[CyberCubed]

(Part 2)

~*~*~*~~*

“Want me to make you another sandwich, Max?” May asked.

She finished spreading some peanut butter over her bread, and placed it with the jelly to make some dinner. She took the knife out carefully and tossed it in the sink, while she glanced back at her brother to make sure he was alright.

“I’m ok,” Max said, “One sandwich was enough for me.”

Max lowered his head and rested it on his arms at the dinner table. The boy looked sleepy, yet there were too many things on his mind to relax.

“Pikachu, did you check where Skitty and Beautifly are?” Ash asked, sitting himself down at the table.

“Pikachu!” Pikachu nodded.

“They’re probably sleeping in my Mom’s bedroom, they love that place,” May said, sitting down next to Ash at the table.

She took a deep breath before eating, staring down at her peanut butter and jelly sandwich which lie before her.

“I…don’t know how we’re going to sleep tonight,” May said quietly.

“You’ll be worrying about your Dad, I’m sure,” Ash said, “Too bad they didn’t even leave us a way to contact them before they set off, I guess they really did not want us tagging along.”

“They’ll…they’ll be using Gardevoir to try and find Ross, that could take them all night,” Max noted, “I’m pretty sure Gardevoir’s psychic ability works like a radar or something, so they should know whether they’re on the right trail or not. Hey, May?”

“Yeah?” May replied.

“Didn’t Tana say that once Gardevoir came into close contact with a person, she’ll be able to find him easier? How close did Gardevoir come into contact with Ross when you were back in the alley?” Max asked.

“Um, not sure, it all happened pretty fast,” May said. She picked up her sandwich and took a small bite before continuing. “I…I only remember Gardevoir firing a Shadow Ball at Ross, but I don’t think they actually touched one another. It’s too bad, because yeah, Gardevoir would probably be able to find him easier if she did come into contact with him.”

“Man, that’s a bummer,” Max sulked.

“Yeah, they could be spending hours just searching for Ross alone,” Ash said, “And then when they actually find the place he’s staying at, it’ll probably take them longer to sneak their way in and find out where your mother and Brock is.”

“They could be gone all night then, and even until early next morning. As I said, it’s going to be hard going to sleep tonight knowing everything that’s going on,” May said as she sighed.

“There’s nothing we could do then but wait,” Ash sulked, “I’m not a waiting person, it’s going to be hard for me too.”

May continued eating her sandwich as Max picked his head up from his arms. He stretched out his arms and yawned.

“There is a good thing about Dad and Tana tracking Ross down at night,” Max said, “He’d probably be sleeping by the time they find him, and they could launch a surprise attack. It is much easier to break into someone’s house and take them by surprise at night than it is in the daytime.”

“Jeez, Max, you sound like a burglar,” May said, smirking.

“Heh, well it’s true. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out,” Max replied, smiling a bit.

May leaned forward and stared at her little brother positively.

“Th-thanks for making me smile, Max,” she said, “We all need to be optimistic at a time like this.”

“I know, sis, which is why we should occupy our time with something other than sitting at the dinner table together all night,” Max mused.

Ash turned to May and put his hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t sure whether it would be better to comfort her or leave her be, as it would be a long, troubling night while waiting for news about her parents. As awkward as it was, he just needed to know from May herself. She was the one who confronted Ross and had more experience with the man than he did, so he knew she would also have this extra angle of knowing the extent of Ross’ cruelty. Frying her Combusken before her eyes and throwing knives just inches from her face had to take its toll.

“So, do you want to say anything?” Ash asked.

May smiled as she turned toward him, although she didn’t know exactly what to say. She glanced at her brother across the table, who was watching them curiously. May and Ash shared a moment staring at each other, and Max continued to take notice.

“I want Max to sleep with us in our room tonight, Ash,” May said, “It’s not right to leave him all alone in his room at a time like this, I want my brother with us all in one place. I’ll probably bring Skitty and Beautifly in with us as well, as I want everyone in this house to be together for the night. I…I don’t want anyone else to go missing.”

