Hey guys,

I'm very sorry about how long this chapter took. It's been Christmas and so I've been too busy with family and friends to write this as often as I would like, but I haven't forgotten about it, and here's the next chapter, and I will try to write the next before next Sunday.

Don't forget to let me know what you think about it if you're still here, I appreciate ya.

May had collapsed into tears. She collapsed against the shelves behind her and let her body slide down until she reached the floor. Her sobs were not loud, but she shook violently as she sat. She felt Ash leaning beside her, but she she could not see for the tears. She felt his arm around her shoulder and tensed.

"It's gonna be okay," he spoke softly, and she blinked away her tears to stare back into his focused eyes. "You're gonna be okay."

She shook her head weakly. "I'm so afraid. I don't want to be alone."

Ash looked down, and seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. After a second he took a breath and began to move back.

"Come on. We can't stay here. Come on, May, it's gonna be okay."

He spoke softly, coaxing her up, and kept his arm around her until she stood, and let her go. She sobbed silently, still shaking madly. He pushed her hair from her face gently.

"I want you to head towards your corridor, and once you reach the end of it I want you to cry very loudly and make a fuss. The guards will come over to you. Once they do tell them you're okay and go to your room. Can you do that for me, May?" He placed his hands on her shoulders, and she once again thought of how natural it felt when he touched her. She nodded, not questioning him.

She left then, with her body still shaking. She headed for the elevator, and didn't look back. When she reached her floor, she hovered for a moment nervously, then let out a wail. Just as Ash had said, the guards moved towards her, with little speed or concern.

"Are you okay, miss? Would you like to visit the infirmary?" A female guard asked her as her male co worker stood by her. May sobbed a bit more, not answering, then shook her head.

"No thank you, I'll be just fine," May said, wiping her eyes violently. The guard sighed, nodded, and turned to walk back to her post. May hurried away, turning back nervously, until she pushed her way into her room.

Ash sat by her dressing table.

"Wha-"

"It's okay, I came up the other way and came in when they were talking to you, no one saw me."

"Why?" May asked, wiping her eyes with her arm again.

"You said you didn't want to be alone."

May felt a smile tug at her lips, and she dropped her head nervously, half covering her face with her hand. "Thank you." She slowly removed her boots, never taking her eyes off Ash. He had turned away so she could undress. He listened to her unzip her suit as he observed the trinkets she kept at her dressing table. Her hair accesories were neatly collected in a small jewellery box. A stuffed toy sat by her mirror, looking old and worn. Stuck up in the bottom right corner of her mirror was a piece of paper, with large, messy handwriting scrawled across it. The letter read 'To May, you luk nice and your very pretty, can we be freinds? Drew'. He reached out and touched it, realising there was a small collection of letters behind it. In each one, the writing was nicer, and there was more written. All from Drew. He decided he didn't want to read the rest.

May cleared her throat and he turned back around. She had changed into sleeping shorts and a t shirt. For a moment, Ash flinched. Everyone always saw each other in their suits. She sat back against the wall on her bed and drew her knees up. He stayed sitting where he was.

"Don't you ever wonder about what it'd be like if you'd grown up on the outside?" May started. "What your life would have been like? Who you would have met?"

"Not often… I try not to think about all of that. Plus… I can't even imagine what living outside is like."

"You're right, it's hard… if you could change one thing about your life, what would it be? Because the first thought might be that you would want to live normally like most people… but then you would never have met your friends here… and I love my friends, I can't imagine not knowing them."

"If I could change one thing… I would still say that, May. I would still say that I would want to grow up like everyone else."

May paused for a moment. "We would never have met."

"You don't know that." Ash smiled. "Maybe we would have."

"Maybe…" Suddenly, May looked miserable once again. "Maybe… if we had met on the outside, things might have been different. Maybe things would have changed."

Ash looked at her curiously, searching her expression for any hint of what she had meant. As his eyes darted around his face, he spoke gently, almost whispering.

"Maybe they can still change."

May didn't look up to meet his eyes, but her heart skipped a beat in her chest, her eyes widening. What does he mean by that?

