There was something about waking up with Serena in his arms, who was still sleeping soundly, that Ash loved. He could never figure out what it was. Weather it was the fact he felt so lucky to have her, or because Serena was simply the best person he had ever met, or the even more simplified reason, because he loved her, was something he didn't know, and that he'd have to figure out himself. It was a mixture of all three, of course, but seeing her sleeping peacefully, and Ash thinking about how long he would get to see that calm, peaceful face for the rest of his life filled him with a calming joy.
She was still asleep. The only downside to this was that he couldn't move. Well, he could, but that would mean waking Serena, something at he had no intention of doing. Instead, he laid there.
He thought about Serena's words last night. How she had comforted him, what she had said. How she had made him think. She had single handedly cured him of his depression and negative thinking. He thought to himself, while he may never see Goodra again, they would always be friends. And even so... He had Serena.
"Chuuuuu..." Ash heard Pikachu stretch from the foot of the bed, before rolling over. He smiled, and stifled a chuckle to himself. And Pikachu as well.
Still, he felt bad. He felt guilty. Not to do with Goodra, but that he had caused Serena to worry. Serena above everyone else. Pikachu was used to seeing him like this, he had seen him like that a few times, and had assured Ash that he completely understood. Clemont was a gym leader, so he must have gone through spouts of depression like that. Bonnie had Clemont to explain it to her. For her age, she had been remarkably mature about the subject, no doubt due to Clemont's explanations. Or perhaps Dedene's own upset at Goodra's depart. Either way.
That just left Serena. Ash looked at her again. Even if she understood... It didn't sit right with him. She was his girlfriend. He shouldn't worry her like that. He never meant to make anyone worry at any point, but with Serena, it was different. He wasn't sure what he wouldn't do to ease her mind. He sighed and thought to himself. What could he do to make it up to her?
He was about to give up and go back to sleep some more, when he saw Serena's tablet on the desk to the right, just catching it from the corner of his eyes. He stared it down for a second. Debating internally. What's the harm? He reached over and grabbed it, flipped it open, and held it above him, so as not to wake Serena up with the light.
"What is there to do in this place?..." Ash muttered to himself. He flipped through the tabs already open. It was mostly travel guides and maps, aside from one. Emails. Ash intended to just skip right over it after realizing what it was, but his eyes were grabbed by his name being written several times in it. It was a letter to her mother. Serena must have forgotten to send it last night.
'Dear Mom, we reached Irashu Town yesterday, which is on the way to Ashs next gym battle. Ash was really upset about something that had happened recently, something I think he finds personal, but I think I cheered him up. Which reminds me, you do remember Ash, right? Little bit shorter than me by about an inch, scruffy hair, handsome, cute boy, my old friend from camp."
Ash put the tablet down briefly. It occurred to him that they wouldn't have had time. This was a letter to confess their relationship to Grace. Ash went dark red. He knew he shouldn't read it, he knew he shouldn't... And yet... He sighed. Just this one time. He was curious to know what she thought of him in her private thoughts. In the end, human curiosity got the best of him, despite his best intentions.
'Well, Mom, I'm not too sure how to say it without either surprising you or making you disapprove, so I'll be blunt about it ; Me and him are dating now. Ash is my boyfriend. You've always told me I'm too young to have a boyfriend, but Ash makes me happy. He makes me feel safe, and I've always loved him. For a really long time. And now, I'm the happiest I've ever been. My only upset is that I may never get to truly convey just how much I love him. He means the world to me. Everything. I work ever stop loving him, and I won't let anything stop me. I thought you should know, that's all.'
The rest of the letter went into detail about her performances and their travels. Ash went a deep shade of scarlet. She had just essentially bragged about him to her mother.
Ash smiled at the letter, before letting out a sigh. "I'm gonna have to tell her I saw it." He decided. It would be a thousand times better than her finding out herself. Regardless of this, he continued searching on her tablet, making sure to avoid her email again, looking for something... "Gotcha." He smiled once he had found it. He read it briefly. Only needing a couple of things from the tablet before being satisfied, he put it back down in the desk where he had found it.
No sooner had he put it back on the table than Serena began to stir from her sleep. He shook for a second, gripped her hand into Ash's chest, before her body relaxed, and she opened her eyes, taking a second to blink away the sleep that was in her eyes, before looking up to Ash. "Morning, Ash..." She replied, very sleepily.
"Uh, morning, Serena." Ash said.
"What's wrong?"
