Love in the Time of Trials

Chapter 12: A Paradise

I was glad the last chapter, a tricky one, was received well. Now we enter choppy waters, but I hope you all can see how I've built up to these points and where I'm going with all of it. I never do anything just for the sake of doing it. That said, time for Chapter 12!

Chapter 12

A Paradise

Ash had to admit that he was worried.

Normally, with his Grand Trial complete and Serena having earned her second Lei, they would have been in full-on celebration mode. That was what their dinner was planned to be, as well, that night. Having skipped lunch due to the Ceremony running much longer than Serena had thought (given her surprise at the notion), Ash had found himself extremely hungry, but wanting nothing more than to congratulate Serena. Three attempts to win a Lei on Akala could not have been an easy thing. It was the reason he was out of his seat as soon as he saw her heading back to the changing room. Maka was right behind him.

"Maybe I should include some sort of bathing suit scene..." Maka mused, tapping a pen against her chin as she did so, also stowing what looked to be a sketchpad into her messy bag. "I mean, give it some equal representation and the viewers would come in droves. Though I bet you wouldn't like that, Ash, if Serena was in a bikini the whole movie. But I guess if you were right next to her..."

"Uh...I think you'd have to ask her," Ash chuckled out to the girl. That only caused her to dive further into her musings. At least until they reached the changing room, which gave Ash time to give into his own musings. Serena looked a little different on the stage, and it certainly wasn't the amount of skin she was showing (not that he minded...kind of...). No, she seemed to have a different air about her, one that he couldn't quite place.

"Serena, amazing performance!" Maka called once they were at the room. Ash didn't peek his head in, just in case she was changing still. That fear proved pointless, since Serena was striding out, wearing her usual clothes and smile. Ash felt a bit relieved at that one. "You and Sharpedo worked surprisingly well together."

"It was a challenge," Serena laughed out. Ash didn't know why he thought so, but something about the way she was laughing felt forced to him. However, his stomach was gurgling, proving that he was hungry, and he chose to ignore it. "Guess we should get some food, hm?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. How about you, Pikachu?" Ash asked. Pikachu seemed rather pleased with the notion and the three returned to join up with the others. Ash gave a glance to Serena, noticing that she seemed a little distracted, fingering the box with her Leis. It made Ash want to reach over and take her hand, but he didn't want her to pull away.

"Congratulations, Serena!" Bonnie cheered when they reached the dining hall of the resort. It was bustling with people from the Ceremony, and Serena even looked around, as if searching for someone. When she was unable to locate said person, she merely shrugged it off.

"Thank you, Bonnie! We worked really hard for it." The echo of her voice sounded distracted and Ash couldn't understand why he was thinking that. It was beginning to bother him a little. "Thanks for supporting me, guys."

"I enjoyed it," Lana shared with them. She was usually so quiet, even through the whole Ceremony, that Ash had forgotten the girl was there. "You worked very nice with Sharpedo. I could tell he really enjoyed it."

"Enjoyed..." Serena mused out. She shook her head, her hair flopping around. "Well, let's all enjoy dinner."

"Indeed," Clemont stated, pulling out a seat excitedly. "We have a busy day tomorrow, so let's fill up on food while we can!" It was more than evident how psyched he was for the visit to Aether Paradise the next day; the inventor had been jittery on his seat the entire Ceremony, except for the moments Lana had glared at him for distracting her.