Chapter 25

The night after she reconciled with Ash, May was swimming out to the village to meet her friends from Alola. All the while, she had a dreamy smile on her face, barely paying attention to where she was swimming, although she at least made sure to swim above the village so she didn't get in anyone's way. She was humming to herself as she twirled through the water. Eventually, she found herself floating over Mallow's place where she usually met up with them. She dove down and swam towards it, then settled herself on the roof, laying down and resting her head on her hands in a sleeping pose. She continued to hum to herself as she laid atop the structure, not even aware of two shadows floating over her.

"Did she fall asleep?" Mallow wondered.

"I don't think so," Lana shook her head. "I don't know anyone that hums in their sleep."

May opened one eye and continued to smile as she sat up. "Good evening, you two," she said.

"Good evening," they replied. "You seem to be in a good mood tonight," Mallow noted.

"Do I?" May replied, still slightly oblivious. "Hm...guess I floated out of the right side of the bed." She floated up, doing a gentle flip as she did so, still humming dreamily to herself and swimming to the side slightly. Her friends saw this, and they quickly figured out what was going on.

"So, who is he?" Mallow smirked.

"Hm?" May blinked, turning back to her.

"Who are you thinking about?" Lana asked.

"Nobody," May replied, floating over to them. "Why do you ask?"

"Heh," Lana chuckled, "and here I thought I was the one always playing tricks."

"What's that supposed to mean?" May blinked.

"It's pretty obvious you're smitten with someone, May," Mallow giggled. "You don't have to hide it."

"Smitten?" May blinked again. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Right, and I once tamed a red Gyarados," Lana smirked.

"You did?"

"What do you think?" the blue-haired mermaid giggled. May rolled her eyes at her trickster of a friend.

"Come on, tell us," Mallow said. "Who's the lucky merman?"

"Knock it off," May said. "I'm not in love with anyone, okay?"

"Oh, yes you are," Lana grinned.

"If a mermaid swims around with a dreamy smile on her face, humming to herself, and completely unaware of her surroundings, then it's a sure sign that she's in love," Mallow stated.

"So come on!" Lana giggled. "It's not like you're in a forbidden romance with a human, right?"

"Of course not," May rolled her eyes again. "Mermaid-human romance is overrated."

"So you're in love with a merman then," Lana deduced.

"Well yeah, it's not like I'd swim to the surface to find –" May started to say, then covered her mouth with a squeak when she realized what she just said.

"I knew it!" Lana cried triumphantly. "The princess has found true love under the sea!"

"Who could the lucky merman prince be?" Mallow wondered.

"Girls, please!" May exclaimed, holding up her hands defensively. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded!"

"Oh, I think you did," Mallow smirked.

"No!" May groaned. "It's not like that, okay?! I'm not in love with him!"

"But there is a 'him,' right?" Lana asked.

At this, May sighed in defeat. "Yes, there is a 'him,'" she admitted. "He's a kind and caring merman who I knew when I was younger. We reconnected not too long ago and have been spending some time together." She looked down, twiddling her fingers. "But...I don't know if I like him like that."

"Ohhh," her friends nodded. "I get it," Mallow said. "You're confused about your feelings?"

"Yeah," May nodded. "I always feel ten times happier being with him, and even thinking about him...well, you saw it yourself: I was acting like I was completely smitten." She looked down as she idly flicked her fins. "Then again, maybe I am. This feeling is so different from what I thought falling in love would feel like." She looked back up at them. "I just don't want to rush into something that could jeopardize our friendship."

Mallow nodded sympathetically. "Smart girl," she said. "There aren't many mermaids who would think something through like that."

"Tell me about it," Lana muttered. "Okay. We won't bother you anymore about it."

"Thanks, but it's not that big a deal," May smiled in gratitude. "I'm sure I'll figure out my feelings sooner or later."

With that, they swam down into Mallow's shop to eat breakfast. The rest of the morning was largely uneventful, albeit not unfun, as they swam about the village, as well as around the structures surrounding it. Mallow found several unique strands of seaweed hanging around, the likes of which May hadn't seen before. It made her somewhat sad that she knew so little about the environment surrounding the village, even though she had lived here her whole life. She quickly cheered up, though, knowing that she could enjoy this whenever she wanted now. Before any of them knew it, it was time for lunch, and they swam back down to Mallow's shop.

