Alola readers! Hope everyone had a good 4th (To all those in 'Murica and all) Finally back from my Mexico trip (Had a couple of travel scares too) and am ready to come back into the fold of work, writing and whatever shenanigans that is going to be thrown my way.

Apologies for having to postpone this update and having it a tad shorter than what you're used to. Before I do get started; this chapter is going to be different than our typical diary entries.

I kind of wanted to do an intermittent chapter every 10 or so Diary pages to give you all an insight and a guest reviewer was already thinking a step ahead with the suggestion. Thank you very much for that suggestion...you know who you are XD

So this one is definitely a bit more of an emotional roller coaster. Not all the breaker chaps are going to be like this, but I want to give everyone a look at what Elio is thinking/feeling about how Lillie experienced their adventure in her own eyes. Now shall we?


Sun's hand found a pink ribbon bookmark that lapsed over the back cover. He rubbed his eyes, finally realizing that he had been reading through Lillie's diary for nearly five hours. The strain of sitting and reading made him tired. It was almost dinnertime. Mom was going to be home soon.

The sheets on his bed were rumpled from him adjusting his posture constantly and he had no memory of turning on the lamp on his nightstand that shed the entire room in a warm yellowish glow.

Gently setting the diary down, Elio slid off the bed and stood up.

As he did, he felt a familiar stinging pain shoot right up his shoulder with enough intensity to cause him to fall on one knee. Elio grasped it; his teeth clenched tightly in a pained grimace as he peeled back part of his shirt to examine the wound.

To anyone else who saw it for the first time; including his mother, it was out of the ordinary, a nasty crisscrossing of a laceration that was an angry red streaking in an eerie symmetry. Crusty scar tissue now covered the formerly fresh wounds in a dark shade of purple that sharply contrasted the tone of his less than pale skin.

It was a very close call when he had accidentally been thrown off his ride sharpedo when nearly colliding with another rider on Ula'ula Island. The harsh consequence of not strapping himself in securely, his shoulder had brushed rather harshly against the brutal pokemon's abrasive skin after swerving at the last moment to avoid the newcomer who had zipped right in his path from almost nowhere. It had saved both trainers and pokemon from a disastrous accident. Luckily for him, the shark was rather tame even after he had bled in the water. Sharpedo were notorious for losing all logic and common sense after detecting a hint of blood. It hardly mattered what kind; human or pokemon.

Sun still hated the memory of those scars and it truly was one of those moments that still jarred him to his very core.

The pain in his shoulder had subsided and he gave it a gentle rub to ensure that it wasn't going to return anytime soon. No dice.

"Mrawr!" Elio heard a purr and reached down to give Meowth a good scratch on the top of his head. The cat purred with delight, wrapping his arms around the boy's arm.

"Hey Meowth?" He looked up at the human, "If I'm not back before Mom gets home, I went to my secret spot."

He cocked his head to the side, curious and unsure how to process the information.

"I figured." Elio sighed, "Okay, never mind buddy."

Meowth let out another purr and scurried over into the far corner of the house, deciding to finally jump on top of one of the chairs and curl up for his tenth nap of the day.

You're definitely lucky my mother is so tolerant of you doing that buddy. Sun coyly thought, Then again, you hardly scratch any of the furniture anyway.

Reading through Lillie's diary had been quite the energy consumer. He just needed some time to think everything over and how much his journey meant to the best friend he had ever had. Staying here at his house wouldn't do for something like this.

Elio considered waiting, but figured that everything would plague him from sleeping overnight. There wouldn't be much else to do without waking his mother up either. He had caught up on all the weekly episodes for Five-0, his new projects for the house were on hold until the hardware store got more supplies, every chore for now was complete and it would be another week with all the media frenzy and such before he was on call to defend his championship title.

No better time than to just sit and recollect all that had happened.

As he passed through the living room and into the foyer, his eyes fell on of the array of pictures sitting on a divider. It was a scrapbook of sorts, nearly a dozen different photos of him and his mother in different places taken at different times. Elaine had taken the time to arrange them in chronological order.

On the far right, he saw his own mother. She had been barely two years out of her twenties when pregnant with him, but still lying in that hospital bed in Cerulean City with a beaming smile across her face. From what he had been told jokingly, it had been a long battle in order for him to come out of the womb. He hadn't been too happy about it at the time either.

