Pokémon Legacy: Come Back to Me

Chapter Six

Serena woke up the next morning, smiling. Ash kissed her last night. "Meowstic! He kissed me!" Serena whispered excitedly to her Pokémon, hugging him. She was just cuddling the blue Pokémon when there was a knock on her door. Confused, Serena got up and opened the door. The person standing there made her heart race.

"Ash, good morning. You're up early." Ash looked up and down at this beautiful girl standing in front of him and his mouth dried. Her hair was hanging around her body in curtains, and her tank top had ridden up slightly, so her toned stomach was exposed. She was also wearing really short sleeping shorts, which made Ash swallow hard. Pikachu bumped his face jokingly, which caused Ash to glare at the tiny Pokémon.

"Morning beautiful." He managed. "Uh, can I come in?" Serena nodded and stepped back, giving him room.

"What's up?" Serena asked. Ash looked at her, and he definitely looked worried about something. "Ash, you're not acting like yourself."

"I—" Ash scratched his head. "Serena,"

"What is it?"

"Look, I can't break up with Dawn, at least not until the Master Class, she's wanted this for so long, and we're supposed to be going to all the different places so she can get three Princess Keys, and I still care about her as a friend, but I'm totally committed to you, I promise, but if I broke up with her she'd be crushed, so can it wait until the Master Class?" Serena blinked, not understanding a thing Ash said.

"Ash, you're rambling. What did you just say?" Ash sighed and clenched his fists.

"Look, I really hate having to ask you this, especially after how badly I've hurt you, but can we keep our relationship in the dark for now? I love you, I truly do, but I can't break up with Dawn until after the Master Class, whether she wins or not. If I did, it'd crush her to pieces, and she wouldn't even try. She needs to get her three Princess Keys and compete in the Master Class, otherwise she'd never try anything ever again. That girl loves me, and I can't love her the way she's hoping I do, because I'm in love with you—I think I always was—but she's one of my best friends, and I can't hurt her like that. It would just be a repeat of what happened with you, and I don't know if I could handle the knowledge that I destroyed yet another person I was close to. And I can't handle the knowledge that, unlike with you, I wouldn't care at all if I hurt her, because I have you." Serena's mouth dropped open.

"So, let me get this straight. You're going to be cheating on Dawn with me, for however long it takes to get her to the Master Class, and I have to watch you be with her in public, when I only get you in private." Serena's eyes narrowed angrily. "Are you fucking serious right now Ash Ketchum?" Ash winced. "I'm supposed to be okay with this?"

"Serena," Ash started. Serena was pissed at Ash, and pissed at how her body trembled when he said her name like that. "You are absolutely not supposed to be okay with this, but I am serious. Look, Dawn is one of my best friends, and I'm asking you, no, begging you, to understand. Dawn is a really great girl, and she's extremely talented. If I were to come in and rip her apart, it would ruin not just the performer, but the person inside. As he friend I can't let that happen. I knew that when I agreed to go on the first date with her that it would be a bad idea, and probably end really messy."

"So why did you agree?" Ash closed his eyes, turning his face away from the seething girl before him.

"Because I thought I could be happy with her. And it's not fair to her at all that whenever I was with her, I was picturing you." Serena's breath caught in her throat. "And maybe if we hadn't come back here, I could've been happy for a time, but eventually it would explode." Ash opened his eyes and stared fiercely into Serena's blue ones. "When I left Kalos, I left my heart here too. It was battered and broken, tethered to yours."