It was a good day for a walk around the forest. The Tortuga's lovebirds (mostly Koki) took the opportunity to observe the forest.
"I needed to get out of the Tortuga for a bit. I'm glad you agreed to come with me, Jimmy."
Jimmy was eating some of the chiparoos he carried in his basket. "Well, you insisted. And you know I can't resist your "cute face"."
The female Fire Guardian chuckled at this. "One of the things girls can do and most dudes can't." She took a cookie from the basket and began eating it.
"Really?" Jimmy looked at her with glowing eyes. Koki shook her head and kissed his cheek.
Suddenly, they noticed the sky was getting cloudy.
"Uh-oh. I think it's going to rain, and we're pretty far from the Tortuga." Koki noticed. She got her Creaturepod to warn the others. But no one answered. "Oh, yeah. Chris, Martin and Aviva are trying to find a weapon for her. I think they'll take a while to return."
Suddenly, they heard a thunder. Jimmy freaked out with the sound. But this made him jump high enough to see a cave ahead.
"Quick. To that cave!" He pointed out the way.
The two ran for the temporary shelter. Once inside, they sat against the wall of the cave. They made it in time before it started pouring outside. Koki sighed in relief.
"That was close. I hope the others go back to the Tortuga soon."
"Me too." Jimmy brought his girlfriend closer to him for extra warmth for both of them. Koki accepted and snuggled up even closer.
"Yeesh, it is pouring out there," Martin commented. He, Chris, Aviva, Mina, and Bite-Size had returned to the Tortuga not too long ago. They didn't succeed in finding Aviva's weapon yet, but at least they weren't doused by Zeus's scheduled storm.
"Oh, a note." Aviva grabbed a piece of paper left close to Koki's computer. "Guys, in case you don't find me and Jimmy in the HQ, we went for a walk and we'll be back later. XO, Koki."
A thunder made Bite-Size shriek and hid behind Mina. "Didn't they know that a storm was coming?" he asked.
"Well, maybe they thought it would rain later," Martin thought.
"Well, we need to contact them," Aviva said.
"We don't have a signal here," Chris pointed out. "Must be because of the storm. I only hope they found someplace to stay..."
Koki's head leaned on Jimmy's chest, while both were eating. Sometimes they shared a chiparoo in a Lady-and-the-Tramp style.
"You know, this rain brings me some memories..." Jimmy commented. "Remember when we were observing Crocodilla?"
The Tortuga was parked on the other side of a river. It was raining hard.
"Raining hard out there," Jimmy commented. "What's up with the croc?"
"Guess." Koki pointed out to the screen: Chris was shivering in the rain, while Martin slept comfortably in the crocs' nest.
"Yeah... but actually rain brings another thing to my mind..." Koki sighed, as she remembered.
"Told you bats were trouble," Koki muttered, while trying to call the Kratt brothers. "Wait a second! There's a thunderstorm!" she said, as she noticed the real cause of the communication fail.
The bat's tree appeared on the screen. And soon, was hit by a lightning... with the Kratt bros in it, with Bat powers!
"Oh, no..." Martin said, as the tree fell apart, and they lost communication.
"The storm knocked out our signal! I'll try to re-stablisah the connection," Koki said. After succeding in re-stablishing, she, Jimmy and Aviva gasped. But soon the Kratt bros appeared, flying with their bat wings.
"We're okay..." Martin said, panting. "But Bite-Size and the rest of the bats are really shaken up!" He and Chris flew to the destroyed tree.
"And their shelter... their protection... their home has been totally destroyed..." Chris said with a sad tone.
"Poor little things..." Koki felt pain on her chest. "Why was I so mean to them?" She asked as she saw Bite-Size's sad face. "They're just... cute little fuzzballs who need a home."
Koki sighed. That adventure left a huge scar in her heart. She just couldn't accept that she was such a beast with Bite-Size and his friends.
Jimmy patted her on the back. "Hey, you learned your lesson. And Bites forgave you... like millions of times."
"Yeah... still... such a hard thing to forget," Koki sighed. Jimmy offered her some Chocolate Zucchini Bread. He knew that was her favorite between all his recipes.
"Gosh, Jimmy, your Grandma Jimmena taught you such great recipes," she said, cheering up a little.
"Yeah, my grandma was a skilled chef. She taught me lots of recipes for all ocasions..." Jimmy started remebering about his childhood.
"Grandma Jimmena always took care of me while my mom was out helping my uncle Harry with the videogame business. We had lots of good times…
Felt like nothing could go wrong.
