My Amour

Maybe Tomorrow

"... and we all get to be in the same class pretty much every day! You're gonna love them!" Ash said as they approached the outside of the restaurant. Through the window, Ash could make out the varied hair colours of his Alolan friends. Good, they were here.

"Hey guys!" Ash called out as he threw open the door to Mallow's restaurant. Sat in their usual corner were all of his classmates, who glanced up to regard him.

Instead of the warm welcome Ash expected, he was instead met with five faces of complete shock. Immediately, his five Alolan friends turned to each other and began to whisper. Ash faltered, but before he could even blink his friends were looking back at him, all smiles.

Weird.

Ash shook off the strange interaction and approached them, with Serena following close behind.

"See guys," Ash said, slipping into his usual seat. "I told you I could get her here."

Mallow clapped her hands together. "Awesome! We've got so many questions!" Within moments, the conversation had turned into a rapid firing of small talk, with introductions being made and questions being asked about hobbies, careers, and dreams. Ash smiled as he glanced around the table. It was always fun, seeing friends new and old interact. Despite how different every single one of his friends were, they all shared one thing. They were all good people.

As Serena and Mallow began to sink into a discussion about baking, Ash felt himself drift into a quiet calm. He was already tired when he woke up, and the events of the day had only drained him further. Surely nobody would notice if he closed his eyes for just a little bit...

~~~

"...And if you homogenize the butter well early, it makes for a way better texture when you start shaping the dough!" Mallow finished, before sheepishly adding, "At least, that's what my mom tells me."

Serena nodded, carefully storing the information for later. She often prided herself on her baking skills, and anything she got from Mallow would be sure to help.

"Thanks, the only thing I've ever been super good at making is PokéPuffs, and I've been hoping to branch out a little." Serena said as she turned her head, already preparing to answer Ash's usual question of when she'd have another batch of them ready.

But the raven-haired trainer was fast asleep, his head resting against the wall. He'd passed out sitting up, which Serena was certain couldn't be comfortable. She reached out to lower him down onto the table in front of him, but before she could reach him her hand faltered.

It would be weird to touch him, right? They hadn't yet slipped back into the casual physical contact they had last year, and the hug that they'd shared earlier that day had been... stilted. Serena knew exactly why.

They'd kissed.

Instantly, Serena brought the hand that'd been reaching out to Ash to her own lips.

Of course they still tingled.

Sometimes, it was a bit of a shock to her system that she'd actually done it. Hardly a year ago, she'd actually gotten up the nerve to plant one on Ash. She still truly didn't know what had made her do it. Was it because she was riding the high of moving forward properly with her dream? Because she didn't know how long it would be before they saw each other again? Because maybe, truly, it would be the best way to put a sense of finality on her little (huge) crush, and become a catalyst for her to finally move on?

Serena still didn't know. Maybe it was just because it felt like the right thing to do at the time.

Ash made a little noise, and shifted slightly. His hat began to slide off his head, revealing the shocking mess of hair that crowned the trainer's head. In all their time traveling, Serena could never recall a moment where those black locks were neat. Her mind ran through countless memories of seeing her friend wake up with the craziest bedhead, only to cover it with his cap.