Disclaimer: I do not own Bionicle or any material related to Greg Farshtey or Lego in any way or form.
Note: I came up with this after I saw Nikira12's work entitled Fluff fluff fluff on deviantart. (She's the absolute goddess of human-Bionicle artwork, by the way). Afterward, I ran through my iPod for a song that would be appropriate for these two, and, oddly enough, "Kiss the Girl" seemed perfect for it. Gotta love the pretty obvious JxH in Mask of Light x] Anyway, in true form to Nikira12's work, I'll be describing the characters as human, not bio-mechanical. Thanks for reading!
It was an unusually hot day on the outskirts of the village of fire, and it didn't seem to be helping a certain Captain of the Guard any as he paced back and forth in the strategy room adjacent to his sleeping quarters, grumbling to himself. But it wasn't any strategic maneuvers that vexed him, oh no; it was a certain Ga-Matoran that kept creeping into his mind. He played images of her over and over in his mind: the way she'd smile and shrug nonchalantly as she passed him on her way to talk to Turaga Vakama about the kohlii match being held two days away; the way she smirked whenever she caught him staring at her, turning her face away from him to talk to other Ta-Matoran. Jaller positively growled, stalking over to the nearest wall and slamming his hands against the black rock, dragging them down harshly as he grit his teeth in agony.
"If I don't figure out why she's doing this to me, I'm going to go mad…" the captain thought to himself. He'd long ago acknowledged the fact that what he felt for the beautiful Ga-Matoran wasn't just friendship; he'd nearly smacked a Le-Matoran for trying to flirt with her after the Le-Koro/Ga-Koro kolhii match. Takua had barely managed to restrain him, much to Jaller's chagrin.
The captain let his forehead smack against the rough stone, his auburn bangs doing nothing to cushion the impact. No, his feelings went much, much deeper than friendship. As if on cue, Jaller's best friend and kolhii partner bounced through the doorway to the strategy room, hands clutching a pair of kolhii sticks.
"Hey! How ya doin' Jaller?" Takua smiled, oblivious to his friend's discomfort for the moment. Said captain groaned and ran a hand over his face, pushing himself away from the wall.
"Not so good, Takua." The Chronicler tilted his head, shaking his toffee-colored locks out of his eyes before regarding Jaller's tormented golden-brown eyes, aggravated face and the slump of his shoulders as he sat down heavily on a couch in the corner, face in his hands. Takua closed the door behind him and leaned the kolhii sticks against the wall next to it before walking over to his friend. The Chronicler sat down beside the captain and put his hand on the other's shoulder comfortingly. Takua knew of only one thing to make Jaller look like that.
"Hahli?" Jaller nodded wordlessly, face obscured by his hands.
"She's always in my mind, Takua. I can't focus on my work or kohlii, and Mata Nui, even Toa Tahu came by to talk to me!" Takua's face softened sympathetically. He knew how hard it was to try and concentrate when something else was on his mind: he'd only been wandering away from his work for the past thousand years or so ever since he'd first awoken on the sands of Mata Nui's beaches. Silence reigned for a few minutes in the strategy room, broken only by Jaller's frustrated sighs as he began to calm down. Suddenly Takua had an idea.
"Jaller! I've got it!" Said captain jumped at his friend's outburst, and he was immediately on guard, wary of whatever plan Takua had cooked up this time.
"…And what exactly do you have in mind, Takua?" The Chronicler was practically bouncing with glee, green eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Why don't you just kiss her?" It took Jaller a few seconds for those six words to register properly, before he opened his mouth in reply.
"And just what in the world made you think of that?" he cried. Takua shrugged.
"Hey, if you think about it, it'd be a pretty good way of telling her your true feelings. I mean," Takua looked a bit sly, "you've never been able to pull it off before." Jaller looked away from his friend, suppressing the desire to smash the couch's cushion against his head and fiercely telling himself he was NOT blushing. Takua chuckled and slapped Jaller's back good-naturedly.
"Come on, Jaller. Think about it later. I bet practicing kolhii would make you feel better. How about it?" The captain groaned and ran a hand through his hair as he got up to get his gear before heading out the door.
For once, Takua had been right. Practicing kolhii against some of the other Matoran who had come to Ta-Koro to watch the finals had effectively taken Jaller's mind off the situation with Hahli. The captain watched with pride as a ball that was previously headed straight for his goal bounced off his shield and landed just ahead of Takua, who easily scooped it up and hooked it out of an oncoming Onu-Matoran's way before throwing it into the Onu-Koro goal. The bell sounded the goal, the final one for the practice match, and the Ko-Matoran referee called the game, declaring Jaller and Takua the winners. Jaller smiled and laughed, wiping the sweat out of his eyes as he knocked his kolhii stick against the Onu-Matorans' congratulating them on a game well-played. They exchanged good-natured banter on their way out of the kolhii field so the next team could practice. It just so happened that the next team was Ga-Koro's.