But one day, I came into the kitchen to find it burnt in some places. Grandma Jimmena told me not to worry about it, saying that the oven went on the fritz for some seconds. That didn't ease me. I could tell she was lying, but I didn't bug her about it."
Koki looked up at him.
"How old was the oven? Because if it was new, there's no way it should act like that."
"Exactly. She had just gotten it a few months prior to the incident. And ever since that day, she would look at me like something bad will happen. She would also try to keep as much space between us as she could. I just didn't know why."
"Oh my..."
"Yup." Jimmy wrapped his arm around her. "So, you said you were Aviva's roommate. How did you girls meet?"
"Well, we were both attending a university that specialized in technology. I was in computer classes and Aviva was taking mechanical engineering. And coincidentally, we got the same dorm. At first, we would only say a few words to each other. Then we had a project where we had to give a survey of another class. So we interviewed each other. After all was said and done, I don't know, it suddenly turned into a girl's night. We were best friends ever since.
"You know, sometimes I feel like It was meant for me to meet Aviva. And the same goes for the bros and most of all, you."
Jimmy blushed. "Yeah..." Then, he saw a picture from Koki's pocket. "Is that a family photo?"
"Yup. My mom, my dad and big brother Joey." Koki showed him. "And this little tyke in pigtails is me. I used to wear glasses until I decided to put contacts."
"Cool. So that's your brother when he was younger? Hard to believe he grew up to become a jerk," Jimmy said, making Koki chuckle.
"You said it. He taught me some bad stuff...
"He's the one that told me that bats were monsters, just like bugs. For a long time, I believed him.
"Then one day, I saw that he had burn marks on his hands. I didn't know why, but whenever he saw me, he acted like I will hurt him and then suddenly act nice. He didn't do that before the burns appeared. When mom and dad would ask about it, he always said that they wouldn't believe him. He kept distance from me for years until he went back to normal, which was not completely good."
"Wow. Almost sounds exactly like with Grandma Jimmena."
"Might or might not be coincidence." Koki let out a yawn. "And I guess I should've gone to bed before recalibrating the security terminal." Jimmy chuckled.
"I only hope the storm ends soon." Jimmy kissed her lips before bidding goodnight and falling asleep along with her.
The storm was getting worse. And everyone in the Tortuga was worried about Jimmy and Koki.
"Still no connection with them?" Aviva asked Chris. He may not be a computer professional like Koki, but he knew a lot more than Martin and could patch a link or two.
"Yeah, still nothing," he replied. "I don't even think that if Koki was here, she would could either."
"Great. So not only are they stranded out there till morning, but we can't even check to see if they're all right."
"Oh, they're all right," Martin assured her with a matter-of-fact voice and a smirk. Everyone looked at him confused stares.
"How would you know that?"
"From these." The blonde held up his and Chris's medallions. They were glowing brightly. Aviva looked at her own, but nothing was happening.
"Why are they reacting like that?"
"Remember, Aviva, the bros combined represent three of the elements," Mina explained. "Bravery, Mercy, and the sixth element Love. And Love is the only element they share. So if both are reacting like this, there must be some strong love out there nearby."
"And that love belongs to Jimmy and Koki?"
"Precisely." The little girl let out a tired yawn.
"Okay, time for bed little sister," Martin said, picking her up and putting her in her pink hammock. She fell asleep immediately. The blue brother then yawned himself. "And that goes for us too."
"You sure?"
"They'll be okay, Aviva," Chris assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "They have each other. If anyone can get through a storm, it's them." Aviva smiled at that before they went to their hammocks.
Five year old Koki peeped into her brother's room, waiting for him to wake up. She knew she wasn't permitted to enter, so she didn't dare to. But he was supposed to be watching her since mom is at the store and dad is at work.
"Hi. Whatcha doin'?"
"Nothin'. Just restin'," he answered.
"So... can we go to the park?" Koki asked.
"I don' know, sis. There are many blood-thristy freaks there."
"You don't know that. And I'll never start off good in school if I don't know how to act around people. I need to be around other kids like me, big brother."
"It's not safe out there for you. We're staying inside and that's final." Koki pouted in frustration and disappointment. The only time she can ever go outside is when their parents were with her. But she never got to talk to kids her age.
"Fine. I'll..." She got a lump in her throat, but she immediately swallowed it. She put on a brave face, even if she was a little scared of getting in trouble. "I'll go by myself." With that, Koki turned around and started heading down the long stairs that lead to the living room and the front door. As she reached the bottom, she heard her brother's door slam open and Joey rushing out.
