"Is it...really you?" Serena asked the raven haired boy, still not believing her own eyes. It's been years since they last saw each other in person.

"It is Serena." He reassured as he gave her his signature grin.

Serena needed time to think, so she called back her pokemon and smiled at the group of Pokeballs before storing them in her pocket.

She knew what to say next but her mouth was apparently a mind of its own.

"I missed you so much!" She said with a slight voice crack which caused her to feel embarrassed.

"Sorry that came out wrong." She apologized covering her face with her gloved hands.

"Hey, it's ok, I missed you too, Serena." He chuckled quietly as he took one of her hands in his own hand. Serena calmed down a bit as she continued to look at him.

The silence started to get awkward so Ash decided to do some small talk.

"How about we stroll around the city for a bit to catch up?" Ash asked with hopefulness in his eyes.

Serena smiled eagerly, "Of course."

And so they began to walk down the city's endless shops and restaurants

while keeping a low profile.

They walked side by side around the city for about an hour or two, just to enjoy the scenery and each other's company. They ask questions on their whereabouts. Like how Clemont and Bonnie were doing or in Ash's case, bringing up old memories.

"The weather really adds to the atmosphere of the city huh?" Ash hummed as he looked up at the sky.

"Indeed it does, the winter season was always my favorite." Serena responded and asked him a question.

"So...how is it being the World Monarch?" She asked with a curious tone.

"Oh man, where do I start!" He laughed, making Serena giggle a bit.

"At first it felt unbelievable, defeating Leon was a huge challenge for sure." He paused and showed Serena his key stone that was implanted into his glove.

"I trained all of my team with help of my old Pokémon during the world coronation series." He continued.

Serena got even more curious and asked another question. "Oh, is Greninja with you since you are here?"

"Yup and we are fully mastering the bond phenomenon!" He answered proudly while flexing his arm causing Serena to stare at before looking away with a slight blush.

"I'm glad, who else do you have with you?" Serena queried as they strolled to a more secluded area.

"Right now they are all in the Lumiose Tower, so I have Pikachu, Greninja, Lucario, Infernape, Krookodile, Sceptile and..." He counted on his fingers until one of his pokemon appeared below him and Serena.

"Gengar!" The ghost Pokémon came up from the ground and floated above Serena.

Ash didn't even get a second to react as Serena screeched and jumped to hug him tightly. This caused Ash to fall back a bit as he wasn't prepared but caught himself with his heel digging down the snow.

Ash suddenly remembered that Serena had a fear of ghosts since their travels together.

While hugging Ash, Serena noticed the fact he was actually now taller than her by a couple of inches to the point she was on her tippy toes. He had broader shoulders than before and had an earthy smell, probably due to all the training and traveling. Eventually, she realized what she just did. Her eyes split wide open in panic and let go of Ash in a quick motion.

"S-Sorry!...I...didn't mean to, I just got scared-" Serena was interrupted as Ash took her gloved hand. He looked at her and gave a soft smile before he spoke.

"Hey it's alright, there's nothing to be afraid of." He said as he shot a glare at Gengar.

The Gengar chuckled and disappeared. Serena suddenly felt the air get warmer which was strange nonetheless.

"Gengar came along with me as he didn't want to feel abandonment again, so he just lurks in my shadow most of the time." Ash finished.

Serena immediately looked at his shadow on the snow covered ground to see the red eyes of Gengar looking up at her. She got a chill up her spine but shook it off.

"So...I see you achieved your dream to be Kalos Queen!" Ash said, wanting to change the subject.

"What? Oh! Yes I have!" Serena trying not to jumble her words.

"I'm so proud of you for reaching your goal Serena." Ash cheered.

"I couldn't have done it without the words that you taught me." Serena beamed.

"Don't give up til it's over." They both repeated at the same time and they started to laugh out loud.

The moment was nice and peaceful but Serena and Ash's minds were currently on the way of going haywire within the next minute.

'Oh wow he's still holding my hand-' Serena thought, trying her best not to blush.

'Her hands are small compared to mine, that's kinda cute-' Ash went through his thoughts but halted them as his mind mentioned the word 'cute'.

'Cute? Where did that come from?' Ash blankly stared at the ground for a couple seconds.

Serena looked at him a bit worriedly.

"Hey Ash, is everything alright?" She questioned thoughtfully.

