fates collide // an ash xy love story

xxxv // epilogue: young forever

A dusty Orange League trophy sits next to a bright and shiny Kalos crown atop of the mantelpiece. The slightly askew crown is straightened by Hannah turning it a slight bit and smiling.

She lifts her head up to see a banner being hung above her head, courtesy of Laura and Greninja trying to straighten it out. Meowstic is standing on the kitchen table, guiding both of them to either lift or drop their side of the banner. She ultimately gets frustrated with the two of them and ends up leaving them to walk outside to the backyard.

Hannah ends up laughing at her behaviour, and she receives very unimpressed looks from both Greninja and Laura. Hannah rolls her eyes and helps the two of them out. After a little longer than they'd like to admit, the banner was hanging straight, leading Hannah to smile. 

Both Laura and Greninja sigh in relief and head to the backyard with Hannah following in suit. She stands at the doorframe and looks to see her Pokémon playing around, having fun under the warm, spring sun. 

Weavile is chasing Meowstic around, trying to escape her grasp but is being stopped by harmless attacks from Charizard, using Flamethrower in small intervals to acts as an obstacle. Under a shaded tree, Audino is making delicate daisy chains with her newfound friend Laura. 

Hannah hears footsteps and looks to the path to see a lady walking with some groceries, Gogoat in tow helping her carry them with his mouth. When Hannah spots them, she lightly jogs to meet them and grab the bag from Gogoat, patting his head before running off to see his friends again.

"Hi Delia, how was your shopping trip?" Hannah asks her as they walk back into the house.

"It went well, got everything I need to prepare the feast tonight," She says happily, "I don't get to cook for a lot of people often, so this will be fun."

Hannah smiles at that, "thank you for doing this, you didn't have to."

"Nonsense!" Delia exclaims, "I love having you here, even if it's only for a little while before you head off." 

They begin to unpack the groceries and discuss various topics ranging from flower and fauna to the whereabouts of a particular boy.

"Do you know where he is?" Delia asks Hannah, putting the eggs in the fridge.

"I don't know, he didn't even wake me up when he left, just left a note on the bedside to say he needed to go somewhere this morning."

Just then the door slams open to a panting Ash. He sees both of them and gives a conspicuous smile as he all but runs to his room, hiding something in his jacket. When scurrying to his room, he says a quick hello to this mother and gives a quick kiss on Hannah's forehead as he passes before disappearing to his room.

"He's not acting strange at all," Hannah says sarcastically, causing Delia to chuckle, "when isn't he?"

After the groceries are put away, Hannah begins setting the dining table for eight people. Soon after she finishes, the doorbell rings and Hannah goes to answer it. She opens the door to see her friends, Bonnie, Clemont and Serena holding a present, "Happy Birthday Hannah!"

Hannah smiles and goes to immediately embrace them in a group hug. 

"Hey guys, come on in!" Clemont hands Hannah their present and she places it on the table. Hannah sighs in relief when she sees all of her friends are happy and healthy.

"It's been too long!" Bonnie exclaims.

"We video called yesterday before your plane took off, it's been less than a day," Hannah says, ruffling Bonnie's hair which causes her to giggle.