Chapter 2

AN: Hello again! Welcome back! I'm really surprised and happy that this story got so much support so fast! Thank you all just so so much. I really am so honored to be bringing just a little bit of happiness to people's day with my writing. It really makes my day, at least! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! It was really hard to write for some reason, probably because I wanted to set up everything right, but I'm hoping I did an okay job! Thank you as always for reading, hitting the favorite and follow button, and reviewing! They mean the world to me! I will hopefully get another chapter up by Sunday night! As always, cheers to you!

Serena let her arm trail behind her, hand outstretched towards Ash who was looking back at her with a peculiar expression. Most would call it confusion, but Serena thought it was better to use the word 'adorable.' She closed her eyes briefly as she twisted her shoulders back towards him, her cheek threatening to stay forever turned up into a smile whenever she was around Ash. "Goodnight Ash!"

Finally reaching the thick trees that surrounded their modest campsite, Serena pulled her gaze away from him with difficulty. Clutching her thermos in one hand, she pushed back the branches of a particularly imposing tree with the other, ducking under the leaves. As she pushed through the dark woods, she allowed her mind to wander, moving slowly but with deliberation towards the fast moving water they had found earlier that evening.

Serena bit down hard on her bottom lip as she thought about the days' events, replaying them like a broken record in her mind. A shiver traveled through her causing her skin to grow cold and her teeth to chatter as she remembered his face, standing so close yet so far from her. They had been separated by a whole world – an infinite expanse of endless beginnings, middles and ends. The thought of Ash spending eternity falling between worlds – without her was causing her breath to catch in her throat, coming out in a strangled sigh.

"But he made it," Serena whispered to no one, pulling a leaf absentmindedly from her hair. It had been tucked into a loose bun by the nape of her neck in her preparation for climbing into her soft sleeping bag, yet her thick honey-blonde tresses still managed to attract anything in its path.

Yes, Serena continued silently, her brain on overdrive despite the lateness of the hour. He made it.

It hadn't been by much, and Serena could have lost him forever. Yet as she thought about it again, she remembered his face as he made electric eye contact with her. Everything had seemed heightened and in slow motion, the adrenaline coursing through her like steam, but something had passed across Ash's face. Something distinctive and tangible, like the cold that bit through her jacket during the coldest months of the year, had consumed him. His eyes had flashed when they saw her and she did everything she could to reach for him when suddenly he was floating towards her. Serena couldn't place the flitting emotions behind his eyes but she all the same threw her hand out towards him, feeling like someone had unmuted her hearing once his skin connected with hers, like a light had been turned on in a dark room. He was safe, back with her, on solid ground. Serena had felt exhausted then, but thinking back now, she was hardly able to rest.

Suddenly, a rustle in the trees to her right made Serena freeze, her thermos clutched in one hand above her head, ready to strike. The rustling grew louder and closer causing Serena to close her eyes in fear, not able to look her assailant directly in the eye.

"Psy-eye-eye?"

Serena slowly opened one eye from the defensive and, what she was sure was, comical position with her thermos held high above her head. As her one-eyed vision adjusted, she looked towards where the rustling that had frightened her so quickly had come from and focused in on a rotund yellow duck Pokemon.

Slowly, a small giggle building from the pent tension that instantly squeezed her chest began to bubble over her lips and she covered her mouth, staring at the offending Psyduck. In response, the Duck Pokemon placed its head in its webbed claws, titling it at her and looking just as frightened as she had been.

"Psyduck?"

Serena could hardly help it at that point and began to laugh loudly, relief flooding her body as quickly as the intense flight or fight response had entered it moments ago. Serena tried her best to reign in her laughter as the Psyduck began stamping his webbed feet, tears streaming from its eyes in anger but it only made the Duck Pokemon look more ridiculous.

"I'm sorry Pysduck!" Serena knelt, attempting to sooth it by reaching out to touch the top of its head gently. She was only met with a sharply clawed paw whipping around quickly towards her and after a flash, she withdrew her hand, narrowly escaping the Scratch that Psyduck intended to use to knock her hand away.

Standing up straight, Serena put her hands on her hips and huffed, her displeasure only heightened by the pout she had on her face followed by her tongue poking through her lips. "Fine! Be that way!"

