May’s POV
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May looked toward the bed and chuckled. She generally wasn’t sure how psychics meditated or did... any of the things they did. Every article she was able to find on the internet said different things, and what Lea described was fairly hard to understand. A lot of it felt backwards. The mind bakery sounded cool, but she didn’t really understand how that let her remember things so easily.
Regardless, meditation was something she understood. People the world over did it for a variety of reasons, from fighters to monks and everything in between. All the articles agreed on the same general process.
That process did not involve being rag dolled backwards over a stack of pillows. Emilie was face down on the mattress, just to the left of her.
“Is... this normal?” May asked Joern with Sergei at the ready, her hair still wet from the shower.
“Lea had trouble finding her zen, so Emilie just dragged her into her mindscape,” he explained.
“She could’ve been a bit more careful with the captain when she did it,” Apollo complained. “Looks about as comfortable as sleeping in the crow’s nest."
“Wouldn’t you enjoy sleeping in the crow’s nest?” May asked.
Apollo laughed. “Aye, ye would think that, lass, but the drafts are murder. Give me an Aviary on a ship any day,” Apollo said.
May tilted her head a bit as she looked up from Sergei to stare at the waterfowl. “Sounds like you have firsthand experience. Care to share?” May asked.
Apollo perked up before flying up and perching on May’s left shoulder.
“Aye, I’d love too. Ships and other sailing vessels have a long-standing agreement with wild Wingull and Pelliper. We help them navigate around storms and the more... volatile Pokémon of the sea, and we get free food and lodging,” Apollo said.
“Basically, he got free food for flying how he normally would and letting ships follow him,” Joern replied.
Apollo raised his wing and waved it at Joern.
“Go and move the captain to a more comfortable position, would ye, Joern? Last thing we need is her to be grumpy because she’s stiff when she wakes up,” Apollo said, giving Joern a stink eye. “And be mindful of her cast!”
"I’m starting to rethink this whole ‘quartermaster’ title. It mostly feels like an excuse for you to boss us around.” Joern complied though and started to move towards Lea, shifting her body so that she was at least sitting and leaning back against a pillow. “Especially since I know she was just humoring you when she gave you that title, old man.”
“OLD!?” Apollo complained.
May bit her lip, trying to hold back a laugh.
“I suppose I could have done that.” She cut in, trying to defuse the argument. “Not being the most attentive girlfriend, huh?”
Apollo raised his wing in protest. “Belay that nonsense. You’ve done plenty,” Apollo reassured. “The captain is lucky to have ye. I don’t think she’d be here if it weren’t for you.”
May frowned as she read that last line, and Joern’s smile immediately slipped from his face. He backed away from Lea and moved over to her pack.
“She also wouldn’t have been down there in the first place if I was better at my fucking job,” May said, her grip on Sergei tightening. “I told her I’d be terrible at it. I just didn’t realize how bad.”
“Those bilge rats fired a Shadow Ball from behind an invisible barrier that one shot the first mate,” Apollo deadpanned. “They then proceeded to recall our Master at Arms and teleported out not but a scant few seconds after that. What would we have done even if you were with us?”
“I...” May trailed off. “I don’t know.”
Apollo nodded once. “The answer is not much. Ye saved the captain’s hide and then claimed it for your own. I’d say ye did a fine job.”
May entire face instantly lit up. She felt a bit lightheaded as she glared down at Apollo.
“You can’t just, say things like that!” May shouted. “And the only thing I’ve claimed is her first kiss.”
“Still not seeing the difference between best friends and girlfriends, by the way,” Joern commented as he looked through Lea’s bag for something. He pulled up and glared across the room at Apollo before pulling out a bag labeled Joern. “You two act the same.”
Heat rushed to May’s cheeks as she lifted her head up to glare at him.
“Er... well, there’s more hand holding, we flirt more, and we kiss?” May explained.
“Only thing new is the kissing,” Joern said.
May looked up from Sergei’s screen to see a blank face staring back.
“Alright, fine. We may as well have been dating for the last week and we’re both dense morons. Happy now?” May asked, a bit exasperated.
“Very much so,” Joern replied. “You should dance with Lea more. She really enjoyed that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” May said.
Joern nodded before sitting down.
“At any rate, you were saying, Apollo? About life at sea?” May asked.
