A/N: Thank you all for reading! I was very happy with your reactions last chapter, thank you! And look, this chapter is pretty fast, right? I'm caught up again! XD I hope you enjoy this one!

To cake0108: Thank you!

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

Days

The day that starts early

Ash

Sunday, December 29th

A tense silence hung over the group as they drove through the night. Because five o'clock in the morning could not be considered morning by anyone's standards, and least of all Ash's.

Despite the early hour, Ash was far from tired. His mind was running in circles while his body was awkwardly pressed against the car door on one side and against Misty on the other side, with Pikachu squirming on his lap.

"Thanks again for bringing us to the airport, Chili," Brock said from beside Misty. His wife Lucy sat in in front of him and next to Chili, having gotten the most comfortable position because of her pregnancy.

Chili hummed from the driver's seat. "It's no problem. It's the least we could do after…"

The silence grew more heavy and Ash felt out of his depth. This was not a situation that could be solved with a bad joke or a Pokémon battle or even with some proper yelling and arguing.

Cilan and Iris were both his friends. He stroked Pikachu as he recalled the conversation with Iris about wedding nerves, and he wondered if he should have been more honest about his own experiences. Sure, it would have been deadly embarrassing to talk about sex with Iris, but if it could have prevented this situation…

He felt horrible for Cilan. The situation was already painful enough, but that Iris had actually ran off on their wedding day…

He hated that they had to return to Kanto at a time like this. He knew that Misty had her job and that they had the Gym, but it felt wrong to leave his friends in their time of need.

Brock was also feeling bad about leaving Cilan, but he had his clinic to get back to, and since Brock was not as close to Iris as Ash was, Ash felt that it was still not quite the same.

Still, even if he could have stayed here, he wouldn't have known what to do. In a way, he was glad that May had taken it upon herself to go after Iris yesterday, because thinking back on it, he was afraid that if he had gone after Iris it would have seemed like taking sides.

Usually he would never worry about something like that with Cilan, who was one of the most thoughtful and understanding persons he knew, but with the emotions running high, Ash simply didn't know what to expect anymore.

"We're almost at the airport," Chili broke the silence, and snapped Ash out of his thoughts.

"That's good," he said, eager to keep the oppressing silence away. "It was really nice of you to give us a lift, Chili. We should've called a taxi, otherwise."

"It's fine," Chili said. "Yeah, it's usually pretty neat that the airport is a bit outside of the city, with the noise and all, but with travelling it can sometimes get annoying. You guys just picked the worst time to travel back."

"Still too early for the buses, you mean?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, and walking isn't a very appetizing option," Chili joked, gesturing to the dark windows. Although it was barely visible from the car, besides the road icy snow remained, and Ash knew it was freezing cold.

"Yes, I'm really happy I don't have to be outside," Lucy said, and Misty breathed in sharply at that.

Ash cringed along with her, thinking the same thing: Iris was still outside. Yesterday evening May had let them known that she had found Iris in the forest near Striaton, but that so far she was refusing to come with her.

"I- I mean, we really appreciate it that you're driving us," Lucy tried to rectify the situation, and Chili nodded stiffly.

"Yeah…" he said, and then started to slow the car as they neared the airport. "I'm going to drop you off at the entrance, okay?"

"Of course, thank you, Chili," Misty said politely in what Ash thought was a failed attempt to defuse the tension in the air.

Chili stopped the car almost in front of the entrance and the four humans and one Pokémon got out after thanking Chili. After Pikachu had jumped out, Ash hesitated with getting out even as the others were getting the luggage out of the back of the car.

"Hey, Chili…" he started awkwardly, and Chili half-turned in the driver's seat to look at him.

"Hm?"

"Thanks for driving us, and uh, everything else…"

Chili nodded with a slight smile.

"Wish Cilan… Uh, keep an eye on him, alright? If he needs us, just give us a call," Ash said. Even though he realistically knew that the chance Cilan would ask them to come to Unova for himself was incredibly small, he still felt better for offering. No matter Cilan's opinion on it, Ash knew he would hop into a plane as soon as his friend said the word.

Except for now, of course.

While Ash had no doubts that Chili and Cress would stick with Cilan and despite Misty's reassurances that Cilan wouldn't want them to stay when they had their responsibilities to get back to, he still felt guilty.

Chili's face softened and his smile grew more genuine. "We will." His eyes grew darker when he added, "And don't worry, if Iris is still hiding in the woods next week, I won't hesitate to personally get you from Kanto so you can kick her ass for leaving my brother like that."

Seeing the expression on the redhead's face, Ash had no doubt that Chili would make good on his threat and then some.

"I know Iris, she'll be back soon, I know it," he couldn't help but defend his other friend, even if he could understand Chili's feelings of anger well.

Chili made a noncommittal sound and Ash gave him his most encouraging smile.

"Anyway, thanks for everything, Chili," he said, and Chili relaxed again and nodded.

"Right. I'll see you around, Ash."

"You coming, Ash?" Brock called, and Ash clambered out of the car.

