Even with the initial blast finished, approaching Mihkoro's prone frame was still virtually impossible due to the heat he was putting off, something that left Lewa and Takua keeping a considerable distance away. It also gave them a chance to talk, something they both wanted to do but had not had the chance to when the elemental eruption went off; there were so many questions on both sides that needed answering. "… Where did you even come from?" Takua asked, his voice holding sadness and uncertainty again now that their lives weren't in danger. "I never even heard you show up."
"Windflew from somewhere up Mt. Ihu." Lewa explained. "Wayfound Jaller up there and was gonna bring him to Onu-Koro, but he was certainsure he had to wayfollow the shinecrown." He shook his head and sighed quietly. "We got here right before Mihkoro shotfired."
"That wasn't Mihkoro." Takua replied grimly, shivering as he recalled the foreign and heartless voice that'd taunted him before the attack. "It may have been his body, but that was the Makuta who threw the knives." He paused before looking up at his companion, confusion clear in his eyes. "Lewa… why did you let Jaller take the hit?"
The Air Toa grimaced and shook his head sadly. "I couldn't stop him. One moment he was holding my arm and the next he was slipleaving like a bar of soap. I couldn't catchhold him and by then…" He bit his lip a little. "By then I was holdkeeping Mihkoro's darkblast away from us… I have never seen anyone move that quickfast without Pohatu's kanohi. Jaller… Jaller defied lawphysics and I can't thinkfigure how." Lewa shifted as he reached over and put a somewhat burnt around Takua's shoulders. "But he knew what he was doing, even if we heartwish he didn't." Lime green eyes studied the younger Toa for a moment before a bittersweet smile tugged across his face. "Lookseems like he made the right choice. Who knew you were the Seventh ToaHero?"
"Jaller did, apparently." Takua mumbled, shaking his head as he looked down at himself to finally acknowledge the golden armor he now wore. "Not sure how, or why he didn't tell me before, or… or why he thought dying was the best way to let me know. I figured it out in Onu-Koro, but…" A shudder rippled through him as a fresh wave of tears slid down his cheeks. "Lewa why did I come here… If I had stayed in Onu-Koro this would never have happened."
"Maybe," Lewa theorized, his voice quiet as he mulled it over. "but it could have gone worse."
Takua blinked. "What do you mean? He's dead because I came here. I followed a lie and in the end it killed Jaller. How could that get any worse?"
"Because Jaller would have wayled us here either way. He was followchasing the Avohkii's light, and it brought him here. If you weren't here Mihkoro very well could have angerkilled me, tookstolen the Avohkii, and then you'd never be a ToaHero, and then… well, we'd all be in deepshadow then." He gave the seventeen year old a light squeeze. "It's ever sad, but… I think figure he knew this was how it had to be."
"What about Mihkoro?" The new Toa pressed, golden eyes roaming to the smoldering figure several feet away. "Do you think Jaller knew that it'd tear him apart?"
Lewa sighed faintly and shook his head. "I don't know, but at this point I'm not surecertain he even cared. I thinkfigure he knew someone wasn't going to be okayfine regardless and chose for himself who that would be. Besides…" The Air Toa offered a weak smile as he thought it over. Jaller got to save two people he deepcared for this way. He'd be everproud to know his dad was shadowfree because of him."
Takua wanted to argue that point but he really couldn't. The truth was that his best friend really would have been proud if he was still alive and able to see it. He had done something nobody on the island had ever accomplished, and now, just maybe, they had one more ally in the final battle. After spending so many years under the Makuta's thumb, the urge for payback would likely be enormous, especially now. Not only that, but – if he was willing – Mihkoro could very likely share all manner of information regarding their great adversary, though Takua didn't want to pressure him into it, especially not this quickly; the poor man needed a chance to grieve, after all. Even if time was running out, it wouldn't be healthy to push him. Yet even still Takua found himself daring to move closer, paying no heed to Lewa's attempt to verbally dissuade the idea. A little and niggling thought in the back of his mind had cropped up, one that the new Toa simply could not ignore. Mihkoro had spent so much time isolated from the people he cared about most; leaving him to face this alone would be a cruelty no man in his position deserved. Besides, if Takua could handle running around in a volcano then surely he could handle this.
"Mihkoro?"
