I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: Some of the more attentive fans might notice some of this chapter looks a little familiar. That is because I referenced an actual event in the Bionicle universe as told in Greg Farshtey's "The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet". I changed things a little (because the actual book didn't really pair Lhikan and Tuyet that much) but all credit for that passage goes to Greg Farshtey. I'm just acknowledging his genus. Enjoy and review.

Chapter 25

Darkness Falls

Matoro glanced at the sky, it was growing clouded. He turned to his friends and looked them over. Sokka was practicing with his sword in a sparring match against Suki. Katara was packing up what little was left, and Momo was trying to help. Piandao and Iroh were drinking tea and talking together. They had been doing this all morning. Matoro glanced at the sky again. Katara came over and took his arm.

"It's almost here, isn't it?" she asked. Matoro nodded.

"Yes, it's time to end this." He turned to his small group of friends. "We have a day until the comet get's here. It will take us almost that long to get to the fire nation capital. I know that I don't need to tell you that this is dangerous, but we can't wait any longer. If Solek, Toph, Umbra, Mai and the others don't show up then it will probably just be us."

"Not exactly," Iroh smiled. "We've been calling in favors and assembling friends all week. You might want to see this." Matoro walked over to them and looked out the window. He gasped in surprise. There was a massive fleet just off shore from the island. Boats from all three nations were filled with warriors from all corners of the globe. Flags flew every banner he knew, and one other. Matoro turned to Iroh.

"What is the white flag with the flower on it from?" Iroh smiled.

"The Order of the White Lotus, a secret organization that has existed for centuries. Piandao and I are members of it." Matoro shook his head in amazement.

"And there are even fire nation flags… how did you pull that one off?" he asked.

"There are many in the fire nation who are tired with the war." Piandao answered. "There is also one other thing." Matoro looked again and saw a great platoon of sky bison were gathering around the estate.

"But, I thought that the air nomads had been killed off!" Katara gasped.

"Not quite." Everyone turned to see a small man dressed in black enter the room. "In fact only the air monks were killed, there was another sect. I am Master Toku, leader of the air ninjas. We have lived in secret for a century waiting for the right time to strike. That time is now, we wish to finish the war and once again bring peace to the world." Matoro was shocked.

"All four nations, all four elements, so many have come." He said. Iroh smiled at him.

"They came because they heard that a great hero was going to take down the fire lord at last." Matoro shook his head.

"I am not a great hero, I just happened to be chosen to save my world. I was nothing before that… just a hunter." Matoro said quietly.

"But you would not have been chosen to be a great hero unless you were a great hero." Iroh said. "We are never given more than we can handle. And nothing happens by accident. Matoro, this army has gathered to follow one man, you, into victory. This force will literally give anything to end this war and bring peace to the world." Matoro looked out the window. He then turned as several generals entered the room, Hakoda and Pakku among them. They all bowed to him.

"We have come to end the war." Hakoda smiled.

"And beat up the fire lord while we're at it." A strange old man wearing a purple robe laughed.

"We all believe in you, Matoro." Pakku smiled. "And yes, I think that Bumi put it quite nicely. Let's beat up the fire lord." Matoro looked at the men before him in shock. These were the heroes of this world, on par with Lhikan and Axonn in his own. And they were placing their faith in him to save them. He felt Katara come up and wrap her arm around him.

"This is it." He whispered. He turned and looked into Katara's eyes. With only a seconds hesitation he kissed her, in front of Mata Nui knew how many people, her father, brother and grandfather. He then turned and addressed the generals. "I don't know if I'm worthy of this command, but I thank you. Today we sail for the fire nation capital, tomorrow the comet will come, but it is no longer a sign of doom. Sozin's Comet will instead be a sign of unity between the four nations, and the four elements." Matoro drew his two Kodachi and looked at them. "By these blades, and the breath within me, I WILL defeat the fire lord and bring peace to the world!" everyone in the room cheered. Katara found it hard to stop herself from crying, the time had come to set the world strait… but would they all be around to enjoy it afterward?

…

Lhikan walked to the top of the hill. He could see Tuyet preparing for their fight.

"Lhikan… you came, not that I'm surprised, but still." She smiled with deceptive sweetness. "I don't suppose that I could convince you to join me? Think about it Lhikan, I could help save the world from the Makuta… with the Nui Stone I could defeat all of your enemies and, with your help, could bring peace to the world."

