Amourshipping : One Day Off

Chapter 13

Ash's eyes began to flicker and he began to stir. His eyes suddenly shot open, and he found himself shooting up, sitting himself up. He had been laid down in the ground, next to a large fallen tree to his right. He felt like he should be in pain, but in actuality, he wasn't scathed whatsoever. 

"Ahhh... My head..." He gritted his teeth, and clutched his forehead. Whatever had happened to him had left him with a sore headache. 

"Pika pi" 

"Ash, you're awake!" 

To his left, he saw Serena knelt next to him, with a look of relief visible on her face. Pikachu was with her, and jumped onto his trainers shoulder and nuzzling his cheeks. 

"Good to see you too, buddy." Ash smiled. 

"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena asked him, a relieved yet at the same time, worried look on her face made itself known. 

"Oh, Serena... You're safe. Thank God..." Ash said, acknowledging her, thankful for her safety. A small smile appeared on his lips. Despite his throbbing headache, he was more concerned about her condition. "You're not hurt, are you?" 

Serena shook her head. "I'm okay. I woke up a while ago though. I watched over you while you were asleep, made sure you were okay. You seemed... Restless. I was worried..." 

"How long have we been asleep?" Ash asked, confused. Pikachu shook his head, indicating he did not know. They had been asleep? Well, thinking about it, that made the most logical sense. How else would they get here?

"An hour I think... You've been out for about 20 minutes longer than me..." 

"I see..." Ash said, still a bit dazed and dizzy. "Well, thanks for watching over me." He then looked around their surroundings. They had been taken to a denser part of the forest, but had been left in a clearing. The path had been cut off by grown roots, no doubt caused by the Pokémon native to this forest using growth, meaning the path only lead one way. They were sat by a fallen tree in the clearing, the only one that he could notice. And surrounding them, nothing but a thick surrounding of trees, some of which looked to be hundreds of years old. Ash questioned where in the heck they even were at this point. Had they been taken deeper into the forest, or was there a clearing nearby? 

"Ash..." 

Ash refocused his attention to Serena. She was looking down to the ground, and her arms were shaking. "You okay, Serena?"

Serena faced Ash. She had tears in her eyes. She only looked at him for a second, before flinging her arms around him and tightening hugging him. "I was so worried about you! I was terrified that you wouldn't wake up! That you'd leave me here..."

Ash sat there In shock for a moment. He had no idea. He had known she hadn't been keen on forests since she had been younger, but she hadn't broken down like this before. He also knew she wasn't an especially strong person emotionally, no stronger than he was, but he knew she was usually much stronger than this. Could it be she was worried that she would be left alone, that he would go after she had waited for him for so long, just as the two of them were finally together, and happy? When he thought about that, and what Serena had said, he hugged her back, smiling to himself. She really did care. And she really did love him.

"Sorry, Serena. I promise, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not gonna leave you. Ever." He pulled away from Serena, to look her in the eyes. "I love you. And I'm gonna stay next to you for as long as I live."

Ash then pulled her back into another hug, one that wasn't as tight, but equally as warm and comforting. Serena let Ash hold her, and moved closer to him.