Oneshot:

Edit: 11.11.2015 (hope it won't look much retarded now.)

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my first One-shot! I've been thinking of writing it for quite some time now. Finally, it's done.

This story was based of an episode of 'Avatar the last Air bender'. I saw the episode and thought that I should make its Advanceshipping edition. And Bam! Here it is...

Keep in mind that there will be similarities and if you are planning on flaming the story because of the similarities, I suggest you don't read it :/

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon; if I did, Ash and May would already have a region full of babies!

*Sigh*I don't own Pokemon...and I think it's for the best...

Love Lights the Way

"Ash Ketchum! You're such a jerk!"

A beautiful girl with brunette hair and sapphire blue eyes scolded the boy walking next to her.

"First, you forget that it's my birthday and then you act like you don't care! What kind of a friend are you!"

"Alright Alright! I'm sorry!" The boy scoffed, but the girl humped and gave him a deadly glare.

"What!? Do you want me to kiss your feet or something?" Ash shot back; sarcasm evident in his voice.

Mays' face instantly lit up. She was actually considering his idea. But before she could even utter a word, the boy's next statement stopped her in her tracks.

"I'm not expecting any answer, May." Ash said nonchalantly as kept on walking but the brunette rolled her eyes.

"Jerk."

The yellow rodent sitting on the boys shoulder sighed. This was nothing new to him. Ever since his trainer decided to travel again with the brunette, this has been a regular incident.

At one moment they're at each others throats and the next moment, they're the greatest of friends you could ever see.

Pikachu climbed on top of his trainers' cap and lied flatly. The nonstop bickering wasn't new but the place through which they were passing, was quite new. The sun was almost about to set as the sky had a darkish hue. He looked at the big trees around him and shivered a little.

"Hey Ash? Are you sure this is the right path to Rustboro city?" The brunette asked in a worried tone. She looked around and found nothing other than trees which wore a spooky look due to the dark evening sky.

Ash casually took out the map from his bag and said, "Don't worry. We're taking a shortcut."

Ignoring the confused look May was giving him, he continued, "About five minutes walking distance from here, there is a cave. Once we go past it, we'll be in Rustboro."

"Seriously?" May asked with a lot of energy. "Then we'll get to the city a lot faster than planned."

Ash nodded and gave a sly grin, "That's not even the best part…"

"W-what do you mean?" May stuttered as she started shaking a little. She didn't like the way Ash spoke.

Ash fixed his cap, closed his eyes and faced the ground and took a deep breath; helping the tension to build up inside the girl. Then he slowly said, "The cave is Cursed…"

"Eeep!" was the only sound that escaped the mouth of the terrified brunette. If no one could notice her shaking before, they could now... "L-lets go back n-now!"

May took a 180 degree turn and started walking but she felt someone grabbing her shoulder. She flinched slightly but knew who that hand belonged to…

The raven haired boy put on another teasing smile, "What's the matter? Is the birthday girl afraid of the dark?"

That pushed the girls' buttons as she turned around and looked at the boy, dead in the eye. "Look Ash! I'm not afraid of some stupid cave. Got it?" May said triumphantly but again stuttered."T-the cave isn't actually cursed, is it?"

The boy and his Pokémon snickered which got the girl even more pissed. Then he put his hand out in front of his face and said," Don't worry May! It's just an urban legend. There's no such thing as a cursed cave."

The girl sighed in relief.

Ash again gave a devious grin."You should've seen your face May; Priceless." Then he started laughing hysterically.

"Jerk."

After what seemed like an eternity to the boy and mere seconds the girl, they were standing in front of the cave.

The entrance of the cave was quite huge and the amount of moss in the ground indicated that no one has been using the cave for quite a while now.

The sun was completely down and there wasn't any chance of camping out here. So, Ash took his first step inside the cave, followed by a shivering brunette.

"Hey it's incredibly dark in here. Don't you think May?"

