Chapter Text
“Mommy?”
“Yes, sweetness?”
“Will you tell me a story before bed?” Cereza looked up at her expectantly from her bed, large green eyes catching the moon’s glow coming through the window and reflecting its light back at her mother as she tucked the girl in for the night.
“Of course! Which book would you like to hear tonight?” Lillie stood up from where she was crouched next to the bed and moved towards her daughter’s bookshelf as she spoke, bending down and flicking her eyes over the spines to find one that was suitable for before-bed reading. She allowed her daughter to read just about anything, but she knew that stories of Haunters and Gengars just before drifting off to sleep would give the child nightmares. She had already found this out the hard way when Cereza had read “The Elgyem Files” one night and had been unable to sleep through the night for a week, as she was plagued with nightly visions of alien Pokémon beaming down from the sky.
“Not a book! A story! Like the ones about you and Mama saving the day and going on adventures!” This wasn’t an unusual request, as she seemed to have an intense fascination with her mothers’ lives before they were her mothers. It was an endearing desire that Lillie was happy to oblige whenever she had the chance to do so, and she was happy to not have to argue with the spirited child over her bedtime story choice.
“Well, I think I can accommodate that. Now, let me see…there was that time that I met your Mama on the bridge…”
“You already told that one, Mommy! Mama saved Nebby, and Nebby saved everybody!” Her daughter had an excellent memory, and she seemed to retain every story she was told, making some bedtimes harder than others.
“You have such a good memory, sweetness. It’s getting hard to tell you new stories — what about the time that she and I went to the Altar of the Sunne…?”
“You already told that one, too! That’s how Nebby became big! But I still don’t know how you carried such a heavy bag there when Nebby was small.” Cereza shook her head as she spoke, rejecting the second offered story. The neat braid her mother had tied her dark and usually unruly hair in after her bath whipped around her head with her action.
“Oh, that? Maybe someday I’ll tell you — perhaps when you’re older.” Lillie winked at the little girl and gave her a smile, pleased to see that her action had had its intended effect, and her daughter was already worrying her bottom lip while trying to figure out what solution her mother was going to offer to that problem.
She brought the little girl out of her internal analysis when she broke the comfortable silence that had fallen over them as her mind settled on the chapter of her past she was going to bring to life.
“Hmm…let me see…oh! Yes! Yes, I have just the story…”
——————
The sun’s descent below the horizon of Kala’e Bay had lit up the sky in a brilliant display of reds, oranges, and pinks. No matter how long she lived in Alola, Lillie would always be struck speechless by the natural beauty of the region. She had seen sunsets in just about every region on the planet, but nothing would compare to these — especially not when she was wrapped up in the arms of her girlfriend, feeling safe and loved. She looked out over the water and absent-mindedly ran her fingers through familiar Murkrow-colored tresses, sighing contentedly. She missed having the privilege of enjoying these simple moments on a more regular basis, but she knew that it couldn’t be helped. The duties of the Alolan Champion were numerous, and her own schedule wasn’t exactly clear, what with her work on her way to becoming a Professor as well as helping her brother, Gladion, with the ongoing rebuilding of the Aether Foundation. For now, though, all of those obligations for the two of them were miles away, and Lillie allowed herself to revel in her surroundings, wishing she could slow down time, if only for a bit.
“Poké penny for your thoughts, love? You’ve been quiet since we got here.” Selene’s words pulled Lillie out of her happiness-induced trance, and she blinked, shaking her head a bit and turning to face her girlfriend.
“I have?”
“Yes. Is everything alright?” Concern colored the Champion’s face, and she brushed a few stray strands of platinum blonde hair behind her girlfriend’s ear.
“Mmm…yes. More than alright.” Lillie leaned into the touch, closing her eyes and letting out a small sigh. “I missed you, Selene. I missed this. A month is too long to go without being able to be near you.”
“I missed this, too…leaving you doesn’t get any easier.” She kissed Lillie’s temple and noticed how the sunset lit up her features, giving her a glow that made Selene wonder how she was ever able to pull herself away from her girlfriend to fulfill Champion’s duties and international police missions — until she remembered that all of that work was to keep her girlfriend and the whole region safe from various threats that loomed in the distance and desired to take all of this away. While she understood the importance of what she did, there was always a selfish voice in her head telling her that she should just stay home with this beautiful woman and look at the sunset every night.
“How long do we have before the real world summons us away again?”
“I don’t know, love. Looker has a habit of calling out of the blue anytime he encounters what he perceives as a disaster, and the League can summon me at any time to defend my Champion title.”
