Summary: May wants her first kiss to be from Ash, but he's so clueless, how can she ever hope to get one from him? Maybe she can come up with something while they're at the lake together…
This fanfic takes place during the battle frontier… For no other reason than I just like the season so much. So there are some spoilers for what pokémon the gang has acquired… Although someone has evolved since I wrote this. *Grumble* They didn't used to do that so quickly!
Though I've more than dabbled in Pokémon fanfiction for most of my youth, I've never actually shared something. This is also the first fanfic I've posted in…over a year. So please, be gentle with the criticism. Anyway, this in an idea I had in my head for a while. Let's hope I managed to keep everyone in character.
Warnings: It's Advanceshippy, for those of you who don't know what that is it's Ash and May as a pairing. Other than that this fanfic has no other warnings… One-shot, oh, and it's a pretty fluffy fanfic. Geez, I can't believe I wrote something with a PG rating.
Hope you guys enjoy it!
The day was a perfectly gorgeous one. Ash, May, Brock, and Max were continuing their way through Kanto and the battle frontier. They stopped off on their way through the forest to have a quick lunch and mutually decided to take it easy that day. Ash, content over his recent victory, actually agreed with taking a break.
"So, if we're taking it easy, what should we do today?" the young trainer asked as Pikachu finished gobbling up the last of his pokémon food and Brock took care of the dishes.
May immediately thought about the lake they had passed by earlier. Since then she could think of nothing else but taking a nice cold swim. The water had looked so inviting, so crystal clear. The day was perfect for it, the sun was out without a cloud in the sky and there was a warm breeze. She didn't want to let this beautiful weather drift away without hanging out at the lake for a while.
"Hey, guys, why don't we go back to that lake and take a swim? The water sure looked nice!" she suggested with a large smile.
"No way, May!" as usual her brother Max had to go against her. Sometimes she was sure he did it just to spite her. "This area is full of all different kinds of pokemon! There was a nidoran nest not too far from here and I really wanna go and see it!"
"Max, nidoran isn't a rare pokémon, we've seen it before and we can see it in other places. But days like this, now that's rare!" she replied, not angry, not yet. "This day is absolutely perfect for swimming!"
"I don't wanna go swimming, I wanna see the nidoran!" Max shouted back, stomping his foot firmly into the ground. "We got to do what you wanted last time, May, now it's my turn!"
May growled at her little brother's defiance, taking a step closer to him. "Max, I am your older sister and as such you are supposed to look up to me and do as I say!"
"Says who!"
"It's the universal law of siblings! I'm older and you're younger, so there for you have to do what I say," May leaned over to match his height, glaring at him in the eyes, and tapped him on the forehead as he clenched his fists.
"Uh, hey you two!" Ash said, deciding to jump in before the fireworks really blew. He walked over them, their attention diverting from each other as he approached. "This isn't a big deal, I'm sure we'll have time to look at the nidoran and go swimming."
"But, Ash!" May protested with a frown. "This weather could change any minute! I don't wanna let it slip away! We have to go swimming first!"
"What!" Max shouted indignantly, throwing his hands up into the air and waving them frantically. "No way, the pokémon could leave by the time you're done, we have to go find the nest first!"
Ash and Brock both gulped as the siblings looked ready to explode again.
"Swimming!"
"Pokémon!"
"GRR!" the two bumped heads together, growling at each other like rabid growlithe's.
"Uh, if I might make a suggestion…" Brock started in.
"WHAT?!" May and Max shouted as they turned to glare at the oldest of the four, causing the man to leap back in fear.
"Uhh, um, how about this," Brock began as he took an uneasy step away from the two fuming siblings. "I can take Max to go look at the nidoran. I wanted to see them myself, anyway. Ash, why don't you and May go swimming?"
For the first time since the fiasco had begun Max and May both smiled, looking quite satisfied with the suggestion. Both turned to face him, now looking bright and perky and May clapped her hands together. Though she wouldn't say it aloud she was very happy at the thought of Ash and her going swimming together without anyone tagging along.
"That's a great idea, Brock!"
"Yeah, that'll work perfectly!" Max agreed.
Ash however didn't look as happy as they were. Scratching the back of his head and his shoulders slightly slumped he looked over at Brock.
"But…I kind of wanted to go look at the nidora…" Ash stopped himself from finishing the sentence as May looked at him with a frown and her bottom lip started to quiver. "Uh, but swimming is great too!"
"Pikapi…" Pikachu sighed, shaking its head at its trainer.
The decision finally made, Brock and Max both grabbed their backpacks and started off in the general direction that Max had seen the nest he had been speaking of, leaving Ash and May to get ready for the trip to the lake. Both young trainers were going through their travel bags looking for their swimsuits. But as they did May began to feel a bit guilty. Her stomach aching as she looked over at Ash, wondering if perhaps he felt forced into taking her to the lake. She knew Ash had wanted to go see the nest, but she didn't want to go swimming alone. Still, she didn't want to be completely selfish either.
"Hey, Ash?"
"Yeah, May?" he didn't look at her though as he was continuing to go through his things.
"I didn't… I mean…" she gulped as she began pulling on the fabric of her gloves. "Did you…really wanna go see the nest with Max and Brock?"
Ash stopped to look over at her. "What?"
"I got the idea you wanted to go and I don't wanna stop you if you really don't wanna go swimming with me…"
"Ah, nah, it's not that big of a deal," Ash reassured her with a smile.
May wasn't so sure he was being honest with her, so she asked again. "Are you sure? You could still catch up with Brock and Max."
"No, it's okay. Swimming is great too, we'll have lots of fun together!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu seemed to be in mutual agreement.
May felt better as Ash said it. Ash was always so kind to her, in fact he was probably one of the nicest boys she had ever met. He was so passionate about his dreams, he had such a love of Pokémon and so much confidence. He was also one of the most talented battlers she had ever met, he had even had the skill to beat her Father! She had to respect him for that alone, even if he was a bit dense and hotheaded at times. Beneath all that he was always there for his friends when they needed him.
As both of them found their swimsuits, May was looking more and more forward to spending the entire afternoon with him, just the two of them without Brock or Max to take his attention away from her.
'Sort of like a date…' May thought to herself with a giggle as Ash went into the tent they had put up earlier to change. She shook her head, her hands coming up to her face as from the heat she knew she was blushing. 'May, don't go reading into things! You've spent time alone together before…'
She had tried to ignore the feelings dwelling within her heart for a while now, but as time passed it had become harder and harder for her to deny. She had developed a crush on Ash during their travels together. Although she had crushes before, back at home on some of the boys in her town, this was different somehow. It was stronger, more insistent, and she wasn't getting over it like she had the others. These feelings had been going on for sometime.
She had tried to work up the courage to ask Ash out on a date, but she as too afraid of what he would say. He never showed interest in girls outside of friendship, he was always too focused on his pokémon training. Not to mention, more specifically he didn't show interest in her. He was always so nice to her, as said before, but he was always so nice to all of his friends. Though May wasn't one to toot her own horn she knew she was an attractive girl, but Ash just never seemed to notice.
She sighed dismally as she found her thoughts dragging down her earlier glee. She didn't want to upset herself then, she would have Ash all to herself today, that was certainly something to be happy about!
"Okay, I'm ready," Ash announced as he exited the tent, now wearing his red swim trunks.
"Pika!" Pikachu greeted him as he jumped onto his shoulder.
