Chapter Forty-Two: Perfectly Imperfect
Serena frowned in concentration. Her next decision would be vital, and she didn't want to accidentally make the wrong choice. If she did, the consequences would be catastrophic.
She turned to Delphox and asked, "What do you think?"
Delphox considered for a moment, clearly taking things just as seriously as Serena.
("I think the left one would be best,") she said eventually.
Serena nodded slowly. She'd been considering the same thing, so Delphox's choice made her a bit more certain.
"Alright, then…left it is…" she said.
She took a deep breath, grabbed the bottle on the left, and liberally added the spice to the pasta sauce she was making, before giving it a good stir and putting the lid on the pan to let it simmer for a bit.
She looked at Delphox and said, "I hope we chose right."
("We probably did. That one's smell was much better in combination with the sauce than the other one,") Delphox said confidently.
"I'll put my trust in your nose, then," Serena said with a smile.
She checked her timer and went to drain the water from the spaghetti, and then went to put everything on the table for dinner.
They'd left Celadon City early that morning and were now traveling west to the cycling road, which they'd follow south to Fuchsia City for the next Exposition and Gym battle. For now, though, they'd set up camp just south of a small section of forest, on a wide stretch of grass which ended in a sheer cliff overlooking the sea to the south.
"Dinner's ready, everyone!" Serena called out, and in no time at all Ash and the Pokémon had gathered around.
"Thanks, Serena," Ash said gratefully as he loaded up his plate.
"Delphox helped with the sauce. We've experimented with the spices a bit, so I hope it'll be good," Serena said, filling up her own plate as well. The food certainly smelled good, which was a good sign.
"Well, let's find out," Ash said, and Pikachu sneakily stole a bit from Ash's plate at the same time.
"It's great!" Ash said happily a moment later.
Pikachu nodded fervently. ("Definitely a success,") he confirmed.
Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear it," she said with a smile, before giving her creation a try herself. It did taste good, though it was perhaps a bit too salty.
Just looking at the way Ash was devouring it, though, it might as well have been the best food ever made by human hands, which was certainly flattering, in addition to being slightly unnerving to look at.
("The more they like the food, the more their table manners deteriorate,") Delphox said with a shake of her head.
("Yeah, Delia gave up on trying to fix that a long time ago,") Pikachu said. ("Probably because Ash isn't home that often.")
("Yours aren't much better,") Delphox pointed out.
Pikachu shrugged. ("I'm a Pokémon. I don't need table manners. I don't even really need a table,") he said.
("At least you didn't say you don't need manners…") Delphox said resignedly.
("If I did, you'd kill me,") Pikachu said.
("I probably would, yes,") Delphox admitted.
Serena and Ash's eyes met and they both laughed at Pikachu and Delphox's short conversation.
("Come to think of it, though, why do you care about table manners? You're a Pokémon too,") Pikachu said.
("I've always been around humans, though,") Delphox said. ("And I liked cleanliness to begin with. Maybe that's why Serena and I get along so well.")
She smiled at Serena, who smiled back. Delphox's remark reminded her of the short conversation they'd had a few days ago, when Misdreavus had still been missing, about how her hunting instincts weren't all that developed. If she and Pikachu had been wild…would Delphox have hunted Pikachu? Would they have been battling for life and death, rather than exchanging banter about table manners?
Serena abruptly got up and said, "I'm going to fill the water pitcher, be right back!"
She grabbed the glass pitcher and walked over to the nearby stream, which ran all the way to the cliff face into the sea. Why was she even thinking such things right now? Misdreavus was back, they'd reached an agreement, and even though it wasn't the best solution, it was at least adequate for now. Why dwell on the what-ifs so much?
She walked back to the table, where the conversation had mercifully gone in another direction, and they sat talking for a while before Ash went to do the dishes and then head off for his evening training, while Serena's Pokémon just relaxed on their own, like they usually did shortly after an Exposition.
Serena herself remained at the table, idly reading some articles on Pokémon care on her phone, and occasionally looking over at her Pokémon to see if everything was going well. Misdreavus and Pancham were, unsurprisingly, together, talking animatedly and generally looking extremely happy with each other's company, Sylveon was practicing her dancing, and Delphox was lazily enjoying the light of the slowly setting sun.
Ash, meanwhile, was training as hard as ever with his Pokémon, who seemed to be engaged in a six-way battle at the moment, with Ash watching them and giving them pointers whenever he noticed something. Serena was impressed at his ability to keep an eye on all his Pokémon at once.
Even now, knowing so much more about his early journey than she'd done during their Kalos adventure, she just couldn't picture Ash as anything less than the driven, skilled Trainer he was now. Her admiration for him, which had started so long ago, had only increased over time, unhindered by their one brief argument after his loss to Wulfric or their differing views on what love really meant.
She still didn't really know when she should make her move. There had been so many opportunities, but each time it had just felt like it wasn't time yet. And sure, Sabrina had told her she'd find her chance…but not when that might be.
And after everything that had happened with Misdreavus, some of her old worries had come back. If their viewpoints were incompatible…then what would happen in the long run? Would they just grow apart, even though both of them clearly felt more for each other than their admittedly close friendship?
