𝒯 𝒽 𝑒 𝒲 𝒶 𝓎 𝒲 𝑒 𝒲 𝒾 𝓁 𝓁 𝐵 𝑒

Chapter 3: Hometown Is Where The Heart Is

Chapter 3: Hometown Is Where The Heart Is.
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Vaniville Town

Serena stepped out of the shower, wearing nothing but a pink towel wrapped around her body. She stepped into her bedroom, where she found Grace setting up her new clothes. The woman looked over her shoulder upon hearing one of the floorboards creak with Serena's footstep.

"Oh, Serena!" she said, smiling. "I'm just preparing these clothes for you. You'll be wearing them for the day while I dry out your regular ones."

"Thanks, Mom," replied Serena, smiling back.

"No problem, honey." Grace then looked back at the aforementioned clothes and straightened out the shirt. "It's a good thing the hotel I made reservations for has its own laundromat."

"Yeah...that's good to know..." However, the honey-blonde started to stare through her mother, as she became lost in her own thoughts.

While she was in the shower, her mind had settled back on her worries about Ash and this Dawn character. Did she really just waste almost a year trying to get Ash to realize that she liked him? Did she underestimate him and his perceptions about love and romance? Was it all over for her in regards to her future with him? What was Dawn like? How good of a person did she have to be if she had Ash's attention so much?

"Alright, then!" Grace exclaimed, bringing Serena back to reality. "All finished!" She looked back at her daughter and noticed her worried look. "Serena, are you alright, honey?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. It's just..."

Her voice trailed off, prompting Grace to ask, "Is it about Ash?" When Serena blushed intensely and opened her mouth, the former jockey quickly interrupted, "Don't think I don't know about your thing with Ash! Trust me, I pay attention to you more closely than you think! And every time I see you looking at him, I see it in your eyes. The light." She smiled. "You don't have to be embarrassed, Serena. Love is a wonderful thing."

Serena sulked. "It's not wonderful if he doesn't know about it, though..."

"Then what are you waiting for? Tell him how you feel, honey!"

The Performer chuckled dryly. "It's not that simple, Mom..."

Grace crossed her arms. "Oh, don't tell me you're waiting for some sort of invitation! You shouldn't be so fancy and dramatic about that, Serena!"

"It's-It's not like that, Mom! I...I keep trying to clue him in on it, but no matter how obvious I can get, he's so DENSE!" Serena's expression turned forlorn. "And...I think...I think he might have...someone already..."

It pained her to say those last two words, but she had to anyway. She had to get it off her chest somehow.

"Oh..." Grace's eyes softened. "I see..." Then, she approached her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then you still need to tell Ash about how you feel. That way, you can let all of that pent-up emotion go. Trust me, no one can keep something as personal as that bottled up inside. If you do that, you'll explode one day."

"Well, I can't tell him now. It could weigh on his mind and interfere with his Kalos League goals."

"Then wait till that's over with. That way, he'll have nothing important on his mind. I mean, there's no rush, right?"

Serena smiled a little and nodded, knowing her mother was right about that. It wasn't the end of the world if she didn't tell Ash her feelings right now.

"I guess that's true..." she said.

"Good. You see, Serena, that's why you should listen to your mother!"