“Of course.”
“But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be around you. You know that, right?” Her words were punctuated with a soft and lingering kiss placed against her girlfriend’s lips. She was hoping that it conveyed all of what she was feeling that she couldn’t readily put into words. Sometimes she looked at the woman in front of her and felt that the world ‘love’ was too small to properly convey what Lillie meant to her.
“I know…I know. It hurts when you go, though, and sometimes it hurts when you’re here with me because I know that it can’t last, that something or someone is going to interrupt us. I try to be brave and face the hurt head-on, just like you would, but I don’t always feel strong enough to do so. Forgive me for sounding selfish, but I wish I could have you all to myself without having to share you with the region.” Lillie blushed and hid her face in her girlfriend’s neck. “I need you.”
“I need you, too. Needing someone doesn’t make you weak, Lillie. In an ideal world…” Selene’s voice trailed off for a moment as she rubbed her girlfriend’s back and played with the ends of her strands of hair, getting lost in thought fantasizing about a world free from threats while gazing into Lillie’s eyes. “In an ideal world, I wouldn’t have to leave your side. We would wander through the regions together at our own pace, taking in the sights and experiencing as much as we can and learning from each other as we went.”
“I want that, Selene.”
“As do I, love. As do I. But it seems that we are destined to help the world, and sometimes that means we have to go out and do things that pull us away from each other. And we always come back to each other, don’t we?” With her words, the gentle sting of hot tears hit the Champion’s neck, and she tightened her grip on Lillie, hoping to will away some of her girlfriend’s sadness. This wasn’t the reaction she was hoping for, not today.
A loud sniff rang out in Selene’s ear as she felt Lillie’s lips move against her neck again. “W-what if you d-d-don’t come back? How w-ill we have a f-f-f-future if we c-can’t get b-b-back to each other?”
She lovingly cupped her girlfriend’s chin and tipped her face upward so that they were looking each other in the eyes. “Is that what worries you?”
“Y-y-yes…” Lillie looked down at her hands in her lap and gave another loud sniffle, embarrassed at having admitted such things to her girlfriend. She had frequently daydreamed of living the rest of her life with her Champion, raising a family and growing old together, and she used those fantasies to help her put on a strong front every time circumstances forced them to be apart from each other. Although that future was only a dream to her, she knew she would be heartbroken if something sprang up that would prevent that outcome from occurring.
Selene looked into Lillie’s eyes, seeing the same emotions reflected back to her that she knew were written across her own face. “I will always do my best to come home to you. Always. And I know you’ll do the same. We won’t end up like your parents, separated by space and lost memory. I would never place any part of my work ahead of you and our relationship. I can promise you that.”
“M-my love…” She shook her head as she gathered her words, smiling to herself as the clouds in her mind parted and she started to allow herself to water the seed of hope that she usually did her best to ignore. It wasn’t that she didn’t think that her dream would come true, but it was such an enormous thing to hope for, and she didn’t know if she could handle it if her life diverted to a different path. The hope that now grew gave her the courage to vocalize the depth of her feelings for the woman sitting next to her. “I will do the same for you. I promise. Coming back to you is like coming home, and I admit that the subject of you makes me irrational, particularly when it comes to losing you.
As Lillie spoke, Selene was hit with the realization of the weight of what both of them were saying. These were not confessions to be taken lightly; these were lifelong commitments that were being professed between the two. There was no going back from this now. This was the right time, the time she had been waiting for — this was the assurance that the wonderful woman in front of her needed, the proof of their bond that she would always carry with her, something that she could look at whenever she needed that reminder. Selene turned away for a moment to rummage through her bag, flicking through various mementos from traveling before landing on the treasure she was hunting for inside of her key items pocket. It was a small box made of polished dark wood, and inside of it was a thin platinum band with a perfectly cut and polished trio of stones set atop it — a larger Shiny Stone in the middle, with a smaller Sun Stone and Moon Stone set on each side of it. While it wasn’t a traditional ring for such an occasion, nothing about the relationship between the two women was traditional, and Selene had wanted to give her girlfriend something that uniquely symbolized their relationship and love for each other.
She had once read a Kalosian novel that described a scene much as the one she was about to set up, and she remembered that there had been this odd practice of kneeling accompanied with the particular question that she wanted to ask. For a region that was obsessed with aesthetics and fashion, it was an out-of-place practice, to get on one’s knee on the ground, but she wanted this moment to feel grand and Lillie to feel special.
