Tricky Cherry

The sun's glint gazed across Kalos, it was another glorious day. Amongst the soaring temperatures and cloudless sky, today was just another day where Serena found herself beginning to ponder. Today was another day in which she would walk across the rural roads of the Kalos region alongside her travelling companions who had become like family to her. After a recent spurt of gym battles and Showcases, the group were in a relaxed mood, stopping by a lake amongst a sun-baked woodland. The Lumiose twins, Clemont and Bonnie were just like the siblings she never had. Clemont being the science-adoring nerd that he had no shame in admitting had whipped open his tool box, and with the simmering sun catching the reflection on his glasses, got to work on his latest upcoming invention. Bonnie was just like any other excitable little sister though, she would tease. She would tease as the fourth member of their travelling quartet was a little more than a friend to Serena; and a little bit different to a brother. She thought she could keep it to herself the whole time; and if it was bad enough that Miette knew, the day Bonnie found out meant life could only get more difficult for Serena. As the group sat down and deployed their Pokemon to stretch their legs and wings, Serena took a nervous glance at her lemon-haired surrogate sister, and hoped that sinister smirk would not arise again. It was a tricky situation, and one that Serena often pondered to herself about. How is it possible for him to not notice? Must everyone eventually work her feelings out one by one? It was hardly ever a secret any more; everyone was beginning to get it. She liked Ash. Yet he seemed to be a berry which was not yet ripe, and in his eager gaze lied his oblivious ways.

Ash and Serena travelled together in perfect harmony, a mutual admiration, where they supported each other, trusted each other. Everything was mutual, apart from one thing. One thing which she knew, deep down, was somewhere within him. Yet she knew she had to bite the cherry, she knew she would have to dig deep within him to find that feeling that she held so strongly herself. From playful children to aspiring travellers, she liked him. She liked him in a way friendship couldn't convey; yet Ash wasn't to know. His eager self was always geared towards battling, and his next meal time. Although today the group had taken a break. Today, the group were not sprinting forwards. Today, Serena had time to play.

Clemont was rummaging through his toolbox while Chespin, Luxray and Bunnelby watched on with interest. The Lumiose City gym leader was in a world of his own amongst his metropolis of nuts and bolts surrounding him. Ash would occasionally glance over to see what his close friend was inventing this time, although unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before the amber-eyed boy dashed off to focus on training with his Pokemon. Somewhere in the distance, his next gym challenge lied. Ash being Ash, was adamant on ensuring his Pokemon were as fit and energetic as ever, and so he sprinted off into the woods, with his partners close beside him. Clemont, Bonnie and Serena felt the gush of wind sweep their hair as Ash took off like a jet. His eyes flaring, and with that confident smirk bearing, he sped off to train. Pikachu darted past the trees, close to his trainer's side, while Frogadier jumped from trunk to trunk, honing his speedy ninja skills. Above all in the air, soared Fletchinder, Hawlucha and Noibat. Two feisty Pokemon that were aiding their new inexperienced friend through the basics of flying and battling. It was another day at the office for Ash, whose bellowing commands at his Pokemon grew more faint as he disappeared out of the group's sight, into a windswept woods. Serena had zoned out from the world as Ash left her presence. His sudden switch from sitting down and relaxing one moment to sprinting off and training the other summed up Ash rather well. He didn't have time to ponder before he was off to his next activity. It was child-like energy, but goodness, it was addictive. Serena felt herself recapture Ash's spirit during her Showcases, a surge of adrenaline reminiscent of her raven-haired crush. Yet he never had time to ponder, he never had time to realise Serena's blushing face. He wasn't to know, for after all, he was just Ash. She breathed a sigh of satisfaction, yet the thought of Ash's innocence began to dwell in her. She giggled at such a thought though, Ash's naivete was somewhat adorable to her.