"No thanks, Matoro will do that without the Nui Stone." Lhikan said. Tuyet laughed.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" she asked. "Do you know which Makuta came into this world? Mutran, the scientist, he's brought weapons and technology from our world that will change things considerably. You need me Lhikan… join me…. You know you want to." Tuyet said with a seductive smile.

"As much as I would like that I cannot allow you to run free with the Nui Stone. Put it down and then we'll talk." Lhikan slowly placed his swords on the ground and connected them. Tuyet shook her head.

"Oh Lhikan, we could have had such a happy life together. Too bad you had to ruin it!" With that she sent a blast of water at Lhikan. Ty Lee came over the hill just in time to see it. She gasped in horror as it looked like Lhikan had died.

"Nice shot… but you missed." Ty Lee looked up to see Lhikan standing on his swords. They had combined to make his board and he had flown up at the last second. Tuyet snarled and sent another killing blast at him. Lhikan flew out of the way and created two fire swords. Tuyet drew a wicked looking broadsword and swung it with the skill of a master. The two toa clashed and the sky seemed to explode. Tuyet had more elemental power but Lhikan, partially because of his small size, was faster. The flame swords clashed with the broadsword and steam began to fill the area. Whenever it looked like Tuyet would get close to hitting him a shield surrounded Lhikan and blocked her attack. But whenever Lhikan was about to hit her she suddenly turned intangible and the blades went right through her. Zuko and Jin had caught up with Ty Lee and watched in open mouth awe at the fright. Zuko had seen skilled firebenders before, but not even his sister was anywhere as skilled as Lhikan. It almost seemed as if the fire was fighting with him. He didn't move in a set of ancient fighting style that controlled the fire, he just thought what he wanted the fire to do and it did it. Perhaps it was because of his age in this world but that meant that dragons, spears, and creatures that Zuko had never seen before raced towards Tuyet. But no matter how powerful his flame was there was always a more powerful wave of water that engulfed it. Tuyet was laughing insanely as she slowly pushed Lhikan back.

"Don't you see Lhikan, as long as I hold the Nui Stone you have no hope, this world will be mine!" she screeched. Then she pushed Lhikan away from her with a massive blast of water and raised her hand in the air. The ocean seemed to explode as a massive tidal wave rose above the tallest building on the island. Jin grabbed Zuko's arm in fear. This tidal wave was already big enough to destroy the island, and it was getting bigger. Tuyet's laugh grew louder as she could hear the screams of scared humans. "See!" she yelled. "This is true power! This is the Nui Stone!" with that she struck Lhikan with such power that the impact on his shield knocked him out. "And now, there is no one to stop me." She smiled.

…

Azula gestured to the Dai-Lee. They took defensive positions around their queen. Mutran laughed.

"Shadowbenders, deal with the Dai-Lee." Suddenly Aoshi and his men dropped from the ceiling and attacked the earthbenders. The Dai-Lee were good, but they weren't ninjas. In a mere minute they had all been killed. The shadowbenders disappeared, leaving only Azula and Mutran. The Makuta smiled. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this!" he laughed. Then he sent a shadow hand out of his chest and tried to grab Azula, but she was too fast. The fire nation prodigy dodged and sent sparks of lightning at the Makuta. Mutran snarled in pain as it struck. He created a shadow blade and slashed at Azula. Azula flipped, rolled and dodged out of the way as the entire lab was nearly sliced to pieces by Mutran's blade.

"You never should have betrayed me Mutran!" Azula screamed as she sent a massive fire blast at him. Mutran created a vacuum that sucked all of the fire out of existence.

"No, you never should have made a deal with me!" He laughed as he summoned a cyclone and sent it at Azula. "Do you even have any idea of the extent of my powers? I am a Makuta!" he roared as he changed his shape into a massive Tahtorak. "I AM POWER!" Azula ran from the room as the roof began to fall. She quickly ran up the stairs to the roof. Mutran changed into a Rahi bird and flew after her. As Azula ran spiders and beetles came swarming out of the walls to attack her. The very plants suddenly reached for her feet as if to trip her. She started sweating, how could she possibly win this battle? She had been so wrong; Mutran was not a weak scientist who was afraid of battle. He was smarter and more cunning than her. She ran to the roof of the palace and stopped to catch her breath. She turned when there was a crash behind her as Mutran smashed the roof. Several guards with more loyalty than brains attacked him in an effort to save the fire lady. In seconds they were down, sliced to pieces by his shadow blade or absorbed into him with his shadow hand. Mutran laughed evilly as he redirected the lightning that Azula sent at him.