"Y-Yes." The girl barely nodded.

"Infernape! Come on out!" Ash said and threw a red-white sphere which revealed the Fire-Fighting monkey Pokémon.

"Infer-Nape!" the Pokémon cried. Ash hastily came out of the cave and stood near an old tree, May following close behind.

Thanks to Pikachus' iron tail and Infernapes' flamethrower, Ash now had a brightly lit torch in his hand.

Calling back Infernape, the pair entered the cave with nothing holding them back. May was almost glued to Ashs' back as they advanced further into the cave.

Ashs' eyes were focusing on the path in front of them. All he could see was darkness. The light of his torch only helped in showing how dark the cave actually was.

As Ash was walking, he felt something. This feeling was happening to his body. It took him some time to finally understand that he was shaking?

He looked behind his back and saw that May was holding tight onto his shirt. Her eyes were shut and her body was shaking with fear. Her shaking was even making Ash shake.

Ash smiled and stopped walking. May slowly opened her eyes and found that Ash was looking at her with a warm smile.

"May? Are you scared?"

"W-What! No W-Way!" May faked a laugh but sighed in defeat. "Yes Ash. I'm scared. But why aren't you?

Ash just gave another warm smile. "I'm not a bit scared. You know why?"

Mays' undisturbed stare motioned him to continue.

"Because… You and Pikachu are here with me... and as long as you guys are here with me, I'll never get scared."

Although Ash was romantically illiterate before, he is not the same now. While travelling with the brunette this time around, he felt some feelings which he never felt before. He wasn't shy to show those feelings either...

He occasionally flirted wit the brunette, which she responded happily. It wasn't a big secret that she was also feeling something similar as well. They were...unofficial boyfriend and girlfriend.

May closely heard what Ash just said and she felt her face heating up into a blush. But the dark cave along with the soft glow of the torch helped to camouflage it. But before the boy could notice, she decided to change the topic.

"Hey Ash, how long's the torch gonna last?"

"Hmmm… five hours maximum." Ash replied as he again started walking. Darkness was all that could be seen. Step after step, they kept on moving inside the cave; which looked a pretty straight path.

*Roaring Sound*

"What was that!?" May shrieked and looked left and right to discover the source of the sound. But she became surprised when she saw Ashs' sheepishly smiling face as he kept on rubbing his stomach nonchalantly.

"Sorry May… that was my tummy. "

May face palmed and glared at the boy which made him give a goofy smile.

"Sorry! I haven't eaten anything since lunch!"

Their conversation came to a halt when they heard another roaring sound. This one was more brutal and bloodthirsty. In fact it was loud enough to make the floor of the cave vibrate lightly.

"A-Ash? Please tell me it was your stomach. Please?" May said with a cautious tone. Ashs' voice was equally cautious as he looked around ready to face anything.

"Okay. It was me."

"Now, please… tell the truth."

"I don't think you'll like it…"

May didn't say anything else as they again continued walking; keeping their guards up. They had gotten this far, so why not go all the way? But after a while, they heard a faint sound. Both of them heard it. Slowly, the sound intensified. Ash listened intently. Now he could slowly make out what it was. It sounded a lot like wing flapping?

The next thing they saw was a huge flock of Zubats soaring behind of them. Ash somehow held the torch in one of his hand as his other hand was busy pulling May's hand as they ran deeper into the cave. Pikachu held onto his trainers' cap for dear life.

The three living souls kept on running. They didn't notice whether they were going right or left. They were only interested in running.

Soon, they lost the Zubat. Ash and May both were breathing heavily. Fortunately, the torch was still lighting. Ash wiped some sweat from his face and looked around with the torch.

It was a small open space. Ash at first looked above his head and saw that there was a small hole at the top of the upper wall. Through it a beam of moonlight was coming. The light wasn't intense, but it somehow illuminated the small clearing with a soft radiance.

