April 15th (Unknown) (Time-4:00 AM)
(May's POV)
"May, I'm starting to feel lightheaded, how about you?" Max asked sleepily.
"Me too," I said tiredly. "Can you still not think of anything that you may have read that resembles this scenario?"
"Uh….actually yea, I hacked into the PHPA database one time and read file about something about a Grave Digger, a person who buried people alive for ransom," Max said tiredly.
"Ugh, there are so many questions and few answers," I complained.
"We can't do much about that," Max said quietly. "Any guesses as to how long we've been done here?"
"You're guess is as good as mine," I said before I dug into my bag to pull out my poketch. "The time is 4:00 AM."
"My guess is that we only have a few hours before we run out of air. Wait…..you had you're poketch this whole time?!" Max asked incredulously.
"I guess, I forgot I had it in my bag until a few minutes ago," I said as Max looked at me. "Give me a break, it's been a long day."
"May let me see your poketch," Max called.
I handed it over to him and he started to press a few buttons," YES!" he shouted as he pumped a fist in the air.
"What?" I asked curiously.
"I was able to figure out where we are, the gps coordinates picked up our location before we lost our signal," Max explained. "We're in the Kanto region in a dirt yard."
"But how do we tell everyone else, there's no signal down here," I pointed out.
Max nodded, "Good point, let's look to see what you have in your bag."
(Drew's POV) (Time-4:30 AM)
For the past three hours, we looked around the whole place for the gems, but didn't find them, "Where's Max's Kirlia?" Dawn asked Lizzy.
Lizzy smacked her forehead, "I can't believe I forgot about her. I had her with me this whole time and she could've helped tell us where the gems were."
Lizzy then called out Kirlia who looked confused, "Kirlia?"
"Sorry Kirlia, Max and May are in trouble, do you know where Max hid the gems?" Lizzy asked.
"Kirlia," she said with a nod and came back with a locked box that had a key lock and a passcode lock.
"Thanks Kirlia, do you know where the key is?" Lizzy asked again.
Kirlia shook her head and said something which we didn't understand, but Pikachu did who told Ash causing him to sigh, "Max has the key."
"Great," I muttered. "Do you think you can crack it Dawn?"
"I've never done a lock like this before, but I'll try," she said as she broke another bobby pin in half and started to mess with the lock. After a few minutes, Dawn got frustrated and got a few paper clips and unbent them. She started with two and then put one in her mouth as she worked with three. After ten minutes, she got the lock off.
"Nice one Dawn," Misty complimented. "But how do we deal with the passlock?"
We all stood in thought, "I got it!" Ash exclaimed.
"Now I know I must be dreaming," Gary muttered only to get pinched by Leaf. "OW!"
"Sorry, but you're not and give Ash credit, he does come up with good ideas," Leaf pointed out.
"He still has yet to say his oh so smart idea," Gary muttered.
Ash then pulled out a green light and shined it on the keypad to reveal finger prints, "See," Leaf pointed out.
"Fine, Ashy-boy did have a good idea just this once," Gary admitted.
"What numbers do you see?" Lizzy called.
"One, four, and zero," Ash called.
"So we need to come up with a password with these three numbers," Lizzy called as she pulled up a number generator.
"Oh great, that could be anything," Leaf complained. "And the numbers might be repeats too."
Lizzy turned to Kirlia, "Do you know how many numbers Max pressed?"
Kirlia nodded and did double team to make six of herself, "That helps a lot," Lizzy called.
"How?" I asked.
"Six digits often mean a date, but the problem is what date could Max be thinking of?" Lizzy thought aloud.
"Put the numbers in the number generator and see what dates it comes up with," Misty suggested.
Lizzy imputed the numbers and soon a list appeared, "We come up with thirty-six combinations," Lizzy called.
"There's no way we can try all of those, we're running out of time," I said angrily.
"Kirlia, do you have any idea what button Max pressed first?" Lizzy asked with a twinge of hope.
"Kirlia," she nodded and pointed to herself.
"So the number one?" Lizzy asked to clarify.
"Kirlia," she said with smile while nodding.
"Good, this cuts out twenty-four options, twelve left to pick," Lizzy called while narrowing down the list.
"We can take out the ones ending in 00," I called.
"Why?" Lizzy asked.
