A/N:

Hello everyone. It is me MPM, back with another one-shot. This is farthest, one of the best I think I've written. Though, I know I still am unsure. Anyway, enjoy reading it. And also, I've corrected the possible mistakes in last few chapters which I forgot to do before.


One Shot-3

"Dear Serena,

We all know how important birthdays are. Birthdays are such important celebrations. They are a time for people to look back on their lives, reflect on what they have done, and look forward to what they still want to do. They are a day to celebrate a life with family and friends, and rejoice over all the good and bad times they have gone through together. To be honest, I do think the same. I do think the same. While writing it, I could not help but think of all the adventures we have gone though together. All the bad and good memories we have stored…together, which brought closer then we were before…

Serena felt her heart beat increasing as she read the letter. She could not believe what she was reading. And on the top of it, she could not believe that he wrote that, HE. The densest person she has known in the world, dense, but still the best. Her eyes become watery on the mere thought of how poorly she treated him today. She knew why she had done this but now when she thought about, was that necessary to do that? Maybe it was his mistake that he did not remember her birthday, but treating him that way, what does it made her? The day replayed in her mind, every incident. She knew it was the best day of her life, but the way she made best, now made felt something she hated.

Guilt.


"Happy Birthday!"

Serena was greeted by sheer amount of surprise when she entered the lobby in Pokémon Centre. Serena's eyes widened at first but when she registered what just happened, her lips curved in the widest and brightest smile she could muster. Her happiness was on the peek.

"Thank you everyone," Serena replied gratefully but soon felt something was missing, someone was missing. There her friends were, Clemont, Bonnie, Dedenne, Braxin, Pancham, Sylveon and even Pikachu. But Ash wasn't there. This mad Serena a little sad but she got over it when she assumed Ash to be preparing for a surprise. That mere thought made her blush and felt all warm and cozy inside.

Just on the time, Ash entered the lobby. He was adjusting his hand gloves and walked straight. Serena was the first one to notice him and as soon as she saw him, she only stared at him, hopefully. She rushed to him, right on his face. Everyone looked at him as well, expecting similar thing as Serena from him.

"Good morning, Ash!" She chimed brightly as she wished Ash. Ash looked up at her and smiled.

"Morning, Serena," Ash responded in his usual enthusiastic way. However, today he did something he never usually does. His smile disappeared for a moment and he noticed Serena, literally noticed him. Her short honey blonde hairs were looking so clean and tidy. For her dress, they also were cleaned, neat and tidy. Thus, it made him smile again. Sure, Serena has spent some extra time in her room today just to improve her look. She did nothing major like make up or something, but she made sure that she was all clean and fresh today. "You're looking great today Serena," Ash replied. Serena found herself blushing on the compliment. Her effort didn't go futile at all.

"Thanks Ash," replied back. Her building excitement was too much for her to control and she was barely controlling herself to hear him wishing her. "Do you know what it is today?" she asked in her building excitement. Ash raised his eyebrows in confusion. Everyone looked at him hopefully, every human and Pokémon. Ash though about this hardly, his one hand was under his chin as he took some steps forward, passing Serena. Serena let him go, turning herself and walked before him, her smile still plastered on her lips.

Suddenly, Ash's face lit up on realization. Everyone smiled broadly and Serena was the most excited person on the planet today. Ash quickly turned around, Serena was right in front of him which made him freak out a little. He stared pass her shoulder and saw Pikachu giving him thumbs up. Ash then turned to Serena who was still staring at him expectantly. But to her worst nightmare, Ash's face dropped and nervous smile crept on her face.

"I don't…" the words escaped his mouth. The words felt like daggers in Serena's chest. She felt her heart starting to break apart, not even suddenly, but slowly giving her all the pain she does not deserve at all. Ash scratched his cheek nervously and saw Serena's expression changing, from excited to soft, from soft to sad, from sad to depressed, and finally from depressed to cold. Ash looked passed her shoulder once again and saw Pikachu hitting its head continuously on the wall in frustration. He then looked at Bonnie whose arms were crossed around her chest as she glared at him. When he turned to Clemont, he was giving him a nervous look, identical to one on Ash's face. Clemont took a board and wrote something on it, put down the marker and showed the board up. It reads "Happy Birthday Serena!"

Ash's expression changed suddenly, his face became pale and he found himself stunned. It was Serena's birthday. How could he forget it? He cursed himself mentally before forcing a smile.

"Oh yeah, I remember now. Happy Birthday Serena!" Ash greeted, but it was obvious that he was still nervous and forcing the last part to be enthusiastic. Serena sighed sadly before looking at him and forcing a warm smile.

