Dallas, a bionicle fanfic

Give yourself a shake and turn around

It sounds so different

Is therapy the end?
What'd you do in Dallas?
Can you still smell her skin?

"I didn't mean to, honest!" Tahu's crimson eyes stared into the deep blue orbs that he had stared into so often, the eyes he had gazed into lovingly, the ones that he had pledged sweet nothings to, the ones he had said so often were like the sparkle of the ocean on a summer's day.

Now, those same eyes were filled with all the force of a thousand tides.

"Oh, really?" Gali, his fiancée, his love, the one he had pledged to always be faithful to, was brandishing a letter in front of his face, the letter he thought he'd burned; its starched white paper evident against the scarlet rage in Gali's eyes. "You mean to tell me that you two were just training? Must have been some pretty interesting 'endurance' exercises, then..."

Tahu blanched. "I've told you before, Gali. I've told you a thousand times. You're the only one I love!"

"Mmm?" The calm waters Tahu had hoped for suddenly became a very cold and distant ice, like the permafrost on some distant tundra. "And how many of those thousand were while this was going on?"

"I—"

"I don't want to know."

Then she was gone, the last bit of colour in a room that seemed to fade further and further into grey misery. Tahu sat down at the kitchen table, his head in his hands.

How had this whole infernal thing started? He didn't even remember why he had started noticing her during their training together, why he had given her that kiss, why she, so young and naïve, had surrendered her body to his during their nights together...

Piece by piece, like the segments of a puzzle, the memories of the last two months were slowly coming together...

My head's turning upside-down
All I see is bright red
Tell me I'm just crazy
Tell me I'm the only one

What'd you do in Dallas?
What'd you do to my trust?
Why'd you even come home?
What'd you do in Dallas?

"You're doing great, Hahli. Just a few more steps."

The Elda-wearing Toa looked up at her tutor with innocent amber eyes, her Mask of Detection unable to know how the young Toa of Water could send such a rush through Tahu whenever he looked at her.

"Like this?"

"Yes." She was even closer now... and, oh Mata Nui... what was that smell on her skin? It didn't smell like the corrosive waters of the island they were on, nor did it smell like the protodermis mockery that surrounded Metru-Nui. It didn't even smell like Gali, who smelled like the calm sea on a warm day, the smell of tantalizing cool, the smell of sun-warmed shoulders.

Instead, it reminded Tahu of that paradise he had first landed on, that beauty that was Mata Nui, and especially of Ga-Koro, its tantalizing glimpses of the waters below, its rushing waterfall, its schools of fish darting to and fro in inconceivable patterns.

"What's wrong, Toa Tahu?" The question shook him from his brief reverie, and caused him to smile hastily at his young protégé.

"Nothing's wrong, Hahli. I was just thinking."

"About?"

Tahu frowned. "Grown-up things, Hahli. You're young; you wouldn't understand."

"Since when have I not understood something you've taught me?" She did have a point... and they were alone...

"Erm, well, Hahli... the thing is..." Tahu was interrupted by a loud 'CRASH!' from just outside the clearing.

"Nuparu, you block-head! You need to focus, or you'll never learn how to fly!"

"Sorry, Lewa..." With a groan, Tahu went to assist the two.

That had been the first time Tahu had come close to expressing what he felt for Hahli. It wasn't just a mere attraction, like he'd had to so many other women, but something stronger. It was like Hahli was a current, drawing the Toa of Fire deeper and deeper beneath the waves.

How soon would it be before he drowned?

"Why did we change training grounds, sir?" Hahli glanced about at the barren sands of Po-Voya. "Isn't the jungle safer?"

"Well, yes," Tahu said hastily. "That's precisely the point. If you're going to be a great Toa, you need to learn how to fight in almost any environ. And since your element is water, the desert could prove complex seeing as there isn't any water nearby to boost your energies."

Hahli nodded, although she was still a bit confused. Then, out of nowhere, a wind started to blow.

"A sandstorm?!" Tahu cursed under his breath. He should have known... in a DESERT, of all places...

"Where's the nearest cave?" he yelled at Hahli, whose Mask of Detection was starting to glow.

"Over here!" she shouted, still keeping cool despite the sudden assault. Within minutes, the two Toa had made their way into a quiet cave.

"We'll be safe in here," Tahu said softly as the sandstorm raged outside. "These things don't last for more than an hour or so. We'll be alright."

If only he'd known then how wrong he was... The sandstorm had not, in fact, gone on for an hour, but had instead lasted for a day... and even then it still hadn't been safe to come out, not until a few more days had passed...

Those few more days had been his downfall.

"Hahli?" They were sitting around a small impromptu campfire that Tahu had created.

"Yes?" Hahli's dark blue armour was illuminated by the orange sparks of the flames. Tahu took a deep breath.

"You know that thing I was going to tell you about? The thing that I said was only for grown-ups?"

"Yes?"

"Well..." Tahu took another breath. "Are you seeing anyone right now?"

