As Hiki and Raihan of them arrived on the Isle, they were greeted by the welcoming face of Nic, who had been waiting for them. "Glad you guys made it safely!"

Hiki, who had been a mess of all sorts of different emotions that morning, looked as if she had barely slept the night before, spoke up in response. "He really is here? You saw him, right?"

"That's right! I uh… spoke to him myself! It was definitely him," Nic responded, while Raihan eyed her suspiciously after the way she stopped herself and very clearly changed her wording from something else she was about to say. "He's not in the dojo at the moment, though. I found out he's been meditating each morning by the ocean, right over in that direction," she continued and pointed where she was referring to.

Raihan's gaze followed her directions, then he turned his attention to their friend. "Alright Hiki, you ready?" he asked her, but noticed the look on her face.

"I… I don't know about this, Rai… I'm really nervous…" she responded, lightly tugging at the bottom of her skirt.

"It's okay… How about I go get him and bring him back to you? Just wait here," he told her, while patting her on the shoulder.

When she agreed, he quickly took off toward the area Nic pointed out. It didn't take long for him to find the former Champion as he was sitting alone on the beach. As he approached him, he felt his anger start to bubble up from inside of him.

"What the hell were you thinking? No calls? Texts? Nothing? You've had everyone worried sick about you, asshole!"

Leon's head whipped around quickly, recognizing the voice that was shouting at him, slightly startled by his sudden appearance. "Raihan? Nice to see you too," he said with a light chuckle. He stood and brushed the sand off of his clothes. "Listen… I know I should have said something, but I knew you guys would try to stop me from coming here and to be honest, I really needed it! Things were really starting to pile up, and… I needed some way to let go of all of that."

Raihan sighed, knowing this trip was probably really good for him. But that still didn't change the fact that Hiki was in such a low state because of it. "I get it, believe me, I do… but leaving Hiki behind like that, not telling her where you were going. That was pretty messed up."

Hiki… She probably hated him, didn't she? He couldn't get that sad look in her eyes out of his head since the moment he left. It left him with a heavy sense of guilt that he couldn't get rid of. He missed her so incredibly much and he couldn't wait to return home to her, feeling refreshed and good as new. "How is she doing?"

"Better now than she has been. She's been a wreck, dude. She had no idea if you were lost or hurt somewhere. She even worried that you might not love her anymore. For a while she never left your couch, and if it wasn't for the fact that I had a key, I doubt she would have taken care of herself at all." He sighed, unsure if he should bring the next part up, but figured he needed to know. "She's had nightmares about Eternatus, too… This has all been really hard for her…"

Hearing all of this really made his heart hurt. The last thing he ever wanted to do was cause her pain. "I really messed up… Please, when you make it back, tell her that I'll be coming home soon and that I do love her… very, very much."

Raihan just shrugged. "Tell her yourself. She's back at the dojo right now."

Leon grabbed Raihan by the shoulders. "She's here right now? Why didn't you just say so?" Quickly, he gathered all of his things and shoved them in his bag. "Let's go! Right now!"

"I'll catch up. You go ahead."

When Leon got closer to the dojo, he saw Hiki leaning with her shoulder against a tree. Nic had already gone back inside the dojo to continue her training, as well as to give the couple their privacy. Hiki's back was to him, so she didn't see that he was there. He took a deep breath and ran over to her, stopping right behind her.

"You have… absolutely every right to be mad at me right now. I wouldn't blame you if you hated me and never wanted to see me again… I made a huge mistake, but if you will let me, I'll do anything I can to make it up to you." He looked up to see her hand clenching the bottom of her skirt, tightly. He felt horrible for putting her in this position… but he continued, hoping he could explain himself. "I should have opened up and talked to you more about what I was going through, but I was worried that I'd be burdening you with all of my stress. I had a lot going through my head and it made me feel like I was going to burst. So I came here, the one place I knew I could go to get away from all of that and just let go of all the negative things that were bringing me down."

Still standing behind her, he sighed and reached out to gently take her hand in both of his, pulling it away from its grip on her clothing. She was trembling, like she was crying… but from where he was standing he still couldn't see her face. It was already bringing tears to his own eyes. "Raihan told me everything… I am so sorry for worrying you… and even more for hurting you."

Finally he was silent, opening it up to give her a chance to speak. She raised her other arm to wipe her eyes on her sleeve. "You're right," she began, her voice shaky. "I am mad… We've always told each other everything, no matter what… But you chose the time that you were hurting the most to shut me out." He nodded, listening to everything she had to say while still never letting go of her hand. "When you said you needed time alone… of course I was sad, but I understood. I just wish we could have discussed it more before you left. I had no idea if you were safe, or where you were going… I couldn't reach you on your phone either. But do you know the worst part?"

He squeezed her hand to let her know he was still listening, and finally… she turned around to face him. Her eyes were red and he could tell she had been crying for quite some time, not even just since arriving on the Isle. It broke his heart…

She continued. "You never even said goodbye." As she said this, her tears started flowing again, rolling down her cheeks uncontrollably.