May picked up her swimsuit and headed past him towards the tent. Crouching down inside, she turned around to zip it closed as Ash went to sit under a tree and wait for her to finish.
"Now, Ash, don't get any ideas, thinking you can get a peek at me now that my brother isn't here to stand guard," she winked at him.
Ash's shoulders jumped at the comment, his face turning a deep shade of red. "WHAT! I would never--!"
May laughed. She was actually surprised the comment had gotten to him so much. "Good grief, Ash, I was just teasing you!" still laughing to herself about his expression, she zipped the rest of the tent closed before she went to the task of changing.
It was a bit of a struggle to change in the small tent, but she managed all the same. She had chosen to wear her green suit, the one she had gotten back on Dewford Island. It was her current favorite, a bit more risqué than the yellow one her mother had purchased for her at home in Petalburg. A top with straps that tied behind her neck and hung lose around her ribs and a hip-hugging bottom piece that the sides were held together by clips shaped like hearts. She wasn't sure her parents would have ever agreed to buy it for her, but that was a benefit of traveling away from them and being allowed to shop for herself without their consent.
As she pulled her top on over her head, she paused as she realized the straps that held it up had become undone after a long while of sitting in her pack.
"Oh, no, how did that happen?" she muttered to herself.
Tying it herself was always too difficult and she could never get it tight enough. Usually she would just have her brother do it but he was no longer there… Suddenly she blushed at the thought of going out and asking Ash to do it for her. But it wasn't as though she had much of a choice. Besides, she concluded, it wasn't as though he could see anything, as long as she managed to hold her top up.
Keeping one arm up across her chest to hold the top in place, she unzipped the tent and exited.
"Ash, can you help me for a second?" she called out to him, only to find he was still under the same tree he had been when she had first gone to change.
"Are you ready yet?" he asked as he looked up at her but then paused. "Uh, hey, May, your straps are undone…"
She rolled her eyes at him. "I noticed that. Can you tie them for me?"
"Sure," he stood up and May turned her back to him, holding the straps up for him to grab onto.
Her face began to heat up again as she felt him at such a close proximity to her. He took hold of the straps and as he began to tie them, she shivered slightly as his fingers occasionally stroked along her shoulders.
"A little tighter than that, don't want it to fall down now, right?"
She felt Ash jump and she giggled to herself at her ability suddenly to make the boy so nervous.
"Like that?" he asked her once he had readjusted the tautness.
"Yup!"
Once that dilemma had been taken care of, the two finally started off towards the lake, Pikachu following behind them. May began to perk up again, enjoying the sun against her skin as they walked. It wasn't too far from where they had set up camp and as they arrived the water looked as gorgeous and enticing as it did before. She and Ash draped their towels over a low hanging tree branch near the water.
"Last one in is a rotten exeggcute!" Ash suddenly shouted as he took off towards the water.
"Hey, no fair!" May pouted as she gave chase.
"Pikachu! Pika!"
Ash and May both leapt into the water, nearly hitting it at the same time.
"PIKAAA!" Pikachu yelped as both of them jumping in at once caused enough force that it was drenched with a big splash of water.
May broke the surface with a gasp. The water was nice and cool, but not at all cold, and it felt wonderful just as she had expected. She was now happier than ever that she had gone for a swim. Seconds later Ash arose to the surface, joining her as she floated along.
"Ahh, the water is perfect!" she squealed.
"Hey, May, we should let our pokémon out to join us," Ash suggested and as he did she felt herself struggling not to frown.
"Uh, I guess we could do that…"
"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash called out as he swam over to the edge of the lake where the yellow rodent was currently shaking off. "Hand us our pokéballs!"
It wasn't that May didn't necessarily want to let her pokémon out for a swim, but she had been looking so forward to spending time alone with Ash. There was no getting rid of Pikachu, it never seemed to leave Ash's side, but now the small group would become a rather large group once all the rest of their pokémon joined the fray.
'Oh, well… So much for our date…' she sighed, though the date part had all been made up in her head.
She swam over to edge of the lake where Ash was as Pikachu dragged their pokéballs over to them.
"Come on out, guys!" Ash said, tossing them into the air.
Grovyle, Donphan, Swellow, and Corphish all came out, calling out their own names as they did. May did the same, releasing all of her pokémon, Munchlax, Combusken, Eevee, and Squirtle.
Corphish and Squirtle both happily jumped into the water with their trainers, splashing them and making Ash laugh as they did so. The rest were all happy to be out in the fresh air although Munchlax found it more worth its time to go take a nap.
In spite of the fact that her earlier hopes to be alone with Ash were crushed, May was enjoying herself either way, swimming around with him, Squirtle, and Corphish. The afternoon seemed to go by quickly, the fun they were all having speeding up the experience.
"You're a really good swimmer, May!"
"Huh? Oh, not really," she blushed slightly at the compliment. "I just always enjoyed swimming as a kid, we used to go to a beach all the time back in Petalburg."
Ash grinned. "Like that time you got surrounded by the tentacool and your Mother tried to catch you?"
"Ugh, don't remind me of that!" May protested, her attention turning to Squirtle as it swam over to her. "That was a horrible experience! And pokéballs hurt when they hit you in the head…" she reached up to rub her forehead as though thinking about the past event brought back the pain.
"Squirt!" Squirtle declared with a hint of annoyance in its voice, unhappy with Ash for reminding its 'mother' about an experience that wasn't pleasant for her.
It surprised both humans as Squirtle's cheeks expanded before shooting a jet of water out at Ash.
"Ah! Squirtle, no, that's not nice to use your water gun on people!" May told it though at the same time she began to giggle as Ash started coughing.
"Arg, that went up my nose!" Ash groaned.
"Hee hee, are you okay, Ash?"
He sniffled. "Yeah, I'm fine, but I'm turning into a prune, I think I'm going to get out."
"Yeah, I'm getting a bit chilly too," May said.
The two swam back over to the edge of the lake, pulling themselves out and heading over to where they had hung their towels earlier. May began to dry her hair off but then noticed Ash lying his own towel out on the ground. Smiling, she followed his actions and laid hers out next to him, deciding to dry out in the sun.
Sitting next to him, May yawned as she stretched her arms out. She was guessing by this time it was now around two o'clock and she and Ash had been out in the water for roughly forty-five minutes. She began to wonder about her brother and Brock and if they had finished looking at the nest yet. She would have thought by now they would be.
Then she realized that she and Ash were practically alone… Which is what she had wanted all day. Squirtle was still swimming around with Corphish, Pikachu looked to be having a stimulating conversation with Combusken near the waters edge, and the rest of their pokémon were all lounged out in the sun a few yards away from them. A smile arose to May's face as she glanced at Ash who was wriggling his toes in the open air.
Finally she had him completely all to herself.
"Thanks for coming with me, Ash," she began a conversation to break up the silence, and Ash turned his head to face her as she spoke to him. "I really had fun today! I hope we can do something like this again sometime soon!"
"Yeah!" he agreed.
"R-really?" May found her cheeks lighting up pink at the thought that Ash wanted to be alone with her again sometime, just the two of them.
Perhaps they could go to a nice restaurant next time. Nothing extravagant, honestly May didn't care where so long as it was the two of them. They could leave Pikachu with Max since he loved the little guy and certainly wouldn't mind watching over him. She could wear the nice dress she had bought not that long ago and Ash could take off his hat and comb his hair… May loved it when Ash didn't wear a hat.
"Only next time we should make sure Brock and Max come along, then we could all have fun together!"
