AN: Warning: Chapter mentions of suicide. Not gonna lie, this is sadder than I was expecting XC Or maybe I'm too much of a softy... Regardless, I hope you enjoy :)
On the day of Ash's murder:
It was supposed to be an exciting week for Serena. She finally beat Aria and felt ready to go and confess her feelings to Ash. But when she went home to see her mother, she heard the worst news of her life.
"… Such a tragedy occurred today, when our beloved hero, Ash Ketchum… got attacked and killed by a huge group of terrorists…" the newswomen sadly reported.
Serena turned to the tv with a heartbroken expression, looked down at the headline, and sees that she wasn't just hearing things. She clenched the blue ribbon Ash gave by her heart as tears fell from her eyes. "No… no!"
Grace looked over at the news with a sad look. She didn't converse with Ash much, but with what little she did, she liked him. There was so much she appreciated about him. Not only did he save the entirety of Kalos from Team Flare, but helped her daughter grow into the confident young woman she is today, which she knows couldn't be done without his guidance. Grace then looked over at her daughter who started to break down and cry and ran over her and hugged her. It's been so long since she saw tears flow from Serena's face, but Grace isn't the least bit surprised, as she felt pain so strong that her own tears were dripping all over her daughter. "Serena, I'm so sorry…"
Pancham, Braixen, and Sylveon heard the news and their trainer's breakdown. So, they all went over to her and tried to comfort her and her mother.
It's been a week, and Serena is still finding it hard to move on. Serena thought of Ash's words that pushed her though hard times, "don't give up until it's over!" Serena frowned. "It's over now…" she thought to herself as tears fell down to the ground. "Now what?" Serena shouted.
"S-Serena?"
Serena gasped. The person who called out her name sounded like Ash's. "But, that's…" She looked over and saw him with his pikachu. "Ash!"
"Serena!"
They both ran to each other and tightly embraced each other.
"I'm so relieved… You're okay!" Ash shouted holding back his tears.
"Of course I am, silly!" Serena pulled back from the embrace with a blush. "But… how are you here… I heard from the news, that you were killed!"
Ash looked away with a frown. "Yeah… he, the Ash you knew of this world, is dead."
Serena gave a confused look.
Ash looked away from Serena with a pained look. "See… I'm not from this dimension. Arceus brought me here to take down those who killed the Ash here." Ash clenched his fists. "I just… had to see if you met the same fate as… the Serena I know."
"What… what happened to her?"
Ash closed his eyes with a pained look. "Long ago… after I took down Lysander, there were these vines that were attacking Kalos…"
Serena found that piacular that it's the same thing happened when Ash left her long ago.
"But when I went to see her again, your mom informed me…" Tears fell from his face as he went to his knees.
"Ash…" Serena quickly ran over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Why did I ever leave you? I should have stayed and kept you from those vines and from anything else that could harm you!"
"But… Didn't we have our own goals we needed to follow?"
"My stupid dream means nothing if I lost the ability to ever see your smiling face again!"
Serena gasped with a blush.
Ash slowly stood up. "Sorry, I… It just hurts so much…" He grabbed his chest.
Serena wrapped his arms around him. "It's okay. I understand… I'm here for you."
Ash wrapped his arms around Serena. "I know… I need to pull myself together. Our worlds depend on it."
Serena looked at him with a worried look. Poor Ash has the fate of not just one world, but another on his shoulders, and he has to do it while also dealing with the loss of the Serena of his world. "Are you going to be okay?"
Ash looked away with an uncomfortable look. "I guess… Arceus told me that there will be other Ashs to help." He clenched Serena tightly. "And after this… I'll go back and see my Serena again."
Serena pulled back with a surprised look. "But… you said I died in your world! How are you going to do that?"
Ash looked away from her. "… Jump off Prism Tower."
Serena gasped with a horrified look and screamed, "No!"
Ash gave her a confused look. "But, I want…"
Serena grabbed into his arm. "What if the world needs you more than to solve this crisis?" She looked away with a sad look. "And what about your mom, and your other friends? Just look what your death here has affected everyone!" Tears poured from her face. "And… I don't think the me from your world would want that, ether! You have only one life! Don't throw it away!"