Standing up, Selene pocketed the box and turned on her heel to face her girlfriend. Taking Lillie’s hands in hers, she kissed the most prominent knuckle of each one and gave them a squeeze before placing them in her lap and getting down on one knee before her girlfriend. She started to feel her palms sweat, and she looked into her favorite green eyes to steady herself.
Looking down at the girl before her, the blonde woman couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Selene?”
“Um, Lillie, you know I love you, right?”
“Yes, of course. But what does — oh, Selene, are you—?”
“I don’t know what my life would be like without you. From the moment I met you, I’ve felt this pull towards you that I couldn’t explain at first. I used to think it was because I felt a need to protect you, since so many of our initial meetings revolved around that type of circumstance.” She smiled to herself as she remembered how they first met on that fateful bridge near the Ruins of Conflict, how she had stepped in to save Lillie and Nebby from the angry flock of Spearow.
“But as we traveled together when we were younger, I grew fonder and fonder of you. Meeting up with you in a town after a long route became my favorite part of the journey, and I quickly grew used to your presence. Amidst all the chaos that we ended up encountering together, your presence became a lighthouse in the storm, and before I had realized it I had become emotionally attached to you, unaware of when things had shifted. And then you, you —“ She was struggling to choke back emotion, remembering how she had felt the day that Lillie had gotten on a boat bound for Kanto when they were young. She shook her head and continued.
“You left for Kanto, and I had fours years to think about all that we had been through and write you letters and get to know you even better and come to understand, um, who I am and how I felt about you. And now, after five years of dating you, growing with you and falling more in love with you each day, I still can’t imagine being with anybody else but you, my love. My Lillie. My light in the darkness.”
She quickly reached into her pocket for the ring box, pulling it out and wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes. She don’t know when, but at some point her hands had started shaking.
The sun had set further beyond the horizon, turning the sky into a vast gradient of pink into purple, and those brilliant colors bounced off of the water’s surface, giving watercolor-like adornment to the whole scene. If there was ever a perfect moment for this question, this was that moment.
“So, um, I was wondering…Lillie, will you marry me?”
At some point during the Champion’s feelings-focused ramble, the blonde girl had started crying, and it was only now that the tears threatened to cloud her vision entirely that she noticed. She tried to blink them away as she nodded, but the motion caused them to fall unbidden down her cheeks.
“Yes!! Oh, Selene, yes!” Selene grabbed her new fiancé’s hand and delicately slipped the ring onto her ring finger, kissing the spot just above it. Happy tears were flowing from each of them now as they rested their foreheads together, letting the rush of strong emotions they both were feeling wash over them. Lillie was the first to lean forward and change the contact from a forehead-lean to a searing kiss full of promises for a future filled with love and happiness.
“Mmm, my fiancé…” She trailed off as she stared at the ring on her hand, turning it to observe how it caught and refracted light. “We’re going to be married…”
“Forever.”
Her happy haze broke for a moment, and she paused her inspection as a small beam of doubt shone through her mind. “What happens if we get angry at each other?” Her brow furrowed as she thought longer on her words. What if they hadn’t spent enough time together, truly together in the same place at the same time, to be prepared for that kind of relationship change?
“We talk about it — maybe we fight about it — and we figure out what the problem is and work on fixing it together.”
“But what if we are unable to do so?”
“And what if we overcome the problem?” Selene shot back at her, unwilling to simply give in to the darker side of the “what if” game.
“W-w-well, I…um…”
“Lillie. I love you. You love me. We’re a team, yeah? We’ve gotten through some crazy things already. Whatever happens in the future, we’ll get through that, too. I promise.”
“How can you promise that? You can’t see the future. There are unknowns that could come up, unforeseen issues. What if I end up like my mother?”
There it is.
The words had spilled out of her mouth before she had even had time to think about them, bursting the happy bubble they had just built up for themselves. If she had been honest with herself then she would have been able to admit that she had harbored this fear for quite some time, but she had not allowed herself to fully acknowledge it or vocalize it, as that would make it more real.
“Oh.” What else could she say? It wasn’t exactly an outlandish worry, genetics being what they are, but Selene hadn’t even thought about that possibility. In her mind, though she knew Lusamine and Lillie shared DNA, they were nothing like each other.
Asking the question had uncorked a torrent within Lillie, and she couldn’t help continuing in her worried rant, her voice picking up in pace and volume as the words tumbled out of her. “I could go crazy, Selene. I could lose my mind…how could I put you through that? And, if we have children, how could I put them through that, as well? Gods, children — if I gave birth to our children, I could pass on those genes and wreak future unintentional havoc on them. Have you thought about all of that?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Yes. I have. And I still gave you that ring. I want all of you, Lillie. I don’t want anybody else.”
