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Chapter Text

Mualani glided through the water alongside her sharky companion, elegantly finishing her underwater sprint with a hop out of the water. Kachina clapped excitedly while Kinich scanned the area ahead of the group.

It was odd for all of them to have a day off, let alone together. Well, 2/3 was close enough. Kinich, although technically having a day off as well, decided to get some more hunting training in order to avoid getting rusty. Both Kachina and Mualani frowned at his robotic devotion to his hunt and decided to tag along with him to see him in action. It wasn’t like they had anything better to do in their downtime.

“Could you stop making such a ruckus?” Kinich frowned at Mualani as she shook off some excess water. He returned his gaze to scoping at a target in the distance.

“I’m just trying to kill some time,” Mualani returned with a smile, “Someone has to make up for all the frowns and no-fun attitude around here.” Kachina, who also noticed the target ahead, decided to keep her silence to allow Kinich to focus. The faster he completed the hunt the faster they all could leave to have some fun.

“Whatever you say, Mualani,” Kinich prepared himself, lowering his posture and outstretching his arm, “Ajaw, let’s go.”

“You got it, boss!” Ajaw sneered. Kinich’s band shot out a luminescent green line, attaching itself to the beast that he decided was his prey. Swinging around it, he shot blast after blast, bringing it down to one knee. Unable to resist the barrage, it then fell completely with a deep and heavy thud. The ground rumbled for a few seconds after the great beast had toppled over. Another job well done. Kinich detached his line as he decelerated. He slowly walked up to it as he prepared himself to finish the job. It was just this last beast before they all could go enjoy the rest of the day together. Although he didn’t openly express it all that much, Kinich did enjoy the company of the other two. Although not much, he did somewhat look forward to their day together.

Suddenly, and with a loud roar, the beast staggered Kinich by quickly lunging at him causing Kinich to stumble backwards. The beast used the moment of opportunity to wind up a swing at Kinich. He raised his arms to brace himself for impact, before being thrown aside by Mualani. Kinich, disorientated by the rapid succession of events, grabbed for Mualani’s arm.

Kinich, Mualani, and Ajaw were all hit with a loud crack. “I KNEW SHE WAS TROUBLE!” Ajaw screamed as all three were flung into the air. With Mualani’s intervention, Ajaw and Kinich managed to avoid taking heavy damage, a fair call by her. But now, they had to deal with being sent into the river.

“Mualani, you idiot!” Kinich shouted over the commotion, grasping onto Mualani’s arm tighter. Mualani shouted something, but her words were cut off by the impact of the water. They were all thrown deep into the center of the river, far from the shore. Kachina rushed over to survey how the trio were doing. Not well, she concluded as she prepared to dive in. Although she wasn’t as proficient as Mualani at swimming, Kachina was able to do some basic forms of swimming. She started a sprint ready to dive, as Mualani leapt out of the water crashing into Kachina. Falling over on her back, Kachina got up with a demotivated ow.

“Ah, I’m so sorry Kachina!” Mualani grabbed for some of the basic first-aid she had on hand to patch up the damage she’d done. “This is just the worst day that’s happened to me for a long while.”

“You shouldn’t have rushed in so abruptly,” winced Kachina as Mualani wiped off some blood that came out of Kachina’s recently struck nose.

“I know, but Kinich looked liked he was about to take some serious damage if I didn’t do anything,” Mualani looked down as she reflected. “Next time, I’ll make sure to coordinate better.” She rose to her feet, trying to learn something out of the unfavorable situation.

“Speaking of Kinich, where is he?” Kachina scanned the area, seeing a small yellow creature panicking as a gloved hand slowly sank deeper into the water. Her jaw dropped at the sight. “KINICH’S GONNA DIE!”

“HUH?! WHAT!?” responded Mualani, matching Kachina’s panic. Her eyes glossed over the area, looking for that same glove that had now sunk even further, just barely showing Kinich’s fingers. “I’m coming to save you, just hang in there!” Mualani dove into the water, hurriedly gliding to his position.

“There you are! Took you long enough, now lend me a hand here!” Ajaw grasped at Kinich’s still body as it sunk trying to pull him out, clearly to no effect.

“On it!” Mualani grasped Kinich’s arm, wrapping it around her shoulder. She drifted towards the shore while dragging Kinich. His entire body was heavy, with thick clothes that only served to create more drag against the water. The current started to overtake the two as they were carried further downstream. Ajaw threw all sorts of insults her way during the entire duration of the swim.

Barely making it to the shore, Mualani threw Kinich onto the ground as she leaned forward and slowed her breathing. Once she reclaimed her breath, she leaned in to access whether Kinich was still breathing. She hovered over his face, checking for any sign of life. Turning her ear towards his nose, she carefully listened. Silence. The steady flow of the river current made more noise than Kinich was. She thought to herself that there was no way he was struck that hard. She thought he’d be able to make it out of the water if they were knocked in, she thought that- In a frenzy, Mualani tilted his head back to prepare for CPR. As she neared his face, Kinich spat out what seemed to be at least a tide pool’s worth of water. Mualani resisted her urge to gag and dove towards the river to wash off her face. She wasn’t sure if any had gotten into her mouth, but she felt dirty regardless and washed it out too.

