"Shit shit shit no I'm not ready she's going to judge me more than she did before and what if she hates us and tries to degrade us and-"
"Gladion."
Akihiro placed his hands on his shoulders, stopping the boy from pacing. He could see the fear in his eyes, but having Akihiro hold him calmed him down.
"Listen to me, focus on the fact that Lillie and your mother are coming home. Lusamine has been in recovery for nearly 2 years now, er... more like a year and 5ish months, and has most likely either forgotten about the event due to it, or has reflected on her actions and wants to start anew. I'll be right there with you, so you won't be doing this alone, okay?" He pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead, smiling at him, "We're gonna be fine."
Gladion took a deep breath before nodding, leaning his head against Akihiro's shoulder, "Right... God this is frustrating... You didn't tell Lillie either right?"
"Nope. I waited so we could tell the two of them." He ran his fingers through Gladion's hair, his smile growing at how soft it felt.
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome. Now come on. Let's get Aether looking as clean and as beautiful as possible before they get here in... 7 hours."
Akihiro began calling for several Aether Employees to help the two of them out, and making sure some of them kept their eyes on Faba while he cleaned too. Akihiro was not even close to trusting Faba, but he would put the man to work regardless. Wicke was helping Gladion hang up a small banner that said "Welcome Home!" on it, and it was going great until Gladion could hear Akihiro snickering.
"What is it?"
"I have a great view of your ass from here~"
"AKIHIRO!" Gladion nearly fell off his ladder, but one of the Aether employees grabbed it before he fell, allowing him to steady himself.
"Sorry. Not for staring at your butt, I'm apologizing for almost making you fall." He could see Gladion's cheeks turning red, and it made him chuckle as he headed towards the Conservative Area to check up on the Pokémon there. He had grown friendly with a lot of them, mainly a tinier than normal Piplup that had traveled far from the Sinnoh and got injured. He made sure it got lots of love and treats when it was good, and it was healing well. When he returned to the Sinnoh region to visit Azelf, he planned on releasing the Piplup there too.
"Hello Felicia," He greeted, seeing the Piplup jump out of the water to greet him.
"Pip! Piplup!" Felicia happily waddled up to him, holding up her flippers to him. He chuckled and lifted her up.
"Let me check that flipper of yours and see how well it's healing."
Felicia lifted up her left flipper for him, allowing him to check it. He gently poked it, noticing her only slightly wince instead of pulling it away from him like she used to. Akihiro smiled at her.
"Look at that. It looks much better than the last time I checked it. And you didn't even pull away. I think that's good for you, cause now I can give you this~" Akihiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a Rainbow Poké Bean, watching Felicia's eyes light up.
"Piplup! Pip Piplup!!" She cheered, and he handed it to her, watching as she chomped on it happily. He set her down back in the water, waving to her as he went around to check on how cleaning was going.
Akihiro made it to the first floor, heading towards Lusamine's room. He glanced around the outside, noticing a couple employees cleaning it while he headed inside.
'...it's... strange to think... we could've lost the battle against Lusamine when she fused with that beast...' He frowned, his fingers dragging against the walls as he walked through Lusamine's room. '...we could've died... we could've never come back... I could've failed everyone...'
He stopped when he reached the end of the room, noticing the door where he had confronted Lusamine was not boarded off. Hesitantly, he entered, and looked around at all of the frozen pods. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked at them all. They were all closed off, no one being able to take them out, but the scars were still there. He stared at the panel a few feet in front of him, it was still intact. He was tempted to smash it, to just completely get rid of it, but he didn't.
"Thought I'd find you here."
Gladion's sudden voice made him jump, though he did not turn to look at him.
"Mhm..." he felt Gladion wrap an arm around his shoulder, allowing him to lean against the blond, "Either here or with Felicia... I just saw her before I came here..."
"Yes, and when you weren't with her I figured you'd be here. You wouldn't just leave during cleaning."