The bird in question snapped back to attention. "Right, the arrangement with the ships of Hoenn let us travel to all kinds of places, it’s why Wingull are so common on sailing vessels. I used to run the Devon frigates with a few mates. They always had interesting cargo, and the grub was top notch really.” Apollo preened as he talked.
“That change in subject was about as subtle as a Pineco exploding,” Joern sniped.
“Ever run ships for anyone besides Devon?” May asked, clicking the Joern textbox and hitting the delete key.
Sergei highlighted the message and pinned it to the top of the chat. May glared down at her phone.
“I think your reactions to our teasing are adorable, and I’m sure Lea would feel the same,” Sergei said.
May blushed bright red again, and Apollo’s chat box popped up before she could yell at her phone.
“Aye, we had more than a few, actually. Though one really stuck out. It was an expedition ship that sailed along the northern coast. The old man had us fly into the desert on route 111 of all places and run recon. Terrible fashion sense on this bloke, by the by. Green expedition ware doesn’t look good on anyone,” Apollo rattled on.
“Apollo, stay on target,” May said with a sigh as she skimmed the text block.
“Er... right. Sorry. At any rate, he was looking for an old ruin out in the desert, oh, did I mention that this was the run where I almost got eaten by a Trapinch!”
“Apollo!” May said.
“Pinch!” Samie cried out from the floor.
May sighed as she rested her forehead against the palms of her hand.
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I opened my eyes to see May chatting with Apollo as she got her cot set up. The second I started to move, she stopped and looked my way.
“Hey. How did... whatever that was go?” May asked.
“Technically speaking I was still meditating, I just had help,” I responded, doing my best to sound upbeat. Even with Emilie’s idea and stopping a few times, that was exceedingly rough. We didn’t even get to the worst part.
“Joern had to move you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself or aggravate your injuries,” May deadpanned. “That doesn’t sound like meditating.”
“You mean you didn’t jump on the chance to manhandle your girlfriend?” I asked jokingly.
May blushed.
“Don’t make jokes like that and stop avoiding the question,” May ordered.
“It went fine. I just have to... work through some stuff,” I explained. “Hopefully I can enter a meditative state tomorrow night without help. Emilie is starting to show me some tricks to make sure what happened doesn’t happen again.”
‘Why are you lying to May?’ Emilie asked.
‘I don’t want to worry her over nothing. We’ll get stuff sorted out. Besides, I’m not lying, I’m just... not telling her everything,’ I countered.
Emilie huffed in my head. ‘She’s not buying it,’ Emilie said, pointing to my girlfriend.
May tilted her head at me with squinted eyes before shifting her gaze to Emilie.
“Hmm... Emilie, how do you think the session went?” May asked.
Emilie froze. “It went well,” she explained, not expanding further.
May nodded.
‘I thought you couldn’t lie?’ I asked.
‘It DID go well. We got more accomplished than I thought we would,’ Emilie said. ‘Just because I don’t agree with you doesn’t mean I’m going to throw you under the bus.’
“You know what would make this a lot more believable?” May asked, giving the both of us a glare. “If you two weren’t having a private conversation.” May frowned as we both winced.
“Uh...” I said.
Apollo flew from his perch on May’s shoulder to mine. He glared at me.
‘Lying to your lass is no way to keep a relationship going, cap. Believe me, it does not go well. You can trust her, she’s a fair sight stronger than you’re giving her credit for,’ Apollo argued.
Joern just stared at me like a disappointed parent, not bothering to say anything.
“Busted,” Emilie said aloud.
“What’s wrong?” May asked.
“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just...”
May’s frown turned into a glare.
“Alright, fine. The mental block Emilie put on my ability to feel fear is about to break,” I said.
May’s glare shifted back to a frown.
“What exactly does that mean?” May asked. “I know you told me that if it went away, Emilie wouldn’t be able to share your headspace anymore, but-”
“Her block was damaged during Solrock's mental attack, and I can’t seem to fix it. Which means I’ll either have to shatter it, or it’ll shatter on its own. Either way, the blowback is going to be not fun,” Emilie said.
“You could’ve at least eased in-”
“Thank you for being honest with me, Emilie,” May interrupted. She glared at me again before smiling at my starter. “It means a lot.”
“Don’t worry, I was being honest earlier. The session went well. I showed her how to change her mindscape, she was able to put up a basic barrier, and we managed to at least process the abduction. She’ll be good to go in record time,” Emilie explained.