Kinich, dazed, got up. He winced as he felt his head start pounding.

“Oh thank the archons and everything great you’re awake!” Ajaw affectionately hugged Kinich’s face. Kinich did not respond with the same energy to Ajaw, opting to pace his breathing first. He simply swatted Ajaw as he fixed his gaze on Mualani, bent over in the river who wasn’t looking so good herself. She was constantly washing out her mouth with river water, slightly sobbing as she hoped they didn’t exchange any saliva.

Kinich spoke, “You didn’t even bother to check my pulse or anything else at all?”

“Well, sorry I tried to save your life,” Mualani retorted, still splashing her mouth, “I was scared that something really bad had happened to you…”

Kinich looked down at his now soaked clothing, squeezing out what water he could. He stood up, shaking himself as dry as possible before walking over to Mualani. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he looked away somewhat bashfully.

“…Thank you.”

A silence formed between them for a second before Mualani hit him with a smug grin, somewhat throwing Kinich off. She chuckled to herself, “I thought I’d never hear you say those words to me. Y’know, I bet you hated having me around but now you’re starting to doubt those feelings, eh?” Putting her arm on his shoulder, she used him as support as she rose to her feet. Mualani coughed out some more water, “I thought the great hunter was able to traverse through water, land, and air. Mind telling me what happened back there, Mr. Anchor?” She grinned to herself at the nickname she came up with.
“I could’ve done fine if you didn’t interrupt,” Kinich sighed, turning away and raising his hand to the back of his head, clearly trying to play the entire ordeal off as an accident that she caused.

Mualani extended her arm, “So the great and almighty hunter Kinich grabbed onto my arm so tightly that it left a mark, knowing that we both could’ve swam to shore just fine?” Her forearm was clearly left with a welt that Kinich had made. Her teasing was getting to Kinich.

“Of course he couldn’t do it, he can’t swim!” Ajaw blurted out laughing. Kinich swiped Ajaw, muffling his mouth with his hand, cradling him as if he was going to strangle his companion.

“He’s just joking,” Kinich struggled to hold the beast in his hands, who was fighting for a breath of air. Kinich tried to maintain his composure, “Ajaw is just messing with you, that’s all.” However, the panic in his voice slowly became more clear.

“Oh… So you really can’t swim, that’s some news to me,” Mualani smirked, dismissing whatever case Kinich tried to present, “That’s some real big news.” Her devious grin grew larger.

Now there was two people that knew his secret. Clearly knowing that there was no hope to turn Mualani’s mind around, Kinich admitted defeatedly that he didn’t know how to swim. “I’ve put my fair share of effort into trying to learn, but I can’t manage to grasp it. I can barely depart from the shore before beginning to sink.” Kinich sighed heavily, letting his made-up persona of perfection go down for a second. In his moment of weakness, Ajaw broke free of his grasp.

“His spirit is commendable, but his performance is not,” Ajaw teased. This teasing caused Kinich to swat at him, causing him to plummet to the ground, knocking him out. Kinich didn’t intend to hit him so hard, but he didn’t mind the outcome of a moment of peace.

Mualani moved closer to his face, beaming a smile and said, “Lucky for you, the best swimmer in all of Natlan is right here in front of you! Well, probably the best. Teaching people and guiding people through the basics is a strength of mine. I can teach some stuff, if you don’t mind of course.” She extended her hand as if they were making a business deal.

Kinich thought about her offer. It was a tough decision, but he eventually made up his mind.

“I’ll do it.”

Mualani smiled as he extended his hand, shaking hers as they mutually agreed to the deal. Kinich continued however, “I’ll do it as long as no one’s around though. Somewhere away from the villages and somewhere quiet. I don’t want anyone to hear your screeches as you panic and try to save me.”

“You mean your screeches as you try to stay afloat.”

“You and I both know that I’d rather die than show such a display,” Kinich lowered his hand, and Mualani grabbed for something in her bag. She pulled out a slightly damp map and scribbled down a location.

“Here ya go!” Mualani handed over the map with a lake circled. “That’s where we’ll meet up. Does that work with you?”

Kinich nodded, as he put the map in his own soaked bag. “You have a time planned out?”

“Er, not really... …If you want to learn as soon as possible, we could try it later today.” Mualani suggested.

“We’re hanging out with Kachina for the rest of the day, remember?” Kinich continued, “Although, I’d like to get rid of this weakness as soon as possible, getting over that bump in the road is a difficult one. You know how persistent Kachina is when she hears a secret.”

Mualani hung her head dejectedly, trying to come up with a plan. Searching her mind, she came up with an idea. “So Kinich, do you know when Kachina goes to sleep?”

“About 11:30, why?”

