When the next day rolled around, Ash arrived back at Luna's room after a trip to the hospital cafeteria for breakfast. There was still a lot on his mind, such as Luna's condition, his break up with Leaf, and how he was going to tell May about his feelings for her. Yet even with all this running through his head, he didn't feel as overwhelmed or scared as he had on Friday. He felt…at peace. Of course, he was still worried about Luna and what would come next for her, but he also felt a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn't have to wonder or worry about Leaf or how she and Luna got along. He was free and honestly, the idea of taking things to the next level with May had him excited. But for now, he wanted to check on his sister. He peeked into her room and saw Luna getting some sleep for the first time in a while. That made Ash smile.

"Looks like she's finally getting some sleep." he thought to himself. "I'll leave her be." he walked out and went out to the private waiting room where his mother was once again on the phone, this time seemingly with her restaurant.

"No, you don't understand. My daughter is in the hospital. I can't come in today at all." Delia insisted to the person on the other end of the call. "I know we're tight on staff but this is a family emergency."

"Guess work waits for no one…" Ash commented to himself.

"There must be someone else who can handle this…I can't just leave my daughter here alone." she tried again.

"Mom you can go." Ash suddenly spoke up, drawing Delia's attention.

"What Ash?"

"I can watch Luna today. I know your sue chef is still on maternity leave so staffing is tight right now...if you need to go you can. I'll help her with anything she needs." he assured her.

"Ash honey I don't want to put that burden on you." Delia countered. "Besides I'm not sure I could focus knowing Luna's condition…"

"Mom it's hard on all of us…believe me I know…but even so we still need to return to some kind of normalcy at some point…otherwise we'll let this event consume us eventually. You'll be here with her tomorrow while I'm at school…so I'll be here with her today while you're at work. Family works together right?" he inquired. Delia considered his words for a few moments before giving a small smile and hugging him gently.

"What did I ever do to deserve you…?" she whispered.

"Heh…it's nothing really Mom…" he chuckled in an attempt to brush off the compliment.

"Thank you Ash…" she thanked him nonetheless before returning to her call. "I'll be there as soon as I can." she hung up the phone and grabbed her purse. "I'll be back just as soon I can. Probably after the dinner rush."

"I understand. I'll make sure Luna is ok and has everything she needs." he promised.

"Thank you sweetie." she replied. She gave him a kiss on the forehead and hurried off towards the lobby. Ash smiled a little to himself. His mother may have worked long and hard hours, but even still she knew where the main priorities were. She loved him and Luna more than anything. And for that he was grateful. Taking his new role as caretaker seriously, he first returned to Luna's room to check on her again. He opened the door just in time to see Luna slowly open her eyes as she woke up.

"Hello...?" she asked, unable to tell if anyone was with her. "Is anyone there…?"

"I'm here Luna. Good morning." he informed her, running his thumb along the back of her hand.

"Hi Ashy...what time is it...?" she wondered.

"It's about 9 am." he answered.

"I see...guess I'm not used to sleeping so late…" she sighed.

"Give yourself a break Luna. You've been through a lot." he reminded her as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. He then chuckled a little and smiled at her teasingly. "Besides how can you see that when you're blind?"

"Ha ha…" Luna smiled a little as she shoved him playfully. Ash laughed a little, happy to have at least gotten a chuckle out of his sister. He wrapped her in a soft hug and she hugged him back. "Anyway…is Mom here...?"

"No...she left a little while ago." he admitted, rubbing her back.

"Oh...work...?"

"Yes...but I'll be here with you all day so you don't have to worry about a thing." he promised her, kissing her head.

"Right…" she sighed. Ash held her close for a few moments before she spoke up again. "Ashy...?"

"Yeah, sis...?"

"What will happen to me now...? I mean…I'm blind now…"

"...I'll be honest Luna, I don't know for sure...but what I do know is that I'll be taking care of you through this transition. I promise." he assured her.

"But you have school...and your games...I don't want to overwork you…" she reminded him quietly.

"I know…and it's just like you to worry about that kind of thing…but I care for you way more than any of that other stuff so I'm going to make sure you have everything you need. Besides, it's mostly my fault you're in this situation, I owe it to you to come through for you this time." he pointed out.

"Thank you Ashy...that means a lot to me to hear." she admitted.

"Besides you're the best little sister I could've ever asked for. You've been trying to help me out since day one and I should have listened to you a lot more." he added.

"You're allowed to make your own choices Ashy…you don't need me to tell you what to do." she countered.

"Well, I know for a fact that I should've listened to you about Leaf. And I'm sorry I didn't realize how bad it had gotten."

"You thought you were in love…"

"Yeah, but I wasn't...not with Leaf...but I just couldn't see it...not till I kissed May…" he admitted with a soft blush.

"You're not worried about rushing things with May are you...?" she wondered.

"I'm not...I know this is what I want. And I think she felt something in that kiss too. And maybe now that I've ended things with Leaf, she'll feel ok about taking a chance on me." he said hopefully.

"I hope so...I really like May." Luna commented.

"I like her too…" he replied with a small smile as he held her close. Luna smiled a little too, almost as though she could feel the spark of happiness within her brother.

"I wish I could see your face…" she remarked softly.

"Heh...I don't think you would. I've been sleeping and crying in a hospital without a shower. I look like a wreck." he chuckled. "What I wish I could've seen was your game. I bet you were just as amazing as always."

