Lego owns Bionicle and the name Ketongu. Hasbro owns Transformers. Galem owns the characters: Tali, Ava, Amber, Iris, Diego, Alyan, Adhira, Valera, and Kasar.

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Chapter 9: TATF Base

Amber stood in Alyan's room, glaring holes into the Toa Rahayu of Stone as he cleaned his sword. She had stormed in an hour earlier when she had overheard his conversation with Z in passing and she was livid.

"I already agreed." Alyan's tone was bored, as he payed no attention to her increasing glare. "There is no turning back now."

"Yes, there is, Alyan!" Amber pressed, her volume steadily increasing as she talked. "You can still call it off! Please, we've been through this already. You need to..."

"Forget it, Amber!" Alyan yelled as he quickly stood and whirled around to face her, cutting her off and causing her to cringe a bit at his volume. "I'm not forgiving him for what he did to me! Just leave me alone!" Before Amber knew what had happened, she felt a rough shove on her chest and found herself on the floor, looking up at her teammate's back. Why was he acting like this? She wondered. He has never lashed out like this at any of us before. It confused her. True, she knew he was bitter over the subject of his father but at least he listened to them. What had happened to her friend? Amber decided to try a different approach.

"We taught you better than this, Alyan." She slowly got back on her feet, being careful to keep her voice calm. "I cannot believe that you would bury yourself so deep in hatred to throw everything out the window just like that." She waited for a response, holding her breath as she listened, bracing herself for another hit or angry retort. But when he did not respond and remained stubbornly silent for the longest few minutes Amber had ever experienced with him, she sighed sadly and walked toward the door. But just before she stepped out, she paused and looked over her shoulder. "Remember this, Alyan. Jesus died for all our sins, including your father's. If you have accepted His mercy, why can't you extend it to your dad?" She lingered in the doorway for a bit, waiting. When the silence prevailed, Amber stepped out, closed the door and left him to himself, silently praying that he would make the right choice soon.

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As Pow walked down one of the longer halls of the base, he felt very nervous. He was currently on his way to Amber's room to sort of catch up on their conversation on the plane. As he continued walking down said hall, numerous thoughts raced through Pows head. 'What is Amber going to say when she sees me visit? Is she going to be nervous? Scared? Uncomfortable? Happy? Glad? Is she going to break off our friendship? Did she find me creepy when I admitted my feelings to her? Will she treat me like her enemy again'? That last one Pow wouldn't take very well, as he did value his recent friendship with the female Toa of Ice regardless of the circumstances that led to said friendship. But the one question that popped up most was: 'Does she like me too'? 'Probably not'. He thought, as they had both been so harsh towards each other before becoming friends. What if she was still trying to figure out how she felt? What if she said it would be too soon to be in a relationship?

Upon then hearing some yelling between her and Alyan, he wondered: 'What if her argument with Alyan will make her lash out at me'? He didn't know why Alyan and Amber were arguing, but from the volume of their voices, and the thud followed by a bit of silence, he could easily tell it wasn't your typical friendly meet up. He almost became enraged upon hearing the thud. 'If Alyan hit her or touched her the wrong way, I don't care HOW skilled with a sword he is, it'll take every Toabot in the base to keep me off of him'. He thought, ragefully storming in the direction of Alyan's room.

Pow's train of thought and his walking both came to a surprised halt upon spotting Amber coming around the corner, almost running into her. Pow had to fight not to stare for too long at her. Her blonde hair. Her bright green eyes. Her perfectly structured Huna. Her slightly muscular arms and body structure. Everything about her made Pow calm down almost instantly, and begin to think about how much he wanted to pour out his feelings for the female Toa Rahayu of ice once more. Or to hug her to calm her down if she was still angry at Alyan for whatever reason he still didn't know. But since he was still afraid and nervous about how she now thought of him, Pow simply remained silent and motionless as he waited for Amber to notice him.

Amber was focusing on the floor when she slightly glanced up and jumped at the sight of Pow inches away from her. Another step and they would have been on the floor in a tangled mess. "Oh! Hi, Pow." She smiled warmly but inside she was panicking. 'Oh, no. Did he hear my fight with Alyan? He looks upset. I don't want him to confront Alyan right now.'

"Hey". Pow responded with a nervous wave, a small smile replacing his upset look.