“Kinda weird that you know that, but anyways-“

“Why wouldn’t I know that? She’s constantly sleeping in and missing our gatherings and complaining to both of us that she’s exhausted. I keep telling her to sleep earlier, but she doesn’t listen.”

“Yeesh, no need to get on my case for that, but that means we can both meet up at midnight, right?”

Kinich visualized his schedule in his head, approving of the plan. He often stayed up late exercising and planning the following day, so switching it up wouldn’t be too difficult for him. “It’s no skin off my back.”

“Sweet!” Mualani exclaimed, “It’s a go then, Mission: Buoy Boy is in action!”

Kinich looked at Mualani in the eyes, “You wouldn’t actually consider using that name, would you?”

“Unless you come up with any better ones, I think it’ll stick,” Mualani snickered.

Kinich exhaled heavily as they both walked together to meet up with Kachina, who was in a frenzy desperate to find wherever her friends had drifted off to.

Chapter Text

The blue and white bed rocked back and forth slowly over and over again. Mualani rocked alongside it, copying the motion of the bed, too giddy to sleep or rest. She stared at the ceiling shuffling around and glancing at the clock every few minutes or so.
It was 10:13. Then 10:32. Then 10:57. Then 11:06. Then 11:16.

She thought about what happened earlier that day and smiled to herself. After the hunt ended, she, Kinich, and Kachina went out for a large meal together and then played around in the Toyac Springs for the rest of the day. She wished they could’ve done more together, but they ultimately agreed to call it a day. The trio said they wanted to head home early that day since they were exhausted. Two of them were lying about that.

11:25.

Recalling the events, she remembered the promise she made to Kinich. Her grin grew larger and while laughing to herself, she got up and began to pace around the room. Convincing herself that it wasn’t just a dream, she got all the things necessary to make sure that Kinich could stay afloat by himself. Mualani never got to spend time with Kinich alone. They met up for official business or spent time with Kachina together, but never with just each other. Mualani’s pacing began to slow down at the realization. Her movements eventually slowed down to a stand still.

What would they talk about just among themselves?

Panic began to come across her face as her eyes darted around the room for any idea of something that she could use for a talking point. Her eyes eventually slowed to a stop as they rested upon the clock.

11:59.

Mualani screamed as she grabbed Sharky and dashed her way over to the meet-up spot. It was a familiar path to her but unknown to Kinich so she hoped that he got lost somewhere and maybe took some extra time getting to the meet up spot. Dashing through bushes and gliding over rocks, she skidded to a stop. There was no sound other than Mualani’s heavy breathing. Panting, she looked around.

The moonlight bounced over the ripples of the water and illuminated everything in the area. However, the illuminated thing that caught her eye the most was Kinich, sitting alone by the shore. He wore a slimmed down version of his usual wear, streamlined for aquatic activities. Mualani could tell that he was well equipped for the occasion.

Mualani swallowed her nerves as she walked over, bearing a grin. It wasn’t as large as usual because of the realization earlier, but she couldn’t falter now. She had a goal to complete that night and it was to get an anchor to swim.

“Hi Kinich!” Mualani cheered, squatting down to meet his eyes. Kinich turned slowly and nodded back. His levels of energy were nowhere near Mualani’s.

Okay, not the best start, Mualani thought to herself. Maybe he just had to wake up a bit. She attempted to follow her first statement with, “Are you ready to begin learning how to swim? If you aren’t then I’ll make sure you are!” She gestured for him to rise, to which he did. Mualani laughed as she took Kinich’s hand as they waded into the water together.

“Well, let’s get started,” Mualani began to enger the water that rose and fell along the shoreline, with Kinich hesitantly following. Once the water grew to their hips, Mualani instructed, “Alright, the first step is to get comfortable in the water, and you gotta be confident,” Mualani gestured a flexing pose to impress Kinich. Apathetically, he tried to entertain the thought by poorly mimicking her.

“I don’t think this is working,” Kinich sighed. Mualani let out a little chuckle at the action, it was uncharacteristic of him to do such a thing. She appreciated him going along with her antics for once.

“Alright, alright, you don’t seem to have an issue with that. Let’s get you floating first. How much experience do you have with water?” She asked.

Kinich didn’t even bother to think for the question, “You’ve seen how well I am. A normal person could float in a resting state, but not me. I sink.”

“Hm, maybe you gotta build up some momentum first,” Mualani led his hands down into the water and began to move backwards. “I’ll drag you along and you use your legs only to stay afloat. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Kinich began to lie down in the water and Mualani began to slide him along the water. At first, Kinich managed to stay afloat, to his surprise. He was doing remarkably well and Mualani cheered him on as they crossed 10 feet of water together. She cheered so hard in fact, that she didn’t realize she had drifted out further into the lake. She also didn’t realize that she had let go at some point.

Bubbling slowly down into the water, Kinich stared at Mualani. He threw his arms around in the water in what looked to be some sort of surfacing maneuver, but to no avail. Mualani splashed down under the water and swiped Kinich under the arms. In a mad dash, she managed to make it to shore with Kinich as cargo.