Ash finally looked up and blinked a couple of times.

"W-what..Oh! I just thought you looked really cute, that's all." He spoke without thinking until his mind caught up with him.

"W-what?" Serena gasped out as she stood back a bit but her hand was still in contact with Ash's hand. She was definitely blushing now.

'Ah jeez, my mouth is doing more action than my entire brain is right now.' He thought stupidly.

The snow began to seize a bit but the wind was much the same or worse than before. This caused Serena to shiver and let go of Ash's hand to hold her own shoulders. That action made Ash remember what his mother said to him before.

'Be a Gentleman.' He remembered quite fondly, so he took off his famous champion's cloak and put it over Serena's shaking shoulders and hugged her gently from behind. Serena looked at him and started blushing. She averted her eyes from Ash and smiled.

"Thank you Ash." She shyly moved her hair behind her ear and the lamp post above enlightened her facial features.

Ash was admiring Serena's cerulean eyes as she looked at him again but the next thing that happened was something he did not see coming. Within a split second, Serena gave him a quick peck on his cheek.

"No problem." Ash blurted out as he scratched behind his head.

Whatever Ash just had felt in that exact moment was something he couldn't explain nor would he forget. He looked at Serena in a stunned expression and began to feel the strange yet familiar feeling of butterflies in his stomach. The feeling was completely still new to him, but it felt weirdly nice.

"Sorry, was that a bit much?" Serena asked timidly, hiding behind her scarf. She couldn't believe she just did that. Maybe she could play it off as a way to say thank you to a good friend.

"No no no, that was fine really!" He quickly responded, waving his hands around not wanting Serena to doubt herself. He thought it was just a way to show thanks to a close friend so he didn't think too much of it but his heart wanted to think otherwise.

Before he could say anything else, they heard a random news reporter and a camera man behind them.

"There you have it folks, the world Monarch and our Kalos Queen seem to be together as a loving couple." The news reporter said on the microphone.

'Wow these guys have no idea what privacy is.' Ash thought with much frustration.

Serena looked at them with slight annoyance for ruining their moment and then started to blush profusely.

"We're n-not dating yet!" Serena yelled in an embarrassed outburst not fully knowing what came right out of her mouth.

'Yet?' Ash thought as his eyebrows went upward but then saw a group of people noticed them.

"Is that the Monarch!?" One yelled out.

"Hey, that's the Kalos Queen!" Another said

"Are they really dating?" A person enthusiastically questioned.

"Nah they are too different from each other."

"Yeah that'll never work out"

Ash looked at the people annoyingly as he and Serena began to walk to an open street.

Serena saw how Ash looked upset at the people who were giving reasons they wouldn't be a good match together. They weren't a thing which was true but the way they said it made her heart sank. She started to believe that it was just the infamous unrequited love scenario, which she feared for many years. She began to think of all of the differences between her and Ash. She drowned out her thoughts for now and continued to focus on getting out of the crowd.

A couple of minutes passed and Serena and Ash began to feel overwhelmed and they both looked around for an opening but to no avail. Ash saw how stressed Serena looked so he got in front of her and latched their hands together. He didn't exactly know why he did it but it felt like it was his job to protect her.

Groups of people began to surround them to ask them a multitude of questions and then all of the sudden a huge gust of wind hit them. It slightly pushed the people back as it took them off guard. Ash and Serena looked at what was causing the gusts of wind and saw a familiar Corviknight looking at them.

"Are ya gonna keep standing there or what?" The taxi driver greeted as he lowered the taxi cab for Serena and Ash. They immediately got inside and sat down next to each other as Corviknight started to take off.

Serena and Ash looked down to see the crowd disperse and then looked at each other, and sighed heavily.

"Is that what you go through?" Serena breathed out.

"What you don't?" He laughed.

"Not that bad." Serena giggled as she took off her gloves.

_

"Alright to be honest with you, my mother would love to meet you in person." Ash told Serena.

"She would?" Serena uttered and look at the window of the taxi cab. It was nice to ride in the same cab twice but sharing the seat with her crush was something else entirely.

They kept asking questions to each other until the taxi driver called out to Serena.

"Hey miss, remember that favor I asked you?" He questioned Serena.

"What? Oh! Yes I remember now thank you." Serena went into her pocket to pick out the old picture from their Kalos journey.

