Once again thank you to all who reviewed the last chapter. On to number four.
The next morning May awoke to the crowing of the town's Dodrio and blinking a few times stretched out her arms, taking in the bright light of the rising sun. Shielding her eyes she looked out of the window to see that it was going to be a beautiful day outside. Not a cloud in the sky and if she remembered correctly the temperature should be perfect for a small vacation.
Looking back down at her pillow May could still see several wet spots where her head just was. Last night she found that the tears never did stop. While she never did find herself sobbing or even feeling sad they just kept on coming steadily up until the point where she finally fell asleep. Feeling slightly embarrassed as to the fact she flipped it over onto the other side, hoping that they would dry before anyone saw them. But even with the reasonless tears she still felt greatly rejuvenated and refreshed.
"I'm not sure if it was the fact that I was in a good bed or finally being around old friends again but that was one of the best sleeps that I've had in a long time," she said to no one in particular. Looking down to see that her partner was still snoozing May decided to allow her a few more minutes while she freshened up for the day.
Changing into a fresh pair of her traveling clothes May quickly ran a brush through her hair to try and straighten out anything before starting the rest of her morning routine. Checking in the mirror again to make sure that there were no outward signs of what happened last night she grabbed a few items before heading into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. Finding nobody there she quickly did what she needed to do and headed out, bumping into somebody on the way.
"Oh sorry Dawn, I'm just in a bit of a rush."
"It's no problem May," Dawn replied with a big smile. "Oh and thanks again for everything last night. You didn't need to offer to do all of that."
"It's really no problem. I'm just glad that I'll be able to help you two finally break the ice."
"Yeah, but I also feel as though I should really say sorry to you May."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"Ever since you got here I've been apprehensive of your motives because I thought that I would have to be going up against you for Ash's attention. And yet here you are actually helping me get together with him. Looking back on it makes me feel kinda shallow. So I just wanted to apologize for being so rude yesterday."
"Already forgotten Dawn." Just then a smell wafted up from the stairwell and May's mouth began to water as she recognized several of the many different foods that were being made. "Mmm, pancakes and bacon, my favorite."
"Huh?" Dawn looked at her curiously.
Shaking her head a bit May just started to head back to Ash's room. "You might want to be quick with that shower. It smells as if Mrs. Ketchum is almost done with breakfast."
Glancing curiously at May as she closed the door to her room Dawn just began to smell something coming from downstairs, but it was nothing that she could identify at this point.
"Man what is it with her and Ash when it comes to food? I swear she must have a sense of smell comparable to a Donphan."
Laughing a bit at the idea of May with a Donphan's nose, Dawn went to take her morning shower.
"Alright Eevee, time to wake up," May said as she entered the room.
Lazily glancing up from her spot, Eevee gave a big yawn before stretching slightly. Yet seemingly right in the middle of her morning stretches she plopped herself right back down in the same spot, and taking another deep breath the young Pokémon fell right back asleep again.
"Come on lazy bones we have to get ready to leave for the island. If you just lay there all day we'll have to leave you behind. And I know how much you want to catch up with Pikachu…"
Perking up instantly at that name the Normal-type was up and out of bed, full of energy. "Vee!" She cried looking up expectantly to her trainer.
"Sure I mention him once and you are ready to leave but when I alone tell you to get up you ignore me. What do you like him more than me?" She joked as the little Pokémon climbed her way up onto May's shoulder.
"Eevee," she purred while rubbing her cheek against her trainer's cheek.
"Alright alright I get it! Please, stop, you know that tickles!" May said in between laughs. "Just give me another minute to finish up here and we'll head downstairs for breakfast."
Grabbing what was left her of things off the floor and putting them into her bag May once again headed for the mirror with her hair brush and bandanna in her hands. But before she could start to style it into its normal position she could feel Eevee start to bat at some of the stay stands that fell onto her nose. Cooing softly as she continued to play with brown locks May couldn't help but laugh at the sight.
"So do you like it better this way then?" She asked her playful passenger. Hearing only coos in return May felt as though she had her answer. "Okay we'll do it your way then."