Bonnie was sat peacefully brushing Braxien's soft fur while Pancham was perfecting its aerobic skills. As she hummed a small tune to herself, it wasn't long before the younger Lumiose twin caught sight of Serena's beaming smile, with hints of laughter.

"What are you smiling about, Serena?" Bonnie squeaked. Serena had that warmness in her expression once again. One that could only be seen when she was thinking about Ash. She started to play with her fingers.

"Oh it's nothing..!" She playfully replied.

That sinister smirk once again flared.

"Tell me!" Bonnie squealed with wide eyes. Serena felt her cheeks begin to sizzle, Bonnie would never take 'no' for an answer.

"C'mon, Serena what is it?!" She grew more assertive, filling Serena's line of vision with her eager face- it's like she already knew the answer she was looking for. Serena flinched at Bonnie's eagerness, and tried to stay cool to her surrogate younger sister.

"The weather's just really nice today!" She replied in a higher tone than usual, while becoming increasingly nervous in playing with her fingers. Bonnie saw Serena's nerves beginning to kick in, and capitalised on her moment.

"Hey do you remember when Ash complimented your dress after the Dendemille Showcase?" Her smirk widened, this time with half-open, teasing eyes. Serena suddenly recalled the moment where Ash abruptly said that he thought her furisode dress really suited her. She flushed a deep red, remembering his words.

"Um... That too, I guess!" She stuttered. Bonnie had a strange fixation with love. In all of their time travelling together around Kalos, she was adamant that she would find a wife worth keeping for Clemont. Her youthful persistence never failed to surprise Serena, who was relieved that she hadn't been targeted, up until this very point.

"You remember don't you, big brother?" Bonnie dragged Clemont into her little interrogation, Serena began to twirl her honey-blonde locks around in her fingers. Clemont's blank face appeared from his toolbox as he wiped off drops of sweat following his labours.

"What do you mean?" He bemusedly questioned. Bonnie instantly released a disappointed sigh, and shrugged her shoulders at her puzzled brother. She turned back to Serena.

"Gee, for such a science genius, he's just as dense as Ash!" Clemont watched on as the two girls giggled to themselves, laughing at their male friend's obliviousness. Clemont wished he had Ash for back-up in the midst of the girls' confusing antics, but he was nowhere to be seen, until suddenly, a loud scream of "Woooah!" bellowed out from the woods. It was unmistakably Ash's voice. Rarely did the group ever hear him shout for help in that way, so surely something, somewhere, had gone wrong. Three heads alongside their Pokemon shot up at the sound of the raven-haired boy's solitary shouting voice. Serena tensed and put a hand on her chest in angst, wondering what he could have possibly done.

"We should go and see if he's okay." Clemont suggested. Serena and Bonnie nodded as the trio got up, only to turn around and see the faces of all of their puzzled Pokemon looking on at them.

"Bonnie, why don't you look after everyone while we go and check?" Serena restored the calmness to her voice, almost to protect Bonnie from anything potentially harmful. Bonnie had no issues with this, and was excited to stay and play with all of the Pokemon while Clemont and Serena went to answer Ash's call of surprise.

She didn't want to over-think, for Ash was a strong trainer who knew how to deal with dangerous situations; yet it was natural for her to feel concern for the boy she felt so warmly towards. The two ventured into the woods, and immediately Clemont noticed Serena's tense stance, with one hand held tight to her blue ribbon, that blue ribbon which she received as a present from Ash. In that moment, Bonnie's earlier comment was starting to make a little more sense to Clemont, who adjusted his glasses as he tried to create a mental hypothesis over the situation. His main problem was that this time, science wouldn't be opening up the future, and it definitely wouldn't be solving the equation of love. It was a tricky riddle which he just could not click with. Serena edged on ahead, seemingly growing with angst after each step.