The boy looked in front of him and saw two tunnels. Glancing to his left, he saw two more tunnels. Then he circled around, but he saw only one thing: More tunnels.

May was really getting worried. She only looked at the boy with inquiring eyes. The boy took a deep breath and looked at the face standing beside him.

"May… I think we're officially lost." He said in a casual tone.

Those were the words May wasn't willing to hear. She almost fell on her knees and said with a hopeless tone, "How can you say that so casually!"

Ash was rather surprised at the girls sudden breakdown.

"No No No don't worry May. We'll find a way out of this. I promise." Ash reassured the girl. He helped the brunette to get up on her feet. As she got up, her eyes noticed something quite unusual.

'Ash… What's that?"

Ash immediately brought the torch towards the direction May was pointing at. It was something which wasn't natural. Definitely, man-made.

Ash extended the torch further towards the object. It was earthen statue fixed at the wall of the cave. It was the only wall which didn't have a tunnel. After looking at it for quite a while, Ash recognized the structure to be similar to a Pokémon.

The two teens could now easily make out what it was. It was the statue of two Luvdisk. They were positioned in such a way that their lips were touching each other. The teens didn't have proper emotion to react to that strange formation.

If this was another time, May would've squealed in happiness and admired the cuteness of the structure. But right now, they have other important things to worry about.

Ash took a deep breath. "Forget it May. Let's go!"

Ash took the girl by the hand and entered a random tunnel. Ash actually picked up a rock from the ground and marked the entrance with a X sign. The mark was quite big and really clear.

Ash kept on walking. His one hand was on the torch and the other hand on Mays' wrist. It looked like a pretty simple straight path. As they took a step forward, the pitch black darkness in front of them, vanished due to the light the torch was emitting and revealed more ground.

As they were making their way through the tunnel, they again heard that ferocious roar. Once again, the cave walls started vibrating.

May could feel her heart pound hard with nervousness. Ash just held tighter onto her hands and started running slowly…

Not too far, they saw the end of the tunnel through which light was coming. "May look, I can see light." The boy lightly said; breaking the tense atmosphere." I think this tunnel leads to the exit of the cave!"

The girls' eyes glittered up in hope. With slow steps, they approached the end of the tunnel. The light was also coming near them as they kept on walking. Finally, they stood at the exit of the tunnel and became dumbfounded at what they saw...

"Impossible…"

The boy only said as he fell on his knees. He noticed that he came to the same opening from where they took the tunnel and the Luvdisc statue was sitting on the wall undisturbed…

"It's literally impossible. The path was straight. There wasn't a single curve… How can this happen!" The boy mumbled hopelessly and glanced at the girl behind her.

Her face, it looked like she just saw a ghost. She stared at ground near Ashs' feet with disbelief in her eyes. Ash followed her gaze and also had the similar reaction.

It was the same X mark he made before entering the tunnel. Ash was standing on top of it…

Ash couldn't believe what just happened. He summarized the entire thing.

Of the many tunnels on the open space, they marked the entrance and entered a tunnel. After going a straight path they ended up standing at the same entrance through which they entered.

"Ash…" May said with an emotionless voice. "I think you were right…This cave is cursed…"

"Impos-"Ash didn't get the chance to finish as May continued with her gaze, firm on the Mark on the entrance.

"Those roaring sounds, weren't made by any Pokemon, nor were they made by any creature…Those, were the sounds of the walls changing directions…"

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" She shouted, drops of water started falling from her eyes.

Ash didn't know how to respond to it. He heard the rumor from some people on the way, but he didn't believe it. He still doesn't want to believe it now. But sadly...it was true. But there was another thing which saddened him. If it was only him, he could manage that. But he had gotten May stuck in this madness.

He did the only thing he could think of doing to the brunette: Apologize

"I'm sorry May…I had had no idea…" He wiped off a tear from her left eye and thankfully, she didn't resist. "Please, don't lose hope. We can get out of here. Have faith."