Akihiro frowned, closing his eyes and sighing. He buried his face into Gladion's shoulder, feeling tears beginning to slip out. "It's fucking ridiculous... I shouldn't be this upset honestly..."
"No... you have every right to be upset over this you know... You... you risked your life for us..." Gladion made him look up, gently smiling at him before pulling him into a quick kiss. "And every day that I know you're alive and well, you know?"
Akihiro playfully punched his shoulder, beginning to laugh, "That was so sappy and poetic that for a moment I forgot you were this huge edgelord that dressed in black 24/7."
"Oh shut up and help me finish cleaning the place up."
---
Akihiro was the one to keep track of when everyone would arrive, that way they'd be there for when Lillie and Lusamine returned. Hau, Hala, Kukui, Burnet, Ivory, etc. etc. had shown up, and all that was left was for Lillie and Lusamine to come. They had a few minutes to spare, so Akihiro and Gladion began "rehearsing" how they'd tell the two about them.
"I could just shout 'Gladion and I are gay as fuck!'" Akihiro suggested, goofily grinning at his boyfriend.
"Don't. That's not how we're going to do that..."
"I was only kidding... Well... we could do it more subtle. Like we walk up to them holding hands?"
"Yeah... that could work..."
Akihiro intertwined his fingers with Gladion's, smiling at the blond as everyone got ready to greet Lillie and Lusamine. The boat from Kanto to Alola had made an exception to stop on Aether just for the two of them, and everyone got ready to shout.
Lillie was the first to step off, she was dressed in her "Z-Powered" outfit, along with her Clefable. Her first instinct was to run and hug everyone, but she waited for her mother to step off before she did. Akihiro bit his bottom lip, watching the older woman step off the boat sent shivers down his spine. Although she was dressed differently, still in all white but instead wearing a long and thin dress, she walked slowly, kind of like she did when she nearly killed him, and it scared him. He felt Gladion squeeze his hand reassuringly, and he began to relax.
"Welcome home!!" Everyone shouted in unison, big grins plastered on their faces.
Lillie started crying before she rushed over to everyone, practically jumping on everyone to hug them as soon as possible. Kukui and Burnet we're the first to hug her, and Burnet couldn't help crying.
"Oh sweetie we've missed you so much!!" She cried, hugging the girl tightly. Lillie began laughing softly, rubbing her tears away. She released the two before rushing to Hau, Akihiro and Gladion and hugging them.
"I've missed you all so much!!" She exclaimed happily, releasing them. She then noticed Akihiro and Gladion still holding hands and raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, she smirked and mumbled "Hehe, I knew it. Good thing I gave Akihiro permission to marry you Gladion~"
"LILLIE STOP," Gladion shouted.
Lusamine began to approach them, and Akihiro tensed up immediately. He stared up at her, noticing her unreadable expression as she stared at him and Gladion.
"...Lusamine..." Akihiro mumbled, glancing at Gladion, "...Damn... really thought I'd have more confidence speaking to you..."
"Mother," Gladion added, "I hope you understand that although you've returned, you are still in recovery and I currently am still the Aether President. And... as you can see... We're... well..."
"WE'RE GAY AS FUCK," Akihiro suddenly blurted out, his face completely red.
"AKIHIRO NO THAT'S NOT HOW WE DISCUSSED THIS-"
Suddenly, Lusamine began laughing softly, kneeling down to hug the two of them. Their eyes widened, sharing a confused glance as she released them.
"Oh Gladion..." Her voice was nothing like Akihiro remembered, though when he thought of Lusamine he did not picture the calm and soft voice she currently held, "And Akihiro... Do not be worried. Although I have been terrible to you in the past..." she gently touched Gladion's cheek, smiling, "I can assure you that you shouldn't shy away from hiding something from me. I couldn't be more proud."
Akihiro looked at her, then at Gladion, and noticed he was crying. He suddenly pulled his mother into a hug and buried his face into her chest, trying to cover up his cries.
"...Welcome home, Mother..."