Other pictures next to it were with him as he crawled, stood for the first time, took a first step and so on, continuing to grow. The second time Elaine was in the row of pictures, there was a glittering diamond band fit neatly onto her finger. His baby self was staring at it while being cradled in his mother's arms; eyes wide in wonder at seeing such a gilded object.

The photo after it featured someone else besides the two of them. They had all dressed very formally. Elaine was wearing a pure white strapless gown that flowed behind her as they stood under a wooden arch lined with garlands of flowers in a lush green garden. A two year old Elio was in her arm, in a fancy black tuxedo for the occasion.

Next to them with his arm wrapped around Elaine was a taller man roughly in his mid to late twenties. He had longer dark hair and steely gray eyes. A couple of scars were on his face, but they were overpowered by a joyous smile that was amplified by the tux he was wearing.

Every time Elio stared at the man in the photo, it was like looking at his own future self in a decade.

He shook his head, still wondering why, even now that his mother didn't take that picture out. None of them in that image had any forewarning of what disaster was heading straight for them in the coming years.

Beyond that were more photos. A lot of them contained the man. There was Elio as a young child who was posing with a young redhead woman clad in a bathing suit in front of the famous Cerulean City gym. Misty Waterflower had been one of his biggest idols when he had taken an interest in competitive battling. Her matches with challengers were one of the few in Kanto open to the public and he enjoyed her spectacular elegant shows that she put on while at the same time, mercilessly battering her opponents into submission.

That starmie of hers was just unstoppable!

His lips curled up in remembrance of one occasion, when they were leaving and happened to run into her as she left for the day. Elaine was ecstatic at finally getting to meet her in person and after a few minutes of fangirling, insisted that her son get a picture with one of his biggest inspirations.

Misty was more than happy to oblige, additionally signing a printed picture of them.

That one was inside a frame in the center, a brief message scrawled in black marker just below the two of them, holding up her signature two fingers pose in a "peace" sign with wide grins on their faces.

Elio,

Best wishes on your pokemon journey wherever it may take you.

-MW

More pictures included him in his baseball, football and basketball uniforms, posing with other kids after big games. Their moods reflected on whether they had won or lost, but he considered every one of them, even those that they ended up not winning to be a spark that would bring the team closer together and strengthen their resolve.

The pictures would go on with the three of them and there was a subtle change. Elaine's smile became more forced…as if she was hiding something.

He heard the hum of the garage door opening and quickly put everything back. Mother was home.

Meowth scampered past Sun's legs and sat down in front of the door, eagerly awaiting the return of his favorite human.

There was just so much to process in his mind from what he had glimpsed through Lillie's eyes. The details she had written in were absolutely incredible, vivid, fluid and surreal. It was almost as if he was reliving those exact same moments six months ago all over again.

Six months ago when he met one of the most…if not THE most beautiful girl in his entire life.

I miss her already and she hasn't even been gone for a full day yet.

Okay…one full day.

"Hi sweetie." Elaine looked exhausted, but flashed a weary smile at him as she entered the living room. "How is my champion today?"

My champion. That was what Lillie had said to him during the night of his celebration. My champion…Her champion.

"Elio?"

"Oh," He completely forgot about the question and snapped out of his daze. As he did, another searing pain shot up his shoulder.

"Aah!" Sun's face contorted into another wince of pain and bared his teeth, but he stayed on his feet. His mother was the last person he wanted to show any sign of discomfort since her hospital training would kick in and she would overreact.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He grunted, rubbing his side, "Yeah, I'll be okay."

"That sharpedo must've hit you harder than expected." Elaine inquired, "Why weren't you wearing your ride gear?"

"I was."

"Well if you did, it would have a nasty rip and have to send it into Alola Transit for repairs."

"Maybe," He played it safe. "Maybe I still have to for internal damage and all."

Elaine's face went concerned again, "Elio are you sure you're alright? Ever since you've become the champion, you've just haven't been yourself."

"Mom I'm okay." He protested, "Please…I'm fine."

AAARGH! Stop thinking about Lillie! I'm turning this into an obsession!

Elio briskly headed for the door, not wanting his mother to catch onto any more details, "I'm going to step outside for some air."

"Okay. Do you want anything to eat when you come back?"

"Whatever is fine."


