Here's a little more on Lanie. Sorry if she's a bit ambiguous at the beginning, but I knew as much as you did about her. She wasn't really intended as a main character, but I guess she ended up being one. Oh well...

Disclaimer: Lanie is mine, along with her family, but the Toa Nuva aren't. Feel free to use the Toa in your own stories.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Mom! Dad! This is…" Lanie stopped her eager introduction short, unsure of how to introduce Gali. Did she just go by Gali? Did she have a code name, or something? Should she make one up? "… Cameron's cousin," she finished lamely, hoping it was a safe enough answer.

"I'm Gabby," the Toa of Water said, supplying a name as she held out her hand.

Lanie's father shook Gali's hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Gabby. Is there a last name that goes with that?" he inquired.

"Nicholson, same as Cameron's," Lanie said quickly.

"Well, Miss Nicholson, I'm Bill Landon, and this is my wife, Celeste. And you've already met my daughter," Mr. Landon said. His wife smiled in acknowledgement and went back to concentrating on her phone call. "Celeste is a secretary for the company I work at, and she and some of her coworkers are planning a surprise party for the boss. Oh, and we have a son, Sam, but he's off at a party, won't be home till late. Now, my daughter and I aren't like that, we don't socialize as much, but Sam and my wife…"

Gali nodded, obviously trying to keep up with Mr. Landon's mile-a-minute summary of his life, family, job situation, and opinion on just about everything. Lanie sighed. When she could get a word in edgewise, she tried to steer the conversation towards topics her dad had a less wordy opinion on, not any easy task by any means. As soon as they arrived at the Landon household, a contemporary two story home in a crowded suburb, Lanie quickly pulled Gali up the stairs and into her room before her dad could start up again.

"Sorry about that," she said as they got to her bedroom. "My dad's really a great guy, but he tends to be a bit talkative."

"That's all right," Gali said, sitting on the pastel comforter on the bed. "I'm kind of used to it, being Lewa's sister."

Lanie laughed and plopped down on the office chair at her desk, and Gali looked around the room. Lanie noticed her interest in a large poster of a beach on her lilac walls.

"Waikiki beach, in Hawaii," she said. "My parents went there for a business conference in June, and bought it for me. My brother Sam and I went camping with his friends because they weren't home, so I guess it was a good thing they went." She still felt upset about her parents leaving her for the beginning of summer, not only because she had wanted to come and knew they could have easily afforded it, but also because of the frequency of these trips. The fact that they had been home for these past few weeks was in itself unusual.

"Did you want to go?" Gali inquired.

"Nah, it wasn't really that," Lanie said, shrugging. Kopaka had mentioned Gali's way of telling exactly what you were feeling. "They're usually gone most of the summer, and I wish…"

"What?" Gali inquired.

Lanie looked away. "I wish you guys could stay here forever," she admitted softly. When Gali just sat and watched her inquiringly, she went on. "I-I've never really been good at making friends with most people around here, because I… I just act differently that most girls. You know, into make-up and boys and all that. Plus, being dyslexic and all, most people think I'm… a bit weird. When I met Kopaka, down at the campground, I really seemed to get along with him, well, as much as you can with someone who barely says two words," Lanie giggled at this, and Gali smiled. "I guess I feel like… almost a part of your group. And when you leave, it will just be me again, with my parents off who knows where, and Sam with his friends." A few tears trickled down Lanie's cheek, and she wiped them away stubbornly. She was hoping to become friends with Gali, not end up complaining about her whole life and crying about it. Lanie was about to apologize when Gali surprised her by putting her arms around her in a sisterly embrace. Lanie just allowed the rest of her tears to fall, not really crying, and sighed.

"Sorry," she said with a watery smile.

"It's all right. You have a right to be saddened by that," Gali said gently. They sat in a friendly sort of silence until Mr. Landon called them down for dinner. Lanie jumped up and checked her face in the small light blue mirror on her wall. She didn't want to worry her parents, or make them ask too many questions.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" she asked.

"No, you look fine," Gali said. "Come on."

Lanie grinned and followed Gali down the stairs.

Dinner was an awkward affair, as Mrs. Landon chose, under the guise of friendly curiosity, to interrogate Gali on her home, friends, schooling, and everything else she could think of. Lanie tried to steer the conversation towards other things, knowing her mother's curiosity would most likely reveal too much, and finally gave in to desperation and asked her dad about his current job, a touchy topic with him that was sure to get a long talk out of him. As Lanie predicted, he was soon going on about responsibility, control, and respect, never noticing as Lanie and Gali cleared the table, and Mrs. Landon left to take a phone call. Only when his own cell rang did he stop, and Lanie turned to escape with Gali.

"Hey Lanie, I need to talk to you for a bit," he said, still on the phone.

Lanie turned to look at him. "Yes, Dad?" she asked.

"The company wants me to help out with the surprise party, but it's taking place in the city. I can't just go for a day or two, the commute is too long for that, so I was wondering if you would be okay if it was just you and Sam for a bit, like a week or so," he said. "Oh, hold on-" Mr. Landon turned back to his cell and began talking again. Lanie bit her lip, trying to keep the tears back. Next week was her parent's anniversary, and they definitely would be gone for that; now they would most definitely be gone this week, too. When her dad got off the phone and looked at her expectantly, she had blinked back her tears and plastered a grin on her face.

