Hau sat alone by the beach, staring off into the horizon. His grey eyes shimmered with tears, but he did his best to shake them away. Sol wouldn't want him to cry...but there was no keeping the boy from missing his friend.

He hadn't come back from Mount Lanakila the last time he went up to defend his title. To Hau and the rest of the Alola region, he seemed to have vanished. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember the things that made them happy, the things that brought them together.

He couldn't help but to shed a tear when he remembered the day Sol first kissed him. It had been such a gloomy, rainy day...and the weather had been trying to put a damper on his optimistic spirit. Somehow, it had sort of gotten to him, but all of a sudden, he felt something wonderful — and realized what was happening. Only such a skilled flutist could kiss so wonderfully, but passion and true harmony were embedded deep within Sol's affectionate action. After that, Hau had thought nothing could tear them apart...

Sniffling, a bittersweet grin slid onto his face. He couldn't keep himself from remembering all those times he spent with Sol, merely enjoying a sweet snack together. They had always shared their malasadas, and it was usually Sol who took pity on Hau, coming up with the bill...no matter how large. The two had practically made it into a tradition to stop by the malasada shops on each island wherever they went. And now, he was gone.

Tears slid down his cheeks, and once again, he had been clouded over by melancholy. He hid his face with his hands, bawling like a small child. Never before had he been so upset...not once.

Sol had left him, and probably the rest of the world, too. He vanished without a trace, leaving Hau devastated, and starting to think of the worst.

What if he doesn't care anymore?

What if he doesn't need me...?

What if he...he...

His tears fell faster, the pain of extreme melancholy wracking his heart. Hau sobbed into his bare arms, curling up into a ball. All he wanted was to see Sol again...to know that he was okay. That boy meant so much to him...

"S-Sol...!" he cried, getting to his feet. "I-if you're listening to me...I...I want you to know that I miss you! I...I want you to remember...th-that I'll always love you, no matter what!!"

His throat was sore all of a sudden from all this crying and yelling.

"...a-and I want you to know...that no matter how far apart we are...you'll always be in my heart..." Hau murmured. "...always, Sol..."

He wiped some of his tears away with his bare wrist, sniffling. There was no way he could've kept all that bottled up inside...and maybe that was a good thing. Because somewhere out there, maybe, just maybe, Sol really did hear Hau's cry.

———

Sol sat alone in the ruins just north of Iki Town, shedding tears of his own. He had lost his title of Alolan Champion. The boy couldn't bear to face Hau again, oddly enough, for fear that he wouldn't care anymore.

There was no way he could truly defend his beloved, not without such strength and power. His blue eyes glimmered with hints of memories, some faint but most as clear as day. Nothing would ever matter more to him than Hau, followed only by his family and his Pokémon. Sol was horribly upset, grieving over a loss that had never happened.

From afar, he seemed to hear someone...who it was, he couldn't tell, but whoever they were, they seemed to be calling out to him...

He turned away, unknowingly cowering from his lover's outstretched heart. Deep inside, he yearned to see the boy again...but he was too afraid. Too scared to let the truth wrap its warm arms around him and carry him back down the mountain.

I...I'm sorry, Hau... I know you're probably worried sick about me...but...I...I don't think I... I can't bear to face you as a failure...

Sol sniffled, trying not to erupt into tears. As if he wasn't hurting enough right then and there...

All he wanted was to be with Hau again, laughing, smiling, and...well, happy. He wanted to hold his hand, snuggle up beside him like they used to... He wanted to sing with the other boy as he played his ukulele by the fireside, sleep with the mere comfort of knowing the other was okay.

Yet his irrational fear kept getting in his way. It wasn't his fault...it was his nature, a bad habit of his.

He sobbed miserably, burying his face in his bare arms. The boy couldn't keep himself from doing it, he hurt too much. Sol sat there, curled up into a pitiful ball.

Nothing would ever really pull him out of such pain, not like this.

Falling quiet, he examined the misty scenery, trying to distract himself from the tugging at his heartstrings. He watched the shimmery waterfall across the way, watching it glimmer with moonlight and the light of the stars. He sat all by his lonesome in a small grassy corner, hoping no-one would notice him if they happened to come by on a midnight walk.

His eyes grew heavy with the wills of sleep, and he obeyed their call...

–––

Sol sat up with a yawn, noticing the colors of sunrise painted in the sky. And suddenly, he noticed someone calling for him, more clearly now.

"Hey! Sol!! You out there?"

It took him a minute to realize who it was. He gasped in fear, and feeling sorry for his lover, he ran inside the stone ruins, trying to hide.

Outside, Hau was determined. Dark circles sat under his eyes thanks to his tireless searching. There was no way he'd give up his search; he loved Sol too much. It had been late the previous night when he realized he should go look for the boy, and he had been out for at least six or seven hours scouring Melemele.

"Sol!!" Hau cried, cupping his hands around his mouth. "C'mon, where are you?"

The one he was looking for had decided to stuff himself behind Tapu Koko's rock monument inside the former temple. He was sure that he knew Hau and the way he looked for things, but he never would have guessed that the other would finally leave no stone unturned. Devotion had led to desperate actions, forcing the optimistic one to hunt feverishly for his significant other.

"...please..." he called, fainter this time. "...I miss you... I...I wanna know that you're okay..."

Sol did his level best to hold back his tears and keep himself in hiding, restrain himself from darting into Hau's arms and squeezing the breath out of him. He hurt so much inside...and in all honesty, it wasn't just in his heart. The boy hadn't eaten much as of late, as he was trying to conceal his presence.

"Sol...i-it's me, Hau!" his companion called, notably louder this time.

The boy curled up tighter, letting his tears fall, though trying his hardest not to make a sound. He didn't want Hau to see him like this...he didn't want to be known all across the region as a failure.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw the worried boy meet his gaze.

"...Sol, what's wrong? Why'd you hide from me...from everyone like that?" Hau asked, fighting tears of his own.

"'C-cause I'm a failure, that's why...! I...I couldn't even hold my own in the league... I-if I can't do that, th-there's no way I could protect you..."

"N-no, Sol...don't say that," Hau said gently as he sat down cross-legged on the wooden platform beside his lover. "You're not a failure... You're the greatest person I've ever met."

"Y-you're just saying that..." Sol whimpered.

"No I'm not! Would I lie to you?"

"...n-no..."

"Then why would I lie to you now? Listen, Sol... Y-you may not know it, but I...I need you in my life. A-and I'm sure you feel the same way about me, right...?"

Sol was quiet, his eyes red and puffy from crying so much. "...y-yeah..."

Hau smiled faintly, wiping away Sol's tears with his hand. "And that's why I'm here for you... I want you to be happy. C'mon...let's go home."

Getting up, the boy extended a hand to his beloved. The two walked back to town together, hand in hand and closer to each other than they had ever been.