Destiny Rebirth Final Mix

REIGNITING THE FLAMES OF DETERMINATION

All of a sudden, Ash felt a jolt of electricity, circling through his body. He groaned as he looked to Pikachu, who glared at him.

"Pika pika cha. Pikachu pika pi! Pikachu Pikapi, pi chu pi!" Pikachu shouted in frustration.

"But, it's Serena!" Ash responded. "She wouldn't forgive me, what makes you sure the others will?"

"Pikachu pipi," Pikachu responded quickly.

"But Gary knew the whole time," Ash answered. "He knew and he never gave up. As for Trevor, he discovered the truth, and yet, he came to accept why I must do this. Hell, he even trusted us with his biggest secret about his wife and child. The way that Serena made it out, the rest of them would have given up and lost hope. Look at what happened to her. She had hope, but she still got mad!"

"But you can't just stop fighting," Lucario answered. "If she does love you, then she'll come back and look past that."

Ash looked at the ground. His mind went over what his two companions had said. A sad smile went across his face.

"Thanks, guys. That helped me a lot."

He then heard a knock at his door. The small smile turned into anxiety.

No! Not yet! It can't be time to resume the battle already! He mumbled a few words that he hoped would buy him a few more seconds for him, to regain his thoughts.

He turned to see the door opened and revealed the last person that he would have expected. His heart skipped a beat, as adrenaline began to pump and his mind began to race.

"Se-Serena?" he managed to get out.

"Hey, Ash," Serena said sweetly.

She entered and shut the door behind her. She turned back to Ash, to see him get up slowly from his bench. A look of shock was still gracing his eyes.

The two young adults stood and looked deep into each other's eyes. Neither knew what to do. Each had a whirlwind of emotions, flowing through their heads, which froze them in place.

Finally, Serena broke the stagnation when she rushed to Ash. She threw her arms, under his armpits, and around his back, bringing him into a hug. She buried her head into his chest, while not caring about the dirt that was still on his jacket, from the early battles.

Ash again froze, before responding to the hug. He enveloped Serena in a bear hug and felt her hair on his cheeks, as he smelled the flowery perfume that he remembered from years ago. They held each other in their arms, before breaking the hug and taking a step back. They made eye contact and each let out a soft chuckle.

"Serena . . . What are you doing down here?" Ash asked the brown-haired performer who stands before him.

"Well, someone needed a pep talk," she said teasingly. "You looked like an amateur out there." She tilted her head and gave Ash a wink.

Ash chuckled nervously. He reached his hand, behind his head, and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. Well, what can I say? My mind was elsewhere," Ash answered as he put his hand back to his side.

His eyes turned more serious and he began to speak more heartfelt.

"Serena, I'm so sorry. When I made that decision, I thought I was doing the right thing. All I wanted was to protect you. That's all I have ever wanted to do. You have to believe me. I would never intentionally hurt you."