I've Been Waiting
Chapter 1
Moon watched the boat on the sparkling horizon from the marina. She watched it disappear every now and again behind the dazzling reflections of the morning sun on the Alolan waves. It wouldn't be long now before the ferry docked only metres away from where Moon was currently standing. She sighed, not because she was tired or bored, more in an attempt to relieve some of the tension boiling inside her body.
It had been over two years since Moon had last seen either of the people she was here to meet. Two years, three months and fourteen days but who was honestly counting? It would be an understatement to say that her feelings were turbulent, she felt like she could explode and if her brow furrowed any more her forehead might snap. The two women approaching on that boat had changed Moon, fundamentally as a person. For the better or worse, she still didn't know, but hopefully after today she would have her answer.
Today, Moon was excited in a grim kind of way. She couldn't wait to see them, to hug them both, tell them how much she missed them both oddly enough. She would take them on a tour of the Melemele, despite them both having lived in Alola multiple times longer than Moon had herself. She would tell them what had happened on all the islands in their absence. Most of all she hoped that they would be happy to be home once they were back on familiar soil.
But there was a shadow over Moon's mind. The events that lead to the two of them leaving Alola in the first place were anything but happy memories. That time had damaged them all and Moon knew it. She had had a lot of time to think by herself and speak her mind to her friends, Hau and Gladion had been unbelievably helpful in helping her get her thoughts straight and she in turn had done her best to provide a shoulder a shoulder to lean on to the both of them. She wondered if they were mature for their age, she wondered how many fourteen year olds had been through what they had.
Moon was forced to abandon her thought track when she jumped at the sound of a foghorn thundering through the air. She had zoned out just enough that she hadn't seen the ferry approach at all and now it had docked. She watched a couple of sailors shouting and signalling to their peers before she heard the familiar sound of the walkway being lowered from the rear of the vessel, a sound she remembered well as she stood by her mother's side two years prior, feeling the heat and warm sea breeze of Alola against her sun-bronzed skin for the first time.
Moon grit her teeth. They would be here soon, she could feel it in her bones like the Wingull knew when a storm was coming. Many other people passed her by before the two she waited for appeared. A few residents recognised Moon's signature hat and beamed a traditional Alolan greeting her way which she happily returned. She had become quite a popular figurehead since she had become the Alola region's first League Champion. She was ready, more so than ever before and as it happened, she didn't have long to wait before she saw the pair exit the Ferry Teminal.
Lillie had grown since Moon had last seen her, even at a distance she knew that her friend was now significantly taller than her, her high heeled sandals accentuating the difference. She still dressed very much the same, white was still her favourite colour. But it appeared she was making the most of her newfound freedom in her tank top with baby blue flowers all over it and her matching skirt. Moon took note that she didn't have her signature "Z-Powered" hairdo, instead wearing it in a loose braid that she brought forwards over her right shoulder, the end of which tied off with a baby blue ribbon. Lillie gushed animatedly, obviously excited, to her mother by her side.
Lusamine too, Moon was glad to see had changed as well. She no longer donned her trademark Aether Foundation uniform and that ominous gemstone that clung to her chest before was now nowhere to be seen. Today, she wore a sundress (white of course) and a wide brimmed straw hat. If Moon didn't know who Lusamine was, she could have easily been mistaken for your average holiday going tourist. She too, under the hat had changed her hair. Her long, choppy hair that cascaded down to her knees was no more. It was now cut short into a motherly bob, somehow she still managed to keep the choppy, lopsided style though. Moon couldn't argue with how well the look suited her.
Moon was about to call out to her best friend and her mother but was cut off as her breath hitched at the sight before her. Lusamine listened intently with the widest smile Moon had ever seen on her face. Better yet, there wasn't a trace of malice behind any kind of mask hiding her real intentions. As she shook with laughter and the occasional cute snort, grinning from ear to ear, revealing the hints of crows feet by her watering eyes, she had honestly never looked more beautiful. Moon almost felt like she'd be intruding on the two by calling out to them.
But it turned out that Moon didn't need to do anything. Lusamine demonstrated her sharp skills as she sensed that they were being watched and almost immediately she and Moon locked eyes. Lusamine halted so suddenly that it caught her daughter off guard. Lillie looked confused for a second before she saw where her mother was looking and then she too, locked eyes with Moon.
Moon waved Alola to them with a bit of an awkward smile and as if on cue, Lillie dropped all of her bags and sprinted straight into Moon's embrace knocking her hat onto the floor with tears already rolling down her cheeks. Lillie held her as if she would never let go again and Moon reciprocated every ounce of her feelings with her own.
Suddenly her soul felt so much lighter, every minute Moon had gone without her best friend by her side had been fixed in an instant. Lusamine approached unseen to Moon, who had her face buried in her friend's shoulder, instinctively breathing in her smell of antibacterial soaps and the distant smell of green Kanto fields. Lusamine placed a gentle hand on both Lillie's back and on Moon's own head. For a second Moon felt like she was somewhere else, holding her mother in a place she used to call home but that nostalgic feeling ended as Lillie broke all their embraces as fast as she had charged into Moon's arms.
Lillie wiped her tears away and straightened Moon's shirt and handbag up where she had ruffled them. She took extra care, picking Moon's hat up off the floor and dusting it off before returning it to its owner. Moon took Lillie's hand rather than taking her hat away from her. Lillie looked up at her mother then and Moon followed suit. Lusamine smiled down at them in a completely different way than she had when Moon had fought her in the Aether Paradise mansion.
"I'm sorry I've kept her from you for so long, Moon." Lusamine confessed and Moon chuckled and sighed before replying.
"I've been waiting."