"Thanks again, and until next time," Ash said to Chili, and the others added their own thanks and goodbyes, before he closed the car door.

Pikachu jumped on his shoulder when he joined the others, and he was glad for the extra warmth his Pokémon provided. He sure hoped that May had convinced Iris to stay in a Poké Center at least…

They all momentarily watched Chili drive away, before they quickly walked into the welcoming warmth of the airport. They were one of the first ones there, and they checked in quickly and then went through customs.

They found themselves some place to sit while they waited until they could board, and Brock pulled out some sandwiches for breakfast. Ash accepted one out of his habit, but his stomach was squirming too much to really feel hungry. Pikachu nibbled on half of it.

"I… I don't know Iris and Cilan very well," Lucy started, hesitantly and questioningly looking at the group. "I mean, I met Cilan quite a few times with Brock throughout the years, but I've only seen Iris a handful of times, but with this…"

"I didn't see it coming, either," Brock said, seeming to catch on to what she was saying.

"Me neither," Misty said with a frown. "I don't know Cilan all that well, but Iris… well, she's never been a very open person, but still…"

"I, uh, I didn't see it coming, either," Ash said, not wanting to bring up the phone conversation with Iris. Besides, he truly hadn't seen it coming. And wasn't that a scary thought? What if something similar happened to him and Misty, and he never even noticed? And he hadn't expected May's break-up, either-

"Yeah, but you didn't see their marriage coming, either," Brock joked weakly, and Ash mock-glared at him, though inwardly he was glad for the change of topic, even if it was at his own expense.

"As if you did," Ash said, crossing his arms. Pikachu let out a complaint when his nap was interrupted by Ash's movements, and after a short scoff, he jumped in Misty's lap to settle there.

"I did, actually," Brock said, straightening a bit. "Or well, I knew Cilan had a thing for Iris. That is, I suspected it, anyway, he was always pretty tight-lipped about it…"

"Yeah, Iris, too," Misty mused, seeming to consider the situation seriously. "I suspected it, but I hadn't expected them to move this fast…"

"It is fast." Lucy nodded. "One would almost think…" she trailed off, gesturing to her pregnant belly with a shrug. "But maybe I'm just seeing things because of my own condition."

Ash was in the process of shaking his head at the absurd idea but Misty nodded seriously. "Yeah, I was thinking that, too."

"What?" Ash looked at her, mouth half opened in shock. "You think Iris is pregnant?"

Misty shrugged and Brock held his chin in thought. "It would explain some things… but it's dangerous to assume such things."

Ash felt blown away and must have looked that way, too, because Lucy patted his arm.

"It's just a thought, it's probably not even true," she said.

"But they're our friends, why wouldn't they have told us?" he asked, realizing the answer even as he voiced his thoughts. Misty and he had not told their friends, either…

"They would probably wait until the three months mark," Brock explained and Ash was already nodding.

"Yeah…"

"But maybe she's not pregnant," Lucy said. "And with this situation…"

"Hm-hm." Misty nodded in realization while Ash tried to keep up with the half-said things.

"It would only complicate things further," Brock unwittingly cleared things up for Ash.

"Oh yeah…" he said quietly when the implications hit him. Silence fell as everyone seemed lost in their thoughts. Pikachu had fallen asleep in Misty's lap.

It was a mess, Ash thought, pulling at his shirt. If – and that was a big if – Iris was pregnant, then it would be an even bigger mess. And he hadn't even known that his best friends were in love with each other, and now Iris might be pregnant? What kind of friend was he? And Iris had even asked him about wedding nerves, and he still hadn't known-

"Well, we can't just ask them," Brock finally said. "Time will give us the answer, and for now it's not our business anyway. And they're both adults, they can handle themselves."

Ash relaxed a bit and nodded quickly, forcing himself to be optimistic. "Yes, Iris and Cilan will solve this, you'll see. They're best friends!"

Misty turned to look at him and gave him an odd but genuine smile. "You're right, Ash."

"And if not," Brock said cheerfully, "Chili, Cress and May are still there, and I'm sure they can manage those two."

Lucy chuckled and Ash nodded to himself. Yes, Cilan and Iris were in good hands, and if necessary, he himself would come to help and fix things between two of his best friends.

A/N: Thank you for reading! I completely rewrote this chapter, or rather, I just made it a whole lot longer. My old drafts tend to be a lot of thoughts and very little talking, it seems, so got to change that a bit to keep it interesting. I'm still not too happy with the ending, but I was having a hard time finding a proper place to end it.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow, because the next chapter still has to be completely written, but I'll do my best to update as soon as possible. Anyway, please let me know what you thought about it! Reading your reviews really motivates me!

Thank you!

Recommendation:

Harry Potter: Support by trollnexus. FFN. This is a very interesting one-shot about Viktor Krum, featuring his Quidditch dreams but mostly his relationship with his father. It's pretty heartwarming, and it's unlike any one-shot I've read before. Check it out!

If you have any stories you want me to recommend, let me know and I'll give them a look!