Amourshipping : One Day Off

Chapter 4

Serena looked out from the balcony of her room, watching the sun set on what had been a long and tough day of hard training. Watching the sun made her feel relaxed, and have her the time to collect her thoughts. 

She thought about the day she had had, training with Pancham and Fennekin, and how much they had achieved that day. Their performance had come on in leaps and bounds. 

But something she found herself always thinking about intruded her mind. 

Ash. 

She smiled, remembering the day she had had with him and blushed. That was one upside to not having to be around her friends all the time. She often found herself blushing, and it was nice to have some time to herself and didn't have to worry about blushing in front of everyone. 

This was supposed to be a day of relaxation for Ash. That in itself was rare, but he had instead spent the day helping her perfect her performance. She wondered 'why?'. 

Why did Ash help her? 

She sighed. She loved Ash, of that she had no doubts in her mind. She had loved him for a long time now. There was only so much pressure, Serena felt, that she could bottle up at this point with her feelings for him. 

She wasn't ashamed to admit she loved him at all. But she often wondered what he felt about her. Was she just a friend? Was she a best friend? Or was she just someone tagging along for the ride? She mentally crossed that one off her list. Ash had invited her to journey with him, didn't he? She was a friend at the minimum, she came to the conclusion 

She sighed again. She had had moments of doubt, just as anyone did. But moments of doubt can plant the seeds for terrible assumptions and mistakes. She shivered. 

"What am I to you, Ash?" Serena said, talking to herself, looking up towards the clouds, as if asking God himself to give her the answer she needed. 

"More than you think." 

For a second, Serena though God legitimately was answering her, but when she turned, she saw it was Clemont. Definitely NOT God. 

"U-uh...how long have you been there?" Serena asked, almost whispering in embarrassment. 

"Long enough." Clemont said. "I came to get you seeing as suppers almost done." 

Serena blushed. She used her long hair to cover up her face, hiding her blush. Clemont laughed "you aren't exactly sublet, you know. Bonnie and I already knew." 

"Bonnie knows?" 

Clemont sighed. "She can be annoying with trying to constantly find a wife for me... But to her credit, she does know alt about romance." 

Serena sighed next. "How is it possible that everyone except the one guy who I want to notice knows, but not him?" 

Clemont stood next to Serena and looked out the balcony. He took in the scenery. Serena must have had the best view out if all of them. "Ash can be a bit... Clueless sometimes, but he has noticed something's up. He's asked me a couple of times. I haven't said anything yet. I thought you might like to tell him in your own time." 

Serena nodded, "Thank you, Clemont."  

"But having said that," Serena felt her heart quicken "You might want to move it."  

"What do you mean?"  

"I'm his next gym battle, Serena. When he beats me, and I have no doubt he will, that'll be him up to 5 gym badges. Then he'll only have 3 more to go. I hate to say it, but we are running out of time together already. Ash isn't going to make any moves, and if he does, I can almost promise you he'll do it under the guise of a battle, or something relating to Pokèmon. Even if he does feel romantic feelings towards you, Ash wouldn't know how to act on them. Not because he doesn't care, but... I honesty doubt he's experienced love before." 

Serena looked out of the balcony. Clemont had some valid points. "You're right. " 

Clemont looked down to the ground. "It's a real shame. I've enjoyed the time we've spent together as a group. That's kind of why I want to help you out with Ash." 

Serena stared at Clemont, "Huh?" 

"Maybe you can convince him to stay in Kalos a while longer." Clemont said with a humorous smile. "But in all seriousness, you two are good friends of mine. Seeing both of you down like this because of one another kind if upsets me."  

Serena chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head "Uh, sorry about that." 

Clemont continued "and I'll be perfectly honest, you two match one another perfectly if you ask me." 

Serena blushed again. 

"I won't do anything without your say." Clemont said. "But... Well, sorry if this sounds rude or if its personal, but... What are your exact feelings towards him? 

Serena looked out of the balcony again. "I... You know how I feel about him." 

"Can't you say it?" Clemont asked. 

"Huh?" 

"You can't say it, can you?" Clemont sighed. "Come on. If you can't admit it to me how on Earth are you going to admit it to him?" 

Serena sighed " Okay, Okay I... He's ... He's an incredible person. He has so much determination in him, so much energy for life, such a passion For what he wants to achieve. But he's also so kind, and... Just today, when he was supposed to be relaxing on his day off... He instead spent it helping me... And I didn't even think twice about accepting his help. Because I wanted him to be close to me, for just a day... Because... I love him." 

Serena paused and realized everything she had just said. She went dark red and tried to hide her entire fHace behind her hair. Sure, she knew she loved him, she had known she had for years. But we had never said the words before. 'I love Ash'. They were words that were simply never said by her. 

"Okay, well, we got that far. " Clemont muttered. 

Serena looked away from Clemont. "Uwaaaaa..." 

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. " Clemont laughed. "I've seen you be in worse situations." 

Serena sighed, once again.

"I'll talk to him." Clemont said. "I'll ask him. But I won't say anything about your feelings to him."

"Thank you, Clemont... I- I appreciate it." Serena said, nodding her head. "But... Listen, don't... Tell him too much?... I know you said you wouldn't, but if you have to... Be vague. That is something I have to do myself. I can't have you as the messenger, back and forth for us forever." 

Clemont nodded "I understand. I'll ask him, and that'll be it." 

"Thank you, Clemont." 

"Come on. We really shouldn't keep Ash and Bonnie waiting. You think Ash is bad?..." Clemont said, only now realising how long they had spoken for, shuddering when he remembered how impatient Bonnie could be. She made Ash look like he had the patience of a saint in comparison 

"That's right!" Serena said, gasping as she also realized how long they had been talking. 

She swallowed and let out a sigh. She was practically relying of Clemont at this point. She could only hope that this would go well.