May felt Ash tug sharply at another strap in their harness as they sat in the enormous military cargo plane. Beside her on either side were other men dressed in paratrooper gear with the parachute packs and rifles across their laps. He was explaining parts of the jump to some of his men and she noticed they were listening over the engine roar with rapt attention.
"Listen up everyone! We're coming up on designated LZ Papa Bravo! Your guys mission is to rendezvous at the rally point where you'll make your exfil. Best times will be recorded, but your main objective is to make sure every one of you gets to the rendezvous point. We will be doing this exercise at night if this does not happen. Clear?"
"Sir! Yes sir!" The men shouted.
"Helmets on!" Ash bellowed, prompting the two dozen soldiers to don their face concealing visors.
"Coming up on the drop zone!" The pilot reported, "Ten seconds."
"Make ready! Good luck to all of you," Ash hit a button on the side of the bay, causing the entire aircraft to shake and the ramp to open. A roar filled the cabin as the soldiers made their way over to that end. Some of them stretched their arms and legs, others checked their gear.
"Go go go!" Ash waved as the men began to take their leaps. May watched in amazement, both at her boyfriend's leadership and the bravery of the men who fell from sight.
"What about us?" She yelled.
Ash turned to her, donning his own helmet and slipping a smaller sized one over her head. It sealed with an audible hiss and the inside warmed up, a welcome from the chilly temperature.
Looking up at him, he held up his right hand, making a circle with his thumb and index finger while the other three digits were erect.
"You good?" She heard his voice over the integrated radio in her helmet.
"Yeah," She said, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he reached beside her helmet.
"You good?" He repeated.
"Yeah," She was relieved to be talking to him again. "Little nervous."
"Breathe slowly. I know it might be hard, but just do it. You'll find that you'll be much more calmed down. Remember your things?"
"Arms out and tap you three times to open the parachute."
"Good," He leaned over, pressing his visor against hers, "What if that doesn't work?"
"Don't panic, you'll free the original chute and release the spare."
"Good," He tapped her helmet.
"What if I forget all of that?"
"You won't." Ash pulled her closer and began to strap the two of them together, "And even if you do forget, I'll be controlling our descent, so just enjoy the ride."
"Five seconds!" The pilot called over the radio. "Alright, light is green."
"You ready?" Ash asked as they walked over to the side.
May looked over the edge at the ground nearly fifteen thousand feet below. Her voice quavered, but she was determined to act brave in front of him, "Let's do this!"
At once, both Ash and May fell out of the plane. While the Lieutenant was used to the feeling, May was completely taken aback by the weightlessness. She would have never thought in her wildest dreams if someone asked her two months ago if she would be skydiving, but now here she was. The urge to scream at the uncontrolled descent was fighting at her, but she had to suppress it.
Looking up, she saw the plane accelerate away and the sound of its engines was replaced by a raw rush of air. The force it was exerting on her limbs made it feel like they were suspended, but she managed to snake them over and grab onto Ash's outstretched arms. It felt like being on a giant roller coaster, except this time, the drop was way longer.
While she was still getting the thrill of the plunge, what truly made it amazing was the man behind her. There was everything to love him about for giving her a wonderful adventure. At first, she was uncertain, but having him to help her through made it feel like it was just another thing ready to be conquered.
"Deploying the chute," Ash told her over the speakers after a while of freefalling. He tugged his pack and she suddenly felt as if a giant hand had shaken and abruptly halted their descent.
"Hands up," They were reaching about two thousand feet and she guided them over his. He gave her a brief lesson on how to steer and let her control their descent, steering and speed. All the time, May had a stupid grin on her face. Even before they were hitting the ground, she wanted to hop back into a plane and go again. Now it was much quieter and neither of them had to shout over the winds. People were already outside to see what was happening and they both waved and smiled, knowing that some in the group had their cameras out and taking plenty of snapshots of the couple on their way down.
The Military Base was just ahead and they moved in the fields right behind the hangars. Ash flexed his legs so that he would take the brunt of the impact and immediately, two of the Air Force personnel rushed out to meet them.
"Good landing Lieutenant." One of them said as he was unhooking the straps, "Miss Maple, did you enjoy the drop?"
"YES!" She practically screamed out, "Can we go again?!"
"Unfortunately not today," The man said, "That was the last scheduled drop of the day."
A loud squeal interrupted the conversation and May jumped into Dawn's waiting arms. There was a base guest badge around her neck.
"Oh my Arceus!" She smiled from ear to ear at Ash, "You two were amazing!"
Ash managed to pull her helmet off while doing the same to himself, "I just guided her, she did most of the descending."
After returning the equipment, signing out and making promises to do a second jump with the Navy Base, they exited the front gate and Dawn took her home.
"See you tomorrow?" May asked.
"Of course,"
Rather than reply, she walked right up and planted her lips on his.
Dawn honked the horn of her car to snap the two out of it.
"Right," She blushed, "I uh better get going."
"Sooo," Dawn began as they headed back to her house, "How was the drop?"
