Ash POV

Sere looked at the tickets quizzically for a brief moment. I could tell her expression she was confused. "Concert tickets?" she repeated confusingly. "Why are they important to you?"

I swallowed hard with guilt washing all over me. Hanging my head, staring down at the tickets in my shaky hands as I stuffed them in a ziploc. "Gary and I- we were going to this concert on the day of- the day of the accident." My words escaped from my mouth. Sounding more shakier than my hands.

"Oh, Ash," Sere whispered, her eyes huge as she gently grasped my hands. Her palm covering over mine that felt warm travelled all over me.

"He told me to meet him at the concert because he had to do something for his dad," I continued. I just couldn't stop talking, even though reliving Gary's last day hurt me physically and emotionally. "I was being a jerk about it, calling him a daddy's boy, telling him to hurry up and... he didn't show up." I ran a hand over my face, my skin touching my own. "His mom called me to tell me what happened but even though she was crying so hard I couldn't barely understand her, I didn't believe it... There's no way Gary could be dead, I told her. I remember like it was yesterday. Even after I saw Gary's totalled car, it still felt like he was playing a bad joke on me."

Sere nodded hesitantly as her eyes were beginning to water. Mine felt the same way knowing my vision was getting blurry, but I tried not to show it to her. "I know. I couldn't believe it when I heard either," she said in a voice that was more than a whisper. "He was such a nice guy. He always said hi to me in the hallways."

I nodded. That was Gary in a nutshell. He always had something nice to say to everyone. Out of our entire clique, he was definitely the most down to earth. "Yeah. He was."

Sere wiped her eyes clean with a fresh paper towel before holding out her blue pencil. "I'm putting in my lucky pencil too," she said.

Involuntarily, I grinned. "You're gonna be all out of luck, Sere."

She shrugged. "At least I won't be using it," she theorised. "Last week I caught myself sharpening it."

I raised my hands, holding out a ziploc. "Then by all means, put it in"

Sere affirmed, a thoughtful look on her face as she looked up at me. "I don't really have that much to put in here," she told me, sounding slightly dejected as she fidgeted. "I don't have many things that mean a lot to me."

My heart went out to her and I draped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her body close to mine. "That's okay. The things you've put in already are all that matter," I assured her. My lips meeting on the top of her head again. "I mean, I don't really have anything else to put in. Just this photo."

I opened my wallet after taking it out from my pocket and carefully took out a picture of me grinning as my mom carried me on her back. My grandad had given it to me two years ago when I went to the hospital to visit him a few days before his fatal heart attack. I had a couple of pictures of my mom while the others my dad had the rest destroyed, the prick. This one photo in my hand was the only one which showed us both.

Looking over my shoulder at the photo, Sere asked, "Is that your mom?"

I nodded, realising that I'd never thought to show Sere a picture of my mother. "Yup. That's Delia, my mom," I said, a proud note creeping into my voice with my eyes gazing on me and my mum.

"You look just like her." She smiled up at me and I impulsively gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Flushing with pleasure, Sere cleared her throat and continued. "You both have smiles on your faces. That's a compliment, by the way."

I grinned and kissed her again. "Thanks," I whispered against her lips, making her quiver as I pulled away.

"And you were so cute when you were younger," she cooed, scrutinizing the picture, then rapidly looking up at me. "Not that I'm saying you're not cute now. Because you are. I mean..." Her voice trailed off and she squirmed nervously.

"I know what you mean, Sere," I said and chuckled out.

She heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. How old were you when this picture was taken? If you remember, that is."

"I must have been about 3 or 4, because my parents got divorced when I was almost 5." I trailed off as I finished my sentence, my face changed into a slight disappointment.

Sere was silent for a second, then she looked up at me. "Ash, can I ask you a personal question?" she asked, her mouth set resolutely.

Puzzled drawn all over my face, I nodded at her. "Sure. What?"

"Do you mind telling me what happened with your mom?" She asked, more that she wanted to know the reason.

I tensed, scratching my chin. "It's a long story," I said honestly.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Sere said immediately, obviously sensing that she might have just stepped on a land mine.

I shook my head. "No, I kinda do have to tell you," I said slowly. "I owe it to you, after what you've told me about your family. But- I don't really know where to start."

it was a long, unbelievable story, the kind a soap opera would come up with. Unfortunately for me, it was all true.