"Because Max wasn't born yet, he was born in 2003," I explained.
"Okay, so we have: 10/01/04, 10/10/04, 10/14/04, 10/01/10, 10/10/10, 10/14/10, 10/01/14, 10/10/14, and 10/14/14," Lizzy called.
"Ugh, we need a clue to help us figure this out," Dawn shouted frustrated.
"Kirlia," Kirlia said as she pointed to Lizzy.
"Does the date have to apply to me?" she spluttered causing me to smirk.
Kirlia nodded, "Great," Lizzy muttered.
"Do any of these dates seem recognizable?" Misty asked.
Lizzy shook her head, "No, not that I can think of?"
"When was the first time you met Max?" Leaf asked.
"October 14th," Lizzy said off the bat and then blushed while letting her head hit the desk. "Crap."
"I'll tease you about it later," I smirked as I entered the code causing the box to open and all six gems were inside.
"Now to meet up with this 'Grave Digger'," I said through grit teeth and I took a small bag to put the gems in.
Kirlia then teleported the six of us to the middle of the Viridian forest, we silently called out our pokemon while I walked into the open, "GRAVE DIGGER, HERE ARE THE GEMS! NOW GIVE US THE COORDINATES!" I shouted.
I then set the bag on the ground and stepped back into the bushes. A figure cloaked in black then came and took the gems and disappeared giving us no time to catch him.
I then heard a beep on my poketch to see that I had a message that listed twelve different coordinates along with a note, "Sorry, but my boss doesn't care if your friend lives or dies, good luck finding her."
"Damn him!" I shouted angrily.
"What happened, what's the message say?" Dawn asked.
"He gave us twelve different places to look," I seethed. "And he said his boss didn't care if May lived or died."
"Screw him," Misty muttered.
"How much time do we have?" I asked Leaf.
"An hour and ten minutes," she said quietly.
"What do we do now?" Dawn whispered.
(May's POV) (Time-6:00 AM)
"So this is supposed to help with the signal," I said while looking Max.
"Yup, if you use your aura while the shock runs through you and you're wearing your poketch and holding this tiny satellite that I put together using that small pokenav and saucer," Max explained.
"Okay," I said tiredly, the lack of air was starting to get to me real badly making it hard for me to focus.
"Now May!" Max shouted.
I created an aura dome and felt the lightning shock me, but I dealt with the pain and typed a short message before the pain was too much to bear and I screamed before falling over feeling burnt, "MAY!" I heard Max shout before I passed out from the shock.
(Drew's POV) (Time-6:05 AM)
We were standing in the forest stumped, we didn't know what to do after we returned our pokemon. We had less than an hour to find May and we couldn't go to all the locations.
I then heard a beep coming from my poketch and my eyes widened as I saw that the message was from May, "What's wrong Drew?" Lizzy asked.
"I got a message from May," I whispered in unbelief.
"What!" everyone shouted. "What's it say?"
"It says K EoSC WoLT," I said confused.
"What the heck does that mean?" Ash asked while scratching his head.
"Maybe it's Max and May's location," Lizzy suggested. "I'll plug these gps coordinates into Max's computer."
Lizzy then teleported away leaving Kirlia with us, Dawn then called Lizzy and put her on speaker, "For the locations, there are three gps coordinates in each region."
"What could K stand for?" Dawn wondered.
"Kanto!" Leaf shouted.
"So that narrows the number of places to three," Lizzy called.
"What about the rest of the message though?" Misty asked.
"E of SC W of LT," Gary read.
Leaf eyes widened, "East of Saffron City, West of Lavender Town, that has to be it!" Leaf shouted.
"Lizzy?" I called quickly.
"One of the coordinates is between those two towns, I'll send the location on your poketch and call the authorities. Get going, you only have thirty-five minutes!" Lizzy shouted by signing off.
"Kirlia, use Teleport," I called.
Soon we found ourselves teleported to where there was a huge hole of dirt covering a couple miles, "How are we supposed to find them in this much dirt," Dawn said worriedly.
"Kirlia, can you sense anything?" I asked.
She shook her head looking sad, "Guess we'll have to split up and dig," I said tiredly.
"Right," everyone agreed and sprinted off in a bunch of different areas before calling out there pokemon and started digging.