Just like that her dreams were wiped out. Her and Ash were not discussing the same thing at all. She found her expression falling, weights being hung from the corners of her mouth. She turned her face away from Ash in an attempt to hide her disappointment, gazing over at Munchlax whom was still fast asleep and for a moment she really wished she were too.
"O-oh, right, them too…"
"Yeah! We could all go to the beach and get ice cream! You've never been to Kanto before, but me and Brock know all the best places to get ice cream!" his hand came to his stomach as though he was getting hungry just thinking about it. "There's this one place that serves cake too, and they have a strawberry short cake that is the best you'll ever taste! Next to the one Brock makes, of course…"
"Uh-huh…" May leaned over knees, supporting her head in her hands as Ash started rambling on about food.
Usually she would have been completely engrossed in a discussion about sweets, but now she was no longer in the mood. She started to think of something she could say, or do, to try and drop a subtle hint to Ash that she liked him and not only as a friend, but she wanted him to be her boyfriend. But he was so dense at times, especially to romance, and she didn't want to come right on out and tell him. She didn't want to flat out admit anything to him until she was at least halfway sure that he had similar feelings for her.
She started to twiddle her thumbs as Ash's conversation with himself about food began to come to a close. Her heart skipped a beat as finally an idea popped into her head, something she could do that would not make this time with him by themselves a complete waste. She started to smile again, but then forced her face to remain straight. She didn't want to appear too giddy to him.
"So, Ash, can I ask you something?" she acted completely innocent, not giving him any indication of her diabolical plan.
"Sure, what is it, May?" Ash was smiling at her, he had no idea what she had in store.
"Weeell, I was curious," she stared up at the sky as she tapped her chin.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever kissed a girl, Ash?"
Ash's hands slipped and May's eyes widened as the boy went tumbling over onto his back.
"Ash?!"
He tried to compose himself, but May could already see the blush across his face as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position.
"Ha-have I ever kissed a girl?! Why would you ask me something like that?!"
"Oh, I dunno," her eyes were still on the sky above. "You've just traveled all over the place and I would have thought with meeting so many people you might have kissed a girl or two."
"Well, I…I…"
May finally looked at him, acting surprised although truthfully she wasn't. As stated before Ash was dense and clueless when it came to romance, so she would have been much more shocked if he had claimed he had kissed a girl. But she wasn't going to let him know that. Her hands curled beneath her chin as her eyebrows raised.
"Whaaat?! Are you saying you haven't?"
"I-I've kissed a girl before!" he suddenly declared.
May gulped as she felt her chest cave in.
"On-on the lips…?" her own bottom lip was starting to quiver.
She hadn't thought it was possible that Ash had kissed another girl! Did this also mean he had a girlfriend? Or at least someone whom he had feelings for already? Was that why he showed so little interest in her? May's heart began to crumble as all sorts of scenarios filled her head and she was trying so hard not to cry, she couldn't let Ash know how much this hurt her.
"Lips? Uh, well, not on the lips…" he turned away from her, scratching his head so hard now that May was certain he was going to leave a balding spot there.
She let out a deep sigh of relief. Her joy returning as it was confirmed that Ash had not had any prior romantic experiences. She got back to her plan. Now that she knew Ash had never been kissed before, she was more determined than ever that first kiss of his was going to be hers. Doing well to contain her excitement, she began to manipulate him, as she was rather good at doing.
"If it's not on the lips then it doesn't count!" she informed him while running her fingers through her wet brown hair. "So you really haven't kissed a girl. That's perfectly all right, I guess… Everyone is a little afraid of their first kiss."
He turned to look at her again, his eyes narrowed at her and his hands clenched into fists.
"Afraid?" he asked. "I'm not afraid."
She had him on the hook, all that was left to do was to reel him in.
"Oh, come on, Ash, it's nothing to be ashamed of!" she said, waving a hand at him.
"But I'm not!"
"Ash, it's not a big deal, I don't think you're a coward just because you're afraid to kiss a girl!"
"I am not afraid to kiss a girl!!" the boy shouted, waving his fists at her, his face completely red with rage.
May grinned at him, as she leaned on her arms towards him. "Then prove it."
He frowned suddenly. "P-prove it…?" he began to look nervous again as he backed away from her slightly.
"If you're not afraid to kiss a girl…then kiss me."
There it was, she had said it.
"WHAT!" as jumped up from his towel, staring down at the girl as though what she had just proposed was sheer lunacy. "K-kiss you?"
"Why not?" May asked though she was hurt that he hadn't acted happy at the offer. "It's not that big of a deal, we're friends and all, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess…" his entire face was so red, May realized she had never seen him so embarrassed before.
She turned her eyes back to the lake out in front of them, trying to act all nonchalant about it, as though she wasn't as nervous as he was at the thought of them kissing.
"You know, unless you really are afraid…"
He obviously hated that word more than anything else in the world. His hands balling up into fists, he started shaking them again as he bared his teeth at her.
"F-fine! I'll kiss you, I'm not afraid of a stupid little kiss!"
"Then sit back down, you can't kiss me from up there…"
Swallowing hard, his body completely rigid, Ash slowly lowered himself back onto his towel next to May. May's heart raced as she realized they were really going to do it, Ash was really going to kiss her! She was doing a great job however, acting as though it was the most casual thing in the world and she wasn't the happiest person alive.
The boy began looking down at the ground, his face sweating. "S-so, how do we…?"
May smacked her forehead. Ash truly was naïve.
"Okay, well first close your eyes…"
Ash did so. May was trying not to squeal at the thought that whatever she said he would do, simply because he didn't know any better. She fully planned on being mean and taking advantage of his ignorance to give herself the fullest gratification.
"And pucker your lips, like this," May reached out, pushing on his face with her hands, trying to mold his lips into the right position. "And open your mouth a bit…"
Ash pulled away from her, his eyes opening back up and enlarging. "Open my MOUTH?!"
"Well, yeah, this is going to be a grown up kiss and grown ups kiss with their mouths open. Honestly, Ash, don't you watch movies?"
"N-not that kind!"
"C'mon, Ash, you said you weren't afraid."
"I'm not, I just want to make sure I'm doing it right!" he replied, becoming slightly mad again.
"And tilt your head too, so our noses don't bump," May proclaimed.
"Okay, lips…mouth…nose… Geez, there's a lot to this, isn't there?"
"Ash, quit stalling!" she pouted.
"I'm not!"
"Then shut your eyes already!"
"Okay!" Ash yelled, quite frustrated.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head, doing exactly as May had instructed. Now that he couldn't see her, May grinned, her whole body letting out a tremor of excitement as she was only seconds away from sharing her first kiss with Ash. She was nervous, but elated at the same time as her plan had gone splendidly, in fact better than she had expected. As usual she was the master manipulator when it came to him.
She was so happy, she didn't think she could be any happier at that moment. She hadn't even felt this way when she won a ribbon in one of her contests. Their pokémon all distracted and not a person in sight, nothing was going to ruin this perfect moment with the boy her heart fluttered for.
Letting out a deep breath, she placed her hands on his shoulders, bracing herself as she began to lean into him.
"Okay, Ash, here we go…"
He shook slightly and she shut her own eyes. She inched closer to him, closing the remaining distance between them, puckering her own rosy lips to meet his. This was it, her very first kiss, the moment they say you never forgot…
And it was going to be with him, it was with Ash.
"Ash…" she whispered his name and--
"…what are you two doing?"