"Thank you Ash,"


The rest of the day Ash found himself Serena in the worst place possible for him, a mall. Serena had been rushing in every shop and taking a lot of time to check out different dresses. Thanks to her fashion taste, that made Ash's wallet in less use as she did not found all the dresses nice enough for her. However, that doesn't changed the fact that the few dresses she had chosen so far were expensive already, enough to rock Ash's wallet.

Truthfully, Serena did not like being so rude to him. But she had to admit, having Ash all for her for a day sounds awesome to her. And on top of that, they were all alone. It was like a date she wished to go on with Ash, just two of them and no one else.

When the two returned back to the Pokémon centre, they all celebrated Serena's birthday on full blast. Everyone was participating in every event, including all the trainers who were staying there at the moment. Ash however, was too tired to be an active participant. He did but barely. He was really exhausted but could not tell it to Serena. He had already broken her heart and he could not muster doing that again. He knew what he done cannot be repaired, but he knew that he could actually do something which will make things better between them. When Serena wasn't paying any attention to him, Ash quietly slipped away from the store and looked for a nice gift he could buy for her. Surprisingly, he did and it was really beautiful thing he had ever gotten.

After the part, Serena went in her room, tired, exhausted, but happy at the same time. Yes, she was still a little disappointed but it does not matter since she has gotten pay back for everything. Unknown to her, what she had done today also had some demerits of it.

When the party ended, she looked everywhere for Ash but found her nowhere. It made her little scared that Ash was angry at her for treating her poorly. She checked for Ash everywhere but could found him nowhere. It was like he had disappeared in thin air. Ultimately failed, Serena retreated back in her room where she found a letter on the table beside her bed. Curiously, she walked to it and took it.

Ash her eyes scanned it, she realized what she had done today, probably ruined her reputation in front of Ash and damaged their relationship to the point of no return.

"Dear Serena,

We all know how important birthdays are. Birthdays are such important celebrations. They are a time for people to look back on their lives, reflect on what they have done, and look forward to what they still want to do. They are a day to celebrate a life with family and friends, and rejoice over all the good and bad times they have gone through together. To be honest, I do think the same. I do think the same while writing it; I could not help but think of all the adventures we have gone though together. All the bad and good memories we have stored…together, which brought closer then we were before…"

Serena felt her heart beat increasing as she read the letter. She could not believe what she was reading. And on the top of it, she could not believe that he wrote that, HE. The densest person she has known in the world, dense, but still the best. Her eyes become watery on the mere thought of how poorly she treated him today. She knew why she had done this but now when she thought about, was that necessary to do that? Maybe it was his mistake that he did not remember her birthday, but treating him that way, what does it made her? The day replayed in her mind, every incident. She knew it was the best day of her life, but the way she made best, now made felt something she hated.

Guilt.

However, she kept reading.

"Birthdays should be a day when someone one gets to feel pampered, loved and spoiled. I hope you've felt all of these. I'm genuinely sorry if I've ruined your day by any mean. I think I already have by forgetting this special day. I know I can do nothing to repair it, but still…

One this day, I have something to say to you, Serena…

Birthdays come around every year, but friends like you only come once in a lifetime. I'm so glad you came into my life. Best wishes on you special day. You are a true friend, Serena. Please don't ever change and be what you are. Happy birthday, and may every wish you have come true. You mean a lot to me, Serena. Love you.

Ash."

When Serena ended, she was barely controlling her tears. Maybe Ash has forgotten her birthday, but he still was Ash, her Ash. He still cared for her and loved her, and will always do no matter what. She knew what she had to do now. She needed to found Ash, now. She quickly wiped the tears off her eyes so that Ash would not notice them headed out of her room; the letter was clenched in her hand.

Serena looked everywhere, in the lobby, in his room, in Clemont's room but found him nowhere. She even asked Nurse joy for the raven haired boy and she told her that no one like him has gotten out of the Pokémon Centre.

She thought about it, where would she go if she wanted to take things off her head? Obviously, somewhere, where no one will disturb her. That's when it hit her mind, she hadn't checked one place. She quickly rushed upstairs, passed her room, his room, and Clemont's room and made her way to the end of the hallway. And to her great relief, there he was. Ash was standing outside the balcony, staring in the night sky; his hands were kept flicking a box open and close which held something. Something that was inside was really beautiful which she failed to recognize, but that wasn't her main concern right now. Serena took a deep breath before stepping behind him.

