Brendan launched himself up throwing the covers towards the edge of the bed. He panted heavily, coughing into his hand while his other grasped the bed sheets tightly. He breathed wildly. His head was banging. His dark-brown eyes flickered in and out of vision. It took a moment before his heartbeat began to calm down. His breathing slowed. His mind relaxed. His eyes steadied.
Finally he could make out where he was.
It was a small bedroom, not his own but similar. Dark wooden furniture was scatted through the large space. Bright Hoenn sunlight swept through the window. A gentle breeze carefully waving around the curtains which had been pulled back. Everything seemed empty. The desk had nothing on it. The bookcase contained only one book. The wardrobe, Brendan guessed was about as empty as his backpack which had been slung against it. The door was at the other side of the room, closed but with small amounts of light sneaking in between the bottom of the door and the edge of the floor.
Brendan placed a hand to his head and in doing so he noticed the bandages wrapped around his arm. He checked his body for injuries. His right leg seemed to be recovering from something, he guessed it was a sprain in his ankle or something to do with his foot. His elbow on his left arm was bruised in multiple places. His head had a small graze on it. His trainers outfit, a black and orange t-shirt, grey shorts, were ripped and shredded.
He picked up a glass of water, which had been carefully placed beside him on the bedside table and took a sip. The water was perfect, wetting his dried lips. He took a breath of air and then placed the water back down. He was about to attempt to stand when suddenly the door swung open.
"No, no, no, no, no." May barked. "You are in no condition to sit up, let alone stand!" The young brunette raised an eyebrow at her best friend and folded her delicate arms. She too had a few cuts and bruises scattered around. Brendan looked at her beautiful blue eyes and decided she was right and gently fell back into the bed, resting his head on the pillows and smiling. He may be hurt, but at least he was with her.
"What happened?" Brendan asked.
"You don't remember?" May asked taking a seat at the end of the bed next to his legs. "You got into a fight you couldn't win. As usual." She put the back of her hand on Brendan's forehead and he nearly jumped at the unexpected contact. "Got yourself hurt. As usual." She removed her hand and placed it on her lap, joining her other hand. Her delicate fingers started interlocking. Something she only did when she was nervous. "I brought you here. Too recover." She shrugged and smiled. Her eyes trailed to the cut on Brendan's head and her pure and perfect smile turned into a frown. "That should be looking better by now. Let me get some stuff..." The brunette began to stand but a hand reached out and tried to pull her back.
"May." Brendan almost whispered to her. "Stay."
The teenage girl looked at Brendan, her head slightly turning to the side. Her shoulder-length short brown hair slowly waving in the breeze. Her eyes fixed on his. Her lips folded in on themselves. Her little nose scrunched up. Her cheeks turned purple. She finally managed to form some words, and spoke softly, simply. "Okay." She sat back onto the bed, one leg tucked underneath her other which draped over the edge of the bed. Her soft and fragile, little hand slowly fell next to Brendan's. Their eyes remained fixed on each other. The two stayed where they where, in almost complete silence. Only the sound of their hearts getting faster filled the void.
Brendan's hand crawled along the bed, climbing over her own hand and grasping it gently. The feeling of their hands finally being together felt amazing. May felt safe, secure, for the first time in weeks. Brendan, felt like a huge relief was taken off of his shoulders. A weight on his heart. But then, he saw, Mays face.
He saw guilt.
"What's wrong?" He asked gently.
"Nothing." She said with a smile which seemed forced.
"May." Brendan said softly. "You can talk to me." He squeezed her hand tightly. "You know that."
She turned away from him slowly, instead staring out the window. He mind wandered. Wandered back to what had happened. What could have happened. What should have happened. Brendan felt her hand shaking and he pushed himself up. Keeping her hand tightly in his own, his other hand placed onto her shoulder. She turned away from the window and buried her head into his shoulder. "We lost, Brendan." She began to cry. As if a someone had flipped a light switch. "We lost." Brendan's arm stretched around her back and steadied her as she wept into his neck. Her crying was uncontrollable. Like the pressure between two tectonic plates erupting and cracking the earth and ground around it. Brendan had never seen her like this, he didn't know what to do but before he could come up with a solution he turned his head...
Slowly the young teenage boy. The boy who everyone had relied on. The boy who was meant to save all of Hoenn from the schemes of the evil Team Aqua. The boy who was chosen to fight the final battle. Slowly he turned his head to look out the window. He turned his head too see,
Water.
Water, everywhere.
———
Fully Released.