As much as Alyan doing as much as yelling at her upset him, Pow doubted that Amber wanted to see anyone else in a bad mood. 'But if I see him again, we are going to have a talk about him pushing his teammates, especially one that I have a crush on'. Pow thought angrily. For his sake, he hoped it was JUST a push. I he had found a bruise on Amber at any point of the day, he was seriously going to put a beating on him worse than Alyan's dad had years ago. Okay probably not THAT bad, but it'll still be bad enough to keep him from laying a hand on my girl'. He mentally facepalmed at the last two words to his previous though. 'Who am I kidding'? Pow thought. 'She's not my girl at the moment and I'll consider myself lucky if she EVER is'.

"Soo I just noticed, well HEARD, your conversation with Alyan". Pow said next. Then with a concerned look on his Kakama Nuva: "Care to tell me what that was all about"?

Amber let out a frustrated sigh. "Alyan agreed to let Z hunt and kill his father."

Pow's eyes widened. "WHAT"?

Amber nodded.

Pow only frowned as he responded: "I mean, I know what his dad did but... That's just wrong".

Not that Toa and Autobots weren't allowed to kill. That ancient rule prohibiting Toa from killing had been taken down years ago, and Autobots were soldiers and therefore killing was pretty much required. But both races were only required to kill if it was necessary. For example: If someone else's life was threatened or if a situation arose where there was no other option. Also the fact that Jesus Christ had died on the cross for the sins of all many years ago, giving all people an opportunity to change their ways and praise him to save themselves. As bad as he knew Kasar (Alyan's dad) was, even Pow didn't doubt that if Kasar was given enough time, maybe he COULD change. But seeing as Alyan was refusing to believe that, and going as far as to send Z to assassinate him, Alyan was being unmerciful, and therefore disgraceful in his duty as a Toa.

"I know. But he STILL won't listen to reason. When it comes to his dad, he is firm in his desire for revenge." She ran a hand over her mask in frustration. "Ugh! I thought we managed to get through to him. I thought that when he sees and experiences God's love, he would let go of that anger. Looks like I was wrong."

Pow shrugged. "I don't know about that. Just don't give up hope".

Sure, Alyan seemed a tad arrogant and in over his head, but that didn't make Pow doubt that Alyan still had a chance of changing. As long as there was life in any one person, that person was always more than capable of change by their own accord. Sure, not everyone would change before for their final day, but until said day came, they were capable of accepting God's unconditional love through his son Jesus Christ, and then spreading that love through their words and actions. Even after Alyan had majorly ticked off Pow earlier, he wouldn't give up on him as far as that went.

"Okay, I won't." Amber frowned, still wondering when Alyan would forgive his father.

"Good". Pow responded, happy that Amber wouldn't give up on her teammate either. But almost immediately, Pow had become nervous upon gazing back at Amber's mask, trying to avoid her gorgeous green eyes so as not to frighten her as he asked in a bit of a nervous tone: "So uh... How have you been"?

"As good as can be expected, all things considered." Amber shrugged with a half-hearted smile. After Xanthium's betrayal and attack, worrying about Paradox and Diego, fretting over the shadow of war once more over that and Alyan having snapped and shoved her...yeah, she was just peachy.

"Hm". Pow responded then, remaining silent for what felt like hours as he thought hard about what to say to her next.

Now that Pow had just stupidly, he said stupidly since it was pretty clear how Amber had been doing, asked her how she was doing, there wasn't much else he could think of to ask. 'Maybe I could ask her if she had seen a movie recently, and we could talk about it for a while'. He nearly facepalmed at that thought, as the nearest movie theater was a city away, and the only time any of them got to see a movie was when everyone in the base was required to vote on what movie they wanted to see that month. This month it was supposed to be the newest Batman movie, and everyone was still waiting for said movie to arrive so bringing that up would be kinda pointless. 'Maybe I could ask her if she wants to go grab a bite from somewhere'? The thought immediately sounded bad, as Amber would immediately suspect he was asking her out, and if she wasn't into him that conversation probably wouldn't have ended well.