"Ash?"

"Hmm?"

"You forgot this when you first rode this taxi to Lumiose City." Serena handed him the picture carefully.

Ash laid his eyes on it and let a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh thank you, I thought I lost this photo forever."

Serena smiled and said it was also the taxi driver who helped out as well. Ash thanked them both and put the picture neatly in his coat pocket for safe keeping.

Serena decided to ask another question that was probably the hundredth one tonight.

"You keep that picture everywhere you go?"

Ash looked up to Serena and gave a toothy grin. "I do Serena."

"I found it in my room when I was looking for an extra Pokeball for Goh as he was trying to catch a weedle. And let me tell you, Goh has one of the best catching rates I have ever seen!"

"Where is he now?" Serena asked amusingly.

Ash looked at her and thought deeply as he was scratching his chin.

"He's probably with professor Cerise and his girlfriend Chloe back at Kanto." He answered thoughtfully.

"Chloe?" Serena remembered her immediately as she helped mentored her a few years back.

"Oh that's right! You already met them, well actually not really since me and Goh had to leave on the ferry." He said disappointed.

"Hey all that matters is that we have finally have time here." She smiled as she rested her elbow on the seat's arm rest.

"Yeah, you're right." Ash softly spoke.

Ash and Serena continued to talk to one another for the rest of the flight back to Lumiose Tower.

_

"Are you two sure you're gonna be fine?" The taxi driver asked politely after he dropped them off at Lumiose Tower.

"Corv." The steel pokemon grunted as it expanded its wings.

"We'll be ok." Ash assured him.

"Yeah, and thank you for saving us back there." Serena told the taxi driver gratefully.

"You're welcome." The taxi man said and jumped on Corviknight.

"Well, see you two love birds later." He gave a thumbs up to them and took off.

Serena frowned as she remembered all the words the crowd had said to them about not being a good match for each other. The words felt like knifes stabbing at her heart. It hurt Serena in a emotional sense, something she has worked on tirelessly to improve on but never fully. She started to degrade herself in her mind.

'You're not good enough for him.'

'He doesn't feel the same for you.'

Ash looked at Serena and was a bit worried as she had a dejected look on her face.

Serena walked away slowly until Ash called out her name.

"Serena?" Ash whispered and saw Serena tensed up a bit.

Serena took a deep breath and turned around to face Ash.

"Yes?"

Ash could see Serena was visibly saddened all of the sudden.

"Is everything alright?" Ash asked carefully.

Serena kept staring at him and gave him a fake smile.

"Kinda, I'm just not feeling well that's all."

Ash decides to continue the conservation.

"Serena, if anything is bothering you, you can tell me."

Serena started to feel her eyes water a bit but kept it still for now.

"It's just seeing you again, after so long...it brings some uncertainty a-and having people call us a couple seems to make you uncomfortable..." Serena paused and took another deep breath.

"Y-You are the most amazing person I have ever known and I-I just wish you could see the admiration I have for you..." She hiccups trying so hard not to sob or make Ash feel guilty.

"I-I know you d-don't see us being together in the future and that's f-fine." Serena sniffled as the dam holding the tears from falling was slowly falling apart.

"I'm just g-glad t-to see you again to hear your accomplishments as a friend and I wish you luck on your future." Serena stated with sorrow as she began to slowly rub her shoulders with her hands.

Ash on the other hand was speechless and dumbfounded the entire time but as soon Serena began to walk away again, he grabbed her shaking shoulder softly.

"Serena, w-wait." He whispered as she turned around to look at his amber eyes once again.

He finally chose to bring up the question from years ago to hopefully ignite something in her. Ash really liked Serena and there was no other person he would like to spend an entire lifetime with. She was special to him, something made her stand out, he loved her smile, her laugh, he liked everything about her. Romance may be a new concept to him but he was sure he wanted to learn it with Serena.

So he finally brought up the question that was in his head for years as he thought maybe, just maybe, she felt the same...

"When we said our goodbyes in Kalos what did you mean by I'm your goal?"

He felt Serena's shoulders stop shaking and quietly heard her say.

"I-I...It doesn't m-atter now." Serena started to move away as she felt like breaking down at any moment but again was stopped by Ash as he lightly grabbed her chin.

"Please Serena." Ash pleaded as he hated seeing Serena like this and wanted her to feel better.

