She was blinded. Serena had no idea where Arceus's threat would make her call home. had sent her and the transition from pitch black to wherever she was now was proving very difficult. As her eyes adjusted, her other senses also returned. She was wet, something soggy brushing against her legs but there was ground, soft ground.

"…na! …rena! Serena!" That voice…

She felt herself in the air and then on something hard.

"Serena! Come on! Come on, please!"

She opened her eyes slowly and his face came into focus. He had a hand on her shoulder and the other on her face. "Ash?"

Both his hands slid to the back of her head and she felt his lips crash against hers in a way they normally didn't outside…in a way she'd missed. "Arceus! I thought…but you're back…" He kissed her again before sitting down on the edge of the chair she was propped up in and pulled her to him, squeezing her close. Panting replaced words as he seemed to just enjoy feeling her, sharing warmth and the clamminess of wet skin on wet skin. She knew it was him. Her him.

Serena eased herself up and he pulled away, staring into her eyes. She hadn't seen relief like this – set in his eyes and written across every inch of his face – since he'd fumbled over his wedding proposal. She remembered talking about it in bed on their first anniversary and laughing at him for thinking she could possibly have said no.

"I'm back," she nodded.

"I thought I lost you."

"I thought I lost you," Serena echoed.

"Scariest minute of my life," Ash said, shaking his head. "I'm going to have a word with Burnet about the so-called disappearance of ultra-wormholes.

A minute. A minute? She had been through over a hundred other dimensions, some visits spanning weeks and others less than a day, but here it had only been a minute. Still, Burnet needed praise if anything. The whole saga was going to take some explaining, she knew that, but luckily her husband would understand it quicker than most given all the chaotic and supernatural experiences he'd endured before.

After dinner, Ash wanted to do all the things he never wanted to do – wipe down the counter, wash the dishes, and chief among them as far as Serena was concerned was to just cuddle her. She never thought she'd see him so…still.

"Why don't we ever do this?" he asked as she snuggled against him, content to lay her head on his chest as they sat on the small couch out in the small beachside sunroom.

She laughed, still not leaving his grasp. "Because you always say you hate it. I make you too hot."

"Hmm. Well, it is kind of hot now that you mention it."

"Don't you dare," Serena said. "You like cuddling with me after all. No takebacks."

A comfortable silence passed over them along with a cool breeze. Though the feeling was nice, gently tickling her exposed skin, she was more focused on the warmth she shared with Ash. She'd missed him horribly. His voice. His ever-present blend of enthusiasm and optimism. Now she had him back, his heart beating softly in her ear.

"Did you hear me?" he asked, sitting up slightly.

"I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else."

"Again, huh? Though I guess I can't blame you."

"What were you saying?"

"I was just thinking about what you brought up last year and I…I shouldn't have. It's too much."

She sat up now. "I told you I'm fine. I'm back with you and everything's right again."

Ash watched her carefully and she could feel the concern in it. They locked eyes and she could see it in his unblinking gaze. Finally, he exhaled. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Serena said with a nod. "Now, which thing are you talking about? Because I've told you how I feel about Shalour City."

"It's not that. I mean, we tabled that before but it doesn't really matter…it's about the other thing."

"The other thing?"

"Yeah. You know…the other thing…"

Serena's eyes widened. That was tabled too, maybe for a couple of years – or more. "Really?" she asked, unable to prevent a smile, however nervous, from creeping to the corners of her mouth. Then she frowned. "You're not just bringing this up because of what happened are you? Because this is serious, Ash and you can't just change it because it was in the moment. It's not fair."

"We don't have to talk about it. Like I said, maybe it's too much and I know you have your tour first and I don't want you to just decide something in the moment either. For you it's been a lost year bouncing all over the place and it's our first day back together again."

"No. It's…what's changed?"

"A year," Ash said. "I wanted to talk about it already, but you know I'm bad at starting this kind of thing…"

"Well?"

"I think we should do it."

"And you just…arrived at this conclusion? When exactly?"

"I don't know. A couple of weeks ago?"

"I love you, Ash. With all my heart. And even if some people think it's antiquated, I do love taking care of you. But you'd really have to step up. You'd have to do a lot more. Besides that, with our other plans too, this would really stretch us."

"I will. I'll make it work. I'll take up some other job on the side if I have to."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

"I…" Serena kissed him over and over again, "…we were going to wait awhile. I can't believe it!"

Ash pulled her down close and kissed her, much more gently than her barrage had been. "I want you to be happy, Serena. It's like Kalos. If you're happy, I'm happy."

She bounced up. "Hmm. We have to start putting plans together. Where we're going to put things…help…we'll obviously need help to do it, especially at first and–"

"Plan for building camp later. Vacation now? Right?"

"Right," she said.

Ash laid back down on the chair and Serena followed, snuggling into him again. He leaned his head back and sighed.

Serena knew her husband's noises and knew he was content. He was actually on board with her building a performing camp on their property, even knowing it would take space from their pokemon and most of all would take a big commitment as far their money. Maybe even a loan for the first time. "I told you cuddling would grow on you," she said.

"Just don't ever leave again, okay?"

"I love you. Enough to cross dimensions for you, remember?"

"I love you too, Serena. I'd be a pokemon for you too."

She laughed. "Maybe…"

Together the pair gazed into the sunset. Their journey was only just beginning.

A/N: And that's that. Hopefully I delivered a satisfying conclusion to the story with enough intrigue about what Ash is suddenly amenable to make that the pay off. I also didn't want some big dramatic conclusion. I know a lot of people are all about the immediate passion, but I wanted to make it rather normal – simple acts for the simple vacation they really came there for.

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