Clockwork

It's 1AM. I was supposed to wake up early tomorrow for some early morning training, but I guess that it just wouldn't do. Clemont was asleep, the smart kid, while Bonnie was just starting to doze off. I look into the smoldering fire, and see that it's also about to go out. I'd say that it'll burn for another 15 minutes.

I look up into the dark night sky. It's a beautiful sight, really: the stars, infinite in number, are just winking at us. There's no way that I could see this in a city, not with all those other lights around me distorting the view of the heavens.

There's a soft warm breeze coming from my left. I look over at my right, where she's sitting. She's looking at the sky too, mesmerised by the natural beauty we were so lucky to experience. I smiled, in spite of knowing that I could never be with someone of such class, such fame, such beauty.

She noticed me looking at her from the corner of her eye, and with a soft smile, asked, "What's up, Ash?"

I can't properly answer with my regular charisma and tone, and nervously reply, "N-nothing, Serena. There was just something in your hair. Let me get it for you."

She giggled, and nodded with a slight bob of her head. I reached out with my right hand and started to brush at her hair. It was so soft, so lush, so fitting of her character. The corners of her mouth were rising as I was brushing her hair. I blushed, and stopped because I thought I was enjoying myself too much.

"What's wrong?", she asked, with a slightly disappointed tone.

"Well… to tell you the truth, I feel a bit funny."

"What do you mean?"

"Uhm… well… it's hard to explain…"

She softly smiled, and turned her body to face me. "You can tell me, Ash. I'm your best friend, remember?"

My eyes started to wander, and then I noticed a scar on her right shoulder. I winced, knowing that she nearly died taking that for… for me. I gently touched her scar, and asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Not as much as it used to. I'm just glad you're all right, Ash."

"Serena… I'm so sorry that this happened. It's all my fault. I should've known that he would attack us…"

"Shh." She leaned forward, and hugged me. My heart was beating fast, so fast that I thought it'd burst. My arms automatically moved up and wrapped around her, and before I knew it, I started to silently cry.

But she felt the warm tears that dripped down onto her shirt. I can't help myself but continue to cry as I contemplate on all the things I could have stopped from happening to her, but didn't. She didn't need to be harmed, but I made it happen.

I recalled that I was fighting a masked man who had the most powerful members on his team. He had already beaten all but one of my teammates, my trump card, my ace. I sent him out, my Greninja. We had been through so much together that we instantly synced together, knowing that this battle could be the end of all of us. I told Serena to move back, but she was so stubborn. She refused to leave my side, and instead told Clemont and Bonnie to move back into the city to get help.

It's 2AM. I'm still recollecting what happened to my dearest Serena. The man unleashed his Darkrai on me, and I had lost my sync with Greninja. He ordered Darkrai to use Night Slash; I couldn't move away in time. Greninja was on the ground, unable to move. I looked at the man, who grinned with pleasure as he knew that he'd get a fine sum for capturing me.

But it didn't hurt. All I heard was her scream of pain and terror. I looked up, in panic, as I realised that she took the slash for me. There was so much blood on her white skin. I broke her fall, and in a rage, summoned the last reserves of my energy to stop the man. As I held her in my arms, I felt the warmth of her blood that dripped onto my arms. Her soft blues eyes pleaded with me to run away and leave her, but I knew I couldn't, not like this.

It's 2:15AM. I broke off the hug, and shakingly asked her, "Serena, why did you take the hit for me? You almost died…"

"It's… it's because I didn't want to see you get hurt, Ash… uhm… I actually have something to say… I took it because I couldn't deal with you getting hurt, Ash… every time something like this happens, my hearts breaks little by little, because I'm so scared that I'll never see you again…"

I looked into her soft blue eyes, and with a sudden surge of confidence, tilted her chin up so she wasn't looking down on the ground anymore. "I'll never go away, Serena. Never."

She smiled, and said, "I love who you are, Ash. Don't move now, okay?" She moved closer to me, so we were side by side now. I felt her hair on my shoulder blade, and didn't move. I think I know what I'm feeling now.