"You're not leaving this house unless I say so! You listen to me!" Her fear instantly returned. He charged down the stairs and she screamed as she tried to escape by running through the well furnished house. Joey followed her every turn till she hid on the other side of the couch. The little girl peeked over the covers and didn't see him coming toward her.
Suddenly, Joey's hands grabbed one of her wrists and had a firm grip. Caught off guard and scared for life, she shrieked at the top of her lungs and tried pulling his hands off her. For some reason, her free hand started to feel warm and there came a shriek of pain. Koki looked at her hands, and was shocked to see them engulfed in flames and not feel any burning. She looked at her brother. His hands were covered in black marks as he cradled them. Did she do that?
"J-Joey?" The sister slowly walked up to him. "Did I do this to you?" When he noticed her, he looked like what she probably did earlier. "Please tell me, Joey. What's happening to me?"
"... What are you?" That made her come to a complete stop. Did... did he just...?
"Joey please! You have to help me!"
"Then just don't come near me!" He pushed her to the TV stand. Her world started becoming dark and rather chilly. She eventually blacked out.
Koki woke up scared. Was that a nightmare or a past childhood memory? She couldn't tell or remember doing anything like that. Well, the Kratt Brothers once had their memories 'erased', so maybe it was the same for her?
She also saw she was laying all alone, with Jimmy's shirt covering her. She looked back and saw Jimmy lighting up the cave with some fireballs, to keep them warm.
When he heard her moving, he looked at her. The gamer saw a glimpse of fear in her eyes. "You okay?" he asked.
"I... think so," she answered unsurely. "I had a crazy dream that my brother was chasing me around the house and when he caught me... I burnt his hands." Jimmy's eyes widened.
"You too?" She had wide eyes too at that question.
"What do you mean?"
"I had something similar.
"I was in the kitchen with my grandma, baking chiparoos. Suddenly, there was this big rat that came scampering inside to eat the cookies. Specifically the one I was holding. It chased me all over the kitchen, and Grandma Jimmena tried to hit it with a broom. What I didn't realize was that as I ran, I was kicking off... flames. They scattered all over the kitchen, leaving whatever touched them burnt. Once, it almost hit the rat and it ran away scared. Grandma Jimmena looked as scared as the rat did. Unfortunately, one of the flames burnt all the way through a wooden shelf with metal baking sheets and one fell on my head. I was knocked unconscious after that."
"Bizarre..." Koki said. "You don't think... we..."
"No, I don't think so. After the thing I told ya, Grandma started letting me help her again like nothing happened."
"But it happened with the Bros. After the second attack on them by the Lupus, Athena pretty much sealed their powers and memories of even having them, remember? And everything in their lives went on smoothly without their mom questioning them. If we can't remember the reason why those things happened in the first place and it suddenly slides after a while to the family, then that might be what happened to us too. Only, we probably developed amnesia and never learned to use those powers so they never showed."
"You really think that we're like the Brothers Kratt?" her boyfriend asked, looking down at his hands and made fireballs appear in them. "Born with strange powers?"
"Well, I guess we'll have to ask Luna just in case. It's just a hypothesis that I figured would make sense for our situation."
"Well, maybe." Jimmy roasted some marshmallows for them both and came back to his girl's side.
"The storm's calming down, but it's too dark out there," Koki said. "This reminds me of the prank I made with you during the Masked Bandits day."
"This veggie-cleaner will make it super easy to make desserts for the party tonight," Aviva said.
Suddenly, the lights turned off.
"What's that?" Jimmy asked, getting scared.
"Hang on, I gotta a flashlight here somewhere," Aviva said, as she looked or seemed to look after the flashlight. "Flashlight..flashlight..."
A silhouette climbed on the desk, and turned on the flashlight on its face. "BOO!"
Jimmy freaked out, knocking the pumpkins out of Aviva's station and ending up with one on his head.
Aviva turned the lights on, chuckling with Koki.
"Gotcha," Koki said.
"I knew it was..." Jimmy was saying, until he turned back to his normal calm tone. "...knew it was Koki the whole time. *chuckle* Very funny..."
Koki and Jimmy chuckled, remembering that. "You're good at pranks," JZ commented.
"Well, having Joey as my brother had some benefits." Koki winked.
"Oh, and other nighttime adventure I remember is the..." Jimmy stood up. "Gecko Effect!" Jimmy posed like he did in that adventure anytime the brothers said that two words.
"Oh, the Gecko Effect one was really interesting...but it became dangerous after Zach sneaked into the Tortuga and stole the Miniturizer," Koki said.
