(GOING TO BE MAKING A NEW COVER FOR THIS BOOK, SO DON'T THINK I'VE DELETED IT! JUST ADD IT TO YOUR LIBRARY SO YOU'LL NEVER LOSE IT :D)

In deciding which to visit first, I catch sight of a familiar banner with a blue patterned border and red text.

Dawn's stall is a good place to start as any. I'm curious as to how it's going, after all of the work she and her class have been doing for it.

Stepping up to it, I begin to see why the class took so long to organize everything.

Easily twice as wide as many of the other stalls and with equipment for cooking strewn everywhere, it's closer to an outdoor restaurant than a festival event.

As a student in front of me takes a bowl of macaroons and leaves, I walk up to the counter.

The girl from behind the counter pops up again,  and only looks back and ask where the spare change box is.

Dawn pauses for a moment, before she and the girl switch places at the counter and the teacher quickly walks off somewhere.

"Sorry about that, we're having a few problemos. What would ya like?" Dawns smiles.

"Oh, uh, some Macaroons would be awesome!" I fist pump

"Annnd is that Ash?" She giggles.

"The one and only, looks like you're pretty busy, huh." I look around, however she probably doesn't notice how many people are lined up.

"Somewhere along the line, our order got mixed up. We're...well, I'M trying to fix it now, but it looks like we only have half of what we needed." She shrugs.

"Wouldn't serving smaller portions solve the problemo?" I suggest.

"Looks like we'll have to do that, though I wish we didn't. The fact that a good half of our class is gone doesn't help, either"

"I take it that's why your teacher left?" I sigh.

"Yup, she's going to try and round up a few more of our classmates to help." Dawn closes her eyes, not that it would make any difference for her.

I stealthily glance backwards to see a lot of students bored; me talking to Dawn. I guess I'd better stop loitering around and chatting.

"Here's the money for the food" I place the money in her hands.

"Comin' up!" Dawn turns and calls for my order.

She turns and subsequently passes it to me.

"Thanks! I'll come back to drop off the bowl!" I smiled at her but she obviously couldn't see my smile.

"You're welcome, Ash. Oh, have you seen, Serena?" Her eyes shoot open.

"Nope, not today. Why?" I question her.

She gives a small sigh of abject disappointment.

"It's okay. I was just wondering what she was doing for the festival." She says.

"I'll keep an eye out for Serena" I smile.

"Later" I wave at her and she nods and proceeds the next customer 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eventually, I finish my bowl and leave it at the stall, like I said I would.

Dawn looked kinda worried about Serena, I guess I should go look for Serena. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The halls are packed with swaying crowds meandering throughout the festival.

If there's one thing I know about Serena, it's that she's not going to be anywhere near this and with students showing their friends and family their dorms, I doubt she'll be there either.

As I force my way through the masses, it doesn't take long for them to thin down into nothingness.

This isn't surprising since I am standing before the library.

As I enter the library, the noise of the festival fades into a dull background noise, and soon I am in the reading area at the rear of the room.

Behind one of the partitioned desks I see the top of a head, with straight, honey blonde hair catching my eye.

"Hey, Serena. I knew you'd be here" I chuckle slightly.

The head jumps a little in shock before slowly peeping over the partition.

"A-Ash?" She says.

"Sup. Dawn is pretty busy, so I came to find ya" I smile at her.

"O-Oh. D-Do you want to sit down?" A small pink tint could be seen on her cheeks.

"Urm sur-" My stomach rubbles cutting me off.

"Well, actually, I am feeling a little hungry. Would you like to get something to eat from one of the stands?" I suggest.

"Um....I....I brought some food so..." She nervously says.

I shouldn't be surprised, but it was worth a try. Expecting her to go outside today was a long shot.

Somethin' about this girl does seem familiar? I can't really say what but...but it'll come to me.

"Tea room? We eat in there? I passed by it on the way here, no one was around. whaddaya say?" I smile and hold one hand out.

She looks up and stares at me, she looks amazed, somehow.

"Sure...." She closes her book and puts it away with deliberate, practiced movements.

She takes my hand and I pull her up into a hug; she's so light I end up pulling her into a hug. I feel her body warmth, but her body ends up going really stiff.

She breaks away with a red face and looks at me in the eyes, I give her a toothy grin and we both make our way to the tea room.

Serena carries her bag in both hands and focuses on just the floor ahead of her.