Her dreams were interrupted, crushed effortlessly.
May found herself falling over as Ash leapt up from the towel as though someone had just set a fire beneath him. She fell onto her chin rather harshly, but she recovered quickly as she pushed herself up, searching frantically for the carrier of the voice. Her rage building as her perfect moment, her moment with Ash was completely ruined. She would kill them, whomever had cost her, her moment, she would completely and totally kill them and painfully so!
"MAX! BROCK!" Ash screamed, answering the question for her.
"What are you two doing here?!" she yelled furiously.
But it became obvious as she noticed both of them were in their swim trunks.
"…we got back a little while ago and seeing as you guys weren't back from swimming we thought we'd…join…you. Heh…did we interrupt something?" Brock began to chuckle as he picked up on the situation instantly.
"What! No, no nothing!" Ash began laughing loudly, flapping his arms like a pidgey trying to take off. "We-weren't doing nothing!"
"Ash…" May frowned dejectedly as she saw just how completely ashamed he was acting from being caught in the act.
"You guys were awfully close, what was that all about?" Max asked naively as Brock looked on the verge of breaking into a fit of laughter, his hand flying up to cover his mouth and his whole body shaking.
Ash came up with an excuse. "Uh, um, I-I had an eyelash in my eye and May was trying to get it out!"
"…with your eyes closed?" Max asked, one eyebrow raising higher than the other.
"Heh, heh, maybe we should leave these two alone, Max," Brock suggested was he reached down to ruffle the child's hair.
Max however looked confused, which was rare from him. "Huh? What are you talking about, Brock?"
"NO! Everything is great, in fact, I was just getting ready to go back into the water!" Ash told them, completely unaware that he was breaking May's heart with every word spoken.
"Ash!" May yelled at him.
He ignored her. He turned around and ran all the way back down to the lake before jumping right in without so much as acknowledging her existence.
May continued to sit there as tears filled her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was more upset about, Brock and Max interrupting them or Ash acting so ashamed of it. Either way her moment had been squashed. She had been so certain that Ash would be her first kiss and she had wanted to be his. That maybe afterwards he would tell her he liked her and she would find that their feelings for one another were the same. But her plans had been shot down due to outside sources. That was it, that was the only chance she had. There was no way she could use the same ploy on Ash twice.
She began to weep softly as her hands came up to wipe her eyes. She felt so silly, to think Ash could possibly feel the same way about her as she did him.
"…uh, May?"
"Sis? What are you crying for?"
May looked up. For a second she had forgotten about them; Brock and Max, the two whom had been the ones to stomp and thrash her dreams into bits. She had been so close, so close to getting Ash to kiss her! And she would have, she would have had that kiss she longed for so dearly if it were not for them.
Her emotion changed; her teeth grinding together and her fists shaking. Rage built up in her throat, wanting to come out in a scream. Climbing to her feet, she narrowed her eyes at the other two boys, her breath picking up and becoming ragged, as her arms remained stiff at her sides.
Both boys began to back away from her as her anger became apparent.
"…May?"
"…what's…wrong?"
"You…" she breathed. She could no longer contain it, her frustration, her fury, it all came out at once as tears dripped down her face. "MAX! BROCK! YOU TWO RUINED EVERYTHING!!"
She stormed off back towards camp, but not before smacking the both of them upside the head.
"Ow! What did we do?!" Max yelped, watching his sister as she stomped back towards camp and nursed the growing bump on his head.
* * *
May hadn't stopped crying the entire walk back to camp. Though she was still slightly wet and she had forgotten her towel, she threw her clothing back on anyway. After stepping out of the tent, she also realized she had forgotten her pokémon as well. But she didn't want to make the trip back and she especially didn't want to face any of her friends. Besides, she was sure one of them would bring them back to her anyway.
Still sniffling, May sat down beneath the tree Ash had been sitting at that morning while he waited for her. It seemed impossible she was now this miserable when just that morning she had been so happy and looking forward to spending the entire day alone with Ash. Nothing had worked out the way she had hoped and just when it looked like something was Max and Brock had to show up.
"Of all the times!" she grumbled, wiping away the last of her tears. "Just a few minutes later and everything would have been fine!"
But now she didn't get the kiss she wanted and she feared what Ash might do or say to her when he got back. Not to mention Brock, whom knew exactly what had been about to take place. She felt humiliated. This glorious day had dropped a rain cloud right on top of her. She was completely and totally certain that this day could not get any worse. She brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands as she tried to decide if she wanted to cry some more.
"Um, May?"
She jumped at the sound of someone's voice. Pulling away from her hands, she began to blush as she realized Ash was now standing a few feet away from her. She wondered how long he had been standing there, she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him approach.
"A-Ash…" she stammered his name.
Looking at him was making her chest ache and the desire to cry even stronger. But she couldn't, she wouldn't cry in front of him because then he would ask her what was wrong and she knew she couldn't bring herself to tell him. So she looked at her shoes instead as she wrapped her arms around her legs.
"What are you, uh, doing back?" she asked.
"Well, I saw you leave and…um… I…brought you back your pokémon!" May looked up again and he was now offering the four pokéballs that contained her pokémon to her.
"Oh, thanks…" she took them from him, again refusing to look him in the eyes.
She slipped them back into the fanny pack she was wearing and then hoped he would leave before she did start crying again. But this day wasn't going well for her and the universe was not answering her prayers. Instead, Ash sat himself down next to her rather than leave her as she had wanted.
"So, where's Pikachu?" she asked though she didn't really care at the moment.
"Back with Max, he wanted to play with it, so…"
"Oh."
There was silence for a moment but May didn't make any effort to try and break it.
Ash finally spoke again after nothing had been said for quite sometime. "Uh, you know… I really did have fun with you today."
"Oh?" she asked without any enthusiasm in her voice as she glanced off to the side.
"Yeah, so I was wondering…" he hesitated. "Maybe we could do something like that again…but just…the two of us?"
She froze and for a second she thought her heart had stopped.
"What? Really?" she looked to him, wanting him to repeat it to make sure she wasn't fooling herself.
"Yeah!" he smiled. "I could leave Pikachu with Max, I'm sure he wouldn't mind watching him and we could go to a movie or to dinner or something like that. Your pick!"
May felt her cheeks heating up with blush again as she was hoping the wide smile she now wore wasn't too goofy.
"That would be really great, Ash! I'd love to!" she clasped her hands together and it was taking every ounce of restrain she had not to jump at him and hug him.
The day had suddenly looked better as the sun finally peeked out from behind the rain cloud that had been following her. Maybe there was a possibility, perhaps Ash really could look at her as more than a friend. Maybe even one day he would call her his girlfriend, and say that he loved her, and she'd finally get that kiss she wanted.
But there was plenty of time for that and May knew how to be patient. Right then she was more than content with what she had, once again she was the happiest girl on the planet.
"…and, May?"
"Hmm? What is it, A--"
He cut her off, silencing her with his lips. May felt her head spin and her heart pound as her lips locked with his. His hand held hers and she moaned softly, closing her eyes as she leaned closer to him. Her heart soaring and flying above the clouds as Ash gave her, her very first kiss.
And as they pulled apart May looked at him with wide eyes.
"A-Ash…"
He smiled at her, his cheeks red.
"I told you I wasn't afraid of a kiss."
And May went from being the happiest girl on the planet to the happiest one in the universe.