“It’s always been you in my dreams, Selene.”
“That’s what I’m saying. You’re my person.” The tension faded away between them, and they were suddenly incredibly aware of their close proximity to one another. “I am so in love with you, and I would like to spend the rest of our lives showing you that, if that’s alright.”
“I love you, too— oh…” Lillie’s voice trailed off into a breathy moan as Selene leaned in and slowly kissed her neck, leaving a trail of affection upward from the base of her neck toward her ear, ending just behind her earlobe. Her eyes drifted closed under her fiancé’s affections, and she let herself soak up the moment and get lost in it, her head rolling a back bit to underline her pleasure.
They were so wrapped up in themselves that they didn’t even hear the hoofbeats in the distance or the Ride Pokémon coming to a stop with a loud cry of excitement as the trainer riding it noisily dismounted nearby.
“Aue! Is that you, cousin? And…Lillie?!”
Hau’s voice rang out over the hill as he waved both his arms in the air while jumping up and down to get their attention.
“Go away, Hau, we’re busy…” Selene mumbled into the neck of the woman in front of her and held her new fiancé closer in an attempt to will away the outside intrusion. All she wanted to do was go back to celebrating their engagement.
“That’s not very nice! He’s just excited to see us — almost half of a year has passed since we last saw him, so his outburst seems perfectly rational.” She looked down at her hand and the new jewelry adorning her ring finger. “Should we tell him?”
“About us? Of course! He’s Hau, he’ll be thrilled! He’ll also be all over the place with excitement, as only he can.” If there was one thing Selene could count on with Hau, it was his over-the-top reactions to good news, especially when that good news concerned people he cared about.
The two women slowly separated from each other as their excitable friend jogged down the path to the hill they sat on, keeping their fingers intertwined between them.
He sped up his approach as he got closer to them, spreading his arms wide again and calling out “Alola!” as he gently skidded to a stop in front of two of his favorite people. “When did the two of you get back to Melemele? The island hasn’t been the same without you!”
Selene mimicked his gesture of greeting, letting go of Lillie’s hand briefly to do so. “Only today, cousin. How have you been? Are you Kahuna yet?”
“Not yet, but soon, yeah! Had to take a break to train, and then after that was the Malasada Festival, and you know what that means. Training will always be there, but there’s nothing like a fresh and hot malasada!”
“You never change.” Lillie laughed to herself at her words, covering her mouth with her left hand. As she did, Hau noticed the ring she was wearing, and his eyes grew wide as he looked up from the ring.
“Did you two get engaged and not tell us? Or are you married already? You gotta tell family!”
“We’re engaged, and it only just now happened, right before you showed up. We haven’t told anybody yet.”
“So I’m the first? I’ve got great timing, yeah! Thinking about you two getting married gives me chicken skin!” He was grinning as if he had scored the first batch of the day of the best malasada in Alola.
“Are you busy tonight? I was thinking we could have a party in Iki Town to tell everybody all at once, that way no one feels left out.” As soon as she had started planning to ask Lillie to marry her, she knew that there would have to be something relatively soon afterward so that they could spread the happy news among everyone they cared about without anyone having to hear secondhand.
“Nothing like a celebration! I’ll go round up supplies and people! We gonna make the Tapu so happy with our happiness!”
Selene squeezed Lillie’s hand as Hau happily called his Ride Pokémon, Tauros, and climbed atop, galloping off the down the trail he had so recently used. Watching the cloud of dust he left behind him, she was struck with a sudden realization and turned to her fiancé with a worried expression.
“I just realized I didn’t ask you if a party would be okay — is that okay? I hadn’t planned anything specifically beforehand, but I just thought it would be easier if we gathered everybody in one place to tell them, but if that isn’t okay with you, I can get him back here and we can cancel or —“
Lillie cut off her fiancé’s words with a lingering kiss. “A party is a great idea, darling. It’ll be good to see everyone, and we can celebrate our love with them. As much as this will be a celebration for us, I know the party also exists for the people close to us.
“I love you, did you know that?
“I love you, too.
“Let’s get to Iki Town.”
When they landed outside of Selene’s family home on Charizard, both women were almost immediately gathered up in a fierce hug from Selene’s mom. They lingered for a moment and then separated, with the older woman holding both of them at arm’s length for inspection.
“My girls…Hau just left here in a whirlwind after telling me that there was a party tonight, and that you two had some exciting news to tell! Is it what I think it is?” The words left her mouth as her eyes landed on the ring Selene had given Lillie earlier.
