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Lillie's heart is tight in her chest as the ship draws near to shore, the sight of that all too familiar island drawing closer and closer with every shaky breath she takes. Snowy is antsy from excitement too, pacing between her legs, and she stands with a tight grip on the handrails like it's the only thing keeping her from straight up jumping off.
A rustle of wind blows by, making her hat tilt. She reaches up to rearrange it before Gladion is walking up to join her, something between an amused smile and a look of judgement on his face. "You're being jittery."
"I'm not," she defends, but she doesn't peel her eyes away from their destination.
"You are. What are you so anxious for? You already know your friends are waiting."
Our friends, Lillie wants to correct, but she saves her brother from the embarrassment of voicing such a statement. Instead, she says, "It's just been so long. I'm afraid of what's changed."
"Nothing's changed, knowing them," Gladion scoffs. "That's their charm, and Alola's, too. The simplicity."
Lillie's grip loosens. "I guess so."
It's not just the idea of seeing her friends again that's making her stomach churn, although it is a major reason. She knows that Gladion's right—that she'll hear Kiawe's boisterous laugh and see Lana's mischievous smirk and watch Sophocles argue with Togedemaru about something trivial again, and it'll be just like how it's always been. She knows they haven't changed and that their dynamic will remain as warm and welcoming as ever.
She's simply afraid that she's the one who's changed, who's molded into someone unrecognisable after almost a year abroad, and that they won't recognise the person she is anymore.
Terrifyingly, she thinks of a furrow between Mallow's eyebrows as she stares at the shadow of who she once was, and feels the sinking weight of failure hanging over her head.
"You're not going to disappoint anyone," Gladion pipes up, always able to read her mind. "Stop thinking so hard."
Lillie huffs, bending down to pick Snowy up. Her pokémon nuzzles into her hold and she clings on to that sliver of comfort. "I know I won't."
"Good," he replies, turning around to head back to their cabin. "Get ready. Mom'll kill us if we aren't back on time."
"I'll be there in a bit," she promises.
Once Gladion leaves, Lillie looks up at the clear blue sky, a shuddering breath escaping her lips. She already feels fresher than ever, with the typical Alolan sun battering down on her skin, paler than usual from all the months spent in colder areas.
A loud, shrill horn slices through the air, signalling their near arrival. Briefly, Lillie catches sight of a colourful group of people waiting by the docks and knows, in her heart, that they're waiting for her.
She straightens up. "It's time, Snowy."
Snowy yips in agreement, and despite the worries clouding her, she smiles.
Lillie barely manages a few steps down the ship before Snowy is leaping out of her arms, racing towards the dock. She gasps, chasing after her, her bag heavy on her shoulders, before she skids to a stop at the sight she's greeted with.
Her friends, all holding up various homemade signs with iterations of her name, cheer in unison. A warm smile graces her lips as she lights up, her pace quickening. When she reaches them, she's engulfed in a large group hug that makes giggles burst from her chest, and filled with a sinking relief in her bones that she's home.
"Is that a new hat?" Lana asks, tapping the brim, and at the same time—
"So? What new pokémon have you seen on your adventure?" Kiawe asks as he stares at her with wide eyes.
Sophocles nudges him. "She just got back! Though, if you want to share…"
She laughs, entertaining all their questions, but there's someone noticeably missing that makes her heart fall. Before she can ask, Lana places a hand on her elbow, gentle and kind. "Mallow's still at the restaurant. She's cooking up a special lunch just for you."
"Oh!" Lillie breathes a sigh of relief. "I thought… That's nice to hear. Is she doing well?"
Lana's eyes twinkle. "Maybe you should go find out for yourself."
They need not say more. Together, after Gladion and the others have caught up, they make their way towards Mallow's restaurant, chatting among themselves. Lillie walks with a spring in her step, a little embarrassed by how she seems to be strolling faster than the rest of the group, and her friends snatch up the opportunity to tease her immediately.