Panting heavily, Mualani threw Kinich onto the sandy shore and placed her fingers up onto Kinich’s carotid artery and held it for a second, praying and hoping that she’d feel something. Kinich just looked at Mualani, dumbfounded.

“Are you done yet?” Kinich took Mualani’s hand down and held it. He slicked water out of his hair and shook himself dry as he could.

“Hey, you’re the one who said I should check your pulse first before performing CPR,” Mualani pouted, “I’m just following orders, good sir, and I was just trying to be helpful.”

“Well, you sure weren’t there,” Kinich flattened out on his back, defeated, “Your efforts are useless. Trying to get me to swim is the impossible. I’m just not able to do it. I’ll stick to grappling over bodies of water. I’m more suited for that type of movement anyways.”

She began to squeeze Kinich’s hand back. “I’m not really useless, am I?”

Kinich returned to his silent demeanor for a second.

However, before he could react, Mualani rushed to her feet, dragging him up. She put her hand to her chest and exclaimed, “I, Mualani, will teach you to swim no matter what!”

Kinich, slightly taken aback by the sudden burst of energy, mumbled, “Alright then, I’ll entertain your antics for a while.”

They, with renewed energy, waded back into the water. Repeating the same motions as earlier (aside from the drowning part), Mualani guided Kinich through the water once again. Surprisingly, he eventually began to keep his head above the water, taking deep breaths with an occasional gulp of water every now and then.

Over and over again, they swam laps across what seemed to be an infinite scape of water. The stars glittered their light on the duo as they repeated their exercise for what seemed to be an infinite amount of time. However, one of the two came to a stop after a realization.

Kinich stopped his kicks lowered his feet into the sand below the water, sinking slightly into it. “Mualani…?”

“Hm? Yeah? What’s wrong? I think you’re really getting the hang of this. I knew it was a good call to not stop,” Mualani smiled at him, “I’m a great teacher.”

Stifling a smile back, he stepped closer to her, Mualani slightly taken aback by his sudden approach. His hand lifted from the water, reaching for her lower abdomen, resting his hand upon what was forming into a bruise, “I didn’t notice this earlier. You got hurt. We should call it a day so you don’t over exert yourself.”

Mualani aggressively denied this, “Whaaat? No way, I’m fine. That hit from that saurian did nothing to me. I think th-” Kinich pressed on the injury and Mualani repressed a scream by biting into her lip. He raised an eyebrow as Mualani tried to play it off.

“It seems to me that it’s not nothing.” Kinich returned his hand to his side and began to walk out of the water, “Get some rest and heal up. That’s more important than me.” Mualani sloshed over and grabbed his hand before he could leave.

“Please don’t go.”

Kinich stopped dead in his tracks. Turning around, he came face to a slightly teary eyed Mualani.

“Please, don’t go.”

Kinich had to stay. What kind of person would he be to leave one of the people he cared most about alone, injured too, in the middle of nowhere? Sighing, he gave in to her pleas. He couldn’t make himself leave.

“Alright Mualani, you win,” Kinich begrudgingly dragged Mualani onto the shore, “But we aren’t swimming anymore, got it?” He demanded it by pushing a finger into Mualani’s chest.

Mualani didn’t think he’d give in. His stone cold demeanor typically made all of his decisions a “my-way-or-the-highway” type of deal. But he stayed for her.

“Uh, um, yeah, sure!” Mualani gave him a thumbs up and Kinich returned one back. Mualani gently smiled at him.

Time passed as they sat on the shoreline, looking out at the reflection of the water. Minutes seemed like hours, and for the two, they couldn’t decide whether that was a good or bad thing. Occasionally, Mualani shuffled and Kinich would glance over to make sure she was okay. Whenever he did, she straightened her posture and made sure to appear as fine as possible. Kinich clearly saw through the facade, but gave her the peace of mind by looking back out at the stars splashed on the surface of the pond. Mualani occasionally walked into the forest every once in a while, and Kinich was weary of where she went. Every time she went, she quickly returned. She would come back down with nothing gained or lost in the small voyage. They sat in silence, albeit peaceful, not very entertaining,

Although she wanted him to stay, she didn’t think it through very well. This was the dreadful moment Mualani was anticipating. She knew that on her way there she could keep him busy chatting and talking about swimming techniques, but now, it was just them.

Kinich wasn’t as focused on such things. To him, those were more trivial things if anything at all. Kinich was taking in the ambiance of the area. He knew Mualani was an expert at being a guide, but the area she’d found was just simply stunning. It was an honor to be there with her.

In their moment of tranquility, it was Kinich who broke it first.

“You come to this spot often?” He managed to cough out. Mualani was the type to ramble on for hours once she started talking, and Kinich was banking on that to mitigate the somewhat awkward situation.

