When The Sun Sets (Moon X Gladion)

I'm Coming

When Hau landed at the Aether Foundation, he immediately set out to find Lillie. This proved to be a problem though, since he already knew from experience that the establishment was enormous. He wandered endlessly through hallways and corridors, asking worker after worker if he or she knew where to find Lillie. Each encounter ended the same way, and Hau found himself with no answers, wasted time, and an empty stomach. Eventually, he stumbled onto the Conservative Deck, where he ran into Wicke.

"Hau! What a pleasure it is to see you," she happily proclaimed as he walked towards her.

"It's good to see you too, Wicke!" Hau placed a hand on the back of his head. "Howzit going?"

"I'm doing wonderfully!" Wicke exclaimed, letting out a chuckle as she voiced her next statement. "Though, I'm guessing you didn't come all this way just to see me."

Hau laughed, both hands now resting on the back of his head. "Yeah, you've got me. I'm actually here to see Lillie."

"Of course. In that case, young master Lillie is residing in the mansion." Wicke motioned towards the elevator.

Hau thanked her kindly and boarded the lift. After a few minutes, he reached the mansion and entered it, wandering through the clean, white corridors. Finally, he reached the kitchen.

The first person that Hau noticed was Gladion, whose black clothes made him stick out like a sore thumb against the pure, white walls. His looks had changed over the past few years. He now wore sweatshirts with the sleeves cut off, as if he had just noticed Alola's sweltering heat and was trying to compensate for it, and he had graduated from black ripped jeans to black ripped shorts. His shoulders were wider, he was considerably taller, and his jawline looked sharp enough to slice through a mango. His haircut was the exact same and even though his blond hair hung in his eyes, anyone could tell that he was much happier than he had been five years prior.

"Oh," Gladion looked up from the book he was reading (Hau was too far away to read the title). "Hey, Hau."

"Hau! I'm so glad to see you! Come in, come in!" Lillie's voice rang in from the other side of the room.

Hau did as he was told, closing the kitchen door behind him as he caught sight of Lillie.

She had also changed over the past years. She was wearing white shorts with a gray tank top. Over this, she wore a white blouse with golden flowers on it. She was also taller, as tall as Hau, even. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a single braid that cascaded over her shoulder and when she looked at him, her forest-green eyes seemed brighter and full of life. In short, she looked beautiful.

Hau caught himself staring at her longer than intended. Lillie noticed Hau's wandering eyes too and, in no time, she had begun to blush. "So, what brings you here, Hau?"

Hau pulled himself from his trance, coughing awkwardly. "I come bearing a message from Moon."

Lillie smiled at the sound of her friend's name. "Oh! What does Moon need?"

"Well, she wanted to know if you'd be free to travel for awhile." Hau glanced at Gladion, who hadn't stirred. In fact, he didn't even seem to be listening.

"Travel? Where to?" Lillie tilted her head, looking confused but intrigued.

"To Kanto."

Gladion perked up at this statement, bookmarking the page he was on. Had he heard Hau correctly? He had the urge to ask Hau to repeat his words, to confirm this sudden revelation. Was Hau implying what Gladion thought he was?

Lillie seemed surprised as well. "Kanto? Is Moon... leaving?"

"Actually, yes. She decided to travel back to Kanto for awhile, and she wants us to come with her." Hau began to smile, his mind pondering over the thought of him and Lillie on a trip together. The idea of that becoming a reality livened the butterflies in his stomach.

"Hold on," Gladion had stood up suddenly, a heaviness in the pit of his core. "Moon is leaving and she wasn't even going to bother telling me about it?"

Hau scoffed at this; Lillie put her hands on her hips.

"If I remember correctly, the last thing you told her before leaving for Kanto five years ago - without telling any of us, I may add - was that you two weren't friends." Lillie seemed agitated now, and Gladion knew that he had struck a nerve. However, he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" Gladion crossed his arms, looking at Lillie for an answer.

"Gladion, you can't tell someone exactly where they stand in your life and then just expect them to hold you up on a pedestal in their's." Lillie's voice had softened a little, though her stern tone was still in effect.

Gladion now understood what she was saying and nodded in an apologetic way. As he sat back down, feeling as defeated as he had been the time that Guzma beat him in front of the mansion, Hau and Lillie continued their conversation.

"So, will you come?" Hau's eyes were excited and pleading. He longed for her to say yes.

"Hau... I'd love to come, but I can't. My mother is teaching me how to run the place and if I want to take over as President someday, then I need to stay." Lillie looked upon Hau with sad eyes. It pained her to let him down like this. "You understand, right?"

"I understand." Hau forced a smile, although he felt the butterflies in his stomach perish. He put his hands behind his head. "I'll just have to call you every single day while we're there!"

He went on for awhile, explaining how Moon, to Gladion and Lillie's surprise, was even giving up her title as Champion to go on this trip. He then told Lillie that he and Moon would be leaving in the morning, asking her to meet them by the dock in Hau'oli City so they could say their goodbyes. Hau turned to leave but the sound of Gladion's voice stopped him.

"Hau, wait."

"Yeah?"

Gladion thought for a moment, ruffling his hair before speaking again. He had to do something; he had to fix this mistake of his. "Tell Moon that I'm coming with you guys, whether she likes it or not."

Okay, I understand that it sort of feels like a Hau X Lillie fanfic as opposed to a Moon X Gladion fanfic at the moment, but don't worry. I just needed to set up the plot first.