March 3th
The North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii
1700 HAST

Liho's house was made for a man of his size, since, well, he kind of built it. Sure, he had help, but his hands touched every part of the materials that comprised his personal residence on the North Shore. He might have, if given the chance to go back in time, planned for large gatherings. The sheer amount of people here, his team, which included Pacifica now, and Babs, were more than his residence could handle, so the entire gathering had spilled out onto the small piece of beach he called his own.

Not quite late enough to light the torches, but beginning to get dark enough that the paler people didn't have to fear the sun, the Movers, and their honorary member, were all milling about, having fun in the sand and water.

"You seem pleased." Pacifica said, slipping easily beside Liho and taking hold of his arm. She held to him a moment before sliding under it to be closer to him. The look on his face, no longer glum, was one of quiet hope.

"I am." Liho answered simply. Every person out there had their own troubles and pains. Kristof lived with a mother who refused to accept he wanted to be a boy. Aasha was conceived as an experiment with plans to be used for something terrible. Deke's powers came at the cost of his mother's life. Maddie couldn't really ever be around her family, ever. Barbara even had her own, what with her mother removing herself from Babs' life without so much a glance back over her shoulder. There was a lot of pain these people were carrying, but for the moment, nobody could tell. "Everybody smiling."

"I have come to adore your outlook on the world Liho." Pacifica said, nuzzling into him. It was a trait she'd found somewhat alien, but when she'd seen Mustang and his betrothed do the same thing, and the simple comfort it brought, she felt it necessary to try. "Bee informed me that I will be joining her and Daeva after dinner so that you may speak with Madeline alone."

"Yeah, I got things I need to say, and stuff I gotta make right, yeah? Mads, she don't exactly play games, so if I say something wrong, there gonna be a fight I don't want, and you don't have any responsibility for, so when my sistah offer to keep you company long enough, I said please." Liho explained, pulling the woman close to him.

"I disagree with you Liho. I believe I do have responsibility, but I also have respect, and I will maintain my distance. The time will come quite soon, however, where we are forced to work together, so I will inform you now that if there must be a reckoning between she and I before we are able to work together, then I will not avoid it."

"Okay, I won't argue. I'm bummin' myself out again though. How about we talk about something else?" Liho asked, guiding Pacifica to one of the stone benches he'd added to the path.

"I would enjoy that. Tell me, aside of your troubles, how the rest of your day has been." Pacifica requested, still curled up into him.

"You been with me all day, so it been a good one." Liho replied, snickering at Kristof's attempts at trying to engineer a sandcastle instead of just building the thing like Aasha was trying to do. "Hungry now though."

"I believe Deke said he would be cooking. Perhaps you should remind him." Pacifica said, though she knew full well the response to that before even saying it. He was currently out in the water with his love, looking like the cover of a smutty novel.

"Later, gonna see if I still have an appetite after this. 'Scuse me please." Liho said, and stood up. He took in slow, measured breaths, gearing himself up, and walked over to Maddie, who was leaned against a palm tree and seemed to be relaxing. He hated interrupting her, but things needed said.

"Take a walk with me?" He asked her. For a moment, she didn't respond, so he assumed she was asleep. A second later, she stood up, and without a word, followed him down the beach. The walk felt artificially long, though they went a good distance away from everyone else. Liho heard Babs say she needed to handle something to Deke, who followed her into shore to (hopefully) start dinner.

"This is far enough." Maddie said abruptly, a hundred yards down the beach. "You want to talk about Pacifica, don't you?"

Liho nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Let me save you the trouble Liho. I was busy playing games, and I wasn't paying attention to anyone's feelings, including my own. I was treating you like a plaything, and it didn't dawn on me until Themyscira that I actually felt something. You were wronged, so you went for something that felt right, and that wasn't me. I fucked up, and I waited too long, that's on me, and I'm a big girl, I can handle the consequences. I'm not mad at you, and I'm not mad at her. I just hope that nothing comes between you both. Does that about cover it?" Maddie said, her usual indifference not showing in her body language or speech.

"Yeah, I guess it does. You gonna carry weight?" Liho asked. She'd nailed it when she said she was treating him like a plaything, but he still worried. It was just how he was wired.