“It is…oh, girls, you’re engaged, aren’t you? Hau isn’t good at keeping secrets, and I can see that one of you has a new ring!”
“Yes ma’am! It’s —“
“Don’t ma’am me, call me ‘Mom’! You’re family!”
“That’s very kind of you, ma—Mom. And yes, we’re engaged! Selene asked me at sunset, and she gave me this wonderful, unique ring as she confessed her feelings.
Selene’s mother pulled them both in for a quick but powerful hug upon confirmation of her suspicions. She had been entertaining hopes for a moment like this after she had seen how well they fit together as adults in a relationship, and she
“This explains all the questions you were asking me earlier about your father, Selene. I should have guessed. I hope you know how proud he would have been of you, of all you’ve accomplished — and now getting married to a good woman, to boot!” She turned to Lillie for what she was going to say next. “And I’m confident that he would have loved you, Lillie. You’re so kind and generous, and I know my daughter will have a good life with you. Ever since I saw both of you go off on your adventure together when you were children, I could sense a deep connection between you. As long as you nurture that connection and help it to grow, you’ll be just fine.” She pulled both of them in for another hug and kissed each girl — no, each woman, she corrected herself in her head — on the top of their head, and thanked Arceus and the Tapus that her daughter had found the same happiness that she had experienced with her late husband. Thinking of him and her past happiness while celebrating her current happiness for her daughter caused tears to form in her eyes, threatening to spill but not following through.
Pulling back from the embrace and wiping her eyes, she turned to her daughter. “He would have said what I’m about to say to you now, so listen well: be kind, be generous, communicate, and listen. None of that will make you weaker, but it will make your relationship stronger.
“I will, I promise. I wish Dad was here, though. He would have liked Lillie.”
“Yeah, he sure would. She’s hard not to like.” The older woman winked and then kissed each younger woman in front of her on the cheek. “Now, you two can go wash up and get ready in Selene’s room, and then we’ll walk over to Iki Town for the festivities!”
“Thanks, Mom! Love you!”
“Yes, thank you!”
The minutes following that exchange were a flurry of activity in Selene’s room, as both women changed clothes and washed up after their travel. The Alolan Champion noticed that her new fiancé never took off her ring during all of this, and it warmed her heart. She hadn’t known how sentimental of a person she was until she had entered into a relationship with the woman across the room from her.
“Um, Selene? You’re staring…”
A blush crept up the Champion’s cheeks, and she looked into her fiancé’s eyes with a shy smile. “Sorry, love, I didn’t realize. I just love seeing you wear your ring. I’m so glad you said yes”
“It’s a beautiful ring, and I love wearing it and what it represents. There was never any answer to your question other than yes. Is it weird that it already feels like it has been on my hand for ages? Or that it feels like we’ve been engaged for longer than only a few hours?”
“Not at all. I think it’s a good omen, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, I think you’re right. Shall we go to our party, then, love?” She smoothed her skirt one more time, and grabbed her bag from its resting spot on Selene’s desk chair, checking to make sure a particular key item was still safe.
Selene hadn’t noticed her actions, as she already had her bag slung over her shoulder and was now crouched down on the floor, petting her mom’s Kantonian Meowth who had wandered into the room looking for affection. She got up, dusted herself off, and walked over to her fiancé to take her hand, giving a gentle squeeze as she spoke. “Let’s go celebrate!”
The walk from the house to Iki Town felt like nothing for the newly-engaged couple. They strode hand-in-hand next to Selene’s mom, animatedly filling the older woman in on the details of their engagement and taking turns telling the story so as to provide both of their perspectives. The conversation carried along happily, coming to a halt only with the celebratory swell of music that greeted them at the town’s entrance.
Torches illuminated the gathering, keeping the night at bay and allowing the couple entering to take note of who was in attendance. There were already quite a few people there — Professor Kukui and his wife, Professor Burnet, Ms Wicke, the island captains, members of the Elite Four, trainers they had befriended in the Battle Tree, and even everyone’s boy, Guzma, had made it out to the event — all people that cared about Selene and Lillie and wanted the two of them to be happy, even if they didn’t know the exact reason they had gathered here. However, there were some people that were conspicuously absent.
As the newly-engaged couple walked into their midst, Hau saw them from his perch atop a fence post and called out to the assembled group. “Aue! Selene and Lillie are here!”
Everyone turned in their direction, and for a moment time seemed to stop as they awaited an announcement from the two trainers before them.