"You brought the coral fruit for tonight's special, right May?" Mallow asked.

"Oh!" May exclaimed. "No, I completely forgot about it."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Lana chuckled. "You were so lost in your own ocean this evening that I'd be more surprised if you actually remembered!" The three of them chuckled at that.

"Sorry about that," May grinned sheepishly as she got the last of her chuckles out. "I'll swim back to the palace real quick and grab some."

"Okay," Mallow nodded. "Be back quick!"

"I won't be long!" May called back as she swam out of the shop. She quickly swam up so she was above the village and headed straight for the palace gate. She came to the coral garden, picked some fruit that she placed in a sack, and started to swim back towards the gate.

"Oh, May!"

She quickly pushed her fins out in front of her to stop herself and turned to attention. "Yes, Mother?"

"You're swimming out to the village, right?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah. I forgot to bring coral fruit for lunch with my friends tonight. I have it here, and I was just heading back over."

"While you're out there, could you swim an errand for me?" Her mother handed her a small bag containing what appeared to be shimmering sand. After giving her the details, May swam out with two sacks slung over her shoulders. It didn't take her long to arrive at the village, and she quickly swam to the place where she needed to drop off the sand. Once she had that taken care of, she swam back towards Mallow's place. She was floating outside the entrance and was about to swim in when she heard her friends talking.

"How long can it take for someone to just grab some coral fruit?" Mallow muttered.

"Eh, she probably got lost in thought again about that merman she's got the bubbles for," Lana chuckled.

Hearing this, May decided to have a little fun and stayed right beside the entrance. She wanted to see how long they would wait before losing their patience.

"Think we should swim after her to make sure she's still right in the head?" Mallow smirked.

"Thanks, but I'd rather not spend the rest of my life imprisoned for swimming in uninvited," Lana said. May figured she was rolling her eyes. "You know how the palace guard can be."

"Oh, I'm sure it'd be fine. May would probably vouch for us, so it wouldn't be a big deal."

"No, I guess not," Lana shrugged. The two of them fell silent, sighing as they floated about. "It must be nice living as royalty."

"Eh, it's overrated," Mallow said. "I'd much rather live in the village with my friends anyway. We may not be as well-to-do as mermaids like May are, but we're still happy, right?" May raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yeah...well, most of us, at least."

"Yeah," Mallow agreed, and they both sighed sadly. "I miss her, too."

"We got pretty lucky with surviving that storm," Lana said quietly, "so it's hard to complain. I just wish we could've been there for her when she needed us."

For who? May wondered, now genuinely curious.

"Don't worry," Mallow said, sounding slightly more optimistic. "I'm sure Lillie's happy, wherever she is."

Lillie?! May gasped silently. They know Lillie?! Wait...no, that makes sense! They all came from Alola...which means they must've been friends out there, but they got separated after the storm.

"And I'm sure we'll see her again," Mallow went on, still sounding optimistic, "in this ocean, or in another ocean far away."

At this, May's face fell. But she doesn't live in the ocean anymore she thought. She's a human now. But maybe they could visit her at the surface? Yeah, that would be – no, wait! Lana can't breathe the air the same way I can't! Oh no… she put her face in her hand, now feeling very guilty. What am I gonna tell them?

"Now what's taking May so long?" Lana wondered, annoyed.

May snapped out of her thoughts on hearing this.

"She probably got lost," Mallow said, likely rolling her eyes. "I'll see if I can talk to someone at the palace to –"

"Hey girls!" May said in an overly cheerful voice as she swam in with her bag of coral fruits. "Sorry. I didn't keep you waiting, did I?"

"May, there you are!" Mallow said, putting her hands on her hips. "What took you so long?"

"Still thinking about that handsome merman?" Lana said with a sly grin.

"Heh...yeah," May said, shrugging with embarrassment.

"Oh, she is head-over-fins for this guy!" Mallow laughed.

"Now I really wanna know who it is!" Lana laughed with her.

They enjoyed a hearty meal and then swam off to enjoy the rest of their night. While they had plenty of fun together, May had a harder time enjoying herself as thought about what her friends said about Lillie. They clearly cared about her and missed her; no doubt they wanted to see her again. What would they think if they found out she was a human now?

And what would they think of May if they found out she was the one responsible?