"Hell yes I am!" Maddie said, lashing out with words. She'd not looked at him during her explanation, but she was then, her makeup streaking at her eyes. "I'm going to carry weight for a long fucking while Liho! I've got to look in the mirror every morning and see the bitch who can't get her shit together long enough to actually try to find something to hold onto. I've got to carry the weight of self-sabotage around until maybe, just maybe I can actually think with my heart for once. So yes Liho, I will carry weight for a long time, but you didn't put it there. I did."

Thin rivulets of tears, muddied with her cosmetics ran trails down across her cheeks. She looked away and kicked sand into the water furiously, and then pushed against his arm. "I'll be fine, go, I'll be back shortly."

"I uh," Liho managed to spit out before Maddie turned her blue eyes on him, a fury born of pain etched within them.

"Go! Godamnit Liho leave me alone for a while!" She all but screamed. Knowing well enough to walk away, Liho did, the sound of her crying making him wish he'd never gotten his hearing enhanced. It also allowed him to pick up what she muttered. "It's all I fucking deserve."

Eyes were on him as he walked back to where his team was gathered. No, he was tired of that word. His family was there, waiting. Nobody said anything, but then again, nobody had to. Aasha and Kristof both had sympathetic looks on their faces, the former almost in tears herself. Babs put a hand on his shoulder as he walked past, giving a squeeze.

"Burgers are on the grill, sides are about out of the oven, and there's a Longboard with the lid off waiting for you by the cooler." Deke drawled; catching up to Liho once he'd strolled a bit away from the party. "You alright?"

"Yeah brah. I just wish it didn't have to go down like this, yeah?" Liho said, and before he could even reach for the offered beer, it floated into his hand. "Maybe tomorrow a brighter day for her."

"Hope so." Deke said, making a few gestures to handle the grill remotely. As a psychic, feeling the emotional states of people was remarkably easy, and it served to help him know when and how to talk to people about things. At a moment like this though, it was a curse.

"Now that I wreck everybody's night, I'mma go sit over here a while." Liho said, sipping at his beer.

He walked over to Pacifica, who'd been sitting and chattering with Babs and Aasha, and sat down with them. "Only problem with Hawaii. Ain't legal to have a bonfire on the beach. We could use one."

Aasha smiled gently and extended a closed hand. She spread her fingers open dramatically, and a small flame erupted in her palm, which she sat on the sand, where it continued to burn. It was easy to forget she could control all of the natural elements, due to her preference in manipulating weather and electricity.

"Will that do?" She asked, wanting very much to lean into Babs and ask to have her hair petted. But, she couldn't, not with everyone there. Staying the week in Gotham to try and land a job would give her plenty of opportunity though.

"That was remarkably efficient Aasha." Pacifica said in a sweet tone. "There are students at the Conservatory of Sorcery who have attended several years who still require more time to focus."

"Our sistah Aasha here, she a very powerful sorceress. One time, she was in a bad mood because Aasha reasons, and there was a tidal wave we got called to in Guam. All she do was walk up on the beach, wave a hand and say, uh, something British to make it go away." Liho said, making the small Indian woman giggle.

"I told it to sod off, and I wasn't in a bad mood, I was just sleepy." Aasha protested. "And tidal wave is strong language to describe it as well. It was more like a large wave with delusions of grandeur."

"When you're sleepy, I'm afraid of you," Barbara interjected. "I work for Batman, and I think you're crankier than he is if you haven't slept enough."

"Have you heard yourself when you're hungry? You or Liho for that matter. Fair warning to you Pacifica, if he hasn't eaten, Liho shouldn't be held responsible for the things he says, and it's best to just throw food at Bee from a distance when she gets, what's the word? Hangry?" Aasha said, giving back a little of what she'd taken.

"I am well aware of such behavior. Magic is exceptionally taxing. I have been told I might rival a school of sharks after a trying exercise. Oh, I believe Madeline has returned." Pacifica said with a nod down the beach. The lot of them looked her direction and saw the same thing. Her eyes were hidden behind her hair, dark with heavy blonde highlights and some pink strips throughout, but when the wind blew, it was clear her eyes were red from crying.

"Don't get up on my account." Maddie said, and plopped herself down against a palm tree. She drew her legs up to her chest and hugged them, and just stared out into the water. The Pacific was so named for the peaceful appearance it had in calm weather, and the irony of it was not lost on her.