After Elio had left; Elaine found herself puzzled by her son for the first time in quite a while. All the time when he was a young boy, he talked about sports, Pokemon battling and everything about it. It was what he was truly passionate about. She had seen it. From the watch party that was held in Iki town, he was on that screen animated with waving arms and his fiery competitiveness evident through his expression and body language.

It was truly an amazing day with the entire town pulling for the boy at the center, who quickly won everyone's heart as Tapu Koko's waeia kekahi. He encountered some trouble with a couple members of the Elite Four, but still managed to come out triumphant. That and the final battle for the championship title against Professor Kukui brought him to the most grueling test as a trainer.

Winning all of that should've made him overjoyed and lively. Instead, all she got was the attitude, depression and sorrow he seemed to have when they had first moved here.

The last thing she wanted was for him to go back to that dark place.

She reached for her phone.

"Alola cousin!" Alana Kealoha greeted happily after a short time of ringing. "Elaine? How are things with your champion?"

"Hi Alana," Hau's grandmother was known throughout Iki Town as one of the sweetest ladies, being especially kind to anyone willing to make friends with her, Kahuna Hala, her husband and grandson Hau. She knew the him early on, since he was always at Elio's side. The boy was her son's best friend; she could tell that the two of them were. They joked together, laughed together, trained together and pushed one another to get stronger. Hau was more open and outgoing, so it was possible that he may have told his own Tutu something that Elio was not willing to disclose.

"He's…I think something's wrong with Elio." She finally said. "He's not himself. Battling is the last thing on his mind and he seems distracted."

"Oh." Alana's excitement dropped, just a bit. "Well Hau and Hala haven't seen anything. But when I saw them walking up, I could see your keiki with Kukui. He didn't look happy even after winning all that."

"Huh." Elaine mused. "I came back from work this morning and he looks as if he never left the house. He also immediately did actually go outside when I tried to ask him what's wrong. I think something definitely is, even though he's trying to tell me nothing."

"I hope his wahine comes back soon. That may be why."

"Wahine?"

"Yes." Alana chuckled, "Sorry, I keep forgetting that you're not quite used to speaking bird just yet. Wahine…it means woman."

"Woman," She stopped, finally realizing the reason behind his abnormal behavior, "You mean Lillie?"

"Yes. She left for Kanto last night. Hau was upset after leaving, but he quickly cheered up as he had talked about how much she was going to love Kanto and go experience an island challenge of her own." What grief he had over her absence had vanished soon thereafter.

Lillie! Lillie was the reason Sun wasn't himself!

"Elaine?"

"Huh?" She gasped, "I'm sorry! My thoughts drifted off. I think you're right Alana. Elio really misses Lillie."

"That's what Hau was saying. He was afraid that he would miss his best friend if he kept grieving like this. He is likely headed for the kapu."

"Should I go after him?"

"No," Alana firmly replied, "Elio will come to you when he is ready to talk. His pu'uwai is broken."

"Pu'uwai?"

"His heart."


It was two hours later when Elio did return, finally opening the door quietly. Meowth was napping in his favorite bed in the living room and the entrance to the master bedroom clicked open.

"Sweetie?" Elaine had sensed his presence and walked out, taking a good look at him. Out of the ordinary, nothing looked wrong, but his face was just slightly red and there were a couple of stains on his shirt that were likely from tears that continued to fall free from his eyelids. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He took a deep breath, trying to blink away the flood. "I'm okay."

"Do you want to talk about her?"

Sun's breath stopped short as he digressed that she already knew why he was in such a depressed mood.

What's going to happen if everyone gets word of this? The expert battling champion of the Alola league is crying like a kid because some little crush of his decides to move away. Everyone's going to really find a way to make fun of me…here cooped up in my bedroom pining for her. All because of her mother. If it wasn't for her, none of this would've happened!

"Lusamine," Elio hissed, almost spitting the name out as if it were acid. "It's Lusamine's fault."

"Lusamine?"

"Lillie's mother. She was the reason that she ran away with Nebby to try and keep it safe…and now…now Lillie went with her to Kanto to help her heal from that beast. This is all her fault."

"Elio," His mother began. "You can't blame her for what she's doing. Any child would do whatever it took to help their parent."

