Chapter Text
It was time. Time to say goodbye.
I couldn’t do this. How could I have been so naive and stupid, thinking that all would work out in the end? I could no longer afford to keep us fed and clothed with a roof over our heads, and to try to convince myself otherwise was foolish to the extreme.
My husband no longer responded to my messages and calls. The small amount of money we had both saved up once we learned I was expecting now fully depleted. The house we had bought was sold months ago, the money being spent to care for myself and our daughter. And now we had nothing. I may not be the best mother in the region but i refused to have my baby suffer. Life on the streets would be difficult for any child, let alone one so young. She deserved so much more than what i could give her.
My eyes strayed to my darling baby girl, fast asleep her baby blanket. Moon, named so for the only guidance I received in this foreign region, far from any friends or family I ever had. After all these months, I had finally made my decision. I didn’t matter, but she did. And now it was time to take action.
As i slowly made my way up Mahalo Trail, my eyes drifted back down to my sleeping Moon. So blissfully unaware of how her life was changing. Her namesake, up in the sky, illuminated the worn wooden steps leading up to the shrine. With her dark hair and pale features, she looks so much like her father it was rather startling. It was a shame I would not be able to see her grow up.
And there it was, the Ruins of Conflict. The locals claimed it was named so after the guardian of the island and it’s love of battles. Many were said to come here when they had difficult decisions to make, seeking guidance. Though fickle, the island deity’ was said to help those in need. It was my last hope, that he would success where I had failed.
The old bridge groaned with each step, but held steady as I crossed. Not much longer now.
The inside looked different than I expected. The walls of the cavernous antechamber looked as if they had been carved by nature itself, not the intervention of humans. Polished stone paved a path to the next room. The feeling of ancient and unpredictable power hung in the air, so dense it could almost be seen.
My footsteps echoed in the room as i made my way across, each one magnified by the emptiness. At last, the end arrived.
This last room was much smaller than the other, lacking length of the previous. A small flight of stair lead me to a pedestal housing a large statue surrounded by decorative plants. Setting Moon down in front of the statue, I knelt before it and brought my hands together in prayer as i had seen several chandlers in Kanto do. While I knew next to nothing about Alola’s fabled Tapus nor their practices, it was no reason to be disrespectful.
The feeling of power grew heavier in the air.
“Tapu Koko, great guardian of MeleMele Island,” I whispered, gazing respectfully downwards, “ I have come to you with a request. I no longer have the means to provide for my child. The city streets are no place for her. Please, if you are listening, look after my little girl. Give her a proper home, where she can be happy and loved.”
Tears were streaking down my face, the finality of the situation hitting me as surely as a Thunderbolt during a Rain Dance.
This was it. There was no going back. No second chance.
My little girl would be gone, hopefully in a home where she would be loved and looked after. These last eight months would be erased from her mind by time, never to remember the mother that had once loved her more than anyone else in the world.
Opening my eyes, my gaze settled on her. “Goodbye, little Moon. Know that Mama will always love you, no matter what.
The end of a life and the beginning of a new one.
I tucked a note into Moon’s blanket, planting a kiss on my daughter’s forehead. Her tiny hand clenched her blanket, but she mercifully slept on. The hat I had knitted her -- red, and vaguely flower shaped at the top -- was left as well. While too large for her now, hopefully it would fit once she was older. And be a keepsake for her to remember me by. The mother she would never see again.
As i rose, I lay a hand on the guardian statue. “Please, I beg of you.”
With that, I left. My body mechanically walked down the stair and out of my baby’s life. I did not look back. I could not look back. My resolve would shatter like a Protect against a Brick Break if I did. It had to be like this, no matter how much my heart felt like it had shattered.
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Tapu Koko hid as the human woman left, unsure of how to help with her request. While he often found humans visiting his shrine to pray or leave gifts, it was almost always in the daytime or early evening. To find one here so late was unusual.
And her request moreso Most of the other humans wished for help with issues in their family, not protection. While he had no young, he would understand the older humans’ wish to protect her own. However he did not know of anyone who would like a new child.
Perhaps one of the other Tapus would have an idea of what to do?
His musings were brought to an end a few minutes later by a soft cry from the base of the alter. Leaving his hiding spot, he moved closer to the now squirming bundle to get a look at his new temporary charge.
It froze as he approached, eyes scrunching up as it assessed this newest entity.
Blue eyes, as bright as the Alolan sky on a cloudless day, met his own. The little one was tiny, no more than a few seasons old. It’s tiny paws now wiggling themselves free of its confining swaddle.
However, instead of crying and reacting fearfully as he had expected, it smiled and reached out, apparently fascinated by his crest. Letting out a small sound of amusement, he gave her a gentle poke to the blanket cover belly. Seconds later, the child (he believed her mother had called her Moon?) latched on with a surprisingly strong, firm grip.
That was enough. Flashes, sounds, visions and feelings all swirled together into an almost incomprehensible blend that left him reeling, It had been more than enough.
This little child was destined for great things. Dark days were coming to Alola. All the Tapu’s had felt it, looming over them in the not-too-distant future. The Ultra Wormholes, opening much more often now than they had centuries ago, where going to be a threat to the residents of Alola. And Moon, staring up at him with curiosity in her eyes, was to be their salvation.
He had reached a decision. He would take care of Moon; hopefully the other Tapus would provide assistance. In their collective care, they would teach her all that would be needed for their battle in the far future.
Through careful arrangement and a small miracle, he managed to hold Moon’s bundle in a semblance of how her mother had held her when they had first entered the shrine. He decided to leave the note her mother had left in the shrine, unsure of its contents. Flying low and at an even pace, he exited the shrine and headed to his nest.
A quick scan confirmed that the others had not arrived yet. That was unsurprising. Bulu and Fini tended to get rather absorbed in what they were doing and not reappear for days at a time. And Lele, Arceus bless her, was too easily distracted to remember to come back very often.
It was probably better this way. While he had wanted to introduce them to Moon as soon as possible, this would at least allow him to learn how to care for Moon without the others interfering.
And learn he must.
He had on occasion seen human children, though never up close. His own chosen human, Hala had raised his own child years ago and now raised what he had called his “grandchild.” From what he could gather, human children (unlike Pokemon) were unable to fend for themselves for the first few years of their life. Instead they had to be cared for by another.
For now though, they would sleep. False dawn was on the horizon and they had both had a long night. Settling down against a tree, bend over with age, Tapu Koko turned to the bundle he still held protectively against his chest.
“Goodnight, little Moon.”