Serena turned her back on the wailing Pokemon and once more began to make her way through the woods, her cheeks puffed in rebellion. For a moment, the only thoughts consuming her brain were of the Pysduck who had been arguably quite grumpy with her – really, it was only a bit of laughter. After a few minutes of her stamping through the forest, shoving offending branches from her path with authority, she blinked suddenly and stopped short. She moved her head back and forth quickly, turning on the spot she was in.

The air was still and thick where she was, as though the canopy of trees above her blocked the cool breeze she had felt earlier in the clearing, barring its entry. As she breathed in, the air became stale on her tongue and she felt a shiver roll down her spine, her eyes widening in an attempt to recognize her surroundings. A light panic had set in as she realized she could not place the spot she was in, having not been on this particular path earlier in the evening.

"Alright, just relax Serena; you can just go back the way you… came…" Serena said to herself, using her own words to calm herself. As she spun in a circle, her hair caught on a low tree branch and the ribbon tying it in place broke free, sending her thick hair cascading down her back. She ignored this as she looked around wildly. Each direction looked the same to her, and she felt her heart jump to her throat where she swallowed hard, forcing it back.

Quickly, rashly, she decided on a direction which looked like it was slightly clearer than the other parts around her. Serena broke into a run, every inch of her body tense, poised like a Persian ready to strike. As she ran, the branches she had took so much care to move aside began to whip towards her, one coming down hard on her bare legs and she gasped, looking down briefly to watch the cut that stung begin to form.

The next moment, Serena felt the cool air smash into her face, jarring and sudden, bringing tears to her eyes. She had burst through the edge of the dark forest without warning and she felt her mouth begin to turn into a smile, a split second of relief. It lasted only an instant until suddenly her foot sank ankle deep in soft, sticky mud that squelched beneath her weight. In her momentum, Serena could hardly stop and instead of getting stuck and stopped in her tracks, her foot flew unceremoniously out from its covered home and she took an awkward side step, attempting to regain her balance. As she did, her other foot with the shoe still firmly in place began to free-fall and Serena finally was able to look behind her.

She felt the breath begin to gather at the top of her lungs before she knew she was going to scream, her vision going dark around the edges, forming a focused tunnel. Just behind her, where her still shoe-clad foot had begun to step, was a vertical drop that shined with the mud that caked up the sides of the thick walled ravine. Serena could just register the sound of fast moving, rushing water that certainly lived at the bottom of wherever this ended, and noting futilely that this was definitely not where they had come to get water earlier.

Serena began to feel herself falling, and knowing she could do nothing to prevent it, swung her arms out in front of her wildly, her hair that had come loose obscuring her vision. Shutting her eyes in fear, she felt her forearms connect with the side of the slippery drop and her hands clenched, feeling the soil begin to cake between her fingers as she gripped tightly. Her feet began to kick, desperately pushing herself back towards safety when she began to slide, unable to pull herself up. Another scream left her throat, sounding foreign, like the fear she felt didn't belong inside her.

Serena didn't know how far the drop would be, or how much she should brace herself for the inevitable impact. Her eyes opened and they were met with the inky blackness of the endless sky, as infinite as the rainbow space she had seen earlier that day. They were wide with fear and she threw a hand towards the moon that shone down on her, the rays clear though the clearing the river allowed. The wind that was created by her fall rushed by her and should have been deafening, but no sound seemed to reach her ears, the scene around her silent as the world faded to black and white. Serena parted her lips, sucking in her breath as long as she could and let herself scream the first thought that bubbled to her lips.

"ASH!" Serena cried. Just as soon as her world had gone deaf and dampened, color burst behind her eyes and the tumultuous wind was all around her and she screamed once more.

As soon as the breath ran out of her lungs from her scream, her back hit the icy water like a freight train smashing through a brick wall – hard and fast. She grunted in pain and felt her eyes shut dismissively before rationality won out and she sucked in a quick breath before she went under. The water was frigid and Serena's eyes flung back open as she felt the feeling in her bare toes begin to fade fast. A bubble formed in front of her mouth as she blew out, kicking out to the surface wildly when her head broke.

"Ash!" She yelled again, sucking in as much air as she could, feeling the water moving her swiftly. Serena coughed, her vision blurred by the water she was rapidly trying to blink away. The first thing she noticed was the cut the branch had given her leg was stinging smartly in the cold water and she was just able to force out a quick moan before the current overcame her and her head was forced back under the water.