“Sure, I think all of us together would help relieve the tension…just a little bit,” Ash said, smirking. “What do you think, Max?”

Max was peering off into space as he stared at them.

“Uh, Max?” May asked, “Did you hear what I said? You don’t have to sleep by yourself tonight, I want to keep watch over you until our parents return.”

Max snapped back into reality as he nodded nervously. “Yeah, ok, ok, I…would like some company as I sleep tonight. I’d be kinda worried by myself,” Max said.

“That’s exactly my point, I don’t want you to worry. At least you know you have your sister and Ash to look after you,” May said, smiling.

“Heh, I’m not sure if this is the right time for this,” Max said, raising his glasses, “But…you two aren’t going to be doing anything while I’m in the room, right?”

Ash looked at him confused. “What in the world do you mean by that?” Ash asked.

“You know, holding hands or any mushy stuff like that,” Max said.

“Wha? Max are you insane? Where are you getting this from?” May asked, flustered.

She looked down and noticed that her pinky finger and Ash’s were intertwined under the table for comfort, so she quickly moved her hand away. Was that what Max noticed?

“Max, it’s ok, I still don’t get what you mean, but Ash and I will be comfortable with you there, you know that,” May said, her voice raising a tad.

“I hate to ask this question, but I must,” Max said, eyeing his confused sister.

Ash and May looked at each other, they were still pretty confused as to what Max was getting at.

“Did…did you…” Max said, coughing into his shoulder, “EH, this is kind of embarrassing to even think about.”

May noticed the blush appearing on Max’s face, and finally figured out what he was going to say. She cleared her throat as she waited for it, it seemed like the cat was out of the bag.

“…did…did you and Ash kiss?” Max asked suddenly, trailing off at the last word.

“Pika?” Pikachu said, glancing up at May and Ash.

Ash raised his eyebrows as his face went red, it was a complete shock to hear Max even ask such a question. He quickly got up from the table and tried to hide his eyes under the brim of his hat.

May looked up at Ash as he nervously tried to hide his embarrassment. She too was astounded, not only because Max asked that question, but because he insinuated it as if he knew, as if it were common knowledge and he only wanted confirmation. The difference was that since he was her brother, May was more prepared for the question than Ash was, although that wasn’t really saying much either.

“Y-you…I m-ean, who told you that?” May stammered.

“Nobody,” Max gasped, “I just…want to know.”

“M-ax, why w-ould you want to know such a thing? What made you think of that in the first place?” Ash asked, trying to clear his throat so the words would come out clearly.

“I’ll tell you, but first I…kinda want to know. Did y-ou guys actually kiss?” Max asked, more direct this time.

May and Ash hesitated, neither one wanted to confirm it. They both knew what the other was feeling at the moment, a sense of complete shock and embarrassment. After all this time, May and Ash had kept their feelings and contact with each other a secret from Max and everyone else, it was almost unthinkable to finally let it out in the open. Could they really say that not only had they kissed once before, but they actually did it several times after that as well? That they actually have real romantic feelings for each other, and the dreaded “L” word was in fact, true? It was also May’s little brother, the boy who traveled with them from almost day one. To actually tell him the truth would be something that required far more bravery than either Ash or May could muster at the moment.

Moments passed, and neither said a word.

“If…if you’re not going to say anything, I guess you don’t have to,” Max said, “Your embarrassed reactions and your blushing already lets me know that it happened, as disturbing as it is to try and picture it.”

“MAX!” May finally yelled.

“Your faces are a dead give-away!” Max retorted, “There’s no way you two would blow up so much if I didn’t strike a nerve!”

“OK, that’s it, since you seem happy with your answer than that’s as far as we’ll go!” May said nervously, getting up from the table.

“So it really did happen, I guess everything was too obvious for it not to have then,” Max said.

May turned around and pulled on her hair nervously, he apparently figured this out all on his own.

“H-how did you…how did you figure this out?” May asked, her voice cracking between words.

“Wasn’t it obvious? You guys sure did a bad job at trying to hide it,” Max said, “I noticed it when we were back on the beach. I mean c’mon, you and Ash running down to the water to practice surfing together every chance you had, even if you already practiced on the same course a dozen or so times before?”

