Ready for the final part? Well, here it is! Unfortunately, there won't be a yandere Serena, UltimateCCC, however, that would be a heck of a plot twist...I'll keep that in mind ;D. Jk, here's the finale to the chapter arc for "Birthday Suprise".

Previously

"W-why? Why won't you ever see him again?" Ash questions. He starts to feel a pain in his heart but, it's not anger this time, it's guilt.

"Because, Ash," Serena makes direct eye contact. Her eyes are fierce, cutting deep into him. "He's dead, and I'm the one who killed him."

"Our boy sure has grown up quite a bit, hasn't he?" The hooded man said holding a picture of his son.

"Yeah, I really wish you were here to see him, well, at least when he was home," Delia said gloomily.

"I wished for the same thing ever since I left," The hooded man said with a smile. Although with the hood, his smile was the only thing Delia could see.

"Red," Red turned his attention to Delia, "Um, why do you still have that hood on?"

Slightly embarrassed, he scratches the side of his face. "Uh, usually I'm not here long enough to take it off. I don't want anyone to recognize me."

"Look," Delia said almost immediately after he stopped talking, "Grace only recognized your name, and I doubt that any of the kids will recognize you with or without the hood. They weren't even born yet." Delia says. She reaches over and grabs the top of the hood and slowly pulls it off of his head. "Though that's no surprise since you practically made the school fall down when battling Blue."

Red looks back to the picture. Delia continues, "Actually, why didn't you want Grace to talk about that? You practically pleaded her not to."

Red lifts his head up, "Because, I could've killed a lot of people. I was out of control and reckless. What if the school did fall down! What if I hurt you!" Red says with passion coursing through his veins. Delia could feel his emotion in every single word. "I'm sure you know better than I do, I cause so much harm to those around me, it's like I'm cursed."

Delia took his hand in hers. "Red, I know that's why you left. I know you wanted to protect us," she paused. Her hand clenched his a little harder. "But, to have all memories of you erased from Ash's mind, it was cruel!" Delia sheds a tear. With Red's empty hand, he cups her face and wipes the tear off of her face with his thumb. He removes his hand and places it on hers.

"I know it was wrong. I know you didn't want me to, but," Red pauses. "I didn't want him to remember me as the crummy father who left without saying goodbye. I didn't want him to grow up to be like me."

Silence fills the room, this was a conversation that they always wanted to discuss, but never had the courage to do.

"He was so angry with me, and I don't blame him. At the age of five, I left him. After I almost got the whole family killed in that car accident because of my idiotic driving, I knew that this curse would soon enough hurt the ones I love so dearly." Delia could see Red's eyes start to tear up. He embraced her in his arms. Sobbing, Red continued to speak. "I love you and our son so much! I-if anything happened, I-I wouldn't be able to live with myself!" Red holds Delia tighter. In return, Delia holds him tighter as well.

The two sit there, embracing each other. Minutes pass. Any tears have subsided and they part. Delia speaks up first.

"I think erasing the memories of you is causing Ash to be conflicted. He knows he's mad at you but, he doesn't know why."

"How is that possible? The Slowpoke was trained for the very reason to use amnesia to erase all memories of me," Red says with confusion.

"I think the Slowpoke did exactly that," Delia acknowledges. "But what we feel in our hearts, that's something that you can't take away, no matter what."

Red smiles and slightly releases air out of his nose, signifying a laugh. "You're right. You're cheesy, but you are right."

"Heeey! I was being serious!" Delia said while playfully hitting his arm. They both laugh. They haven't felt like this in a long time.

The two sit, feeling the comfort of each others presence.

"We need to tell Ash. He'll probably hate me even more than he does now, but he needs to know how awful I am. At least then he'll know why he feels the way he does towards me." Red stands up and walks over to the window. The usually bright and sunny morning in Kanto was dim and cloudy. "The rain seems to have slowed, and we haven't heard any thunder recently. Do you think we should go find him?"

"I think his friends will find him. He said it himself, they're like his extended family." Delia says with a smile. Delia checks the time. Ash left after breakfast at around 10:00 am. The clock shows 12:37 pm. "Although, it has been about two hours since he left. None of his friends have returned either," Delia said with concern growing in her voice.

"Don't worry honey, I'm sure his friends are out there with him right now," Red says to Delia, attempting to comfort her. A minute later he sees his son's loyal pokemon running towards the house. Before he has the time to tell Delia, he sees a pair of blonde children following right behind. "Hey, Delia? Are those Ash's friends?"

Delia gets ready to stand up but Pikachu and the others have already made their way through the door.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu manages to spit out. The trio is panting heavily, struggling to catch their breath.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying Pikachu," Red says. "Is there something wrong?"