Serena felt herself sinking below the rushing current and her arms floated out to her sides, suspended. Her eyes were closed and her breath was still, the silence that had been with her during the fall coming back to her in this moment. Serena registered her exhaustion catching up to her worn body all at once, her once rapidly kicking legs now refusing to push back. Behind her eyelids, one face flashed like fireworks and although the current above her ruthlessly pushed on, the rocks from the water bed below her swirling with motion, Serena remained eerily still. Her brow furrowed as she pushed the water below her with her arms, attempting to bring herself to the surface, but the exhaustion was powerful and she could feel the icy water begin to travel up her nose, snaking its way into her lungs which were about to burst.

Suddenly, the stillness that surrounded her clouded brain was broken by a splash beside her, piercing through the silence like the screams that had left her throat seconds ago. A warm pressure pressed around her waist and she felt herself floating upwards wondering how much longer she could take without breathing in the water before finally, mercifully, her head once again broke the surface and she breathed in deeply.

"Serena!" A voice called to her, but it sounded so far away, and she was so very tired. As she gasped for air, breathing in deeply before heaving air back out, desperate for it, she felt her teeth begin to chatter and the reality of her cold body forced her eyes back open. The unnerving moments of exhausted stillness left her like a passing wind. That was when she realized her lack of wild movement and the rushing currents that no longer enveloped her, her back flush against a sticky solid surface.

Everything around her was suddenly very noisy and she wrinkled her nose in disapproval before opening her eyes. Her head was spinning and her vision barely focused but she squeezed her eyes shut again for a moment when she felt a very tender and gentle touch brush across her cheek bones. It was pleasant, light like a feather but warm like a candle and she leaned into it before once more opening her eyes.

There was his face, just like it had burst behind her closed eyelids during her still moment beneath the surface of the water. Only his eyes were not as at ease as they were in her mind and his hair was much less damp. Ash's face stared back at her, pale, every muscle tensed and etched with panic.

A breath rushed from him and his shoulders dropped in what seemed like relief as she focused on him and reached a hand out to grip his forearms that straddled her chest as he leaned over her.

"Ash…" Serena whispered, her voice coming out hoarse, like she had forgotten to use it for years. She cleared it before continuing, relishing the air around her. "You heard me?"

Ash smiled crookedly at her, not quite reaching his eyes but Serena thought it suited him just the same and she couldn't help but turn her cheek up too. "I told you I should have gone with you."

Serena huffed at this, her cheeks burning red despite the chill that was beginning to consume her. She began to push herself up as she grunted at him. "I was perfectly fine until I took the wrong turn! I just got a little distract-whoa!"

Serena felt herself fall flat onto her back rather than completing her attempt to sit up, her head spinning. She closed her eyes in defeat, letting the ground settle beneath her, thinking about the absolute mess she probably looked and groaned. "I'm dizzy and I look hideous."

Serena heard Ash attempt to stifle his laughter next to her as he rolled away, sitting cross legged next to her. He was apparently satisfied she would be okay from her snarky comments that came nimbly off her tongue.

"You don't look hideous, Serena." Ash said next to her, her eyes still closed, collecting herself. "I would hardly use that word to describe you."

Serena's eyes flew open and she felt her face burning and turning a nice shade of crimson. She brought her hand dramatically to her forehead and sat up quickly, ignoring the remaining dizzy spell that came off of her in waves. "Thank you, again. I don't know how you seem to pop up at the perfect time in these situations but I'm glad you do."

Her eye slid towards him as he looked at her, that peculiar expression plastered onto his face again. She wondered briefly what hid behind it, this disguise, but it disappeared before she could think another thought about it. Ash rubbed under his nose and she smiled finally at this, beginning to recognize his every quirk.

"Pikapi!"

Pikachu's voice broke through their reverie and Serena and Ash's eyes followed the sound eagerly. Farther downstream, Pikachu stood at the top of the embankment, waving his tiny yellow paws wildly and jumping up and down. "Pikapi! Pi Pikachu!"

Ash laughed, raising a hand to his partner and waving. "Hey buddy! We're alright! Thanks for finding us a way out of here!" Ash looked back to her and smiled. "Looks like Pikachu found us a way up. It's about time someone saved you for a change, huh Serena?"

Serena let a tiny sound escape her throat, realizing he was repeating her words she had spoken to him barely a half an hour ago. She couldn't help but smile at that as he pulled himself up and attempted to wipe the mud caked onto his hands before reaching back towards her. Serena gratefully accepted his help and took his hand, a shock passing between the two of them. It was light and barely noticeable but Serena felt it as she stood. Watching Ash's face, she felt sure that he had felt something too, seeing his eyes widen for a brief moment before bringing his other hand to rest on the small of her back. They stood like this for a few seconds, neither one willing to separate.