"Well, I…I tried really hard to play well...like I knew you'd tell me to do." she replied.

"I'm glad to hear that. And again, I'm sorry I didn't arrive like I promised…" he added as he gave her a gentle squeeze.

"I've forgiven you Ashy…" she whispered. It warmed his heart to hear that, but it did very little to actually alleviate his guilt for the moment.

"Thank you Luna…but I don't deserve it...not yet anyway." he insisted.

"Ashy...Please don't beat yourself up…" she begged. "I love you…"

"I love you too…" he echoed as he planted another kiss on the top of her head. "I'll try not to be too hard on myself…"

"Thank you…for now, thought will you stay here for a while...?" she requested.

"You got it…" he said with a gentle smile.

"Thanks…" she whispered as she cuddled up to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "So...tell me about your basketball team."

"Well, the team's really working hard. I think we're the strongest we've ever been." he replied.

"Yeah...? You're ready for the big game next week...?"

"We sure are. The boys are going to be awesome."

"I hope Gladion does well…" she suddenly commented, catching Ash off guard a little. Why did she care? Shrugging it off, he rubbed her back.

"I know we'll all do well." he added.

"You just gotta make sure you win ok?" she insisted.

"I will. I promise." he nodded.

"Oh. And you should invite May to go too." Luna added, suddenly getting an idea.

"Well, I…I don't know...she's such a shy girl...and even if she agrees to a date it'll only have been a few days until the game…" he hesitated.

"I know, but isn't it customary for a girlfriend to wear the practice jersey to the big games...? It'd show her you're really serious about this change." she pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't want to rush her…and technically she may not even be my girlfriend yet…" he countered.

"I have a feeling she will be…" Luna replied with a soft giggle.

"Guess we'll see tomorrow…" Ash smiled a little.

"You can do it Ashy." she assured him.

"Heh heh. Thanks, Luna." he smiled. The two were quiet for a few minutes before Ash smiled a little with an idea. "Wanna play a game, Luna?"

"What game can we play when I'm blind and on bedrest…?" she wondered.

"Well with with the ability to request as many pillows and blankets from the hospital staff as we want, I bet we could build a pretty awesome fort around your bed. Just because you're stuck in bed doesn't mean we can't make it cooler. And of course, you always were the one that came up with the best designs anyway" he hinted. Luna giggled softly and nodded in response.

"Ok. I'm in."


Elsewhere in town, May was at home laying on her bed. She was staring up at the ceiling with a sad look on her face when her brother spotted her from the hallway and walked in to check on her.

"May...you alright?" he asked.

"To be honest…I don't know…" she sighed.

"You don't know...?" he wondered.

"Yeah...just trying not to think at all honestly…" she admitted.

"Really? That's not like you at all...you overthink anything." he tried to tease her, but May didn't take the bait. She wasn't in the mood.

"I can't risk thinking...it'll drive me crazy and make my head spin…" she revealed, surprising Max.

"May…"

"I need to do something...I need to take a walk." she decided, getting up from the bed.

"Okay...I'll go with you." he nodded. "Just in case."

"Alright…" May sighed as she got her shoes on and headed outside with Max following beside her. The two siblings were quiet for a while as they walked down the sidewalk until May took a deep breath and finally spoke again. "Been a crazy two weeks…"

"So I've heard...but you seemed to have enjoyed yourself." Max commented.

"Some parts of it anyway…" she admitted with a soft blush.

"Which parts in particular?" he wondered.

"Well I liked learning about Ash…" she said, finally giving a small smile, which her brother noticed.

"Sounds like you enjoyed kissing him." he said with a slight smirk. May's blush quickly deepened as she realized the mistake she had just made.

"I-It was...just part of a play…" she tried to deflect.

"Rrriiiggghhhttt…" Max snicked, making May's blush spread even more.

"Sh-Shut up…" she mumbled.

"Why do you try to deny that you love him anyway?" Max asked, genuinely curious about the answer.

"Max come on...for one thing he has a girlfriend…" she pointed out.

"Alright. Say hypothetically tomorrow he doesn't and he decided to ask you out. Would you just jump at the chance?" he wondered.

"I honestly don't know…it'd be such a drastic change I'd probably just think I was dreaming…" she answered honestly.

"Well, I know you're shy and all. I just hope you don't let that stop you from taking the chance. After all, that's what you wanted for years now." he reminded her.

"Believe me I know…" May sighed. "I just wish it was easier…"

"Don't sell yourself short May. If this Paper Princess thing should've taught you anything, it's that you do have courage and strength inside you. You just have to find the best way to finally release it." he assured her as they both sat on a bench in a nearby park.

"I guess…you could be right." she admitted timidly. Max smiled a little, happy to see a crack seemingly forming in his sister's shy shell.

"Of course I'm right. I'm the smartest in the family for a reason." he teased as he pushed his glasses up his nose. His fake arrogance got May to laugh softly and soon Max himself joined in as well. "But seriously May. If one day you do get your chance, take it. And take it with both hands."

"I'll do my best…thank you, Max." May smiled softly. "And thanks for coming with me…"

"No problem May." he smiled back. The two siblings rested on the bench and looked up at the clouds, noticing that they were especially big and puffy that day.

"You know…we haven't done the "Shapes You Can See" game in a long time…" May offered. Max chuckled and nodded.

"I'm in."

To be Continued...