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Lana had always trusted the ocean.
It moved when it was ready, not before.
It didn’t rush, didn’t hesitate, just followed a rhythm that made sense if you listened closely enough. Lana understood that kind of patience. She had built her life around it: fishing lines cast and reeled in at the right moment, boats guided by tides instead of force, silences allowed to stretch until they were ready to be filled.
Feelings were different.
They didn’t wait for the right tide.
“You’re doing it again.”
Lana glanced up from the shoreline, where she sat with her knees drawn in and her chin resting against them. The sky was deepening into night, the last streaks of sunset fading behind the palms. Mallow stood a few steps away, arms folded, expression caught somewhere between fond and exasperated.
“Doing what?” Lana asked, even though she already knew.
“Thinking in circles,” Mallow said.
“You’ve been staring at the water for ten minutes.”
Lana hummed quietly. “It helps.”
“It helps you avoid,” Mallow corrected, then softened. She dropped down beside Lana in the sand. “You’ve liked him for a while now.”
Lana didn’t deny it. She rarely did, not with Mallow.
“He’s leaving again someday,” Lana said after a moment. “He always does. Kanto. Johto. Somewhere else. Ash doesn’t stay.”
Mallow nodded. “That’s true.”
“And I don’t want to be…” Lana searched for the word. “A stop along the way.”
Mallow was quiet for a beat, then said gently, “That doesn’t mean you’d be temporary to him.”
Lana exhaled slowly. “You don’t know that.”
“I know Ash,” Mallow said. “And I know you.” She smiled. “You’re braver than you think, you just don’t shout about it.”
She stood, brushing sand from her skirt with deliberate casualness. “Meet him at the docks tonight.”
Lana blinked. “Why the docks?”
“Because that’s where you’re honest,”
Mallow replied. “And because I already texted him.”
Lana turned sharply. “You what?”
“Told him you wanted to check tide conditions. Which is technically true.”
Mallow’s grin widened as she reached into her bag. “And I brought insurance.”
She produced a small sprig of greenery, tied neatly with red thread.
Lana stared. “You didn’t.”
“Oh, I absolutely did,” Mallow said. “I tied it up earlier this afternoon. Lantern post at the end of the pier. Subtle. Classy.”
“That is not subtle.”
Mallow laughed. “No, but you are.”
Ash had been restless all evening.
He told himself it was nothing, just leftover energy from training, the kind that never quite left him, but he’d found himself pacing the porch more than once, glancing toward the water as the sky darkened. When his phone buzzed with Mallow’s message, he hadn’t hesitated.
Lana wants to check the tide. Dock. Tonight.
“Sounds important,” Ash said aloud, grinning as Pikachu perked up.
“C’mon.”
The dock was quiet when he arrived, moonlight turning the ocean into rippling silver. The lanterns cast warm pools of light along the pier, and the boards creaked softly beneath his steps.
He spotted Lana near the end, standing with her hands folded neatly in front of her, gaze fixed on the water.
“Hey!” Ash called, lifting a hand. “Sorry if I’m late.”
“You’re not,” Lana said, turning toward him. “I just got here too.”
They walked together toward the end of the dock, Ash matching his pace to hers without thinking. Pikachu yawned and curled against his shoulder, already half-asleep.
“So,” Ash said, leaning over the edge.
“Tide looks calm.”
“It is,” Lana agreed. “That’s why I like it at night.”
He smiled. “It’s peaceful.”
They stood side by side, the space between them comfortable but charged. Ash felt oddly aware of how close she was, the quiet steadiness of her presence, the way she didn’t fidget or rush. With Lana, everything felt slower, more deliberate.
Above them, tied neatly to one of the lantern posts, the mistletoe swayed gently.
Lana noticed it immediately.
Her heart skipped, not with surprise, but recognition.
Mallow.
Ash followed her gaze. “Huh. That’s… festive.”
“She did that on purpose,” Lana said, lips twitching.
“Mallow?”
“Definitely.”
Ash laughed, shaking his head. “I should’ve guessed.”
They stood beneath it, neither stepping away. The ocean lapped softly against the pier, rhythmic and steady.
“Ash,” Lana said quietly. “Can I tell you something?”
He turned to her at once, expression open and attentive. “Yeah. Of course.”
She took a breath, slow, measured, like she did before casting a line. “I like you. Not just as a friend.”
The words landed gently, exactly as she’d meant them to.
Ash blinked, not confused, just processing. He rubbed the back of his neck, thoughtful. “I… I like you too,” he admitted. “I guess I just didn’t know if you felt the same.”
Lana’s shoulders loosened as if she’d set something down. “I do.”
The breeze picked up, shifting the mistletoe above them. Ash stepped closer, careful, giving her time. Lana didn’t move away. She closed the last bit of distance herself, fingers brushing his sleeve.
The kiss was soft and unhurried. No rush, no spark meant to impress, just warmth, steady and sure, like the ocean at night.
When they parted, Ash rested his forehead lightly against hers. “That was really nice.”
Lana smiled. “Yeah.”
They stayed like that for a moment longer, listening to the water breathe beneath the pier. Pikachu chirped sleepily and tucked his head under Ash’s chin.
Eventually, they sat down together at the edge of the dock, legs dangling over the water. Ash talked about training earlier that day; Lana listened, occasionally pointing out changes in the tide or distant shapes moving beneath the surface.
Ash found himself talking more quietly than usual, as if the night demanded it.
“I don’t know where I’ll go next,” he admitted at one point.
Lana nodded. “You never do.”
“But I know I’ll remember this,” he said.
“Us.”
She looked at him then, really looked,
and smiled. “That’s enough for now.”
From somewhere back on the beach, Mallow peeked out from behind a palm tree, beaming. She pumped a silent fist, then turned and left them to the night.
Lana leaned her shoulder against Ash’s, perfectly at ease. The dock was steady beneath them. The ocean was calm.
For once, she didn’t worry about tomorrow.
The tide was right where it needed to be.