Hawai'i Talks Story [Countryhumans and Statehumans Oneshots]

The First Time Hawaii Stole A Child

Hawaii had always been one to collect odd things when she was younger. Assorted buttons from sailors, sticks in cool shapes, and seashells, none were safe from being collected.

Usually, those collections were small fixations that would last a year or two. And usually, her Papa would help her collect things and bring them back to the house to display.

But one day, she decided to collect something a little different.

"Papa! Papa, guess what I found!" Hawaii said, carrying her new prize. She carefully made her way through the hales, trying to be gentle. She couldn't drop this of all things.

When she found her Papa sitting and patching a net, she tried to wait for him to look up at her, but he seemed to be deep in his own thoughts.

"Papa, I wanna show you something." Hawaii sing-songed. "I think you're gonna like it!"

"Pua, I hope it is something important. If we don't patch the nets, we don't get fish." Her father said, not looking up from where he was patching.

"Papa, it is important!" Hawaii said, setting the small thing down gently, and pulling on her father's arm. He finally looked up, and his jaw dropped.

Papa's aikane,

"What is that?" Her Papa said, his eyes wide in shock. Ailani covered her mouth to keep herself from laughing, and Kekoa turned to leave the room.

"Nope, nope... I am not dealing with Little Hawaii this early in the morning."

"Koa, it's noon." Ailani reminded him

The older man kept his jaw dropped, before trying to regain his composure. "Pua, what..."

"She's a baby, Papa! You know what a baby is," Hawaii rolled her eyes. "She's my baby, I'm gonna be her Mama. You're a grandpapa!"

Kekoa snorted his water out from his nose, and Ailani went to clean him up. And then she shot a look at Ancient Hawaii. The look seemed to say, Well, you better go deal with your daughter.

The baby in question looked to be about two years old,

"I took her home because she was all alone." Hawaii said, grinning proudly. "Say hi, Baby!"

The toddler looked up at Hawaii, tilting her head, before babbling a string of words and giggling.

"You can't... steal children." Her Papa said, putting his head in his hands "Where did you get her from?"

"She was down by the beach all alone." Hawaii said, folding her arms. "If her makua didn't care enough to keep her away from the water, then they obviously shouldn't have her."

Ailani laughed, and patted her partner's shoulder. "Good luck arguing with that logic."

The older man sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Pua, I swear, you are going to give me grey hair a few years early."

"Good! Then you'll really be a grandpa!" Hawaii said cheerily, before looking back to the smaller child. "Come on, I'll name you something awesome! How does Hokulei sound? Or Pohaku, or..."

"You can't name other people's kids, Pua."

"She's mine now. I promise, I'll take good care of her!" Hawaii said, and made big sad eyes at her father. "Please can I keep her?

"She's not a pig, you can't just take her home and name her."

"Well, she's all alone." Hawaii put the baby on her back, carrying her. "Papa, why can't I keep her?"

"Because you can't take kids home just because you found them."

"But that's what you did with me. Remember? Kekoa went crazy. I thought he didn't like me." Hawaii said. "How come you can take home kids but I can't?"

"Because... because that was different! You weren't a baby, you were... It's different for us!"

"I see no difference." Hawaii put her hands on her hips. "I was a little kid all alone, and so was she. I know what I'll call her! I'll call her Lilo, because she was lost."

The older man was about to say something, but Ailani put a hand on his shoulder, signalling that she was going to handle it. "Pua, the baby-"

"Her name is Lilo." Hawaii corrected.

"Well, Lilo needs to go home." Ailiani smiled, and patted Hawaii's head. "Pua, what if someone took you from your Papa? "

"Then I'd bite their hand off and kick them where it hurts, like Kekoa taught me." Hawaii deadpanned.

"That's my girl." Kekoa cheered, earning a hard glare from Ailani.

"Kekoa, I will gut you if you don't shut it." Ailani threatened, and then turned back to Hawaii. "Lilo can't fight back, and she thinks you are a friend. But she probably loves her papa as much as you love yours."

Hawaii looked down, biting her lip. "I guess so. But... Wouldn't she be happy with us?"

"Maybe. But she would be happier with her parents."

Hawaii hugged 'Lilo', and sighed, trying not to be disappointed. "Alright Lilo. We'll find your Mama, okay?"

—

It took a long while to find the real mother, who had been really worried for her baby, and had thought that maybe she had drowned.

Hawaii handed over 'Lilo' reluctantly, scowling the whole time.

"Her name's Kailani." the mother said, as she smiled at Hawaii. Ancient Hawaii sighed in relief.

"Kailani is a very good name. I like it." Hawaii said, nodding in approval. She smiled, before hugging the baby one last time. "Love you, Kailani. I'll come back for you, okay?"

"Please don't." Her Papa said, as he talked a bit more with the mother, before leaving and taking Hawaii with him.

Hawaii skipped along, smiling the whole way. She looked up at her father, and grinned. "Papa, where can I get a baby of my own?"

"I'll tell you when you're older." She heard her Papa's voice as he held her hand. She couldn't stop looking back at the toddler. She smiled, closing her eyes.

"Kailani." She whispered, loving the sound of the name on her lips.