*~The End~*
This fanfic takes place during the battle frontier… For no other reason than I just like the season so much. So there are some spoilers for what pokémon the gang has acquired… Although someone has evolved since I wrote this. *Grumble* They didn't used to do that so quickly!
Though I've more than dabbled in Pokémon fanfiction for most of my youth, I've never actually shared something. This is also the first fanfic I've posted in…over a year. So please, be gentle with the criticism. Anyway, this in an idea I had in my head for a while. Let's hope I managed to keep everyone in character.
Warnings: It's Advanceshippy, for those of you who don't know what that is it's Ash and May as a pairing. Other than that this fanfic has no other warnings… One-shot, oh, and it's a pretty fluffy fanfic. Geez, I can't believe I wrote something with a PG rating.
Hope you guys enjoy it!
Sweet Kiss
A fanfic by Raevell
Rated: PG
A fanfic by Raevell
Rated: PG
The day was a perfectly gorgeous one. Ash, May, Brock, and Max were continuing their way through Kanto and the battle frontier. They stopped off on their way through the forest to have a quick lunch and mutually decided to take it easy that day. Ash, content over his recent victory, actually agreed with taking a break.
"So, if we're taking it easy, what should we do today?" the young trainer asked as Pikachu finished gobbling up the last of his pokémon food and Brock took care of the dishes.
May immediately thought about the lake they had passed by earlier. Since then she could think of nothing else but taking a nice cold swim. The water had looked so inviting, so crystal clear. The day was perfect for it, the sun was out without a cloud in the sky and there was a warm breeze. She didn't want to let this beautiful weather drift away without hanging out at the lake for a while.
"Hey, guys, why don't we go back to that lake and take a swim? The water sure looked nice!" she suggested with a large smile.
"No way, May!" as usual her brother Max had to go against her. Sometimes she was sure he did it just to spite her. "This area is full of all different kinds of pokemon! There was a nidoran nest not too far from here and I really wanna go and see it!"
"Max, nidoran isn't a rare pokémon, we've seen it before and we can see it in other places. But days like this, now that's rare!" she replied, not angry, not yet. "This day is absolutely perfect for swimming!"
"I don't wanna go swimming, I wanna see the nidoran!" Max shouted back, stomping his foot firmly into the ground. "We got to do what you wanted last time, May, now it's my turn!"
May growled at her little brother's defiance, taking a step closer to him. "Max, I am your older sister and as such you are supposed to look up to me and do as I say!"
"Says who!"
"It's the universal law of siblings! I'm older and you're younger, so there for you have to do what I say," May leaned over to match his height, glaring at him in the eyes, and tapped him on the forehead as he clenched his fists.
"Uh, hey you two!" Ash said, deciding to jump in before the fireworks really blew. He walked over them, their attention diverting from each other as he approached. "This isn't a big deal, I'm sure we'll have time to look at the nidoran and go swimming."
"But, Ash!" May protested with a frown. "This weather could change any minute! I don't wanna let it slip away! We have to go swimming first!"
"What!" Max shouted indignantly, throwing his hands up into the air and waving them frantically. "No way, the pokémon could leave by the time you're done, we have to go find the nest first!"
Ash and Brock both gulped as the siblings looked ready to explode again.
"Swimming!"
"Pokémon!"
"GRR!" the two bumped heads together, growling at each other like rabid growlithe's.
"Uh, if I might make a suggestion…" Brock started in.
"WHAT?!" May and Max shouted as they turned to glare at the oldest of the four, causing the man to leap back in fear.
"Uhh, um, how about this," Brock began as he took an uneasy step away from the two fuming siblings. "I can take Max to go look at the nidoran. I wanted to see them myself, anyway. Ash, why don't you and May go swimming?"
For the first time since the fiasco had begun Max and May both smiled, looking quite satisfied with the suggestion. Both turned to face him, now looking bright and perky and May clapped her hands together. Though she wouldn't say it aloud she was very happy at the thought of Ash and her going swimming together without anyone tagging along.
"That's a great idea, Brock!"
"Yeah, that'll work perfectly!" Max agreed.
Ash however didn't look as happy as they were. Scratching the back of his head and his shoulders slightly slumped he looked over at Brock.
"But…I kind of wanted to go look at the nidora…" Ash stopped himself from finishing the sentence as May looked at him with a frown and her bottom lip started to quiver. "Uh, but swimming is great too!"
"Pikapi…" Pikachu sighed, shaking its head at its trainer.
The decision finally made, Brock and Max both grabbed their backpacks and started off in the general direction that Max had seen the nest he had been speaking of, leaving Ash and May to get ready for the trip to the lake. Both young trainers were going through their travel bags looking for their swimsuits. But as they did May began to feel a bit guilty. Her stomach aching as she looked over at Ash, wondering if perhaps he felt forced into taking her to the lake. She knew Ash had wanted to go see the nest, but she didn't want to go swimming alone. Still, she didn't want to be completely selfish either.
"Hey, Ash?"
"Yeah, May?" he didn't look at her though as he was continuing to go through his things.
"I didn't… I mean…" she gulped as she began pulling on the fabric of her gloves. "Did you…really wanna go see the nest with Max and Brock?"
Ash stopped to look over at her. "What?"
"I got the idea you wanted to go and I don't wanna stop you if you really don't wanna go swimming with me…"
"Ah, nah, it's not that big of a deal," Ash reassured her with a smile.
May wasn't so sure he was being honest with her, so she asked again. "Are you sure? You could still catch up with Brock and Max."
"No, it's okay. Swimming is great too, we'll have lots of fun together!"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu seemed to be in mutual agreement.
May felt better as Ash said it. Ash was always so kind to her, in fact he was probably one of the nicest boys she had ever met. He was so passionate about his dreams, he had such a love of Pokémon and so much confidence. He was also one of the most talented battlers she had ever met, he had even had the skill to beat her Father! She had to respect him for that alone, even if he was a bit dense and hotheaded at times. Beneath all that he was always there for his friends when they needed him.
As both of them found their swimsuits, May was looking more and more forward to spending the entire afternoon with him, just the two of them without Brock or Max to take his attention away from her.
'Sort of like a date…' May thought to herself with a giggle as Ash went into the tent they had put up earlier to change. She shook her head, her hands coming up to her face as from the heat she knew she was blushing. 'May, don't go reading into things! You've spent time alone together before…'
She had tried to ignore the feelings dwelling within her heart for a while now, but as time passed it had become harder and harder for her to deny. She had developed a crush on Ash during their travels together. Although she had crushes before, back at home on some of the boys in her town, this was different somehow. It was stronger, more insistent, and she wasn't getting over it like she had the others. These feelings had been going on for sometime.
She had tried to work up the courage to ask Ash out on a date, but she as too afraid of what he would say. He never showed interest in girls outside of friendship, he was always too focused on his pokémon training. Not to mention, more specifically he didn't show interest in her. He was always so nice to her, as said before, but he was always so nice to all of his friends. Though May wasn't one to toot her own horn she knew she was an attractive girl, but Ash just never seemed to notice.
She sighed dismally as she found her thoughts dragging down her earlier glee. She didn't want to upset herself then, she would have Ash all to herself today, that was certainly something to be happy about!
"Okay, I'm ready," Ash announced as he exited the tent, now wearing his red swim trunks.
"Pika!" Pikachu greeted him as he jumped onto his shoulder.
May picked up her swimsuit and headed past him towards the tent. Crouching down inside, she turned around to zip it closed as Ash went to sit under a tree and wait for her to finish.