"Except hers. Do you even know what she did to her?!" His voice turned deadly serious. "What she did to me?! When I found her again; Lillie cried to me about her mother and I can't forgive her for that. I HATE her!" He growled, "I hate her so much!"

"Sun, that still doesn't-"

"She took Lillie away from me!" Elio yelled angrily, abruptly cutting her off. Now, he was no longer willing to listen to whatever anyone told him. Although she never said anything; Elaine was deeply shocked at his atypical behavior. She'd heard horror stories of moody teenagers being openly rebellious towards their parents and had constantly wondered if her own was going to fall into that pit. For the most part, Elio was mild mannered. Sure, he would act a little grumpy and upset if something didn't go his way, but that was a rarity and he always looked for a positive aspect.

Here though, she felt completely helpless. She had never seen her own Elio like this; talking so much about anyone. And it had been such a long time when he had said he hated someone.

"I may not ever see her again!" He continued, uncaring on who or what was around him. "She goes off to help the one person who caused her all that pain and all that suffering! Lusamine doesn't deserve one single bit of that! Any of it!"

Elaine bowed her head, fully understand what he was going through after talking with Alana. "Elio-" She reached out for his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

"NO!" It all happened in one instant; his left hand lashed out in a lightning flash, grabbing her forearm and violently shoving it away from him. His actions thus far had Elaine completely off guard. This was not the boy she had raised. This wasn't the humble, powerful champion who lit up an entire region with his radiant smile and treated his pokemon as a family.

This was a boy who was taking after a man she knew very well. That same man she had tried to get hem both away from during his darkest time.

When he was younger; Elio made a promise.

I would never yell or physically intimidate my mother. While she was all more than capable of defending herself as a former trainer, he had felt obligated as a son's job to defend his own mother as soon as he was capable.

That horrified aghast look on his face told her everything. He had just broken that promise.

Both those promises.

"Elio-" She started. There was just so much she wanted to do in order to understand what he was going through.

Without another word or even acknowledging her outreach, he turned and stormed right towards his room. She could see more tears of anger in his face threatening to spill over.

"Elio!"

Meowth saw him coming in his direction and quickly leapt out of his path. He had noticed the mixture of anger and sadness playing across the human's face, but figured that being in the way meant that he too, was going to be swatted aside.

The door to his bedroom slammed with a loud bang that echoed through the house from following silence.

With Meowth gone from witnessing more than one of these kind of events, Elaine through her revelation stupor of sorts moved closer to his bedroom door and put her ear against it.

She heard a faint sniffle of sorts and a soft wail, coming to the conclusion that he was crying into his pillow.

Staring back at her arm, there was no visible bruise or redness from where he had pushed her away, but it was more of the significance of that gesture that had been completely unexpected. Her mind flashed right back to the time in Kanto where something like that occurring in her household was much more common. A much younger Sun would usually run into his room to hide with Meowth, hugging him tightly and hoping that all of it would end soon.

The resemblance between what just happened and that in Kanto was so similar, it could've been identical.

"Elio," Elaine whispered, gently knocking on the door.

"Go away Mom!" She heard his protest, a muffled mumble that sounded strained and hurt.

"Elio please."

"No! I don't want to talk right now!"

Inside his room, Elio felt like grabbing something…anything and smashing it. Beating something down again, over and over, not letting up.

No! I can't!

He couldn't believe that his emotions. His emotions over a girl that might not ever come back, had got the best of him. He was turning into a nightmarish person that he swore that he would never become.

I'm better than this! Elio thought to himself in a flare of frustration. How can I be better if I act just like how they did? Guzma…Team Skull…

Dad

He must've looked just like his own father when he shoved his own mother's arm. As a loyal son, who should be protecting her from all those monsters.

I was that monster myself.

How was she supposed to forgive him after that? She may have had a traumatic flashback to the many times in Kanto where the man in subject constantly yelled at his own family. For what?

How am I supposed to face Mom after that? How is she going to forgive me? I may have just ruined my own family because of Lillie. I may never even see her again! I feel like a damn kid who's fallen hopelessly in love with a girl and spends all his time in a pit of depression, pining for her like some idiot!

Elio didn't know what to think. The one person who was trying her hardest to understand why he was so depressed, angry and sad was his own mother. Whose arm he just slapped away in a frighteningly exact manner like the person they moved away from.

I didn't mean to! I was so angry at Lusamine that I didn't think straight! Goddammit, I'm so stupid!