"I wonder what he's done this time!" Clemont tried to lighten the atmosphere, knowing Ash it probably wasn't anything to be overly worried about. If it was, then by now Pikachu would have Thunderbolted the problem away. As they approached further into the heart of the woods, there still wasn't any sign of a blasting off Team Rocket trio, while all had fallen eerily silent. No gushing waves of a Frogadier Water Pulse, nor any soaring acrobatics from the flying trio of Hawlucha, Fletchinder or Noibat.. Serena's pace had increased to a hasty jog, as she battled her way through numerous branches, she had lost sight of Clemont, whose huffing and puffing as he tried to keep up in the distance was the only sound that she could hear for what felt like miles. Jogging had become running, running then became sprinting- where was he?! Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Ash's electric blue jacket. She pivoted towards it, ducked under another branch, and finally found him. All of her worries suddenly vanished upon discovering that Ash was in fact just lying there, with Hawlucha scratching his head looking incredibly embarrassed. Pikachu was patting Ash's back slightly as he lied against a tree stump. Frogadier, Fletchinder and the baby Noibat looked as if they were trying not to laugh.

"What is going on here?!" Serena barked, she sounded like an angry wife. It was then she noticed that they were surrounded by dozens of Cheri berries, too many to count, while Ash looked slightly dazed, rubbing his head which had a rather comical big red mark. Hawlucha suddenly turned around at Serena's intimidating voice and began to hastily attempt to explain, as if he was trying to cover up the situation. Serena ran over to Ash.

"Ash, are you okay?" She calmed her voice for him.

"Yeah, except that Hawlucha's High Jump Kick was so powerful I just got hit by all these berries." He said with a painful laugh. Serena looked up at the now berry-less tree, it must have been some impact. A hit so powerful that it caused the tree to shake all of its berries off at once. At that moment Clemont trudged up to the scene where Serena had gently placed her hand on Ash's sore red mark on his head. She took off his hat as he flinched at the sudden jarring pain. Clemont placed a hand on the back of his head.

"I take it you got hit by all of these berries." he said with a hasty laugh. Ash chuckled slightly, and slowly picked himself up.

"The problem is, what are we now gonna do with all of these?" Ash pondered as he looked around at a sea of pure red Cheri berries, ripe for eating under a pure summer sky. Serena waited for the inevitable "let's eat 'em all!" before Clemont came in with a wise suggestion.

"Seeing as they've now all fallen, shall we gather them up and use them for tonight's dinner? I can make stew for us and then use the rest for Pokemon food." He politely suggested, which due to the mentioning of dinner, immediately earned Ash's approval. Serena smiled as the group began to collect the soft and bouncy berries from the ground. Ash seemed to be fine after his minor injury, but |Serena still wanted to nurse him.

"Wait, Ash! Are you sure your head is okay?" She asked in an dramatised concerned tone. Ash screwed his cap back on and fired his confident grin back at Serena. He never wanted her to see him weak, and so despite the sobbing bump on his head, he reassured her that he was okay.

"Of course! It's nothing. C'mon let's gather all these berries, my stomach is getting hungry already!" Typical of Ash, from intensive training to intensive eating, once again he had switched his focus to his next activity. Serena could only chuckle briefly at his childish persistence shining through once again, as she began to think to herself how underneath that brave face was probably an Ash that wanted to be babied a little.

After a while the trio including Ash's Pokemon had collected huge handfuls of Cheri berries that piled so high it almost impeded their vision. As they walked single-file through the woods, Serena continued with her antics with Ash as she spotted him leaning forward with his neck to take a bite out of one of his Cheris.

"Ash, can't you wait until we get back first?" She lightly scolded him in a patronising, motherly tone. His face blushed slightly as he chuckled.

"Sorry I can't help it sometimes." He light-heartedly responded, obeying Serena's watchful eye. She wanted to continue, she had time to play, after all. Ash himself was a tricky cherry, and this time she was going to bite in and spit out that seed of obliviousness, and get to the good bits.

"If you're really good, then I'll let you have some from my pile when we get back!" She gave him a wink as she teased. Ash felt his mouth suddenly begin to water at such a prospect.

