Hi everyone!!  SK here.

Long time no see, eh?  I'm sorry, school's been keeping me really busy lately.  If things go well, regular updates should start again at the beginning of June.  I hope this chapter makes up for it though!!

Anyway, let's start :D

Enjoy :3

Serena

After me and Ash hug for a few minutes, I ask him if he wants to talk; after all, I don't know if there's anywhere he has to be.  But he replies with a yes, so we walk over to a fairly open spot close to a nearby stream; the rock we choose to sit on overlooks it.  The bubbling sound of the water flowing around us fills my ears and I sigh, suddenly not knowing what to say.  I turn to Ash, and he's gazing around at the nature too; naturally, he probably is as amazed as I was when I started seeing things at this size.  The largeness and greenness of the leaves around us along with the silkiness and colourfulness of the small clusters of flowers; Pokemon travel all around us, filling the air with their cries of pure joy and energy.  This is my home, well partially at least, and I've grown to love it.

"Who knew that after all these years, you were home all along," Ash absently remarks, his eyes filled with wonder, and- wait, do I see regret in there too?  At first I'm confused, but then I remember that Kanto is his homeland, and Pallet Town is the place where he grew up.  So close, yet so far...

"Oh!  Uh, yeah," I respond, if not a little awkwardly.  "It's quite pretty, is it not?"

"Of course!" he exclaims loudly, then goes quiet again.  "So you're..." he stops for a second, gesturing to me, seeming to catch himself.  "You've changed."

I instantly blush a little, as I know he's referring to my fairy wings- a look I suppose that he is not used to seeing on me.  I swallow, wondering where this is heading.  "I... um, yeah, I guess I did."

"Do you.. are you.. you're still the same Serena, right?" Ash asks skeptically, looking a little anxious.  

My heart suddenly breaks into a million pieces just hearing him ask that.  "A-Ash... of course I am!  I'm still the same Serena that lo- er, that cared about you all those years ago," I plead, hoping he would see me, the me that he knew before all this.  "I promise, I swear I'm the same-"

"Hey Serena!  Serena, calm down... don't worry, I know you're the same person that I care about too," Ash quickly interjects, which earns a sigh of relief from me.  "I really want to hear what you've been up to though," he adds, looking at me hopefully.

"You first," I say instead, because my life right now is so complicated that it would be hard to understand and explain.  "I really want to hear what you've been up to as well."

Ash smiles, scooting a little closer to me; of course, I can't help myself, I go a little red.  "Well... after you died, I went to find you," he begins.  "There was a lot of us- well, me, obviously, and Clemont too!  Bonnie came along of course, as did Mairin and Alain- wait, wait wait WAIT!" Ash suddenly shouts, turning toward me with a desperate look.  "Bonnie... Mairin... Alain... they died the same way, they must be with you, right?"

I gulp.  Bonnie and Mairin were, but Alain... my heart still hurts when I think of what happened, what I had to do.

"Please, please tell me Serena," he begs, his eyes welling up.  After seeing him like that, there's no way I can back down now.

"I have seen all of them, yes," I start slowly, because at least that is the truth.  I'd seen all of them at least once- I get to see Bonnie and Mairin everyday after all!  My thoughts become laced with unease; I don't want Ash to know the truth about Alain so soon.  Like all the other outcasts, the Darks, they aren't really talked about much.  I still feel really bad for Mairin though; it broke her heart to see him go.

"Oh, oh thank Arceus for that," Ash says, breathing a sigh of relief.  A slight smile appears on his face.  "So I guess they told you what we were up to, yeah?"

"That's right," I reply.  I had heard the same tale from all three of them.  My heart breaks into a million pieces every time I hear the story, yet somehow it makes me love him harder whenever I hear all the effort he took just to see me again.  Ash... Ash really never gave up, just like he always says...

"Wait- wait wait wait!  So, you're a fairy now?" Ash questions, his face changing to form an excited expression.  I nod in affirmation, feeling a bright smile forming on my face.

"Wow, that's so cool Serena!" he says happily.  "So you can fly and do magic and all that other cool stuff?"

"Yeah, watch!" I exclaim.  I stand up on our rock and hover what I think is a couple inches above him, my wings creating a small gust of wind each time they beat; I can see the breaths of air ruffling Ash's hair a little.  

"Your wings are very pretty," Ash comments while I land back beside him.  I blush a little, murmuring a small "thank you" back to him in response.

"Come to think of it... I've never really seen you in that outfit before," he adds, gazing at my clothes.  I look down at myself, realizing how much they had become normal for me after all these years.  I wear dress which has a similar style to my performance dress, in the sense that it has two layers, with one of them having a small ruffled tear.  It's crafted from a soft pale pink fabric, and a similar fabric is used for the yellow ruffles that peak out at the bottom of the dress's layers.  Blue diamonds crawl up the right side of it as well.  

The dress has long draping rose pink sleeves, really similar to the dress I modeled in front of Ash all those years ago.  Pink and yellow boots with similar blue diamonds cover my feet, though they feel so weightless it's like I'm not wearing any footwear at all.  The Soul Necklace sits on my chest, and though it's supposed to be light it is very heavy for me, heavier than it should be sometimes.  My hair is still as short as ever; I never intended to grow it back out.  I have a blue ribbon I put into my hair sometimes, but I'm not wearing it today.  It's the same ribbon that Ash once gifted me.

"Th-Thanks Ash," I reply kindly.  "This.. well, I have a specific outfit to wear.  Well, all the fairies do, but..."

"Oh?" Ash questions curiously.  "Why's that?"

"I... well..." 

How do I put this without freaking him out?

I look at him, his gaze set on mine.  I take a breath.

Here goes nothing.

I begin to sputter out words.  "I well... I'm the leader.  The Leader of the Light Fairies.  The Fairy 'Queen', you could say, though there is an actual Queen and she's not me-"

"WOW!  Serena, that's amazing!  I'm so proud of you!" Ash exclaims, bringing me in for a hug.  I don't resist, because I have wanted this for oh so long.  Okay... so I didn't freak him out as much as I thought, but still...

"Can I... can I come?" Ash asks, letting go of me.

I look at him, puzzled.  "What do you mean?"

"I wanna come see our friends," Ash clarifies, sounding all too hopeful.  "If.. if that's possible."

My heart catches.  I want to let him in, but... wait.  His birthday's in a few days.  I know we've done this before- let someone in early- I've seen it in the texts.  He can come but...

"You can come," I tell him, "But you can't leave if you do.. I'm sorry... it's just a rule we have." 

"I... can I bring Clemont with me?" Ash asks me, his eyes pleading.

I shake my head.  "Clemont cannot come.  As much as I'd love to see him too, he's not..." I break off, staring at him helplessly.  "He's not an Elemental..."  At least I can assume so.  Brock said he only saw one potential fairy come into Pallet Town today, right?

"What's an- no, nevermind.  I... I'll think about it.  I'll meet you here if I want to come, okay?"  He says, looking like his head is pounding.  I don't blame him.  I've put a burden of a choice onto him.

"Yeah... oh!  Ash, if you come, bring one of your Pokemon with you.  And bring some stuff- but not too much, just like one or two important things, okay?" I tell him, feeling a little tense.

"Yeah, okay.  It's a promise," he adds, smiling and holding out his hand to me.

I gaze at him, hold his hand, and shake it reassuringly.

It's a promise.

And that's it!!  I hope you enjoyed this chapter.  I hope I will be able to update more frequently (back on schedule) in June.

Until then, stay tuned!