“I still think you’re blowing the time crunch out of proportion. There’s no way I’m going to freak out if you’re in my head. Other psychics, yes. I can buy that, but I only reacted badly when you mentioned having someone else taking a peek under the hood. The thought of you hanging out in there didn’t scare me at all, and I was a hundred percent feeling fear while we were in there,” I argued.
Emilie smiled at me.
“I admire your optimism,” Emilie said. “But I’m not taking any chances. Not again.”
I growled. “For the final time, what happened to me was not your fault,” That came out a lot louder than I had intended.
Emilie sighed. “I know that...” Emilie said. “It’s just taking me a bit to really believe it.”
Joern and Apollo both looked at us nervously, and May looked lost.
“Is there a reason Emilie blames herself for what happened?” May asked.
“She thinks we could have done more to get my mind locked up nice and tight.” I looked away.
“Could you have?” May asked.
I hesitated. “Probably.” I conceded.
May stared over at Emilie with sad eyes. She walked closer to me and poked my starter in the head.
“Hey!” Emilie shouted.
“I think everyone in this room could find half a dozen things they could’ve done differently on that day,” May said. “I keep going back and thinking I should’ve gone with you when Jasmine pulled you aside. That we should’ve waited to have our rematch with Wayne and Jasmine.” May chuckled as she looked away. “Apollo’s already given me an earful when I talked to him, so I have to give you one now.”
‘I keep thinking things would have gone differently if I had evolved,’ Joern cut in. ‘That if I was stronger, none of this would have happened.’ Joern looked down to the floor.
“Pinch.” I all but jumped out of bed as Samie made himself known from behind me. Vague feelings of guilt and helplessness made themselves known as I frowned down at the little guy. ‘Same. Vibrava strong. Stronger than rocks and sword,’ Samie said.
Joern smiled at the little guy.
I shifted from person to Pokémon, unsure if I should be happy that they were being supportive to Emilie or pissed that they were beating themselves up like this. Emilie looked at the group and chuckled a bit.
“I think you were right, Lea. We’re all hopeless cases,” Emilie said. “I think we just have to repeat this until we all get the lesson. Solrock and Lunatone were the only ones to blame for what happened.”
Joern leaned back.
“We all could’ve done a million things differently that day, and they still would’ve found a way to get at Lea.” Emilie sighed. “Thanks, though. All of you.”
‘Don’t mention it, lass,’ Apollo said.
Joern looked away from the group, and I frowned. I wasn’t sure if he believed that, yet.
“The only thing we can do is be better for the next time,” May said.
At some point during that, she grabbed my hand. I wasn’t quite sure when. I gave it a squeeze and smiled at her.
“Damn right,” I agreed. “I’m surprised Suzy isn’t out here getting in on this. She loves the power of friendship moments.”
May looked away and I suddenly became acutely aware of the fact that I hadn’t seen Suzy or Leshy for the last few days.
“They’re still at the center,” May explained. “That sword you had did something to them that’s proving difficult to deal with. Nurse Joy said she’d call me with updates.” May smiled at me. It didn’t seem to reach her eyes. “They’re awake as of this morning, but they still need to take it easy. We can pick them up tomorrow.”
“May-”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” May interrupted. “Guess we’re both stupid like that, huh?” She looked away again.
I squeezed her hand again and leaned closer.
“May?” No response. “May-”
“We need to be more honest with each other,” May interrupted.
I nodded.
“I can agree with that,” I said. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
May nodded before leaning against me in the bed. I pulled her close and my Pokémon all looked a bit uncomfortable. I chuckled.
“I know you’re probably not that tired, considering how much you slept the last few days, but I could fall out right here,” May whispered.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“You’d be surprised,” I said with a smile. “Whatever pain killers they have me on make me sleepy.” I yawned. “Probably a good thing, considering how early my surgery is tomorrow.”
“I can move to the cot-” I cut her off as I pulled her closer.
“I honestly don’t think anything would help me sleep more than having you by my side,” I said.
May chuckled lightly.
“That’s a hell of a line,” May said. “Just don’t... complain about... snoring.” May was out.
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The light blurred all of reality when I finally came around from the anesthesia. I tried sitting up, but it felt like my body was trying to move through a vat of molasses.
“Hey.” I heard from my left. I slowly turned and May started to come into focus.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“High,” I replied. “Did they fix my arm?” I asked.