"Not to sound cliché or anything, but starting at the beginning is usually the best way to start." Staring at my hands, I thought for a while. "I just know a little bit, from what my grandad told me. My mom was a Kanto baroness."

"Really?" Sere sounded awed.

I nodded. "Yeah. When she was 22, she came over here to study medicine and somehow, she met my dad." I tried to keep the note of disgust out of my voice. Of all the people to run into, she had to meet my dad. Then again, if she hadn't met my dad, I wouldn't have been born, so it was a catch 22. but still..."She fell for his charms and they had a one night stand and parted ways. Then mom found out that she was pregnant and she searched for my dad. Swore that only he could be the father. Her family disowned her, saying she had brought dishonor upon their name or some s***. My dads parents forced him to marry her, since he had gotten her pregnant. Code of honor, I guess. He didn't love her but mom- she loved him, despite the fact that he only agreed to marry her because he was forced to and despite the prenup he had drawn up." I sighed. "Guess mom hoped she could change him because he was really all she had."

Sere nodded with understanding. "And you were born?" she asked quietly.

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "She had a miscarriage."

Looking shocked, Sere covered her mouth with her bare hand. "Oh, no!"

"Dad- he was elated, according to my grandad. Started divorce proceedings, since he wasn't 'tied' to her anymore." I snorted bitterly. Obviously, dads heartlessness had started a long time back. "But his plans changed when mom found out that she was pregnant again. With me which made Dad furious." I can just imagine it now. He probably went on a drinking spree and started smashing and throwing everything in reach, having his version of a tantrum. "He swore mom must have cheated because he didn't sleep with her. Ordered a DNA test as soon as I was born. As it turned out, I was his son and he couldn't do anything about that. But he still hated my mom and he started plotting to get rid of her. So he had her set up. You see, one of the clauses in their prenup was that if either of them cheated, the cheater would lose custody of me."

Gasping, Sere said, "Uh," her eyes not leaving my face.

Talking about this was pretty therapeutic. I had never talked to anyone about my mom before, not even Gary. Maybe I had just been waiting for the perfect time. The noisy diner might not have been the best place for me to bare my soul, but it felt like the right time. And the right person to tell my story to.

I gave Sere a quick squeeze before continuing. "I don't know how he did it but somehow he set her up. Claimed he had evidence that she was creeping around with some guy and declared the marriage over and I belonged to him. According to my grandad, mom initially refused but it was her word against his and he had expensive lawyers backing him, as well as the Ketchum name. She had no backup whatsoever. So she agreed to the terms of the divorce. He would give her money to finish school and she would give up custody of me and not have any contact with me without dads express consent. And just like that, she was out of my life."

I took a quick sip of my milkshake with my hand gripped around the plastic cup. Sucking the cold liquid through a long straw, tasting the sweet vanilla around my tongue and swallowed it down that made my throat wet from talking.

While I respected the fact that my mom had just let my dad take me without putting up a fight because she didn't have any support at all, I didn't have to like it. And I didn't like it. I could barely remember my mom, she might as well be dead for all I knew of her. My dad flat out refused to tell me anything about her and as far as he was concerned, he wasn't giving consent for her to see me. "If, when you turn 21, you still want to meet this woman, be my guest," he would say, all pompous and smug. "But until then, as long as you're living under my roof, I forbid you to have anything to do with her."

"You haven't seen her since?" Sere bit her lip.

"My dad told me she was dead! Hell, I believed him till I saw a documentary on TV one day, when I was home sick. She was on screen for all of 15 seconds, but I knew it was her." I still remembered that day. I'd been lounging on my bed, too lazy to reach for the remote and change the channel, when I saw a familiar face with a short, shiny dark brown hair and piercing brown eyes. The first thought that came to my mind was; is she an actress?' Then I heard her talk. Her Kantonion accent... there was no way I would have forgot how she talked, even though she left when I was an infant.

Continuing, I said, "I waited for my dad to get home and asked him flat out- is my mom alive? He tried to avoid the question, but I told him I saw her on TV and that documentary had been filmed that same year. Eventually he told me that she was still alive, working in 'the jungle' somewhere and she didn't want anything to do with me. He wouldn't tell me anything else, so I did my own research. I wrote to the studio that produced the docu and they gave me the name of the organisation she worked with. I contacted them but they wouldn't give out any personal information about people who work for them. All they did was confirm that Delia did work for them, but that's all." I gave Sere a small smile. "So- I guess I'm stuck with not knowing her till I turn 21."