Ash scratched his head and looked around the room. "Uh... I kinda have something to confess... I uh, kind of, sort of, saw your email to your mother."
"You did what?" Serena asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The tone wasn't an angry one, but one of genuine confusion. "What do you mean? What email?"
"I was using your tablet for something... And I accidentally scrolled onto your email tab, and saw what you wrote..."
Serena looked at Ash for a second, then shrugged. Maybe it was because she was so sleepy, but she didn't mind at all. "I thought I'd sent that..."
"Uh, I guess not. Here." Ash said, showing her the message, written and unspent. Serena re-read it quickly. Her face went pink afterwards.
"Oh. You saw this message?... Well... It's my fault for not making sure I sent it..."
"You're not mad?" Ash asked. He had honestly half expected a slap in the face. Most of the other girls he knew had requested - no, demanded their privacy to such matters.
Serena tapped the send button, and up came the little animation of a Pidgey delivering it to her mother. "Not at all." She smiled at Ash. "You know I don't hide anything from you. It's fine if you want to use it to look something up, I don't have any problem with it. You were honest at least, so I know I can trust you with it." She leaned in and kissed Ash's cheek. "So don't worry. What were you using it for, anyway?"
"Uh... I, um, kind of felt bad about you having to deal with me being depressed over the last few days. So... I wanted to take you out for a bit, see what's going on around the town." Ash explained. "As a way of saying sorry, I guess."
Serena's smile slowly grew larger as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder, and nestled herself under the nape of Ash's neck. "I'd wanted to go look around this place with you since we got here... I didn't ask because you were depressed." She closed her eyes with a smile and snuggled up closer to him. "Thank you."
Ash smiled. "I thought we could see this park the town seems proud of. It says it's nice for couples. I was thinking we could -"
Ash was cut off by Serena throwing herself into Ash in a grand big hug. "I love you Ash!"
"Oof! What's this for?"
"Well, we haven't actually been on a date yet, have we?"
Ash thought back. Thinking about it, she was right, they had been so focused on her showcase, then getting from one town to the next, they hadn't actually had time for a date since they were together. "Now that you mention it, no, we haven't."
Serena smiled. "I've wanted to see this park that's so famous here. I can't wait to see it!"
Ash smile back at her, happy he had made her happy. He was glad he had decided to do this. "Yeah, me neither."
Clemont and Bonnie had gone off on their own to explore the town. They had been planning to look around anyway, so Ash and Serena's date had title to no effect on them. They would have been stuck in the town anyway, so it had all worked out perfectly for everyone.
"Hey Ash, do you want me to look after Pikachu for you?" Bonnie had asked .ash before they had parted ways. "That way, you and Serena can be alone together." There was a slightly suggestive tone towards the end of that. Ash was becoming increasing concerned as to where the hell she had gotten these remarks from.
"Serena, what do you want?" Ash had asked. Serena was a little surprised that Ash asked her first. Usually he would go straight to Pikachu. She assumed Pikachu and Ash had talked recently, and Pikachu was fine either way. "It's fine with me either way." She answered, with a smile at Pikachu. She didn't mind if Pikachu was there, but she wouldn't mind Ash and her being alone either.
"What'dya think, buddy?" Ash asked his partner Pokémon.
"Pika pi, Pikachu." Pikachu had given his answer, jumping onto Bonnies head playfully,, making an excited squeal as it did so. "Pika pika, pika pi."
"Less sass, buddy. I'm starting to think Bonnies starting to rub off on ya." Ash said with a joking smile, getting a laugh from both Pikachu and Bonnie.
"We could look after the rest of your Pokémon was well if you'd like." Clemont offered.
Both Ash and Serena nodded to this suggestion. They handed their Pokéballs to Clemont, and Ash, seeing her wanting to help, gave one to Bonnie, containing his Fletchinder. "Be careful with him."
"I will, I will." Bonnie nodded.
And that was how Ash and Serena found themselves alone in a town they had never visited before, exploring the sites and investigating the sounds that surrounded them. Serena was hugged onto Ash's arm, holding it tightly, refusing to let go. Her grip was strong, and Ash doubted he could pry her off even if he had wanted to. At the same time, it was gentle too. It didn't feel forced at all.
The walked around the town, and occasionally pointed out something that interested either themselves or the other, showing it to the other person. With lots of shops and locations in this town, this happened fairly often.
It was evening before long. The couple had waited this long under a recommendation by the people in the town, and according to the information they had read. Serena flipped open her tablet. "If we go down this street, we should get to the park this town talks about so much."