“That was for the race!” Ash blurted out, “Why do you think we managed to come in 2nd? It was because of all the hard work we did while we practiced!”

“Yeah and? I could see the way you two were acting together on the surfboard, you really did like to hold each other around, despite denying it!” Max exclaimed, “Not only that, but c’mon! My sister sleeping with you as an infant in her arms? The amount of time she spent by your side in the Pokemon Center when you hurt your head? Mysteriously walking out of the same bathroom together? You going out of your way to spend so much money on the Skitty/Torchic bikini just to make May happy? My sister saying you have a nice butt? Going out for nightly walks on Atona’s boardwalk by yourselves? Spending time relaxing together outside of Latrommi’s lab when you should have been working to pay off our debt? Making sure you sleep in the same bedroom together when we got home in Petalburg? My sister buying you the new hat with the Pikachu silhouette, and discarding your old hat from your Mom as if it was nothing compared to the one my sister bought you? The increased amount of time you two spend in physical contact now and being comfortable with one another? I just caught you two holding pinky fingers together under the table for goodness sakes! I could go on and on, but its just become so noticeable! Even Mom thought you two were being much more comfortable and flirty with each other than she remembered you being! Mom even thought you two slept in the same sleeping bag together last night, but I assured her you guys wouldn’t do anything like that!”

Ash and May gulped. Pikachu was speechless.

“Did you guys think I was stupid or something, like I wouldn’t figure it out?” Max asked, “I kind of wondered after all this time if you kissed each other, and judging how you reacted just before, I’m gonna say it’s true.”

May chortled as she shook her head and hid her face in her hand. “Gee, you’re one smart little brother,” she said, “I…I don’t know how you pieced all of that together…you’re so observant!”

“May!” Ash gasped.

“I – I don’t know what I could say now,” she responded, “My brother…knows we like each other.”

“Yeah…but…”

“Pika, pika? Pikachu?” Pikachu asked, looking up at a startled Ash.

May knew Ash was far more uneasy about this than she was. It was somewhat odd, since Max was her brother and not his, thus it would probably be more embarrassing for her, but this was not the case.

“Hey, Ash, did you really like kissing my sister?” Max asked, grinning. “She looks pretty icky to me, I can barely tolerate it when she kisses me on my head! Kissing her on the lips has got to be far worse, it’s pretty gross.”

“W-hat? Stop asking me such things!” Ash said, flustered.

“Max, what did we say about keeping your mouth shut before you get into trouble?” May asked, agitated, “Remember, Mom and Dad aren’t here, that means you’re going to have to answer to us."

“Sure, I’m just curious as to what Ash thinks about it,” Max said nonchalantly.

“I’m not going to say anything about that!” Ash shouted, “Pikachu, c’mon, lets go do some training on the Gym battlefield…like NOW!”

“Pikachu, pika!” Pikachu agreed.

Ash quickly ran out of the room as Pikachu darted after him. The boy almost knocked over a chair on his way out, Pikachu chortled while following behind him.

As the room was quiet with only brother and sister occupying it, May finally found herself calm enough to ask Max another question.

“Mom and Dad, did you tell them any of this?” May asked.

“Hm, um, not really. Not all of it anyway, besides saying all the general stuff we did between first meeting Professor Latrommi and now,” Max said, “I…I think Mom knows you have a thing for Ash though, at least from what I can tell.”

May giggled and shook her head.

“Guess it was a silly thing to try to keep this hidden after all, it must have been pretty obvious,” May said, amused of it all.

“I have to ask though, you two aren’t going to be smooching all the time now, right? I don’t think I can stomach watching that everyday,” Max sulked.

“What? NO! I mean, well, probably not often…or…uh…not in front of YOU anyway!” May said, embarrassed.

She put her arms behind her head and smiled dubiously.

“That’s good news, I can barely stomach the thought myself, I hope I never have to actually SEE it,” Max said, winking.