Time passed by quickly, I looked at my poketch to see that we had ten minutes, "Let's try over here," I pointed to my pokemon as I heard the authorities arrive.
A few seconds later Leafeon poked its head out of the ground saying he found them, "Guys over here, Leafeon found them!" I shouted.
Soon we all ordered our pokemon to use Dig and started to dig up the dirt ourselves. Soon we saw a tiny window and inside were Max and May passed out.
"Flygon, use Flamethrower," I commanded.
"Fly," he said and used Flamethrower on the door to melt off the lock.
"Venusaur, use Vine Whip to pull them up," Leaf ordered.
"Saur," he said and soon pulled out Max who had a bloody leg and then May who looked badly burned.
"They need medical treatment immediately," a paramedic called as May and Max were laid on gurneys and then placed into the ambulance.
"Thank goodness that nightmare is over," I said with relief as we all collapsed on the ground while we returned our pokemon thanking them.
"We should take a small nap before we go see May and Max," Dawn said with a yawn.
"You guys go ahead, I want to take a look at this container," I said as I walked over to it.
"K, see ya later Drew," Dawn said as Kirlia teleported them back to the dorm.
"Kirlia, can you use Psychic to bring up what's down there?" I asked.
"Kirlia," she said as she brought up May's gym bag.
"I don't know how May and Max could have survived in there," I said with a sigh.
"Kirlia," Kirlia said gently as she placed a hand on my arm.
I nodded and noticed in the side pocket was her medal that she won yesterday. I took it out and palmed it as Kirlia teleported me back to the dorm.
Kirlia then left and I placed May's bag on the couch and stuck her medal on top before going to my room and passed out.
(May's POV)
I woke up feeling sore all over, I then noticed that I almost looked like a mummy since I had so many bandages on, "Glad to see you're awake young lady," the doctor said cheerfully.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"About 3:00 in the afternoon," the doctor replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore," I said tiredly.
"That's to be expected, you received really bad burns all over, care to explain what happened?" the doctor asked.
"I was just shocked real badly," I said not really wanting to explain the whole story. "What's the status on Max Maple?"
"Are you family?" the doctor asked.
"I'm a cousin," I lied since I was still wearing my disguise.
"Well, he's in recovery like you, stitches on his leg and he'll be on crutches for a while," the doctor reported. "Your burns should heal over a few days so in the meantime, you will stay here until then so get plenty of rest."
He then felt leaving me alone, the room was the standard hospital room with a nice view from the window though.
As I sat up, I wondered who found Max and I along with where the gang was.
"Garde," Gardevoir called as she appeared in the room.
"Hi Gardevoir," I said tiredly with a smile.
"How are you feeling?" she asked in concern.
"I feel sore, where is everyone?" I asked.
"Sleeping, they stayed up all night searching for you," she said softly.
"So they did find me, I knew they would," I said quietly.
Gardevoir nodded, "Would you like me to get them for you?"
I shook my head, "Let them sleep, they'll need it especially since the Hayden Ball tomorrow in celebration of Drew's golden birthday and a few other things."
"Golden birthday?" Gardevoir asked confused.
"It's when you turn the age of the date of your birth, like for my golden birthday was July 15th when I turned fifteen," I explained causing Gardevoir to nod in understanding. "How are the other pokemon doing?"
"Worrying about you, everyone has been restless," Gardevoir answered.
"Why don't you bring them here since I'm up?" I suggested.
She nodded and disappeared for a second before everyone came looking relieved.
"I'm glad to see everyone's okay," I said relieved.
"How do you feel?" Lucario asked.
"I feel sore, but that's expected since I was shocked to high heaven," I answered.
This left my pokemon looking concerned causing me to sigh and explain what happened making Blaziken and Lucario look ready to kill.
"Calm down you two, I'm fine now," I scolded.
"Pikachu said that the Grave Digger took you as ransom for the gems," Blaziken said.
My eyes widened, "That explains everything, this is bad, really bad. Team Rocket must be very close to figuring out everything," I said nervously.
"Worry about that later, right now you need to rest," Gardevoir said gently.
"Alright, can you quickly check on Max for me?" I asked.
She nodded and disappeared for a second before coming back, "He's doing fine, sleeping right now with his calf in a wrap."
I sighed in relief, "That's good, I'll visit him later," I said with a yawn.