"Argh man, you're killing me!" He complained as the woods seemed to go on for miles. She laughed as Ash's adorable yearning for his stash of berries became desperate.

Eventually after their trek through the woods reached its conclusion, they met with Bonnie and her large gazing eyes at the sheer sight of so many bright and shiny Cheri berries. Each and every one of the Pokemon all gallantly jumped for joy at the trio's return. Bonnie rushed towards her brother's pile.

"Are they Cheri berries?" She beamed as her eyes widened. All of a sudden, Clemont produced a huge sweat drop as he slowly placed all of the berries onto a wooden table. He seemed to be anxious.

"Something the matter, Clemont?" Ash asked, puzzled.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just Bonnie never forgets..." He mumbled gingerly.

"They are!" Bonnie leaped with excitement. She gleefully picked up two Cheri berries and grinned.

"Do you remember that game we always used to play with dad?" She began jumping up and down. Clemont's head dropped.

"Yes... of course I do."

Ash and Serena looked at each other. The Lumiose twins seemed to have some sort of game.

"A game?" Ash entered the frame, being the competitive character he was, the prospect of competition suddenly kicked up some adrenaline. Clemont looked up dejectedly.

"Well, you see at the Lumiose City gym, we have a lot of Cheri berries in stock for challengers who may finish their battles with paralysed Pokemon." He began to explain, while Bonnie eagerly nodded with each word her brother spoke.

"Because we had so many, Bonnie would eat a few when she would get bored." Bonnie's impatience grew as he got to the main part.

"After challengers left we would have a lot of free time so-" As he sheepishly explained Bonnie cut in.

"You're being too boring! We would play this game where you eat the Cheri berry, and then tie a knot with the stem in your mouth! Y'know, with your tongue!" She burst with energy while explaining. Ash and Serena looked at each other in confusion, they had never heard of such a game before. Clemont was scratching his head in embarrassment.

"Um yeah... we used to get very bored."

Suddenly Ash's eyes lit with excitement. "Sounds so cool!" He exclaimed.

"You do it like this!" In that moment Bonnie picked up a Cheri berry, and lowered it into her mouth. She bit through the soft texture of the spicy berry, trying to avoid tearing up from its tingling spicy flavour. She was obviously experienced, as she manoeuvred the seed out of her mouth.

"Make sure you don't bite into the seed, or you'll hurt your teeth!" She continued while chewing, Ash watched on in amazement, Serena in interest, with Clemont sighing with a particular lack of enthusiasm for his sister's tedious game.

"Now for the tricky part, once you've swallowed the Cheri, you relax your tongue and let the stem lay flat on it. You try to soften it a little, and then-" Bonnie paused as her jaw began to frantically move in all different directions. Ash's eyes widened as Bonnie's explanation paused while she tried to tie the knot. Serena raised an eyebrow while Bonnie's face cringed under concentration. The group waited as Bonnie's face descended further into intense focus. After a solid minute, the lemon-haired girl's jaw stopped squirming around, and her eyes lit up once again. To everyone's amazement, she quickly whipped out the stem from her mouth, this time tied in a perfectly tight knot. The reveal was met with a simultaneous gasp from the group, including Clemont, who was surprised that after all of this time his younger sister still remembered the trick.

"Look, I did it!" She proudly announced as she showed the group the tied stem. Ash's flame was lit, a challenge was on the cards.

"That was awesome! Lemme try!" He grabbed two Cheri berries and rashly took a huge bite out of both of them. Little did he know that the spice of one Cheri was enough to sizzle the mouth, and now he was about to be scolded by double the spice, as in an instant the doubly powerful heat flared inside of his mouth. Serena watched on once again as Ash acted without thinking. It amused her that her crush would think so deeply about strategies in battles, while when it came to food, he would take a bite without checking what he was putting in his mouth. Babying didn't seem to work last time, so she stood back, and with her arms folded, smirked as she watched Ash's skin burn red while he choked on the spice of the two berries he had just bitten into. Serena began to laugh.