"Oh no…" Jaller's eyes widened as he saw Hahli walking beside her teammate Macku, both girls dressed in kolhii practice gear, carrying their sticks and giggling over something their Le-Koro opponents had said. The Captain of the Guard felt himself shiver at how beautiful Hahli looked with her dark-blond hair tied into two braids down her back, her unruly bangs falling into her clear blue eyes. At the same time, he glared at the Le-Matoran talking to her, noticing all too keenly how the Le-Matoran's hand gripped hers a little longer than necessary after shaking her hand, how he stood a little too close for Jaller's comfort when talking to her, and it wasn't until Takua shook him—hard—that Jaller realized he was not only glaring, but growling again.
"Jaller! Let's go so Ga-Koro can practice!" The captain glanced at his friend, before looking back toward the other players and handing Takua his gear.
"Just put them in my room, Takua. I'll be back soon," he muttered, already stalking toward the too-friendly Le-Matoran.
"Hahli!" he called out. The Ga-Matoran turned around at the sound of her name, and her eyes widened when she saw who had called her.
"Jaller!" she smiled, running up to him. "Good game back there! But I didn't see the new move you and Takua have been talking about-"
"Hahli." The young woman fell silent as she looked up at the Ta-Matoran, confusion written all over her face. For his part, Jaller was trying to make the connection between his brain and his mouth so he could force the words he had bottled inside him out.
"I-I…l-l…" Hahli looked even more confused, pulling at the end of one of her braids to twirl it around her finger as she peered up at him. Jaller lifted his eyes from the floor and their gazes met, causing the Ta-Matoran to jerk his head up so he stared at a point just above her head. Hahli blinked and looked down, pretending to be interested in the gloves she wore for kolhii as she felt a blush spread across her cheeks.
"Um, would you meet m-me here tomorrow a-around sunset? A-And, um, bring your k-kolhii gear…" Jaller cringed inwardly at the slightly-strangled sound of his voice, and he felt himself beginning to sweat again. Hahli bit her lower lip & glanced up at him.
"Sure, Jaller." The Captain of the Guard was surprised that she had accepted so quickly, and he looked back down at her only to find her eyes—Mata Nui, her gorgeous eyes—looking up at him shyly, a faint tinge of pink staining her cheeks. Jaller felt his own blush deepen as he unconsciously leaned toward her, hypnotized by the depth of her brilliant blue orbs. Hahli felt a shudder go through her body at the look in Jaller's golden-brown eyes, and she reached up a hand as though to place it on his chest, lifting herself on tip-toe but the moment was shattered by Macku, who tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hahli-"
"Wha-! Who-? Wha-?" The Ga-Matoran spun around, nearly hitting Jaller in the face with her braids. "Oh, Macku. I'm sorry…" Macku had a strange look on her face, grinning as she watched Jaller shake his head slightly before stepping away from them toward a fast-approaching Chronicler. Hahli smiled sheepishly as she walked toward her friend, who was holding out a kolhii stick. The blushing Ga-Matoran took it as Takua came up behind Jaller, trying to hide a smile as he witnessed the scene between the two of them.
"…Well, Jaller, I think it's about time we left these fine Ga-Matoran and their Le-Matoran opponents to their game," Takua said in a loud voice, catching both Macku's and Hahli's attention. The Captain of the Guard nodded and turned on his heel, bringing a hand up to cover his face.
"Um, Jaller?" The Ta-Matoran froze, slowly looking over his shoulder at Hahli, who fidgeted with her kolhii stick.
"Um, tomorrow? Sunset? Kolhii gear, right?" Takua glanced at his friend, and watched in amazement at the small smile that spread over his lips.
"Tomorrow at sunset, Hahli," said Jaller, turning and breaking into a run. With every pounding of his feet against the stone floor of the field, Jaller's mind said Yes, yes, yes!
"Hey! Jaller, wait up!" shouted Takua, who took off after his friend, leaving the two Ga-Matoran behind. Macku glanced at Hahli, who stared wistfully after Jaller's retreating form. Once he was gone, she turned to her teammate and blushed anew at the knowing look Macku gave her.
"…All right, Macku. It's him," she muttered, shaking her head to clear it. Then she took up her kolhii stick and twirled it, calling out to the Le-Matoran team. "Now, who's up for some kolhii?"