"Ash?"

Ash jumped on the sudden appearance of Serena. The box he had in his hand almost dropped far on the ground but he caught it immediately. He quickly turned around and stared at Serena ins surprise, his hand were behind his back as he tried to hide the box he held.

"Oh, h-hey, Serena," Ash greeted, awkwardly which didn't go unnoticed by Serena. "What's up? You enjoyed the party, didn't you?" Ash said, this time in more calm state and tried to hide his nervousness. Serena just nodded; she still was suspicious of him however.

"Yeah, I did," Serena said and walked next to him, staring at the night sky with Ash. Ash also turned around and stared at the sky. They stayed in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company only till Serena didn't say something. "I want to talk about something, Ash"

"Huh?" Ash raised his eyebrows on Serena's declaration. Certainly, he didn't expect her to say anything like that. "What is it Serena?" Serena didn't answer verbally but raised her hand where his letter was still clenched. "Oh," Ash responded now realized where it was going. Serena's hand dropped down with the letter and she sadly stared down.

"I'm really sorry Ash," she said softly, her voice was trembling. Ash gave her a confused look, though her voice made him concerned as well.

"What? Sorry for what?" Ash asked in confusion. Serena tightly shut her eyes and sniffed, holding back her tears.

"I treated you so badly today, but you didn't complain. You never do even if it costs you. I wasted your complete day; still you cared enough to join in my celebration. Even after everything…" Serena sniffed again and took the letter up and opened it. "You cared for my birthday, you cared for me"

Ash looked at her. He was completely stunned. He could not believe that Serena was breaking because of him. He knew it would have never ever happened if he had not forgotten her birthday. How stupid he was to forget it? He could not describe it. He could not describe how bad he was feeling. But then something rolled against his hands.

"Serena, when I said you mean a lot to me, I wasn't lying. I can let go off my training for a while if you needed me, and it was just a day," Ash told. The sincerity in his voice was clear caused Serena to look up at him. "You are really important to me. I can do anything to just make you happy, make you smile." Ash then turned back to stare at the sky. A breeze blown making Serena shiver in cold and she crossed her arms around her chest and rubbed her arms softly. But she managed to hide it from Ash. "I couldn't have felt any worse before the way I felt today in morning, when I forgot your birthday." Ash stated sadly.

Serena stared at him sadly. She never wished to be the reason of Ash's sadness. Instead she wanted to be cure of Ash's every problem. She sighed sadly. She wanted to tell Ash so badly that it was alright, she didn't mind at all but her lips were sealed, words didn't escape her lips. She felt so bounded, even after being with Ash. She really wanted to comfort Ash, no matter what.

Slowly, but affectingly, Serena touched his shoulder. Ash didn't respond at first, either he didn't care or didn't notice at all. Serena turned him around causing Ash to stare at him in confusion and Serena stared at him as well. Serena bit her bottom lip and thought about what she was going to do. Obviously, Ash would not mind at all, not at least today, but again what she was going to do, she has never done it before. Serena slipped her hands passed his shoulders and pulled herself against him, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging him comfortably. Obviously, Ash didn't mind the gesture at all, instead he accepted it. But it didn't change the fact that he was stunned.

It took him few seconds but he responded, his arms travelled down her armpits to her back and pulled her closer to complete the gap between them. He snuggled his head against her shoulder and let him relax against her. No more confusing thoughts were there in his head anymore. However, there was still one. Ash looked down at his hands behind her back, to the box he had in his hands from a while now. He opened it and stared t the beautiful necklace he had brought this morning for Serena. He knew that it will look beautiful on Serena, but wondered if she will like it or not.

Serena however was completely in love with feeling, the gesture she was getting from Ash. Obviously, the hug was meant to comfort Ash, calm down Ash, but instead, it made her relax. It made her day; it gave her the happiness she has longed for, which she had never felt before. And she knew that from now on, things will be getting only better for her, and for him.


Here we go. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Let the requests come and let me know what you want me to write next but wait for you turn; I still need to publish all my previous one-shots and short stories. Hope you won't mind it. Make sure to give me your views on it to let me know what you think of it. If you think this series is worth of it, add it in your favorite list and in follow list just in case you wanted to be updated.

For the last one where you guys asked me to continue the story in parts, I tried it but later realized this didn't make any sense to me. I mean, I didn't enjoy writing it in parts like this. Let me tell you, I'm going to delete the published ones and will update it as a complete one-shot. However, it will be quiet lengthier but I know you guys won't mind.

Till next time.

-Mysterious Pokémon Master