"Noooo!"

Takua blinked as his gaze turned toward the living room doorway. Presently he was helping Hlahlu in the kitchen with making tea, though admittedly the Chronicler was spending more time playing with Mekoki and Kelvar than he was being beneficial. In fact, he had just been in the middle of playing 'pass the pokawi' when Matau's lamenting exclamation resounded loud and clear. "Is… is he okay, Hlahlu?"

The Ga-Matoran giggled loudly as her gaze briefly strayed to the doorway as well. "Oh I'm sure he's fine." She assured cheerfully. "If he doesn't yell or whine at least once in a day, it's a miracle from the Great Spirit." She smiled fondly as she watched her children chase their new pet around the room. "Admittedly, he's actually gotten a lot more like his old self now that we have children; they give him a reason to stay as active as the rest of the village, and I think they remind him of his younger days."

Takua grinned. "Before you managed to tame him?"

Hlahlu giggled again and shook her head. "Can anyone truly tame the wind? It moves as it pleases, sweeping through the land and inevitably leaving its mark on all it touches."

The Chronicler laughed quietly. "You've gotten rather flowery with your words." He observed, flashing her a cheeky look as he spoke. "You aren't trying to steal my job, are you?"

"Mata Nui, no." She replied with a laugh of her own. "I have my hands full here at home, let alone going off on rand adventures every other week. We all have our places and duties, and mine is right here."

Takua's expression sunk at her last statement, his eyes trailing to the floor and a sigh escaping him. "I… don't think I have one anymore, to be honest."

This remark caught Hlahlu off guard. "What? That's nonsense, Takua. Whatever put such a concerning and inaccurate thought in your mind?"

"I…" He hesitated before shaking his head and looking out the window. "I had a duty and I ran from it. I pushed it off and made Jaller deal with it instead."

"The Avohkii business?" She asked. "I wondered about that. You and Jaller seemed to be a bit at odds with each other when you came in, and honestly I've never known you to be as enthusiastic about making tea as you made yourself out to be earlier." The Ga-Matoran offered him an apologetic smile. "You were never a good liar, even on your best days."

"So I'm a duty-shirker and an obvious liar?" He remarked, heaving a heavy sigh. "This just keeps getting better and better. Is it normal for one person to fail so incredibly badly?"

"Oh shush." Hlahlu chided, pushing a cup of tea into his hands and frowning. "You haven't failed anything or anyone but yourself, and even then you've only done so by giving up on yourself. Why don't you tell me what this is really about?"

"What's there to tell?" Takua replied with a heavy sigh. "I chickened out when I needed to do my job, and that's it. Nothing more or less."

"Oh really?" Hlahlu gently pressed. "Because to me it sounds like fear talking, not Takua. The brave little Chronicler I know wouldn't be avoiding honesty with a friend unless there was something extremely wrong in the background." She lightly rested a hand on the troubled teen's shoulder. "It will only be able to stop you if you continue to let it. What are you so afraid of?"

The Chronicler hesitated again. Would telling her put her in harm's way? Could he handle it if she got hurt because of him? What would happen if she did?

A gentle squeeze from the hand on his shoulder brought Takua back from his thoughts, his eyes meeting hers as the older matoran spoke again. "This fear and doubt isn't the Takua I know. That Takua would plunge headlong into danger if anyone he cared about was potentially in a bad situation. He would risk everything to make sure they were safe."

"That's why I'm scared." He said finally. "I'm afraid that doing something, anything with that kanohi will kill everyone I care about. I… I pushed it onto Jaller's shoulders because… Because I don't want anyone to die."

Hlahlu blinked slowly as he said this, though she didn't fully seem surprised by his answer. "That's quite a heavy burden to carry, especially when you know Jaller has no idea just how important, and dangerous, his mission is supposed to be. Something or someone said or did something big enough that it left you terrified of not only the task you were given, but also of yourself." She thought a moment before speaking again. "You encountered someone, didn't you? Someone shrouded in darkness, who's only defining features were a bone-chilling voice and glowing red eyes."

Takua gaped at her in alarm. "Y-you've seen him too?"

