1. Ash's Story (Part 0: Prologue)

Chapter 7: Firelit Dreams

Fiero City greeted visitors with steam before it greeted them with streets. Warm mist curled from stone vents along the sidewalks, drifting past lantern posts and flower boxes built from dark volcanic rock. Hot springs ran beneath the city like hidden veins, warming bathhouses, kitchens, and the Fire Gym.

Ash fanned himself with a folded brochure from the train station. He had survived forests, castles, secret labs, and training yards, but Fiero's humid heat made him look personally betrayed.

"It is hot here," Ash said, waving the brochure harder. "Does Fire Gym training include learning how not to melt?"

Serena walked beside him with both hands clasped behind her back. Usually, she would have laughed or told him he was being dramatic. Today, she barely seemed to hear him. Her eyes remained on the road ahead, but her thoughts were somewhere much farther away than Fiero City.

Ash slowed near a steaming vent. "Serena?"

She startled, nearly stepping into a puff of steam rising from the pavement. "Eek! Yes?"

Ash tilted his head. "You did not answer me."

Serena blinked at him, then flushed when she realized she had missed the question. "Sorry. I was thinking."

"About what?" Ash asked gently.

"Nothing important," Serena said too quickly.

Ash stopped walking, and after a few more steps, Serena noticed and stopped too. "Your face says it is important," he said.

Serena looked away, embarrassed by how easily he saw through her. "It is only about Helen."

"Your sister?" Ash asked, remembering Helen.

Serena nodded. "She won the Master Chef Junior competition in Sevestar, and everyone keeps talking about her restaurant menu. The hotel is busier than ever because people want to taste what she made."

Ash smiled. "That sounds great."

"It is," Serena said, then immediately felt guilty because the words came out smaller than they should have. "I am proud of her. I am."

Ash folded the brochure and held it against his chest. "But?"

Serena's shoulders sank. "Helen already found something she loves. She cooks, people smile, and she knows what she wants next. I challenged Mom in the Skiddo race because I wanted her to see that I could choose my own path, but I still do not know what path I am choosing."

Ash listened without interrupting. That was something he had learned from Aurora after too many moments when he tried to fix pain before understanding it. Serena did not need him to hand her a dream like a borrowed scarf. She needed space to admit she did not have one yet.

"Not everyone finds a dream at the same time," Ash said. "Helen found cooking early. Goh found Mew in his head after seeing it for two seconds. Nate found books before he found half the rooms in the library."

Serena laughed despite herself. "Nate would call that research."

"He would," Ash agreed. "But you do not have to be Helen or Goh or Nate. You can travel, train, try things, and decide later."

Serena looked at the steam curling around her shoes. "What if later becomes too late?"

Ash's smile faded because that question touched the place inside him that still feared waiting. Still, Serena's fear was not the same as his, and he forced himself not to answer with panic.

"Then we help each other notice when later is turning into never," Ash said carefully. "But right now, you are still looking. Looking is not failing."

"You sound like Aurora," she said.