Chapter 6: Boulevard of Broken Dreams


     The thought hadn't occured to her until that night. Brendan had
ended up staying at the Rustboro Pokemon Center and she had stayed
behind in Petalburg. She remembered how they had done the same thing on
their previous journey, only she had been the one going ahead.

     Their previous journey. Even though it hadn't seemed so at the
time, everything had been so predictable that it was now sickening.
Well, predictable until she had been kidnapped.

     But as she was laying there, she thought. She was alone again, but
instead of being excited, she was rather unnerved. A strange thought had
come upon her. 

What if Brendan didn't even have a crush on her?

     She had been bouncing around all day with the idea that he liked
her, just because he had said he liked her shoes. That meant abosolutely
nothing! 

What if he was in love with someone else?

     She REALLY needed to stop thinking. She was only going to depress
herself. But her thoughts weren't too far to what could be real. 

     This whole time, she had been dreaming of what HAD been. How she
HAD liked Brendan and how he HAD liked her back.

But that was fourteen years ago.

     This time around, Wally was a Team Magma member, her brother didn't
even know her and who knows what else could happen! It was very likely
that in this strange new time, she could end up hating Brendan.

     Woah. That thought hit her really hard, like a slap in the face or
a rock thrown at her head. All this time, she had been thinking that no
matter what, she and Brendan would be together, but maybe that's not
meant to be in any kind of world.

Ouch. That stung.

     There was a possibility. She and Brendan may have gone out the last
time, but look what had ended up happening. She had ended up marrying an
alcoholic Wally and he had ended up dead.

Maybe it was never been to be.

     She didn't like that thought. But maybe it was the truth. Maybe she
had been brought back to stop dreaming of something that could never
happen. Maybe this was all a dream anyways.

     She gave up on thinking then. It was time for bed. No more
depressing thoughts for her.

     She woke up with a heavy heart that morning. Had she finally had
enough of all thise silly, unrealisitic dreams?

Yes, she had. She had had enough.

     When she had met Brendan in the Petalburg Woods, she couldn't look
at him without a feeling of sadness clouding her mind. Brendan was
chattering on and she nodded and smiled sometimes, pretending she was
paying attention even though she wasn't.

     "May?" Brendan asked, finally noticing her sad silence. "What's
wrong?"

     She forced a smile for him. "Nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" 

     "I don't know," he answered carefully. "You just seem really
upset."

     "No, I'm not," she lied. Of course she had to lie. She couldn't
tell him that her dreams had just been broken. And that she had realized
that they were never meant to be.

     Of course they weren't. How stupid was she? She should've realized
that the first time around.

     But here, at least she was seeing Brendan every day. He wasn't
gone, it wasn't final anymore. But she was certain of nothing.
Absolutely nothing.

     "Are you sure?" he asked her, concerned for his friend. She nodded,
and went back to her solitude.

     The land was filled with less trees now, which meant they were
leaving Petalburg Woods and heading on to route 104. 

This is where everything had changed last time.

     The memories brought tears to her eyes, but she made sure not to
let Brendan see them. She tried to stop them, but it was hard. They were
stopped by the occasional trainer, but no Team Magma.

     They got to Rustboro safely, but May's heart was in pieces. Could
she go on like this, or was she going to have to split the duo?

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