May nodded. “All of your bones have been properly set. You have a portable regenerator on your arm right now that’s speeding up the healing process. Doctor said you’d be ready to do physical therapy tomorrow,” May explained with a smile.
I groaned at the thought.
“I leave you alone for a week, and you nearly get yourself killed,” a new voice called from my right.
I slowly turned and saw... Wally?
“Clearly, I can’t leave you two alone, like... at all,” Wally said, his voice deep behind a black mask that covered the lower half of his face.
“What the hell are you wearing?” I asked.
Wally laughed.
“A respirator suit. My uncle took the hospital respirator and improvised me this vest and breathing apparatus,” he explained. “I won’t bore you with the specifics. I don’t think you’d enjoy them as much as May.”
“Nerd,” I whispered. I heard May huff behind me.
“But she’s your nerd, so you put up with it,” Wally said.
I could see the faint outlines of his lips pull up from behind his mask. I smiled.
“Rude,” May said.
“Yeah, she is,” I agreed as I turned to look at May again, who was now blushing.
“Huh. Was expecting a denial,” Wally said.
“Did you not tell him?” I asked.
“I uh... wanted you to be conscious for that,” May said.
“Oh...” I replied groggily. “May got tired of waiting on my ass.”
“Tasteful,” Wally commented. “All the same, congrats.”
“Thanks, does the Darth Vader get up mean you can come with us to Dewford now?” I asked. “I missed Gawain.”
“I mean, I would love too, but... didn’t you two just... well,” Wally stammered.
“Wally,” I said, cutting him off. “Over the course of the last week, I have enjoyed a cruise on a luxury liner that YOU PAID FOR.” I stressed the last three words, giving him a vicious glare. Credit where it was due, he didn’t even flinch. “I spent most of that time mooning over May, eating five star food, and learning how to dance.”
“I... I don’t quite get where you’re going with this-” Wally started.
“Where I’m going is that in the last week, I have spent maybe four hours actually training my Pokémon. Outside of battles,” I cried out in shame.
May winced, probably realizing she was in the same boat.
“There is not a doubt in my mind that if May and I were left to our own devices we would continue to not get any work done, and probably spend the next week attached at the lips,” I said.
“STOP!” May shouted, her blush so bad that I was worried the rest of her wasn’t getting enough blood. “Legends above, you have ZERO filter when you're drugged up.”
“I have zero filter lucid. Is there anything wrong with what I said?” I asked.
“No, but you could have said it better,” May made it a point to look anywhere but my face.
“So, basically. I’m resigning my role as wingman to take on the important role of chaperone.” Wally’s face scrunched up. “Do you have any idea how big of a step down in coolness that is?”
“Wally, you’re a walking, talking, Darth Vader cosplay. Coolness went out the window a loooooong time ago,” I jibed.
“I find your lack of faith disturbing,” he responded seriously.
“Nice, you watched the rest of the movies in your time away from us. I approve.” I countered just as seriously, before letting my voice turn whiny. “Come on, I missed you. We missed you. I’d even be willing to go so far as say that Emilie missed Gawain.”
“Tauros shit,” Emilie spat.
Wally looked down in shock as Emilie spoke up for the first time since I woke up.
“When the fuck did that happen?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m awesome. Your stupid language really isn’t that hard to learn. Making my voice say the damn words was the hard part.” Emilie half explained, half bragged. “Don’t you dare imply that I missed that show boating blowhard.”
“Me think the lady doth protest too much.” I clapped back with my best Gawain imitation.
Her glare intensified.
“Has Emilie always been this... abrasive?” Wally asked.
“She learned to talk from Lea’s memories,” May explained.
Wally nodded in comprehension. “I see, that makes a lot of sense.”
“Fuck both of you,” I shouted.
“Yeah, we’re not abrasive. We’re a fucking delight,” Emilie agreed.
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“Do I look alright?” I asked May nervously.
“Lea. You're in a hospital. My parents don’t care how you look. They care that you’re no longer in critical condition,” May said with a small smile on her face.
I was still a bit woozy from the meds, but that didn’t stop the feelings of nervousness bubbling up in my stomach.
I made it a point to make sure the gloves Wally had gotten me from the gift shop were pulled up enough to hide most of the scars on my hands. Bless that man, for he is a saint.
May walked over to my bed, and... sat down beside me before pulling me into a sideways hug.
“Stop worrying so much. That’s my job.” she commented as I looked toward the doors that her parents were supposed to walk through soon.