"You should get some sleep," he spoke again quickly.

"How will you sneak out?" she asked, finally looking up at him, but nervously now.

"I don't think I can… I can sleep here, it's okay."

"On the chair? No, you can't, that'd be so uncomfortable…" She looked around, her heart beginning to race. "Just… come here."

Ash's eyes widened and he looked at her blankly.

"It's alright, we're friends… right?"

"Uh, yeah, right," Ash stuttered. He'd removed his boots already, but he was still in his suit. May crawled under her covers and moved as close to the wall as she could, so they weren't too close together. She had turned to face the wall, and so he turned to face the other wall. She felt the bed shift as he slowly moved in, and then the room fell into silence.

"Your company is really helping, Ash," she said, and clapped to turn her lights off.

"As long as you're okay, May," he said from the darkness, and there was silence again. Ash found it hard to close his eyes. He had never slept next to another human being in his life, and he could feel her body heat behind him. He lay still, begging himself to sleep, but only lay staring out into the darkness. An hour later, he felt himself finally beginning to drift as his exhaustion got the better of him. Just as he almost slipped into sleep, he felt her move beside him in her sleep. She rolled over, moving her legs so that they touched his own. From the silence came a quiet, single sob. He turned quietly to face her as he lay there. He felt his hand brush her arm as he did and blushed. Skin contact was rare in the arena. In the darkness he felt gently for her face and rubbed the few tears away. She didn't move. Confident that she wouldn't wake, he shifted up and forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. With that, he lay back, and managed to sleep right away.

May was thrown out of sleep from shock at a knocking sound. She sat up, rubbing her eyes slowly, still half asleep, and the knocking came again. Her heart dropped. She looked to Ash, whose eyes were slowly opening. In a panic she shook him, and as the third knock came Ash threw himself out and towards her wardrobe. He climbed inside, pulling the doors closed behind him, and May composed herself.

"Come in," she called. Dawn entered, wearing a friendly smile. May could see right through it.

"I have something to tell you," Dawn announced, without greeting her first, and shut the door behind her. "It's important. I'm so sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no." May fought off her yawns. "I've been awake for quite a while."

"Oh, thank goodness. I know it's early, I just wanted to see you before breakfast, before we s-"

Dawn stopped mid-sentence. May, who had turned to her dressing table to brush her hair, turned back in confusion, until she followed Dawn's gaze to the extra pair of boots sitting by May's door, much too big to be her own. Knowing there was no excuse, she raised her palm to her face and pressed into it, twisting her face. She cursed herself and Ash for being so careless.

"I… I mean, do I want to ask who those belong to? May… Are those Drew's?"

"Oh God, no!" May cried. "They're not Drew's, huh… I…" There was no doubt about it. She had to tell Dawn the truth now. Normally, nothing would be wrong, it would just be two friends sleeping together when one of them was upset. The problem was his type.

"I got upset last night. Someone came to stay with me to keep me company until I was okay. Nothing else happened, I promise."

"Oh, that's alright then May. Who was it, and… where are they now?"

May's heart raced. She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight, wishing she could disappear, but there was no way out now. Reluctantly, she turned to her cupboard knowing Ash would be watching through the gap in the door, and nodded. After a moment, the door slid open, and he stepped out. May couldn't bring herself to look at her friend.

"Hey, Dawn," she heard Ash say, but no response came. Though it pained her, May forced herself to look up, and realised Dawn was looking right at her, and unreadable expression plastered on her frozen face.

"Let me explain to you, Dawn."

"Are you… Are you sleeping with Ash, May?" Dawn asked, her voice trembling. "Are you?"

"No!" May quickly shouted, growing flustered at her friend's awkward accusation. "No, that's not what this is… I'm begging you Dawn, as your friend, to let me explain."

"Okay… Ash, there's no guards on this corridor right now. You should get yourself out of here before they come back."

Ash didn't respond to her. In an instant he was gone, sliding out into the corridor and disappearing back to his room. May took a deep breath.