Serena saw Ash head over to the tent, probably to grab something from his bag. She glanced over at Misdreavus, and the sight of her laughing at something Pancham had told her made something click in her head.
She got up and entered the tent as well, where Ash was indeed rummaging through his bag.
"Hey, Ash," she said. Ash stopped digging in his bag and turned to look at her.
"Yeah?"
"If…two people have different views on something… Do you think it would still be worth it to give it a shot to see where it goes?" Serena asked.
Ash cocked his head and looked at her curiously. Then he smiled and said, "Of course it's worth it. You'll never know if you don't try, right? Why did you–"
He didn't get any further than that, because Serena had leaned in and pressed her lips against his. She could feel him stiffen up in surprise, and all kinds of inane thoughts went through her head at the same moment.
How this was such a stupid moment for a first kiss.
How they had an ocean view, but it was to the south and the sun was setting in the west, but they were in a tent so they couldn't see it anyway.
How leaning so far forward while sitting on her knees was really uncomfortable, and most of the force of the kiss had actually been because she'd lost her balance.
How cutting Ash off mid-sentence had been really cliché of her.
And yet, at the same time, feeling the warmth of his lips against her, feeling how he was now relaxing, and how his hands, which he'd put on her shoulders to keep her from falling over, lost their tension and the touch became more tender instead, made the moment more perfect than anything she could have ever imagined.
Maybe Ash had been right, in their first conversation on the topic on that rainy night just outside of Cerulean City. It was the person, not the action itself, that made a moment special.
Serena pulled back and only then became aware of the heat radiating from her face and through the rest of her body.
Ash looked stumped for a moment, also bright red, and then he quietly said, "Wow."
"I know we don't see love the same way," Serena said softly. "But I want to try this with you anyway. Maybe it's too early to say I love you, but I like you as so much more than just my friend, and I don't want to deny that anymore. I want to be with you, Ash, and I really, really hope you…want to be with me, too."
Ash still seemed stunned by the kiss, and for a moment Serena feared he hadn't even heard what she'd just said, but then he seemed to wake up.
He looked at her as though it was the first time he saw her clearly, his eyes wide, but filled with the confidence and kindness Serena admired so much.
"I do," he said softly, but clearly. "I want to be with you too, Serena."
Somehow, Serena's face became even hotter and her heart began to beat even faster. Even though she had been the one to kiss Ash and make this happen, hearing him say he wanted to be with her still hit her like a Thunderbolt.
Before she could say anything, though, Ash asked, "So… Can…can we do that again? The…k-kiss?"
It was both adorable and impressive to see how quickly he'd gone from confidently stating he wanted to be with her, to stumbling over his words when mentioning kissing, but rather than laughing, Serena just nodded wordlessly and moved over a bit closer to prevent herself from falling over again.
This time, she put her arms around Ash's neck, and he awkwardly put his around her waist. This kiss was much softer than the first, because Serena wasn't half-falling this time, but it was no less impactful. In fact, it was probably even more so than before, because she'd already had all the stupid thoughts the first time around, meaning she could actually focus on the feeling itself.
It was soft and warm and just right in every way. Ash was clearly unsure of what to do, allowing Serena to take the lead and just following along, but even so he was evidently enjoying the experience every bit as much as Serena was.
When she eventually pulled back again, Ash said, "You're, um…really good at this."
This time, Serena did laugh. "I've done it exactly twice now, both in the past five minutes," she said. "But…thank you, Ash. For…for being willing to give this a try."
"With you, there's no way I could go wrong," Ash said, and Serena's heart seemed to melt. He couldn't say the word 'kiss' without stuttering, but he could say something like this without a problem?!
"I, um, should probably get back to the Pokémon, though," Ash went on sheepishly. "They're going to wonder what's taking me so long."
Serena nodded, still recovering from Ash's offhand romantic remark.
"Y-Yeah, I'd better get back outside too. We could…practice kissing a bit more tonight, though…" she added slyly.
Steam seemed to be coming out of Ash's ears.
So it's finally happened, after around 128,000 words. I just…really wanted to do this now. I like the idea of the moment being thematically all 'wrong', yet fitting perfectly anyway, and I definitely had fun writing that part of the chapter.
To anyone who can cook, though, I do apologize for the opening few paragraphs. I was staring at the page for ten actual minutes because I don't even know the proper verb for adding any kind of spice powder (like onion powder or garlic powder or whatever) to a sauce. The first thing I could think of would be 'sprinkle', but that sounds wrong somehow, and it's not 'pour' either because it's not a liquid. You don't 'apply' it, either. I also deliberately omitted the actual spice she added because my cooking skills are enough to keep me alive, but no more than that. IRL, it would have been garlic powder for sure because garlic is the best, but given the kissing scene coming up, I decided against that.
Anyway, enough rambling. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this deliciously imperfect first kiss. Just because I love the way it came out doesn't mean you have to, so don't hold back. The next chapter will likely be Monday, rather than Sunday, because Sunday's my girlfriend's birthday and I obviously won't have a lot of time to write then. See you then!