“Hm? Oh, yeah, this spot is a favorite of mine,” Mualani smiled to herself, “I found this spot a long time ago, and I decided it would be mine ever since. Kinda greedy, I know,” Mualani chuckled at her own remark. She continued, “I really love everything about this place, the view, the flow of the water, the trees and plants, everything is great. Whenever I’m here, it’s like a private sanctuary to me. It’s really nice having somewhere to go that’s all nice and quiet like this away from home.”

“And you’re fine with me being here?” Kinich questioned.

Mualani thought for a second before answering, “I mean, yeah! Why wouldn’t I? I know I said this is like a ‘me-place’, but I don’t mind sharing if it’s you.”

“If it’s me?”

“Yeah! You show kindness to the world around you — or something like that, I don’t really know how to say it — but I trust that you won’t go messing things up around here.”

Kinich discarded the thought that the statement she made could have any further meaning after that. He was just a trusted friend to her, and vice versa. Silence returned between them.

Mualani took a deep breath before mumbling her next statement, “It’s also because, well, I just think you’re someone I want to be with… and it doesn’t have to be anywhere super special either…” She fidgeted with her fingers while lowering her gaze. She kept him out of her peripheral vision as she twiddled her thumbs and tapped her feet together. Would he say anything in return? Slowly panning to face Kinich, Mualani eagerly waited for a response. However, she noticed that he was gone.

“Huh?! Kinich!? Where are you?” Mualani scrambled to her feet to look around. A rustling came from the trees as a large silhouette emerged. It stood on two feet, and it came closer and closer to Mualani. The creature slowly emerged from the shadows and it was…

…just Kinich, with a handful of leaves and other medicinal items.

“You were calling?” Kinich asked.

Mualani let out a loud sigh and plopped herself back down onto the shore.

Kinich let down what he had gathered and began organizing them into piles. “I only took what I needed,” Kinich said, “I made sure to avoid tampering with the wildlife here too much.”

Mualani, flustered somewhat, thanked him for his courtesy. He began to approach her with some basic medicine in hand that he had freshly made. It was slightly fragrant but was also a relaxing and cooling smell.

“Are you fine with applying this yourself?” Kinich offered, “That area might be hard to reach.”

“Yeah, thanks!” Mualani smiled and she swiped the improvised ointment from him.

Kinich backed off and turned away from Mualani. “Just let me know if you need more,” he said, already preparing the second batch of medicine.

“Yeah, yeah, I probably will need more anyways, this bruise is massive! It’s almost reaching down to my thigh!” Mualani made light of the injury. She couldn’t even see it all without taking off her shorts.

As the two administered the large bruise in their own way, they both listened to the crashing of the waves. The two stayed in each others company not saying a word. It was moments like these that they both enjoyed. With Kachina in the mix, there was almost never a moment of silence between the three. The rare occasion there was, Mualani savored it. Despite her thrill seeking nature, she managed to find beauty in the small moments like these. Every day was a new fight, a new tour, or a new party, making the tranquil moments an oddity. They posed a sort of break from the madness of life, and it made the thrills all the more thrilling with a break to mellow things out.

“Kinich, the first batch is up, can I have some more?” Mualani reached over to grab the medicine Kinich had prepared, and he handed it over without question.

Continuing the applying of the ointment, she hummed a tune to herself. It was often a habit of hers to do so when happy. She was thankful that Kinich had went out of his way to do this for her, as around half way through their swimming session, the pain really started to feel like sharp knives that kneaded her flesh. She was just planning to sleep it off after.

Their moment of silence continued, and as Mualani was about halfway done in applying the second layer of the medicine, Kinich spoke again.

“You know I heard you, right?”

“Yeah, that was intentional. That’s a new song that they’ve been playing at the village, and I can’t get it ou-“

“That wasn’t what I was referring to.” Kinich began to fix his slouching posture but kept his head low.

“Huh? Then what to…” Mualani’s voice trailed off as she recalled everything she had said in the past 2 hours or so since they started.

There was only one thing he could’ve been referring to.

“Ah.”

Kinich sighed as she came to the realization.

Mualani stumbled over her own words trying to come up with something to explain herself, from claiming he misheard to saying that he just made it up from the sounds of the trees behind them. She was blatantly lying, it was a heat of the moment thing, why wouldn’t she say it? She shouldn’t have, but she did.

“Kinich, I promise you, I said nothing of the sort,” Mualani, in a daze, got to her feet and ran over to Kinich to make sure he was listening to whatever excuses she came up with.

Getting caught by a stray stick from one of the plants Kinich gathered, Mualani tripped, landing on her side with a loud thud. The same side with the ridiculously large bruise, one that was undoubtedly larger from two seconds before the fall.

Kinich turned around to see an unmoving body in the sand. “Mualani?” Kinich shook Mualani to see if she was awake. There was no response. Turning her over to take a good look her face, Kinich noticed something odd.

Mualani could barely make eye contact as her face turned a bright red. “Please don’t look at me!” Mualani sobbed as she pushed Kinich away. He was simply too shocked to ground himself and fell on his rear. “Woe is me! Woe is me!” She cried. He didn’t know what to make of the situation exactly. Would it be correct to laugh at her or should he take her embarrassment seriously? Did she also just try to fake being passed out too?