Brushing her hair straight and then taking the bandanna May tried to make sure that it wouldn't interfere with what Eevee apparently liked. It took a minute or to get it right but in the end even May had to agree with the results. Having part of the bandanna tied underneath her hair made it so that it didn't just dominate the whole top of her head. And even with it on her hair still came down to her shoulders.
"You know Eevee this is actually a pretty good look," she said as she shook her head back and forth a few times, letting the hair flow around as she did. "It also feels good to have my hair out instead of all underneath the bandanna. Thanks."
"Vee!" Her little partner responded with a quick nod before going back to playing with her hair.
Giggling at her response May took one last look in the mirror to leave but as she did something caught her eye in the reflection, a small sparkle of golden light was gleaming from near the bed. Looking over to where it would be May gasped slightly as she realized what it was. Quickly walking over she grabbed the ribbon and carefully looked it over, checking for any damage. Satisfied with what she saw the brunette put the object in her pocket, smiling as the many memories it represented flooded her mind.
"I don't even remember taking that out," she thought as she headed downstairs. "I'm just glad that I noticed it before we left, I don't know what I'd do if I lost my favorite good luck charm."
Ash had woken up just moments ago to the smell of breakfast as it lingered in the living room. Getting up off of the couch where he had retired the night before, he stretched while making sure to pop a few joints in the process. It wasn't the most comfortable sleep that he ever had but nor was it the worst.
"Just keep telling yourself that you'll get your own big bed for the next few days." He thought as he wandered into the kitchen.
"Good morning Honey."
"Morning Ash."
"Morning Mom, morning Ma…"
Looking up Ash was almost speechless as he saw May as she was helping his mom prepare the last of breakfast.
"What?" May asked as Ash just stood there with his mouth part way open. "Did I miss something while I was cleaning up?"
"Your hair," was the only thing he could get out.
"Oh that, you like it?" She asked twirling around once to get it to fly up a bit. "It was mostly Eevee's idea."
"It looks great," he responded almost unconsciously. Shaking his head a few times to clear it he finally looked back at May, who by this point had a curious look on her face.
"You okay Ash?"
"Ya I'm fine."
He had just suddenly felt quite self-conscious about how he looked. She was all ready to leave, with a brand new hairstyle as well, and he was standing there in a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt while having not taken a shower since yesterday morning. Scratching his head a bit he laughed nervously as May shrugged and went back to finishing up the last of the meal.
"Smooth Ash, she changes her hair and you can't get more than a few syllables out," he thought with a big sigh. "Might as well go grab Pikachu before I make an even bigger fool of myself."
Stepping out of the kitchen and back into the living room he heard footsteps coming from the stairs and looked up just in time to see Dawn come down with Buneary and her bag in tow.
"Morning Ash," she said as she dropped her bag near the door.
"Morning Dawn. You sleep well?"
"Better than you could imagine," the blunette responded cheerfully.
"Huh?"
Completely confused by her response Ash put it behind him as he went to look for Pikachu while Dawn went into the kitchen. It didn't take that long to find him. Apparently the electric mouse had already woken up as well, though he didn't wake up on his own accord. It seems that while he was still sleeping Eevee had gone and curled up right next to him, and was resting with both of their bodies completely touching. Right as he had woken up Pikachu had jumped up onto the back of the couch out of surprise. When Ash found them Eevee was on her back paws and using her front ones to lean on the back of the sofa with an energetic and playful look on her face.
Visions of what happened the other day along with many of the other times that Eevee came to him in this mood came flashing back to the Electric-type. As she started to climb up to meet him he jumped down to the floor and dashed off into the kitchen.
"Hey Pikachu where…now that's odd," Ash muttered as he looked down at the little Pokémon still in the room who still had a happy look on her face even after seeing Pikachu run off. Giving off another sigh Ash offered an arm to Eevee. "Come on, time to eat anyways." Happily accepting his offer she climbed up and with a soft coo began to rub her face against his. "Okay now that tickles," he said while stifling a laugh.
Entering the kitchen Ash found Dawn already sitting down with Buneary in her lap while his mom and May were placing the food on the table. Looking around he noticed where his own Pokémon ran off to. He was on top of May's head again and was looking very comfortable, but as soon as he saw Eevee he made sure to keep an eye on her as she just stayed on Ash's shoulder.