"Ash and I met a little while ago by the lake, when I was deeply upset by the possibility of Drew leaving us… He reached out to me, and when I responded, there was no hate between us like you would usually see between fire and water types. We had no reason to hate each other. We got along. We started to talk whenever we were alone and we wrote notes to one another. We became friends. Dawn, there's nothing between us that suggests we should fight each other. The whole feud… it's craziness. I… I want to somehow end it. Ash and I, we want to end it.. Or else everyone will be divided when we try to leave this place and it will never work, we need to be united. All of us."

May respected that her friend would need time to think, and silence fell once she had finished her brief explanation. Dawn sighed, wringing her hands together, and spoke softly.

"I was never going to tell anybody or hate you, May, it just shocked me. I believe you and I understand, but I have just one question."

"Anything."

"Is that really all this is about, or is there something else? Rising up against authority requires fire and water to get along, I agree, but is that the only reason you want to convince people to stop the hate between fire and water?"

May stuttered. "I- I don't understand what you're asking me, Dawn."

"Do you have feelings for him, May?"

May opened her mouth to fight, but couldn't. She knew herself the answer, though she knew it wasn't right. There were no recorded relationships between a fire and a water type. It had never happened before, because the hate between them had kept them from ever interacting, and ever having a chance to develop feelings. She prayed her friend would understand.

"Yes, I do."

Dawn didn't speak, and seemed to be thinking for a long while.

"I see now. You've got to be careful, May. You and Ash… you can sort this out, I believe it, but you need to be careful about it."

"That's why I want us to be friends. There's… very little chance he has feelings for me."

Dawn smiled for the first time since she'd seen Ash. "You never know, May. I wouldn't say that."

"Why? What do you mean?"

Dawn's smile only grew wider. "Don't worry about it, May. I have hope."

The next few days passed surprisingly peacefully. Nobody brought up the night they had visited Cynthia's office, and May liked it that way, for she needed space to think about all of her options and plan what she would do next. She'd resumed her note writing to Ash, and had spoke to him once briefly in her room when he came to visit, but they hadn't really seen much of either other. It was hard for May, but she was trying her best to push her feelings aside and focus on her goals. Whenever she would see him, she would look away. When he came to visit her, she tried her best to convince herself that she did not like him much at all. Despite what Dawn had told her, she couldn't believe her, the odds of him having feelings for her too were just too slim.

She and her friends were in the lounge. Paul's watch showed that it was just turning 7pm. They had been playing board games for most of the night with nothing better to do as the rain came down in buckets outside.

"It's time for a new game." Dawn announced as she packed away their last game. They were alone in this lounge, as they had deliberately picked the smallest, knowing the bigger ones would be busy with the rain. They had been able to discuss whether or not they had managed to use their powers over the past two days in peace. A window ran across the wall by the corridor, but no one had walked past or stood outside.

"What now?" Paul asked, trying to sound uninterested but failing.

"We're gonna play spin the bottle!" Dawn announced, finding pleasure in the horrified look that put upon her friends' faces. "We're gonna spin the bottle one at a time, whoever it lands on you ask truth or dare. Either they answer the truth, do the dare, or they have to kiss you, deal?"

May looked around her friends, who were all turning to read each other's expressions. Eventually, Serena shrugged.

"Yeah, sure, why not?"

Dawn leapt up, heading for the vending machine in the corner where she would buy a bottle just to empty the contents out to play. May turned away to talk to Serena, until she heard Dawn again.

"Oh, look, Ash!"

May's heart dropped. What is she doing?

Dawn was opening the door to the corridor and calling out to Ash, who had just passed by. Her friends all wore puzzled looks, but her own was one of pure horror. "Come in and play!" Dawn called, and May began to panic. What on earth was Dawn doing? With her heart racing so fast it made her light headed, she turned to Drew, but he was not looking. Ash entered slowly, looking around the group awkwardly but avoiding May. She looked down.

"Hey," Ash greeted them.