“Well, as you all know, I love the woman standing next to me.” She nudged her fiancé with her shoulder gently, and then continued. “And I consider myself lucky because she loves me, too, although sometimes I don’t know why.”
“Because you’re wonderful.” Lillie cupped Selene’s cheek and brought their lips together softly. The crowd of their friends and family let out a collective sigh at the action, and Lillie’s eyes shot open as she turned a bright red. She decided she didn’t care, willed her blush to settle, and kissed her fiancé once more. “Just tell them already, darling.”
“Yeah, tell us!” Professor Kukui called out with a grin. “The suspense is shaking me up like a Mudsdale’s Earthquake!”
“Well…we’re engaged!” Lillie held up her hand to illustrate Selene’s words, and the crowd of people cheered for them, sharing in their joy. The couple looked around at the smiling faces surrounding them, and Lillie felt so loved — not just by the woman next to her, but by the people who had shown up to this celebration. She caught the eyes of various people, but there were still some people missing who she could not find at all.
Selene had picked up on her fiancé’s slight change in demeanor and leaned in close to her to whisper in her ear as the crowd surrounding them resumed their party activities. “You’re looking for Gladion and Lusamine, aren’t you? Please don’t let them sour this for you, love.” She kissed her cheek before pulling away slightly. “This whole thing was last minute, and they might not have been able to get away on such short notice.”
“You’re right. It’s silly.”
“It’s not silly to miss them, not at all. I wish they could have made it here for you.”
“Selene?”
“Yes, love?”
“Would you like to sneak away from the party later and go to the Ruins with me? I have something I want to give you, but I’d like to have that moment in private with you, just for us, if that’s okay.”
Selene laughed to herself as she remembered the first time Lillie had asked her to sneak away from a party, when they were just kids. “You aren’t going to run off to Kanto tomorrow, are you?”
“No, of course not!” Lillie swatted at her fiancé’s arm playfully. “But now that you mention it…”
“Lillie!”
“I’m kidding, of course.”
“Good. You know, if we keep sneaking away from these events, then people might start getting the wrong idea about what we’re up to.”
“There will be time enough for those wrong ideas of yours — and mine, as well — later, after this celebration. For now, let’s enjoy ourselves and say hello to our family and friends. If we get separated from each other while doing so, I’ll come find you when it’s time to head out for a bit.”
Selene nodded, and they made their way around the gathering, accepting congratulations and hugs and favorite stories from those in attendance. At some point they had been pulled in opposite directions, and the Alolan Champion found herself talking animatedly about different battle techniques with other high-ranking trainers from the region. Her fiancé was on the other side of the party area and engaged in her own exciting conversation, talking about the latest issue of a Pokémon research journal with Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, Ms Wicke, Kiawe, Olivia, and Mallow. Neither of them noticed a blonde man dressed almost entirely in black approach the festivities from the shadows. He made his way stealthily to the area where Lillie was, and he positiioned himself just behind a tree but in her line of sight.
Somehow aware of the shift in the atmosphere around her, the tall, blonde woman looked up from those around her, and she spotted a familiar streak of red in the trees in front of her. She excused herself from the group and walked towards the shadows.
“Gladion? Is that you?”
“Hey, Lillie. Hau called me after he saw you and Selene today. He said the two of you had something important to share.”
Lillie looked down at her hands that she was now twisting together, noticing that she had fallen back on an old habit out of nervousness. “Well, um, Selene asked me to marry her, a-and I said yes.” She held out her hand to show him the ring, not knowing what his reaction would be.
Gladion took Lillie’s hand to inspect the ring. “She has good taste.”
“She does…hey, why were you hiding back here? You’re an invited guest, not a thief in the night.”
“Emotional events aren’t exactly my thing. You know that. But I wanted to see you and find out what Hau wouldn’t tell me on the phone.”
An uneasy silence came over the siblings. To say there was baggage between them was an understatement, and that baggage did get in the way of them having a more ideal relationship, but they held no animosity towards each other. They simply weren’t sure how to interact with each other as adults.
Gladion was the first to break the silence. “You look like Lusamine more now. But happier.”
“I don’t know if that is a compliment or not.”
“It’s more of an observation.”
“Do you think…am I…I mean…well…”
“Whatever you want to say, say it, Lillie. No one will hurt you for speaking your mind now.”
“What if I end up like Lusamine? If I look like her, then maybe I have some of her darkness in me, as well.”
