15.
chapter fifteen
bonus chapter o3
after the events
of the epilogue
Our Lies Failed

Dust played with my nostrils. I rose a long sleeve to my face, hiding behind the courteous cotton. The room was a mess, and I was supposed to be cleaning it.

But here I was, on my knees, flipping through old diaries and albums.

A ding resonated in the attic, and before I could actually register who was at the doorstep, my muscles moved of their own accord to maneuver through the mess.

Caught in my eagerness, I almost stumbled on the carpet while sprinting.

I pulled the door open.

My heart plummeted.

It was him.

.

.

.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

I blinked, a small smile tugging at my lips despite myself. "You again?"

Ecstasy reigned on his face, and before long, he allowed himself in and pulled me into one of the warmest embraces. I was mid-air when he lost his footing, and we toppled onto the carpet, a laughing mess.

"The only thing that's missing is-is-" he wheezed when our ardor tamed a little. His fingers tightened around my waist, sending a shiver of pleasure up my spine. Our gazes met.

"Our tree, isn't it?" I completed for him. My heart was racing with the sudden surge in adrenaline. Rolling off him and onto the fluffy carpet, I closed my eyes.

"Missing is Bunny, you daft," he mumbled, his breath suddenly warming the bridge of my nose. I lost the fight and met his browns again.

"If you missed Bunny more than me," I started, a teasing lilt taking over the laughter, "why don't you make a beeline to my bedroom? He's there."

His smirk grew, and he deadpanned, mood swings entering the chat. "So you do have Bunny, eh?" I watched him prop himself on an elbow. "I knew you lied when you said you didn't."

Heat warmed my cheeks, and I rose to a kneeling position, straightening my skirt. I goofed up bad, eh?

Doesn't matter.

"As if I didn't spot Teddy in your room," I interjected before he could further humiliate me. "A grown boy with a plushie! At least I'm a girl!"

"You and I know why I have it-"

"I don't see why I shouldn't have Bunny in that very same way!"

Whatever he was expecting, it surely wasn't Serena Yvonne teasing him. A shadow came over his eyes, and the next thing I knew, I was regretting every word.

Ash's fingers ran through my sides, fumbling with my camisole and leaving my skin begging for a breath aside from laughing. I thrashed about in his arms, tears spilling and blurring him out of sight. Only his roars of laughter filled the empty flat, accompanied by octaves of girlish giggles.

I didn't register if it had been five minutes or an eternity when his tickle attacks finally ceased, the tears of happiness blending into melancholy, and the shadowed browns dissolving into an emotion I couldn't make out.

"A-Ash."

But then the boy descended, my skin tingling with his sigh, his lips grazing the corner of my eyes, trailing down my cheek to my jaw like it was a holy grail he had set out to follow.

When he withdrew, red dusting his cheeks, I noted the ignited feelings in his gaze. "Ojii-san wouldn't want you crying. Neither would Calem."

I swallowed a hiccup, barely catching a much-needed breath when he crashed down in a proper lip-lock. I embraced the sensation for the briefest of sunlit moments.

"They are the... only vivid pictures in my aphantasic mind. I can't help it, Ash." I bit my lip, seeing his feisty expression sober. "I only hear the screams. The three words he said last to me. As they were."

I expected Ash to kiss me again. Heck, I wanted him to kiss away all the pain, the sorrows, the images that toggled my mental habits. But he didn't.

Instead, he leaned his forehead against mine, his elbows weakening to ground his weight on me. I closed my eyes, breathing in the steady beating of his life against mine.

A gush of warmth. "Can I help?"

Help?

How? We weren't kids anymore. Heck, not even teenagers. We had responsibilities to keep up with-Ash his studies, and I my internship.

How could he possibly help out then?

Swallowing, I let myself peek, but he was already staring. Staring into my very core.

"H-how?"

"Make new memories." The answer was instantaneous. Like he didn't need to consider it. Didn't need to consider how he was promising me his time. "With me. With Mister and Missus Yvonne. With Clemont, Bonnie. With Bunny."

"You are doing too much."

He shook his head, then pushed himself off me. Using his help, I got to my feet.

"I kept thinking ever since I moved into Ecruteak," he mused, tugging me along to the bedroom.

I let him. This was Satoshi. The boy who always held the right to my hand. The one I always trusted to have a better sense of direction in life. A boy from a quaint town who knew better than a posh city girl.

We reached the door of my bedroom, and his eyes found mine, soundlessly seeking permission. I nodded and was immediately tugged into my room. "Thinking what?"

He let go of my hand and circled the bed to take Bunny into his arms.

"If you let me back in," he whispered, running a hand through the little plushie's fur, "we can make it better, break every habit. You can pull yourself together, and I will watch it happen."

I shifted my forty kilograms from one foot to the other, considering him, studying his expression for any hesitation or reconsideration.

But there was none. Like he wasn't lying to me anymore.

Ash stepped closer, pushing Bunny into my arms, then a strand of my hair away from my eyes. I met his sizzling gaze once more, something deeper than his promise tugging at my heart's bronze harp. I gulped.

"What do you say, Serena?"

Bunny felt softer now, like a welcome weight against my chest. This was my Ash. The one I trusted with my life to lead me back to the right road.

"What do you... say, Bunny?" he tried again, this time shyly, blushing.

I held no other hand.

Other than his.

No other anchor.

And so...

"Let it happen."