May somewhat got out of her trance of anger. Ash took her in for a hug. That warm feeling of the hug actually calmed down the girl. She nuzzled her face in his shoulder.

Soon, she broke the hug and was back on her feet. "I'm sorry, Ash and you're right. No matter how cursed the cave is…we'll get out of this place."

Ash smiled but inside he knew they were pretty much screwed, but he knew he had to do one thing: Try.

The teens selected another tunnel. They went inside and kept on walking. But they only came back to…the…same moonlit opening…

Ash was tired. May was more tired… they didn't exchange a single word between them for quite awhile now. They have only been doing the same thing for quite some hours now.

They enter a tunnel and end up back where they started, that's it.

However, there was one tunnel they didn't enter yet…

Ash and May looked at each other one last time before entering the last tunnel. Ash walked on ahead, extending the torch to light the path in front. After some time, they came to end of the tunnel.

Much to the teens' big surprise, they didn't end up back where they started. Instead, they found themselves standing in front of a big wooden door.

Ash took a deep breath. "May, I think this might be it…"

May only looked at the door intently; too nervous to even give an answer.

The teens looked at each other before pushing the door with all their remaining strength, but to no avail.

"Blaziken!"

"Infernape"

"Come on out" The two teens said in unison as they threw to red-white spheres on the air. Breaking the door wouldn't be problem to their Pokémon. They knew that. But, this day wasn't short of surprises. They found yet another proof of it…

To put it simple, the Poke-balls weren't working. They two spheres just lay idly at the ground. The teens looked disappointed but weren't surprised. They knew they weren't leaving this cave that easy…

This cave could throw anything at them and they knew they had to survive. That was the only thing running through their minds.

"Pikachu! Hit the door with iron tail!"

The rodent nodded and did exactly as he was told. His metallic tail collided with the wood and a cloud of dust filled the place. When the dust finally cleared, they saw several broken pieces of the door lying helplessly on the ground; clearing the entrance.

Ash and May looked at each other and smiled. They made their way through the entrance but frowned. It wasn't the exit; rather, they found themselves inside a huge chamber. Ash disappointingly waved his dimly lit torch and looked around.

The room could be described as another big open space with more tunnels. However, as they progressed further inside the room, they found something, which could make a person, Really Scared.

Ash eyed the object lit by his torch. His eyes got big. Same could also be said for May. But they didn't feel scared, not anymore. If they saw this some hours ago, it would've been a different story…

In front of the teens, lay two coffins, one meter distance from each other. The top of the coffins were covered with heavy layers of dust.

Ash understood one thing. Whatever was happening, it must be because of the eternally sleeping bodies in front of him. Without any hesitation, he advanced further, May also right behind him.

He brought the torch near the coffins and got surprised at what he saw. On the body of the heavily dusted Coffins, there was a spot which was almost squeaky clean. Ash also noticed some pictures drawn in it.

May stood beside Ash and looked at the pictures closely.

"Wait!" May exclaimed as her eyes got big.

"What is it May?" Ash got out hastily.

"I know how to read these pictures. Back when I was at kindergarten, we were taught how to read these pictures. They said it was an old language used by the ancient people of Hoenn"

Without waiting to hear anything from Ash, the brunette started reading those pictures. She observed each picture keenly and started,

"Long ago two young couple from two villages fell in love with each other. But their love was forbidden because their villages were in war with each other.

So, the lovers came to this cave to share their love. Whoever followed them got lost in the cave forever.

But one day, the man didn't come. He got killed in the war. The woman was devastated.

She carried the body of his lover and entered the cave. She placed her lover on one coffin and killed herself while lying on the other.

Before dying, she left a curse, saying that only true love can guide one out of the cave. Or else, they'll be stuck for here forever…" May finished and sighed. She summarized the story quite shortly and shivered. Finally she understood what was wrong with this cave.

Ash lifted the torch above and almost gasped at what he saw,

A twenty feet statue of a man and a woman who were kissing each other.