"Sure, Dad, that'd be fine," she lied.

"Great, I'll just go buy my plane ticket. Don't worry, pumpkin, I'll get you something while I'm down there," he said, heading towards the den where Kopaka had been staying.

"Would it be all right if Lanie stayed at the Carpenters' while you are away?" Gali asked, surprising both Lanie and Mr. Landon.

"Well, sure, I guess, if they don't mind, yeah, that'd be fine," Mr. Landon said with a shrug before disappearing into the den.

"I'll go pack!!" Lanie exclaimed, running up the stairs to her room. "I have a phone up in my room, so you can call Mrs. Carpenter from there." She stopped at the top of the stairs to wait for Gali, who followed at a slower pace. She walked with an almost undetectable limp, which Lanie hadn't noticed till then. "Do you need some help?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Gali insisted casually, mounting the stairs at the same steady pace. Once on the second floor, she and Lanie went into Lanie's room, where the teenager handed Gali a phone.

"Do you know her number?" she asked as she pulled a black duffel bag out from under her bed. It was half full of some of Lanie's art supplies, her sketchbook, and a few pieces of nicer paper in a folder. Gali nodded and dialed as Lanie pulled a few pairs of capris and a skirt from her closet. Soon, her black bag was full, and Gali was done with the phone, a smile on her face.

"Mrs. Carpenter said it would be fine if you and your brother stayed at her house, if you don't mind that it's a little crowded," Gali reported.

"Does Mrs. Carpenter know about…" Lanie trailed off with a glance at the door, hoping her parents weren't listening in or anything.

"Yes, they know that we're Toa," Gali said.

Lanie nodded and glanced around. On her desk, an open sketchbook lay under her desk lamp. Neither of the girls had noticed it earlier, and now Gali went over to look at it. It was a picture of Kopaka, dripping wet, on a darkened raft at a lake. The picture was in pencil and half colored.

"Did you draw this?" Gali asked.

Lanie nodded, a bit embarrassed. She didn't want Gali to see her art, especially the portraits of Gali's brothers she had done. It might be a bit awkward, having someone you just met drawing pictures of your family.

"It's wonderful," Gali said. She turned the page to see a pencil drawing of Kopaka, Tahu, and Lewa, all at a park. Kopaka was glaring irritably at Lewa, and Tahu was staring out past the edge of the picture, his brow furrowed in concentration. Gali smiled at this one, and flipped through the rest of the book. A few of the smaller pictures were colored, but most were just pencil sketches. Some were of people Gali wouldn't recognize, Lanie knew, but many were of the three Toa Lanie had met.

"Do you do them from memory, or do you sketch it with them there?" Gali asked when she reached blank pages. Lanie hid her relief when Gali turned back to the picture it had been open to, and didn't flip through the rest of the book. At the back, she had drawn a sketch of Pohatu from when she first met him. For some reason, that sketch seemed special, different from the rest.

"From memory. I-I've never shown anyone my drawings before," she said a bit sheepishly. She had originally planned to post them online, if only to see how people liked them, but now she couldn't stand the thought of other people seeing them.

"So no one knows about these drawings?" Gali asked, sitting on the edge of Lanie's bed.

"Nope." Lanie shook her head to emphasize it and sat down herself. "When will Mrs. Carpenter be here?" she asked with slightly forced cheer, abruptly changing the subject.

"Pretty soon. Do you want to take your sketchbook?" Gali asked.

"No, I have another one in my bag," Lanie said. I'd rather not chance anyone else seeing them, she added in her head. "Do you want to wait out front?"

"Sure," Gali said. Lanie stood quickly and grinned as they went outside.

"I always love being outside. It feels so much more…" Lanie frowned as she tried to think of the right word.

"Open?" Gali suggested.

"No, more… more free!" Lanie exclaimed. She set her bag down by the garage, lifted her arms, and twirled in the evening sun. Gali laughed, and Lanie soon joined in, plopping down beside the Toa of Water on the front steps. The two girls had just lapsed into a peaceful, happy silence when a brown station wagon pulled into the driveway.

"She's here! Hi, Mrs. Carpenter!" Lanie waved, smiling. The thought of meeting the other Toa Nuva, along with Gali's honest friendliness and the idea of staying in a busy, bustling household instead of an empty one for two weeks filled her with excitement. Mrs. Carpenter got out of the car and gave Lanie a big hug.

"It's been much too long, Lanie dear, and the boys miss you," she said. "So, how was dinner?" she asked as she released Lanie, her question directed at Gali.

"It was fine, but I did miss your cooking," Gali said with a smile.

"Do you have everything, then?" Mrs. Carpenter asked. Lanie nodded. "Well, put it in the trunk, and pile on in. We'll just make a quick stop by the hospital to pick up Pohatu and then head home."

Lanie and Gali complied, and soon the brown station wagon pulled out of the driveway and off towards the town center.