Gladion's POV
Gladion sighed as he sat next to Lillie on one of the many park benches in Iki Town. Though the sunlight was bright, his heart was dark.
Dramatic much?
As Gladion sighed once more, Lillie leveled him with a sharp look.
"What is it?" Lillie frowned, "I swear, if I hear you sigh one more time…"
The slicing motion she made across her throat was explanation enough.
With a slightly forlorn gaze, Gladion returned his sister's gaze.
"This whole…wooing thing is getting us nowhere." He complained, his slouching a testament to how worn out he was feeling, "Let's face it…we're both crushing on the densest person in all of Alola."
Lillie opened her mouth to defend Moon, but found that she had nothing to say. It wasn't often that she'd admit this, but Gladion was right. Naturally, when she told Gladion this, the look of surprise on his face was worthy of a picture.
"You're right…" Lillie said slowly, watching keenly as Gladion's eyebrows raised into his hairline before she jabbed him in the chest with a finger, "but remember. You're the reason why we're in this whole mess to start with!"
Gladion sputtered indignantly, as he had made a habit of doing more often.
"It's not my fault that you decided to have a crush on the one person in all of Alola who –"
Lillie rolled her eyes and placed a hand over Gladion's mouth.
"This whole wooing thing." Lillie clarified, "Was this not your idea?"
Gladion went silent, carefully removing Lillie's hand from over his mouth. A spark suddenly entered his green eyes as he jumped to his feet, pointing vigorously at Lillie, his eye wide.
"You agreed to this!"
The loudness of Gladion's voice attracted many stares in the park, and Lillie found herself blushing at all the attention.
"Hey, look!" a voice shouted, "It's the Kanto champion!"
Lillie sent a withering gaze at Gladion as she was crowded by people who had seen her feats as champion on television. As she found many pieces of paper being thrust into her face for autographs, she sighed to herself.
This conversation was getting nowhere.
"Sorry about earlier." Gladion murmured gently. He and Lillie were now in his small apartment, sitting across from one another at the dining room table, a bowl of fruits in front of them, "I didn't know you were so famous."
Lillie snorted. Leave it to her brother to never be without his sarcasm.
"I signed fifty autographs today after you – I don't know, left me to get hounded by fans in the park!"
Gladion shrugged.
"You know I'm not a people person."
Lillie pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten, willing the calm façade that she'd spent her whole life creating to appear. When she was certain that a banana wasn't going to magically shove itself up Gladion's – deep breaths Lillie…she turned to face her brother once more.
"Why'd you call me here?"
Gladion nodded sagely – to what? Lillie had no idea, but he handed her a few sheets of lined paper and a pen. Lillie raised an eyebrow.
"What is this?"
Gladion grinned at her, waving his pen in the air.
"It's evident that we're both terrible with words…and people in general." He shrugged, "So why not put our feelings into words? It's as the old saying goes: the pen is mightier than the pokéball."
Lillie raised an eyebrow at Gladion's rhetoric. Her brother was never one for pretty words, so she couldn't say that this idea didn't appeal to her.
After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Lusamine's POV
"A love letter?" Lusamine questioned her only son. Her tone was judgmental. "You thought it'd be a good idea to give the girl a love letter?"
The tips of Gladion's ears reddened and if Lusamine weren't so baffled, she'd derive amusement from that.
"The pen is mightier –"
"…than the pokéball." Lusamine finished drily, "Yes, I know. Same logic your father used to get into bed with me the first time."
A look of disgust crossed Gladion's face at the information that he desperately didn't need to know, but Lusamine paid him no mind.
"Your strength reminds me of a thousand machamps?" Lusamine was reading the letter aloud now, "What kind of sap wrote this? Even I could come up with something better than this."
A smirk came to Lusamine's face and Gladion's face paled in response. Lusamine crumpled up Gladion's love letter and tossed it to him, watching as her son scrambled to prevent his hard work from touching the ground.
"In, fact, I will write something better than this." Lusamine said matter-of-factly, reaching across the table to grasp one of Gladion's hands in one of her own, "Don't you worry, son. Mommy's got you."