"I should have mentioned that they are spicy!" Bonnie added.

"This is why I never liked this game, my tongue would be sobbing for days!" Clemont then uttered with a sorrowful laugh, remembering the evenings at the Lumiose gym where he would dive for the water tap to calm his raging mouth down.

"You should try some, Serena. They're insane!" Ash coughed under his words as he tried to allow the piercing spice to leave his mouth. Serena wasn't so confident after watching Ash have an accident like that, but nevertheless she picked up one solitary Cheri berry, and gently placed it into her mouth, gradually chewing it before picking out the seed and the stem. The spice tried to bite her, but she was too smart to be reckless. Now though, could she tie the knot? The group crowded around the honey-blonde girl as she stressed her mouth and tongue into manipulating the small stem. Her tongue twisted and turned in directions she never thought were possible but it was an impossible task. Bonnie proudly watched on as Serena struggled with her stem. Serena was getting frustrated, why was this so difficult? Eventually she gave up, and pulled the stem from her mouth. It was seemingly unchanged despite her endeavours.

"I can't do it; what about you Clemont? Can you do it like Bonnie?" She tried to divert the attention away from herself after her spicy attempt turned sour.

"No matter how much I was forced to try, I could never do it!" He sharply responded, but Bonnie didn't agree.

"Wrong! You were the one who taught me!" Bonnie snapped back. Clemont facepalmed as his younger sister's memory was once again flawless. How he wished she had never spotted him that day when he was so bored. Ash wiped his mouth and joined the others as they laughed. The Pokemon had been watching on in awe before, but quickly turned their heads to Clemont as the spotlight now shone on him. The older Lumiose sibling shrugged his shoulders and picked up a Cheri berry. He adjusted his glasses as he stared at it, before closing his eyes and slotting it into his mouth. The anticipation rose as everyone focussed on a composed Clemont, who within seconds pulled out a beautifully tight knot straight from his mouth. The whole group gave a rapturous round of applause as Clemont immediately blushed under the attention.

"See! Isn't my big brother so cool?" Bonnie showcased her older brother who was scratching his head in shyness.

"It's just uhh, a little trick I know." He sheepishly quipped.

Serena felt another opportunity arise as Ash's mouth calmed down.

"Surely you can do it too, Ash?" She brightly chirped.

"You bet! I'm not giving up until I can do it!" Ash eagerly responded. It was typical of him. His 'never give up until the end' attitude was shining through, even in things as little as tying knots with Cheri berries.

Little did Serena know what she had started.

She sat down on the bench with the others and watched him as he spent the afternoon trying to tie that knot.

"C'mon everyone, we're not stopping until we can all do this!" Ash ordered his Pokemon as they each grabbed a berry. The original plan had been to use the berries for dinner, but the group all knew that Ash would go through every single one of them before the sun had set. Serena sat there and admired his persistence. He would take a mouthful of berries before urgently requesting to cool off with a Water Pulse from Frogadier. This stubborn persistence continued for hours on end. Ash just wouldn't give up. Bonnie knew Ash would be hooked for the rest of the day, and so she went off to groom the rest of the watching perplexed Pokemon, while Clemont soon followed in getting to work on his next invention.

She watched him as day turned to dusk, before the night began to bite in. The burn of a Cheri was reminiscent to the blitzing flame in his eager eyes. A red that shone at a unique brightness, just like his favourite red cap which he would wear every day. A soft texture, with a hard seed in the middle. Ash was easy to get along with, but to connect with what lied so stubbornly oblivious inside? That was hard. Serena then began to chuckle to herself. She had been watching Ash for so long that she was even drawing comparisons between him and a mere Cheri berry. There wasn't a lot she could do, once Ash was set on a task it was very difficult to snap him out of it. She patiently sat there, watching him huff and puff as his tiring tongue laboured on. His Pokemon too were feeling the fatigue. Occasionally Noibat would give an innocent, helpless glance over at Serena. Still only young, it was looking like it needed a good rest. The same could be said for Ash and the others, as a huge pile of stems and seeds began to accumulate next to them.

