Settling Down

Chapter 6: 2B A Queen

Serena's eyes shot open at 5am sharp, as her alarm beeped loudly. She wasted no time at all and smacked it off. Then she was up and out of bed within seconds. It had been a very long time since Serena felt this motivated about something. Her journey with Ash was mostly just her tagging along and supporting him. But now it was her turn. The roles were reversed. She went through her usual morning routine and got herself ready for what was sure to be an important day.

Some time later, Serena emerged from her room with everything packed and ready. They weren't due to leave for another hour or so, but Serena wanted to make sure everything was prepared in advance. Then as she placed her travel bag down by the door, she wondered where Ash was. She made her way over to his room and knocked on the door. No answer. He hadn't forgotten had he, wondered Serena? Surely not. He knew how much this meant to her. She knocked again and silence followed once more. Serena frowned.

'We agreed to be up early...' mumbled Serena to herself.

Then she decided to slowly open the door, a little reluctantly. She didn't want to intrude, but time was ticking and Ash needed to be ready to go. Serena only opened it a little though and just poked her head in. But there was nothing to see. Ash was gone.

'Huh? Where is he?'

Serena opened the door fully and put her hands on her hips. Then Serena heard something out the window. She opened it and looked outside to the back garden. And there sure as day, was the man himself. Ash was already up and doing stretches with Pikachu. He was facing away from her and hadn't seen her yet. Serena chuckled to herself.

'Of course. The early bird gets the worm, right,' she whispered to herself.

Serena decided to stay and watch the show for a bit, as she rested her arm on the windowsill. She had been in this position many times before, watching Ash from afar carry out his morning routine when he wasn't looking. It was one of her favourite times of the day when she was travelling with him last. Plus, it was a great excuse to drool over how fit he was without being caught. Ash was always too focused to notice her, so Serena kept a watchful eye on him and almost forgot what she was meant to be doing today. Ash was just too damn distracting. But the drool fest ended abruptly, when Ash unexpectedly turned around and spotted her while doing a backwards arm stretch.

'Oh! Rena! Didn't see you there! Morning!'

Serena's eyes widened in shock. She never normally got caught. It was as if Ash knew she was staring this time. Serena got startled and her arm slipped from the window, causing her to nearly fall backwards. Thankfully, she kept her balance and quickly composed herself. She felt rather embarrassed and though it was quite dark, Ash could see a flush of bright red appearing on her cheeks. All in front of her crush, no less.

'Uh, you okay?'

'Yeah! My arm just slipped, that's all!' 

Serena laughed it off awkwardly and leant back on her arm and grinned at him. 

'Real smooth, Serena,' she said, in her head.

'Huh, well as long as you're alright... But hey! What are you doing in my room?'

'Oh! Yeah! Sorry! I just wondered where you were, so I knocked on your door and came in. I hope you don't mind.'

'Oh, right. No worries. You've found me now! Come join me and Pikachu outside! We gotta get in shape for our journey! We've been too out of touch lately!'

Ash started doing squats and beckoning her to come. Serena nodded enthusiastically and rushed out to join them and let out her Pokemon to join in too. It was quite chilly, but the workout would warm Serena up in no time. And Ash was right. Serena really was out of touch and struggled to keep up with Ash. Going on a journey required a lot of physical fitness, especially with Ash, as Clemont had painfully learnt in the past. After a brutal reality check on the state of her fitness, the sun began to rise in the brightest of yellows and oranges. Ash and Serena both took a pause for the cause to watch it.