**Sequel to first LonaShipping oneshot

I know I said that there'd be a little bit of implied Lillie X Moon, but after I finished writing this, I decided to remove it because it didn't flow with the rest of the oneshot. So if this seems short, it was going to nearly be 3000+ words so be thankful I guess

I stayed up till like, 2 in the morning a couple nights when writing this, so spelling, grammar and horrible writing are bound to be found.

Enjoy~

~

Sleep didn't come easily to Moon that night. She woke up restless and with a throbbing headache, making it hard for her to get dressed that morning. 'What even happened?' she asked herself. What made Gladion so upset at her? Surely that's why he hung up before she could say anything. She thought that it might have been because of Lillie's teasing, but she didn't think what she said would effect him that much due to it being a lie, right? It's not like he liked her, so why did he refuse to talk to her? 'Maybe he was probably just too tired to care...' she thought.

Stepping off the boat and onto the ground beneath her, she spotted the familiar dark spiked hoodie worn by the blonde teen standing underneath a tree. He looked like he was deep in thought to Moon, as his glance was focused on the ground, and his hands were buried in his pockets, unfazed by the sounds of her approaching footsteps.

"Hey," Moon called to him weakly.

Gladion turned toward her, before looking away, "H-hey."

She sighed, "Look, I... I just...-"

She was at a loss for words. What was there just of? Did she just like him? Does she just want him to forget about what happened? Did she just want to know why he hung up? Or does she just want to know if, maybe, there was the slightest chance that, perhaps, Gladion really did like her like Lillie said?

"-I'm sorry,"

She looked at him in confusion. Was he... apologizing? To her? For what? Why? He.. hasn't done anything wrong to her to be sorry for... has he?

"...What?"

Gladion felt a chill crawl up his spine. His pulse rushed while his entire entity was frozen yet burning all at once, "N-nevermind," he said, looking down from facing her once more, "Lillie texted me that you were disappointed when I hung up last night."

Moon felt set up. She didn't tell Lillie that she was disappointed because she didn't feel that was that important to bring up. Moon knew Lillie better than to lie to her brother without good reason. She felt like she was a chess piece played by Lillie in some sort of game.

"I... I thought I'd go ahead and apologize before we got started. But I mean.. if you're fine with it--"

"-No!" Moon squeaked, unaware of the heat on her cheeks, "I mean.. I-I'm not mad at you... but it... it.. uh.."

"It...what?" Gladion questioned, not understanding her outburst.

She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, a habit of hers when she's nervous, ".. I... uh, guess it did hurt a little when you hung up last night.."

Gladion's chest was pounding rapidly. The Butterfree were frolicking frantically inside him. He couldn't stop thinking about how cute she was when she was flustered.

"Moon?"

"Yes, Gladion?"

He looked away, "Why did you kiss me?"

She couldn't help but think of how there was no way she could sugar-coat and hide her feelings forever and how she knew she had to answer this question eventually.

"Because, Gladion," she hesitated, "it was the heat of the moment and you looked too adorable so I couldn't stop myself in time."

Gladion nearly screamed, but pinched himself to check if he was dreaming, feeling nothing. What he didn't know, was that he actually just pinched his jacket, hoodwinking him into believing that he actually was dreaming. That is, until Moon poked him in concern when he didn't react to what she said in the way she thought he would, making him aware of the reality in front of him and he started to blush like crazy.

"A-a-anyway, we should go in now," Gladion stuttered, fleeing the scene toward the mansion, not looking back to see if she was following out of embarrassment to look at her.

He really didn't want to be rude, but he did not want to face his feelings for her today. He wasn't ready for it. The heartbreak. The rejection. Or even a relationship if she even felt the same way. He was too afraid. All he wanted for today was to give her the rights to the Aether foundation as a stand-in stand-in president, which has been a family heritage since ever and talk with her, just the two of them, alone where he lived...yeah he should have seen it coming.

"Yeah... I guess,"

Moon, on the other hand, wasn't ready either, but already determined that the sooner she came clean, the easier it'll be. Not to mention this may be her only chance for a good while to finally admit her feelings for him before having to get back to Champion duty. She wasn't really looking for a relationship with him, heck, she didn't even think about the possibility of him liking her back. She just strongly believed that her crush was one-sided and most definitely a burden she wanted off her shoulders. Besides, with her job as Champion, she figured relationships were just not doable for her. Just telling him would be good enough for her, as long as they could still be friends.