"We'll let you rest," Gardevoir said gently before she teleported herself and everyone out.
I lay back done with my mind pulling in multiple directions, two directions being Team Rocket and the ball tomorrow. I really wanted to go, but I sure can't go with a bunch of burns, everyone would ask too many questions. I sighed as I closed my eyes, guess I'm not going.
April 16th (Lilycove City, Hoenn)
(Drew's POV)
I was sleeping soundly under a heard a loud horn scaring the crap out of me almost causing me to fall out of bed, "What The Hell!" Paul shouted.
"Drew, it's 3:30 PM Sunday, you've been asleep for over a day and mom's about ready to murder you since you haven't come home yet," Lizzy said knowing. "Now wake up, we all leave for home after I wake everyone else up."
She then left the room to go across the hall, I heard the horn and more shouts. Then she left and did the same thing two more times.
We all meet in the common area before we were teleported home, "Andrew Timothy Hayden, where have you been!" mom roared.
"Sleeping," I muttered tiredly.
"I can't believe this," she muttered. "You only have a few hours to get ready before people will start showing up at 6:00."
"I'll handle them mom," Lizzy smiled.
"Thanks Lizzy, I've got to keep running around making sure everything is going according to plan," mom said in a panic before she went down a hall.
"Okay, I've got all your stuff in rooms upstairs for you to get ready," Lizzy explained as we started walking upstairs.
"Wait, we didn't get clothes for tonight, did you pick it yourself?" Dawn asked suspiciously.
"Pfft, I had to, you guys were dead to the world when I stopped by last night, nothing would wake you up," Lizzy scoffed.
The guys and I went into one room while the girls had another and Lizzy went to help them. We found tuxes for the four of us and we finished changing a little after 6:00.
"I hate these types of parties," I muttered in annoyance as I fixed my bowtie.
"You're just saying that because May isn't here and we haven't been by the hospital to see her," Gary pointed out as he fixed his hair.
We then heard a knock, "Enter," I called.
The door opened to reveal Lizzy wearing a lavender ball gown with silver embellishments, white gloves up to her elbows, and her hair was put in a low bun, "You guys ready?"
"Yeah," Gary said as he turned around.
"The girls are almost done, just knock on their door in five minutes," Lizzy explained. "Looks like my picking wasn't too shabby."
"You just lucked out," I retorted.
Lizzy frowned, "Don't snap at me. I know you're grumpy that May couldn't be here, but change your attitude or you're gonna have mom yelling at you."
I said nothing but flicked my hair fringe causing Lizzy to sigh, "I gotta go, mom needs help hosting for when the guests get here. I wonder if May will be able to handle the job of hostess well when she comes to live here?"
"Are you still going on about that?" I asked tiredly.
Lizzy nodded, "I'll keep talking about it til it happens," Lizzy said firmly. "So you better start thinking of a good proposal."
She then left, "Geez, now I can understand why May is annoyed by all this future talk," I muttered as I looked out the window. I hope you're doing okay May.
(May's POV)
I looked at the time to see that it was 7:00. I hope Drew's doing okay, I know how he hates these kinds of events. I really wanted to be there mostly so that I could cheer him up, but I couldn't because my burns would be too noticeable and hiding them under makeup was out of the question.
I sighed again causing Gardevoir to look at me with annoyance, "Can you stop being moody, it's annoying."
"Sorry Gardevoir, I can't help it," I said sadly as I looked out the window in thought.
I then turned to face her only to find that she disappeared, guess my moodiness really got to her. As I was about to go to sleep, I was suddenly teleported to a huge rose garden and yelped in surprise. I looked down and discovered that I wore a simple plain blue dress, wonder where this came from?
I suddenly heard voices nearby and went down a path to hide since I was still covered in bandages. I then noticed a huge mansion in the distance causing my eyes to widen, "How did I get to the party, I'm not supposed to be here," I murmured out loud.
Well I certainly wasn't going in there so I decided to walk through the rose gardens and I was a bit disappointed because none were in bloom. As I walked, I stumbled upon a gazebo with a grand piano. It was very hard not to want to play in a scene like this so I gave in and sat on the piano bench and lifted the lid.
I then started to play "Everytime We Touch" and sang along softly. While doing so, I felt a gentle breeze blow through the garden and the roses bloomed. I also felt myself being lifted and felt light. It wasn't until I was done singing that I noticed that my burns were healed, guess my healing was activated by my singing.
