A/N Hi guys! I'm back. Sorry it took so long to get this updated. School is going CRAZY around here! Anyhow, I wanted to include a special thank you for everyone's wonderful reviews, their really helping me get this done. So please, R&R!!!!!

Chapter 21

Sharli wasn't going to let anyone walk over her again. "Mimic, you must listen to me."

"I must?"

She was growing tired of his attitude. They'd had this argument at least twice in the past hour. She felt Matoro sigh beneath her, though he tried to hide it.

"Karzahni take it, Mimic!" She cursed, and glared at them when they wheeled to stare at her. "What will it take for you to let me go?"

He laughed, his eyes refocused on the road ahead. "A lot more than you're offering."

Sharli sighed, "And what exactly am I not offering?"

"Answers." He snapped.

"Mata Nui, Mimic! I haven't done anything…"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" He shouted, wheeling around. In one fluid movement he'd plucked her off of Matoro's back and was holding her up to his mask. "YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT!"

"I CAN"T TELL YOU, MIMIC!" They were both shouting now, Sharli's ice-like eyes were burning into his.

"YOU MEAN YOU WON'T!"

"Why would I lie to you, Mimic?" Her voice had dropped suddenly. Mimic's next words seemed to catch in his throat as something wet splashed onto his mask.

"Then why don't you tell me?" He asked. Try as he might, he couldn't quite keep the plea out of his voice.

She choked. "I…I c…I w…" She burst into tears.

Something collided hard with his leg. He glanced down to see Matoro ruthlessly attacking his leg with a stick, shouting something that he didn't quite understand. He set Sharli down and slowly uncurled his fingers from the tops of her shirt. His hands were numb with the force he'd used to clench them shut. A thick haze seemed to swallow his anger. He took a step back and allowed Matoro to rush forward and lower Sharli safely to the ground before she could collapse.

She curled into a ball. Matoro babbled endlessly to her, rubbing her shoulders and trying to make her listen. She seemed to be struggling with something. Mimic swallowed hard, he found himself hoping that she wasn't hurt.

"Sharli?"

She turned away.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

I was more than an hour (what's the Bionicle version of that?) before Sharli called him. Matoro had fallen asleep on the ground beside her. Mimic stood silently and walked over to her without a word. She patted the ground in front of her. He raised an eye ridge, but complied and sat down.

She took a deep breath. He could see that she'd been crying again, recently. But she'd been thinking hard, too. He waited.

"This isn't going to be easy for me." She whispered quietly. "I've been….I've never shared anything like this with anyone. Not even the Turaga…no even Takanuva." Her voice faded to a whisper.

He nodded. He was a little shocked that she knew Takanuva, who'd recently become a primary target for the Dark Hunters. Maybe he wasn't as stuck-up as he'd pictured. Sharli sighed before speaking again.

"For almost 59,000 years I've been trapped here." She whispered. "The Shadowed One kept me in a stasis chamber once he realized that I have…an "expiration date." She laughed bitterly at that. "He only took me out every 10,000 years or so, but sometimes I'd watch what he was doing. I learned things, more than I'd ever imagined." She sighed. "I began to forget things, and the Shadowed One wasn't happy with my tiny, human brain. So he…" she paused. A look of exquisite pain crossed her face. "He…merged me…with a captured Toa's power. I…" She flinched. "She had photographic memory, and I could no longer use poor memory as an excuse. It also expanded my capacity to the point where I was almost like a computer, recording everything I saw."

Mimic couldn't think of anything to say, so he didn't. Sharli looked down, trying to think of what to say next.

"I…I ruined everything. I gave the Hunters Roodaka. I told them where the Makoki stone was. I…" She shuddered. "I guess it was easier to condemn the people I'd never met. I didn't want to watch anyone die. But I tried to be careful; I only told them about things they were going to find anyway. Eventually, the Shadowed One allowed me to roam his palace unattended, except for a small Matoran called Marika. Always making sure the only people I met were the ones I already knew; Lariska, Nidhiki, Sentrahk, Vanisher…and a few others. They were always very nice to me." She laughed. "I didn't want to escape. I was terrified I'd wind up destroying the world."

Mimic found his voice. "What changed your mind?"

She closed her eyes. "The Toa Metru Vakama got the Mask of Time away from him."

Mimic whistled. "I'll bet he was angry."

She nodded. "He came back and, in his anger…" She swallowed. "He blamed me for not telling him the outcome of the battle."

Mimic flinched this time. "Did he…hurt you?" He couldn't help asking. An inner voice was shouting that it didn't matter, that she deserved it. And another voice was telling it to shut up.

"He never touched me. He killed Marika." She shook. "I still remember his blue eyes staring at me…"

They were both silent for a while.

"What did you do?"

"I waited. For 997 years I bided my time. He left the stasis chamber unlocked. He trusted me." She smiled. "And so I escaped."

He turned away. Three years ago. He'd been on a mission then, he wouldn't have heard about the ruckus that must have caused. Interesting.

"What do you want me to do?" He whispered. "I still don't trust you, but now I don't trust the Shadowed One either."

Sharli leaned back against the tree behind her. "How about we make a deal?"

His head snapped up.

"Let me rescue Matau. Matoro can take him back to Mata Nui." She looked up at him. "And…I'll tell you the truth about your friend."

"The truth?" He whispered.

She nodded. "I'll swear it on Mata Nui." She hesitated. "Then, if you still want to, you can take me back to the Shadowed One."

He slipped his hand into hers and shook it.

"Deal."

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

A/N READ ND REVIEW!!!! (Mwahaha!)