The Future of Sulani | 6

Though Nani loves her job, the long hours spent in front of a computer screen typing up proposals, glued to the phone trying to catch the ears of prominent politicians, and running around Sulani's beaches chasing down residents willing to sign petitions advocating further environmental protections often leave her feeling drained at the end of the day. Between work and attending Noelani's DJ sets, which are becoming more and more frequent, it's hard to sneak in even a single second of peace and quiet. Luckily, this weekend, she finally has some spare time to devote to her blossoming interest in flower arranging.

However, it isn't long before her fleeting serenity is interrupted by the arrival of her younger sister, Kelea. Their parents have cajoled Nani into babysitting for the day so that they can finally spend some quality time together as a couple. Admittedly, Nani hasn't seen much of her sister since moving out, so she feels obligated to say yes. Besides, it can't be that hard to watch after a kid for a few hours, can it?

Of course, barely five minutes after Kelea shows up at her door, full of excited ideas about how they might spend their day together, Nani's cell phone starts ringing - work - and she makes the mistake of picking up. It turns out there's an urgent need for last-minute editing on a few very important grant proposals that need to be submitted first thing Monday morning. The intern who usually does the final look-over is out sick. Nani, self-proclaimed pushover that she is, can't help but say she'll get right on it.

"What?!?" Kelea exclaims, her face scrunching up in disappointment as Nani settles in at the computer. "You have to work? But we're supposed to be hanging out all day! What do you expect me to do now?"

"I'm sorry, sis," Nani responds patiently, "but it's sort of an emergency. Listen, just leave me alone for an hour or two, I'll knock this out, and then we can spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want, I promise."

Kelea stomps out the back door, grumbling angrily under her breath.

With Nani's attention absorbed by her work and no other adults around to tell her what to do, Kelea is free to get up to whatever trouble she pleases. For some reason, her first thought is to head straight for the trash can.

She doesn't uncover any treasures inside, but it sure is fun to stomp around in the pile of garbage that accumulates as she's rummaging through. As a kid, the best form of revenge she can think of against her sister for ignoring her is making a huge mess for her to clean up later.

Unsatisfied with leaving just one mess in her wake, she then finds some flour and chocolate syrup in the kitchen and proceeds to turn them into a gloppy sludge in the sand outside.

When Nani finally thinks to see what her little sister is up to, she reprimands her for her actions as firmly as she can. "Besides the fact that this is a massive waste of food, think of the pollution!" She wants to wipe the self-satisfied smirk right off Kelea's face. "Imagine a seagull or a turtle getting covered in this gunk or dragging it into the ocean. You're contributing to the destruction of Sulani's ecosystem! Have our parents taught you nothing?"

Meanwhile, Malia has finally gained enough experience as a masseuse to work on clients without any supervision. Of course, now that word has gotten around the island of her new job, all its residents, like Noelani's mom, Gaby, have started dropping by to really put her skills to the test.

"You have the hands of a goddess!" Oliana Ngata tells her, sinking back into the massage chair with a satisfied sigh. Malia can't tell if she's just being polite or if her abilities have really improved that much. Could it be the island spirits guiding her along, and to what end?

She has also started to become very friendly with a fellow masseuse named Javier Bautista. She hasn't put much thought into her love life lately - or ever, come to think of it - but he is undeniably cute, not to mention fun to talk to. Every time they work together, they find themselves so absorbed in conversation that they nearly overstay their allotted 30-minute lunch break. Perhaps romance could be in the air sooner than she expected, after all.

Returning from work, Malia barely even steps foot on the sand marking the beginning of their property before being practically accosted by a hyper and bored Kelea and a desperate Nani. "Thank God," Nani exclaims breathlessly. "It turns out I'm absolutely terrible with children! I need you to give me a fun idea stat or she'll hold a grudge against me forever."

"It's true," Kelea pipes in matter-of-factly.

"Well, hello to you, too," Malia responds. "I guess I could rustle up something... Now, what did I do with that old slip 'n' slide when I packed up all of Grandma and Grandpa's stuff?"