"Stop, I'll give you anything you want!" Azula pleaded. "Just don't kill me!" Mutran laughed.

"Where is the brave fire lady now?" he sneered as he reached for her neck.

"Right here!" Azula screamed as she blasted him with fire. Mutran screamed as his armor superheated. Azula continued roasting him as she stood up. The sky turned red as Mutran got back up and tried to turn the tables with heat vision. The fight went back and forth as the two combatants used every last ounce of their power. Mutran had greater power but even he had to admit that he was not much of a fighter, fighting had always been the job of lesser Makuta. But even with a slight disadvantage in skill he was still a Makuta. Azula had trained her entire life and was considered the best firebender around, with the possible exception of her father. She sent blast after blast of fire at Mutran. Mutran tried all of his powers and abilities, all the way from chain lightning to weather control, but Azula dodged them all. He even made himself invisible but she had just gone crazy, sending fire and lightning everywhere.

Suddenly he disappeared in a blast of smoke. Azula walked over and smiled at the burn mark on the roof. "Where's the powerful Makuta now?" she asked with a smile.

"Right behind you." Azula turned just in time for Mutran to grab her by the neck. "Oh, yeah, I can teleport, did I mention that?"

"No, you didn't." Azula gasped while trying to pry the massive metal fingers that were threatening to choke her away from her neck.

"Pity, you might have wanted to know that." Mutran laughed as he threw her across the roof. "And now, what to do with you?" he grinned as he placed a foot over her prone body. "Oh, she fell asleep, how tragic. I guess I'll keep her around long enough for her to see the end of her world, I bet she'd like that." With that he laughed and picked her up. Soon this world would be his, and as soon as he figured out how to go back into the world of Bionicle it would be his as well.

…

Solek felt a jolt to his mind. Suddenly he could hear the dragon's thoughts.

"What does that little human think he's doing?"

"Hey, easy on the little… I'm still growing." He thought. The dragon snorted in surprise and closed its mouth.

"Wait… how are you able to communicate with me?" It asked.

"I used to be able to link minds with whoever I touched." Solek explained. "I guess that I still have that ability." The dragon looked confused. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know about that… so, why are you attacking us?" he asked.

"You're trespassing on my nest!" It snarled. "I must protect my egg."

"But why have a nest here?" Solek asked. "Don't dragons usually life in the fire nation?"

"Usually, yes." The dragon admitted. "But there was something odd going on at the palace and I decided to get out of there before the dragon hunt began again."

"Dragon hunt?" Solek asked. The dragon nodded sadly.

"Yes, I am one of the last dragons. It is imperative that this egg hatches so that our kind can continue. I was afraid to lay it in the fire nation for that reason." Solek nodded, it made sense.

"But this is the home of the badger-moles, you can't just drive them out, it's causing problems for us humans." The dragon looked at Solek sadly.

"But where else can I go?" it asked. Solek thought about it for a minute.

"I have some friends who are about to help take down the fire lord and bring peace to the world. If you would help them than I'm sure that the new fire lord would be grateful and protect you." The dragon looked at him suspiciously.

"How do I know that you're not fooling me?" It asked. "In my experience humans can be treacherous."

"Look into my memories." Solek said. "See for yourself." The dragon hesitantly reached inside of his head and looked. It winced as it saw things that no dragon has ever seen before. It saw Solek's life, all of it, the thousands of years that he had lived, the peril he had been in. When it had finally seen it all it looked at Solek with a new respect.

"You have lived a long time, little one. I can see that you are telling the truth. I will help." Solek grinned and let down the sonic shield that was holding back Toph and Tank.

"It's ok guys… she's not going to hurt us anymore." He smiled as he stroked the dragon's nose. "And we just got a new recruit."

…

Lhikan

I looked around; this was not the universe I had just been in. I was in the coliseum, suddenly I recognized where I was. This was one of my memories, one that I tried to erase from my mind. I was a young toa of fire. I was walking with toa Hagah Norik. He was speaking to me.

"Don't feel bad about what happened at the outpost Lhikan, you were given the order to run and you did. You followed orders like a good warrior should."

"But I wish I could have stayed and helped." I heard myself say. "Then some of them might have lived." Norik put his hand on my drooping shoulder.

"Sometimes, we need to forget what might have happened, and focus on what we must do." He had smiled. "But I did not bring you here to tell you that. I brought you to meet your new team members…" he opened the door and I saw two toa, a toa of air… and a beautiful toa of water. "This is toa Nidhiki," The toa of air barely looked up and nodded. "And toa Tuyet." Tuyet had stepped forward and shaken my hand.