"Oh, Ash..." Sere's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry." She whispered on the last part.

"She's probably better off not knowing who I am, anyway," I said self-deprecatingly. "I mean, did you ever see such a screw up? My therapist told me that I'm pretty much back where I started."

"You're dealing with a lot of things right now," Sere exclaimed, fire in her eyes. "Don't people realise that?"

I loved that Sere constantly got fired up on my behalf. It made me feel like I was worth something.

"You do. That's all that matters," I whispered into her hair. With that, We were silent for a few minutes, my heart thumping as I realised that I had actually told someone else about my mother and I felt so much better about it.

As I was putting the picture in the time capsule and screwing the lip of the capsule on, Sere suddenly sat up straight.

"Wait!" she commanded. I looked at her as she paused uncertainly. "I'm going to put in my locket."

"Why?" I asked incredulously, not getting it. That locket was the only link Sere had to her mother. Why would she want to give it up?

"Because your picture with your mom obviously means a lot to you."

I nodded slowly. "So much," I said in a quiet voice.

"And this locket- it means a lot to me too. I just think they should be in there together. Because we're in this together." She glanced up at me, a frustrated look on her face. "I just don't know how to say it."

"I understand what you want to say," I reassured her. And I did. "You know, we have so much in common. I'm glad that we're in this together." Sere smiled up at me, her sapphire eyes shining with gleam. "Are you sure you want to do this though? 5 years. Thats a long time."

"No, I'm not sure. But its better than me waking up one day to find that Alain hocked it. He did that once before you know." She said which made me caught in surprise but yet so angry as ever on the inside.

That b******, using her locket for money! The thought of it made me want to punch a boxing bag various times with each punch as hard as I can till my knuckles bleed.

I manage to control my emotions and calm myself from reaching my limit as I spoke out to Sere in a normal voice.

"Maybe it is safer in here," I mused. "You want me to take it off you?"

Nodding, Sere turned and lifted her short hair until I got a view of her locket around her bare neck. "Please," she said with her voice shaking.

Leaning forward without hesitation, my body did its command. I Carefully unclasped the locket, softly trailing little kisses on Sere's smooth neck. I clearly heard she let out a moan as I took the locket off. I slipped it into a ziploc and slid it into the capsule. Just as I was putting the metal cylinder into the rock, then the waitress stomped up to our table and threw down the bill.

"You guys need anything else?" she asked, her messy hair wisping as she furiously chewed on her bubble gum.

"Um, no," I replied, unable to take my eyes away from her bitten to the quick nails. "No, we're good."

Without another word, she left our table.

Sere stared after her, her blue eyes upset. "She looks so stressed out."

I checked out the bill. 15 note. Reaching into my wallet, I took out several crisp notes and stuck them in the little bill book. "I'll leave her a tip," I said to Sere. "It's on my list. And anyway, she looks like she needs it."

I didn't tell Sere how much of a tip I was leaving her, but I didn't need to. Her eyes shone. "You're so sweet, Ash."

"C'mon, we should get going, if we want to be at Coumarine park before it gets dark."

"You didn't tell me we were going to Coumarine," Sere said, excited as she quickly stood up and picked up her bag. I noted with satisfaction that her plate was empty.

"You didn't ask," I joked, putting an arm around her shoulders as we gathered up all our stuff and walked to the door until...

"Hey! Sir!"

I turned around. The waitress was standing by our recently vacated table, the bills in her hand. She looked like she was the victim of a nasty joke, her top lip lifted in a sneer.

"Yeah?" I asked, even though I knew full well what she was hollering after me about. Damn. I had so wanted to make it out of the door before she realised.

"Your bill was only 15. You left me- 120 note!"

Sere, and almost every other diner in the place did a double take as they looked from her to me then back to her.

"I know," I simply said, not exactly relishing the attention. "Keep the change. Great service."

Well, she was quick in getting our food out.

A slow smile made its way onto her face. It made such a difference compared to the prior sullen expression that had been stuck on her pallid face. "Thank you, so much," she said fervently.

"No problem," I said, turning to leave until an old man suddenly tapped me on my free shoulder.

"You just made that poor waitresses day," he said in a croaky voice. "You're a good kid."

I honestly didn't think that I was anything close to being a 'good kid', but the smile that Sere gave me made me feel special.