"Slip 'n' slide?!?" Kelea repeats, eyes already widening with excitement, and Malia knows she's duty-bound now to dig the thing out of whatever dusty box it's squirreled away in.

The universe is on their side, and, soon enough, the slip 'n' slide is ready for action. Nani insists on trying it out first for "safety reasons" and, secretly, also in the hopes of impressing Kelea with a bad-ass slide. Instead, she winds up pitifully splayed out on her back, Malia and Kelea unable to suppress their giggles behind her.

Of course, Kelea then makes an effortless attempt. "I hope you're taking notes, big sis!" she yells out teasingly.

At some point, Noelani managed to sneak home from their afternoon shift at the bar without drawing anyone's attention. Malia eventually finds them on the deck, trying to repair the out-of-commission hot tub. "Can't this wait?" she asks, but Noelani barely averts their eyes from their task. "Come on! You're missing all the fun!"

"Just give me a minute," Noelani mumbles. "I've got to make sure this thing is in working order for tonight."

Malia flashes a cheeky grin. "Oh, I see. Someone's got a hot date planned. Well, then, I guess I'll just leave you to it."

Malia jogs back toward the slip 'n' slide. "Hey, girly!" she shouts at Kelea. "You've been hogging that thing for the last 15 minutes. Give the rest of us a chance, why don't you?"

Begrudgingly, Kelea lets Malia have a turn.

Just as she's about to reclaim her territory, a voice calls out from across the beach, "Someone needs to show you guys how it's really done." Then, all of a sudden, there's Noelani in their bathing suit making a running start for the slick plastic mat.

Their slide is undeniably the coolest of them all, as they glide toward the ocean's edge with carefree ease.

To top off the evening, Malia pulls out some leftover balloons from her babysitting days so that Kelea can expend all of her remaining energy in an epic water balloon fight. "This one's for ignoring me all day to do boring work stuff!" Kelea shouts before lobbing a balloon directly in Nani's direction.

The balloon explodes squarely in Nani's face, and she clutches at her head dramatically. "Be careful! I almost lost an eye. New rule: no aiming above the shoulders."

"Rules are for wimps!" Malia exclaims, indulging her inner child. "I say we all gang up against Nani! Quick, grab all the balloons you can before she gets to them."

"You're going down, sis! There's no way you can dodge all three of us at once!"

Nani is unprepared for the all-out water balloon assault. "Wait, wait!" she pleads. "Noelani, you can't betray me like this! Those two are irredeemable, but I expected better from you!"

"Sorry, babe. I just couldn't resist the temptation. Malia, pass me another one!"

"Oh, you are so going to pay for this later!" But it's hard for anyone to take Nani's threats seriously when she's the only one soaked all the way to the bone.

Lastly, they make sure to set aside some time for a quick beach photo shoot to memorialize the occasion forever.

Once Kelea has been safely escorted home by her parents, it's finally an opportune time for that hot tub date Noelani has been anticipating all day. They blurt out brazenly that they should get out of their soaked and briny bathing suits first, and Nani is surprisingly game for going commando. "Hey, wait a minute," she says once they're settled into the warm, bubbling water. "I should still be angry with you for absolutely pummeling me with water balloons back there!"

"But how could you ever be angry at all this?" Noelani asks, suggestively motioning toward their body.

"Hmm. You're right." Nani pulls Noelani in closer. "It's objectively impossible for me to be mad right now."

Malia comes out onto the deck with drink in hand, but Nani and Noelani are already leaving the tub. "Oh, don't tell me I missed the party." She ogles them, one scandalized eyebrow raised. "And it was a nude party by the looks of things. How lovely."

"It's all yours now," Noelani tells her as they head back toward the house.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to need to get that thing deep-cleaned before I step foot in it again," she says to no one in particular.

The steamy energy drifts upstairs to the bedroom. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Nani asks before they take the plunge into the next level of their relationship.

 "Oh, I've been ready," Noelani replies and leans in for a kiss before Nani can say another word.