There was one thing that he DID want to ask her though, and as risky as it seemed at the moment, the mere thought of asking this question just wouldn't leave Pow alone. Pow took a deep breath then, preparing for a negative response to the question he was about to ask, or perhaps a: "Can we PLEASE not talk about that right now"?, from the female Toa of ice. Not that he wanted her too, or even wanted to suspect her of responding that way with them being friends and all, but seeing as how Amber's day had been going so far, her response was close to unpredictable.

"Have you been... Thinking about... What happened on the plane"? Pow asked her nervously, a blush forming on his mask.

Pow was of course referring to the time he had confessed his feelings to Amber after the battle in the Mayan Ruins. Ever since that day, up till now of course, the two had barely spoken a word to each other and it was still unclear to the Toa Voya of Stone whether or not Amber had had the same feelings or not, which made this question all the more terrifying for him to ask. His heartlight pounded rapidly in fear at the thought of being rejected right then and there, as he deeply valued their friendship, and feared that Amber may try to break it off simply because Pow had brought that conversation up. Not that he thought Amber was that kind of person, but considering they had been bitter enemies before hand, he certainly wouldn't blame her if she did, in fears that any relationships with him wouldn't work out in the end. If she felt otherwise, and decided to give this a shot however, Pow would try his hardest to make Amber feel comfortable and loved around him.

Amber frowned a bit. She knew what he was talking about and it had been running endlessly through her mind since it happened. "Yeah...a lot."

Pow tensed a bit upon seeing her frown, though being sure not to make it noticeable. Pow didn't know if Amber's frown was caused due to being uncomfortable or not so he decided to sort of ease his way into what he needed to say next. Of course he cared about Amber being comfortable around him, but he still needed to confess his feelings for her at least one more time, just so he could see if Amber had felt the same way. Of course he was terrified of the thought, hence his scared thoughts earlier. Heck, he was STILL terrified, but if he didn't get a definite answer from Amber, a possibility of the two ever getting the chance to be together may have never been acted on, and Pow didn't want that. Pow wanted to at least take one chance at a life with Amber as his girlfriend, rather than pass that opportunity up forever.

"Well, I've been thinking about it too". Pow responded. "A lot". He teased, earning a small smile from the pretty Toa of Ice. "And I'm thinking..."

Amber's curious, green eyes looked up at him, interested. "Thinking what?"

Pow let out a shaky breath, looking at the ground to compose himself and ultimately force himself to calm down, before finally looking into Amber's reflective eyes as he said: "I'm still in love with you. And ever since the day I told you, those feelings have been getting stronger everyday, and no matter how hard I try to suppress this feelings they always come back, so I've decided not to fight them anymore because I can't do it anymore. So, what I'm wondering from here is..." He took another deep breath. "Do you feel it too"?

Pow honestly hoped that she did. If Amber didn't feel even remotely the same way as he did for her, Pow would probably crawl into whatever hole he could find and wait in it to starve and die. As depressing and sort of childish as that may have sounded, Amber meant so much to Pow. Possibly even more than even he currently realized. Heck, the very thought of being without her sounded wrong, and he really wanted her in his life more than most things, and as much as he didn't want their friendship to perish, he wanted more. Truth be told, he had no idea whether or not she felt the same way, she hadn't exactly given any definite signs of attraction to him. Just the thought of being rejected made his heartlight hurt like Karazahni, but this could be his only chance to ever be anything more with her, so he decided in the end, as long as he tried the heartlight-break would be worth it.

"Yes, I do." Amber smiled at him softly. True, she had been mad at him when they first met, but even during those arguments, she remembered how hurt she felt because she cared for him so much but she was too stubborn to admit it. She tried to escape it with going after The Toabot War Machine, but her heartlight still called to Pow.

As Pow heard Amber's answer, all he could do was widen his eyes in surprise. After all they had been through when they had first met, Pow was in disbelief. Though he had desperately wanted Amber as his life partner, he could never imagine that a female as intelligent and beautiful as her would ever want him the same way. For a second, Pow had even been sure that Amber would've said no. Needless to say, Pow was so happy to be wrong. After a few seconds of just standing there in disbelief, Pow ran to the female and pulled her close, in a tight and thankful hug.

Amber hugged him back tightly. "I'm sorry it took me so long to realize how I felt for you."

Pow smiled brightly, a tear falling from his right eye and sliding down his mask as he responded: "Don't be. It was worth the wait".

