A/N: And on we go. Thank you very much for your continuing support, and I hope you like this one!

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).

Days

The day help is exchanged

Iris

Sunday, December 15th

"You have a very nice house, Iris," May commented as Iris finished her showing of the living quarters and led her over to the Pokémon facilities. The Coordinator had arrived from Hoenn not too long ago, and after recovering from the flight with something to eat, Iris had taken her for a tour around her new house and Gym.

"Thanks, I suppose," Iris said. "I just bought it because of the big property that came with it, because I needed the space for the battlefields."

"Oh, oh yeah, I can see that," May said, as they walked over to the inside battlefield. It had been a warehouse, used for the storage of the goods produced on the grounds around the house, but after some fortifying and putting sand on the floor it now served its new purpose very well. Iris couldn't help but smile proudly when she saw May watching her Pokémon's training with big eyes. Dragonite had noticed her watching as well and was now showing off his Thunder Punch.

Looking back at her friend, Iris decided that, yes, it was good for May to be away from her routine for a while. While her impulsive invitation to let May visit had brought up some practical problems, she couldn't regret it when she saw how happy May was now. Distraction could go a long way.

Still, it was a problem that Iris was sick every morning, and she didn't want May to find out about the pregnancy like that. In fact, she didn't want May to find out about the pregnancy at all. Not yet, anyway. Having to tell her the original reason why she had called a few days ago was already going to be difficult enough. It felt wrong to confront May with her flourishing relationship when her own had just fallen apart.

She had to admit, she hadn't seen that one coming. May and Drew had always seemed to have such a perfect relationship – and even excluding that, she had thought Drew to be more responsible. Although from the bits and pieces May had told her, their relationship had already been taking some hits.

"Your Gym looks really nice, Iris," May said, pulling Iris out of her thoughts.

Iris smiled distractedly at her, before raising an eyebrow. "You really think so?"

"Well, uh, it's clean and neat." May paused and looked around some more. "It reminds me a bit of Dad's Gym."

"He specializes in normal type Pokémon, right?" Iris said, vaguely recalling something like that.

"Yes." May nodded quickly, before turning thoughtful. "I think that's it, about this Gym, I mean, it's very… normal. Standard." She looked at Iris, and then quickly added, "No offense meant."

"No, no, that's fine," Iris said, surprised by the observation. "You're right." She grinned. "But it's not done yet, don't worry."

May looked at her curiously, and Iris happily elaborated. "I want to create an outside battlefield for most of my battles, because, you know, I always do prefer being outside-" May was already nodding, so she continued, "-but with this kind of winter weather I can't work there, and I still need to find a way to make this inside battlefield more like me."

"Maybe big pits of lava," her friend suggested.

Iris blinked, wondering if she should be flattered or offended. "Big pits of lava resemble me?"

"Uh..." May stuttered.

"Well, it's cool." Iris laughed, saving May from an explanation. "But maybe more fitting for a fire type Gym, anyway, I think. But you're welcome to help me think of something."

May nodded, and they wandered around the battlefield some more as Iris introduced her to her Pokémon. After some time, May released her own Pokémon as well, and they quickly found their own place in the training field to play. Especially Venusaur seemed to be excited to be out and was running across the field the best she could.

May watched her own Pokémon frolic around with shining eyes. "This is great, it's so much more space than they're used to."

"Didn't you take them to a park or something?" Iris couldn't keep the accusatory tone completely out of her voice, thinking of those Pokémon being locked up in a small apartment all the time.

"Of course I did," May said, looking down. "But the park isn't the same, this is so much more…" She trailed off and shook her head.

"Let's get something to drink," Iris said decidedly, "This was the last bit of the house I wanted to show you, anyway."

"Alright." May looked back at the battlefield as they walked towards the exit, before asking, "So, do you have a lot of challengers?"

Iris frowned. "Not so much yet. The Village of Dragons is not easily accessible in the best of circumstances, but with the weather…"

"Yeah, it looks like you're going to have a white Christmas! But even in Hoenn it's cold, so maybe we're going to get lucky, too!"

"If you call it lucky…" Iris said sullenly, and May chuckled.

"But what do you do now, when you don't have any challengers?"

They had arrived in the kitchen, and Iris avoided the question with a question of her own. "Do you want tea or coffee? Or maybe hot chocolate?"

"Oh, hot chocolate, please!" May said excitedly, and Iris quickly occupied herself with readying the drinks.

May's question about what she was doing brought up a topic Iris wasn't sure how to broach: the upcoming wedding. Because, besides taking care of and training with her Pokémon, planning the wedding was what occupied most of her time these days (or maybe more accurately, worrying about how she was going to do it and procrastinating, but still).

Her stomach churned uncomfortably as she thought of how to tell May, and especially if she was going to stay here for a while, she wouldn't be able to keep it from her for much longer. And then there was also a small part of her that hoped that May would want to help with the planning, even if she was doing her best to suppress that.