What is happening here?! Serena thought madly, her eyes flitting over his entire expressive face, searching for the meaning behind the front he seemed to be putting on for her. Her thoughts were ended abruptly as he cleared his throat and released her waist after a light squeeze, curling his hand back to his side.

"Uhm, it's… this way." Ash said, turning down stream towards Pikachu, who was waiting patiently, walking carefully along the thin bank he had washed them up on. He stopped in his path, foot raised for his next step before he looked over his shoulder. "Uh… can you walk?"

Serena stamped her still shoed foot down into the mud and huffed at him, flipping hair back from her face. "Yes, I can walk!"

"Okay, sorry I was just making sure!" Ash said, jumping a little at her sudden rebuke and continued making his way back down towards the way up the steep bank.

Serena began to walk after him quickly, attempting to keep her footing in the sticky mud with only one shoe. The shoe in question was continuously getting stuck in the mud as she followed his quick pace and in frustration, she groaned outwardly and reached down to her foot and with a great heave, yanked the offending shoe off.

"Stupid shoe!" Serena said quietly, trying to hide her displeasure from Ash, who apparently possessed a form of superhuman hearing. He turned towards her and continued walking backwards, his hand running through his wet hair, attempting to pull it off his face. Serena perked at this, watching the movements with distinct interest.

"Everything okay back there?" Ash's eyes moved down towards her bare feet which were now ankle deep in mud, squelching loudly and embarrassingly as they walked. "Oh… should I carry you?"

Serena's eyes rolled and she sighed loudly. "No, I do not need to be carried! You see me walking, don't you?"

Ash faced forwards again, his hands beside his head in surrender, waving off her comments with as much dignity as he could. Serena had to giggle at that. "Sorry, sorry! The path is just here anyway. Hey buddy!"

After scrambling up the admittedly much less steep and tall bank that Serena had just taken a tumble down, they began their slow and methodical trek back towards their campsite. Ash led the way, Pikachu riding happily on his shoulder, gently pushing branches out of the way, stepping aside very gentlemanly and very unlike Ash to let her pass first.

Serena observed that his calves, visible due to the shorts he usually donned when sleeping were streaked with mud, while his hair dried erratically on the top of his head. Serena was sure she couldn't have looked much different and she breathed in deeply, feeling the remnants of the icy water causing a sharp pain deep in her throat. However, she also noticed Ash's bare shoulders, one partly obscured by the body of Pikachu clinging to him, broad and strong in the dim moonlight and gulped, her eyes widening.

"So what happened? What made you so lost in here?" Ash asked in front of her, zigzagging through the brush to find the best and easiest path for her bare feet.

"Pipika?" Pikachu also inquired, his ears twitching to avoid low hanging branches.

Serena had to huff at this, remembering the comical but strange interaction she had had with the Psyduck. "Actually, a really confused Pysduck wandered by me, looking like he wasn't sure where he was."

Ash looked over his shoulder at her, his face showing a faint hint of surprise. "Psyduck? That's interesting, I don't know how many there are in Kalos. Maybe he was really far from home."

Serena nodded, letting a small sound come up from her throat. "Mmm. He sure wasn't happy to see me, that's for sure." Serena shuddered thinking about how he had immediately drawn claws at her after only a simple giggle.

Serena could hear the smile in Ash's response although his back was once again turned towards her. "Well, don't worry about it. All that matters is that you're okay, and we're back."

Ash held a branch aside for her, smiling widely, as Pikachu sprung off his shoulder happily running away from him. She stepped through the cleared branch and a smile came to her own face as she saw the smoke from the remnants of their small fire spiraling slowly in the air, a welcome site despite the lack of flame. She briefly thought of her thermos and how it had been lost some time during her fall down the steep bank and her shoulders fell slightly, but she shivered as the air blew past her, cold from her damp clothes.

Ash noticed this shiver and walked towards the tent that he and Clemont were sharing, Pikachu standing just outside of it, his voice lowering to a whisper. "Yeah, I'm cold too, let's get changed."

