Her bones felt like they were crushed. Her head felt like it was spinning as if she was about to lose her consciousness again. And as Serena tried to sit up, every inch of her body aching, she did not even expect it to be a bad dream. After taking that fall, she was certain nothing could go any worse.

Her vision was hazy, but she could make that beneath her was wet soil, surprisingly softer then she had expected. Perhaps that worked as cushion for her and reduced the impact of the fall? Nonetheless, the pain was still immense.

Serena tried to get on her feet, however, pain sharply rushed through her bones, and with a dry whimpering voice escaping her lips, she fell down again on her back.

Her mind raced at that moment and she realized how she ended up in this situation. She remembered wandering in the forest – a landslide and everything was blank the very next moment.

But there was a warning. And a boy.

Where did he go?

Her eyes widened in shock almost immediately when she looked up again – not too far away she saw a body. A small yellow Pokemon seemed to be shaking him. And he was very familiar to her.

Her body moved, straightened up as she stood, but her knees were too weak to carry her and she nearly fell down. Somehow regaining her composure she moved towards him. Slowly but steadily, she somehow managed to walk to him.

Serena knelt next to the unconscious boy, watching him with tearful eyes. Her hands shook as she attempted to reach out for him. But the sight of the several cuts and bruises – blood still slowly dripping down from his forehead held her back. She was completely terrified.

Pikachu had sensed the presence of the young girl by then and he looked up. His ears had perked when she alerted him with the sound of her footsteps. The expression of distressing worry faded briefly and subconsciously, he gritted his teeth towards her as if warning her to stay away from Ash.

But the girl's expression soon made him change his demeanor. His ears lowered as he stared at her – surprised was an understatement to describe the state he was in. If he was certain – that he knew he was – the girl did not mean harm at all. Instead, she seemed more worried than he expected her to be. Although he did not let his guard down, he did not attempt to stop her either when she tried to reach out for him.

When her hand touched his cheek, cold blood was all she felt. Her breathing stopped. A lone tear rolled down her eye. Another one followed and no sooner she found herself crying – silently. Her finger traced over his cheek and stopped beneath his nose. He wasn't breathing.

For a moment she felt like her heart had stopped beating. He couldn't have died. He wasn't even meant to die!

Her hands rushed for his hand which was holding her pink hat. She pressed her fingers on his wrist and waited. She could feel his pulse. He wasn't dead. Her hands moved to his chest, shaking him, trying to wake him up all the while maintaining grip on his hand. But the attempt was futile. She knew he was alive, but he was much more injured then she was.

He had pulled her close and tried to turn around as he held her, hoping to reduce the impact for her, but with heavy debris, a boulder and a tree trunk coming after them, they were tossed around like toys. He was the one to take most of the assault.

With her attempt failing Serena started losing her composure. Her hands stopped moving and she leaned forward – placing her head on his chest and biting her lips – as she cried her eyes out in the anxiety if the boy would even survive.

A loud sound of lightning roared throughout the forest. Still holding his hand close to her, she looked up. A moist breeze blew by and through her hair Serena saw dark rainy clouds moving forward. It was about to rain heavily. She looked down again at the raven haired boy.

If not for her, at least for him; she could not afford to give up.


"Ugh."

A small groan escaped his lips. His vision was hazy, but with his half opened eyes Ash tried to look around. The first thing that came into his vision was dark and rocky ceiling. His eyes furrowed – confusion shrouding him. But he regretted those small movements almost immediately when he felt a sharp pain; his forehead was hurting badly. He winced, his hand moved to his head where he was injured.

"Wha…" he whimpered, feeling dry blood clotted on his forehead. Slowly but steadily, he started regaining his senses. It wasn't just his head, his whole body was hurting. "What… happened?" He could not help but wonder, but his voice was barely above whisper.

The raven haired boy forced his way up in the sitting position. His endurance was far greater. The pain did not feel unbearable. It still hurt him, though.

"Where am I?" he said, looking around. It was a small cavity. The entrance was rather wide. When Ash looked outside, he saw a wide land covered with big, long tress. He was – no doubt – deeper in the forest than he was supposed to be.

A lightning roared in the sky. When he looked up he noticed that the sky was filled with dark clouds. But it took him a moment to realize that it was raining slowly.

Ash shook his head with a gentle motion and tried to get on his feet. His body did not hurt as much as he felt dizzy. With wobbling steps, he finally stood straight, his eyes staring at his own feet as he tried to keep his balance.

It was then he noticed a red cap lying on the ground at some distance. It was his trademark official league cap. He walked to it, his feet still wobbling, and knelt down to take it. As he started dusting it and arose again, his eyes finally went into a corner of the cavity and widened in surprise when he saw someone sitting there, arms wrapped around feet and curled up.

Everything rushed back into his head with a snap. He was falling down. He jumped after her to save her. But the situation was never in his control. He ended up falling to his doom and he… he was alive.

What about her, though?

"Hey," he called, his feet leading him to her. She was already looking at her, but he could not be certain about her consciousness. She simply sat there like a lifeless body, her eye blankly staring at him.

He knelt in front of her and stared at her, her eyes did not even respond to his hand waving in front of her. Ash thought - his hand scratching his left cheek - what happened to her? It was then he noticed bruises on her face, a long one on her left cheek. His hand rose and moved forward. But as soon as he placed his hand on her cheek, the girl suddenly responded, retorting back and wincing in pain.

