Always Forever

One Last Time

Author's Note: Light NSFW, eating disorder and other stuff are mentioned at the end of this chapter. Please stop reading towards the end if you don't want to read it. I'll probably write the GYM battle tomorrow and release it around night or the other day.

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"Hey, aren't you heading off to sleep...?" Serena asked, snuggling next to Ash. "It's pretty cold out, especially now that it's night." Ash smiled, shaking his head to signify a no. "Nah, I'm good..." Serena smiled sweetly. "You can't sleep, can you?" Ash sighed, giggling to himself. "Aww shucks, I'm caught red-handed." Serena jokingly booped him on the nose. "You're in big, big, big trouble, mister..." She said, purposefully letting her finger rest on his nose. Ash looked at her for a few seconds before he gently grinned to himself and rested his forehead on hers. "Gosh, I'm so sorry for the past few days..." 

"It's alright, it's alright dear..." Serena reassured him. "You'll be alright, you *are* alright, love." She slowly broke apart, only to kiss him gently and rest her head back. "Thank you Sere, but..." He couldn't help but chuckle. "When did you develop a british accent?"

Serena blushed, laughing at herself. "I guess it's just because of all the northern tourists that we've come across over the journey. "Ash didn't say anything though, only wrapping his arms around her waist as she threw hers over his shoulders. "Can we stay like this forever...?"

She laughed again. "No, you've got an important battle tomorrow... Remember?" Ash groaned on purpose, acting annoyed. "Pfft~! C'mon, let's make a deal..." Ash raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?" She teasingly put her finger to her chin, pretending to be thinking while she still held on to him with her other arm. "How about this... If you win, I let you sleep on my lap, I'll even ruffle your hair, you big baby..." Ash blushed, not wanting to admit his rather softer side. "You've got yourself a deal, miss."

"Good boy." She said, laughing out loud. They both giggled to themselves as they made it back to the chairs out on the porch. "You sure you want to stay with me here, though?" He said, looking down at their intertwined hands. "I love you as well, but... You need to get some sleep, besides it's cold." Serena shrugged it off. "I'll be fine... My mother used to bathe me in cold water all the time back when I was smaller really, it made me kinda used to cold." Ash was left speechless. "Is your mother a psychopath?" Serena covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. "Sometimes." 

As Ash grinned along as well for a few seconds, the idea of her household stayed in his mind. What was her childhood life really like? He knew the troubled past she had to a certain degree but that wasn't what he was interested in right now. "Serena..." Serena turned to her left slowly, looking at him with a gentle gaze. "What is it, sweetie?" Ash gulped. "I don't want to ruin the mood, or to rub off some old wounds but uh..." She tilted her head, to which Ash cursed silently at her for. He always found her cute whenever she did that. "I know how troubled your household was, much like mine to be frank but... I never got the chance to know how you ever really coped with it." His grip around her hands tightened. "Oh..." She said lightly, taking her gaze away from Ash to the city up ahead. "I guess... I couldn't." She turned back. "I... was rather antisocial and depressed, even in my adolescent years." Serena stated. "I never wanted to go out, I mean, I did but it was never like this." Ash looked at her eyes, examining her pupils. "I had let go of myself really, and even forgot about you, that's how much of a stranger I was to myself." He nodded slowly, taking it all in. "But... Then you jumped off of that freaking tower, and I remember that night very clearly." 

"I was at home, my mother had tried to make me do Rhydon racing again, or at least practice for it. I didn't want to but she insisted and there I was, with a bandage across my face, being all sassy to her. I then sat down and watched you jump off for Pikachu, then get saved by the Masked Blaziken. It was a weird night to be sure, but I think it made me remember who I was again. Just remembering you, have led to me becoming a better person because of it." She slowly tightened her own grip of Ash's hand. "That's why you're such an inspiration for me, Ash." She leaned in a little bit more. "I am who I am, because of you, dork."