~

It wasn't long before they got accustomed to the office-like room, just this time Moon was surprised that he let her in.

Usually, when she had the rare chance to help out in the past, before Lillie came back from Kanto, Gladion was protective of her being in "his" office because of "field work" and not anything "office work". For this reason, Moon guessed that she was going to help him sort papers or something like that. But no, he instructed her to sit down in the office-y chair in front of his desk (which seemed out of place to her anyway, as she assumed that he hardly got business-y visitors, to her knowledge) while he looked through file cabinets.

Confused, Moon asked, "So... What am I supposed to be doing anyway?"

Amused in her bewilderment, he smirked a bit and replied with, "Sitting,"

Moon huffed. She couldn't believe the nerves of this guy.

"I thought I was supposed to be helping?" she flared, annoyed.

The boy heard the frustration in her tone, and like the good person he was, decided not to engage it. Taking a more serious tone, he answered, "Sorry, just give me a minute to find out what I did with it."

"Ok," Moon giggled. It wasn't really funny, if she had to be honest, but there was always just something about Gladion that made her happy.

Still not finding the paperwork he needed her to sign, he glanced back at his desk not only to see them sitting there staring right at him, but to see Moon looking at the picture in the picture frame on his desk. The picture of her on it. Her and only her.  Well, almost. Her Pokémon were in it too.

She saw him staring her down, so she put it back without question.

"Anyway," Gladion started, sitting in his desk chair on his side of the desk, "do you have any idea why I brought you here?"

"I can't say that I do," Moon replied, mimicking his professional tone, "though I have a feeling that it involves me having to sign something, which is already giving me mixed feelings about this," she admitted.

"Fair enough," said Gladion. He straighten his back to distract him from being nervous, "Anyway, the point is, that in case Lusamine, I, and Lillie cannot fulfill the duties of running and managing the Aether Foundation as president, that you, Moon Beam Light-"

"Wait, how do you know my full name?" the said girl interrupted.

The blonde rolled his eyes, "I have my resources."

"Lillie?" Moon guessed.

"Lillie," Gladion confirmed, "Anyway, as I was saying, if we cannot fulfill the position as president, I'm asking for you to please take our place as a stand-in president for the Aether Foundation."

Moon was literally speechless. Was he really asking her this? Of course, she didn't want to reject the offer, but what if she still had to be at the Pokémon League? There wasn't any guarantee that she could get away from that to help out. Besides, he was doing fine on his own, so why did he even bother asking her this?

"You.. you can't be serious, right?" Moon replied in disbelief, "I mean... the League."

"Oh.... I see," he frowned, quite saddened, "you are the Champion after all, it is your duty..."

He began putting away the papers.

"I mean-" Moon interjected sharply, catching his attention, "I... I would like to. Really, I would. I just... are you sure this is even necessary? You're doing well on your own, so why ask?"

Gladion looked down at the papers in his hands, standing and facing away from her as he had stood to place them in the shredder pile, "...I want to be prepared... just in case something happens to Lillie and I-... I can't save her in time...-"

"-Oh..."

Moon understood it now. This wasn't about all of them being sick or anything like that, but if they were to, well, be gone forever.

She reached out and touched his arm, making him look at her, "... I'll sign it,"

Gladion was surprised, "You will?"

Moon nodded.

Slipping back into his seat, Gladion handed over the papers for her to sign as well as the only pen he had on the desk.

After signing them all, she looked through them again just to be sure and noticed a blank space for another signature on one of the forms.

"Hey Gladion," Moon said, "I think you missed one."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"I think so," Moon replied, handing it over, "right there."

Gladion examined it closely, "You're right, I did," he concluded, accepting the paper, "Could you pass me the pen please?"

"Sure,"

"Thanks, babe,"

It took him until he signed half his name for him to fully realize what he had just called her. It had came out so natural too, no adjustment needed, like he was comfortable calling her that, increasing his longing to crawl in a hole.

Face planting on the table, hiding his head in his arms, Gladion said, "Could you do me a favor and forget what I just said and better yet perhaps my existence all together? That'd be very much appreciated."

"No can do," Moon started to say, getting out of her chair and strolling over to Gladion, lifting his head and connecting their lips. Before he had a chance to react, she pulled away and whispered softly in his ear, "babe."

~

Lol if anyone wants to know what happened after that, I think they'd just cuddle but that might be rushing things idk

So yup... Gladion was probs highly OOC in this but OH WELL

Happy late New Year everyone!