Amber hugged him happily, so so happy that Pow felt for her the same way she felt for him. It was a large burden off her shoulders. And that they had been friends before admitting their love...it was better than anything she could imagine or dream.

Both slowly broke their hug a few seconds later as they heard laughing from a friend approaching, both curious as to why she was laughing. A few more seconds passed before Robert and Ava appeared from around a corner a short distance away from the new couple. Robert had an arm wrapped around his girlfriend, a sly smirk on his mask as Ava was still laughing. Pow and Amber immediately smiled at the sight of them, happy to see that they weren't the only people who were having a good day.

Ava was laughing as she spoke. "No way am I naming him Robert. How about David?"

Amber smiled. Obviously, the two were planning ahead for their future together as they were apparently discussing baby names. She just hoped that whatever they named their kid, it wouldn't be hard to pronounce.

Robert chuckled. "Come on Cuddle-cutie. Robert II"?

"No. How about Christian?" Ava chuckled, seriously trying to figure out why he wanted to name their future kid after himself.

Robert had a thoughtful look. "Hmmm..."

'Christian DOES sound like a cool name'. Robert thought. 'Then again, David is okay too. But it would also be cool to have a kid named after yourself'. Robert could never quite figure out why, but he found the concept of a kid named after their dad or mother to be pretty cool. Robert Downey Jr. for example seemed like a cool name all on it's own, and he thought Gresh Jr. would've been an okay name as well. Then again, Robert wouldn't like the idea of naming of her Ava, should any of their future children be a girl. As sweet of a gesture as it may have been, he would constantly have to specify which Ava he was talking to, something he was sure would annoy Ava after a while, so that idea was definitely not an option.

Pow approached the couple quickly, Amber behind him as he stopped Robert's train of thought with a question: "Hey Rob, what if it's a girl"?

Robert smirked immediately, responding humorously: "Then we name it Robert".

Ava threw her head back in a roar of laughter at the thought. "Robert isn't a girl's name."

"It made you great-laugh". Robert responded, still smiling. "Maybe it's just a good-funny name. How about Roberva"?

Pow rolled his eyes. "Good luck with THAT one".

"Ah, no." Ava giggled. "Why not something like, Hadassah or Astrid?"

Robert shook his head. "Not great-sure on Astrid". 'Especially not after how that name was remembered in The Office'. Robert thought. Then smiling and kissing Ava on the cheek: "I actually good-liked David now that I serious-think".

"I like David as well." Ava smiled.

As Robert and Ava continued talking, he turned his head to look at Amber, who was still watching Ava and Robert's conversation with that curious expression that he had always thought was cute. Like a kitten trying to understand what her owner was telling her. The glisten in her green eyes and blonde hair from the overhead lights only added to her attractiveness. All Pow could do was smile and think about how lucky he was that Amber liked him back as he stared at these features.

Any other guy could've swept her off of her feet and carry her away forever. Heck, War Machine almost had that chance and they probably would've gotten together if he didn't like going to see gory war films. But Amber had already seen the battlefield and what war was really like, so Pow guessed she didn't like it because she didn't to relive war over and over like War Machine preferred it. A decision that Pow totally respected as he wasn't really into war films himself.

Also, Amber was just so beautiful that Pow doubted that none of the others didn't want her. Sure, all the females in the Rahayu were attractive, but Pow always thought that Amber had been the most beautiful, having features so unique that the other females couldn't replicate her looks even if they tried. Just looking at her made Pow's heartlight beat faster as the side of her mask drew his Kanohi Pakari Nuva quickly close. So close that without thinking, Pow planted a soft kiss on Amber's cheek.

Pow immediately widened his eyes, in fear that his kiss on her cheek had been WAY too soon as he pulled quickly away from her cheek and stuttered a bit before speaking: "I am SO sorry, I should've asked first".

Pow was shaking now, afraid that Amber was going to call him out as a weirdo, break their relationship, and that they would be right back where they had started. He sure hoped not, as he sincerely and deeply cared for her more than he ever had any female prior to her. With the randomness of this cheek kiss however, Amber had more than enough of a reason to try to break up, and that thought only made him continue to shake as he stared fearfully at the female Toa Rahayu of ice, awaiting whatever words or actions would come next.