"Now, Ash, don't get any ideas, thinking you can get a peek at me now that my brother isn't here to stand guard," she winked at him.
Ash's shoulders jumped at the comment, his face turning a deep shade of red. "WHAT! I would never--!"
May laughed. She was actually surprised the comment had gotten to him so much. "Good grief, Ash, I was just teasing you!" still laughing to herself about his expression, she zipped the rest of the tent closed before she went to the task of changing.
It was a bit of a struggle to change in the small tent, but she managed all the same. She had chosen to wear her green suit, the one she had gotten back on Dewford Island. It was her current favorite, a bit more risqué than the yellow one her mother had purchased for her at home in Petalburg. A top with straps that tied behind her neck and hung lose around her ribs and a hip-hugging bottom piece that the sides were held together by clips shaped like hearts. She wasn't sure her parents would have ever agreed to buy it for her, but that was a benefit of traveling away from them and being allowed to shop for herself without their consent.
As she pulled her top on over her head, she paused as she realized the straps that held it up had become undone after a long while of sitting in her pack.
"Oh, no, how did that happen?" she muttered to herself.
Tying it herself was always too difficult and she could never get it tight enough. Usually she would just have her brother do it but he was no longer there… Suddenly she blushed at the thought of going out and asking Ash to do it for her. But it wasn't as though she had much of a choice. Besides, she concluded, it wasn't as though he could see anything, as long as she managed to hold her top up.
Keeping one arm up across her chest to hold the top in place, she unzipped the tent and exited.
"Ash, can you help me for a second?" she called out to him, only to find he was still under the same tree he had been when she had first gone to change.
"Are you ready yet?" he asked as he looked up at her but then paused. "Uh, hey, May, your straps are undone…"
She rolled her eyes at him. "I noticed that. Can you tie them for me?"
"Sure," he stood up and May turned her back to him, holding the straps up for him to grab onto.
Her face began to heat up again as she felt him at such a close proximity to her. He took hold of the straps and as he began to tie them, she shivered slightly as his fingers occasionally stroked along her shoulders.
"A little tighter than that, don't want it to fall down now, right?"
She felt Ash jump and she giggled to herself at her ability suddenly to make the boy so nervous.
"Like that?" he asked her once he had readjusted the tautness.
"Yup!"
Once that dilemma had been taken care of, the two finally started off towards the lake, Pikachu following behind them. May began to perk up again, enjoying the sun against her skin as they walked. It wasn't too far from where they had set up camp and as they arrived the water looked as gorgeous and enticing as it did before. She and Ash draped their towels over a low hanging tree branch near the water.
"Last one in is a rotten exeggcute!" Ash suddenly shouted as he took off towards the water.
"Hey, no fair!" May pouted as she gave chase.
"Pikachu! Pika!"
Ash and May both leapt into the water, nearly hitting it at the same time.
"PIKAAA!" Pikachu yelped as both of them jumping in at once caused enough force that it was drenched with a big splash of water.
May broke the surface with a gasp. The water was nice and cool, but not at all cold, and it felt wonderful just as she had expected. She was now happier than ever that she had gone for a swim. Seconds later Ash arose to the surface, joining her as she floated along.
"Ahh, the water is perfect!" she squealed.
"Hey, May, we should let our pokémon out to join us," Ash suggested and as he did she felt herself struggling not to frown.
"Uh, I guess we could do that…"
"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash called out as he swam over to the edge of the lake where the yellow rodent was currently shaking off. "Hand us our pokéballs!"
It wasn't that May didn't necessarily want to let her pokémon out for a swim, but she had been looking so forward to spending time alone with Ash. There was no getting rid of Pikachu, it never seemed to leave Ash's side, but now the small group would become a rather large group once all the rest of their pokémon joined the fray.
'Oh, well… So much for our date…' she sighed, though the date part had all been made up in her head.
She swam over to edge of the lake where Ash was as Pikachu dragged their pokéballs over to them.
"Come on out, guys!" Ash said, tossing them into the air.
Grovyle, Donphan, Swellow, and Corphish all came out, calling out their own names as they did. May did the same, releasing all of her pokémon, Munchlax, Combusken, Eevee, and Squirtle.
Corphish and Squirtle both happily jumped into the water with their trainers, splashing them and making Ash laugh as they did so. The rest were all happy to be out in the fresh air although Munchlax found it more worth its time to go take a nap.
In spite of the fact that her earlier hopes to be alone with Ash were crushed, May was enjoying herself either way, swimming around with him, Squirtle, and Corphish. The afternoon seemed to go by quickly, the fun they were all having speeding up the experience.
"You're a really good swimmer, May!"
"Huh? Oh, not really," she blushed slightly at the compliment. "I just always enjoyed swimming as a kid, we used to go to a beach all the time back in Petalburg."
Ash grinned. "Like that time you got surrounded by the tentacool and your Mother tried to catch you?"
"Ugh, don't remind me of that!" May protested, her attention turning to Squirtle as it swam over to her. "That was a horrible experience! And pokéballs hurt when they hit you in the head…" she reached up to rub her forehead as though thinking about the past event brought back the pain.
"Squirt!" Squirtle declared with a hint of annoyance in its voice, unhappy with Ash for reminding its 'mother' about an experience that wasn't pleasant for her.
It surprised both humans as Squirtle's cheeks expanded before shooting a jet of water out at Ash.
"Ah! Squirtle, no, that's not nice to use your water gun on people!" May told it though at the same time she began to giggle as Ash started coughing.
"Arg, that went up my nose!" Ash groaned.
"Hee hee, are you okay, Ash?"
He sniffled. "Yeah, I'm fine, but I'm turning into a prune, I think I'm going to get out."
"Yeah, I'm getting a bit chilly too," May said.
The two swam back over to the edge of the lake, pulling themselves out and heading over to where they had hung their towels earlier. May began to dry her hair off but then noticed Ash lying his own towel out on the ground. Smiling, she followed his actions and laid hers out next to him, deciding to dry out in the sun.
Sitting next to him, May yawned as she stretched her arms out. She was guessing by this time it was now around two o'clock and she and Ash had been out in the water for roughly forty-five minutes. She began to wonder about her brother and Brock and if they had finished looking at the nest yet. She would have thought by now they would be.
Then she realized that she and Ash were practically alone… Which is what she had wanted all day. Squirtle was still swimming around with Corphish, Pikachu looked to be having a stimulating conversation with Combusken near the waters edge, and the rest of their pokémon were all lounged out in the sun a few yards away from them. A smile arose to May's face as she glanced at Ash who was wriggling his toes in the open air.
Finally she had him completely all to herself.
"Thanks for coming with me, Ash," she began a conversation to break up the silence, and Ash turned his head to face her as she spoke to him. "I really had fun today! I hope we can do something like this again sometime soon!"
"Yeah!" he agreed.
"R-really?" May found her cheeks lighting up pink at the thought that Ash wanted to be alone with her again sometime, just the two of them.
Perhaps they could go to a nice restaurant next time. Nothing extravagant, honestly May didn't care where so long as it was the two of them. They could leave Pikachu with Max since he loved the little guy and certainly wouldn't mind watching over him. She could wear the nice dress she had bought not that long ago and Ash could take off his hat and comb his hair… May loved it when Ash didn't wear a hat.
"Only next time we should make sure Brock and Max come along, then we could all have fun together!"