The man on the ground recoiled, struggling to sit up and regarding the approaching teen with tear-ridden grief blatantly displayed across his features. He didn't speak, not yet, but the anguished look in his rose-gold eyes showed it all; he hated himself, cursed his very existence, wished more than anything else that he could trade his life for his son's. There was no fear in his expression despite the trembling in his frame; with no shadows to haunt him what reason did he have to avoid the light? Even as he knelt there in silent watchfulness it was clear that Takua could have done anything to him and faced no resistance. Already the residual heat was fading – no doubt partially caused by the breeze Lewa was more than certainly causing - , and as it dissipated the Toa of Light dared to move closer still, only stopping when he reached the grieving man and knelt before him.
"Mihkoro." He said again, steeling himself and swallowing his fear as he held his arms out in the universally known gesture that he was sure Mihkoro had never been given. "I… I forgive you."
A new torrent of emotion surged forth within him as he watched the freed Toa shiver, shake his head, and finally accept the offered embrace. "I-I'm sorry…" He whispered, his voice weak and frantic as Takua hugged him. "I-I'm sorry… I never wanted it to be like this… t-tried to… t-to hold him off… I-I couldn't… c-couldn't stop myself in time… M-Mata Nui, wh-what have I done… I… I killed him… k-killed my son… I-I killed my son!"
"That wasn't you." Takua said quietly, his hug tightening as he heard the faint-yet-distinct pattering of tears on his right pauldron. "That was never you. The Makuta did that. He wanted to kill me, not you. He didn't care about my life, or Jaller's, or yours. He used you for his own attempted gain… Jaller knew it wasn't you when he intervened. I knew it wasn't you when the attack was thrown. Everything you did was to try and help us, regardless of what the Makuta forced his way into. You know that as well as I do, even if it feels otherwise." He went quiet for a while to let his words sink in, closing his eyes and taking a moment to simply let himself grieve. Sharing in the anguish Mihkoro felt and allowing his tears to fall once again, Takua shut the rest of the world out so he could just give himself the time he and his new companion so desperately needed. Destiny had pushed things to move far too quickly; it could slow down long enough for this.
He wasn't sure how long he and Mihkoro knelt there, only that the sound of footfalls and hushed voices eventually intruded on the silence. Takua could make out Tahu's concerned and irritable tones, as well as Onua's calm assurances as Lewa quietly explained what had happened. He felt Mihkoro's hold tighten just a little as the other Toa were told what unfolded and found his own grip adjusting to match. As much as neither of them wanted to, it was time to get up and face the music. Shifting a little and opening his eyes, Takua lifted his head and turned just enough to glance over his shoulder at the gathered guardians. Tahu looked furious, his rage held back for the sake of the others. Kopaka seemed grim and stoic as ever, though is eyes bore traces of grief and sympathy. Lewa looked scared, shifting uncomfortably and moving as though subtly trying to hide from Tahu's barely-bridled ire. Pohatu appeared crushed by the loss of life, though there was no condemnation in his eyes. Gali had her own eyes closed, expression saddened as she held tightly to Kopaka's hand. Finally, Onua seemed strangely unsurprised despite the sadness that overshadowed his features, looking for all the world as though he knew this would happen despite not wanting it to.
That was a lot of emotion to try and deal with all at once.
"Mihkoro, the… the other Toa are here…"
The restored man didn't respond right away, though after a moment he lifted his head and let out a quiet sigh. Even without words it was easy to see that – now presented with the Toa Nuva – he felt scared and ashamed. Takua hadn't been so much of a worry to him, but to be looking at the very team he had virtually watched grow up, seeing their progress and knowing the suffering he had unwillingly inflicted… There was no apology great enough to make up for that measure of atrocities.
The tense and uneasy silence was broken by Onua, who – after some silent contemplation – dared to step forward and speak up. "It's… been a long time, Mihkoro. I'd ask how you've been, but I think everyone knows the answer to that already."
The thirty-nine year old Toa shivered and hung his head. "I-I… It would have been better if I really did die back on Metru Nui… E-everything would have been different. J-Jaller…"
"… His passing was inevitable."
That small phrase took all the focus off of Mihkoro and threw it fully on Onua, Tahu's agitation only barely controlled as he demanded. "Inevitable? What are you talking about? You knew about this?!"
"Nuju foresaw it sometime after Kopaka came to Onu-Koro." He explained grimly, shaking his head as he thought it through. "I knew the moment he told me that it couldn't be stopped." The whole time he spoke, the Earth Toa kept his gaze fixed on Mihkoro. "Nuju and I both knew the Makuta would make the biggest mistake of his life."