"She's just excited to see her girlfriend," Lana whispers over to Kiawe, except she puts on a fake indoor voice, so it's loud enough that everyone can hear her.
"Mallow is not my girlfriend," comes Lillie's insistence, her cheeks blooming red. She's always gotten blushy easily.
"Does she know that?" Kiawe jokes back, and Lillie is going to drown those two at sea, she swears.
"I just miss her. It's been so long," she defends. And admittedly, she does miss Mallow in a way that's different from the way she misses the rest of her friends, but she's not going to say that aloud because she'll never hear the end of it.
She misses Mallow's smile in the mornings when she enters the classroom, she misses the love sprinkled into every dish Mallow chooses to feed her with personally, she misses her touch and the sound of her laugh and the way being with her made her feel so much more confident.
Now, Lillie's grown into her own person, but she'll never forget the way Mallow protected her back when she was afraid of… everything, really. And she's terribly brimming with excitement to see her again.
When they reach the restaurant, there's the soft hum of music coming through the door, a sign reading that it's closed hanging in front. Lillie smiles to herself, takes a deep breath, and pushes the door open.
The first thing she sees is the person she's been dying to reunite with. She catches a pair of green eyes and sees the moment elation fills in them. Mallow nearly stumbles in her haste to set the glasses she's holding down on the table, and it's all the warning Lillie gets before the other girl is dashing over, throwing her arms around her shoulder.
She's wrapped up in a tight embrace, unrelenting and powerful, and it's the warmest Lillie has ever felt since stepping foot on this island again.
"Lillie," Mallow breathes, the air tickling her neck. "Welcome home."
Home, Lillie thinks, isn't just this island, with the sweltering heat and the magnificent sunsets and the sweet chime of the school bell.
Home is here, too, in the arms of the girl who's never once doubted her.
"Mallow," she greets as she hugs back, and the way the name drips from her tongue tastes like honey. "I'm home."
She feels more than she sees Mallow's eyes welling up with tears, a quiet sob wracking her frame. Lillie runs a hand through her hair, twirling a finger around the strands that have just gotten longer since the last time she saw her, and lets out a meager sniffle of her own.
"Okay!" Mallow says after a bit, pulling back. Despite the blotchiness of her cheeks, her smile is still the most radiant thing Lillie has ever seen. "Shall we eat?"
Their group piles around a large table after that, filled to the brim with a variety of dishes. Mallow's father steps out of the kitchen with a large pint of pinap juice and Lillie beams when she recognises all her favourite foods, laid out and displayed with so much care. Mallow sits beside her, laughing among the others as per usual, and Lillie finds that she cannot pull her eyes away.
It's impossible to, when Mallow is as warm as the Alola sun, and when her eyes hold the comfort she yearns for that the distance only amplifies.
When Mallow catches her staring, her smile does not waver. She reaches over, scooping another helping of stir-fried vegetables onto Lillie's plate for her, and nudges her shoulder. "Eat as much as you like. I'm glad to have you around to feed again."
Lillie can't help her answering giggle. "You missed feeding me?"
"I missed you," Mallow corrects, and her heart thumps fiercely in her chest. "We've got a lot of things to catch up on, don't we?"
It feels like the world is zeroing in on them, like Lillie is swept away by the sweet tremor in Mallow's voice, and she cannot find it in herself to care.
"Are you coming back for class tomorrow?" Mallow asks.
Lillie nods. It's another thing she's been dying to get back to—the normalcy, the routine, and the learning.
Mallow grins at her confirmation. "Awesome. Will you walk with me?"
She finds, without an ounce of hesitation, that her answer comes as easy as pie. "Of course. I'll wait for you."
They've been waiting. For what feels like eternity, on opposite sides of the world, with nothing but Lillie's sparse letters home that she isn't sure even reaches them or not, but it's no matter.
They're together now, and as that electrifying feeling amplifies in her veins, Lillie knows that they'll be okay.