Chapter 38
Coughing up water again, the woman groans loudly. Didn't she just do this already? She closes her eyes tightly due to her intense headache. It's most likely from stress, hunger, and fatigue. May hasn't slept much or taken care of herself since Kai was taken. Everything just aches.
"Maybe if you eat, you'll feel better." comes a very familiar deep voice.
Yup. Her headaches are getting worse. Now she's imagining his voice. It's so vivid too. Okay. Just because she regrets leaving him and she misses him doesn't mean that she needs to think about him all the time. Right now, she needs to focus on Kai. Not Drew. Maybe it's because she's on Mirage Island, and this place reminds her of Drew? Groudon, stop thinking about Drew! She's here for Kai!
"Wake up and eat already, May." comes the annoyed voice.
"Leave me alone." she mutters angrily at her imagination. Please stop.
"You told me not to." he shrugs.
"And then I told you to leave me alone. Respect my wishes."
"Are you gonna wake up and eat?"
"I knew this was a dream." It makes sense as to why his voice is so close.
Rolling his eyes, he takes a bite out of his Liechi berry. "It's not a dream, May. We're on Mirage Island and in the Wynaut Cave again." After crashing in the river, May and Drew were knocked unconscious. When Drew woke up, he was greeted by the friendly Wynaut, like last time. They had rescued Drew and May and brought them to the cave. The pokemon remember Drew and May as the people who helped them against Team Rocket decades ago.
May then remembers seeing Flygon right before she fell in the river. And she saw Drew. They held hands...At this, her eyes shoot open and she sits up quickly, causing her to feel light headed again. She groans with her hands on her head, and the man rushes to her side to hold her steady. When May opens her eyes again, she's greeted by his warm nervous smile. "Drew?"
"Eat." he offers her a Liechi berry.
May gratefully takes it and she welcomes the sweet juices from the berry. She's been pretty parched since turning up on shore. After she eats a few more Liechi berries, she asks, "Where are the Wynaut?"
"Out getting more berries. They love these things." Drew resumes his position by the wall where he sits against it.
May sees that it's raining outside, just like it was when they were first on the island. "Am I dreaming?"
Chuckling, he follows her gaze. "I keep asking myself that too." This is definitely dejavu.
After a few minutes of silence, May keeps watching the rain fall outside. "Why are you here?" She also wants to know how he got here too.
"Same reason you are: to get Kai back." Drew tells her matter of factly.
"I told you to stay away from me."
Drew feels slightly hurt at her cold tone, but he knows he deserves it. He's had a lot of time to think about his and May's last conversation...well, argument. He's thought about what he wants as well as what he needs, which happens to all be the same. Turning his head to look at her where he sees she's still gazing at the rain, he replies, "I won't."
This makes her glare at him. "I respected your wish when you wanted to stop traveling together! You need to respect my wish now that I want you gone!" Sighing, Drew gets up to walk over to her, making May back up on the ground. "Stay away!"
"Or else what?" taunts the man.
"Or else I'm gonna get Blaziken on you!" She holds out a pokeball threateningly at him, but Drew reaches out to hold her hand with the pokeball in it.
"May."
"Leave me alone!" she screams with her eyes shut tightly. She won't cry. Not in front of him. Groudon, she wishes they were out in the rain so that her tears can be hidden by it.
"Look at me."
"No!"
"Please." insists Drew. "May, just listen to me. If you don't like what I have to say, then I will leave forever after getting Kai back. You won't see me again."
"I don't need your help finding Kai!" May's emotions are making her say irrational things because a calm May knows the more people searching for Kai, then the better chance they have at finding him.
Drew sighs, but he won't give up. Letting go of her hand, he opts to sit in front of her. May glares intensely at him, though Drew is just happy to see her sapphire eyes again. "Just give me 5 minutes."
"You have 10 seconds before I leave this cave." she then stands up to grab her bag.
Drew understands her anger towards him, but he does wish she'd listen to him. They were really good friends before all of this. Also, while Drew doesn't think he deserves this treatment for just having those papers, he knows there must be other underlying reasons for May's behavior now.
When he sees May at the cave entrance, he quickly yells, "I dated Brianna because I thought she was you." May stops in her tracks. This just causes a lot more questions to stir in her mind. However, she already told herself to forget Drew, but why won't her legs keep moving? Noticing this, Drew lets out a slightly relieved breath. "I got really wasted at the Oak wedding, and I thought Brianna was you. She said she was a coordinator from Hoenn and she considers me a rival."