The hours ticked on by, and soon Clemont and Bonnie had finished their respective activities and rejoined their raven-haired friend who was completely absorbed in tying the tricky knot. He had completely zoned himself out from the world around him, not even noticing that the sun too had given up on him, after it disappeared below the horizon, leaving the group exposed to another warm Kalos night.

"How long has he been trying?" Clemont asked with a hint of concern.

"I've lost count. Do you think he'll give up?" Bonnie offered a puzzled look to Serena.

"Well, you know Ash! He doesn't ever give up." Serena tried to speak with a tone of enthusiasm, but even she couldn't match her crush's mesmerising persistence. Bonnie looked over at the sitting group and began to yawn while stretching her arms out. Dedenne popped its head out of her bag and rubbed its tiny eyes. The group were tiring, even Clemont took his glasses off to rub his eyes. Bonnie's yawn was contagious.

"Serena, do you think if we go to bed that you will be able to ensure that Ash sleeps tonight?" Clemont tried to speak although his yawning mouth would swallow all of his words. Serena laughed at Clemont's suggestion, despite the fact that it was a credible statement- it wouldn't be surprising to see him spend the night trying. She looked over as Bonnie began to gradually drift off to sleep. Suddenly she was alert to the realisation that Ash had fallen solely into her responsibility. Moments like this didn't come around often enough for Serena.

"Yeah, sure. I'll look after him." She said in an almost teasing tone as they glanced over at Ash and his aching jaw which was on the verge of giving up on him as another failed stem was spat out. Clemont helped up Bonnie, and the two Lumiose siblings waltzed off into their night's slumber, leaving Serena to watch over Ash, who was still indulged in Bonnie's little game.

Serena stood up, and slowly walked over to the pile of Cheri berries which Ash was powering through. She walked over playfully, with her hands behind her back, and a positive grin on her face. At last, some alone-time with him. Ash spat out another stem, and bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily from exhaustion.

"Man, why is this so hard!" He groaned. Serena started to gently pat Ash's back.

"You really do keep going until the end, don't you!" She teased. Ash only sighed, and cast a look of dejection at his pile of failed stems.

"Aren't you tired after all that?" She continued questioning.

"My mouth hurts a little." He responded while holding his jaw. Ash was just plain adorable to her in this light, his child-like stubbornness kept him going, even if he did eventually wear himself out.

"Why don't you take a break for a bit?"

He sighed again, accepting his fate.

"Maybe you're right... Hey Serena, what about you? Can you tie a knot?" He picked up a Cheri berry and offered it to her. The small round berry dangled close to her lips, where she blushed slightly. For a moment she thought Ash was going to feed her.

"Um, I'll try!"

Struck under her sizzling red face, she accepted his little challenge. Ash smiled. Serena tried to think back to the times when her mother would teach her how to cook. Surely at some point in all of those years she would've have learnt something similar. She bit the Cheri and felt the spice tingle around her. Ash grinned as he saw Serena's face begin to redden slightly from the heat, although prior to that she was already blushing slightly. Ash moved his head in closer, anticipating Serena's pained reaction when the spice would stroke her tongue, yet she braved it. She swallowed the Cheri, and released the seed- now for the big moment, tying the stem. She thought how surely there was a knack to these sorts of things. She softened the stem and moved it all around her mouth; she moved it left, right, up, and down but still she felt like she had tried everything to no response- it seemed there were further comparisons with Ash. She continued on though, reminiscent of Ash's infinite spirit, where she eventually found a breakthrough. Her eyes widened as she felt the stem bend around to form a hole, where she could then bend the other end around to form the basis of a knot, and proceed in tightening it. With wide, surprised eyes she looked back at Ash and grinned, his jaw began to drop. She was amazed at herself, all of a sudden she had just clicked with it, and before long was tightening a perfectly formed knot. She began chuckling, and quickly whipped the knot from her mouth and showed it to Ash.