Ash looked away with an embarrassed look. "I'm sorry… You right, I shouldn't just throw everything all away."
"I'm glad you see it my way…" She looked away with a bashful look. She was thinking of doing something like that moments before he came, but after hearing him say that and feeling the pain after he said that, made her realize what a selfish and stupid thing that was.
Ash placed his hands on her shoulder. "I'm glad I came to see you before I went to do what I supposed to do… I do feel a bit better, at least for now." He then backed up. "Well, goodbye…"
"Wait!"
Ash looked at her with a confused look.
"Let me come with you! I got to make sure… you don't do anything reckless!"
Ash slowly put on a smile. "Nothing else would make me happier! Plus, I can at least make it up for letting you down in my world by making sure your safe here in this universe!"
Serena smiled. "Well… maybe there is a way to see the Serena of your world again, alive and well!"
Ash gave her a surprised look, but then nodded. "Yeah, I'm here seeing another universe… so there could be a way to revive her! And your Ash too!"
Serena gave a surprised look. "You think so?"
"Yeah! And we won't give up, until it's over!"
Serena beamed with tears of joy in her eyes. "Yeah!"
"Noon?"
Ash and Serena looked down to the pokemon that that talked and saw a linoone.
"Hello there, Linoone!" Ash went down and pet the linoone, and his Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and said hello to it.
Linoone smiled and happily greeted them.
Serena went to pet Linoone too. "But… this linoone seems so tame."
"Yeah, that's because it's my linoone!"
Ash and Serena looked up to who spoke and saw Max.
The linoone ran back towards his trainer.
Ash smiled. "Oh hey, Max! You here earing badges for the Kalos League here?"
Max crossed his arms. "I was actually in the middle of the Jhoto travels. It's so nice there, with its deep history, historic buildings, and interesting culture…"
Ash gave a confused look. "Then… what brings you here all of a sudden?"
"We are here looking for you…"
Ash gave a confused look. "…We?"
Serena gasped with an excited look. "Do you mean that an Ash from another world is with you?"
Max nodded. "Along with my sister and another girl named Bonnie."
"Oh, Bonnie? Does she have blonde hair and blue eyes and a dedenne?"
"… That's the one."
Serena smiled. "Oh, it's been a while since I saw her…"
"Same here!" Ash shouted.
"Well then, let's go and see her now." Max pulled out his Pokenav and had Bonnie, May, and the other Ash on call. "I found him everyone! Let's head to the restaurant and meet up."
They all agreed and then they hung up.
When Ash, Max, and Serena made it to the restraint, Serena saw May and Bonnie and ran up to them.
"It's so good to see you!" Serena shouted.
May looked behind her and jumped up. "Serena!"
Bonnie beamed when she saw Serena and ran towards her with May.
Serena went and gave a friendly hug to both, and they all talked about what happened. Serena met May when she first went to Hoenn. May was on her way home to visit her mom a bit and they bumped into each other at the airport.
After a while, they all sat down.
It was then that May saw something that caught her eye. "Oh, you had that for quite a while…"
Serena looked down at her ribbon with a blush. "Yes. It… means a lot to me."
May smiled. "It shows! The only way you can tell is old is the material is faded. Just like my ribbon I split with Ash…" She pulled it out.
Serena looked at it with a surprised look. This is the first time seeing it, as they did have only short chats when they were able to meet up.
The Ash that was with May smiled. "You really kept your half better than mine…" He pulled out his half of ribbon, which was stanned, rusted, and ripped and let out a nervous laugh.
May looked happily in the eyes of the Ash that found her. "I'm happy with you knowing that you never lost it, and always kept it with you…"
He smiled. "Of course! I would never lose something so important!"
Serena looked at the Ash that was with him with a sad look. "… Do you have a split ribbon from when you traveled with May from your world?"
"Yeah. Me and May both won it… I have use to remind me of my travels, like I do with a lot of my gifts from my friends."
Serena looked away with a hurt look. "Gift from friends? How many of those friends… are from girls?" Serena wondered.