The two walked down into the park together. It was said to bring an everlasting love to the couples who entered it. It's beauty was amazing. Natural lights from Pokémon like Volbeat and Illumise gave off a light that was dim, yet providing, allowing them to see where and what was going on. Trees and brush, well maintained, helped bring a serene calming influence to the park. A force, not a physical one, but one of the ones you could feel spiritually around you sometimes, provided the romantic feeling, setting and thoughts into each and every person who stepped foot within the gardens.
Ash and Serena barely said anything to each other after entering the garden. They didn't need to. The scenery spoke for itself. There wasn't a need to tell each other how beautiful the area was. They already knew.
They say together, leaned on one another, and watched as the stars filled the sky overhead. They held their hands in one another's, and Serena rested her head on Ash's shoulder. It was beyond perfect. There was nothing either of them could even think of that they would want more than this moment right here. Not the Kalos league victory for Ash, nor the title of Kalos Queen for Serena. This moment was all they wanted. All they needed.
"Hey, Ash?" Serena said, interrupting their silence.
"Yeah, Serena?" Ash asked, still watching the sky.
"The sky is pretty, isn't it?"
"Yeah. Really pretty."
"...Am I...Pretty?"
Ash looked at an embarrassed Serena and smiled. He cupped her cheek with his hand and made her look at him, lightly pinching her cheek in the process "Oh Serena, I'd love you even if you weren't so adorable, if that's what you're asking."
Serena blushed, flustered, but smiling.
"You know," Ash said again, "I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing right now. Here, with you, in this park, feeling like this. I couldn't think of a better feeling."
"What about winning the Kalos league?" Serena questioned him, smiling as she took ahold of the hand Ash had on her cheek. Manipulating his own goal against him, she teased him in good humor.
"I'd give up that chance to see you happy. No question." Ash told her.
Serena hugged his arm. "The same here... I'd happily stop my performances if it meant you'd be happy."
The two of their faces were close enough to that their cheeks rubbed against one another's, like a Pikachu or a Dedenne. Ash spoke first. "You know I'd never ask you to give up your dream, right? "
Serena nodded. "Me neither."
The two looked up again into the sky. Serena saw a bright star in the sky. One that filled her with wonder. She had heard of the phrase, 'reach for the Stars' when she was little, and she had thought that stars were people who had reached the sky when she was little. She had always wanted to join them, until she learnt what stars really were. She recognized the star she saw as the North Star.
"Ash? Let's make a promise."
Ash turned to Serena. "What do you mean?"
Serena pointed, "You see that star?"
"Yeah."
"Well, let's make a wish on it."
Ash was confused, but Serena did a demonstration. She put her hands together, as though she were praying, and looked up to the star. "I promise that I won't ever stand between Ash and his dreams. I'll help him, and love him, until the day I die. One day, I'll look back up at this star, when I'm old and frail, and look back on my life with Ash, and realize I've had a long, perfect life, with the perfect guy."
Ash was genuinely moved by her words. "Serena..."
Serena smiled at him. "Your turn!"
Put on the spot, and put his hands together, and brainstormed for a few seconds. "I... I promise to... I promise to look after Serena. To never let her go, help her when she's down, pick her up when she falls, and help her every step of the way. I'll never stop Serena from reaching her dreams. I'll help make them come true. I love you, Serena."
The two of them looked each other in the eyes. Nothing else needed saying for the whole night.
A sharp bing noise filled the air. Serena's tablet before either of them could say anything to the other. Serena quickly looked for it, pulling out of her bag. Glancing at it, and reading for a couple of second, She smiled, before holding it out for Ash. "Here, have a look. I think you'll like this."
Ash took the tablet into his hands and scanned what Serena had just read. He found himself on one of Serena's emails for the second time today, only this time, she had been on the receiving end. Grace had replied. Ash didn't know when Serena had actually sent the message she had written, they had been together all day and he had never seen it with her. Grace had been surprisingly okay with the whole idea of the two of them dating, and apparently had a feeling that this was going to happen. She also had said she was glad Serena had chosen to defy her for something that truly made her happy, unlike the times when she was a child, who apparently defied her for the sake of it.
Ash's grin grew wider every word he read. He passed it back to Serena, who smiled back at him. Grace had been one story. Ash thought to himself about his own mother. How would she take it? He wasn't worried about it that much, unlike Serena would have been, his mother wasn't that type of person, but he could think of a few people who might over react...