A Fire Against the Ice - amour

Chapter Two - A Snowy Situation

Ash laid there in the snow for about ten minutes before he decided that he needed to go after Serena. He didn't care how mad she was, he needed to apologize and make things better. Ash felt differently about Serena than any other travel companion he had ever had. She was kind and strong, and she cared so much about him; always being the loudest one to cheer him on and being the first person to rush to his side when he was hurt. He may have been dense, but her actions never went unnoticed. Ash stood up and clenched his fists. He needed to find her.

Serena rubbed at her cheeks, trying to wipe away the tears that had slowly been getting icy. The wind was picking up and the snow was falling faster. It was progressively getting harder to see, along with the snow being around five inches tall on the ground now. But she kept walking - no destination, just a pain in her heart guiding her along.

Ash figured calling out to Serena in hopes of finder her wasn't a good idea. He didn't want to make her more upset, and he definitely didn't want to scare her or make her run off. Her footprints were being covered by the falling snow at a slightly alarming rate, so he knew he had to act fast.

She kept walking, although much slower than previously. It was windy and freezing, and she was aware that she needed to find some sort of shelter as quickly as possible. Serena continued her trek until she heard a branch crack several yards behind her. She gasped and whipped around to see what she could only guess was a wild pokemon coming after her. To her surprise, a raven haired boy stumbled out from a thick row of evergreens.
"A-Ash?" she called out with chattering teeth.
"Serena!" he yelled, doing his best to run through the thick snow to reach her. He grabbed onto her arm, sending a strange warm sensation through his body. Even Ash knew it was far too cold out for that to just be her body heat. He pretended not to see her blushing lightly and pulled her along.

The two teens managed to stumble into a small cave lodged into a rocky outcrop. After fifteen or so more minutes of plowing through the snow they were grateful to have found anything. Letting go of each other's hands, they both collapsed on the floor on the smooth stone serving as the cave's flooring.
"Looks like we barely made it. There's supposed to be a massive snowstorm tonight and it's obviously picking up already," Serena said, breathing heavily from exhaustion. She furrowed her brows for a second, hunching over to rest her head on her knees. "All of my pokemon are with Clemont and Bonnie at the Pokemon Center. I guess I'm stuck out here alone," she whimpered while tangling her fingers in her hair. Ash stood quietly and moved to her side. He wrapped his arm around her and gave her a small hug for comfort, whispering softly to her, "you will never be alone as long as I am here."
The honey blonde girl picked her head up and nuzzled herself into Ash's chest. They sat there together for a few minutes, both of their cheeks turning bright pink. Each were glad the other couldn't see their face.
"I'm going to go look for anything we can build a fire with. Then we can warm up and get these damp clothes off - I don't want you to get sick you know," winked the boy. Serena felt her face heat up once again as Ash removed his hand from her side and went out to look for dry logs along the outcropping.
"I'll be careful, I promise. I don't want you to worry more than you already are."