Bonnie catches her breath for the most part and frantically speaks for the group. "We bumped into Pikachu while we were looking for Ash. We lost track of Serena. When we went to look for her we found Pikachu and he wanted us to come with him. We didn't want to leave Serena but Pikachu was crying! We had to follow him!" Bonnie says, obviously guilty of not continuing to look for Serena.

"Bonnie," Clemont says, finally catching his breath. "You're a little all over the place. I'll take it from here." Clemont says and pats her head. With all of the commotion, Grace came down from the guest room. A previously sleeping Dedenne also found its way over to Bonnie.

"Is everything okay down here?" Grace asks as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

Clemont turns towards Grace and bows. "I'm truly sorry, but we lost track of Serena." Clemont then raised his head and looked toward the group of adults. "According to my calculations, the storm shouldn't be a problem anymore, but the likelihood that Serena has found Ash is a 17.34% possibility."

"How do you know that?" Delia questions.

"Using the direction that Pikachu met us from and the last point that we know of Serena's location, I concluded that she was relatively nearby Ash when we lost track of her. Though if Ash moved or Serena went the wrong way, the chances are slim that they met up." Clemont says ashamed.

Grace speaks up. "I'm almost positive that they have met up."

"I don't understand," Clemont responds, "The calculation percentage was low, how can you be so sure?"

"Because you forgot to calculate for the strong will of family, and Serena's 'never give up' spirit!" Grace says confidently.

"That's pretty cheesy," Red remarks under his breath.

Grace snaps her attention to Red. "Hey! I heard that!" Red laughs and prepares to speak.

"I'm sure you're right, you three must be freezing, I'll go get you all some towels. For now, stay here and get dry, we don't want you to catch colds." Red turns his back to the group and heads to get towels.

"What about Ash and Serena!?" Bonnie pipes. "Pikaaaa," Pikachu cries, agreeing with Bonnie.

"Even if Grace is right, and that Serena and Ash have met up, is Ash going to be okay? He's not doing too well according to Pikachu," Clemont questions.

Pikachu drops his ears and nods.

Red turns his head enough that the group can see his smile. "He's my son," Red paused. "I know he's okay." Red turned his head back and walks up stairs.

No one spoke. The light tapping of rain could be heard outside. Everyone was put at ease by his words. Now they all sit waiting for the two to return.

Ash's eyes are filled with horror, looking down at Serena's now expressionless face. She's still trembling under him.

Ash has finally escaped from the void. He's not sure if it was her voice that saved him, or what was said with her voice. All he knew was it sure as hell worked.

"S-Serena, what do you mean?" Ash questions, his voice trembling.

"My father is dead because of my selfishness," Serena said softly, almost as if she didn't want herself to hear it.

"Serena, I don't understa-" Ash is quickly interrupted. Serena bursts into tears and hiccups. Her body shaking with every breath.

"I'M THE REASON HE'S GONE!" Serena cries out. Ash, still confused, doesn't say a word. There was no longer any hostility in Ash, nor was there fear from Serena's words.

My heart. It's pounding. Those words, I've thought them before. I have this undefinable urge to cry out, to tell her it's not her fault. I haven't even heard the full story yet. I don't know what happened to her. I don't know what to say.

Serena hiccups again. "All I wanted was to meet him! I knew his voice from over the phone, and what he looked like from pictures of him and my mom." Her voice struggles to escape from her body. "I wanted him to come home! I wanted him to come back from Kalos to Kanto. To come back to see me! I was only seven, I didn't mean to make him come back during a bad storm!" Ash is at a loss for words. So this was around the time I met her before she left Kanto. He decided to let her keep talking, to lift the weight that was weighing down her heart.

Serena's hiccups begin to subside but she continues to cry. "The private plane he was taking crashed, the pilot wasn't informed that he would be heading straight into a hurricane." She pauses. "It was because of my selfishness, my stupid request to see meet him... was it too much to ask!?"

"Serena," Ash could only manage to speak her name.

"I-I'm the reason he's dead, I'm the one who killed him!"

Here she is, under me, trembling and crying out. I see myself in her. I see myself in the void, scared and alone. I wanted someone to hold me, to bring life back into me. I wanted the touch of someone who cared, to be wrapped in their arms.

Ash removes his hand off of her shoulder and to her cheek. He wipes away any present tears. He gets off of her and stands up. The pain of being in that position for too long caused Ash to wrap his arms around his ribs. He kneels down on his good knee to grab one of her hands.

At the touch of his hand, Serena's eyes force their way open. Her cries slow and become softer. Ash gently pulls her into an upright position.

"Serena," Ash whispers. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't know," Ash says. He sits down and pulls her into his arms.

This feeling. Her touch. Her warmth. Her breath. I'm apprehended by it all. I don't want to let go, I don't ever want to let go.

Ash pulls her tighter to his chest. Serena has calmed down and slowly melts into his arms.