"That must be the two lovers…" May mumbled as her eyes gazed at the lowly lit statue. Ash noticed something written below the statue. It was written in a language he could very well understand. He read out the words so that May could hear,

"Love is the brightest in the dark."

May closed her eyes for a moment. She was trying to sink in everything. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Ash's face. It was dimly lit due to the torch. "Hey Ash I have an idea," May said with a faint blush running across her cheeks. "No forget it, it's stupid."

Ash blinked."We don't have Many options May. Any ideas are acceptable."

"You see how the pictures on the coffin say that only love can guide one out of the cave and there's the statue of two lovers kissing…" May said as she fiddled with her fingers.

"Umm, May? Where are you going with this?"

May still gazed at Ashs' eyes."How about if we kissed?" she said while blushing.

Then she shook her head. "Na...Just as I said, it's a stupid idea."May paused and again continued,"Imagine us, kissing… ha ha"

Ash also did an unnatural laugh. "He he…us kissing…I definitely wouldn't want to kiss you!" he said while pointing a finger at the girl.

That popped a nerve of the brunette."Sorry! I didn't realize it was such a bad option!" May looked the other direction and said, "I wouldn't kiss you even if you were the last person on earth!"

"Oh Yeah!? I'll wouldn't kiss you even if you were the last person on the galaxy!" Ash shot back."Besides, you smell worse than a Muk!"

"Ash Ketchum!" The girl was about to burst in anger," I'd rather die than to spend my time with you!" May got out as she started walking away.

It was as if they have completely forgotten that they are lost in a cursed cave with no chance of ever seeing daylight again…

Ash suddenly realized it and face-palmed."What is wrong with me…" He mumbled under his breath as he saw the brunette walk away from him. Ash had the torch, still May was heading into the darkness alone. She wasn't that brave, was she?

Ash wasn't taking any chance. He started to run to the girl to apologize, but that couldn't quite happen…

Ash could hear some strange sounds coming from the top of the room. Ash shakily raised his almost out torch to find out the source of the sound. The light wasn't much, but it was more than enough to reveal the origin of the sound. It was a huge flock o crobats.

They weren't amused to be disturbed from their slumber as their blood thirsty eyes darted around the room and ended up looking at the two humans. Seeing it, May wasn't able to think anymore. She just let out a loud shriek as she started running; wherever her feet could take her. She didn't like the dark, but she had no other way.

Ash was also in the same state. To escape the Crobat, he ran in the direction his tired feet were taking him. But the only difference was, he still had the torch and May didn't...

After running some distance Ash stopped and panted heavily. He waved his torch around to see his surroundings. He lost all the Crobat. Good. But.. May wasn't there!

The girl walked in the darkness. She could see nothing. She occasionally hit the walls and used them for support.

She was terrified.

"No..." The girl slowly uttered and started weeping. She was done being brave. Being trapped in a cursed cave, most people would've lost their sanity by now, but not her. Being with Ash, she felt like the bravest being in existence. But not now…

The girl blankly kept on walking in the darkness…Suddenly, she felt her feet hit something. She immediately fell down on the ground; clutching her ankle. She felt her hand being sobbed in a warm liquid. She couldn't see…But she guessed that it was blood.

But strangely, she couldn't feel any pain. Maybe it was because of her terrified heart. In front of it, no pain felt like pain. She felt her heart pound loudly. It almost hammered her chest. She was eventually finding it hard to breathe…

She felt like…she was dying…

She sat on the ground and leaned against a wall. Her breathing was heavy as many thoughts started running through her mind. The tears of her eyes have dried up. She didn't know what to do. She lay on the ground without sensation and remembered the last thing she said to Ash. That certainly wasn't what she wanted to be their last conversation.

She remembered all the times she spent with the boy, all the adventures she had. She had no regret in her life. Maybe one, because there was something she never got to tell the boy…

"May!?"