“May, I don’t know if this is the best-” May pressed her lips to my cheek and the words died on my lips.
“Just let me sit next to my girlfriend,” May pleaded.
“I... uh, I mean.” My brain did not want to work, and I idly wondered what my mindscape looked like right now.
‘There are about thirty different versions of May ordering food at the same time from every table.’ Emilie answered from the chair on my other side.
Yeah. Yeah, that sounded about right.
“Fine,” I finally managed to choke out.
May smiled and hugged me a bit tighter.
The doors opened and Caroline came in first. May begrudgingly got up and hugged her mom, and I sighed in relief at being able to think clearly again. Norman came in and looked at me. I could see a weight lift from his shoulders as he visibly sagged. I fiddled with my gloves again.
“Hey.” I greeted.
May pushed me back down onto the bed as I attempted to get up.
“The doctor said to not try to ambulate on your own till tomorrow, remember?” May asked.
I groaned. “But-”
“Do you want to fall and resnap the break?” May asked with an edge to her tone.
I relaxed back into the bed and wisely decided to keep my mouth shut.
May sat down next to me on the bed. Again.
Damn it, May. It’s really hard to think when you do this.
“I’m happy to see you’re doing better, Lea,” Norman finally said, pulling up the chair by my bedside.
“Eve was... not doing well with how badly you were hurt. She’s called us more than a few times while she was down here. I’m happy to see you’re doing better now,” Caroline said, standing behind Norman and staring down at the bed.
I couldn’t tell if the look on her face was fond, or annoyed. I couldn’t pick up anything from her.
“Where is Eve, anyway?” Norman asked. “I figured she’d be glued to your room.”
“She came by while Lea was in surgery and left when she was in recovery.” May answered for me. I did not know that. That was nice of Eve. “They spent a decent bit of the afternoon together yesterday. I... kind of blew up at her when she got here, and I think she’s been trying to give us some space.”
“May...” Caroline started to chastise.
“She deserved it,” I interrupted. “She... did not handle things well when she first got here. I’m sure we could have handled it better, but honestly, it did end up working out for the best.” I felt like I explained things without explaining things. I didn’t like being this vague, but I wanted May to broach the whole... relationship topic.
“I still think-”
“Well, I’m at least happy things are going better now. When do you think they’ll release you?” Norman asked.
Caroline shot Norman a nasty look, and while I was grateful for the subject change, I felt bad for the flak he was probably going to take for that once he got home.
“Tomorrow. I think. They want to run me through a few exercises to work the muscles in my arm and hands. After that, I’ll be discharged.” I looked down. “Granted, I probably owe the hospital a kidney, a lung, and half a liver in hospital bills, but-”
“I’m covering your expenses.” Norman cut me off. “Well, more to the point, the League is covering your hospital bill. You’re registered under me as one of my trainers. It’s our responsibility, as per the bylaws of our position. So don’t even try to argue,” he explained before I could even open my mouth. “Don’t even worry about the copay.”
“You don’t-” May stopped instantly and bit her bottom lip.
“May?” Norman asked, giving his daughter a look.
My girlfriend glared at the sheets for a moment before sighing and nodding.
“Thank you, dad,” she said, looking away.
Norman shifted his gaze back to me, a pleasant smile on his face.
Why was that face so hard to say no to?
“I...” My pride wanted me to protest, but I couldn’t think of an effective way of doing so. “Thanks.” I’d just have to do something really nice for him later.
“Now then, was there anything you two were wanting to tell us?” Caroline asked, staring pointedly at our conjoined hands.
My brain floundered a bit. I didn’t even notice I had done that!
“Caroline...” Norman sounded exhausted.
“Norman,” Caroline replied back, her eyes narrowed.
May took a deep breath next to me before squeezing my hand and staring directly into her mother’s gaze.
“We’re dating,” May replied, her voice slightly shaky. “We-
“We know, dear. Thank you for finally telling us,” Caroline said, smiling widely.
I sputtered a bit.
“Finally? We haven’t even gone on our first actual date yet!” May shouted. The tenseness in her shoulders left as she leaned forward and glared at her mother.
Caroline tilted her head.
“Honey, you went on a couple’s cruise together,” Caroline replied.
“Our friend got us tickets. We got together when Lea got admitted,” May explained, looking away from her mom’s stare.
“Really?” Caroline asked, glancing my way.
I nodded slowly.
