back and Lily needs the older brother figure that left her. They want that back. They want his love but they can't have that back like they need it."
"I'm glad you're happier." I said.
"Me too, I'm so happy to see Drew again. It's been a while. Almost 7 years, of course I knew what was going on with him, more then his legal guardian, his father. I've known about all his contests, and travels. It's easy to keep track of him when he's on TV constantly." I nodded. "It's not only him I watch but you're contests are ones I enjoy watching, the magnificent combinations were a sight. I figured that Drew liked you, it was obvious."
"I don't see how it was. I guess with the flowers but how could even you know?"
"Even though it's not much when you go against him in matches, it doesn't matter who won you guys were like competing together, it was a match for the ages. The way you conduct yourself sends out signals about how you relate to others, and that's just how it was interpreted." She answered.
"I never though of it like that." She nodded.
"I'm really glad that Drew finally got himself a girlfriend. It wouldn't surprise me if in a some years that you two got married, it wouldn't surprise me at all." I smiled.
"I would love to spend my life with Drew, but who knows in some years. I'm glad that I got to be with Drew. He's great. He's not the most talkative person but he says what's important to be said. He's like that and it's not as if I don't understand him, I do. It's fine. He's great to me and it's great to be with him. It makes me really happy."
"Well that's what love is supposed to feel like May. I'm glad that you're happy though, that's always good. I remember how it feels though it seems to be fading further each day." I smiled; bringing memories back to her was good, not bad at all. You were wrong Drew, but I'm glad you were.
"It's an amazing feeling. However, can you talk about Drew's father to me? I'd like to know what he was like." She smiled.
"I guess but only a little. He was confident beyond reason, he thought he could do anything, he was perfect, in his eyes, he thought he was the best, and over all that's how he was during contests. No one but I ever posed a threat and he despised me for it. He couldn't take that I was just as good as him, he didn't think I deserved it."
"Reminds me a little of Drew," She nodded.
"He was a great guy, reliable, helpful, kind, cocky, sensitive, and caring and what especially drew me to him was his amazingly funny way of talking to everyone." She stopped and thought hard. "It's like an ability to sum up what would normally take someone millions of words into just a few. He made everything, all the problems of anything simple, as if it was all clear to him, you understand?"
"Yeah, Drew does the same thing. When I'm struggling to get a point through to someone, he skips through it and says it straight to them. He feels that you shouldn't waste time there is always something that you could be doing to make use of life. He has all the answers."
"Exactly, that's what he was like. Everyone says Drew is like me but personality wise he's like his father. I act just as Drew does because I adapted to how his father did so it makes it seem like he's like me but really, I changed. I'm nothing like I really was. I was shy and afraid to be in big places, I had low confidence and needed compliments and to be cared for, he did that so we were good to go."
"That's how I am. I always have Drew or another one of my friends to take care of me. I don't know what I'd do without Drew now days. I'm just glad to have him around."
"Trust me; there will be a day when his existence is more then a reward on its own. It will become a necessity to yourself, your mind, soul will beg for him, and that is because you love him. It may sound depressing or pathetic to some but everyone longs for something and like most normal people, you long for companionship, love, and care which Drew can give you. Well it's late; we should return to bed, goodnight May." I nodded. She talks much more then Drew does. I wonder if his dad did, that was a good conversation.
I took a shower, got into my pajamas and laid down in bed. I wonder if love is really like that. If someone would have told me that soon I would long for Drew's companionship, love and care I would have laughed at them, and walked away. Now, it's something that I can see and understand. It's coming, and coming soon." I sighed, of course, it is, and I should expect it. Moreover, welcome it with open arms.