[Hungry?] She heard in her mind. Casting a glance over her shoulder, she saw Deke walking out, several plates floating in front of him, and a folding table which was unfurling itself on its own accord was behind him.

She nodded, and waited, watching her teammate set up the table without moving so much as a finger to do it. "Food's done!" He announced once it was said and done, though everyone's attention was already on him.

The gathered friends and lovers mobbed the table. Maddie noticed that the usual good natured pushing and shoving wasn't there, replaced by a steady calm. That wouldn't do, not because she'd thrown herself a pity-party. "Scoot your cooch Bee." She announced, standing up and heading to the folding table, before nudging Barbara out of the way with a swing of her hip. She'd been around them long enough that she was getting the full treatment now, no two ways about it.

They filled their plates with a bit more abandon since they didn't need to tread eggshells around Mads, Aasha trying to slip away with a burger and a few small spoonfuls of things. She ate like a bird, on account of not being much bigger than one, which was a source of constant bedevilment to Liho. She wasn't slick enough to dodge him though, who blocked her path and tried to put a large scoop of macaroni salad on her plate.

"No thank you Liho." Aasha said, looking the mile up to see his face. "I swear I get enough to eat on my own."

"You gotta eat." Liho said almost pleadingly. There was no dissuading him from this path, no matter how hard she tried. "I worry about you not eatin'. I know Bee and Deke feed you in Gotham, but you not there too much."

Aasha hugged her giant brother. "Liho, I promise, I will get more if I'm still hungry."

"Pinkie swear?" He asked, offering a massive finger. She took it and shook it with a firm nod. It seemed to suit him just fine

Hours later, everything was quiet. Liho and Pacifica were asleep in his room, Maddie and Kristof shared one of the guest beds, while Deke, Barbara, and Aasha shared the other. There'd of course been a glance from Maddie about that, though her heart wasn't in it to tease Aasha much, and she'd of course minded her tongue when Babs was present.

Comfortably nude in the bed, letting the tropical breeze blow over her skin, Barbara was at peace. She had her boy's arms around her, and Aasha was curled up against her, like a set of measuring spoons. Her boy and her girl were both asleep, leaving her feeling perfectly secure between them.

She wouldn't tell anyone this, but she enjoyed being wrapped up and held. She was tough as nails, but feeling loved and protected was a near universal pleasure. Of course, being able to love and protect was also pretty nice, and at the moment, she had both of those things. When mixed with the gentle rain falling, it left her awake in a perfect way, just able to enjoy the quiet zen of the moment.

At least, until her phone started vibrating. With a sigh, she pondered how to exfiltrate herself from the grasp of her lovers, and finally just sat up with an easy, liquid grace. Aasha snorted in offense and scooted herself closer to Deke, which made Barbara snicker quietly, before she was finally able to get to her phone.

"Good morning daddy." Barbara said quietly but pleasantly. It was eight in the morning in Gotham, about the time her father was sitting down to read the night shift's blotter. "What's up?"

It wasn't a noise that woke Deke, but the sudden and intense shift in emotions from Barbara that snapped him from his slumber. He sat up and waited patiently on his love, who was sitting on the edge of the low bed, on her phone.

"Oh my God is she okay?" Barbara asked, a bitter, icy chill running down her limbs. Subconsciously, she grasped at the bedsheets to cover herself. "Yeah, I'll be there in a couple of hours. I will be, I promise. I love you too Daddy. Bye."

"What's wrong?" Deke asked as he watched Barbara come to her feet in a single sinuous motion. Her emotional state had gone from dread to pure ice. He wasn't talking to Barbara, he was talking to Batgirl.

"Bette was assaulted last night. I need to get back to Gotham now." She said, pulling underwear on quickly and efficiently. That's all she needed to say. With a flick and a gesture from Deke the clothing she wanted fell easily into her lap, while he himself stood up and pulled a pair of jeans on.

"Aasha." Barbara said, leaning around and shaking the small woman. "Aasha, we have to leave, it's an emergency. Deke's leaving you his key to the apartment; call us if you need help when you get to Gotham."

"Is everything okay?" Aasha asked with a yawn, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Shall I dress as well?"

"No, you get some sleep." Barbara said, pulling on her clothes quickly. "I'll explain later, just tell everyone we had to go early."