"Tada! What do you think of that?" She proudly announced to him.

Stars hit his eyes.

"Serena, you're so cool!" He was like a child, amazed by a magic trick. He was hooked, and Serena had caught his attention. She blushed at his compliment, suddenly feeling all warm inside from his words. She picked up another Cheri berry.

"Now you do it!" Now she was challenging him. He put on a serious face, and once again braved the heat before shooting out the seed in agitation. He wasn't going to end the day being the only one in the group who couldn't do it. His tongue had already gone to sleep, while his jaw was feeling rather sorry for itself. Serena tried to guide him in anticipation that her tricky little berry would come to realise the knack that she wanted him to understand.

"Move it over here- no the other way!" She tried to point, but it was useless as Ash was now straining himself to do it. She laughed again- maybe he was trying to impress her! Eventually Ash had laboured his jaw to such an extent that it was hurting him, as he let out a large groan in discomfort. Serena knew it was time to step in; in all of Ash's heroic ways, sometimes he needed a little guidance and help himself. She presented her hand in front of his mouth.

"I think we should call it a day here, Ash. Here, spit it out!" Her voice had once again become wife-like, and her playful, teasing tone was still there. Rubbing his sore jaw he gazed at Serena's hand. Spit it out? He blushed a little, all of a sudden the thought of such an action was enough to make Ash Ketchum slightly embarrassed. She smirked.

"C'mon, Ash!"

He replied with a nod, and dejectedly released another failed stem into Serena's omniscient hand. Drenched by his hot saliva she quickly tossed it into the nearby lake, and stood beside the water's edge, offering Ash a place next to her. He quietly joined her side.

"You really don't know when to call it a day, do you?" She teased while laughing, looking at all of the floating stems in the lake. Ash tried to count how many before realising how many he had gone through. He scratched underneath his nose and looked a little timid.

"I suppose I kinda got carried away." The two laughed under the night sky, knowing that Ash's nature was to be expected, and today was just another hilarious example.

"Here, we have two more, I wonder if you can finally get it on the last go?" Serena offered him his last Cheri berry and gave a teasing wink. She then put her final Cheri berry in her mouth, and began to chew. Ash waited and watched on closely to see her technique. She grinned as his face watched tentatively, and felt herself began to laugh again at his sheer concentration. In doing so she completely lost herself in the moment of him staring, and after surviving another wave of spice got caught out; caught out by the rock hard seed that slipped down her throat, and completely jolted the moment. Serena instantly felt her throat tighten and yanked her neck, coughing as the seed got stuck. Ash immediately reacted as Serena tensed up and let out an abundance of painful coughs.

"Serena!" He instantly pulled her in close and pressed firmly a few times on her back to move the seed out as she coughed ever harder. In the moment she was devoured by Ash, as he placed two firm hands around her shoulders and back as she struggled to get the stubborn seed out. She felt it nearing the top of her throat, just as Ash began to squeeze on her. She had sometimes thought about whether Ash would ever hug her again like after that day at the camp, but she never expected it to be in a situation like this. He squeezed her once more, and this time she felt her skin melt into his. Two warm bodies came into contact, as the seed ripped its way up her throat, and was on the brink of coming back up.

"C'mon Serena, you can do it!" He yelled as he gave one last squeeze. His bellowing voice sent sound-waves bursting across the woods, enough to awaken one tiny yellow-haired figure, camping in the distance.

As Ash pulled his weight in helping her, eventually the seed finished torturing Serena's throat, and broke free as it escaped out of her mouth. She took a huge gulp of air, as Ash kept his tight grip. He couldn't see whether the seed had come out or not, but suddenly her choking stopped, and all became quiet.