Drew's gaze shifts to his hands. "All I remember hearing were coordinator, Hoenn, and rival. Those three words remind me of...you." Drew feels his heart beating quickly as his face heats up. "I slept with her, May. When I woke up, I saw it was Brianna instead, but due to the public catching me, I found it easier just dating Brianna. I never thought we'd meet again, so I was content with not having to deal with the media's nagging about a one-night stand." Drew closes his eyes because he hates thinking about that mistake. "I thought I was sleeping with you."
Hanging his head low in shame, Drew keeps his eyes shut. With the rain pounding outside, he can't hear May's footsteps. He's not sure if she's left or not. However, Drew is just glad he finally got that off his chest. She only gave him 10 seconds, and even though Drew would've preferred talking about the papers and when he quit traveling with her, he knows he wants to clear up the whole Brianna situation first. Besides, he's confessed to May plenty of times already, so it's not like his feelings need to be hidden anymore. He was just embarrassed to tell her about his lustful desires towards her.
When he feels warm slender arms wrap around his neck, he tries to look up, but his face is pressed in her shoulder. "You have until the rain stops." she whispers.
Drew smiles and wraps his own arms around her tightly. He never wants to let her go again. "The papers-"
"I never contacted you because you never contacted me." May cuts him off. She doesn't want to talk about the papers. They're not the problem. She and Drew need to talk about their first issues, and then they'll get to the papers eventually. "When you proposed we travel separately, I thought it was because you didn't wanna be around me anymore."
"No, May!" Drew exclaims.
"So I didn't wanna be a bother and contact you." She buries her face in the crook of his neck so that he can't see her pained expression. "I felt so lonely without you and I felt like I wasn't good enough to be around you anymore."
"May, stop." he insists. He just wants to look in her eyes right now, but her hold won't allow him to pull away. "I didn't call you because I thought you didn't care about me anymore! You agreed so easily when I suggested we stop traveling together. I thought you didn't want to be around me anymore!"
"We're idiots." she mutters, making him chuckle slightly. They really thought the other didn't want to be friends anymore.
"I'll admit, May, I was wrong back then."
To his surprise, May pulls away so their eyes meet. "Wrong about what?" Is he still talking about Brianna? This just makes May's face flush.
Shaking his head, Drew replies, "When I proposed we stop traveling together. I thought it was because I wanted to be a Top Coordinator." He reaches out a hand to hold hers. "But I was never as happy as I was when we traveled together. Even when I won the title, I felt empty." His emerald orbs soften on her sapphire ones. "It was once my dream to be a Top Coordinator, but the moment I met you, May, my dream has been to be by your side. It's why I can't leave you again."
May squeezes his hand and inches her face closer to his. "I felt lonely too, Drew." It contributed to her adopting Kai without a second thought. She was getting bored of her routine life in Rustboro with her family rarely seeing each other. Everyone was moving on in life except for her who was only a Top Coordinator for 2 short years.
The two gaze into each other's eyes. The only sounds that can be heard are their pounding hearts and the rain outside. With their faces getting closer together, May knows this is it. This is what she's always wanted. While she was in denial of it for years, especially after Drew came back into her life, she knows she feels most happy with him. "I love you, Drew."
The man raises his eyebrows up in shock, but May's lips crash onto his. Melting into the kiss, Drew closes his eyes. Her soft warm lips make him forget their current situation as he slowly pushes her back to the ground. Hovering above her, Drew snakes his tongue into her mouth. When he hears her moan slightly, he brings a hand up to her waist. Once May's hand slips under his shirt, the coldness shakes Drew out of his daze, causing him to pull away, much to her dismay.
Why did he pull away? Did he lose his feelings for her? Drew notices May's hurt expression, so he quickly puts his hands up. "We can't!" As much as Drew would love to do certain activities with May, they're currently in a wet cave where the Wynaut can return at any moment. Plus, their priority is finding Kai right now. "May, you know I love you too. Groudon, I've loved you since you amazed me at the Slateport City contest!" His words make her shyly blush at him. "But you're right. We can talk about our feelings after we get Kai back."
May mentally curses herself for even forgetting about Kai just for a moment. Yes, her feelings for Drew are strong, but Kai is the one who has been missing for weeks now. May isn't even sure how he's doing. She has a lot of obstacles right now, but getting Kai back is her main priority.
The woman smiles slightly at Drew. Her childhood crush on him had always been love. He's always been there and looked out for her. He's always partaken in her wild adventures, even when he didn't want to. Sometimes, he'd be the one leading an adventure. And then when he came back… "Why were you trying so hard to be friends again when we met in Cianwood?"