Just like that her dreams were wiped out. Her and Ash were not discussing the same thing at all. She found her expression falling, weights being hung from the corners of her mouth. She turned her face away from Ash in an attempt to hide her disappointment, gazing over at Munchlax whom was still fast asleep and for a moment she really wished she were too.
"O-oh, right, them too…"
"Yeah! We could all go to the beach and get ice cream! You've never been to Kanto before, but me and Brock know all the best places to get ice cream!" his hand came to his stomach as though he was getting hungry just thinking about it. "There's this one place that serves cake too, and they have a strawberry short cake that is the best you'll ever taste! Next to the one Brock makes, of course…"
"Uh-huh…" May leaned over knees, supporting her head in her hands as Ash started rambling on about food.
Usually she would have been completely engrossed in a discussion about sweets, but now she was no longer in the mood. She started to think of something she could say, or do, to try and drop a subtle hint to Ash that she liked him and not only as a friend, but she wanted him to be her boyfriend. But he was so dense at times, especially to romance, and she didn't want to come right on out and tell him. She didn't want to flat out admit anything to him until she was at least halfway sure that he had similar feelings for her.
She started to twiddle her thumbs as Ash's conversation with himself about food began to come to a close. Her heart skipped a beat as finally an idea popped into her head, something she could do that would not make this time with him by themselves a complete waste. She started to smile again, but then forced her face to remain straight. She didn't want to appear too giddy to him.
"So, Ash, can I ask you something?" she acted completely innocent, not giving him any indication of her diabolical plan.
"Sure, what is it, May?" Ash was smiling at her, he had no idea what she had in store.
"Weeell, I was curious," she stared up at the sky as she tapped her chin.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever kissed a girl, Ash?"
Ash's hands slipped and May's eyes widened as the boy went tumbling over onto his back.
"Ash?!"
He tried to compose himself, but May could already see the blush across his face as he pushed himself back up into a sitting position.
"Ha-have I ever kissed a girl?! Why would you ask me something like that?!"
"Oh, I dunno," her eyes were still on the sky above. "You've just traveled all over the place and I would have thought with meeting so many people you might have kissed a girl or two."
"Well, I…I…"
May finally looked at him, acting surprised although truthfully she wasn't. As stated before Ash was dense and clueless when it came to romance, so she would have been much more shocked if he had claimed he had kissed a girl. But she wasn't going to let him know that. Her hands curled beneath her chin as her eyebrows raised.
"Whaaat?! Are you saying you haven't?"
"I-I've kissed a girl before!" he suddenly declared.
May gulped as she felt her chest cave in.
"On-on the lips…?" her own bottom lip was starting to quiver.
She hadn't thought it was possible that Ash had kissed another girl! Did this also mean he had a girlfriend? Or at least someone whom he had feelings for already? Was that why he showed so little interest in her? May's heart began to crumble as all sorts of scenarios filled her head and she was trying so hard not to cry, she couldn't let Ash know how much this hurt her.
"Lips? Uh, well, not on the lips…" he turned away from her, scratching his head so hard now that May was certain he was going to leave a balding spot there.
She let out a deep sigh of relief. Her joy returning as it was confirmed that Ash had not had any prior romantic experiences. She got back to her plan. Now that she knew Ash had never been kissed before, she was more determined than ever that first kiss of his was going to be hers. Doing well to contain her excitement, she began to manipulate him, as she was rather good at doing.
"If it's not on the lips then it doesn't count!" she informed him while running her fingers through her wet brown hair. "So you really haven't kissed a girl. That's perfectly all right, I guess… Everyone is a little afraid of their first kiss."
He turned to look at her again, his eyes narrowed at her and his hands clenched into fists.
"Afraid?" he asked. "I'm not afraid."
She had him on the hook, all that was left to do was to reel him in.
"Oh, come on, Ash, it's nothing to be ashamed of!" she said, waving a hand at him.
"But I'm not!"
"Ash, it's not a big deal, I don't think you're a coward just because you're afraid to kiss a girl!"
"I am not afraid to kiss a girl!!" the boy shouted, waving his fists at her, his face completely red with rage.
May grinned at him, as she leaned on her arms towards him. "Then prove it."
He frowned suddenly. "P-prove it…?" he began to look nervous again as he backed away from her slightly.
"If you're not afraid to kiss a girl…then kiss me."
There it was, she had said it.
"WHAT!" as jumped up from his towel, staring down at the girl as though what she had just proposed was sheer lunacy. "K-kiss you?"
"Why not?" May asked though she was hurt that he hadn't acted happy at the offer. "It's not that big of a deal, we're friends and all, right?"
"Well, yeah, I guess…" his entire face was so red, May realized she had never seen him so embarrassed before.
She turned her eyes back to the lake out in front of them, trying to act all nonchalant about it, as though she wasn't as nervous as he was at the thought of them kissing.
"You know, unless you really are afraid…"
He obviously hated that word more than anything else in the world. His hands balling up into fists, he started shaking them again as he bared his teeth at her.
"F-fine! I'll kiss you, I'm not afraid of a stupid little kiss!"
"Then sit back down, you can't kiss me from up there…"
Swallowing hard, his body completely rigid, Ash slowly lowered himself back onto his towel next to May. May's heart raced as she realized they were really going to do it, Ash was really going to kiss her! She was doing a great job however, acting as though it was the most casual thing in the world and she wasn't the happiest person alive.
The boy began looking down at the ground, his face sweating. "S-so, how do we…?"
May smacked her forehead. Ash truly was naïve.
"Okay, well first close your eyes…"
Ash did so. May was trying not to squeal at the thought that whatever she said he would do, simply because he didn't know any better. She fully planned on being mean and taking advantage of his ignorance to give herself the fullest gratification.
"And pucker your lips, like this," May reached out, pushing on his face with her hands, trying to mold his lips into the right position. "And open your mouth a bit…"
Ash pulled away from her, his eyes opening back up and enlarging. "Open my MOUTH?!"
"Well, yeah, this is going to be a grown up kiss and grown ups kiss with their mouths open. Honestly, Ash, don't you watch movies?"
"N-not that kind!"
"C'mon, Ash, you said you weren't afraid."
"I'm not, I just want to make sure I'm doing it right!" he replied, becoming slightly mad again.
"And tilt your head too, so our noses don't bump," May proclaimed.
"Okay, lips…mouth…nose… Geez, there's a lot to this, isn't there?"
"Ash, quit stalling!" she pouted.
"I'm not!"
"Then shut your eyes already!"
"Okay!" Ash yelled, quite frustrated.
He closed his eyes and tilted his head, doing exactly as May had instructed. Now that he couldn't see her, May grinned, her whole body letting out a tremor of excitement as she was only seconds away from sharing her first kiss with Ash. She was nervous, but elated at the same time as her plan had gone splendidly, in fact better than she had expected. As usual she was the master manipulator when it came to him.
She was so happy, she didn't think she could be any happier at that moment. She hadn't even felt this way when she won a ribbon in one of her contests. Their pokémon all distracted and not a person in sight, nothing was going to ruin this perfect moment with the boy her heart fluttered for.
Letting out a deep breath, she placed her hands on his shoulders, bracing herself as she began to lean into him.
"Okay, Ash, here we go…"
He shook slightly and she shut her own eyes. She inched closer to him, closing the remaining distance between them, puckering her own rosy lips to meet his. This was it, her very first kiss, the moment they say you never forgot…
And it was going to be with him, it was with Ash.
"Ash…" she whispered his name and--
"…what are you two doing?"
