Time Heals All Wounds, Right?

A Small Realization

Serena POV
   "Why not?" My heart was aching as if it had been shattered into a thousand pieces.
"I just spent years looking for your and now that you're finally here you're telling me that you're leaving again? That's just not fair…" I was trying my best to keep myself from breaking down.

"It's… better this way. People will respect you this way." And that's when it dawned on me. All this time I knew I had done something wrong but I could never fully put my finger on it. I always assumed that when I kissed Calem, that's when I broke Ash's heart, but it wasn't. It was when I chose the opinions of thousands of people who didn't in any way care about me and abandoned the one person who was always by my side. The one person who would do what I did and go to hell and back looking for the person they truly love. And I had just done it again. Only this time I knew what to do.

"I don't care." I turned to look in his eyes and saw something that I missed for the longest time. I saw hope.

"What do you mean?" Before either of us could do anything, almost as if it was all just pure instinct, I grabbed Ash by the collar and pulled him into a kiss. Why? Because what I meant was something that could not be described by words. I kissed him for a few seconds but when he didn't kiss back I started to pull away before he grabbed onto my waist and pulled me back in. I knew he still felt the same after all this time.

Ash POV
   The second her lips crashed onto mine all the memories of the good times we had flew back. Back from summer camp, back during our travels through Kalos, I felt all my sadness fade away. She started to pull away but I didn't want the moment to end so I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to me. She had just shown me her feelings and now it was time for me to show her mine. She brought her arms and wrapped them around my neck while I just held her even tighter. Part of me was happy to know she felt the same, but the other part was just falling to pieces. I'm not sure what caused me to whether it had been sadness or joy but I pulled away and turned around.

"What's wrong Ash?" She asked in a slightly shocked tone.

"We can't do this… it's not right." I told her not  making eye contact.

"What. Why not?" She asked with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"You can't fall in love with someone you just met." I turned to see confusion on her face.
I took a deep breath before continuing, " The Ash Ketchum you knew is gone, he's now just replaced by this hollow shell you see before you. I know deep down how cold I've grown to be, I abandoned all my friends, my family…"

I fell to my knees as I expressed the emotions that had been haunting me since the day I decided to leave. " I abandoned you…"

There was a long silence between us. Neither of us knew what to say. The time we traveled together we always supported one another but now we were both lost. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as an attempt to calm myself down. When I opened them there was a hand reaching out for me. I looked up and saw Serena looking at me with a warm smile.

"Come on get up." I reached for her hand and she helped me rise to my feet. "My name's Serena what's yours?" 

"W-what?" I croaked out.

She sighed and then spoke, "we all have things we regret… sometimes it's better to have a second chance at things."

For the first time in years a genuine smile formed on my lips.  "Hi, I'm Ash." and I spoke words that I thought I would never say again. "Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." I reached for her hand with my own but instead of shaking here, I grabbed on and pulled her close to me.

"And I will be the greatest Pokemon Master of all time." I said before giving Serena a careful kiss that I broke after a few seconds.

"You're so warm now." She said while snuggling in my arms. " I always knew you were in there."

"I guess I was." I led her over to my bed and we laid down with Serena falling asleep almost instantly. Slowly I caressed her hair and I vowed, "I will never let anything happen to my friends, family or… you." I smiled at her once again. "My little Straw Hat Girl," I spoke out as I too drifted into sleep.