"Oh goodness," Dawn said suddenly, placing her hands on her hips. "I forgot, May is a fire type and you're water… Is that a problem, guys?"

It clicked in May's mind what Dawn's motive was. This was a test; a test to find whether their friends would be willing to accept her friendship with Ash. She couldn't bring herself to look up and see their faces. Nobody spoke at first.

"I don't mind, personally," Drew finally spoke, though May could hear the resentment hiding in his tone.

"Nah, just as long as no guards come past, or then we'll have to hide May behind ourselves!" Serena answered. Paul shrugged, which was a good response from Paul. Relief flooded her- her friends were accepting of it. Everything would be so much easier now.

Ash joined their circle on the floor next to Paul, who began to talk to him as Dawn left the room to go to a bathroom and empty the bottle she'd bought. It was clear right away that they got along. All of Paul's friends were currently girls, and this new male was actually getting conversation from him. May watched as they talked, and Ash began to talk to Serena too. The thought of Ash joining her friendship group came to her mind, and it excited her. Then she would see him more, and they would grow to like him, meaning they may be more accepting of any feelings she had for him.

No, no, you can't have feelings for him, May. Stop.

Her excitement was gone. Dawn returned with the empty bottle and sat between Paul and May.

"Me first." She placed the bottle in the middle and spun it quite violently. It took a while to slow, and May saw it slow as it reached Serena's side. It continued to spin slightly until it came to a halt pointing at Drew.

Ash had realised he didn't know what they were playing, but he didn't ask. He would figure out as he watched the others. He watched her across the circle, and how she hung her head, looking shy. He smiled, hiding his own face. He liked this. He was so close to her, with others around him, and nobody batted an eyelash. He wondered how they would react if his spin landed on her.

"Okay Drew, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

Dawn smirked. "I dare you to kiss Paul on the cheek!"

"Well you know, it's easier to just not do that one," he chuckled, and Paul scoffed. Drew leaned across the circle to kiss Dawn briefly, and May bristled a little. Though she didn't notice herself, Ash had been watching from the other side. He bit his lip.

May was next, and her spin landed on Paul, who chose truth.

"Alright, Paul," she thought, and it came to her mind quickly. "Who do you have a crush on?"

Serena laughed with a snort. "Classic! You should have seen that one coming."

Paul didn't say anything. His annoyed expression didn't change, but May knew he wasn't annoyed. He was nervous. She smiled and turned to face Dawn briefly. When she turned back, he was beside her, and leaned in to kiss her. When he pulled away, she laughed a little.

"What?" he asked. "I didn't want to answer."

"Yeah, I know, it's just weird to kiss you. Sorry, man." She giggled some more. He shrugged, smirking a little himself.

They continued to play, with Drew next, who dared Dawn to run down the corridor and scream at the top of her lungs, which she did. Serena dared May to lick Dawn's face, which May did. When it came to Ash, it landed on Paul. He was a little disappointed, but dared Paul to write a note on the wall reading 'Dawn + Paul'. Paul gave Ash the briefest of kisses. Paul dared Serena to kiss Dawn, which Serena did. Then, it came to Dawn again. Dawn span the bottle, a little smirk on her face. The bottle landed on Ash, and May watched her friend's eyes light up. Her heart skipped a beat. Surely she wouldn't do that to me…

"Truth or dare, Ash?"

Truth, truth, please pick truth…

"Dare."

May's heart raced wildly in her chest and she desperately tried to hide it from her friends, smiling casually at Dawn, who turned to her right after he answered, with a little smile on her lips.

"I dare you to kiss May."

May couldn't bring herself to look across at him. She had seen it coming, but that didn't make it any better. She silently cursed Dawn, though she had played herself, for surely Ash would kiss her instead. She looked up. He was moving towards her. She froze in terror, her cover breaking as the nerves finally showed on her face. He was just an inch in front of her now, and he lingered for just a second that felt like an eternity, looking into her eyes, and she stared curiously back, not saying a word. Then, placing his hand behind her head, he pulled her gently towards him and pressed his lips against hers. Without thinking, May parted her lips slightly, accepting the kiss in a way that she hadn't accepted Paul's earlier, or Drew's weeks ago. The feeling in her chest was stronger than ever, almost overwhelming her completely, and the kiss seemed to last forever. In reality, it was just a second, and she was left alone again, in shock. He had just kissed her… but it was just a game. She resumed her position staring down at the ground.