Serena watched him slowly unzip the mouth of the tent before leaning in gently. Ash, however, immediately withdrew, where he met Serena's quizzical look with his own. "That's strange. Clemont's not in his sleeping bag anymore…"

Serena took a step forward, her stomach tightening. She repressed it for a moment as Ash beat her to the punch, walking deliberately towards the tent her and Bonnie were sharing, Pikachu concernedly following his trainers footsteps. Once more, he opened the mouth of the tent and poked his head inside, withdrawing again.

Ash shrugged, Pikachu imitating his actions, and shook his head. "She's not here either. Maybe they went to get a midnight snack?"

Serena rolled her eyes but smiled, walking towards her respective tent before stepping into it, giving Ash a smirk. "Are you sure you're not confusing Bonnie and Clemont with yourself, Ash?" She pulled herself inside the tent and busied herself with peeling off her cold, wet clothes and replacing them with spare ones she kept in her bag.

She heard Pikachu's embarrassed response and could just imagine the small Electric Mouse Pokemon throwing a tiny paw behind its head. "Chu…."

Ash's face blushed as he turned towards his own tent, doing the same as Serena. "Alright, I'm not hungry all the time!"

Serena could barely hear him through the now two layers of tents, but was almost completely dressed in her spare pair of black leggings and a sweatshirt she kept for very lazy days. Slipping on her spare shoes, the final touch, she moved back outside the tent where she saw Ash, already changed and crouching by the smoking fire. Pikachu had joined him, his nose close the ground at the spot Ash seemed so transfixed with.

Serena walked towards them, waiting for a response, but when he didn't answer, followed his gaze towards the ground that he and Pikachu were very much engrossed in. To even her untrained eye, Serena could notice two steps of footsteps, relatively new, and directly side by side, matching step for step.

"That's weird," Serena commented, crouching down next to them. "Were these here when we first got here?"

Ash shook his head gravely, his eyes moving back up and suddenly scanning the trees surrounding them as though expecting something more. Without warning, Pikachu's cheeks crackled with electricity and his small expressive face hardened.

"Pikachu!" He cried angrily, jumping protectively in front of Ash and Serena. Ash threw a hand out and yelled out.

"Who's there?!" Ash demanded.

Serena felt the tension he exuded spreading through her and stood slowly, on edge for any type of sound, which eventually, happened.

A rustle again, directly coming from the clearing in front of them. Ash slowly stood, straightening and bringing his other hand out in front of her protectively.

"Serena, don't panic but," Ash gulped audibly and moved his gaze around as much as he could. "All of my Pokeballs are gone from my bag."

Serena felt her face pale and she looked directly at him, truly more frightened than she had ever been falling towards the cold, swift water. "What? What do you mean?"

Suddenly, through the thick forest in front of them, the round, waddling Duck Pokemon emerged again, its head held in its paws where Serena knew hid sharp claws. She started at the recognition and walked past Ash's arm, now standing right behind Pikachu, who was positively growling. She wasn't sure why, but the way Pikachu was treating this Psyduck was sending shivers up her spine.

"Hey Ash, that's the Psyduck I ran into before I… f-fell…" Serena trailed off, for the first time looking into its eyes and noticed a distinct feature about them. They were unblinking, wide, and most notably, completely grey. "Ash… it didn't look like that before…"

Ash walked beside her again, his teeth gritting and a fist coming to his face, clenched with anticipation. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Before Pikachu could begin to charge his tiny cheeks with his signature attack, more rustling from the trees around them began to build and Serena moved closer to Ash, their backs pressed to each other as they waited for the rustling to end.

"Show yourself!" Ash yelled. Serena could feel his toe dig into the ground beside hers and she leaned farther into him.

To her right, a Froakie appeared, the same far away greyed out look in his eye as the Psyduck. To her left, a lamely flying Fletchinder hovered menacingly. She heard Ash breathe out his next words incredulously.

"Hawlucha? Bunnelby? Chespin?"

Serena's eyes widened as far as they could go as a Fennekin, her Fennekin, burst through to the clearing and stood stoically next to the very still Froakie.

"Ash, what's happening?" Serena whispered, terror gripping at her chest.

Ash had no response as he waited for the last to rustling spots to reveal themselves. They didn't have to wait long, and Serena nearly gave herself whiplash looking over her shoulder to see them.

The calm, pajama clad forms of a truly hypnotized Clemont and Bonnie completed the circle of those that had them surrounded.

Dun dun dun! What happened to our friends?! We'll find out… Sunday(ish!)!