Not overlooking the interaction between the two Buneary looked from her rival to her love interest a few times, but what she was surprised the most about had nothing to do with sight. Turning to face Eevee she caught whiff of a familiar scent coming off of the Evolution Pokémon and her eyes went wide as she recognized it. The smell wasn't very strong but it was noticeable, she smelled somewhat like Pikachu. Although to her relief Pikachu didn't really carry any of Eevee's scent. Either way, Buneary gave a fierce look at her rival and it didn't take long for Eevee to catch her glare. The playful smile that she had on quickly changed to a confident one as she looked down at the other Normal-type, mentally giving herself another tally for the win. But even that was short lived as she stuck out her tongue at the Rabbit Pokémon and resumed her usual playful mood.
"Alright Ash sit down, breakfast is ready," his mom said as the last of the food was put on the table.
"Thanks Mom."
"Ya thanks Mrs. Ketchum," Dawn said as well as she started to grab some of the pancakes that were stacked high on the table.
"Well I don't deserve all of the gratitude. May helped out quite a bit as well with the eggs and toast."
"I really didn't do all that much," May stated humbly. "To be quite honest I was just thinking that if I helped out then the food would be done that much sooner. That and I would have felt bad leaving Mrs. Ketchum to do all of the cooking while I just sat in the living room."
"You did just fine dear," Delia said to the slightly blushing coordinator. "But in getting everything ready for you guys we weren't able to get things ready for your Pokémon."
"Don't worry about it Mom, we can just feed them on the ferry," Ash told her as he already downed his third pancake.
Eevee and Pikachu were now in Ash and May's lap respectively, the latter still keeping a silent eye on the former as she happily accepted any morsel of food that Ash handed to her. And in addition to that Buneary was watching both of them from her own trainer's lap, though she wasn't sure what to make of the seemingly odd situation that was going on between the two of them.
"So May what's with the new hairstyle?" Dawn asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
"It just kinda came out that way this morning. Eevee was having fun playing with it without my bandanna so I decided to see how it looked this way and it turned out that it didn't look too bad."
"It looks nice," Dawn said apprehensively.
"I know that she said that she didn't have any feelings for Ash last night but I still can't shake the feeling that she does." Looking back up and seeing May with a big smile and putting another fork-full of bacon into her mouth Dawn couldn't help but feel a tad guilty. Shaking her head a couple times Dawn went back to eating. "No I'm just getting paranoid. May said that she would help me these next few days and I shouldn't be ungrateful for it."
After much small talk about their various adventures in Sinnoh and Johto the three of them finally had their fill after clearing the entire table of pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, waffles, and several omelets. Dawn was quite amazed that May was able to put away so much food and yet still stay as thin as she was. But gazing over at Ash she could only guess how he was able to match her appetite and stay that fit as well.
Letting Eevee down as he got up from the table, Ash headed out of the kitchen. "I'm going to head upstairs to shower," Ash told them while stating up the stairs. And after taking a quick glance back towards a certain someone, Pikachu wasn't far behind him.
Thanking Mrs. Ketchum again for the food the two coordinators left for the living room to wait for Ash to finish up.
"So are you ready to start trying to get Ash to notice you more?" May whispered a little after they sat down.
"Mm-hmm," Dawn nodded. "What have you got planned?"
"Not a thing," she responded completely seriously.
"What? I thought that you said you were going to help me with this."
"I did and I will. Just cut me some slack, I've never done anything like this before and I'm just trying to think of it on the fly."
"Great. Well any help is better than no help."
"Help with what?"
Looking up the two girls saw Mrs. Ketchum walk into the living room and sit down next to them.
"Coordinating," May quickly told her. "Dawn wanted some help with how to improve her performance for the next Grand Festival."
"Well that's nice of you to do that May. Which reminds me, I never did actually ask you, did you do well in your last Grand Festival?"