“Wow you two are dense,” Caroline said with a sigh.
May blushed.
“Caroline-”
Caroline shot Norman another look and he wilted under his wife’s scrutiny.
‘It’s like looking at a time lapse. The Lea of before, and the Lea of the future.’ Emilie joked, comparing me to Norman.
‘Shut up.’
Emilie just laughed.
“We are happy for you.” Norman smiled at us again before leaning forward in his chair. “I look forward to officially announcing Lea as my second daughter.”
“DAD!” “NORMAN!” Both May and I shouted. May’s face was brighter than I had ever seen it and if my lightheadedness was any indication, I wasn’t doing much better.
Norman just started laughing.
“I kid, I kid. Mostly.” Norman sighed before taking on a more serious look. “I hate to have to do this, but... this visit is more than just a social call.” Norman gave me a reassuring glance. “Would you mind answering a few questions?”
I didn’t answer right away and May’s grip on my hand tightened.
“What kind of questions?” May asked.
“I think that phone call shaved a few years off my life, May. I want... I need to know how you girls got here. What happened, how it happened, everything.” Norman paused and took a deep breath before leaning forward in his chair. “I will personally be handling the reports for this, as well as following up the Rangers in Dewford. I want to make sure whatever attacked you-”
“They’re dead,” I said, cutting him off. “I was attacked by a Solrock and Lunatone.” I glared down at my bed spread. “Also, if what May told me was accurate, it’s Ranger, not Rangers.”
Norman winced when I said that last bit.
“Rare Pokémon for the area,” Caroline said. “They usually don’t leave Meteor Falls.”
“We ran into them on the cruise,” May explained, her voice shaky. “They were controlling another couple.”
Norman’s eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair.
“I’m sorry, did you say controlling?” Norman asked.
May nodded.
“I- Really?” Norman asked again.
“I’m pretty damn confident,” Emilie growled.
Neither parent even flinched at Emilie talking.
“I’m sorry, it’s just... I wouldn’t expect those Pokémon to have the power to do something like that,” Norman said. “What happened on the ship?”
“The couple had entered into a double’s tournament. We beat the space psychos in a two v two, and they recalled them and locked their balls before handing them off to the captain,” I said.
My mind pulled me back to the cave. I couldn’t even begin to imagine living like that for longer than what I did. I don’t know how Jessica and Atticus were functioning enough to even recall them after the bout. They were a lot stronger than they gave themselves credit for.
“They got them from a breeding company based out of Lilicove called Aquatic Autonomy,” May said, glaring down at the ground.
Norman pulled out a notepad and pen from his pocket and wrote down the name.
“Got it. Do you know how they got out?” Norman asked.
I shook my head.
“They attacked Lea when they made their escape. There should be a report for that with Brawly,” May said.
“Any particular reason we’re only hearing about that now?” Caroline asked with narrowed eyes.
“I...” May started but trailed off under her mother’s gaze.
“I was fine, and I didn’t think of it,” I said, cutting in. “I’m sorry.”
Caroline shifted her gaze to me, and I froze.
“Think of it next time,” she ordered.
I nodded stiffly, frowning at the fact that May was still a tense ball of nerves next to me. I squeezed her hand.
“I’m sorry...” May said, not looking at anyone in the room. “Excuse me.” May stood up and bolted.
“May-” I started to get up from the bed to go after her, and Norman pushed me back down on the bed.
“Don’t, I’ll talk to her,” Caroline said, making her way to the open door.
I opened my mouth to protest, but she was already out the door. Norman looked after his wife as she left before looking back at me with a sigh.
“Well, I’m sorry our visit’s gone like this,” he said.
“Don’t be, I don’t... ugh.” I leaned backwards, letting myself rest against the pillows. “We’ve been an emotional train wreck for the last few days. I’m just sad she left.” I looked away from Norman. “Kind of hard to be there for your girlfriend when people won’t let you leave the bed.”
“I think Caroline and May could use the talk, honestly,” Norman said. “You know, when we got her Sergei, we were hoping to get more than one call every couple of weeks.”
“She called you guys when we pushed through the woods on the way back,” I said.
“And that’s the one call that we’ve gotten,” Norman said back.
I winced.
“Right,” I muttered.
Emilie teleported down from my shoulder. “She could’ve picked a better time to voice that complaint,” she said, glaring up at the gym leader. “Humans really need to figure out how tact works.”