“That’s impossible. You aren’t Lusamine. You are Lillie. Even if you look like her, you have had different experiences and a caring partner who loves you, who won’t abandon you to pursue her own selfish desires.” His normally hard expression had softened as he spoke, giving away his obvious care about his
There was a break in the conversation Selene was having with the Professors, and she looked around, spotting Lillie talking to…Gladion? She blinked to make sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her, and almost went over to her fiancé’s side to make sure she was okay, but thought better of it before acting on her idea. The blonde woman could handle things with her brother, and it was for the best that they had their moment in private. She turned her head back to the group around her as Olivia and Mallow started to get into a heated disagreement about cooking.
As Lillie finished up with her brother, she hugged him goodbye, surprising him with the gesture. He turned and headed back into the darkness of the trees, and his sister watched him disappear before making her way back to her fiancé’s side. When she reached her destination, she came up behind Selene and wrapped an arm around her as she leaned in and brushed her lips against the Champion’s ear. “Want to sneak away now, love?”
Selene’s face turned bright red, and everyone else around her laughed and gave each other knowing looks. “Um, excuse me, everyone. Could we have a minute?”
Professor Burnet put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Don’t feel like you have to give us any excuses — just go, enjoy each other!”
No sooner had those words left the Professor’s mouth than Selene felt herself being pulled away by her fiancé and led down the trail towards the Ruins of Conflict. Their destination wasn’t the Ruins, however, and Lillie guided her through an unfamiliar outcropping of trees before they came out on the other side and she realized where they were.
“This is the bridge where you first saved me. This is where we met and where all of this started between us. I know that you proposed to me earlier today, and I will cherish that moment forever, but I also wanted to give you your own moment.” She pulled a box not unlike the one she had received earlier out of her bag. “You weren’t the only one thinking of marriage, you know. I saw a ring while I was in Hoenn last year that reminded me of you, and my first thought was that it would be perfect to propose to you with — that’s when I knew that wanting to marry you wasn’t some lofty fantasy, but a very real and very intense desire that I harbored long before I acknowledged it. I love you more deeply than I ever thought possible, and when I’m with you I feel so comfortable and safe and loved. It would be my honor to spend the rest of my life with you.” She opened the box now, taking out a band of woven rose and yellow gold that had a perfectly cut piece of a Dawn Stone mounted into the top of it. The moonlight above them caught the metal and stone, reflecting the light delicately.
Lillie slipped the ring onto her fiancé’s finger, using the action to pull the other woman close and kiss her deeply. Their arms wound around each other to minimize the space between them, and it felt like the world had stopped in that moment.
Once the world started spinning again for them, they held each other close for a while longer, relishing in the feel of being in each other’s arms. They finally separated and made their way back to the group gathered in Iki Town, not noticing a yellow shape that had been watching them the whole time.
Eventually the party died down, and those who had made it out were saying their goodbyes to each other. The only people left were the engaged couple, Selene’s mom, Professor Kukui, Professor Burnet, and Hau. The torches that had illuminated the event were slowly petering out, and the diminished flames danced dimly across their faces as they wrapped up their conversations and said their goodbyes.
Lillie, Selene, and her mom all walked back to the house together in comfortable silence, happy but exhausted from all of the socializing. When they reached the house, Selene’s mom kissed the top of each young woman’s head and called out a sleepy “goodnight, girls!” over her shoulder as she went into her bedroom with Meowth not far behind. Lillie and Selene went to her bedroom hand in hand, separating only to get dressed into pajamas for bed. Selene was the first to lie down, and her fiancé followed her into bed, curling up at her side and wrapping an arm around Selene’s torso.
With a contented sigh from the blonde woman, both of them went almost immediately to sleep. Today had been more than either of them had imagined, and if they hadn’t woken up wearing their rings, they might have thought it all a dream too good to come true. Their dreams were filled with visions of their hopes for the future — a joyous wedding, a loving marriage, children they would raise and love and nurture.
They would remember this day, not as the start of their story, but as another chapter in their ongoing book of love.
——————
“…and three years after that, we had our wedding ceremony in Iki Town, with many of the same people from our engagement party attending. It was such a perfect day — every surface seemed to be covered in flowers, especially Gracidea, and your Mama never looked more beautiful.” She was slightly breathless upon finishing the story, having gone on longer and in greater detail than she had anticipated. Some memories were so sweet that they had to be savored without missing a drop of detail, and the day her story had centered around was one of her favorites.
“So you and Mama weren’t always married?” The little girl yawned as she spoke, unable to hold her tiredness at bay any longer. She always wanted to stay up for the whole story whenever her mother would tell one to her, but sometimes fighting off sleep was a losing battle.