Hahli frowned. "I don't see how this relates, sir."

"Well, it does, in a way. So, if you could answer the question?"

Hahli sat back. "No, sir. There was Jaller, sir, but that was very brief, and then he moved on, to, well..." She blushed.

"I know," Tahu said quickly. "So, er, you'd be relatively inexperienced in the art of love, then?" (Mata Nui, what was he SAYING?)

"Er... I guess..." Hahli blushed again. "I haven't been with anyone, if that's what you're asking."

Tahu nodded slightly. This made things slightly more complex... "Have you, er, ever wanted to be with anyone?"

Hahli frowned. "Well, Jaller I guess, but that wasn't for long..."

This couldn't go on for much longer, could it?

"What about yourself, sir? Besides Gali, of course."

"Uh, no-one," Tahu said quickly; he had a few embarrassing incidents that Hahli had no need to know about. "That's all, really..."

They sat in silence for a few moments, and then Hahli spoke again.

"Between you and me, sir, I've always wondered what it would be like..."

"Oh?" Tahu's head darted upwards, his orange eyes adopting a strange, almost wolf-like gleam. "Really?"

Hahli nodded. "Yes, sir. I guess—"

She was cut off, for something happened that made her eyes open in both surprise and pleasure.

Tahu was kissing her.

Tahu's mind burned with what had happened next. Needless to say, Hahli had surrendered quite easily, and had actually had a few surprises up her sleeve...

However, Hahli had just seen this as a sort of learning experience. Tahu, on the other hand, wanted more than just a quick tutorial, and Hahli had complied...

"Do you love me, sir?" Hahli looked up at Tahu as he sat up one night, looking out at the stars. This wasn't the same cave they'd first met in; rather, this was their third, as the first had been difficult to find and the second had been discovered by Pohatu, whom Tahu had a sneaking suspicion would want to join in if he had the chance. This conversation was taking place during a scouting mission the two were on.

"Love?" Tahu frowned. "What's brought this on?"

"Well, don't people who do what we're doing say they're in love?"

"Well..." Tahu turned around. "Yes, I-I suppose I do love you, Hahli. Now go to sleep; we've got a long day ahead of us."

Obliging, the Toa of Water fell asleep. Tahu remained up, his mind debating one question...

Was he really in love with Hahli?

Give yourself a shake and turn around

It's all so simple

Are you still way ahead?
Do you think you'd chase me?
Are you gonna chase me?

And then, of course, the inevitable. He'd written a letter to Hahli, a silly little thing really, in a code they'd developed, detailing the location of their next little meeting because Tahu felt that they still weren't safe enough, that they were being watched. Pohatu didn't count, of course, because he a) didn't care about who he was watching and b) still owed Tahu for helping him out during a Bohrok attack a few years prior.

He'd sent the letter to Hahli, with the instructions to burn it as soon as possible. How could he have guessed that she'd take it to the nearest campfire, which just happened to be Onua's?

Onua, that great swordsman, had caught a glimpse of the letter as Hahli was dropping it in the flames and managed to retrieve it once she had gone.

It had only been a matter of time before the news reached Gali.

"Hey, sweetie," Tahu said, smiling, as he walked through the front door. "I'm home!"

Silence.

"Hello?" Tahu began looking around for his fiancée. He found her in the kitchen, with a unreadable look on her face.

"Is everything okay, sweetie?"

"Don't call me sweetie, you sick bastard." The harshness of Gali's tone— she rarely lost her temper— sent waves of panic through Tahu's mind.

Did she know?

"Sorry?" Gali glared. "I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Oh, really? Explain THIS." She pushed a piece of paper in Tahu's face, and then his world began to crumble.

Hahli,

Meet me by the northeast oasis; our current place isn't safe anymore.

Love,

Tahu

"I didn't mean to, honest!" Tahu stared at Gali. "She came on to me, honest!"

Gali snorted. "I don't believe you. You two have been going on behind my back, haven't you? Onua told me."

"And since when has anything Onua ever said been accurate?"

"This is. How long was it for? Weeks? Months? Years?"

"Gali, I don't know who you're getting your information from, but—"

"Who? You, evidently! This is your signature! With Hahli's name! The whole nine yards, Tahu!"

"Calm down, sweetie. I know you're upset, but—"

"UPSET? Of COURSE I'm upset! You promised to never betray me; hell, we're getting married!"

"Yes, we are!"

"Not anymore we aren't." The force with which Gali spoke those words made Tahu feel as though the earth was about to crumble beneath his feet.

"Goodbye, Tahu." She headed through the door. "I wish you hadn't even come home. Thanks for taking my trust and screwing it, you bastard."

Then she was gone.

What'd you do in Dallas?
What'd you do to my trust?
Why'd you even come home?
What'd you do in Dallas?

What'd you do in Dallas?

What'd you do to my home?

Give yourself a shake and turn around

Give yourself a shake and turn around...