"Hello Lhikan. Welcome to the team." The room faded to be replaced with another memory. I was walking down a long walkway to Tuyet's house. I really did not want to see this memory. Full darkness had descended on Metru Nui as well as on the spirits of its residents. And none walked in a deeper shadow than I did that night.

I found Tuyet in her dwelling. She looked at me hopefully. "Did you find them? Did you stop them?"

I nodded. "Yes. You have … nothing more to worry about. Nidhiki and I captured all three Dark Hunters."

Tuyet smiled. "That's wonderful! Then the countdown is over … I can live again. I don't have to sit in this darkened chamber anymore – we can share adventures again, just like before."

I walked past her. Before she could react, I smashed a hole in the back wall and reached in, my hand emerging with a glowing red stone. "Will we share this too?" I asked. "This is the Nui Stone, isn't it? The one you said you didn't have?"

"How did you -?" she gasped in surprise.

"The stone is full of energy. Energy gives off heat," I said. "Once I knew to look for it, it was easy. Heat is my business."

Tuyet rose. To her credit, she didn't seem nervous or taken aback. She was colder than most Ice Toa I had known; I had to give her that.

"What do you mean, 'knew to look for it'? I don't even know how that got here!" She insisted.

"You didn't know a lot of things, it turns out," I said. "For example, Nidhiki and I caught those three Dark Hunters that were after you – but we caught them this morning. So they couldn't have killed a Ga-Matoran tonight and left that tablet on her. Nidhiki told me Devastator looked confused when he brought up the countdown – so we started wondering if that was because he really had no idea what was going on. He and the others were after you, it's true, but they weren't the ones killing Matoran."

I summoned a ring of fire to surround the Toa of Water. "You were, Tuyet."

"That's ridiculous!" Tuyet snapped, calling down a thunderstorm to douse the flames. "Have you gone mad, accusing me of something like that? What about what we had together Lhikan, don't you trust me anymore?"

"The Dark Hunters were right." I said sadly. "The Nui Stone did end up on your home island and you did take it with you when you came here. They wanted it and you knew they wouldn't stop until someone stopped them. So you started this countdown and then set Nidhiki and me on their trail. When you heard nothing from us, you assumed they were still free, so you had to keep killing Matoran."

The water blast that struck me came out of nowhere and sent me hurtling across the room. The impact made me drop the stone, but it landed inside a water bubble that floated gently back to Tuyet.

"I thought Nidhiki would be a problem, but not you," she said harshly. "You are so trusting, so convinced of the purity of Toa. I even thought that I might be able to turn you, you were so trusting. I don't think Nidhiki even trusts himself. Better keep an eye on him, Lhikan, he'll come to no good."

"You mean like you?" I asked sadly.

Tuyet laughed. "Me? With the energies in this stone, I am going to become the most powerful Toa that ever lived. Think of it – no more Rahi monsters attacking, no more Dark Hunters, and maybe I'll even take out the Brotherhood of Makuta, just for fun. What the League of Six Kingdoms tried to do while they were active, I will do – impose law and order on everything that lives. It will be a perfect world."

"Your law, and your order," I said. "Law built on the corpses of dead Matoran, order built on lies – no good can come from that."

"That's your problem, Lhikan," Tuyet sneered. "Always following the rules. Always worrying about others. Did you ever think we could do more good if we stopped worrying so much about who might get hurt in the process?"

"The day we stop worrying about that, we become part of the problem," I said.

"No, no more problems," Tuyet answered, her gaze shifting to the stone in her hand. "I'm about to become the ultimate solution."

Her hand closed on the stone. It began to crackle, a nimbus of crimson energy surrounding her. I hurled a fire bolt, but she deflected it without even looking at me. Her power was already growing exponentially with each passing moment. In a matter of seconds, she would be able to snuff me out like a tiny flame in a windstorm.

"Don't do this!" I shouted. "Remember what it is we stand for! Remember who you are! Remember us!"

"I don't care about who I am!" Tuyet yelled. "I care about who I will become!"

The next split second was a blur. There was a sound like a mountain splitting in two and then the door was flying across the room, slamming into Tuyet. Nidhiki stood in the open doorway, a tornado whirling around him.

"Hi, dear, I'm home," said the Toa of Air.

I sprang from the floor and closed with Tuyet, trying to pry the stone loose from her grasp. She hurled me aside and then hit Nidhiki with a flood tide that forced him out of the chamber. The next instant, her power exploded, bringing down the entire dwelling.