He still had to take accountability for his actions though. His mother may have been hurt by what he did, more on the emotional aspect than physical, but he needed to tend to the wounds as soon as possible.

I hurt my mother. I need to make this right. Even if she won't understand.


Elaine heard a gentle knock on her door.

She felt her spirits soar, despite not anticipating him being ready. Something like this would've made him cry himself to sleep.

Alana's words earlier that evening came to mind; Elio will come to you when he is ready to talk.

Still, the thought of her boy crying was new. After playing sports for so long and getting more than his share of cuts and bruises, it became normality for him to tough those things out and continue through the adversity. He had long since stopped crying at trivial injuries well before many other kids his age while in school.

Careful not to disturb Meowth sleeping in his favorite bed; Elaine crossed over from her bed and gently opened the door.

Elio looked like a complete wreck. His longer hair was even more disheveled than normal and the pale skin on his face glistened from fallen tears that he had made no attempt to wipe away. The parts of his upper cheek and whites of his eyes were raw with a redness of rubbing his face excessively.

"Mom," He started. "I'm…I'm…I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that. I…never meant to remind you so much of Dad."

"Elio."

"I don't want to be like Dad!" He cried, "I'm supposed to protect you from people like him and all, but how can I do that if I-" His choked voice was cut off as Elaine put her arms around him, one behind his shoulders and another behind his head. He didn't do anything to brush her away, instead hugging her tightly. All the flooded pent up emotions of sadness broke through his dam and came out in sobs. Alola's champion clenched his teeth, allowing mother and son to continue their embrace that seemed to begin healing all the damage he had done to her out of instinctive anger.

She retrieved a dry face towel and gently folded it to wipe away the tears at Elio's puffy eyes. Again, he made no move to try and resist, just allowing his mother to comfort his vulnerable self.

"Mom…can you forgive me?" He sniffed, "I know I don't…deserve it."

"Yes sweetie." Elaine was overjoyed at that statement. "Yes, you deserve it. I forgive you. I know you didn't mean any of that. And I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"For prying too much. I didn't know that you could be so adamant like that."

Elio's breath hitched as he blinked away the last of the tears and finally calming himself down. "It's just…Lillie. I miss her so much and she hasn't been gone for two days! I just want her to stop going to Kanto and come back to Alola. To come back to me."

Elaine remained silent as her son continued, "Is it bad Mom?" More tears were forming in his eyes as he shook his head, "Is it bad that I'm being so selfish for wanting her back here? I know she wants to grow as a trainer, but why does she have to do it in Kanto? Alola has its island challenge and she could've tried that. But she had to go away…away from me to take care of her mother. Lusamine put her through so much grief and pain! She cried to me about how bad it was Mom! It was so awful!"

Now Elio's mother had no idea about the relationship between Lillie and her mother, but she had to agree quickly that no mother should ever have such a tumultuous connection with their own child. Especially someone as sweet as her.

"Sun, I don't know everything on what terms she was with her mother, but Lillie is doing exactly what a child should do for their parent."

"This is different Mom." Elio had stopped sniveling and looked at her with glassy eyes, "Her mother…she abused her! She abused Nebby! How does that make her feel?! She might as well not even be her mother!"

"She's doing what she thinks is right and you know it."

Elaine half expected him to get confrontational again, but he remained somber, looking down, "Mom, I just didn't want Lillie to leave me for her. Lusamine doesn't deserve her help! She's just going to walk away after everything that has happened."

"Sun, I know you feel terrible for saying something selfish like that and it is, but sometimes people do things that are strange to others when it comes to family. I'm sorry that she had to leave you, but you have to respect her decision, even if it feels like a slap to the face."

And that's exactly what it feels like.

"Mom, it just doesn't feel right." Elio said, "All this is not very manly of me and as champion of Alola; I have to hold myself to a high standard."

"Sun, what are you talking about?" Elaine looked inquisitively at her son, "Sweetie, it's perfectly fine to feel like this toward someone. I know this firsthand."

"You do?"

"Yes," She allowed a thin, light smile to grace her lips. "Elio…sweetheart, you're in love."

He didn't deny it. From her perspective; when she had first met the young blonde, Lillie had come off as shy, but polite and genuinely friendly. Sun did look a little flustered when he was alone with a girl his age, but even when she saw the two of them together, she couldn't help but constantly think that they would make a very cute couple.

