Everything's Fair in Love and War - An Amourshipping story

Chapter 5 - Her Smile

"A very good morning, your highness" Brock greeted Ash, as soon as he stepped down from his carraige " Hope you had a good nights rest"

"Good Morning Brock, and yes I had a good night's rest"

He nodded and motioned to the entrance of the institute.  Ash and his soldiers followed Brock into it's extravagant campus. Even though his face was placid and calm on the outside, he was a mess on the inside.

He was fearing the worst. His sleep deprivation could cause lack of concentration, he might find himself face to face with a situation beyond his knowledge of fencing, he might probably even embarrass himself and bring disgrace to his family and teacher.

"Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, instead focus on all the things that could go right"

He shook his head. Serena was right, all he had to do was to believe in himself. The match with the guard yesterday replayed in his head, his easy victory and the encouraging smile on Serena's face. He was satisfied.

Pleased and completely happy with himself, he gave a nod to Brock and went to change into his fencing gear.

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Ash stood face to face with his opponent. Both their faces covered with strong mesh as per the rules. But Ash didn't care about the person under the mask, it could be a world-class champion for all he cared. His destination was victory and he had to make sure he reached it.

"Let the match begin!" the referee announced.

His opponent didn't wait a second, the second the whistle went off, he sprinted towards Ash and swiped right towards his head. But Ash was quicker than he had expected and he effortlessly blocked it.

Ash's wrist moved on its own and with a small flick of his hand, he managed to throw his opponent off balance. Without giving a second for his recovery, Ash directed his sabre  towards his opponent's hand but he quickly got blocked.

Under his mask, Ash smirked. It was exactly what he wanted. He slowly swiped it down the opposing sabre, when he finally reached the opponent's palm he had successfully got his opponent stuck.

But he wasn't gonna back down so easily, using a trick that hadn't been use in a while, he swiftly managed to get Ash blocked. The prince's eyes opened in shock, but it was more of pleasure than of worry. He was glad that he gotten a worthy opponent, someone he could be proud about defeating.

If you could see his eyes, you would know that they clearly meant "It's on"

And so the match progressed. Swipe for swipe, trick for trick. Neither side was ready to back down, each of them was fully charged up, only and only wanting victory.

Brock watched from the sidelines. He was examining every one of Ash's moves and so far he was very pleased. It didn't seem like a battle fought by some one who received the news yesterday, it looked more like it was fought by someone who had been practicing for years. He was more than pleased, he was impressed and was immensely proud of his student.

But as all battles go, Ash's winning streak didn't last for long. A slight slip of his leg, which didn't go unnoticed by Brock, was easily taken advantage of. Throwing Ash off his guard, his opponent  got his sabre right above Ash's head. And with each push he was making it extremely hard for Ash to escape.

He squeezed his eyes shut and kept his position, trying his best not to give in. He was sweating profusely and his hands hurt; the painful reminder of failure flashed before him.

"If you feel like something's going wrong, just do this - " Serena said, flashing a smile "It'll make you happy, I'm sure of it"

So Ash smiled. "I'm not gonna let you win that easily" he mumbled under his breath. Putting his foot behind, he pushed the Sabre. The moment he put his foot back in position, his opponent's sabre flew out his hand and landed on the floor with a clang.

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After sending Ash off with his certificate and best wishes for the future, Brock walked to the changing room.

"What did I tell you?"

Alain looked up, "You were right" he said "That kind of confidence. It was something I haven't seen in ages"

"He was charged with this energy, something so powerful" he continued. "But I knew in his first move that he wasn't someone to be taken lightly"

"To be honest, I haven't seen Ash battle in a real long time, but from the last time we met, he has changed" Brock said "He was filled with a new passion"

"And you know what they say, only two things can make a man passionate" he added "An old grudge or a new found love"

A/N-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serena has the cutest smile ever.

SO KAWAII!!!!!