Tahu huffed angrily at these words. "And how was this a 'mistake', Onua? If it was foreseen then it couldn't be a mistake."
Kopaka spoke next, his voice as stoic as ever. "You fail to see the detail behind the bigger picture. Look at Mihkoro again;; can you not see the changes? Killing Jaller cost the Makuta the single most important piece he had in this absurd game he has been playing. Instead of stopping the Seventh Toa he added an eighth one to the picture. Though," he grimaced as he once more looked to Mihkoro. "it would be more than understandable if you did not want to take up arms this quickly. If you need time to grieve, then take it."
The restored man shivered as he snorted a feeble and hollow laugh. "An ironic sentiment coming from you. Surely you of all people shouldn't care how I feel right now."
The pale one sighed quietly and shook his head, and while there was a glimmer of sadness in his eyes there was a faint, sympathetic smile on his face. "It's because of being denied my chance that I want to be sure you get yours; you and I have already caused each other enough pain as it is. Besides, Jaller would not want to see you suffer more scars than you already have. What right do any of us have disrespecting that when all he ever wanted was peace?" He carefully pulled his hand out of Gali's before daring to approach, kneeling in front of Mihkoro so they were on eye level and holding out his hand as Takua shuffled aside. "The past cannot hold us in chains unless we let it, Brother; I released it long ago. Now all I ask is for you to do the same. And, If you feel you can, that you stand with us to end this battle once and for all."
"I have no right to be called 'Brother' by-"
"I don't care."
The abruptness of Kopaka's interruption jarred Mihkoro into silence, leaving him staring at the younger Toa in absolute shock. He wasn't the only one caught off guard by it either; Tahu looked as though someone had slapped him and Lewa seemed almost as though he nearly fell over. Gali, Pohatu, and Onua, on the other hand, all seemed in firm agreement with Kopaka's decision and words. "We're all in this together." Pohatu piped in. "We've fought as Brothers twice before and won despite the odds. I'm willing to toss my hat in the ring with yours again. Well, if I had a hat anyway."
Gali smiled gently as she nodded. "You're a big part of all of this; even in your darkest moments you were trying to help." She glanced briefly at Takua before looking back at Mihkoro. "And I have a feeling you even helped Takua too."
The restored Toa snorted a weak laugh as he shook his head. "Scared the daylights out of him, more like… But that still doesn't excuse-"
Tahu interrupted this time, a thoughtful look on his face as he spoke. "You weren't yourself during all the rest. You weren't even aware of what you were doing beyond being trapped in the back of your own mind watching. I know what that's like now. When I first got here and saw what happened I was ready to just lock you in a seal and leave you to rot. But then I remembered my own stint of being out of control. It wasn't the same, but it still helps me understand a little of what it is like. And the fact that you never gave up after this long? I don't think any of us could ever have held out this many years in those conditions. That kind of Unity… that is something we can all learn from."
Kopaka couldn't help but give Mihkoro a mildly amused look as he indicated his still-outstretched hand. "What will it be, Brother? Accept what we've said or sit there failing to argue with us about it? If you haven't guessed, we can and will do this all day."
Takua grinned. "Believe me, they will. Should hear it when they go at each other some days."
Mihkoro hesitated as he thought it over, his eyes lingering on Kopaka's hand the whole time. The hand of the same poor child he had murdered the family of and traumatized twenty years ago, now offering him kinship he had been deprived of for thirteen years. The last team he had been part of died; did he dare trust himself with the lives of the Toa Nuva and Takua? He had admittedly failed to kill them despite his 'best' efforts…
The faintest ghost of a smile tugged at his lips as the restored Toa of Fire reached out and grasped Kopaka's hand, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. "I'm in." He said quietly, though there was a blatant new fire in his eyes. "It's time we ended this war. For Jaller, and everyone else. He looked to Takua. "Congrats kid; you just got yourself the only guide to the Makuta without resorting to dumb luck."
Takua grinned. "No, Mihkoro. I got something better than a guide."
"Hm?"
"I got a brother. I just hope you're as great as Jaller cracked you up to be."
A playful little smirk made its way onto the older Toa's face. "I'll be all that and more, kid. I just hope you can keep up."
"Challenge accepted."