The sudden movements unbalanced Ash who fell down on his back, his hands supporting him. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," the raven haired boy apologized, could not help but prepare himself for a supposed scolding to come.

But it never came.

Instead, the girl stared back at him again. This time, however, her eyes did not seem as lifeless as before. Her mouth opened agape, and with her eyes on him and such an expression, he could swear she was acting like she had seen a ghost.

"Yo-You are…" A whisper came out. Ash could not help but stare at her in confusion while he tried to sit up again. "Bu-But I saw you… I… I thought you…" But she never finished.

He knew what she meant to say. But he could not grasp it. She was in such condition because of that?

"I thought you were going to die and…"

And the girl broke, her words weren't loud but she sounded like she was crying, almost. Before Ash could form words to respond with, he was met with a surprise when the girl moved forward and wrapped herself around him, her eyes swelling up with tears as she cried her heart out while burying herself in his chest.

She was crying.

And he could do nothing but fell back in surprise. His eyes widened and his mouth fell agape. Even if he wanted to, he could not respond back. There was just something about her. And then there was her smell, surprisingly so good even now, intoxicating him. He felt like his body had gone numb.

It took him some moment to regain his composure, but he managed to respond somehow.

His hands moved around her, holding her arms, but instead of pulling her closer he dethatched himself from her; the whimpering sound from the girl telling him how much she wanted to continue like that. But her weight was too much for him to handle and in such position – he knew he would have found himself on the ground in no time and head smacked against the rough surface.

But he was also surprised from her sudden movement, he wouldn't deny that.

"You will actually strangle me to death," he whispered, his voice low and heavy as if she was really strangling him with that embrace. It broke her frown and a quite laughter filled the small cavity. Serena wiped tears off her eyes and tried not to laugh further, but a small smile stayed. When she looked up at him again, he smiled a small toothy grin. "Are you alright?"

Serena nodded, still rubbing her teary eyes like a child would do. She finally calmed herself and sniffed, her eyes completely stopping at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a small voice.

Ash could swear it felt like he was listening to child at a moment rather a teenage girl.

"Yeah. A bit dizzy but I'm alright," Ash replied, rotating his arms to convince her. "When you have a whole lotta troublemaker at home, it takes more than just a landslide to knock me out." He chuckled at his own words while Serena tilted her head in confusion. She failed to grasp the situation and contrary to him, she knew she wouldn't have made it down safe without him. She was indebted to him.

"Thank you for saving me," she whispered to him. When Ash looked at her, she averted her eyes and stared at the ground. "But you did not have to risk your life," she added in a smaller voice.

"Don't mention it," he responded almost immediately, contrary to her his voice was loud and cheery. "It wasn't really a big deal."

"But it was," Serena retorted, a little louder this time. "I don't even know what I would have done if you would have…" Ash's cheery expression dropped when she paused and when he noticed her he saw her eyes swelling up again. She was indeed taking it badly. Realizing her own words, Serena once again looked away from him, shutting her eyes to keep the tears at bay. She breathed in, her body shivering along with it. "No one else would have done that anyway," she added.

Ash opened his mouth to say something, his finger rising as if he was about to point out something, but then he stopped. His mouth closed and his hand dropped in his lap. His eyes diverted from her as well and he looked outside just to notice that it was raining heavily now.

"How long has it been?" he wondered. "They would be worried." There was a brief silence between the two as Ash stared at the rain outside and Serena looked back at Ash. And then he suddenly spoke, "I need to go."

Serena was certain that she did not know the raven haired boy at all. It was even the first time they had met.

Then why do those words hurt?

In her anxiety, the thought of him leaving never came to her mind. But now thinking about it, the possibility was like a heart attack to her. For some reasons, she did not want him to go; to abandon her, again. But before she could respond Ash was already on his feet and walking out. He stopped by the entrance of the cave and stared high in the sky. His hair moved along with the breeze.

He turned around and looked at her, and in the darkness of the cave and the brightness behind him, Serena could only stare wide eyed at his silhouette. His hand moved towards her, like his would. Even in the darkness she knew he was smiling, like he would. And it was now that she realized, he felt so alike him.

The thought of him leaving her could never cross her mind.

"You wanna come along? What do you say?" he said, a cheeky grin coming over. And as Serena stared at him, she could not help but felt her face burning up. She looked down at her lap.

But he was cute too.

The offer was too good to ignore. And she wouldn't let him abandon her again. So forcing her feet to move, Serena stood. Her feet moved forward and led her to him. Her hand moved forward, too. With his hand still open to her, she could not hold herself back and slowly slip her hand into his. It was a lot softer than his, but warm nonetheless.

Ash slowly pulled her closer as she finally stood next to him. He let her hand go and wore his cap again. "I guess it is time to go then," he said. Serena could not help but look at him, looking him in the same light as she used to watch him in. A sense of respect for him developed in her chest. A sense of déjà vu hit her.

However, that moment broke immediately when lightning roared loudly in the sky and the downpour fastened. It wasn't just raining heavy now, but it felt like a storm has hit around the corner.

"Or maybe they can wait."

The look of disappointment that come over his face was too catchy to ignore and Serena could not help but giggle softly, sounding heartedly for the first time that day.