Kinich recomposed himself and thought it through. He reached out his hand to Mualani. He wasn’t sure how he really felt, but this could help him figure things out. This could be his chance. His chance to be closer to somebody.

Somebody who’d probably leave. Somebody who won’t stay.

Kinich paused. Mualani continued her flailing on the sand, digging out a hole for herself. His hand began to tremble, but Kinich steadied it by grabbing his hand with the other. He stood up, staring blankly at Mualani. She slowed down and returned his gaze.

“Oh please, just end me…” Mualani rubbed some snot off her face from all the crying, “Kinich, I promise you it was just a-“

“I understand,” Kinich replied sharply. His tone was soothing, but seemed to be lacking any emotion behind it. “People make mistakes. There’s no need to make a scene about such things. If you didn’t mean to say it, then that’s that. I’ll believe you.”

“Oh. Okay…” Mualani rubbed her thigh and lower hip to see how it was healing. It seemed as bad as before, if not worse.

“We should call it a day. It’s best for the both of us,” Kinich began to slowly wander away. Mualani just looked at him trudging off into the distance. Slowly, he began to fade away into the shrubs and trees.

“I won’t disagree there…” Mualani said quietly. She stretched herself across the sandy shore. She wished she could’ve said more. She wished he could’ve said more.

Kinich didn’t know how slow he was when walking back to the Scions of the Canopy. All he remembered was that Mualani seemed happy on some level when they were together.

Chapter Text

The little girl hummed a tune to herself walking down by the shore. Being unoccupied with any sort of work, she took some time to enjoy the scenery of the beaches. 

“Mualani, we don’t need help right now. We’re okay. Just… enjoy yourself, okay? Can you do that for us?” Her mother’s voice rang like a chime. The little girl nodded in response.

So she walked by the shore. Day in, day out. It became cyclical for her. Ask if help was needed. Dismissed. Ask if help was needed. Dismissed. Ask if help was needed. Dismissed. The shore slowly became more and more familiar to her with each trip. On the odd day where her parents did need an extra hand at the shop, she was happy to oblige. But those were rare occasions. At that time, the store was fine operating with two people. 

Her mother whispered to herself as her daughter ran off to the shore front. “I hope you don’t wear yourself thin helping people, Mualani. Make bonds now, when you can.”

Eventually, Mualani grew bored of the same few beaches. The same surfers, the same swimmers, the same rocks, the same saurians, she’d just had seen it all one too many times. One day however, there was an anomaly on the path she walked. Bushes, although seemingly untampered, were distorted and suggested someone had crawled off the path.

“Hello?” The young girl squinted her eyes, hoping to see something, someone, in the midst of the trees. Nothing. “Helloooo?!” She shouted. No response. Pushing the brush aside, she followed the path made in the bushes. It didn’t seem too bad at first. It was the same plants and wood she was used to. Delving further, the familiar faces started to grow more ominous. The world in the trees seemed to darken as she went further and then…

Her foot suddenly caught on a branch, and she slammed head first into a sandy shore. Mualani rubbed her nose, making sure nothing had broken. Looking up, she saw a new beach, seemingly untouched. “Woah…! This is awesome!”

She leapt forward, letting her feet dimple the pearly sand. Laughing to herself, she splashed her feet in the water, the new beach a private sanctuary obscured by a thick brush and natural cliffs. Stomping in the water a few more times, she heard a cough behind her.

“Waaaahhh! Hey! Don’t sneak up on people!” Mualani stumbled to the sandy floor, but quickly entered a defensive stance after. She couldn’t really fight, but she didn’t like the idea of being mugged either.

“You’re in my way. Can you just… get out? I need the plants here.” A young obsidian haired boy glared at her. It wasn’t one of disgust, but rather more annoyance.

“Sure, sure. What do you need the plants for anyways?” Mualani brushed off the sand from herself.

“Medicine. Ointment.”

“Cool, cool, just for you or for someone else? Because if someone else—well I guess you too—is hurt, they should try and find a doctor. I like home remedies too, but sometimes you just gotta see the doc, y’know!” Mualani shot the young boy a smile. He did not return it.

“Self. I don’t need it to help others.” The young boy cast his gaze to more plants before snapping  them.

“Are you okay? Do you need help then? Because if—”

“I’m fine.” Cold and crass was how he cut her off.

“Okay…” Mualani brushed off the sand on her legs. “You come to this spot often?”

“Just when I need to. I try to not disturb this area too much, the climate is perfect for growing these herbs but due to how much people love the tourism here, it’s hard to get a place where they won’t be trampled.” The boy sighed and rubbed his hand on his neck. Mualani chuckled to herself nervously, knowing that her family business was certainly not helping with that inflow of tourists.

“I’m Mualani. You?” 

“Can you leave already?”

