Chapter 26

May sat outside the palace, staring out at the ocean like she usually did when she had something on her mind. The water was peaceful, even moreso than normal: perfect to swim in, she thought. Maybe I should invite the girls out for a night. I haven't been out with anyone else since my sisters left. She sighed and rested her head in her hand. What am I gonna tell them about Lillie? I can't just keep it to myself like I have these last few nights.

She continued to gaze out at the ocean, admiring the way the light of the slowly brightening moon waved gently in the water. The movement was beautiful, almost magical, she thought, and she wanted so badly to swim over and spend the night dancing in the light: not a dance as humans understand it, but a dance that only a mermaid could do. If she didn't know any better, she would've guessed the light was calling out to her, much like the Oceansong once did. Of course, that was different. Still, she couldn't deny the beauty that waved before her. She could watch it all night if she wanted to.

That is, she could have...if something didn't suddenly cover her eyes.

May jumped slightly, startled, but she quickly relaxed when she recognized the feeling of hands covering her eyes: firm but gentle hands.

"Guess who?"

She smirked and turned around. Even without hearing his voice, she knew who it was. "Ash," she said simply.

"Hey May," Ash smiled. "Whatcha doing out here? Enjoying the view?" he asked as he flicked his fins and swam over her, arching his back so he was looking at her upside-down. May giggled at his antics, and he promptly floated down and sat next to her, chuckling as well.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's so pretty out there, don't you think?"

He followed her gaze out to the ocean where the light waved in the water. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, then turned to her. "You just gonna sit here all night and watch it from here?"

She blinked and turned to him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why not swim out there?" he suggested. "I bet it would be pretty fun!"

"Yeah, it would," she agreed, looking back out a moment before turning back to him. "To be honest, I'd love to swim out there. It's just...not too long ago, I swam away from home for a few nights without telling anyone where I was going. When I came home, I could tell that Mother was a nervous wreck." She sighed and looked back out. "So I don't wanna make her worry again in case something happens. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Ash conceded with a small sigh. "Still, what's so wrong about wanting to swim out in the ocean? I mean, we're merpeople, aren't we? It's kinda what we do."

"It is," May agreed. "Maybe I'll go some other night. Tonight, though, I'm staying close to home."

"All right," Ash sighed. "I guess that's for the best, so I guess we'll just have to – YOU'RE IT!"

"Wha–HEY!?" May exclaimed as Ash suddenly swam off. She looked down at her arm where Ash tapped her, then smirked deviously. "Oh no you don't, Mister smarty-fins!" With that, she took off after him, flipping her fins as fast as she could to catch up with him.

Ash swam around the large cliffside May sat on with her friends not too long ago and hid behind it. He smirked and looked around the side to see if she was coming. Not seeing anyone, he sighed in relief and looked the other way...only to see a familiar, upside-down face.

"Tag!" May grinned, poking him in the forehead. "See ya later!" And, after flipping her fins right in his face, blowing his hair back, she swam off. He laughed and took off after her.

The two continued their game for quite some time, playing much like they did when they were kids. The only difference, of course, was that none of May's sisters were around to play as well; it was just the two of them. May would look back on this later and be surprised that this never even occurred to her, though after thinking on it for a bit, she found that she didn't really mind. She had so much fun weaving through different rock structures in the open ocean as she alternated between chasing after Ash and swimming away from him. Their game came to a head when he was "it" and May, foregoing the hiding she did before, just decided to swim away as fast as she could. She looked ahead of herself with a confident smirk, believing she could out-swim him. She looked behind her to see how far ahead she was, only for her smirk to rocket off her face when she saw just how close he was. She had barely processed this when she suddenly felt his arms around her waist.

"Gotcha!" he cried triumphantly. However, the two of them had gotten so engrossed in their little game that they didn't notice they were headed straight for a school of Finneon.

"Look out!" May cried. In their attempt to slow down, they wound up flipping over and started tumbling down through the water. Eventually, they came to a stop when they landed at the bottom of a rock structure, laughing all the while as they caught their breath.

Once they got all their chuckles out, they sat up and looked around them; neither of them had bothered to see where they were going, as they were so focused on their game. May looked to her right and noticed the somewhat distant lights of the village and palace.

"Looks like we're pretty far out," she noted.

"Not too far," Ash shrugged. "We're only a few miles out; it could be a lot worse."

"Yeah, it could," May nodded. She turned back to face him with a smirk. "You're quite the sneaky one, aren't you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ash shrugged with an innocent grin.

"Oh, yes you do," May replied, poking him in the ribs. "You were just trying to get me to swim out in the open ocean with you!"

"Now where would you get an absurd idea like that?" Ash asked with a nonchalant smirk.

May just giggled and lightly punched his arm, prompting a chuckle from him. The two of them got the last of their chuckles out, then looked out at the view surrounding them. "Well, you were right, Ash. It was much more fun swimming out here than it was just watching." She smiled as she watched her tail glimmer in the moonlight.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "You think we'll see another school of fish swim by? Or did we scare them all off?"

"No, there's more than one in the ocean, silly," she replied, pointing up. "See? Look, here comes one now."

They looked up and watched as another school of Finneon swam above them, moving slowly through the silver moonlight waving in the water. The light shone off their scales and created a mosaic-like silver light show above them. May sighed dreamily as she stared up and slowly leaned on Ash. The moment her head touched his shoulder, both of them realized what she'd done, and they looked at each other in surprise, blushing slightly. May's surprise gave way to a smile, however, and she leaned closer, resting one hand on his back and the other on his chest. Ash's surprise gave away a bit more slowly, but he also smiled as he put his arm around her and gently leaned his head against hers. And so they sat there, staring up at the light show, resting against each other and enjoying each other's presence.

