A Dream, A Destiny 2

Epilogue - I believe

Ash POV

Months of intense internal debate and soul-searching, weeks of planning and hours of fine-tuning to get things just right had culminated into me getting down on bended knee in front of Sere, holding the ring I hoped she would let me slip on her finger.

And yet I still didn't know if she would say yes.

The look of astonishment on her pretty face wasn't giving me anything positive to work with. Her eyes were huge and her mouth was slightly ajar, giving her a 'deer caught in headlights' air.

"Serena? Did you hear me?" I asked, staring up at her frozen features. Hey, maybe her shock was due to seeing me on one knee in front of her and she actually hadn't heard a word of my proposal! It was pretty windy up here. I tried again, clearing my throat nervously. Here goes nothing. "Will you marry me and- at the risk of sounding mega corny- make me the happiest guy in the world?"

Swallowing as her hand slipped to her throat, Sere managed to splutter, "Ash- I- what?" Okay, so she wasn't speaking in full sentences, but that was a start.

"Huh?"

"Is this a joke?" Sere whispered, her eyes almost willing me to admit that I was just playing a mean prank on her, some sort of vicious mind game, and there was actually a candy ring in the box, as opposed to a platinum plated blue sapphire and diamond ring that I had picked out just for her.

I couldn't help cracking a smile as I replied, my knee cramping. "Serena Yvonne, I'm kneeling in front of you with an engagement ring in a box, asking you to marry me. Trust me, it's not a joke."

I mean, I had gone through a lot of trouble to get things perfect for tonight. Contrary to what I told her, I actually flew into Lumiose city early yesterday morning so that I would have enough time to put my plans into action. Yeah, that's how I knew about it raining yesterday. Seriously, I've got better things to do than check the Weather Network when I'm not even in the region. I spent almost two hours in jewelry stores, finally settling on a beautifully simple ring.

I thought that Sere would appreciate a gorgeous, non-flashy ring, but apart from the initial first glance, she hadn't even looked at it. After buying the ring, I headed to a stationery store to buy the huge piece of paper, hopped on the ferry to coumarine park, switched the letter I had written 5 years ago for my handwritten proposal, arranged for a surprise that would only happen after Sere accepted my proposal and she was asking me if this was a joke. Just how malicious would I have to be to go to all this trouble for a joke. Pretty malicious, I'd say.

"Ash- stand up."

"Um, I'm pretty sure that I have to be on one knee when I propose," I replied semi-teasingly, shrugging as I looked up at her. Sere's forehead creased as I continued. "You know, for effect and all that-."

Her voice firm, Sere cut in. "Get up." The tone of her voice didn't change but the way her lips tightened and her eyes hardened made me realize that, for whatever reason, Sere was pissed the hell off. I didn't want to piss her off more by not adhering to her wishes or maybe I did since angry Serena had always been able to turn me on so I scrambled to my feet in a hurry, groaning as blood started recirculating through my leg. Crap, I was in for a major attack of pins and needles now.

I sighed to myself as I looked into Sere's face, her Ocean-coloured eyes filled with bewilderment and irritation. Okay, so maybe I had gone about this the wrong way. We hadn't seen each other in two years, she thought I was madly in love with someone else and I came back and dropped a proposal on her without any warning. Yeah, I can see how that would throw someone for a loop.

"Sere, listen-," I started, unable to get over the anger flashing in her eyes. I hated having Sere mad at me, hated it almost as much as I hated seeing her cry.