Ash and May's Christmas - Pt 1

It was late evening, December 23rd, and Ash, Dawn and Brock were camping out in a green field near a forest. The weather was quite cold and they were wearing winter jackets to keep warm.

The weather wasn't effecting Dawn's mood. She was feeling very excited. "I can't believe it's nearly Christmas! Ooh, I can't wait! Are you excited?"

"Indeed I am," smiled Brock. "I'm surprised Christmas has come so quick. I guess we've been so busy on our journeys, we've been forgetting about Christmas."

"I hope you haven't forgotten to do your Christmas shopping!" Dawn warned jokingly. "I certainly haven't! Shopping is one thing you can depend on a girl to do."

"I haven't," chuckled Brock. Then he turned towards Ash, who wearing a lonely look on his face. He was gazing down at Pikachu, who was fast asleep in his lap. Brock saw that he seemed to be lost in thought. "Hey, Ash, you okay."

Ash quickly snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh? Oh, yeah, Brock, I'm fine! Christmas! Great! Tis the season to be jolly!"

"Then why aren't you jolly then?" asked Brock.

"Oh, I am! I am!" Ash quickly retorted, a silly grin on his face.

But deep down inside, he wasn't.

He was thinking about May. It had been months now since the two had gone their separate ways. Since then, although Ash had tried to look cheerful in front of Dawn, Brock, Pikachu and his other Pokémon, he was secretly feeling very lonely. He missed May's cheerful smile, her sapphire blue eyes, her optimism. She was like no other girl Ash had met, and since she had gone, Ash had realised she was more special than he had thought before.

And now, the fact that it was nearly Christmas made Ash feel worse. He knew Christmas was a time of love, and that was what made him miss May most. During the time he had been with her, as time went along, he had gradually begun to have feelings for her. He didn't tell her this, because he was sure she didn't feel the same why. He guessed that she liked Drew instead.

And he couldn't confide in his friends, not even Pikachu. He was much to embarrassed to admit that he had feelings for a girl.

And now that the girl had gone, he couldn't tell her at all. He wished now that he had told her.

"Ash? You okay?" asked Dawn worriedly.

"Yes, I'm fine," Ash replied annoyed. "I should be, shouldn't I? It's Christmas!"

"Well, you don't look fine," replied Dawn, feeling concerned. "What is it?"

Ash sighed. No matter how much he felt depressed that May was gone, he couldn't take it out on his friends. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I've just been feeling really lonely recently."

"Why?"

Ash opened his mouth to reply, but was then interrupted by an overhead screech, which woke Pikachu up. The friends looked up to see a Pidgeotto flying low, which then landed by them. An envelope was tied to it's foot. "I wonder what that is?" Ash pondered, as he untied it from the bird Pokémon's foot. Dawn and Brock looked over his shoulder as he opened the envelope to find a folded piece of paper inside. Ash took it out, unfolded it, and read;

Dear Ash,

you and your friends been working very hard this year to achieve your goals. I'm pleased with the progress you made this year, so I believe you all deserve a treat. I'm hosting a Christmas party tomorrow evening at 6:00 at home, which I'd like you to come. I've invited several of your old friends, such as Misty, Tracey, Max and May too, so they will be there too.

Hope to see you tomorrow.

Love you honey,

Mom

x

Dawn and Brock burst into excitement immediately. "A Christmas party?" They cried in unison. "Wow!"

Ash burst into excitement too - but it wasn't the fact that his mother was holding a Christmas party - it was the fact that she had invited a certain brown haired co-ordinator. When he had read the name of that girl, he could hardly believe it. "May's coming?"He cried out happily before he could stop himself. He then suddenly clasped his hand to his mouth when he realised what he had shouted out. He turned to Dawn, Brock and Pikachu, who were all puzzled at what he had shouted out and why. Ash smiled nervously, blushed with embarrassment and held his hands behind his back. "Er, yeah, May's coming. And so are Max, Misty and Tracey. Ain't that great?"

"Why are you suddenly happy, Ash?" Dawn asked. "You weren't just a few minutes ago."

"Oh, I don't know, Dawn. Maybe it's just the fact that we're going to see old friends. I think that's what I needed to get me in the Christmas mood."

"But why were you sad in the first place?" The blue-haired coordinator asked. "You were just about to tell me."

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter now, since everything's gonna be alright now. So let's just drop it now."

Brock looked up at the sky. It was now dark and the moon was up. "We'd best get some sleep. It's gonna be a long day tomorrow, what with all the travelling to Pallet."

"But then we can have a nice party afterwards," added Dawn cheerfully. "We don't have to worry about going hungry; cause there'll be plenty of party food. You'll like that, won't you Ash?"

But Ash, though he had a huge appetite, wasn't thinking about the food that would be at the party. He was thinking about the girl who he had longed to see for so long being there.

Later that night, Brock and Dawn were asleep in their sleeping bags. Ash, however, was lying awake in his. He was so excited about seeing May again, that he couldn't sleep. Pikachu came wondering over. The mouse Pokémon had been asleep, but, haven't opened one eye, had seen his master awake.

"Hey, Pikachu!" Ash sat up and picked up his best friend. "Would you like it if we saw May again?"

"Pika!" The little yellow Pokémon replied happily in agreement.

"So am I! I can't believe we really are going to tomorrow! Well, I'd better get to sleep. I don't think she'd like it if she met us for the first time in months to find us yawning and groaning!" Ash laughed. "G'night buddy!"

Ash put Pikachu down, lay back in his sleeping bag, closed his eyes and drifted happily to sleep, soon to dream of meeting May, the girl he loved, again for the first time in months.

Tomorrow, his dream would come true.