Cilan and she had discussed what kind of ceremony and party they had wanted and had decided on a timeframe, but most of the actual preparations were being left to Iris, on her own insistence. And she could and would do it, but doing paperwork was not one of her strong suits…

She handed May the hot chocolate and then sat down across from her, holding her own drink.

"So, yeah, remember when I called three days ago?" Iris started, feeling more than a bit awkward when May tensed. Of course she remembered.

"I called to tell you something," she continued, and before she could think too much about how she was going to say it, she blurted, "Cilan and I are getting married."

May's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "What?"

"Uh, yeah, I know it's unexpected, but, well, uh..." Iris braced herself for tears, or uncomfortable attempts at hiding those tears, but she wasn't prepared for the high-pitched squeal.

"Wow, oh, wow! Congratulations! Wow! I- Just, that's great! I admit I hadn't seen that coming, how-how did it happen?" May gasped. "Oh, you two danced together at Ash and Misty's wedding, didn't you?" She slapped a hand against her forehead and let out a groan. "Don't tell me, I bet I missed everything completely, eh? Everyone already saw it coming-"

It was true that May was not the most observant of people, but this had nothing to do with that and Iris hastened to correct her. "No, no, we didn't- I mean, we've only been together for a short while." Despite that, their other friends had still claimed that they had seen it coming when they had told them, which made Iris wonder if they had really been so obvious or if they were just saying that. "But we've been friends for so long, so we thought that we might as well make it official."

May nodded enthusiastically along, beaming at her. "That's so sweet!"

A slow smile was making its way on Iris's face as May congratulated her with what seemed to be genuine happiness, but she wanted to be sure. "Thank you. I, uh, I didn't know how to tell you, because I thought you'd still be upset because of what happened with Drew..."

May's face fell, but she quickly smiled again. "Yeah... I mean, yeah, I am- But I'm still very happy for you two!" She blinked a few times quickly, before shaking her head slightly. "You two deserve it. And it's great to hear something positive as well!"

May's smile widened, and Iris hesitantly smiled back. May laughed a bit, shaking her head again. "Really, Iris, I swear, I'm happy for both of you. Now, tell me, when are you getting married?"

"Uh... we were thinking about the end of December, but we don't have a definite date yet," Iris answered, hesitantly relaxing at May's insistence.

"Next year, then, right?"

"Uh…"

May's eyes widened. "Really?! This year? But we're already halfway through- Wow, you two sure aren't wasting any time!" She laughed. "So I bet you've got everything already planned, right? Oh, do you have a dress? What kind of food are you going to do?"

Iris felt her cheeks grow warm and laughed sheepishly. "Actually... no, we don't have anything planned yet." At May's incredulous expression, she quickly added, "Well, I mean, we know what we want, and Cilan is looking for a suit, and he'd find a wedding official, but uh, everything else, I'm still looking at that."

Iris tucked away a lock of her hair in frustration, and then let out a sigh. "I just… I don't have much experience with this stuff. But you asked what I was doing when I don't have any challengers, and well, that's it. I'm planning the wedding, or trying to, at least."

"Do you… need help?" May looked hesitant even as she was asking the question, her smile diminishing.

A denial was on her tongue, before she shook her head with a grimace. "I, uh, I do want to do this alone, I mean, I should be able to do this, but… I'm having a bit of trouble with it. I mean, I don't really know where to start, that's it. I'll figure it out, though! You really, really don't have to help if you don't want to. I mean, you're welcome to, I wouldn't mind, I mean, I would appreciate it, but I'd completely understand if that… if that would be too confronting." Iris ended her rambling answer uncertainly. Arceus, she really wasn't good at this.

May winced slightly, before shaking her head. "No. No, I want to. I want to help. It'll give me something to do, you know, a good distraction…"

Iris's shoulders sagged in relief, before looking at May carefully. "If you're sure…"

A small smile appeared on her face. "I'm sure. I'd love to." Her smile widened, and she nodded again. "Yes, I'd really love to."

Iris nodded slowly, before allowing the relieved smile to spread on her face. "Alright. Thank you. Really, really, thank you."

May grinned back. "Now, let's start with what you already know, okay? Oh, and we're probably going to need a computer or something, we need to start looking up addresses for a location and catering services and…"

A light feeling settled in her stomach as she watched May enthusiastically talk on, and Iris smiled and nodded along, feeling like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders in more ways than one.

A/N: Yeah, another chapter done. Thank you very much for reading! I liked writing this one, though I had difficulty finding a place to end it. These girls just keep on talking XD I hope you liked it, and please let me know your thoughts!

Thank you!

Recommendations:

Harry Potter: Last Chance by Laume. FFN. This is a very interesting AU story, multi-chaptered, about how things change when Albus Dumbledore decides to take young Tom Riddle under his care. Very interesting, though sadly it's been a long time since it's been updated.

If you know a story you want me to recommend, let me know!