"I placed second. I was able to do better than last time but in the end I once again lost to a coordinator named Solidad. She was the one who beat me in the Kanto Grand Festival as well. But considering that she has won at least two cups I don't feel all that bad about losing to her. It makes me think that I have room to improve. It was something that Ash made sure to drill into me while we were still traveling together." Feeling a smile make its way onto her face May once again started to relive many of the memories of their travels. "He's done so much for me I doubt I would have gotten this far without his help, nor ever find a way to repay him for it."
Not one to miss her expression Delia proceeded to look over at Dawn. "And how about you Dawn? Did you do well?"
"Unlike May I was only able to get into the top 16," she said while scratching the back of her head. "But I also have to say that I doubt I would have been able to get that far without your son's help. He seemed to know more about coordinating than I did when we first met, and I can only assume that it was from teaching May. He was able to get me on the right track and help me achieve my dream of becoming a great coordinator like my mom."
"Sounds like you both have a lot of reasons to like traveling with Ash. He always did seem to have a personality that would attract certain people to him, and it was his ambition towards Pokémon that I knew he would affect many people's lives as time went on. And after hearing everything you two just said I know that it was the truth."
Both Dawn and May found themselves blushing at the comments made by Mrs. Ketchum, and she just smiled at the two of them.
"But I also know that my son has a very one-track mind and you two; along with Brock, Misty, and Tracey; made sure to keep him from doing anything too crazy. And for that I have to thank you. Truthfully I had my doubts that he would have been able to do so well on his own, yet with the support of his friends he was able to pull through even that. So here are the tickets that I promised you two and I hope that you enjoy yourselves," the brunette said as she took the tickets out of her pocket and handed one to each of them. "Those are a set but they will act individually as ferry passes and access to the two bedroom suite at the hotel. Depending on how you want to deal with the third spot it would be possible to allow Ash to sleep in the living room of the suite or you can make him get his own room, I'll leave that decision up to you." Standing up and straightening out her dress Mrs. Ketchum headed back towards the kitchen, but before she did the happy mother turned around with a big smile on her face. "I know that one of you two will make him very happy one day." Turning back the brunette then disappeared into the kitchen.
Both girls were speechless from Mrs. Ketchum's little talk. But it wasn't from what she was saying about the resort or even the fact that she was doing all of this just to thank them for taking care of her son.
"Did I just hear what I think I heard?" Dawn finally asked after a few silent moments.
"You mean the part about making Ash 'very happy one day'? Yeah, you heard correctly."
"Does she know or am I just getting paranoid again?"
"Well she is a mom so it might be mother's intuition or something cause I don't think that she would have overheard us just now. Even if she did then why would she say you two?" May shrugged. "And what do you mean by getting 'paranoid again'?"
"Oh nothing, I'm just babbling a bit," Dawn said, trying to cover up her little slip.
Hearing footsteps running down the steps the coordinators looked up to see Ash jump the last few steps and hit the floor with a thud.
"Ash Ketchum what did I say about running in the house!"
"Sorry Mom," he called out before walking up to his friends. "So you guys ready to leave?"
"Pika pika!" The yellow mouse cheered from his trainer's shoulder.
"Ready and willing," May said as she got up. "Your mom has already given us our tickets so we can leave at any time."
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" The blunette coordinator exuberantly called out as she headed towards the door with Buneary close behind.
"Follow her I guess," May said as she looked over at Ash. Turning back to the couch she held her arm out for the last member of their little group. "Come on Eevee, time for some fun."
"Vee!" The little Pokémon agreed climbing up onto her trainer's shoulder before looking over at Pikachu who was at the same place as she was, just on his own trainer.
Giving a quick smile back at Ash, May grabbed his arm before pulling the trainer out of the door.
"Hey, May I can walk on my own you know!" He called out before the door closed behind them.
Watching the entire scene Delia was happy to see her son and his friends were going to be taking a break from all of their traveling to be able to just relax and have a bit of fun without having to worry about battles or contests. Though she knew that it would more than likely become far more than that by the time they returned.
Alright so I know that I used the same reasoning for May changing her hair in my last fic but there is just something about picturing Eevee sitting on May's shoulder batting at the hair that I just love. Call me crazy but it's the truth. Well thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it.