"You should hang out with us more, Ash!" Dawn exclaimed suddenly, and Serena agreed. Paul gave a little nod in his direction. Ash smiled sheepishly.

"Sure, I will. I gotta go now, though. I'll see you all later."

His surprise departure left May wondering whether it was their kiss that caused him to leave, and whether that meant she had freaked him out by responding to it. It was just a game, usually the friends would just press their lips together briefly, but she had responded. What have I done?

Once he was outside, his friends resumed their conversations, forgetting about the game and the fact that a fire and water type had just kissed in front of them. May hadn't thought it possible, but now she loved her friends even more.

The next day, May did not write a note in the morning for Ash. Instead she lay in bed through most of breakfast, planning what she would say to him if he brought up the kiss. Halfway through, she decided she wanted to see her friends, and quickly dressed and ran to the dining hall without putting her hair tie in. When she burst through the doors, her friends looked up from their usual table. Ash was sat next to Paul instead of Dawn. She sighed subtly and looked around cautiously. Ash's friends were on another table. May stood for a moment, thinking deeply. Her friends expected her to turn and walk away. Sitting next to a water type would attract attention. May started to walk towards them.

May knew everyone was aware of her power, and she knew they would stare as she sat right beside a water type, but she wanted them to. She needed somewhere to begin, and so this was the perfect opportunity. She crossed to the other side of the table and took the seat right next to Ash, forgetting about the kiss in her excitement. Her friends looked around nervously, and as May suspected, people were staring, but nobody said a word. She felt triumph, and her lip began to tremble as her eyes threatened to tear up. She was one step closer to being able to be his friend and talk to him whenever she wanted. That was all she wanted for now. After a month of having to write notes and meet him alone, she was sitting beside him, and nobody said a thing. Next, she would try talking to him in front of others. She hoped she would see other people joining in. Her lip continued to tremble as she hung her head and her friends chatted around her. Then, under the table, she felt Ash's hand brush against hers. He took it in his own, slipping his fingers between hers, and she looked up to meet his gaze. She had never seen such a warm smile. He gave her a little nod, and she smiled back, knowing he was showing his happiness that they were being allowed to sit together, even if it was just sitting. He continued to hold her hand under the table for the remainder of breakfast.

In the evening, May had planned to meet her friends in the small lounge again to practice using their powers. Drew had let her know that he would be in the larger lounge with everyone else beforehand, and he would meet her there to walk her to the smaller one at 7. At 6:57pm, May opened the door to the larger lounge and stepped inside. It was full of different groups of people, including Ash's group, with Ash sitting at the back. When he saw her enter he stood. So he is coming to our meeting…

Drew was making his way towards her. She leaned against the wall, waiting for him to gather his stuff, until she heard a conversation from a group beside her. They were talking about Ash. One girl whispered to another that Ash and May were a couple, that it was disgusting, and another girl laughed while the others gossiped about it. On the other side of her, May noticed another group having the same conversation. Her heart sank. She couldn't have them think they were a couple. It would make things awkward between herself and Ash, and she needed to take things slower. She needed people to accept them being friends before anything else was even considered. No, she couldn't have them thinking that at all. She pushed away from the wall as Drew approached her, wrapping her arms around him. Surprised, he stood unresponsive for a moment, before hugging her back. She pulled away and leaned up, kissing him lightly but not briefly, knowing people were watching.

Drew pulled away. "May, what are you-"

"Shush," she hissed. "Come on, they'll be waiting for us."

Drew wanted to argue, but he knew people were watching and listening to them now, and so he stayed silent as they walked out together. At the other side of the room, Ash stood frozen in place for a moment before turning and returning to his group, having decided he didn't want to join their meeting anymore.