In the sky, there is an opening, no rain clouds, just the mid-day sky. Ash looks up and with a tear falling from his eyes, he smiles.

Whatever happens, with her by my side, in my arms, there is no doubt in my mind that she will clear the rain clouds that reside over my head, and she will break the chains that hold down my heart.

"Hey, Serena," Ash whispers, his mouth right beside her ear.

Sniffling, "Yeah?" She asks with the little strength she has after crying. Her voice muffled by Ash's shoulder.

"It's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. Please don't blame yourself," Ash reassured her, biting his tongue in irony. Ash can feel her lips shape themselves into a slight smile.

I can imagine her smile, I've seen it so many times. I've cherished it for so long.

Serena sniffles once again. "You should really learn how to take your own advice," she says with a slight laugh.

"Serena, I'm sorry about everything I said, thinking back, it was really harsh of me. You were just trying to be there for me, yet I pushed you, and everyone else, away." Ash said, looking down at Serena's short hair.

I can still remember the day she cut her hair, she looked amazing. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the blue ribbon I gave her become part of her usual attire.

Her voice still muffled, Serena replies. "Ash, no matter what you say to me, or how far you push, there is no way I could ever stop these feelings I have for you."

BA'DUMP

She pulls her face off of his chest to meet his gaze, realizing what she just said. Blush spread across both of their faces. They are only a few inches apart.

BA'DUMP. These eyes. These amazing electric blue eyes. I could stare at them all day. I want to study them for the rest of my life.

"Serena, I," Ash says breathily. He couldn't help but look to her lips.

BA'DUMP. Her lips. They look soft. They look welcoming. I want to touch them. I want to know how they feel against mine.

"I-i mean as f-family! We all care about each other and have very s-strong feelings!" Serena frantically says as a lame excuse to cover what she just said. He still doesn't reply. "Ash?" Serena questions. The raven-haired boy doesn't respond. Serena can tell he's starting to breathe heavier.

"Ash, c'mon say something!" Serena shakes his arm but to no avail, the boy doesn't say a word. Instead, he lifts a hand to cup her face, using his thumb to caress her lips.

Even more flustered than before, she can't think straight.

Serena stands up, unsure of what to do. The sudden increase of distance grabs Ash's attention.

No, come back.

"A-ash, do you happen to know how to get back?" Serena questions, her body stiff with nervousness.

Snapping out of his daze, Ash replies. "Uh, I know the general direction, I think." Ash points back in the direction he ran from. "I changed directions at some point but that should lead us relatively close."

I don't want to leave yet.

"Okay, then let's go," Serena says awkwardly, hoping he's forgotten about what she said by now. She starts to head in the identified direction.

Ash still on the ground grabs her hand. "Wait!" Serena quickly turns with a faint blush spread across her cheek.

"Wha-what is i-it Ash?" Serena fumbles with her words. He realized, hasn't he! Serena thinks to herself.

Ash uses his empty hand to scratch the side of his face.

"Can we, uh, stay here together for a little longer?" Ash asks sheepishly.

Or a lot longer.

Serena blinks her eyes twice in a mix of shock and confusion.

Ash continues to speak due to the lack of response. "If you're worried about getting rained on again, we can go inside the tree with Pikachu."

Serena draws her attention to the tree. All she saw was his classic blue jacket. She looked closer and saw small tracks in the mud heading towards the direction Ash pointed to a few moments ago.

Serena looks back at him in confusion.

"I think he probably went to look for help a while ago," Ash said scratching the back of his head. "I probably was worrying him quite a lot." Ash got up and headed over to the tree hollow. Serena hesitantly followed his action.

"Here," Ash said while picking up the jacket. "You can use this so you don't get cold."

"Th-thanks Ash." Serena took the jacket from his hand.

They wrung out as much rain as they could from their respective clothing.

The two sat next to one another. They sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward, but rather pleasant.

About half an hour passes. Serena yawns.

The two are exhausted from all the emotional stress.

"Ash, it's probably about time to head back now," Serena says fighting the urge to fall asleep.

Ash doesn't respond. His head falls onto her shoulder.

"Ash?!" Serena starts to blush, she can feel his breath on her neck.

Serena subconsciously rests her head on his.

Serena's eyes flutter to a close. The warmth of Ash slowly lulls her to sleep.

So that's the chapter arc finale! This chapter was jam packed with A LOT of different concepts that I'll dig deeper into in the next chapters! I hope the Ash and Serena part wasn't too rushed. I wanted to go deeper into the feelings and the past but realistically, when you're venting you tend to be all over the place without going into much detail. This was probably released early Sunday morning(for me) so expect either a short-ish chap in the middle of the week or a longish chap next weekend.

(note to self, get some new vocabulary. I'm sure you guys have noticed I'm a little rusty XD)

Thank you all so much for reading!

Leave a review to tell me what you thought!

Luv you all!

ALSS signing out!