"Rose?" Roserade asked. (May)
"Hi Roserade," I said cheerfully.
"Rose roserade?" she asked. (What are you doing here?)
"I'm not really sure, I was teleported here and was hiding out because of my burns, guess they healed when I sang," I guessed.
I then closed the lid and stood up before Roserade started to shove me into some bushes, "Roserade what are you…?" I asked only to be silenced.
"I could have sworn I heard her," Drew mumbled.
"You're hearing is off," Dawn said bluntly. "May's at the hospital, how could she be here?"
I silently gasped as I saw everyone, I was way, way underdressed for this. All the guys wore tuxes making them look good especially Drew. The girls looked extremely beautiful in the ball gowns they were wearing. Misty has a sleeveless teal gown with a crumpled up bottom and her hair curled. Leaf also wore a sleeveless gown but hers was a mint green with silver embellishments, her hair was curled and placed in a side bun at the base of her neck. Dawn won a rose pink sleeveless dress with a pick up skirt and silver lace flowers on the bust, waist, and skirt with her hair up and curled. All the girls had small tiaras, necklaces, and gloves that reached their upper arms.
They then turned away and walked back to the house, "I'm way underdressed aren't I?" I asked Roserade.
She nodded, "Rose roserade rose rose rade rade," she explained. (Drew's and your pokemon are sick of the both of you being moody so we've come up with a plan.)
"A plan?" I asked to clarify.
Roserade nodded, "Rose roserade." (We need to get you inside the house.)
I stared at her in shock, "How do you expect me to get in there without being seen?" I asked.
"Roserade rose rose," she said while pointing her arm at a patio door. (Go in through there.)
I sighed, this is going to be difficult. I silently made my way to the patio past the party goers, thankfully the patio was located away from the party.
I walked into inside to see no one there, "Rose," Roserade whispered as she gestured with her arm. (Follow me.)
She led me through the house and up a hidden staircase to a small room where Gardevoir was waiting with a beautiful ball gown.
"Oh my Mew, where did you find this dress?" I asked in awe.
"I found it in a dress shop nearby, now quickly shower so we can help you," Gardevoir said while shooing me into the bathroom.
After I finished showering and dried off, I changed into the dress. The dress itself was sleeveless and a deep red color with silver flowers and vines embroidered on it. Then there was a dark red material that covered the right side of the skirt and was held together on the left with red fabric roses.
Gardevoir helped with my hair by placing it in a low bun and stuck pearl pins to decorate and hold in place, Roserade also created a rose to stick in the bun. Gardevoir then handed me a silver necklace that was made of silver leaves and small flowers made from pearls to put on while she stuck a small silver flower tiara on top of my head. I then put on a little make up and my gloves that reached my upper arms before hugging both Gardevoir and Roserade.
"Thanks you two," I said gratefully.
"Roserade rade rade rose rose roserade," Roserade teased. (You look worthy enough to be a Hayden.)
"Not you too," I whined as a faint blush spread across my face.
Roserade didn't say anything, she only smirked at me as she guided me back outside to the rose garden. A couple feet away, I saw Drew looking miserable as he twirled a rose in his hands.
"Thanks for your help Roserade, enjoy the rest of the evening," I whispered with a smile.
Roserade nodded and then walked away as I slowly made my way to Drew, "You know it's not good to mope at your birthday party," I scolded softly.
Drew turned around in shock before he looked purely happy and took a few steps toward me before picking me up and spinning me around, "You came, you're actually here," Drew murmured as he hugged me tight.
"Oh course I'd be here, sorry I'm late," I apologized softly before I looked at him and kissed him.
"Happy be-early birthday," I whispered with a smile.
Drew didn't say anything as he kissed me back, "You being here has made this evening better."
"I can tell," I teased. "You looking moody doesn't suit you."
"How did you get here, are you feeling alright?" Drew asked.
I chuckled, "I'm fine Drew. As to how I got here, Gardevoir teleported me here against my will, I guess she didn't like me being moody either. When I got here I still had my burns, but they disappeared and healed as I played the piano and sang. Then Roserade and Gardevoir dressed me up, but I think they overdid it a bit though."
"They didn't, you look beautiful," Drew said softly causing me to blush slightly before he kissed me again.