"Super fun! I can't wait until Ash takes me again!"
"Ash huh?" Dawn gave a suggestive smirk, "He pretty much solidified dreamy for any girl with a stunt like that!"
"Yeah," Her face fell. Since she would eventually have to head home, it would lead to the inevitable confrontation of her father and she didn't need a psychic to know he was going to be displeased with her actions at the party. "If only the Drew I used to know was like this," She lamented. A date with him was usually just a fancy five course dinner at one of those downtown restaurants with valets and formal dining. Sometimes it was fine, but she wanted to do something more.
"Well I think you're going to be fine. Your father is going to be more of a problem with Drew. He just," Dawn shook her head, "Kind of disappeared after the party. I haven't seen him since."
"To hell with whatever he thinks!" May fired back, "He can kick me out of the house, cut off financial support, or whatever! It's not changing my opinion of Ash! I love him and nothing will change that."
"Wow," Dawn amazingly said, "You really do get fired up about him! I was right! You do love him for certain!"
"I…" May couldn't find any words to say. Dawn had laid out the trap beautifully to make her confess her love for Ash and she had walked right into it. "You're smart."
"And don't you forget it," Her best friend stuck out her tongue. "May just do it already! Take off his clothes and jump in the bed together! What are you waiting for?"
That question did stick in her head though. What was she waiting for?
They pulled up in front of her house and she bounded out with Dawn, making their way across to the front door.
Norman had it opened up before she could even touch the handle.
"Where the hell have you been?" He demanded, not bothering with a greeting, "How can you just leave Drew like that and then disappear for days? What's the matter with you?"
"Hi dad," May tried her best to look as innocent as possible, "Good to see you too."
"May Maple! Stop right there and tell me where you have been this instant!"
She sighed and knew this was her chance to finally get him to understand this was a life she wanted to pursue. "I've been with Ash. He took me to his friend's place where we had dinner and went skydiving this morning!" She heard him gasp, but didn't particularly care. "It was super-fun don't you think?"
"He did what?" Norman looked like he was going to kill something.
"Skydiving," May repeated, "It was absolutely incredible!"
"MAY! He's going to get you killed with those stunts!"
"He's giving me a life I've always wanted and I love him because of it!"
Norman shook his head, "You know what, I'm disappointed in you May."
"Yeah?" May defiantly shot back, "Because I'm disappointed in you too dad. You think I'm too naïve to know that it was your agenda to marry me off to Drew, even though I told you I don't love him?!"
"Drew can give you a happy and safe life! You don't see it now, but Ash won't be able to do that!"
"Then at least let him come as a friend and welcomed here! You had to file a restraining order against him! After what he did to Max, helped him improve in school and sports and you don't even show him one ounce of gratitude! It's not purely because you believe Drew can give me a safe life, it's that you hate Ash's guts! I still choose him over Drew. Ash is ten times the man he will ever be."
The fact that she hit the nail right on the head surprised Norman. But that didn't change his mind one bit, "I'm sorry May," His tone had defused from enraged to cold and more calculating.
"Why can't you like him? He makes me happy and you said when I was younger; anyone who made me or Max happy would make you happy too."
"He is a danger to this family and is already tearing it apart!" He became more vicious, suddenly aware that he had never been so angry at either of his kids. "Listen to me May! You will break it off with him or Ash will be the one I hurt instead!"
May knew that anyone who openly attacked Ash, Drew included would definitely regret that. He had to mean something else.
Norman saw her confusion, "Just so you know," He explained, "I have connections everywhere in Hoenn, including the premier, who happens to sign those paychecks for your little freelancing daredevil. What do you think will happen when he has to make a choice? Losing my endorsement money, or terminating Ash's job? You know what, when he's relieved of command; the only enforcement post he'll be able to get is directing traffic downtown!"
"Why?" May's face brimmed with tears, "Why are you doing this dad?"
It truly pained him to see her like this, but in the long term, she would finally open her eyes and realize that he was right. "He will break your heart."
Really? That was his point?
"So I should break his instead?"
"Tell Dawn to leave." He ignored her question, "Right. Now."
"No,"
They both looked over to see her standing at the entrance, "Not without May."
"She's not coming with you." Norman declared, "Now go."
"Fine," Dawn looked over at May, "Why do you always let him win?"
"Dawn get out! You're not welcome here anymore!" He bellowed.
She huffed, "I wasn't even welcome to begin with."
"Just go Dawn." May was more worried that if her father could cut Ash's pay, what things would he do to her best friend's business.
Before either of them could respond, she shut the door and drove off in her car. May knelt to the floor with her head in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably.
Norman looked at his tearful daughter and moved to comfort her. "May. Listen to me-"
"Don't touch me dad." She snarled, getting up and storming upstairs, "If I find out you did anything to disrupt either Ash's or Dawn's life, by Arceus I will never EVER speak to you again!"
You're doing all of this to prove a point Norman? C'mon man! This is a little extreme, even for you...
Thanks for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.