He didn't even know what to say. So he did the only thing that felt right in that moment. He pulled her in close and hugged her as tightly as he could.

Hiki's eyes grew wide as her face rested against him. She pulled her arms up to wrap around him, too, and she just cried… Everything she had been fearing, all of her worries… they were all gone. He was here and she knew he wouldn't ever disappear again. She wasn't the only one crying, either. Leon buried his face into her hair and sobbed with her. It was incredibly hard not to.

As he calmed his emotions, he planted multiple kisses on the top of her head. "I love you so much, Hiki… No matter what happens, that will always be the truth. I wish I could change the way I handled everything so that you never would have felt like you had to question that. But I promise, I'll never leave you in the dark like that ever again…"

Hiki's fingers curled as she gripped the fabric of the uniform he was wearing from the dojo, her face still buried in his chest. Deep down, she knew this had always been true, but hearing from him directly how he felt about her was exactly what she needed. She sniffled before finally looking up at his face, knowing by the look in his eyes that his words were genuine.

However, she also noticed that they seemed to be searching for an answer from her, and his next words confirmed his own insecurities.

"If I'm being honest, part of why I didn't explain myself before I left was because I was scared..." Still silent, Hiki continued to look at him with questioning eyes. She never thought she would ever hear him say those words… He was the bravest person she had ever met. "You see… after losing against Gloria, and losing my title as Champion… I wondered if the people in my life would still look at me the same way… Would Hop still look up to me the way he always has? Would Raihan still consider me a strong rival? Would Galar still think of me as the hero they always have, even though I couldn't stop Eternatus?"

He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he sighed. "And would you still love me even with all of the times I've failed recently… with me no longer being the Champion you were so proud of? Those were the questions that kept running through my head after I lost. And if there was any possibility that any of those things were no longer true, I didn't want to know… So before I could find out, I ran."

"Lee…" Hiki felt her tears resurfacing as he said this. It was all starting to make sense now.

"I know," he continued. "It was crazy for me to think so drastically. You were so supportive after I lost… and yet I still wanted to believe that I was losing not just my title, but everything important to me. So I needed to distract myself from those thoughts."

Lifting herself up on her toes, Hiki kissed his lips, softly. "You're never going to lose me… You were my best friend before even becoming Champion. I know I would have still fallen in love with you even if you had never earned that title… and I still love you after you've lost it. You're so… so precious to me and I would never even think about leaving you over something so silly. I love you for who you are, Leon… not for the things you've accomplished."

Leon's face grew red as she spoke these words, tears threatening to escape his eyes again. Just as Hiki should have known that his feelings wouldn't change so suddenly, he realized he should have known the same about her. The two of them had a very special bond that could never be broken so easily.

As he struggled to find the right words to respond, Hiki wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him close to her and spoke softly into his ear. "Please come back home… I've really missed you."

He held her close, his heart warmed by her words. "I'm sorry, Love, but… I can't do that." His response, however, caused Hiki to pull away and take a small step back in surprise. He immediately realized how that answer must have sounded and he quickly took both of her hands in his. "Wait… What I mean is… I still have unfinished business here on the Isle and can't go back just yet."

Wanting to be supportive, she nodded silently, though her disappointment was clear on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. "I understand. Then… I'll see you back at home when you're finished?"

Leon smiled softly, still holding her hands, and shook his head. "No… I'd like you to stay here with me. I've missed you a lot too, and there's no way I want to be away from you any longer."

Her eyes widened at his suggestion. "A-Are you sure about that? Wouldn't I just distract you?"

He raised her hands up to his face and kissed them gently. "I'd be more distracted by missing you than I would be knowing I'd get to see you after my training is finished each day."

"Okay, you lovebirds…" Raihan's voice called out as he approached them. "Is everyone feeling better now?"

Hiki felt her face turn red as she heard their friend speaking to them. She had been so caught up in the moment that she almost forgot they weren't completely alone. She held onto one of Leon's hands as she turned around to stand at his side and face Raihan. "A lot better… Thank you for bringing me here." She looked up at Leon's face and smiled before continuing. "Lee wants to stay here just a little longer, so he invited me to stay with him. I'm sorry, but we aren't going to be heading back with you. I hope that's okay!"

Raihan gave them a smirk. "It's fine. I'm sure you two have quite a bit to catch up on. Besides, I don't have to go back alone! I've got your friend to accompany me," he said while flashing a wink at Hiki.

"Hm? You brought a friend with you?" Leon asked, completely oblivious.

"Well… not exactly," Hiki responded. Nic was already there! Plus she was the one who told them Leon was on the Isle. Did she not introduce herself? She would have to ask for more details on their meeting later…

Leon tilted his head in confusion as Raihan spoke up again. "Anyway, I'm really happy to see the two of you together again…"

In response, Leon leaned over to kiss Hiki's head. "We're happy too… And don't worry, this isn't going to happen ever again."

"It better not!" Raihan scolded, but then sighed. He couldn't be too mad. Things ended up just fine… "I'm gonna head out and give you two some time alone. Let me know when you get back to Wyndon!"