“No…? I just got here, and it’s a really nice spot! I promise, I’ll take care of it! I will!” Mualani pleaded.

The boy raised an eyebrow. “You taking care of it was your thrashing of the sand and water here?”

Mualani took slight offense at the descriptor of her frolicking. “Listen, that was a one time thing, okay!? Next time, I’ll be more careful.”

“Okay, fine. I relent. You can stay. Just don’t forget your promise.”

“Aye aye captain!”

———————————————————

“…What are you doing?” The boy looked at her with his yellow and green hued eyes. A look of confusion. In front of him, there laid a Mualani on a cloth, munching away at some saurian crackers with one hand and devouring mango slices with the other.

“I’mf eaffing some snanshs!” Mualani said. The boy wiped off a chunk of mango juice infused spit glossed cracker crumb from his face and resisted a scowl. True to her word, she wasn’t messing up the environment nor was she dragging any unwanted visitors here. It had been a couple of days since they first met, and when he returned the day after they met, he was glad he was able to get some peace and quiet for himself. Unfortunately today, it was not like that.

“Swallow your food before speaking. It’s gross and impolite.” The boy sat down next to her and took a saurian cracker for himself. 

Mualani choked down her food with a big gulp and took a deep breath after. “Didn’t know you were such a stickler for the rules. Want a mango too?” The boy silently took the mango and Mualani watched his eyes open wide upon tasting it but he remained silent. “Good, right? I know it’s good.”

“It’s alright,” he said dismissively, “Besides, what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? Well, I’m here to say hi of course! I’ve wanted to change my routine a little bit, I’ve been getting bored of the beaches back home. Like, they’re nice, yeah, but I feel like I’ve really done all there is to do with them. So I’m here.”

“That’s it? Not the herbs or…”

“Why would I want those? Are those plants really that effective? If I get hurt, like I said earlier, I’ll just go to a doctor.”

“You must have it easy.”

“I really do… it’s nice. Just knowing someone else can help when you really want to take it easy is comforting. Not to say I would do that on purpose to just push it off to someone that is! I promise—”

“It’s fine. I understand. It must be nice to have that.”

Mualani looked at his face. It wasn’t stuck in a scowl nor did it bear an expression of disdain. It was one of a child like her. She urged him to lie down for a second alongside her on the cloth spread out in the sand. He complied, not in a mood to argue, and the two laid together in silence. Occasionally, she would shoot him a glance and a grin, while he would just look over with his eyes and then back at the sky. Mualani would sometimes kick his feet with her’s as they took in the quiet rumbling of the waves. Slowly, the boy’s eyes began to flutter shut, and eventually remained shut. Mualani took in the moment and decided to sleep as well.

Hours later, the boy groggily found himself trapped under Mualani’s leg. Pushing it to the side, he got up and noted the scarlet and golden hues of the sky. He quickly—also quietly as to not disturb Mualani—gathered his items and got up. He cast one last glance at Mualani, before walking off.

But the boy turned around. Compelled by something, a force unknown, he returned to her. Gently, he tapped his shoulder. “Mualani?”

“Mmm… Yeah…? Huh? Wha… what is it?” She half-opened her eyes and looked at the boy. His expression different from ones earlier. Neither was it annoyance or one of innocence. He seemed to be ever so slightly desperate.

“Mualani. You’ll remember this place, right?” He said, his tone and demeanor once again collected.

“…Yeah…” She remained lying down, lightly snoring between deep breaths.

“You’ll take care of this place, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good.”

“I said I would. You don’t believe me?”

“I do.”

“You worry too much, y’know. Why don’t you just relax…”

He paused for a while choosing his next words, really taking his time to think about what to say. 

“Hey Mualani?”

“Yeah, it’s still me. Whatcha need?”

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Sure, shoot.”

“Will you remember… this? This beach, the sand, the waters, can you do that?”

“…Yeah. I can.”

“Can you remember me?”

“Sure. I would…” Mualani rose from her resting position, looking around trying to see his face. The boy however, had disappeared from sight. The sand around her laid undisturbed, just her alone at the beach. “Hello? Anyone there?”

A voice, dampened by the trees, echoed to her ears. 

“So don’t forget.”

———————————————————

The next day, she arrived with her sack full of snacks—enough for two this time—to the beach. No one was there that day but her. She sat around for a while, leaving the snacks untouched, fiddling her thumbs, but no one came. Sunset came around, and she sat there still. Yawning, she accepted it, and walked away.

Dawn came, and she was there again. This time, she brought something to occupy herself with. A small surfboard to laze around in the waters. Every time she heard a splash, she would suddenly perk up. Upon realizing that it was just a fish jumping out of the water, she would lie back down, disappointed. She did ride around the areas, catching a wave where she could, but she would always return to their spot. Snacks untouched, sand left with one pair of footsteps in it. Eventually, she went home.

Day after day, she came and went. She still brought snacks for two. She still saw only one pair of footsteps. Eventually, her visits slowed. As her parents got older, as she grew older herself, more help was needed and available at the shop. It was every other day at some point. Then once a week. Then once every two weeks. Soon, once a month.