At first Amber had been taken aback by the kiss on her cheek, but she honestly hadn't mind it. So she was confused as to why Pow looked so panicked. A glance into his eyes told her what he feared and, with a smirk, she kissed his cheek in return to show him she didn't mind in the least. Pow widened his eyes in surprise, shocked that Amber kissed his cheek rather than tell him off. This shocked look was followed by a hot blush and a look of relief, immensely happy but also surprised. 'Maybe I'm more lucky than I initially thought'. Pow thought.

Robert simply smiled at this resisting the urge to chuckle as he turned his head to his own girlfriend with a smile. "I'd say they're even"? Robert joked.

"Indeed." Ava giggled while Amber blushed.

Pow simply smiled upon spotting Amber's blush on her Kanohi Huna, finding the look to be adorable. If he hadn't taken a risk in kissing her cheek earlier, he probably would've cuddled her close and talked to her for the rest of the day in a babying voice. 'Maybe I'll do that anyways'. Pow thought as he smirked.

As Pow tried to make up his mind on that matter, Robert looked at Ava, smiling at the smile on her beautiful green Kanohi Rau, along with the black and green streaked hair behind it. Whenever Ava smiled, or was in a happy mood, it always made Robert feel great, or better if he was having a crappy day. Robert opened his mouth, about to tell her something he had wanted to for a long time, but stopped. 'Was now really the right time'? Robert wondered. 'What if she didn't feel the same way'? True, they had been dating and their relationship was great so far, but what Robert wanted to say was something that normally wasn't said until about a month later the first date. Regardless, Pow had just taken a risk and somehow got off okay. Maybe he could too.

Robert closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, ready to face this fear head on as he opened his eyes and asked: "Ava"?

"Yes?" Ava looked up at him.

Robert took a few more moments to calm himself, before gazing into Ava's bright green eyes and responded: "I love you". Almost immediately, Robert began to panic inside, the same way Pow just had as he asked: "Was it time-right to honest-speak that"?

Ava responded with a bright smile. "Yes, it was. And...I love you too."

Robert smiled in relief, pulling his girlfriend close as he wrapped his arms around her in the form of a hug, immensely happy that the wind-maiden loved him too. He nearly chuckled then as a thought popped into his head: 'Man, is today lucky male day or something'?

A few seconds later, everyone heard a snicker, and turned to the sound of it, all of them spotting SkiJack who had a hand over his mouth as he chuckled in the manner of a child. It was very evident at this point that he had just seen and heard enough from the others. 'But just how much had the Toabot heard'? Pow wondered. For all they knew, the Toabot of Ice had probably heard everything, from Pow and Amber getting together, to Robert confessing to Ava that he loved her.

"SkiJack?" Ava asked. First, how did he get there without them noticing? Second, what was he doing there in the first place? And third, WAS HE GOING TO TELL EVERYONE?!

Just as Ava had said his name, SkiJack smirked wider and took off running towards a nearby group of Toa and Toabots, whom already seemed to be deep in conversation. Pow nearly facepalmed, almost wishing he and Amber had found somewhere else and more private to talk. Not that he minded everyone knowing his new relationship with Amber, he just didn't like the thought of being spied on and then bragged about, and he doubted that Amber liked it either.

Robert widened his eyes as he noticed the speed that SkiJack was currently running, just to get this new info to his friends/associates as he wondered aloud: "How desperate are they to quick-know everything"? 'One could outrun a Toa wearing a Kakama on caffeine at speeds like that'! Robert thought humorously but quietly, not knowing whether or not now was the appropriate time to crack that joke.

"I have no idea." Ava responded. "But it does seem that news spreads like wildfire around here." 'So much for the surprise announcement she had been planning. Now, what am I gonna do?'

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Biomarvel740: The discussion between Robert and Ava is from the Walking Dead game, which I don't play anymore. MAN, those games are vulgar. And Robert's last suggestion, I got that from a YTP of the same game, which I cannot think of the name for right now. The thought from Pow about being without Amber is sort of from Legends of Korra (Owned by Nickelodeon), which I am not really a big fan of. Avatar TLA was WAY better. XD Also, the Office is owned by NBC. What did you all think of this chapter?

Galem: Please leave us a review or send us a PM if you have any questions.

Biomarvel740: We thank you all for reading-

Galem: and please...

Biomarvel740 and Galem: Have a God-blessed day! XD :D