Before my startled eyes Tuyet began to rise on a column of water. Higher and higher she climbed, until it seemed like she would be able to touch the stars themselves. And she was laughing, a thunderous, horrible sound that shattered my hopes and beliefs like they were fragile things of crystal.

"I always knew she looked down on us, but this is ridiculous," said Nidhiki. "Are you up to putting a chill in her plans?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I focused my energy on drawing all the heat out of the column of water on which Tuyet stood. The effects were immediate – water became ice. Before the Toa of Water could respond, Nidhiki had picked up a pole made of solid metallic Protodermis and swung it, smashing the pillar of ice to pieces.

Stunned and thrown off-balance, Tuyet dropped the stone. Out of contact with it, her new powers abruptly vanished, and the sudden shock of such a loss stunned her. She fell. The stone fell. I dove after Tuyet; even if she had turned I could not let her die. Nidhiki was fine with that choice. He positioned himself under the Nui Stone, ready to snatch it out of the air. I caught Tuyet and then turned around and hit the Nui Stone with a massive fire blast.

"No!" yelled Nidhiki, trying to grab it. But its surface was molten hot and he couldn't touch it for more than second. The stone hit the ground and splintered into a billion pieces, whose red glow flared and then faded for good.

"You -!" raged Nidhiki. "You stupid, moronic - what's the matter with you?"

I had encircled Tuyet with fiery chains. My heart was broken in more pieces than the Nui Stone. I sadly turned to Nidhiki.

"Sorry, Nidhiki, my mistake," I said. "I seem to have made a lot of them lately." Even though I was just seeing my memories it still felt like I was seeing it for the first time. I could feel someone shaking me and knew I was coming back to the land of the living. I looked up and saw Ty Lee trying to wake me up.

"Lhikan, come on Lhikan get up!" she was crying. I sat up and looked over at Tuyet. It was almost a repeat of my memory; she was up on a pillar of water, laughing manically as thunder sounded. I knew what I had to do. Pushing past a surprised Ty Lee I jumped on my board and few forward. I drained all of the heat out of the water and turned the pillar to ice. Then I shattered it. Just like before Tuyet began to fall, but this time it ended differently, because it had to. I created a fire spear and ran her through. The Nui Stone hit the water and sank under the waves as the tidal wave began to die down. Tuyet looked at me and then at the spear in her chest.

"Lhikan… I never thought that… why?" she asked as her eyes grew dark.

"I can't let you kill innocent people, no matter how much I love you." I said quietly. The sky was returning to normal as the power of the Nui Stone left Tuyet. We were floating on my board and I was holding her as best I could. "I am so sorry Tuyet." I said, looking into her eyes. She reached up and kissed me.

"I… I just wanted to save the world Lhikan… so that I could be like you." She said. Then the light went out of her eyes and she died. I tried as hard as I could to hold back the tears… but I couldn't. I cried and held her close. The board slowly landed and I could feel Ty Lee and the others gathering around me. It must have looked strange for a six-year-old to be crying and holding a grown woman after he had just killed her. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Ty Lee. She pulled me into a hug, something she had wanted to do since she had first seen me. I didn't fight back, I just cried on her shoulder.

…

Lhikan watched as Zuko and Jin lowered Tuyet's body into a shallow grave and covered it with earth. Zuko brushed the sweat off of his brow and turned to the small toa.

"What now?" he asked.

"Tuyet said that Mutran had a surprise waiting for the others." Lhikan said. "We need to go and help them."

"What about the Nui Stone." Jin asked.

"It's at the bottom of the ocean by now, one of the safest places it could be." He answered. "And we need to help Matoro." Lhikan put his swords together and stood on them. "Come on, if we squeeze there should be enough room for all of us." Ty Lee looked at him.

"Lhikan, you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. It was her choices that lead her to this, not yours." She said. Lhikan sighed.

"I know, I need to forget what might have been and focus on what I must do… that's something I never really learned all that well." The small toa looked off into the distance. He knew that he still had a lot to learn, but first he had to save the world.

Author's note: Ok, give me a second to dry the tears from my eyes, there. As I said I did take a little from the canon storyline but that should help any Avatar fans who are no that familiar with the world of the Bionicle. And what is going to happen to the Nui Stone? It sure isn't going to stay on the bottom of the ocean, that's for sure. Review and please don't beat me over the head to hard for using canon storyline as a memory. ;)