Zach spied the miniturized Wild Kratts, curious about what they were talking about. Martin took that opportunity.
"I'm fine with these mini-animals he's throwing in here..." Martin started his act. "...but I just hope Zach doesn't throw in here a real-size gecko. That would totally freak me out!"
"Catch that salamander thingy!" Zach ordered the Zachbots. "Ha-ha! I heard you!" The robots picked up the gecko.
Once they threwed into the pot, the gecko held firmly in the glass walls.
Martin started acting again once the gecko was in there. "*gasp* A...ge-ge-ge-ge...GECKO! GECKO! GECKO!"
Zach laughed. "He's such a scaredy Kratt."
When he turned his back on the crew, Martin stopped acting. "Scaredy Kratt, huh? We'll see who gets the last laugh."
The Kratt bros activated their gecko lizard powers, and started climbing on the walls. Martin tried to call their gecko friend, while Chris climbed carrying the crew, who were holding his tail and each other.
"Wow... we passed through so much stuff together," Koki noticed. "I wonder if our diary is big enough for more."
"*yawn* Maybe..." Jimmy said. "I'm tired."
Koki yawned too. "Me too. Let's get back to sleep." She snuggled close to Jimmy as they both fell asleep.
After a few morning hours, a ray of sunlight broke through the cloud. One by one, the cloud broke apart and some pieces drifted away. The couple poked their heads out of the cave. "Ah, sunlight," Koki sighed in relief. "Thought I'd never see it again."
"Eh, the sun's bright," Jimmy started. "But not as bright as you, cupcake." Koki giggled at the comment.
"Thanks sugarcube." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. As they stood up, Koki's Creature Pod began ringing.
"Koki! Jimmy! Come in!" Aviva's voice came in a string of worry.
Suddenly, something started moving the cave's walls. "Uh-oh! We have a problem!"
Plenty of rocks fell in front of the cave's opening.
The signal began fuzzing up. Jimmy made another fireball in his Hans to light the cave. "Guys, where are you?" Aviva shouted over the static.
"We're now trapped in a cave a mile from the Tortuga! Sending you the coordinates!" She got the location sent just before the connection died.
In the cliff above, the lone Lupus Phantasma stood, smirking at their work.
"Fire can't breathe without air," Paris pointed out.
"So that's two down, one to go," Maximilian said. Both chuckled evilly before departing.
Koki gasped as she saw Jimmy's fire fading.
"Oh, no! No air, no fire!"
"Both enough to keep the flame going!" But just before the fire went out, they heard the block entrance crumble. Vine and ice harpoons had broken the blockade. Outside was the team, relieved to see them all right.
"Thank goodness you're here!" Koki said, being helped by Aviva and embracing her.
"Are you two okay?" the Air Guardian asked.
"We're okay. We weren't hurt. But we do now have some questions for Luna."
"Like what?"
"We'll explain when we get back home."
"Okay." Koki hopped onto Aviva's Buzz Bike and Jimmy got on Martin's. Chris and Mina were already sharing one. With everyone together, they flew back to the HQ.
"Dreams of having fire powers at childhood?" Luna questioned in surprise.
"Yeah, it was really weird," Jimmy replied. "And the weird thing was that it seemed to have really happened. My grandma's kitchen was burnt and so were Joey's hands. Not to mention our family members acted a little funny afterwards."
"Hmmm... Athena might have blocked your powers at a very young age, but I don't think you ended up hurting any of your relatives in such ways," the owl said. "There's something weird in your minds and we'll find out what."
"So, we're not like the bros?"
"Well, I didn't say that. I will ask Athena about it." The owl then took off through a portal.
When Luna came out, she was at the God's Circle, the meeting place for the gods. There stood Athena, looking down in the bowl like table that shows everything.
"I have seen your discussion," the goddess of wisdom informed her.
"Then you know why I came."
"Yes. Koki and Jimmy... Let me ask you Luna, and think about it. Don't they look familiar?" The owl put some thought into it. Then it all clicked together.
"They do look similar to THEM... In fact, the whole crew looked like the five."
"Indeed they do. Destiny brought them back together. If Eris dare to appear again, she will not stand a chance against them."
"Should we inform them? Especially Mina since..."
"No. It is not the right time to reveal who they once were. At least, not the rest of the team. Let us wait for the right moment, 'cause SHE is not ready to know that she was once the Gaia Guardian."
"The Gaia Guardian. It's been twenty five years since I heard that title. Yes, let us wait." Both looked down into the pool, seeing the team chatting about something. "Stay strong. Especially you... Flora."