"I-" Serena stopped and a tear fell down.

"When I k-kissed you b-back then, it was t-to give you an idea of how I really feel about you..." She smiled and continued on with her words.

"You are kind, confident, selfless, and protective of everyone around you, and during our journey together..."

"...You helped with finding my own dream, my goal to become Kalos Queen. And now that I accomplished that goal, I started to work on my other more personal one..." She stopped midway through her sentence, but then she stood straight up with her palm over her heart. Ash was in awe but remained silent for Serena to finish.

Serena looked at Ash with every bit of confidence she had left and breathed heavily.

She was going to do it.

'It's now or never.' She thought.

Serena then spoke her full motive.

"When I told you that you are my goal, I wanted to be someone like you, someone who helps and inspire others like you did with me. I wanted to be with you in the future together, and not as close friends but more than that!" She took a quick breath.

"What I feel for you is not platonic, b-but...romantically." She squeaked out the last part as she used up all of her confidence but she wasn't done just yet.

"What I'm saying is t-that..." she stopped to think on what to say next but quickly grew frustrated at herself.

'Come on, why is this so hard!' Serena screamed in her head.

'You are the Kalos Queen who performs in front of thousands of people, just say it already!' Her mind told her.

And then she did...

"I like you Ash!" She finally yelled out and then the gate that held her tears collapsed. She began crying, preparing for the rejection but it never came...

Before she could wipe her tears away, someone did it for her.

It was Ash, who was smiling ever so softly at her with his eyes teary. He seemed happy, which Serena took as a good sign.

Ash kept his hand on her cheek and whispered.

"I like you too, Serena, as more than just a friend."

"Y-You do?" Serena said with hope in her cerulean eyes.

"I do!" Ash gushed as he grabbed Serena by her waist to pick her up and started to spin her gracefully.

"Ash put me down!" Serena laughed with the tears subsiding. She finally got past the fear of rejection once Ash said those words.

"Nope you're mine now!" Ash responded with confidence as he hugged her tighter. They were acting like kids but hey they were teenagers.

Eventually the raven haired champion put her down but still had their hands interlocked. Ash looked up and cleared his throat.

"Serena, can I talk to you about something?" He began, waiting for her response.

"Yes Ash?" She hummed.

"I-I just want to let you know that I have never been in a relationship before and this is completely new to me." He started calmly and continued. "So since we just confessed to each other, does that mean we're like boyfriend and girlfriend now?" He asked embarrassed due to his lack of knowledge in the romance department which caused Serena giggle out loud who was also trying to suppress it with her other hand.

"Oh Ash, you really have no clue when it comes to romance do you?" She chuckled softly.

"Sorry but this is my first time ever in a relationship an-" He was swiftly cut off with Serena kissing his cheek. It was a bit longer than the peck she gave him before as it was more confident and held no doubt in it. The kiss ended with a slight smacking sound. Serena looked up at Ash and gave a huge smile before speaking.

"Don't worry Ash, you're my first sweetheart too but we'll figure it together." She said with much affection while she twirled a strand of Ash's hair with her index finger.

Ash stared at Serena and was in a trance of how beautiful she looked with the moon shining down on her honey locks. It started to snow a bit and the lights of Lumiose Tower started to light up creating a perfect scenario for a first kiss...well his second one, technically speaking.

Serena looked at Ash with wide eyes as he slowly moved his head toward her in a slow manner.

'I-Is he going to k-kiss me!?' She panicked in her head but swiftly came up with an idea.

Ash began to lean in but was quickly stopped as he felt a finger against his lips.

"If you want a kiss, you need to take me out on a date first." Serena winked with her tongue sticking out a tiny bit.

Ash looked at her with much amusement but he didn't want her to have the last laugh.

"As you wish, my queen~" he teased as moved away and bowed drastically, causing Serena to turn red at her nickname Ash has given her.

"My Champion." Serena rolled her eyes, and smiled at Ash adoringly.

_

The newly made couple walked toward the doors of the Lumiose Tower with their hands joined together. They were going to have a long conservation together on where to go on their first date but for now they decided to relax after a long night.

Once inside they were greeted by the gym leader of Lumiose Tower himself...

Next chapter is going to be fun!

Get ready for Ash to have a rematch against some of the gym leaders and lots of moments of the Kalos Queen and World Monarch.