“You’re very fluent. I’m impressed,” Norman replied with a smile, ignoring my starter’s worries. “You feel up to talking more about what happened? We can pick this up tomorrow, if you want. I’m going to be in town for a few days.”
I took a deep breath and nodded once.
“I just want to get it over with. The sooner we get it over with, the better,” I said, my words sounding way more confident than I felt. I stared down at my starter with a grin. “We can meditate afterwards. I want to put this in the rearview mirror.”
Emilie nodded, and I sighed as I started explaining things to Norman.
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May’s POV
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“Stupid, stupid, stupid-”
“May, wait.” Caroline called out.
May froze, before slowly turning around to see her mother jog after her. She just wanted a moment to breathe, damn it.
“I’m sorry, I just needed-” May stopped as her mother pulled her into a hug. “Mom?” May’s voice cracked a bit as the word left her lips.
“I shouldn’t have pushed the issue when I did. I’ve been a worried wreck for the past few days, I just... I want you to talk to us more. We can help you-”
“I don’t...” May interrupted her mother before trailing off. “I didn’t. I didn’t want your help.”
“May-”
“All my life I’ve been Dad’s kid. People look at me and see his name before anything else. I wanted to go on this journey and make a name for me. To be recognized for my own accomplishments... I can’t even keep my best friend safe.” May leaned into the hug and put her arms around her mom. “I missed you. So much. I’m so s-sorry.”
“May.” Caroline said slowly as she gently patted her daughter on the back. She held her for a bit as her daughter cried into her shoulder. “It’s alright, honey.”
“How is any of this alright?” May asked. “This probably could have all been avoided if I had even thought to call you guys the second things started looking bad. I’m so fucking stu-”
“Language,” Caroline said firmly. “And if I hear you talking about yourself like that again, I’m going to drag you home and ground you for the rest of the season.”
May looked away.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be your own person, but you don’t have to cut us out of your life to do it, honey,” Caroline said. “We’re your parents, we love you.”
May slowly nodded and Caroline sighed.
“I love you too,” May said. “I’ll call more, I promise. It might not be every night, though. Lea has already agreed to talk to Eve every night. I’m glad Sergei is on an unlimited plan.”
“Good, I like talking to you when we aren’t in crisis. It’s one of the highlights of my day. Well, that, and your brother remembering where the broom is. Or the trash can. Or the sink, actually,” Caroline said.
May giggled. “Glad I have such stiff competition. Surprised he wasn’t with you.”
“He knew you were fine and wanted to ‘run the gym in dad’s stead.’” Caroline sighed. “I don’t know about that boy, sometimes.”
“Well, you’ve got one mostly normal kid,” May said before looking down. “I’m happy you’re okay with us.”
“Why on earth wouldn’t I be?” Caroline leaned back, looking mildly insulted.
“Mom, your entire side of the family-”
“Is a bunch of traditionalist fuckheads that I wish you never interacted with,” Caroline said.
May felt her jaw go slack as she backed away from her mother with wide eyes.
“There’s a reason we don’t visit, sweetheart. I’m sorry if I’ve ever given you any inclinations to the contrary, but I don’t think there’s anything you could do that would make me stop caring about you.”
“I... thank you, mom, that means a lot,” May said.
“Now then. Think you’re ready to go back and save Lea from your father?” Caroline asked.
“Mom, I think Dad likes Lea more than me. I doubt she needs saving,” May said, before walking towards her mom.
Caroline put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her into a sideways hug as they walked.
“She was terrified of your visit... by... the... way.” May’s eyes widened, and she picked up the pace a bit.
“Any reason for the sudden hustle?” Caroline asked, her eyebrows knit together with a frown.
“Probably nothing, I just-” May stopped talking as she got back to the room and noticed that her dad was waiting for them outside the door.
“Happy to see you’re feeling better. Lea answered all the questions I had,” he said shakily, before giving May a once over and pulling her into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“I, dad,” May said, feeling a bit lost. “Are you-”
“I will be, don’t worry.” He pulled back and smiled at May. “That being said, Lea said she was going to meditate with Emilie for a bit. She all but ordered me to take you to the cafeteria and have a nice dinner with you.”
“She was okay, then?” May asked.
“She looked fine. She’s currently sitting on her bed with her eyes closed, so I don’t think she’ll be much for conversation. I wanted to stick around for a minute to watch the process, but... there really wasn’t much to watch,” Norman said.