Drew chuckles shyly. "Uh. I don't know." He knows Leaf has something to do with him going to that contest hall. "Like I said, I was unhappy after we separated, May." His sincere eyes meet her curious ones. "Seeing you again just reminded me how much I miss you. I already lost everyone I cared about, even you, so I didn't see any harm in trying to reconnect with you again."
"But I kept pushing you away."
He lightly grabs her chin. "You don't know what lengths a lonely man will through to be happy again."
His eyes are always so mesmerizing. May can't look away even if she wanted to, though she doesn't want to. She finds comfort in them, and she's missed them. Before Drew can close the gap between them again, May speaks up, "I'm sorry, Drew."
He pulls away to curiously ask her, "What for?"
Taking in a deep nervous breath, May finds the courage to tell her everything that has been aching her heart lately pertaining to him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that about those papers." The papers aren't enough for her to suspect Drew of spying on her, nor are they enough for her to want to kick him out of her life.
"I should've told you about them-"
"No, Drew." May's intense apologetic blue eyes meet his green ones. "I was scared you'd leave me again."
"I would never-"
"I know!" May interrupts him. "I know, Drew! But after Shelly took Kai, all I had left was you. I was scared she'd take you away too."
"I don't even know her!" he assumes the pinkette who blasted them off the cliff is Shelly. May did say Shelly has pink hair.
"But she took Brendan, Drew. And then she took Kai." May holds Drew's hand tightly. "I'm scared she'll take you too." she whispers.
Sighing, Drew isn't sure he knows what to say to reassure her that he won't be going anywhere without her. Instead, he opts to show her how much she means to him, so he kisses her. Unlike before, he doesn't lose control of himself; thus, he pulls away to see her dazed expression. "I am in love with you, May. Brendan may have loved you like a sibling, and Kai loves you like a friend, but I am in love with you." Drew sternly tells her. "I lost you once. I won't lose you again, especially to this Shelly woman."
Despite everything she's gone through, and May's belief that Shelly gets whatever she wants, May finds herself believing in Drew. Drew and her have gone through so much already, and May knows they can get through anything. Just being near him again gives her newfound strength in finding Kai. She wraps him up in another tight hug. "I won't let you leave me either."
Chuckling, Drew welcomes the hug. "I like that."
May pulls her head back a bit so that she can kiss him. Groudon, she loves his kisses. She loves him. It took years and a lot of struggles, but she won't hide from her feelings anymore, especially since he feels the same way. Due to her once being a lonely person, she fully understands what Drew means when he said he was lonely after separating from her. Therefore, May knows Drew feels just as strongly about never wanting to be apart again. They will both fight to stay together.
To her surprise, Drew stands up after their kiss. Both of the adults are blushing profusely, though they are very happy. Extending a hand out to help her stand, Drew says, "C'mon. The rest of the team is probably worried about us."
"Rest of the team?" May raises a confused eyebrow at him. She has been wondering how he knew they were on Mirage Island. Did her father or Max tell him? Still holding his hand, she follows him out of the cave where the rain has stopped.
Drew looks around before pointing out in the distance. May looks in that direction as he says, "Yeah. Shelly may have a mercenary on her side, but we have friends."
May gazes at where Drew is pointing, and she spots the little blue pokemon who helped her the last time she was here. "The Wynauts!"
Drew grins, and he puts an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "I may have lied when I said they were looking for Liechi berries."
"What?"
He nods at the Wynaut walking closer. "I sent them looking for the rest of our team."
May's eyes open wide when she spots her family and Vivi walking with the Wynaut. However, they're not the only people making May surprised. The woman grins enthusiastically at all of her friends: the Enbars, Ketchums, Oaks, Shinjis, and even Solidad and Harley are here too! "How?" she whispers as everyone walks closer, though only Drew can hear her right now.
"I heard about Brendan. I'm not gonna let that happen to any of us." Drew tells her. Moreover, when he called Leaf for help, she insisted on informing the Ketchums who then called the Shinjis. Drew already planned to reach out to Solidad and Harley anyway. The children are all at home with the exception of Shay and Shane. With all these powerful trainers and coordinators, everyone's chance of survival increases dramatically. There will not be a repeat of the past. May and Drew will make sure of that. Besides, they've already made sure of that between themselves.
Once everyone is near and quick greetings are done with, Ash asks, "So what's the plan?" Max informed everyone that the Wynaut know where Shelly's hideout is. Few humans frequent the mysterious island, so the Wynaut know of the ones who do.
May pulls them all close, including the Wynaut. She looks over at Drew, and the two give each other big smiles. "I got one." She then seriously gazes at everyone. "And it ends with Kai coming back with us."
There we go. Some more contestshipping before the storm. You won't see much contestshipping until the end!