A look on panic graced Gladion's face and Lusamine refrained from rolling her eyes.
"Don't you trust me, Gladion?" Lusamine asked playfully.
Gladion blinked at her slowly before placing his head in his free hand.
"I'm starting to question why I do."
At that, Lusamine patted Gladion's hand gently before she reached for a pen and a fresh sheet of paper. She'd make sure her son didn't look like a fool, whether it embarrassed him or not.
Hau's POV
"Your smile makes my heart flutter like butterfrees." Hau snickered, ignoring the dirty look that Lillie gave him, "Lills, I know you can do better than this."
Embarrassment was clear on Lillie's face, but she was determined not to let it show in her eyes.
"It's how I feel, Hau!" Lillie protested, crossing her arms resolutely over her chest, "I'm not gonna be dishonest about my feelings. If this relationship…potential relationship is gonna work, it needs honesty."
Hau shook his head gently and smiled at Lillie, taking one of her hands into his own.
"I'm not saying that honesty isn't good, Lills." He clarified, the hints of a grin on his face, "All I'm saying is that your letter could use a couple of…embellishments."
Lillie gazed at Hau sternly.
"What kind of embellishments, Hau?"
It was at that moment that Lunala chose to make its presence known, resting at Hau's feet. The malasada lover grinned even more widely.
"You just leave that to Lunala and I."
No One's POV
"We need a plan." Lusamine declared to Hau. The two had decided to meet up in Hau's humble abode to discuss the whole "sibling rivalry over Moon" debacle. "This is getting ridiculous, and I want my grandchildren."
Hau nodded in agreement.
"I mean, I don't agree that grandchildren are necessary right this second." Hau raised his hand in defense as Lusamine opened her mouth to argue, "But this has gone on for far too long. I just wanna see my friends happy, you know?"
Lusamine did know. Despite all of the issues that her family had in the past, Lusamine just wanted the best for her children. Sure, her children may not always agree on what the best was, but that's all Lusamine ultimately wanted for them.
"Can't they just open up about their feelings?" Hau's hands were thrown in the air in a rare show of exasperation, "Be open, not shut away."
Hau was silent for a moment before his eyes narrowed at Lusamine.
"This is your fault." He frowned, a childish pout on his adolescent features, "You just had to be obsessed with perfection and –"
Hau's rant was cut off by Lusamine's snort.
"Sure, blame the half insane woman for all the problems in the world, why don't you?" she rolled her eyes. It was a miracle that she hadn't taken any true offense to Hau's words, "But you do raise a good point."
A smirk donned Lusamine's features.
"Let the children show their feelings."
"A recital?" Lillie and Gladion exclaimed in horror.
They were sitting in a vacated area of the park, kept company by their respective allies – Hau and Lusamine.
"A poetry recital." Hau clarified, giving Lusamine a genuine smile, "When we finally overcame our many differences, Lusey and I –"
"Don't push it." Lusamine scowled.
"Lusamine and I came up with the perfect solution." Hau finished sheepishly, "Why not just write your feelings in poetry format."
"We tried that already." Gladion grimaced at the memory of his mother crumpling up his hard work, "With the love letters. They were –"
"Disgraceful and unworthy of ever seeing the light of day ever again." Lusamine interjected, cutting her son off before handing both him and Lillie new, folded sheets of paper, "So Hau and I took the liberty of taking your feelings and converting them into lovely, sensual poems."
Lillie's eyes widened and she hastily moved to unfold her sheet of paper before Hau covered her hand with his own, effectively halting her motions.
"Ah, ah, ah." Hau smiled, an amused glint in his chocolate eyes, "Spontaneity is what romance is made of. You two can't read these letters until you're with Moon. Otherwise, you're ruining the vibe."
As Lillie opened her mouth to protest, a shadow came over her. When she turned around to see what – or who – was blocking her sunlight, she was met with a familiar gaze.
Moon.
All of the color left Lillie's face, and Gladion turned an interesting shade of red before Moon finally spoke up.
"What vibe, Hau?"
The look on Hau's face resembled that of a deerling caught in headlights before he relaxed.
"Lillie and Gladion have something they'd like to share with you."