Her dreams were interrupted, crushed effortlessly.
May found herself falling over as Ash leapt up from the towel as though someone had just set a fire beneath him. She fell onto her chin rather harshly, but she recovered quickly as she pushed herself up, searching frantically for the carrier of the voice. Her rage building as her perfect moment, her moment with Ash was completely ruined. She would kill them, whomever had cost her, her moment, she would completely and totally kill them and painfully so!
"MAX! BROCK!" Ash screamed, answering the question for her.
"What are you two doing here?!" she yelled furiously.
But it became obvious as she noticed both of them were in their swim trunks.
"…we got back a little while ago and seeing as you guys weren't back from swimming we thought we'd…join…you. Heh…did we interrupt something?" Brock began to chuckle as he picked up on the situation instantly.
"What! No, no nothing!" Ash began laughing loudly, flapping his arms like a pidgey trying to take off. "We-weren't doing nothing!"
"Ash…" May frowned dejectedly as she saw just how completely ashamed he was acting from being caught in the act.
"You guys were awfully close, what was that all about?" Max asked naively as Brock looked on the verge of breaking into a fit of laughter, his hand flying up to cover his mouth and his whole body shaking.
Ash came up with an excuse. "Uh, um, I-I had an eyelash in my eye and May was trying to get it out!"
"…with your eyes closed?" Max asked, one eyebrow raising higher than the other.
"Heh, heh, maybe we should leave these two alone, Max," Brock suggested was he reached down to ruffle the child's hair.
Max however looked confused, which was rare from him. "Huh? What are you talking about, Brock?"
"NO! Everything is great, in fact, I was just getting ready to go back into the water!" Ash told them, completely unaware that he was breaking May's heart with every word spoken.
"Ash!" May yelled at him.
He ignored her. He turned around and ran all the way back down to the lake before jumping right in without so much as acknowledging her existence.
May continued to sit there as tears filled her eyes. She wasn't sure what she was more upset about, Brock and Max interrupting them or Ash acting so ashamed of it. Either way her moment had been squashed. She had been so certain that Ash would be her first kiss and she had wanted to be his. That maybe afterwards he would tell her he liked her and she would find that their feelings for one another were the same. But her plans had been shot down due to outside sources. That was it, that was the only chance she had. There was no way she could use the same ploy on Ash twice.
She began to weep softly as her hands came up to wipe her eyes. She felt so silly, to think Ash could possibly feel the same way about her as she did him.
"…uh, May?"
"Sis? What are you crying for?"
May looked up. For a second she had forgotten about them; Brock and Max, the two whom had been the ones to stomp and thrash her dreams into bits. She had been so close, so close to getting Ash to kiss her! And she would have, she would have had that kiss she longed for so dearly if it were not for them.
Her emotion changed; her teeth grinding together and her fists shaking. Rage built up in her throat, wanting to come out in a scream. Climbing to her feet, she narrowed her eyes at the other two boys, her breath picking up and becoming ragged, as her arms remained stiff at her sides.
Both boys began to back away from her as her anger became apparent.
"…May?"
"…what's…wrong?"
"You…" she breathed. She could no longer contain it, her frustration, her fury, it all came out at once as tears dripped down her face. "MAX! BROCK! YOU TWO RUINED EVERYTHING!!"
She stormed off back towards camp, but not before smacking the both of them upside the head.
"Ow! What did we do?!" Max yelped, watching his sister as she stomped back towards camp and nursed the growing bump on his head.
* * *
May hadn't stopped crying the entire walk back to camp. Though she was still slightly wet and she had forgotten her towel, she threw her clothing back on anyway. After stepping out of the tent, she also realized she had forgotten her pokémon as well. But she didn't want to make the trip back and she especially didn't want to face any of her friends. Besides, she was sure one of them would bring them back to her anyway.
Still sniffling, May sat down beneath the tree Ash had been sitting at that morning while he waited for her. It seemed impossible she was now this miserable when just that morning she had been so happy and looking forward to spending the entire day alone with Ash. Nothing had worked out the way she had hoped and just when it looked like something was Max and Brock had to show up.
"Of all the times!" she grumbled, wiping away the last of her tears. "Just a few minutes later and everything would have been fine!"
But now she didn't get the kiss she wanted and she feared what Ash might do or say to her when he got back. Not to mention Brock, whom knew exactly what had been about to take place. She felt humiliated. This glorious day had dropped a rain cloud right on top of her. She was completely and totally certain that this day could not get any worse. She brought her knees to her chest and buried her face in her hands as she tried to decide if she wanted to cry some more.
"Um, May?"
She jumped at the sound of someone's voice. Pulling away from her hands, she began to blush as she realized Ash was now standing a few feet away from her. She wondered how long he had been standing there, she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't even heard him approach.
"A-Ash…" she stammered his name.
Looking at him was making her chest ache and the desire to cry even stronger. But she couldn't, she wouldn't cry in front of him because then he would ask her what was wrong and she knew she couldn't bring herself to tell him. So she looked at her shoes instead as she wrapped her arms around her legs.
"What are you, uh, doing back?" she asked.
"Well, I saw you leave and…um… I…brought you back your pokémon!" May looked up again and he was now offering the four pokéballs that contained her pokémon to her.
"Oh, thanks…" she took them from him, again refusing to look him in the eyes.
She slipped them back into the fanny pack she was wearing and then hoped he would leave before she did start crying again. But this day wasn't going well for her and the universe was not answering her prayers. Instead, Ash sat himself down next to her rather than leave her as she had wanted.
"So, where's Pikachu?" she asked though she didn't really care at the moment.
"Back with Max, he wanted to play with it, so…"
"Oh."
There was silence for a moment but May didn't make any effort to try and break it.
Ash finally spoke again after nothing had been said for quite sometime. "Uh, you know… I really did have fun with you today."
"Oh?" she asked without any enthusiasm in her voice as she glanced off to the side.
"Yeah, so I was wondering…" he hesitated. "Maybe we could do something like that again…but just…the two of us?"
She froze and for a second she thought her heart had stopped.
"What? Really?" she looked to him, wanting him to repeat it to make sure she wasn't fooling herself.
"Yeah!" he smiled. "I could leave Pikachu with Max, I'm sure he wouldn't mind watching him and we could go to a movie or to dinner or something like that. Your pick!"
May felt her cheeks heating up with blush again as she was hoping the wide smile she now wore wasn't too goofy.
"That would be really great, Ash! I'd love to!" she clasped her hands together and it was taking every ounce of restrain she had not to jump at him and hug him.
The day had suddenly looked better as the sun finally peeked out from behind the rain cloud that had been following her. Maybe there was a possibility, perhaps Ash really could look at her as more than a friend. Maybe even one day he would call her his girlfriend, and say that he loved her, and she'd finally get that kiss she wanted.
But there was plenty of time for that and May knew how to be patient. Right then she was more than content with what she had, once again she was the happiest girl on the planet.
"…and, May?"
"Hmm? What is it, A--"
He cut her off, silencing her with his lips. May felt her head spin and her heart pound as her lips locked with his. His hand held hers and she moaned softly, closing her eyes as she leaned closer to him. Her heart soaring and flying above the clouds as Ash gave her, her very first kiss.
And as they pulled apart May looked at him with wide eyes.
"A-Ash…"
He smiled at her, his cheeks red.
"I told you I wasn't afraid of a kiss."
And May went from being the happiest girl on the planet to the happiest one in the universe.
*~The End~*