Elio had told her that she wasn't a fan of pokemon battling, saying that she didn't like seeing them get hurt in fighting. While he seemed to dislike that part of her; Elaine respected her view despite being a renowned trainer herself. Everyone was entitled to their own opinion, even if she disagreed. By the time he finished his grand trial, she seemed to be on a much friendlier basis with Elio, despite their differences.

The change in his personality came when he returned from Poni Island, having completed his Island Challenge. He talked about her every single day with the biggest smile on his face; saying how she had really come out of her shell to open up to the world. It was comparable to a shy baby pokemon that was ready to explore everything there was to be discovered and the pride in his voice when he spoke about it told her that something about this young blonde had stolen her son's heart.

She saw at the champion's festival that his opinion on Lillie had done almost a complete one-eighty within the six month span that he knew her. Now his sadness and anger at her absence had said it all.

"So tell me." Elaine gently took his hands in hers and made him look at her soft brown eyes. "Does Lillie make your heart flutter?"

Sun saw that there was no point in denying it anymore.

"Yes." He swallowed.

"She makes you feel happy? Relaxed?"

A slow nod. "I feel like I have this…this duty to protect her and Nebby. After everything that I've seen on my island challenge with them, I felt like I was the only thing standing between them and danger. She looked to me for help and guidance…after teaching me everything on how to be a trainer." A deep breath was taken, "I know this isn't typical of me."

"Elio, it's perfectly okay for someone like you to fall in love. In fact, I'm very happy that you've experienced it for the first time. You're actually beginning to show some emotion, which I feel wasn't developed much with your father around."

"Yeah. I know." He paused for a moment, thinking of something. "Mom…did you…did you ever...ever fall in love with Dad?"

Elaine thought her heart might snap in two at such an innocent question…by a sixteen year old nonetheless. But through it, she nodded. "I fell in love with the man who knelt in front of me with a gold ring and asked me to marry him. I fell in love with the man who gave you a big hug after you slid onto home plate to score the winning run and then said how proud he was of you. That's who I fell in love with."

"Do you regret it?"

"What?" Elaine asked, "Absolutely not. Even though we've seen the love between our family tested many times through bad decisions, I do not regret marrying him. Your father may not have been a good person all the time, but he is still a big part of my life…and yours."

Elio nodded, "Okay Mom. I just don't know what to do."

"Sun, you may love Lillie with all your heart. If you truly do; then you will want what is best for her. Sometimes that means you have to let her go." Elaine guided him to her bed and they lay down side by side together, "And if she loves you back, then she will come back to you."

"Okay."

"You remember this?" Elaine held a photo for them to see.

"I do!" Elio chuckled with a small smile gracing his features. He had been ten years old, during that time when she had described an incredible game of his little league baseball. Elio had swung and hit a home run in the final inning that completed a comeback win from a four run deficit. The photo was just like one in the living room. He was in the center, right to receive a big hug from his father with a dirty white uniform from sliding and all. Each member of the Northstars had huge smiles and was one of the few pictures where they seemed overjoyed together as a family.

"Both your father and I were so proud of you that game. Even in the ones that you lost, you remained a good sport and did your very best. I love this photo because I want to savor those happy, pleasant memories we had when we were the Northstar family. Not the ones where we were separate as Elio, Elaine and Calvera." She sighed, "I still miss him, even to this day. Just like how you were with Lillie; I loved your father so much. So when it came down to what was best not just for me, but for you, I had to let him go. Don't ever think for one second that you're the only one who has had to say goodbye to someone they cared about. I have done that and I think even Professor Kukui has too."

"Mom," Sun started. "You know what? You're right. I am being nothing but selfish and acting this way is not helping at all. I'm sorry. I just don't know how to deal with all these feelings."

"It's not easy." She said, slipping the picture away. "Do you remember when I sat you down and said that your father wasn't going to be around?"

He solemnly nodded.

"As a mother, that was the most difficult thing I had to do. No child should ever have to grow up without a good father in his or her life."

"I…I remember after you told me that I wasn't going to be able to see Dad anymore…I remember you went to bed and you…you were crying. You cried yourself to sleep."