May sagged in place and let out a breath.
“Good. She’ll probably be out for an hour or two.”
Lea being able to meditate had to be a good sign. If the dam broke there would have been a much bigger blow up.
May nodded once, before smiling back at her dad.
“I think I’d love to take you up on that dinner, though. If that’s okay?” May asked.
Norman smiled. “It’d be my pleasure.”
May’s smile didn’t leave her face for the whole trip.
----------------------------------------
I slammed back into the driver seat of my own mind with the force of a Rhydon’s take down and raced toward the bathroom before throwing the seat up on instinct and hurling.
Legends above the slop hospital food that May forced me to eat tastes worse coming up than it did going down.
I looked down at my hands, currently ungloved and hurled again. I needed to just keep those on at all times. Oh lord, Joern just... got to watch everything I just watched. Fuck, the added clarity made everything so much more intense. Sweat practically poured down the side of my head as the aftertaste of vomit made me dry heave. A hand rubbed my back, and I jerked away from the toilet seat to see May, looking down at me worriedly.
“I... Thanks.”
May nodded.
“What happened?” she asked.
I shook a bit as the memory passed through my head again. “I... I don’t...”
May smiled and helped me get up.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk now,” May quickly replied. “Me asking that was stupid. I’m just... worried.” She fidgeted in place.
I felt Emilie teleport back to my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” she said aloud. ‘I should have pulled you from the memory as soon as I noticed the shift. I just... wasn’t expecting it to be that bad.’
“It’s fine, both of you. That was just... a lot. All at once.” I tried to sound reassuring, but my voice was working against me right now. It felt like I was a stranger in my own skin, and my own breathing was getting faster, instead of slowing down. I couldn’t calm down. I couldn’t...
May grabbed me and forced me to look into her eyes.
“I think we should do a crossword together,” May said, her face completely serious.
“I... What?” I asked, confused.
“Crossword. They’re very relaxing. I met someone in the room outside who had one that looked fun. We don’t have to do that, though. We can play cards or a game, whatever you want really.” She rambled on.
“Are YOU feeling alright?” I asked, slightly concerned at how she was acting.
May laughed.
“No, but I’m feeling a bit better than I was.” May replied. “Let’s sit down on the bed again. We can just... hang out.” May explained nervously, her cheeks a bit red.
“Hanging out is good.” I followed her back out to my room, and I could swear I was starting to see an outline of my body starting to form on that bed. Probably my imagination. I sat down and May sat beside me. We stayed there in silence for a bit.
“How was dinner with the fam?” I asked.
“It was great,” she said, smiling brightly. “Thanks, by the way... I think I needed that.”
“I’m glad,” I said, returning her smile.
Back to silence.
I had to acknowledge the Mamoswine in the room, huh?
“I didn’t realize... how bad it really was,” I said.
May tensed before putting her arm me.
“I remembered everything, but up till this point... it was like my brain couldn’t put together that the person that clawed their way through a stone wall was me.” I smiled bitterly. “I’m sorry, I know-”
“Stop,” May ordered. “You do that way too much, you know. Apologize for stuff that isn’t your fault. I know I've told you this before, but I’m a big girl.” She chuckled a bit. “Let me help you.” May hugged me before looking at me expectantly.
“I...” I swallowed before nodding. “The worst thing isn’t even the pain. Pain that I actually remember now.” I still couldn’t process how they could make me ignore that. To just work tirelessly at the project at hand and not care that I was crippling myself as I toiled. “I was smiling through the whole thing. Like I was happy to just... rip myself to shreds. Just to get that stupid sword for them.” I shivered in disgust. “Nothing else mattered, and I just...” I broke down.
“We’ll get through this.” May consoled. “We’re here, and they’re not. Just... keep reminding yourself of that.”
I nodded, before looking away.
“Is it bad that I’m happy they’re dead?” I asked.
May shook her head. “Nope, fuck those monsters.”
I looked around the room in worry. “May, what would Caroline say if she heard you using such language,” I said.
“Don’t you dare!” May shouted before she started laughing.
I slowly calmed down, and for the first time in a long time, I felt lighter. I could relax. I didn’t feel the same crushing dread that cloyed at my mood for the last few days as I started laughing too.
I felt like myself.
“May,” I said.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“I hate to ruin the moment, but I really need to brush my teeth.”
May started laughing again before getting up and running some water for me, and I got up and followed behind, happy.