"Serena... are you okay?" He whispered amongst the silence. She felt herself melting into Ash's arms, there was no other place she would have wanted to be. She threw her arms around his waist, and pulled him in close to her. The two now had a firm, and close grip on each other; it had become a warm embrace.

"...I am now." She whispered into the raven-haired boy's ear.

The two held each other tight, where Serena had become so absorbed in the moment that her legs became wobbly. She was at last in an embrace with Ash, now was not the time to be feeling weak at the knees! The two gradually sat down together by the lake, Ash released Serena, as the two sat and watched the floating seeds and stems travel down the stream.

"Now who got carried away?" Ash looked over with a teasing smirk. She laughed as she covered her blushing face.

"I guess that was kinda careless, so seeing as you helped me, this last Cheri's yours!" This time however she ripped the stem off, and tossed it as far into the lake as possible. She didn't want to mess around with any knot tying now, she wanted to focus on Ash, and his adorable little hungry face. She presented her flat hand which was holding the last Cheri berry.

"But you have to close your eyes if you want this one!" She teased again, winking at Ash who had his eyes firmly fixed on the last, shining berry.

"Now say 'Ahh''!"

"Ahh-!"

He closed his eyes and opened his mouth, where Serena slotted in the last Cheri berry. With the tips of her fingers she gently allowed Ash's mouth to shut, before pulling him in, as she then planted a warm kiss directly on his lips. She instinctively covered his eyes with one hand just to be sure, as Ash was suddenly overcome with not just a sizzle of spice, but a surge of sweetness, as the flavour of Serena's sweet lips danced around his mouth. After going through hundreds of the same berry today, Ash was suddenly baffled by an influx of something new. Something pure. Something sweet. It was the first time he felt such a feeling. Serena gazed on as Ash's rosy cheeks chewed through the last Cheri berry, before he slowly opened his eyes once more. In that moment, amber met blue, as Ash was greeted by Serena's bright smile, and infinite blue eyes. He never realised how pretty Serena really was, as she placed a hand on her blue ribbon, and tensed up under shyness. Her cheeks flushed the same red as the Cheri berry he had just eaten.

Ash could only stare, an innocent stare of confusion, as he wandered into Serena's eyes. Eventually he returned to reality, and felt the sweet Cheri rest in his stomach. It sat there, and gave him a warm feeling, something he had never really felt before. Serena continued to gaze back, grinning at how naïve Ash was. He began to open his mouth to try and speak, but words had already deserted him.

"Serena... I can't believe that was the last one." She sensed that he perhaps wanted more. His eyes gave it away; what were once tricky eyes had now been cracked under her little game. Today she had time to play, and it looked as if she was winning the game. She wasn't the only one delighted; the lemon-haired girl, Bonnie, was dancing around in her tent, as she watched Ash and Serena sit by the lake. She considered waking her big brother up to show him, but after the trouble of getting Ash in the position he was in right now, she thought she would wait a bit longer before her big brother would discover such a feeling. Regardless of her oblivious brother, she was ecstatic, as she deliriously jumped around her tent in her Tyrantrum pyjamas.

The two sat ever closer, now watching the lake. Ash didn't know exactly what he wanted, but Serena did.

"You've had hundreds today, you can't possibly want more?!" She put on a surprised tone.

"But that last one was really... amazing!" Ash beamed back.

She heard exactly what she wanted to, and rested her head on Ash's shoulder, snuggling into him as she began to whisper, and smiled as she felt herself slowly drifting off to sleep on his warm skin.

"...Then that won't be the last I'll give you."

Thank you for reading my first one-shot everyone! I hope it's been an enjoyable one. Stay tuned for the coming weeks as I'll be releasing the next few chapters of Lights of Laverre weekly like always! I have ideas for more one shots soon; so if you liked this story then I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review! Until the next time!