I placed the blanket down on the grass, doing my best to keep it from getting too dirty. While I'm sure that Lele wouldn't mind, I at least had to make the attempt to show her I cared. I also don't want her to think I was fussing too much, but she would appreciate the effort I tried to put in to this. Yes, I could see that it was strange that a person such as myself was concerned over a picnic date with one of the Island Guardians, but how often would she get the chance? How often did I get the chance? After all, the relationship I had with the Tapu was a strange one indeed. She didn't ask for anything other than my attention, and honestly didn't mind listening to me talk. All she wanted in return was some snack food and some hair brushing, although I wouldn't call what she had "hair". Was I in love with her? Of course I was, she was the only female to ever show enough attention to me to feel human again. Ironic, isn't it?
Once I had the basket set up, I set about putting down the plates and silverware. I brought only the best, hoping she didn't mind fancy dinnerware out in the wilderness. Did I wish I could take her home to my place and cook her a real dinner? She was an Island Guardian, and obviously couldn't do such a thing without getting noticed by someone. Besides, I quite enjoyed traveling out of the house to meet with my dear sweet Tapu Lele under our shady tree in the setting sun. The weather was always perfect, and I didn't think it was any mystery. While I'm sure that she doesn't control the weather, the sheer coincidence of it all didn't evade me. Maybe it was fate, after all, that's how I met her.
For months I had gone to the Ruins of Life to air my grievances of how humanity seemed to have turned its back on me. I was hurt and betrayed by my own people and left out to dry without being able to defend myself. All because I was different. I lived my life as the way I wanted and found myself alone. Everyday I would sit by the temple and talk to an island deity that may not even exist. It was therapeutic in way to think that maybe someone was listening, how maybe Tapu Lele would feel remorse and grant me a wish. Eventually though, I realized that I was really alone. There was no one listening, the Tapus were just a myth. I was just talking to myself. Standing on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean to surrounding Alola, I planned to jump. I wanted to jump, to splatter in the rocks were no one would find me. No one would look for me. I closed my eyes and accepted it.
As I began to lean over the edge to my ultimate fate, something pushed me and I fell backwards into the grass. I opened my eyes and was met with the appearance of a Pokémon I had only seen in books. Tapu Lele looked just like she did in many of the portraits I had seen of her, and much of the ancient Alolan art. Amazed, I realized that someone was listening. Tapu Lele had heard me and even taken pity on me. She even cared enough to try and stop me. I couldn't help but respond by crying, ashamed of what I had resolved to do. She embraced me, feeling my pain and trying to relieve it. My guess was that she wasn't use to this kind of thing, and was merely trying to make an attempt to show some form of affection. I don't know how long we were there, but I know it didn't matter. I had finally found someone who cared.
Over time, I continued to come back to the Ruins of Life to talk to Tapu Lele. At first she kept her distance, but she began to warm up to me as time went on. I began to bring her snacks, her favorite being white chocolate, and even brush her hair. We were friends, laughing and joking around, and helping each other out. I was so happy that she had encouraged me to go out and get a new job. When I was hired we celebrated, happy that I was finally moving up in the world. But it was a bittersweet moment. I would no longer have entire days to spend with her. It was going to be hard to do this without her, knowing that she wasn't there with me. Lele knew this too, and I could tell that she was a little upset. As I said my teary, heartfelt goodnight to her, she too had some tears rolling down her face as well. She held me tight, almost afraid to let go. I truth, I was afraid to let her go too. But when she did let me go, she did something I didn't expect.
She kissed me. I didn't expect it at first, and I was stunned as she looked at me, bashful and somewhat ashamed of what she just did. Before I could say anything she flew off into the night, leaving me standing there dumbfounded at what just happened. My first kiss and it was Tapu Lele. I still came to visit her talk about my day, but she avoided me, still upset she let herself do that. When Lele finally showed herself, she was noticeably upset over it, but I reassured her that there was nothing wrong with what she did. Neither of us ever really expected to take our friendship that far, but my guess is that we'd both have been lying if we said that we didn't want to. I told her if we wanted to take our friendship any farther we should do it better than on a whim actions. It should be a date. Obviously not a restaurant or a movie, but something simple we could do away from the public eye. Romantic even.
So here I am, setting up a picnic blanket with the sun setting over the ocean. I hand made our dinner for tonight, something that was not easy to do when cooking for an Island Guardian with a taste for candy and whatever else Tapus eat. Hoping my meal was adequate enough for her, I sat on the blanket and waited. I was dressed fairly nice, not too as special as a suit and tie, but well enough for a date with a friend. I wasn't sure what she could do to prepare for our date, but I'm sure it couldn't be much. Tapu Lele liked to appear out of nowhere when no one was looking. Because of this, I made a habit of always looking around at my surroundings to give her ample opportunity to pop in. As mentioned, while I was looking at the beautiful sky around me, I hadn't noticed that she materialized right next to me. "Leeeeeeeeee." She sighed cutely, no doubt enjoying the same sunset. There was many a day we spent watching the sky change color as the sun set.
