- 16 -

May hugged her knees to her chest, shaking. She had been lost for days, and was scared to death She hadn't any weapon, her elements were blocked, and Lucia couldn't use any attacks thanks to the League.

She frowned, staring in the direction of what was Cerulean. There were soft footsteps coming from the surrounding forest, as if someone was walking towards her. May stared into the darkness that surrounded, looking for the source of the footsteps.

Her eyes widened, as Ash stepped out from behind one of the trees. His cloak was slightly torn at places, almost nothing but shreds at the edges. May tried to get up, but fell back down immediately. Ash silently lessened the space between them, before helping her up.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was softly indifferent, a near inaudible coldness dropped into it. May hung onto him, not even bothering to reply. Her heart had nearly split into pieces...what had happened to cause such a drastic change?

Ash looked at Lucia, who was staring avidly at him from nearby. His eyes where narrowed into a half-glare. He turned to look at May, who seemed to be crying or something of the sort. Frowning, he tightened his grip on her unconsciously. "You're...You're alright," she gasped out, keeping a hold on his shoulders.

"We should find someplace to stay the night.....it's going to rain," Ash said, after several minutes of silence. The evening sky had began to be swallowed up by the dark thunder clouds only seconds before. "There should be some type of shelter nearby....."

Trying to ignore the fretful sadness that was trying to overtake her, May nodded slowly and followed after him.

The rain hit the window harshly, as the storm continued its attack on the world. May curled up on the small bed against the wall, across the room from the single window, while Ash sat on the one against the wall with the window. They had found a small cottage, only one room big but good enough to stay out of the rain, but it was still cold from having no heater or furnace.

Ash silently turned from staring out of the window at the woods outside to look at May, who at the same time had been staring at him. "You really should get some rest. Indigo is a long way off from here."

"We're still going?" May asked, looking at him. Ash's expression was unreadable, mostly because it was hard to tell what it was, but also from the dark that had descended, covering a lot of the room in shadow.

"Yes, I said we were, didn't I?" His voice had a dry tone to it as he spoke. "We both are going to Indigo, but then I'm going to try recovering Cerulean back to what it was before....."

May knew, just from his voice, it was a half-hearted lie, the Cerulean part. She took hold of the necklace at her throat. "You.....You are just going to leave again?"

He looked back out of the window, dimly seeing his reflection in the glass. "Yes, but its not just to do it. It'd be for the best for everyone." Ash was silent for several seconds, before ending it, "Go on to sleep. Like I said, it's a long way to Indigo."

May gave him a saddened look, but didn't try to say anymore. She curled up under the thin blankets, to attempt to stay warm again. The tears broke loose finally, before she fell into an uneasy sleep.
Ash pressed his forehead against the glass, staring out of the dreary window once again. The chilled air didn't bother him, even though he knew it would bother May. He twisted around, to look across the dark room to the other bed.

His frown deepened, as Ash watched with worry the shivering form of his Bonded wife. He silently slid his legs off the bed, his bare feet hitting the floor. He ignored the feeling of freezing that shot through his legs, as he pushed himself up off the bed and carefully crept over to the other bed.

His cloak made a swishing noise as he walked. Ash slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, not wanting to startle her awake. He swung his legs up off the floor, onto the bed.

Gently, he put an arm around her, using the other to prop his head up. Ash closed his eyes, listening to the pounding rain. May startled him awake, when she rolled over-right into him.

Somehow, Ash managed to fall over, right onto her. He cringed, listening to the small whimper she made. Ash carefully lifted himself up and back onto his side when he saw just how uncomfortable she was in such a position. She curled up comfortably next to him, using his shoulder as a pillow.

Ash scowled, when May bit down gently on his ear. He sulked, wishing things where normal again, even though he knew they never would be. 'NO!' he thought, feeling the bitter coldness seep into him again, 'I'll just cause more pain and suffering for everyone, and I'm not doing it. I
don't CARE if they'll want me to stay, it'll be for the best if I leave!'

His train of thought once again broke down, when a voice cracked the silence. "Ash?"

'Well, someone woke up!' he thought, before saying, "Hm?"

"What really happened back at Cerulean?" May asked, her voice quiet, almost timid. Ash frowned at her, even though the dark would keep her from seeing it.

"I don't know," Ash said reluctantly. He didn't feel like giving a minute-by-minute account of what he remembered happening in the tower, and wouldn't. May twisted to see him clearer, her face barely an inch away from his.

"Something happened besides you blowing up a small part of Kanto," she replied, frowning also, "because that shouldn't be bothering you, not like this. No one died except for the League people, because the town in that area had moved elsewhere when they placed the HQ there."

"Nothing happened! N-O-T-H-I-N-G."

May stared at Ash, noticing how calm he seemed. The way he was talking and the way he looked where saying two different things. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt on the situation. "Oh. Alright. If you say so. How long do you think it'll take to get to
Indigo?"

Ash stayed silent, before finally answering the question. "Four or five days."
The days went by almost too quickly. In what seemed to be one long day, which was actually four, Indigo rose above them, its buildings glowing with the sun. "Everyone will be so happy to see you," May said, trying to cheer Ash up, and seemingly failing, "And it has most likely
been chaos since we both where in Cerulean, since no one was here to run
the Pokemon League, so you can clear all of that up-"

"Stop trying to make me change my mind," he growled, gently blowing the loose strands of black hair that had fallen into his face away from his eyes. Ash frowned, an uneasy feeling settling over him. He cursed under his breath.

May stayed silent, finally giving up. "You stubborn bat!" she said quietly.

"I heard that."

AN: This is the next chapter! lol. I rather like the outcome of it, overall. Even thought something about it isn't sitting right oO;; oh well, cant let that ruin the whole thing!

Also, I am working on a rewrite of Master of the World, the very first fan fiction in the Shadow League Team series. Yep, that is right, I'm rewriting it. I'm gunna wait until I have all the chapters done though before changing them It'kll take about a year or so to finish off though probably lol

And what is with fanfiction.net now? That quick editor thing? I can't even use my star and squiggle bars anymore .;; then again, now i can actually italicize words instead of putting stars around them...

And, as always, here are the replies to my review(s):

DJ- Huh. With Ash, it isn't so easy to get through at times like this lol. but you never do know, someone just might get through to him.... Also, I'm going to start work on the next chapter of TAT tommorrow