"We better get back to party, it's not good for the person it's being thrown for to miss it," I teased.
"Fine," Drew muttered with a frown causing me to kiss his cheek.
I took his arm and we started to walk back to the mansion. As we entered the ballroom, I could see the gang off to the side along with Lizzy and Max.
Lizzy spotted me first and attacked with a hug, "You're okay and you came," she said excitedly.
I laughed, "Of course I came," I teased as the three of us walked to the table where everyone was standing at.
"May, how did you get here?" Max asked.
"I should ask you that," I scolded. "You're supposed to be off your leg."
"I'm sitting down aren't I?" Max retorted. "Anyways, I'm here because Lizzy wanted me to come."
I smirked, "So you defied the doctors' orders for a girl?" I asked to clarify.
Max and Lizzy blushed slightly while looking away, "Shut up," he muttered.
"How did you get here May and how did your burns heal so quickly?" Dawn asked.
I quickly explained causing Lizzy to look dreamy, "Well Roserade and Gardevoir did it right, you look elegant and beautiful."
"I could say the same for the lot of you," I complimented the girls.
"Excuse me, may I have this dance?" a guy asked me.
I nodded and was whisked onto the dance floor as well as the girls. I looked to the side where the guys were standing and they did not look happy.
(Drew's POV)
"That guy did NOT just ask May to dance?" I seethed in anger.
"Chill out Drew, it's just one dance. Besides, you can't expect to hog May for the whole evening," Lizzy chided.
"Watch me," I retorted as I watched her dance end, but she was pulled into another dance by someone else.
I turned to see that the other guys had glares on their faces, "You guys are so possessive," Lizzy muttered.
"We are not," we retorted through grit teeth.
Lizzy sighed, "If you are paying attention to the looks of your girlfriend's, you could see that they would rather be dancing with you than some random guy," Lizzy pointed out to the guys.
All the girls but May came back to the table, "That was a pain in the ass," Dawn muttered. "Both guys kept stepping on my feet."
"Poor May," Leaf murmured.
"What are you talking about?" I asked in concern.
"I can tell she doesn't want to dancing with random guys, she'd rather be with you but can't," Leaf explained.
"What do you say that Leafy?" Gary asked.
"What was the one thing May feared before she started dating Drew?" she asked.
"I get it," Dawn said softly. "She didn't want to ruin Drew's reputation by making him look like a cheater and since he's dating Lin and not May, she has to keep her distance tonight."
"I don't care," I muttered as I stood up as the last dance ended.
(May's POV)
I just finished dancing with a guy from Mossdeep City before I felt a tap on my shoulder causing me to turn around and smile softly, "May I have this dance?" Drew asked with a bow.
"You may," I said pleasantly as I curtsied and we started to dance.
"Drew, I know you want me to be with you the whole evening, but we can't do that without raising suspicion," I said sadly.
"I don't care May, screw the press. I want to be with you no matter which person you are," Drew said with a frown.
"Oh Drew," I murmured softly. "The press will eat the story up, we can't risk it. You can dance with me a few times, but otherwise you'll have to leave me alone. Try dancing with Lizzy since Max can't."
The dance ended and I did a small curtsy before I walked away. It hurt for me to say that, but what could I do, "May Maple?" I heard a voice call.
I turned around and did a curtsy as I recognized who called my name, "It's a pleasure to see you again your majesty," I said with grace.
"Rise rise May, no need for the formalities," the King of Edilia reprimanded softly.
"What brings you here from your kingdom?" I asked.
"I'm a good friend to Christopher Hayden, I was also a friend of his father's as well," the king explained. "May I have a dance?"
I smiled, "You may your majesty," I said with a curtsy.
"I couldn't help but notice you looked a little unhappy from dancing with Drew just now," the king pointed out as we started to dance.
"It was nothing your majesty," I said quietly.
"Do not lie to me child, I may be an old geezer, but I know unhappiness when I see it. So what's wrong?" the king asked.
"It's too complicated to explain," I answered.
"May I offer some advice?" the king asked.
"Oh course your majesty," I said with a nod.
"Don't deny what the heart wants. I can see the look of love in both your eyes, just go for it despite the risks. You know, I said the same advice to Christopher years back and he married his wife a few months later. Who knows, maybe that'll happen to you," the king teased.