The Ga-Matoran nodded. "I have. I've seen him spying on Lewa and the village a few times. He threatened to kill me if I told anyone that I'd seen him." She paused to sip her tea. "So naturally I told my husband, and so far the worst that's happened is Le-Koro missing out on the kohlii finals." She smiled and sipped her tea again. "You can tell Jaller what you saw and what he said, Takua; all it will do is make your friendship stronger, and that is something you boys definitely need."

"B-but he said that telling someone would threaten more than privacy." The Chronicler feebly argued. "That kind of implies lives are at risk, doesn't it?"

"It does, but not necessarily in the direction you're seeing it as. It sounds to me like he's more worried about himself than he is tossing threats at you. It's pretty clear that he is no friend of the Toa, and if that is the case he is more than likely allied with the Makuta. Given the nature of the Avohkii it stands to reason that his telling you about it was, in essence, a very high level of treason, something that would not be taken lightly." She offered Takua a warm smile. "Just think about it a bit; in the end I'm sure you'll make the right choice, whichever it may be."

"Mama, Pokki went into the living room!"

All attention shifted to Mekoki, who now stood in the kitchen doorway and was staring longingly after her pet. Kelvar was biting his lip a little anxiously, his eyes shifting between his mother and his sister as though unsure of what to do. "Can we go get Pokki back?" He asked hopefully. "Please?"

Hlahlu giggled softly as she nodded. "Go ahead and retrieve her, you two. Try not to disturb your father though; he's having an important conversation with Lewa and Jaller right now."

The fact that, at that moment, Matau let out a comical squawk that was swiftly followed by Lewa bursting into laughter derailed that, however, and Hlahlu corrected herself right away. "Never mind kids; go save your father. It sounds like he needs it."

As the two children started giggling and raced into the living room, their mother wandered o the doorway to watch the antics that were now unfolding. "There's just something wonderful about watching those two playing with that silly bird." She mused contentedly.

Takua couldn't help but crack a joke. "Do you mean the pokawi, or Matau?"

Hlahlu grinned at him, tittering quietly as she remarked. "Sometimes I have to wonder. But the part that matters most is their relationship, both with each other as well as their father. They might not see it at present, but their connection now will help them later, just as you and Jaller are close and strong now because you grew up with each other That won't change either; there will be tiffs and arguments, but you will never lose the foundation that was set in place when you were little. Let's also not forget how remarkably stubborn you and Jaller are; you might be fighting like disgruntled gukkos at the moment, but neither of you give up on people easily. It will take more than mere shadows and idle threats to break that kind of Unity." She giggled and smiled again. "Now drink your tea; if we can get away with delaying 'rescuing' Matau from his children so he can keep pretending to be an adult, I'll take it."

Thus, the afternoon was spent watching the turaga get poked and prodded into playing with his children and their pokawi, officially derailing any and every attempt to resume serious conversation. For Takua, this was a breath of fresh air and a glorious escape from any worry about the Avohkii or how to try and make amends with Jaller. Not only this, but the light-hearted atmosphere seemed to be helping Jaller's mood too; he'd even laughed at a couple wisecracks Takua had managed to squeak into the casual conversations that were being had. And, on top of it all, Hlahlu and Matau invited the pair to stay the night, something they were both happy to accept. As the day wound down to a close, and the children were getting ready for bed, the travelling duo made small talk with each other, as well as gave Matau an accurate play-by-play of the kohlii match. It was almost as though life was back to normal.

"Takua can you tell us a bedtime story?!"

This declaration had come from Mekoki, who hastily parked her pajama-clad self on the floor in front of Takua's chair. "Please tell us a story!" She begged, her eyes twinkling with hope and excitement. "Just an itty bitty one! Pleeeeaaaaaase?!"

Honestly, she was really too cute for her own good, and the fact that she had her pokawi on her head wasn't doing anything other than bolster that concept.

"I think that's up to your mom, Koki." Takua replied with a laugh. "She might get me in trouble if you don't ask her first."

The little girl nodded before turning towards Hlahlu - who seemed to have been following her in an attempt to put her to bed - and piping. "Takua's gonna tell a bedtime story!"

"W-with your permission!" The Chronicler hastily added, shifting in his seat a little. "I told her she had to ask you first."

"So I heard." Hlahlu replied, shaking her head in mild exasperation and amusement at the situation. "You can tell her and Kelvar a story. Only one though; it's already past their bedtime."