I looked over and saw what took her so long. Lele had gone and made a flower bouquet, with one even tucked into her hair. Apparently, she very much liked peonies. Her shell was also well washed and polished. I'm not even sure how she managed that, but I always suspected that the Kahuna Olivia might have something to do with it. The Kahuna never use to look my way but now she would give me a smile and a nod in passing. I'm not sure how she would know, but if she did, she didn't mind. It was the rest of Konikoni City and Akala who would judge me. "You look beautiful today." I said. Admiring her appearance.
"Leeeee." A sweet smell wafted through the air as Lele blushed at the compliment. I never really understood why she liked me. While I understood why she wanted to help me, it didn't make semester why she'd love me. I wasn't overly attractive, I was a bit of a dork actually, and I never thought of myself of having a great personality either. Maybe it was pity, maybe she lost a bet to the other Tapu, or maybe she saw something in me that I didn't. Whatever it was, it was enough to have the Akala Island Guardian blushing at my compliment. Either she was a good liar, or she genuinely enjoyed the comment.
"I hope you're hungry!" I said, pulling out our dinner. I served each of us two little sandwich I had prepared. Nothing fancy, but it was all I could afford as a person of my status. Tapu Lele clapped her hands excitedly and chowder down on her meal. I couldn't help but watch her eat. Even in the most basic of animalistic behaviors that is eating, she was beautiful. I was transfixed as I watched her eating, taken aback by her beauty. I was transfixed as I watched her eating, taken aback by her beauty. I wonder what she thought of me, if I was attractive to her. Maybe it wasn't that, maybe it was it was personality. Most likely it was because she felt bad for me, I was miserable before I met her. After all, I was just some poor schmuck that would come to the Ruins of Life and cry about my feelings. What was I really worth to her?
Suddenly, I felt her put a hand to my face, prompting her to look her in the eye. She had a couple crumbs on her face, and I couldn't help but smile at that. But it was something about how she looked at me that caused me to fall into a sort of trance. It was a deep glance, with a slight twinkle in her eye. Maybe she really did love me back. Maybe there was nothing to worry about- "Well what have we here?" Both myself and Lele nearly jumped out of our skins as we turned to face the voice speaking to us. It was Kahuna Olivia. "You know, when you wanted to make yourself look all pretty, I didn't guess it was for a date." She looked amused at the scene before her.
Tapu Lele looked almost embarrassed, as if she was afraid to be caught with a human. Or maybe just ashamed of being caught with me. "At least he can treat you right." Olivia said, keeping her distance. "I'm glad to see what has Tapu Lele all hot and bothered."
"What do you mean?" I asked, not knowing what you she meant by hot and bothered.
"Oh well, you know." Olivia tried to find the right words. Tapu Lele scowled at Olivia as her black face flushed redder than a Cheri Berry. Olivia just simply laughed and changed subject. "As long as you love her even half as much as she seems to love you, I'm happy for you both." She smiled. "I wish I could find a man half as good as you are." Then, Olivia turned to leave. "Have fun, you too!" She said as she walked away.
"Leeeeeee." Lele was still blushing, and no doubt I was too. If I had to guess, she didn't want to get caught out here. After all, if Olivia could find us, who knows who else might catch us. That's when I began to wonder if any of the other Tapu knew about us. What if Tapu Koko happened upon us right now. Would he really just shrug it off like Olivia or would he try to fight me? And why was Lele blushing anyway? Was she that ashamed to be seen with me?
"Maybe we should go." I said, reaching to pack up before anything else came along to make an embarrassment out of this date. As I did, Tapu Lele grabbed my arm and looked at me with sad eyes, pleading for me to stay. How could I say no to a face like that? "Let's wait until it gets dark." She gave a shout of joy and hugged me. While I might be worried about what people think, the only opinion that matters is hers. And I guess that if she really does love me as much as Olivia says she does, then maybe I was right to fall in love with her too. And that's why, as the sun set over the Alolan waves, streaks of red, orange, and pink painting the sky a cacophony of color, I kissed her. She didn't recoil, or jump away, or slap me. She accepted the kiss and even pulled me closer to her. She held me against her shell as we kissed, her hands on my face. We stopped long enough for me to say three words.
"I love you." I mentally kicked myself after saying it, my heart nearly beating straight out of my chest. "Le Leee Lee." She replied, kissing me again. I could only guess what she meant by that, but at the end of the day, "I love you" is multilingual.