I blushed, "I highly doubt that your majesty, I'm way too young."
"I suppose, but I do see it happening, just remember to invite me to the wedding," the king said with a smile.
"Your majesty!" I said embarrassed as the dance ended.
"Have a good evening May," the king said with a bow.
I quickly curtsied before he walked away, "May, I'm glad that you were able to come tonight?" Jennifer said happily as she and her husband walked up.
I smiled, "Thanks for inviting me."
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Jennifer asked.
I nodded though I didn't feel that was necessarily true and I had a feeling Jennifer could sense it, "Dear, I'll be back in a few minutes," Jennifer said gently.
Christopher nodded before he walked off to talk to someone, "Walk with me," Jennifer motioned and I followed her.
We soon found ourselves outside walking in the rose garden, "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Jennifer asked gently as we sat on a stone bench that was nearby.
"It's complicated," I answered sadly.
"You're worried about hurting Drew and his reputation, aren't you?" Jennifer asked.
I turned to look at her with wide eyes since she figured me out, "Surprised I figured that out?" she asked.
I nodded and waited for her to explain, "I was the same way with Drew's father, although I was worried about my family's history. I didn't come from the richest of families and back then, Hayden's married for wealth so to speak and not for love. I actually meet Drew's father on the contest circuit in Johto and after a year of competing with each other, we became friends which led to more. We then started dating secretly to avoid the press, but they caught wind of it a couple of months later and it upset me greatly. They were calling Chris the weak link in his family for breaking tradition because he was supposed to marry someone else from another wealthy family."
I was shocked by what she was telling me and listened as she continued to talk, "The story died a few months later after Chris ended the talks of arranged marriage, but I never stopped feeling guilty over the press calling Chris that. He was never weak, he's as strong as they come," Jennifer murmured with a smile. "The point being, don't worry about it. It'll all work out in the end especially since I see so much love between you and Drew."
I nodded in understanding and smiled, "Thanks for telling me this."
"You're welcome," Jennifer said softly as she gave me a hug before Drew walked up.
"Dad's looking for you," he said.
"I thought I told your father I was talking to May, I swear he has the worst memory," Jennifer muttered as she made her way back to the mansion.
"You're father wasn't looking for her was he?" I asked Drew.
Drew shook his head, "I see," I said quietly.
A few minutes of quiet passed, "Drew, I'm sorry for what I said earlier, I didn't mean for it to come out that harsh," I explained.
Drew smiled softly, "It's okay May, I understand."
"But it's not okay," I cried as I felt tears beginning to appear.
Drew then sat next to me and took my face in his hands, "May, I understand that you only said that to protect the both of us. If anything, I'm the one at fault for wanting to destroy what you're trying to protect. Please don't cry, I hate to see you like that."
He then wiped my tears away with his thumbs before kissing me. He then stood up and offered me his hand. We then started to walk in the garden away from the party to where we came across a small open area.
"This garden seems to have many hidden places," I said in awe as I heard the music from the party end.
Drew smiled, "It's one of the reasons why I love to come here."
As the music started up inside, Drew took my hand and led me out to dance before placing both hands at my waist causing my arms to rest around his neck.
"Did anyone tell you what happened after you woke up?" Drew asked as we danced.
"For the most part, Gardevoir told me that Pikachu said that I was kidnapped because the Grave Digger wanted the gems," I explained.
Drew nodded, "We figured Team Rocket hired the Grave Digger to be the go between to collect the gems. This whole time, we were pawns in doing Team Rockets dirty work," Drew said angrily.
I didn't say anything as I waited for him to finish, "We had to trade the gems in order to get you back because we had no other options. It made me pissed that we were given twelve locations to pick as to where you could've been buried. Thankfully you sent that message and we found you and Max, thank goodness," Drew murmured as he held me close.
I smiled, "All that matters is that right now both Max and I are safe and sound," I said gently as Drew looked at me.
I then looked down and sighed, "Looks like I'll be facing my destiny sooner than I think," I said worriedly.
"Hey," Drew said softly causing me to look up. "Remember, you aren't facing it alone. You have me and the others to back you up."
I smiled softly as fireworks started to appear in the sky signaling midnight, "Happy birthday," I whispered before I kissed him as the light from the fireworks danced around us.