"Now you know how hard it can be to part with someone that you care deeply about. I never wanted you to grow up fatherless. I only wanted what's best for Elio and sadly, your father couldn't be part of that anymore."

"I know Mom. There are those days where I wish everything that happened with Dad is like some sort of bad dream and I'll wake up to that time where we were a family again."

Elaine nodded, "I wish that were the case sweetie. I still dearly miss your father too." She stroked his messy hair. "You know something? I've watched how you talk about Lillie and how proud you are of her and I can't help but feel proud myself. Not only did you find someone to love, but you helped her grow as a person and now as a trainer. When you two left for Akala Island, never in my wildest dreams would I have seen her change so much and it's all thanks to you. You're a bigger influence to her than you give yourself credit for. Why don't you write her a letter in a few weeks? See how she's doing?"

"You think she'd like that?"

"I would think that says you still care a lot about her and want to know what she's up to while in Kanto. Maybe you can even arrange a time and place to meet up."

"Will I have time?"

"Of course!" Elaine exclaimed. "You are the champion after all, so you can now make time for when you're available for battle and when you're not. Challengers have to get past the Elite Four first before they have a shot at your seat!"

"I will give it a shot."

"That's the spirit." His mother said, hugging him tightly. "So don't lose hope. Hold on to the promise that you'll be reunited one day."

"I will Mom." Elio tried to suppress a yawn.

"You're looking a bit tired. I think it's time you should go to sleep."

"Yeah. I'm exhausted." He rolled off the bed. "I'll see about writing a letter soon."

He continues to surprise me. "Oh and Elio?" Elaine said, stopping him with a tone bordering that of her stern warnings. "I will say that love can be an incredibly powerful emotion. It can make lasting memories for you to cherish for the rest of your life, but at the same time, it can cloud your judgment and your ability to make rational decisions. People end up doing some reckless things out of the affection they have for something or someone. I'm not saying that it will necessarily happen to you, but you may find your love for Lillie tested in more ways than one and same with her to you if she feels the same. If you're not careful, it could cost you dearly."

Sun stopped, thinking about her words. He knew that she was right, with her having experienced the mistakes firsthand.

"Okay Mom. I'll keep that in mind."

"Goodnight my champion."

Elio was halfway out the door when he turned around. "Mom? I just want you to know that you've always been there for me. I know that we haven't had the best of luck when it comes to family integrity, but you've always been that one constant in my life. You work so hard all throughout the days, every day to put food on the table…clothes on our back. Whenever I've fallen down, you're always there to pick me up, even when Dad wasn't. You give the best advice I can get when I'm venturing into the unknown with all these feelings. You even forgive me so easily after I lashed out at you in this…blinding anger. I really ask myself sometimes…just what? What did I do to deserve someone like you?" Tears were starting to pool in his eyes again, but this time from a heartfelt appreciation and a different kind of love.

"Mom…I may be the champion of Alola…but you…you are my champion."

Elaine was just continuously surprised by her son and felt every single fiber of her heartstrings snap. Never…ever had she seen Elio express so much emotion on two ends of the spectrum. Before she knew it, Sun had launched himself forward, throwing his arms around her in the tightest hug she had felt from him. More choked sobs racked from his body, now sounding like his own heart was being split.

"I…I love you Mom." Elio sniffed, unaware that she herself was just as close to tears at such a soul-wrenching display. "I love you so much."

"I love you too Elio…k'ou wahi anela."

Elaine gently stroked her vulnerable son's back and head as the two sat on the bed in that perfect embrace, continuing to comfort one another as mother and child. A tender, loving kiss was planted on his forehead, causing him to drift away into a restful sleep.

Yes. She thought to herself. There is so much of his father in him. That display of anger was part of the bad. This right here…This is the part of the good.


Honestly, I feel that this chapter would have been absolutely perfect to release on Mother's day weekend. Listening to comfort and sad music really set the mood for this one. We've gotten a glimpse into Elio and Elaine's past when they were a family and you can certainly bet that more is on the way to be revealed, especially in the next chapter. We're heading back to the diary logs, so stay tuned. I'll see everyone around.

Translations:

Waeia kekahi - Chosen one

Keiki - Child

Wahine - Woman

Pu'uwai - Heart

K'ou wahi anela - My little angel

Ka naau pepe - Broken heart

Mahalo everyone for reading and reviewing, you give my writing purpose.

Brav