The older woman couldn’t help but giggle a bit at her daughter’s question. “Oh sweetness. No, not always — we had to meet first, and date, and fall in love. Then we were married. And then you showed up, making our family complete.” Lillie noted that Cereza gave another yawn as she struggled to keep her bright, green eyes open. “Those are stories for other nights, though.”
“Promise?”
Her breath caught in her throat with how much faith and trust the child before her put in her. She wondered if there had ever been a time in her life where she had looked at Lusamine this way and placed that much trust and faith in her mother. No moment sprang to memory, and she hoped to never give Cereza any of those doubts. “I promise.”
“Good. I like stories. One day I’ll have stories to tell you, Mommy…” Her eyes were no longer open, and her words tumbled out of her mouth in breathy mumbles, sleep clearly taking hold.
“Goodnight, angel. Sleep well. You are so loved and safe.” The sentiment was punctuated by her mother stroking her nose softly
Lillie got up from her daughter’s bed and placed a gentle kiss on the girl’s forehead, smoothing over the blankets from where she had been sitting. She backed out of the room, turning the ceiling light off and the nightlight on as she went. Her progress was halted as she felt her back come into contact with a familiar torso and strong arms wound their way around her. Her eyes flashed wide in acknowledgement of who was behind her, and she couldn’t help grinning widely as she felt warm breath against her ear from her wife whispering to her.
“Shh, love. We shouldn’t wake her.” They both quietly exited the room, shutting Cereza’s bedroom door behind them as Selene blew her daughter a kiss over her shoulder. She couldn’t help but think it had been worth it to come home early if only to see her wife tucking their daughter in for bed so lovingly. If only she could get Lillie to see herself in that way, to not doubt her abilities to parent because of her past upbringing. Sometimes an apple can be flung far from the tree and grow into a mighty plant that bears only a physical resemblance to the parent tree. It happens, and her wife was proof.
As soon as it was safe, Lille turned around in Selene’s arms and held her wife’s face in her hands as she peppered it with kisses. She buried her face in the dark hair loosely hanging around Selene’s shoulders as she felt the other woman nuzzling into her neck and placing kisses on the exposed skin she found there, each one seeming to soak in the other’s presence. Had it only been four days since they had seen each other? It felt like eons.
As they separated and walked down the hall to their own bedroom, Lillie sent silent prayers to the Tapus, but especially to Tapu Koko, for the family she had been blessed with. She entered their bedroom behind her wife, and she closed the door behind her, leaning against it to watch the other woman go about her routine for getting ready for bed.
“What brought you home so early? We weren’t expecting you until next week.”
“Anabel happened to run into a Ruin Maniac and Backpacker in the Vast Poni Canyon who had the information we needed to complete our report, and Looker volunteered to finish the field work so that I could come home early. I missed you and Cereza, and I wanted to surprise both of you. What can I say? I’m a big softie when it comes to my family.” As Selene finished with her pajamas, she moved to the bathroom and proceeded to start brushing her teeth. Lillie soon joined her, kissing her cheek and wrapping her arm around her waist. They finished in silence with the sound of their hygiene routine soundtracking their actions.
“We missed you, too. I’m so glad you’re home safe.”
“I always do my best to come home to you. I promised, didn’t I? And I’m not in the habit of breaking a promise to you.” To emphasize her words, she picked up her wife’s hand and kissed it just above her wedding ring, causing a blush to rise in Lillie’s cheeks.
“No, you aren’t. I find it to be one of your many admirable qualities.”
“Yeah?” Selene’s eyebrow quirked up in a mischievous way. “What are some of my other admirable qualities, Professor?”
She chose to ignore the affectionate teasing, especially as it would do no good reminding her wife that she wasn’t a Professor yet. “Your bravery, your genuine kindness and care for all living things, your beauty — although, I must say, you aren’t very humble. Work on that, please.” She giggled, giving away her teasing, and she gently swatted her wife’s rear end. “But also, don’t change. I love you exactly as you are.” She reached an arm out and pulled Selene close to her to bring their lips together once more to emphasize her point.
They rested their foreheads together, both of them catching their breath from the intensity of the moment. “I love you, too. So much.” Their reverie was broken when Selene let a yawn escape her mouth.
“Let’s get you into bed, tired wife of mine.” Her words had no sooner left her lips than she had yawned in a mirror move of Selene’s previous action. She chuckled as she responded, “I suppose I’m tired, as well.”
They sleepily stumbled to their bed, turning the lights off as they got under the covers. The combination of the darkened room, warm bed, and comforting presence of each other made for easy passage to the land of sleep for both of them, with each one mumbling an “I love you” as they drifted off in each other’s arms.