So warm and comfortable May thought, humming slightly as she closed her eyes. I could stay here all night. This thought didn't go unnoticed, and she just smiled at herself. Okay, I admit it. Mallow was right: I am head-over-fins for him. As she thought of her friend back home, her smile faltered slightly as she looked back up at the light show. Her dilemma came right back to the forefront of her mind, reminding her that she needed to come clean to them about Lillie. What would they think of her? What would they think of Lillie? She shuddered slightly as she worried about this.

"May?"

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Ash's familiar voice. She sat up and noticed he was looking at her with concern.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. "You looked pretty happy just a second ago. What's bothering you?"

May blinked, then smiled warmly before returning to her earlier position. Her smile fell again as she sighed. "I just learned that my friends back home and I both knew a certain mermaid at different points."

Ash blinked, unsure why this would bother her, then his eyes widened. "Your friends?" he repeated. "You actually made friends?"

May sat up and frowned, slightly offended. "Yeah," she said. "What? Is that surprising?"

"A little," he said. She glared at him in annoyance, prompting him to realize what he just said. "A-Ah, sorry, I didn't mean it like that. You're a really friendly girl, and I bet you get along swimmingly with them." Her glare softened slightly. "It's just...I've never seen you actually making friends. If you were ever swimming around with anyone, it was usually your sisters."

"Oh," she said, her glare disappearing. "I guess that makes sense." She sighed again. "I never had to make friends because my sisters were always around. Even though they drove me crazy with their constant talk about the surface, they were still my family."

"They left a void in your life when they left," Ash deduced. "You felt alone, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," she nodded.

"So what exactly is the problem again?" Ash asked. With that, May proceeded to explain her situation: how she made friends with an Alolan refugee mermaid named Lillie and learned that she wanted to become human to escape her over-controlling mother, then gave her the forbidden potion that Misty originally got for her so she could live on land, then how she met Mallow and Lana and made friends with them, then learned that the two of them were friends with Lillie and were wondering how she was doing. Now May was worried what they would think if they found out where she had gone.

"Well, I can see why you would be concerned," Ash nodded after she finished, "but I don't think they would completely and utterly reject you if they found out Lillie was human. I mean, couldn't they just swim up to the surface and meet her up there?"

"Mallow could," May said, "but Lana's got the same condition that I do: she can't breathe air."

"She can't?" Ash blinked, eyes wide.

"No," May shook her head, "and since they're really close friends, I don't think Mallow would want to go up there without her."

"Oh," Ash mused.

"So yeah, I'm worried that they'll think I ruined their friendship with her because I helped her become human."

"I see," Ash nodded. "Well, they're probably gonna find out sooner or later. It would probably be for the best if you told them the truth."

"I know," May nodded. "I'm just nervous about how they'll react."

"Well, if they're half as nice as you say they are, then I'm sure they won't be upset with you: at least, not so upset that they'll renounce their friendship with you."

She smiled at his words. "Yeah," she nodded. "You're probably right."

"As always," he smirked.

"You wish," she smirked back, shoving his shoulder. He shoved her back, prompting them to chuckle. After a moment, they suddenly found themselves looking into each other's eyes. May stared into his warm eyes colored like the sand at the bottom of the sea. Ash stared into her beautiful eyes colored like the deepest ocean. As they got lost in each other's gaze, they started to lean closer, resting their foreheads against each other. They were so close to each other that they each could feel the water the other breathed out.

The sudden sound of something swimming overhead jolted them out of their trance, and they looked up with wide eyes to see another school of Finneon swimming inches above them. They swam off just as quickly as they had come, leaving the two merpeople sitting there, in a minor state of shock.

That wasn't what I thought it was, was it?! May thought as she looked over at Ash, still stunned. If I had moved any closer, I could've...kissed him!? She looked down, placing a hand over her heart. Unsurprisingly, it was beating faster than normal. I must be much farther gone with him than I thought! I knew I had a crush on him, and I don't mind that a bit...but I didn't think I –!

"May?"

She turned and stared at him, still wide-eyed. "Y-Yeah?" she squeaked, stunned at how quiet her voice was.

"Are you okay?"

She blinked, then took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, regaining her composure. "Just a little rattled, that's all."

"Sorry," he said, shrugging guiltily. "I don't know what came over me just now."

"Yeah, me neither," she replied, blushing slightly as she smiled at him.

They looked up again at the moonlight, still waving in the water. One might think that, after their little incident, they would feel very awkward and want to go home as soon as possible. Surprisingly, however, neither of them seemed to mind as they thought it over. Ash didn't even flinch when May leaned her head on his shoulder again, snuggling closer to him as she placed her hand back on his chest. He just put his arm around her again and pulled her in closer, resting his head on hers as they sat there, saying nothing as they enjoyed the rest of their night.

Finally, they floated up and swam back towards home. It wasn't long before they were swimming over the village. Ash promptly dove down and swam towards his home, with May not far behind him. They quickly arrived at his place and floated in front of it.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Ash said.

"Yeah," May nodded. They looked at each other a moment, smiling softly, before she floated forward and pulled him into a deep embrace. He happily reciprocated, and for a few moments, they just floated there, silently enjoying the warmth they felt in each other's arms. "Sleep well today, Ash," she whispered, her lips right next to his ear.

"You too," he replied. She then pulled back, unsurprised to see him blushing, and gave him one last smile before looking up and swimming away, heading straight for home. Ash watched her swim away, a small smile slowly growing on his face, before turning and swimming into his home.

May arrived at the palace and, after checking in with her mother, she swam off to her room, still smiling to herself.