Makani biked through Iki Town with his ukulele case across his back and dismounted at the base of Tapu Trail. He leaned his bike against one of the grinning stone guardians at the bottom and started to walk up. The steep hike had never felt so easy. He was floating on air.

In no time at all, Makani emerged from the shade of the narrow pass and into the bright sun of the Tapu’s clearing high on the mountainside. A waterfall plummeted onto sharp rocks far below, and a new suspension bridge hung above the rapids, bright planks and ropes as yet unweathered by the spray. The Tapu shrine was nestled against the cliff on the far side, a great wooden platform atop a high pile of stone. Sheltered pedestals of rough-hewn hematite adorned the corners for offerings, and giant spears were arrayed like a fan at the back, one for each great victory.

Hau and Lillie sat on the wide steps, talking easily as Hau tuned his ukulele. Lillie’s posture was as straight and proper as ever, but gone was the closed stiffness of it. Her shoulders shook as she laughed. Hau beamed, too wrapped up in her to notice anything else.

Lillie’s signature duffle bag lay empty on the ground while its usual occupant floated though the gently rippling grass. Makani waved at the strange little creature, and Nebby waved back, hastening to the far end of the bridge and bouncing in place. Hau and Lillie looked up at the creaking and swaying of the ropes as Makani crossed.

“What kept you so long?” Lillie called, more curious than accusatory.

“Azophi moved in next door! In the Fujioka’s old house!”

“Auwē! That’s awesome, bro!”

“Oh, but you didn’t have to come if your friend just arrived.” Lillie fiddled with one of her braids. “You could’ve called.”

Makani set his ukulele case down, and Nebby peered inside with interest. “That’s the beauty of it. They’ll be there when I get back! Besides, this is important.”

Lillie’s brow pinching a frown. “It’s not so important as that…”

“It means something to you, doesn’t it?” Makani asked. Nebby floated through his peripheral in possession of his pick and looking thoroughly pleased about it.

“Well yes, but—”

“Then it’s important,” Hau cut her off gently. Nebby held the stolen ukulele pick aloft near Hau’s elbow, trying to show it off.

Worry lost its hold completely as a light flush colored Lillie’s cheeks. “You guys…” her smile really was a lovely thing, far more so than the one Makani knew was plastered across his and his brother’s faces—wide and toothy and crinkled around the eyes.

Hau plucked the pick from Nebby’s little pom-poms and handed it off to Makani so he could tune his ukulele. Hau always did it by ear, so Makani decided to forgo his tuner this time and settled down in the grass.

“Don’t wander off!” Lillie cautioned, sending a startled ripple through Nebby’s cloud-like form. “You wanted to come up here, remember?” Nebby pewed back and peeked over the edge of the cliff at the rapids below. “Just stay on this side of the bridge, please.”

Nebby floated back towards her and before a blooming lily waylaid them. Nebby swayed along with it in the breeze coming off the waterfall, while Makani played a few notes. Hau joined him and nodded in satisfaction as they finished the first bar.

Hau caught sight of Lillie frowning sadly into the distance. “You okay?”

“Yes,” she drawled back automatically.

“Don’t give me that.”

Lillie shifted, pulling her large-primed hat off her head and crumpling it in her lap. “It’s just that it’s been an entire year now and I’ve hardly figured out anything about Nebby. I’m certainly no closer to getting them home. You’ve been so patient, and generous, and I’m so—”

Hau held up his hand. “I’m gonna stop you right there. You’ve accomplished a lot this past year. You’re here!” Lillie pulled her legs up to her chest, silently swallowing something down. “And just to reiterate, I don’t care that you haven’t told us where you came from or what you were running from. What matters is that you got out. That other stuff is behind you.” Hau drew her eyes back up and held her there with his warmth. It was an enviable talent. Hau always knew what she was thinking too, even if had taken time to get there. She was as obvious to him as Hau was to Makani. “And you are not a burden.” He listed off the reasons on his fingers. “No one else can get the pressure sensor perfectly tuned like you can. We would have had to scrap the whole project! Plus, you convinced Kukui not to let his Ninetails practice Sheer Cold on him, which probably saved his life.”

It was Makani’s turn.“And you do know more about Nebby. You know they’re pure psychic-type, which is honestly fascinating since only ghost-types have a body like theirs. And you know that they can instinctively find sacred places, so they must have some connection to the Tapus.”

“That’s not nothing.” Hau caught her eyes again to make sure she was listening. “That’s a lot.”

Lillie sniffed. “You guys are the best.” She wiped at her eyes and began to smooth out her hat. “So what do you have for me today?”

“Well, we know how you love Queen.” Hau flopped down in the grass next to Makani and played a note.

“And we sort of missed the boat on this one when you first got here, so we thought maybe it would work for the anniversary.” Makani grabbed low on the fret of his ukulele and started strumming.

“We had to get a little creative with the arrangement, so bear with us.”

Lillie smiled and Hau glanced back at Makani to make sure they were together before launching into the song.

“Here I stand.”

“Here I stand,” Makani echoed.

“Look around!”

“Around!”

“Around!”

“Around!”

“Around!”

“Around, around, around, around…” Makani went gradually softer.

“But you won't see me.” Hau switched from notes to strumming with Makani. “Now I'm here.”

“Now I'm here.”

“Now I'm there.”

“Now I'm there.”

“I'm just a…” Suddenly they were both wailing on their ukuleles. “Just a new man!”

“YES YOU MADE ME LIVE AGAIN!” They belted together, and the song began in earnest. Makani continued to handle the bass and percussion with some creative use of his instrument while Hau played the ‘guitar’ line and led the vocals. They’d done this countless times now. Hau had always been a better player and singer—always jumping in when the dancers needed a musician at the festivals. Makani would never catch the years Hau had on him, but he still liked playing together like this. Together they made a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Lillie smiled, and Nebby danced along, twirling and bouncing to the rhythm. Lillie applauded when they finished and the three of them were laughing together when a bolt of lightning struck from the clear blue sky. Nebby startled in Lillie's arms and all their hair stood on end from the charge.

Makani had never seen Tapu Koko before, but that made him no less certain that it was their massive form that landed on the platform. They spread their wings, bright as the sun’s rays and dark as a thunderstorm. Electricity crackled from their body, arcing to the hematite pedestals and lighting up the spears behind them in a blinding array. Glowing eyes gazed out from their black, mouthless mask of a face, and their gaze pierced his chest like a defibrillator charge. With a final shake of their feathers, and a single powerful down-sweep, they launched back into the air shot into the distance in a second shaft of lightning.

Lillie's hair was the first to fall back in place as the static left the air. “Have we angered them by coming up here?”

“Nah.” Hau waved off her concern. “You’ll know when the Tapu doesn’t like something, trust me. Hey, we haven’t seen them since the bridge incident. Maybe this is a sign!”

“You think so?”

“Has to be.” Makani agreed. “Just look at Nebby.”

The little cloud was vibrating with joy and excitement in her arms and letting out a string of happy noises.

Lillie smiled again. “Maybe you’re right.”