Into The Unown

Healing

2 years ago...

The airport she sat in had the aesthetic and comfort of a dentists lounge. Serena couldn't wait to get out of the place. She sat in the farthest corner of the lobby, impatiently tapping her legs as she waited for the announcement to board the plane.

"Is that Serena?" A passerby said, "look in the corner there."

"Oh Gods no, she's too ugly to be Serena. She doesn't even have an eye."

I have an eye, it's just under a bandage.

At least the pair of them had the decency to whisper. Previous onlookers had come up to her, only to insult her to her face.

Were you trying to copy her style?

That's what you get for trying to copy someone.

Look. A botched plastic surgery!

These were just someone of the insults that were thrown around before she decided to sit in a corner, away from the predatory eyes.

Yes, Serena looked different. She had fought sepsis and gangrene and made it out without losing any limb. She had fought many things... some of which people couldn't even write about in books without getting flagged for violence. But Serena... she had survived those things and made it out alive.

But Serena didn't feel like a survivors, those thoughts in her head were all planted by Delia, who made sure she remembered everything by heart.

You are a warrior, Delia had told her before she left, these scars are a reminder that you fought and survived, never mistake them for anything else.

Serena's legs started to shiver as the wait for the plane got longer. Every noise that a passerby made, her laugh, every footstep, every conversation were reaching her ears, heightening her senses, and before she knew it, her bones had started to shiver.

Just few more hours until you're home. She tried to convince herself. But at this point, she was unaware of what home was. For as long as she could remember, Grace had been her home. Material things like houses didn't matter, only the warm embrace of her mother who always smelled like manure, did. But now, she was gone too.

Serena was alone.

"Hey," a hand caressed her shoulder.

Serena's head jolted in surprise and her hand reached for the gun that was given to her by Delia, but Ash quietly caught her other arm before the airport security could weigh in.

"It's me," he whispered, "it's just me."

Serena heaved a sigh of relief, she shifted her baggage, allowing him to settle down next to her.

"When I came to your room you were gone," he said, his eyes directly falling into hers, "I asked mum and she said you had already left for the airport, I was afraid I'd miss you."

"The... the plane is delayed," she said, every inch of skin in her body still shook from the initial encounter, "I... sorry I left with... without informing. The... the storm was coming so... so... the flights were going to be—"

Ash put one of his arm around her shoulder and the other on her knee, gently caressing her. Though no words were spoken, a thousand were conveyed. He quietly sat there next to her, carefully holding onto her like a vase destined to break.

Serena closed her eyes, focusing on nothing but hee breath.

In... out... in... out... in... out...

When her body stopped to shiver, she opened her eyes again. "I'm better now,"

Serena couldn't quite interpret the look that Ash wore underneath his mask, but his eyes looked sad. "Do you want me to stop holding you?"

"No, you can hold me."

The clocked moved on, people came and stared, whispered danced in the air and eventually the boarding started, but the two stayed still, holding each other in their embrace.

Serena didn't know where the time went, but when it did, an announcement was called for the last minute boarding to Kalos. If things were in her control, she would have stayed the way forever, but... if only.

"Did you come here to ask me to stay?"

Ash's silence spoke volumes.

"I don't want to stay," Serena defended herself, her voice cracking in the middle. "I... I don't want to go through it again."

"You won't," his grip tightened, "I promise."

"You promised last time,"

"And I kept my promise..." he took her hands into his, "I found you Serena."

Serenas throat ached as a lump of emotions etched themselves halfway between. "But it was late. What if next time—"

"There won't be a next time," he said. The sternness in his voice reminded her of the Ash she first met. The same Ash who swore he would become a Pokemon master, who had proved himself by achieving his dream. "I will protect you from everyone... including myself."

Serena trusted him. Ever after everything, she still trusted him. She knew what his answer would be even before she asked him the question. And yet, she still did.

"Come with me," her eyes twinkled with specs of tears, "let's leave everything behind and... let's leave."

Though Ash didn't say yes, he didn't let go of her either. "We can leave everything behind, Sere, but these things... they will follow us until the end of the world. They won't leave us. The only choice we have is to stay here and fight."

Everything hurt—her body, her mind and even her heart. The choice she was about to make was going to shatter her—mind, body and soul. But it was something she had to make. Something she needed to make.

"I'm done fighting," she broke down, "I don't want to—"

Ash engulfed her in a hug immediately. She buried her face in the crevice of his shoulder, breathing in the sunny smell of his hoodie. All of the emotions that she'd kept piled up were flowing out of her like a waterfall; Serena had tried... tried to be strong, but deep down she was just a scared little girl who had lost her mother.

"I love you, Sere," Ash said as he rubbed her back, "I will love you even after I'm dead. I will never let anything happen to you ever again. I promise you this." As she parted away, he wiped her tears. On his face was a placid smile. "Go, if you must. But just know that you will always have a home."

As she walked up the aisle, Serena expected him to stop her, to tell her that he had made a mistake and that he was willing to go with her. Even when the plane sat still in the runway, she expected him to run towards her, to take a seat next to her and fly away.

But when he didn't, Serena knew of the choice he'd made and the one she had.

She had to heal, and so, she would. With or without him.