Every now and again, she seems to break her pace a little and steps in slightly shorter paces.

"Are you all right?" I ask her.

She stops dead in her tracks.

"H-Huh?" She says.

"It looked like you were tripping or something?" I sweatdrop.

A pink tint rises into her cheeks as her gaze returns to the floor.

"It....it's nothing." She trails off.

"Ya know, when you say 'nothing' like that, people are inspired to ask further questions" I chuckle.

For a second I don't think she is going to answer.

Prepared to leave it be, I almost set off walking again, when....

"It's a...a game." She says barely loud enough for me to hear.

"A game? I love games!" I fist pump.

"Do you....see the floor here?" She points to the tiles.

"Yep, what about it?" I scratch my nose.

"Sometimes...when there's no one around....I only step on the darker ones..." She says. Her voice trails off as her explanation continues, until I can barely hear her voice over the roaring silence of the empty hall.

"Darker ones?" 

Shuffling her feet, Serena points the toe of her shoe at a tile that is barely a shade darker than the others.

"L-like these ones." She smiles.

"Oh, right, so these ones are no good?" I point at the other tiles.

"Y-yeah. Something.....something like that." She says.

"Well, now it's a two player game!" I fist pump and start to play her game.

I catch a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye. She stares at me with a smile, a warm smile. She's pretty cute.

One thing, I wonder; just how lonely does someone have to be to come up with a game like that? I feel bad for her.

But, before I realize what I'm doing, I find myself trying to aim each step so it lands on the correct tiles.

Once we make it to the tea room, Serena is the first to talk.

"Do... would you like some tea?" She places her hands on her chest.

"You bet I would" I smile at her.

It occurs to me that this is the first time I've been alone with Serena without her trying to be somewhere else.

I watch as she makes a simple pot of tea and arranges some sandwiches onto a plate.

I've seen her do this before a number of times, but this time she seems slightly different.

It's like she's....calm?

She places the small tray on the table and pours two cups of tea.

The fresh scent of brewed tea mingles with the breeze, and for a second I feel like I'm the only one in the world.

"Ya know....I think I know why you like this room now." I nod at her.

"Um... I don't know what you mean, Ash?" She looks at me.

"Well, there are many people out there, but in here it's like another world." I smile.

"Y-Yeah. It's like the world has forgotten this room" She smiles slightly.

...

"Say...do you play chess?" She looks into my eyes.

"You bet! I'm the best at it!" I raise one eyebrow.

"You?" I ask.

"Urm, maybe not the best but I've played a lit-"

"Alright! We're playing!" I fist pump. Without saying anything more, Serena moves to one of the cupboards and digs out a small chess set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We arrange the pieces, and before long we are sending pawns charging to their inevitable fates.

I take my time and intently examine each move and its consequences, nostalgia for the game taking second place to the matters at hand.

For a time the game is a lengthy battle of attrition, but I spot an opening and tear a line in her defense.

A few moves later, her king is cornered by several of my pieces.

"Checkmate!" I fist pump.

"You're not bad at this, are you?" I look up at her.

Her technique is pretty good, but several times I was able to exploit her lack of prediction.

"I...I guess not." She says.

"Dawn play?" I ask.

The absence of Serena's answer causes me to think about my question.

"A...A bit...this is the first time I've played against someone...other than her, o-or...." Serena trails off.

Or...?

"Well then, I'm honored to have played against you." I change the subject kinda.

"Um...can w-we play again?" She says ever so softly.

"I was hoping you'd ask me that! Though, don't expect me to go easy on ya" I giggle.

"S...same here." She plays with her thumbs.

As we are setting up the pieces, there is a noise at the door.

"Ello!" Dawn says brightly.

"Dawn...." Serena says.

"Sup, Dawn. Are you finished?" I ask her.

Yep! Have you been here since you left?" She questions me.

"Yep, we've just been playing chest" I look at Serena who is already looking at me.

"Should we head for the teahouse?" Dawn suggests.

"Teahouse?" I say confused.

"Oh, that's right. You don't know of it, well, probably." Dawn closes her eyes and smiles.

"C'mon, we'll show ya and have some tea" Dawn continues to smile.

"Sounds like a plan. Serena?" I smile at her.

Serena jumps a little at being forced into the conversation, but at least she seems less distraught than before.

"S-Sure..." She says.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the teahouse it takes on a more traditional feel. Everything seems to have been made from the same lump of timber, from the counter and benches to the high-backed booths around the walls.