The girl weakly tilted her head in an upward position and saw a light approaching her. Her eyes were feeling foggy but she saw someone running towards her. Her emotionless face cracked up a smile.

"Oh No! May what happened!" The boy shouted. He handed the torch to his little friend and ripped some cloth from his shirt and wrapped it around Mays ankle.

"You're okay May, You're safe."

Those reassuring words…The girl couldn't live without them. She understood it just now…

The next thing that happened, May didn't quite expect.

The raven haired boy sat beside the girl and took her in for a tight hug and surprisingly, the girl felt drops of water running down his face. This has to be the first time she saw the boy cry…

" I'm sorry May...I'm sorry for being a jerk...I'm sorry for being a bad friend."

May dug her face onto his shoulder and felt the fabric touch her face. She also tightened her grip on his back, giving her a steady position. She felt his heartbeat.

ThumpThump

ThumpThump

Slowly but steadily, her panic started to fade away. She felt her heartbeat returning to normal and felt as if she was born again. She wanted to say something, but the numbness she felt inside, halted her from dong it.

Ash just held the girl tightly and securely in his arms. He brought his face near her ear and whispered something he should've said a long time ago,

"May, I love you…"

The boy softly said and looked at the girls face for a response. He only saw a weak smile being formed in the girls' face.

The light of the torch was also slowly fading away… Everything was slowly becoming embedded in darkness.

"I've waited to hear those words for so long…I almost thought I was never going to hear it at all…" May slowly uttered; her eyes still closed.

Ash smiled. He was still holding the girl tightly and lightly caressed her silky brown hair. Then the girl continued…

"You know Ash?" the girl said, weakly, "I don't care anymore..." Her voice trailed off. Ash kept quiet and let her continue, "I don't care if we have to stay here for the rest of our lives. I only want to spend my remaining time with you."

Pikachu looked intently at the torch. The light was almost out.

"Same here May…I only want to be with you forever; that's all that I wish for…" Ash paused. "One more thing…"

May opened her eyes and looked at the silhouette of the boys' face in the fading light and motioned for him to continue.

"I never gave you a birthday present…"Ash said slowly and slyly as he brought his face near Mays'.

The light was almost vanishing as their lips slowly approached each other.

Now, the light was out. Everything was pitch-black.

May closed her eyes and soon felt a soft tender feeling touching her lips. It was something she was waiting for a long time. Finally, it was happening.

The boy and the girl sat at the ground; the girl in the boys' arms and their lips touching each other. They couldn't even see each other's face. But the feeling they were sharing was beyond amazing.

The next thing that happened was something neither of them ever expected to happen. The couple broke the kiss and saw small Wisps slowly lighting up. They became awestruck and saw the spectacle happening in front of them with big eyes.

One after another, bright, small blue wisps started lighting up the path. Ash got up and helped the girl get on her feet. He put her arms around her shoulder as they slowly started walking.

The couple followed the trail of wisps. As they passed one wisp, it vanished. In this way, they kept on advancing…

Pikachu hopped onto his trainers' shoulders and watched the wisps with sparkling eyes. The couple just kept on walking; not a single word being exchanged along the way…

Eventually, they again saw light at the end of the path. All the wisps also disappeared. The couple walked towards the light with emotionless looks on their faces.

This time, when they walked out of the tunnel, they saw something which made their eyes go big in excitement. They looked up and saw the vast dark sky with stars twinkling.

Huge Smiles danced across their faces. They were finally free. They were finally free…

Ash tightened his grip on the girls' hands as they could now see city lights, far on the horizon. They looked at each other and engaged themselves with another kiss. This one, more passionate…

They looked at each others eyes. Ash had another sneaky grin as he brought his lips near the girls' ears and whispered something which made the girl giggle,

"You smell like Strawberries."

One shot; done and dusted.

Hope you liked it.

Lastly,

If you know what's good for you, don't forget to leave a review!