Woot, more Visitors! This was requested a while ago by mazula, but I'd already wanted to do something involving this type of thing, so it just gave me an excuse. :)
There will be 3 more after this: the other Turaga, Pewku (finally found out who that reviewer was, it was Heart of Zero) and a really cool idea submitted by InTheLight1396. I won't go into the details, but I really like the idea, and it's a good way to wrap it up.
Yes, Visitors will be ending soon. I need to drop at least one thing right now and this is the logical choice. Plus I'm pretty much out of plot bunnies for this and I have other stuff to work on (cough Rahi Warrior cough). So requests for this are CLOSED. Permanently. Thanks for your understanding.
Thanks for reading, and please review! Constructive criticism is always highly appreciated.
*Bionicle belongs to Lego, and the song "Healing Waters" belongs to Lawrence Gowan. Canadian artists FTW!*

Though you rest alone in silence
We know you'll rise again
Lifted by the ones you touched
Who remain...

Matoro—Healing Waters

Matoro blinked and looked around. Okay, this is weird. Why aren't I dead? This doesn't make any sense. I should be dead! I put on the Mask of Life and revived Mata Nui, right? So why am I...wherever I am? Where am I?

Another look around revealed that he was at the Coliseum on Metru Nui, sitting in the Turaga's box, next to—

"Nuju!" he cried, leaping over to give his mentor a hug. But he passed right through him. "Wha...?" he whispered, dismayed and bewildered. He looked back at Nuju, who hadn't even noticed his assistant screaming his name and attacking him. Of course not, Matoro thought. I'm dead. I must be a ghost. Ugh, where's a Mask of Detection when you need one?

He looked over the edge of the box to see what was going on. Matoran filled the stands, and most were quiet and sombre. Matoro frowned and looked up. Yes, the stars were still there, meaning that Mata Nui was once again alive and well (asleep, but alive). Shouldn't they be rejoicing?

Then again, I have no idea how long I've been dead, he reminded himself. It could've been weeks, and something bad could've happened during that time.

"Matoran of Metru Nui."

Matoro jumped at the sound of Turaga Dume's voice right next to him. Dume could easily have been the ghost instead of Matoro—he hadn't even heard him come in!

Dume continued to speak in his deep, sombre voice. "Today has been a day for rejoicing—and mourning. For while the Great Spirit lives, we have lost one of our nobler souls in the struggle to keep him alive. Today, we mourn..." He paused, and at first Matoro thought it was for dramatic effect. Then he saw that he was trying to compose himself. "We mourn Matoro," he finished.

Then it hit Matoro. Oh, Great Spirit—I'm at my own funeral?

Another glance around confirmed it. There were the other Mahri—so they did make it, he thought, relieved—standing to one side, each of them looking like they were about to cry. Hahli was crying, Jaller holding her while he struggled to keep the tears out of his own eyes. Nuju's head was bowed, his hands folded in his lap, while Vakama patted his back reassuringly. Out in the crowd, amongst the Ko-Matoran, Matoro could see both Kopeke and Ehrye. Kopeke looked straight-faced as usual, but Ehrye seemed like he wasn't sure what to feel. Matoro didn't blame him; he probably would feel the same way.

Dume continued to speak, but Matoro wasn't listening anymore. Slightly hesitantly, he hopped over the side of the box. He'd half-expected to plummet to the ground, but being made of strictly protoplasm now, he floated. He was glad he'd been able to get flying practice with the Iden as an Inika, since now he simply flew over to where the Mahri were with no problems.

"Guys, it's me," he said. "I know you can't hear or see me, but I'm here! I just want to say that it's okay. You don't have to be sad; I did what I did willingly. It's okay, really!" He sighed; it was obvious none of this was getting through to them. Kongu suddenly turned and left. Frowning, Matoro followed. Then he found something he'd never expected.

Kongu was leaning against a wall, one hand over his mouth to stop himself from sobbing as tears poured down his mask. Needless to say, Matoro was shocked. Kongu had always been the goofball, the prankster! Matoro had never seen him cry before.

Leaving Kongu before he started to cry, too, Matoro headed out to the crowd. There was Kopeke, who, like Matoro, wasn't really paying attention to Dume. He had his head bowed, and was turning something over in his hands. Squinting, Matoro recognised it as the Chronicler's badge. Of course. Hahli's a Toa now, so they'd need a new Chronicler. A brief smile crossed his mask as he remembered what Hahli had said to him when they were together for the last time. "Maybe a Ko-Matoran, just to be different." From the look on Kopeke's face, he was having mixed emotions about the whole thing. Matoro went to pat his shoulder comfortingly, like he always did, but unsurprisingly his hand just passed through.

Matoro sighed. What was he doing here? Had he come back just to watch people be sad over him? What was the point of that? And how had he gotten here in the first place?

"That was me."

The former Ice Toa yelped and jumped a good three feet in the air at the sound of a voice behind him. Whirling, he saw the Ignika floating behind him, at mask level.

"What do you mean, 'that was me'?" he asked suspiciously.

"Not everyone gets to see what an impact he has on the lives of others." Matoro got the impression that if the Ignika could, it would have been smiling. "I've decided I like you, so I wanted to let you see for yourself."

Matoro turned back to the crowd. "But...they're all so sad. I don't want that."

The mask shifted, and if it had had a body, Matoro thought it would've shrugged. "They just lost a dear friend. What do you want them to do? Completely ignore your sacrifice?"

"No, but it'd be nice if they actually realised that I wanted to go, if it meant they'd live. This is...it's messed up."

The Ignika gave that invisible shrug again. "It's the way it is. Are you ready to go? My power can't keep you here much longer, you know; you're going to have to move on eventually."

"Just a second." Rising to the centre of the arena, he shouted, "Hey! Listen to me! I died willingly, okay? I don't mind if it means the rest of you are safe! I love you all...even those I don't particularly like." Ehrye came to mind with that particular statement. Brushing that off, he flew over to Nuju. "You especially, Turaga Nuju," he said shyly. "You've been like a father to me all these years. Thank you. And...we'll see each other again eventually, right? Goodbyes are never forever. Please remember that.

"I'm glad I was able to touch so many lives," he said to the crowd. "Jaller, thank you for having me come along on your little rescue mission. Kopeke, thanks for always being there for me. Ehrye...ugh, thanks for bringing just that much more conflict into my life!" He laughed, then turned to the Ignika, which had followed him. "Okay. Now I think I'm ready to go." With one last look at Nuju, he started to fade. For a brief moment, it seemed like Nuju was looking at him. He waved, just in case.

"Goodbye," Matoro whispered, and then everything went white...