“Eheh, so I see, Max. You don’t have to repeat yourself like a brat,” May said, “I will say though, things…um will be different between me and Ash now, so it’ll probably take time adjusting to. I’m, I’m not sure if it’ll be noticeable or not, but…we…may end up showing affection for each other a lot more often.”

“Really?” Max asked, somewhat displeased.

“Don’t worry, Max, I’m not going to go overboard,” May teased, fidgeting with her hands, “I…I do consider Ash to be…”

“Yeah?”

May blushed and turned around, walking with her arms still behind her head.

“…I do consider him as my…boyfriend now. Um…really.”

Max rolled his eyes.

“And…I’m…his girlfriend,” May said, chuckling, “Heh, it feels so odd to say that. Considering he’s my first…boyfriend ever, it’s quite a lot to take in. At…at least I’ve known him for so long beforehand, so we know each other’s personalities inside and out. I...just want to make the best of things, for the both of us.”

“Um, ok,” Max replied, unsure of what to say.

“We’ll all travel together, Max, you too, just like we always do. Nothing has changed between you and Ash, he’s still your best friend and someone to look up to. Please don’t forget that,” she said.

“I know, Ash is my role model next to Dad, but still, its weird now,” Max said.

“You’ll have time to get used to it, we all will,” May said. She changed her tone a bit as she looked more solemn. “Right now though, we should be praying for Mom and Dad. They need to make it home safely, along with Tana and Brock. They’re who we should be putting our hope and thoughts into at the moment.”

May motioned for Max to follow her, and the two walked side by side out of the kitchen.

“Its been a couple of hours, how do you think Dad and Tana are doing?” Max asked.

“I don’t know,” May sighed, “But…look on the bright side, Max. For all we know, Dad and Tana could have rescued Mom and Brock by now, and are heading their way home as we speak!”

“You really think so? That this whole nightmare could be over with already?” Max asked, eagerly.

May hesitated, it was a nightmare.

“I…I hope Mom is ok when we see her again, I hope Ross didn’t do anything really bad to her,” Max said timidly.

May hesitated again, her brother didn’t know the full extent as to what was happening to Caroline as she did. Ross told her that he raped her, and this was something she couldn’t let her brother know, ever. This was not even something she could fully comprehend herself, and she was regretful that those awful lines that Ross said were refreshed in her memory.

Max noticed she was silent.

“May?” Max asked.

May shook her head, she had to remain optimistic. She couldn’t dwell on the thought any longer, and tried to push it out of her head.

“We – we have some time to kill now, um…want to watch Ash train with Pikachu?” May asked, quietly.

“Won’t that be embarrassing? I mean, do you think Ash is still embarrassed?” Max asked.

She cracked a smile, thinking about Ash at the moment was far more alluring than anything else. Most of all, it made her feel happy, and that’s what she needed to feel the most.

“Heehee, I’m pretty sure he still is. That’s why I want to see if he suddenly has a heart attack or something when he sees the two of us walk onto the Gym battlefield,” May said, snickering.

“Want to sneak up on him from behind, then? We can both scare him out of his mind!” Max suggested eagerly.

She laughed. Yes, family was what was most important. Family and loved ones, it’s what made her happy. It was what made both of them happy.

“I like that idea, maybe we can jumpstart Ash out of his nervousness!” she squealed.

“You don’t mind me scaring your boooooyfriend?” Max teased.

“Max, you start talking like that and making jokes and I will so slap you across your face without hesitation,” May said angrily.

“OK, OK! I’m sorry! I won’t make any boyfriend jokes!” Max gasped.

“Better not, you know I’ll never be in the mood for that crap,” May said, “Now c’mon, let’s go startle Ash!”

“OK!” Max nodded.

The two siblings ran off together to give an unsuspecting Ash a huge surprise. They were all still children after all, and they needed to maintain their innocence and playful characteristics rather than get involved in horrifying adult affairs. May had faith in her father, and with a little bit of luck, she hoped to have her complete family back together soon.

And so as time passed at the Petalburg Gym, she waited for her family to return.

And she waited. And she waited…

…but for how long?