Still, she went. Snacks for two in hand, she carefully guided the plant life to the ground so she could step over it. Sand and dirt caked her feet and sandals from the days work of managing the shop and watching the waters for anyone who needed saving. A child from Liyue dove into the water that day, accidentally having a head-on collision with a rock deep underwater. The boy was knocked unconscious. Noticing the head count change at the beach unexpectedly, Mualani dove into the water herself and dragged the boy to land. Mualani was crowned a hero, but she dismissed it as just doing her duty.

Mualani sat herself down at the beach, stars lighting the water. She opened her sack and used the cloth that constituted it as the mat to lay on. Maybe he looks at the same stars I do. That’d be cool. She took a breath, exhaling all the exhaustion from the day past, and inhaled the serenity of the beach. It was nice. She would remember it. It would be hers, until that young obsidian haired boy returned. She was not to let it be tarnished. She didn’t know if that boy was even alive anymore, and placing his final wish to her was a responsibility she needed to keep. 

She mumbled those words to herself.

So don’t forget.

Much later down the line, upon being chosen for her first Night Warden award, she was anxious. However, she was reassured in herself. That she would return because of the Ode of Resurrection, because her people’s faith and long standing fortitude against the relentless forces of the Night Kingdom, she would be okay. She had to. Sneaking off quietly from the rest of the chosen warriors before they departed, Mualani found herself at their special spot again. Albeit, less snacks in hand and more ready for warfare.

“I’ll be going now,” Mualani spoke, “Not forever, but… enough to where I’m gonna miss this place.” There was not a voice that returned her words. Just the same, familiar crashing of the waves. The grinding of the pearly sand under her feet. But she didn’t grow bored of this one. It was special to her. It was a place where she believed that they would meet again. It was that idea that something could happen tomorrow that helped her keep going. It was why she needed to return here after her fight.

She turned to go reunite with the group of warriors. “I’ll be back.”

After her victory, she returned to the masses cheering and applauding their victory. Mualani basked in the praise, smiling and waving to the bright crowd. Gifts and flowers rained from the sky, Mualani did her best to grab the one’s specifically for her since there were plenty of them. She saw Auntie Atea and Mualani vigorously jumped up and down waving to grasp her attention. Atea noticed, and smiled and gently waved back.

Turning to face the other side of the stadium to accept their cheers and praises, Mualani’s arms drooped. Not that she lost her enthusiasm, but because she saw a shade of obsidian all too familiar.

So don’t forget.

After the celebration ended, Mualani rushed over to that side of the stadium. Pushing against the wave of people, she made her way through to the other side. The benches were already empty, the boy, now a man, had already left.

“Excuse me,” Mualani gently tapped the nearest person’s shoulder and asked the nearest person, “Have seen a man who has obsidian hair and wore a headband? He’s quite a standout person, and he should be from… the Scions of the Canopy. Yeah.”

“Oh…” The old woman rubbed her chin. “You must mean Kinich, right?”

“I think so. I never got his name.”

“I see, then start there. Ask around for him. If you need a Saurian Hunter or just an odd job, then he will surely help. He’s removed plenty of pesky rogue saurians who’ve tried to destroy my crops and home.” The old woman reminisced and became lost in thought. “Tha—”

“Thank you!” Mualani rushed back to the exiting crowd, hoping to meet him somewhere at the exit. No luck. She sat by the entrance gates for a while, but no signs of his green and yellow eyes. Sighing, she gave up and began her walk back to Toyac Springs. She’ll just have to find out how to contact him later for a job. Probably… helping Kachina could work. That girl did need some survival skills other than digging. Mualani patted herself on the back for her ingenious plan of helping out Kachina and letting her see Kinich again at the same time.

Returning to her special shore, she noted there was already a pair of footsteps in the sand.

———————————————————

Mualani arose from her sleep. She blinked slowly at the sunrise which lit the sky a pale blue and light gold. Rubbing the bruise from the saurian attack, she was surprised at how much it had healed—much thanks to Kinich’s ointment. Yawning, she rubbed her belly and stretched her back. Upon waking up, she noted a blanket, dressed in the patterns from the Scions of the Canopy, draped over her. The deliverer of such a blanket was not anywhere nearby however.

She thought about her injury and felt a slight bit of guilt, in part because he made him worry, but also in part due to the fact she considered lying about being able to administer the ointment to it herself so Kinich could…

Brushing those thoughts aside, she rose to her feet completely and stretched again. Moving her legs and jumping around, she really did become impressed with the efficacy of Kinich’s special treatment. “I ought to thank him when he comes around again…”

Mualani grabbed her sharky surfboard and bundled up his blanket. It was then she noted that it was incredibly soft. She chuckled to herself that the great saurian hunter who wielded the almighty dragon lord enjoyed such soft and nice smelling blankets.

She walked away from the beach, leaving a second pair of footprints in the sand.