But the most striking feature of the room is the lack of life. I think I can faintly hear something bubbling away in the background, but otherwise the room is silent.

Without any direction, we simply wait near the entrance, politely obeying the 'please wait to be seated' sign.

"Is this place closed?" I say in confusion.

The sound of a chair falling over echoes throughout the empty room, and a head shoots up from inside a booth.

This causes me and Serena to jump, but me I fall to the ground. I hate being jump scared.

Serena gives me a worried look, while Dawn has no clue what's happening.

"I hit my knee pretty hard" I rubbed my knee. Serena extends her hand for me, I look up and smile.

"D-Don't give up until it's over, Ash" She blushes. I take her hand and she pulls me up.

"Thanks" I scratch my nose. 

"I wasn't asleep and welcome to the Shanghai!" Joy exclaims.

She works here too?

"Shall I show you to your table?" Joy smiles at us all.

We walk towards a table and me, Serena and Dawn take a seat.

"I'll have a pot of black tea and a plate of sandwiches." Dawn smiles.

"Right! I'll get right onto that!" Joy quickly makes her way to the kitchen.

We talk about our game of chess before and Dawn tells me about the time Serena thrashed her until Joy interrupts by placing Dawn's order on the table.

"Thanks!" Dawn thanks Joy.

Joy's head rockets downwards in her distinctive bow before answering.

"You're welcome!" She smiles.

"Would you like to join us? There's something else I'd like to discuss about that recent order, if I may...." Dawn talks to Joy.

Ah, that's right. Dawn and Joy were discussing a pile of books when I first met Serena.

Something about Dawn helping with the Braille.

"Ah, yes. We didn't get the chance to go through them, did we?" Joy takes a seat.

"I'll be in the library tomorrow afternoon if you'd like to try again..." Joy says.

"Perfect, I'll meet you after class!" Dawn giggles.

"D-Dawn..." Serena says sadly.

"Oh yeah! That's right. Tomorrow is Monday, how could I have forgotten?" Dawn says.

Starting to feel a little left out of the loop here.

"Perhaps we can come to some other arrangement" Dawn scratches her head.

"Joy, you'll be in the library later this week?" Dawn asks Joy.

"Hmmm, maybe, but this is already overdue..." Joy looks unsure about Dawn's idea.

"A-and there are some...things I n-need..." Serena adds on.

"This might be a problemo...." Dawn looks sad.

"I wonder, might we be able to enlist the help of another, if need be....?" Dawn lightens up, but I'm confused on what she means.

"I usually go shopping on Monday with Serena; it's quieter on that day than on weekends." Dawn smiles.

"Well, since I can't read Braille, I'm assuming you'd like me to go with Serena?" I say.

"Ding dong! Correct. You were a great help to me the other day." She smiles.

 "I think I can handle shopping. Serena, whaddaya say" I look over to her.

"I-If you wouldn't mind..." Serena hides her smile with her hair.

"Of course not. I'm still not familiar with all the stores in the area, so it sounds like a good idea." I say to her.

"O-Okay" Serena says.

"Now, shall we have some tea?" Dawn says brightly.

We all nod and I pick up my cup of tea and as I am about to bite into the sandwich, a low, loud rumble can be heard, along with a flash of light from outside.

"It's already started." Dawn sighs.

Only now looking outside, I realize that dusk has come and gone, leaving us in the peak of twilight.

Sparking tracers arc upwards ready to explode in the floral shapes of fireworks.

A couple of people walk in and Joy stands up and goes and serves them.

"Let's go watch them, Serena" I look at her.

She nods and we both make our way to the balcony.

With the exception of Dawn and Joy, we rush to the balcony of the small teahouse to watch the show.

The show is over all too quickly; fireworks are expensive, even for the most well-funded schools.

Before we return to our tea and sandwiches, Serena turns to me.

"Ash, t-thanks for today....and tomorrow." 

"No problem, I'm glad I spent it with ya instead of facing them crowds." I smile at her.

She smiles but then it quickly fades, she turns around but with a slight spin on one foot, but quickly turns back.

"D-Do you remember me?"

That's it for this chapter! I'll make a start on next chapter now. Now, I thought about this story and yes, I am going to add a huge chunk of something that isn't in the KS storyline, it's going to involve the past between Ash and Serena! I love you all! - Pokeamour.