"Yay!" Mekoki cheered, throwing her hands gleefully in the air - an action that nearly unseated her bird - before leaning forward excitedly. "What's the story called? Please tell me!"

"Can you tell it like how Dad tells them?" Kelvar added hopefully. "With treespeak?"

Yeah! Treespeak! Just like Daddy!"

Takua blinked. He hadn't actually practiced treespeak for a while, let alone told a story with it. Still, the kids wanted it, and who was he to say no?

Jaller smirked a little from his spot on the couch. "Well?" He prompted teasingly. "You gonna do it or what? You aren't going to let down a couple of hopeful faces like theirs, are you?"

"Me? Let them down? Notnever!" Takua declared with a grin. "I've never disappointed a happyfan before, and I don't aim to now!"

The trick would be telling a story that was short but entertaining, and while the kids cheered he quickly racked his brain for ideas. It didn't take long, fortunately, and he soon began the tale. "Have I ever spoketold you about the evergreat guard captain, Rala? He was as good as the ToaHeroes, but he was a matoran like you and me."

Mekoki gasped excitedly. "He was? What'd he do?!"

"All sorts of things!" Takua replied cheerfully. "He could protectsave his whole island all by himself! But he was lonely and unhappy. See, he had a trueheart friend named Aku, but Aku was very scared and didn't like to go on adventures that were spookscary. He worryfretted all the time and thought he'd put Rala in deepdanger if he went along."

"Silly Aku!" Mekoki chattered. "Captain Rala could keep him safe!"

"He could." Takua agreed. "And deep down, Aku felt eversilly about being scared. But he still continued to worryfret and hide while Rala kept being an evergreat MatoranHero. Rala was sad because he knew Aku secretly deeploved adventures. So one day he brought Aku along while he looksearched for a mythical lightstone, big enough to give his whole islandhome light. Aku was terrorscared! But that wasn't all. Do you know what else Aku found himself to be deepfeeling?"

The children shook their heads, Kelvar speaking up as they did. "What else was he feeling?"

Takua grinned at them before shooting a meaningful look at Jaller as he answered. "He began to feel everbrave, because Rala supporthelped him the whole time, no matter if they bickerfought or secretkept. It helped Aku see just how evergreat his bestfriend was, and that he was silly to secretkeep things from him." He looked back at the children and leaned a little closer. "And you know what happened?"

"What?" They echoed hopefully.

"They found the lightstone together, and helped their whole islandhome get the happily ever after they all wanted. Because when it comes down to it, anything can be done with Unity, no matter how everbig, or how tinysmall, it might be. Aku had to learnthat, and he was able to because of evergreat Captain Rala."

"Where are they now?" Kelvar asked.

"Following their heartdreams." Takua answered cheerfully. "And making the world a betterhappy place for everyone." He smiled fondly at the pair. "And there you have it; a short bedtime story, in treespeak, with a happy ending."

"That was really cool!"

"Thanks Takua!"

Hahlu giggled as she moved closer and gently started to shoo her children off to bed, a chorus of happy goodnights resounding right up until they were in their room with the door shut. This left Jaller and Takua alone in the living room, and for several seconds an almost awkward silence hovered.

"So… Rala and Aku, huh?" Jaller finally remarked, eyeing Takua with a raised brow. "Quite the story you told them. And me, it seems."

The Chronicler offered an awkward, somewhat guilty smile. "A bit, yeah…" His smile faded as his gaze strayed to the floor. "I'm really sorry about-"

"Oh hush." Jaller cut in, idly bouncing a cushion off Takua's head and smirking slightly. "Save it for tomorrow, alright? No point in sullying today's fun by getting all serious right at the end."

Takua blinked as the pillow smacked against the side of his face and tumbled into his lap, staring at it a moment before he started to laugh. "So you got mad at me for not telling you anything, and now when I try to bring it up, you tell me to be quiet? Sheesh Jaller, I thought being unpredictable was my job."

"Who said you never rubbed off on me?" Jaller countered with a mild laugh. "Kind of works both ways, you know; you get my unhealthy fearlessness, I get your undying element of surprise. It all works out in the end. Besides, everyone knows you're the bigger kohlii head between us." He blinked at Takua gave him an almost impish grin. "What are you up to now?"

The Chronicler continued to grin as he adjusted his hold on the cushion. "I'm thinking you should grab another pillow."