A Note: I stopped following Bionicle after the Toa Metru came out, so I'm just going by my memory of the earlier saga. I'm sorry for any mistakes.


Ralla screeched in surprise as she was swept off the tree branch and into the air. "Lewa! Put me down!" she squealed, clutching at her Brother's green arm.

"But Sister," Lewa grinned, "I thought that you liked sun-soaring?"

"I do," Ralla said firmly, "just not when I'm taken by surprise!" Lewa laughed and set her down on the ground, where she promptly shook herself. "I hate it when you do that," she said with a half-hearted glare. It was impossible to stay mad at the green Toa. Ralla was a recent arrival to the island; as Toa of Storms, she was just starting to be accepted by the other Toa. Lewa had been the first to befriend her, most likely because he was the closest in age. He seemed friendly anyway, so he probably would have reached out to her whether she'd been close in age to him or not.

Lewa shuffled uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Ralla. I just wanted to show you Tree-bright from the air." Le-Koro was supposed to be beautiful when seen from above, through the trees. The female Toa relented, smiling at her friend. She liked him best out of all her fellow Toa, although she thought that Kopaka was handsome and went weak-kneed every time she saw him. The Toa of Air smiled at his gray Sister. "Am I forgiven?"

Ralla touched her fist to his. "Of course, Brother." Lewa was the kindest of her six 'siblings.' Tahu was too hot-headed in Ralla's opinion; Onua was nice but hard to talk to. Pohatu was simply too nice and got on her nerves. Gali-well, Gali she liked well enough, but the other female Toa was much older than her and was closer to the other five. Kopaka, although strong and good-looking, was a little too distant to get close to. Takanuva was just there. Lewa, being either the youngest or just acting it, was the only one who really made an effort to welcome Ralla.


Ralla clung tightly to the branch at the top of the tree she had climbed. "Lewa!" she yelled. "I hate you!" She didn't mean it, of course, but he was the reason she was in her current predicament; stuck in the very top of a very tall tree in the middle of Le-Koro. "Lewa!" she shouted again when the Toa of Air didn't answer.

"I'm right here, Sister," he said, floating up next to her. He grinned. "How did you get yourself into this one, so up-tree?"

Ralla glared, her view of the green Toa somewhat obstructed by her arms, which were wrapped around the tree branch as tightly as they would go. "You know very well how I got into this; you're the one who dared me to climb up here!"

Lewa's grin grew. "But you agree-accepted the dare, Ralla."

She snorted. "Just get me down." Lewa was the only one who knew of Ralla's intense fear of heights. She had been fine until she'd looked down. The ground had been very far away, and she'd felt dizzy. Clutching the tree branch even tighter, she put more anger into her gaze. "I don't want to hard-fall from up here." She'd put some effort into learning Chutespeak.

Lewa held out one hand. "Give me your hand." Ralla shook her head, wrapping her legs around the tree as well. Extending his other hand, Lewa dropped his usual mischievousness and was serious. "Do you trust me, Sister?" Ralla looked into his uncharacteristically solemn goldish-green eyes and slowly nodded, shakily reaching out with one arm to hold onto him. Lewa grabbed her waist, his grip strong, and Ralla released the tree and grabbed onto him in one motion. "There we go, Ralla," he said softly as she wrapped both arms and legs around him, shaking a good deal. "We're nearly to the ground-path." As soon as she felt him land, Ralla threw herself onto the ground and kissed it, vowing never to leave it again. "Was that so terrible-bad?"

"That was the worst experience of my life," she shuddered, glancing at Lewa. "The tree part, not the 'you saving me' part." Lewa grinned, showing that he understood.


Ralla cried as Lewa held her. "Why did I have to see that?" she asked the Toa of Air in a tear-choked voice. She had just seen Gali and Kopaka in the shadow of one of the buildings, deep in a surprisingly intimate kiss, given his icy personality. The sight had stung, and although she wasn't stupid enough to believe that she was in love with the Toa of Ice, she did know that she had a strong crush on him and the sight of him with another woman had hurt.

"Maybe it's for the best," Lewa replied, holding her close as she sobbed. He shot a glare that Ralla couldn't see in Kopaka and Gali's general direction, and then looked up as Tahu approached. "Ever-greetings, Brother," he said, quickly stepping away from Ralla before Tahu saw them.

"Greetings, Brother, Sister," Tahu replied. He looked at Ralla, who was wiping the tears from her mask. "Is something wrong?" he asked gruffly, awkwardly putting a large hand on her shoulder.

Ralla shook her head, managing a smile. She'd learned to see past Tahu's pride and stubbornness to see that he was really a caring guy under the fiery exterior. He no longer scared her. "No, Brother," she said firmly. "I just needed a good cry."

Tahu nodded, but sent Lewa a suspicious look. "All right. Have either of you seen Gali or Kopaka? I haven't seen them for a while." Ralla stiffened slightly at the mention of the white Toa, but shook her head 'no.' Lewa followed suit. Tahu shrugged and walked off in the direction that the Toas of Ice and Water were in.

"This will be much-funny," Lewa mused. Ralla really did smile at that. She knew that most of the male Toa were interested in Gali in some way. They listened carefully for a few seconds, and then they both grinned as Tahu bellowed loudly in surprise and shock.


"How are you mood-feeling today, Ralla?" Lewa asked as he stuck his head in the doorway. Kopaka and Gali had just declared their undying devotion to each other, and the Toa of Air was obviously worried about his other Sister.

Ralla glanced up from her folded hands. "Hmm? Oh, fine. I got over him weeks ago." She smiled to show that she really was fine. The hurt from seeing Kopaka with Gali had died a few days after the sight, once the general shock wore off. "I'm very happy for them; they make a really cute couple."

After she'd admitted to herself that really her attraction to the Toa of Ice was only skin deep, she was over him quickly. She reasoned to herself that he was too old for her, anyway, and that had also helped. Plus Gali was happy with him, and the two female Toa had become much closer over the year and a half since Ralla's first surprise flight. She was much, much closer to Lewa, of course, but it was nice to have a girl to talk to about womanly things.

"That's great!" Lewa sounded genuinely ecstatic. A gong sounded, a sign that the Toa were needed. "Come rapid-quickly, Sister," he added, running toward the commotion. "Our presence is requested."


"No!" Ralla fought to get past Gali to where Lewa lay on a stone slab, unconscious. "I need to see him!"

"Ralla," Gali tried to reason with the younger Toa, "There's nothing you can do. I've got to use the healing waters on him."

"Let me stay," Ralla stubbornly insisted. She was unwilling to leave, even after her Brothers had relented and departed to worry elsewhere. "Please, Gali, he's my best friend." Lewa had been injured in the fight against a Rahi with a tainted mask, one that apparently they'd missed in the very beginning, before Ralla arrived. "I need to be here, with him," she pleaded.

Gali hesitated for a second, and then nodded. "All right, Ralla, you can stay." She went over to Lewa's head and concentrated deeply, slowly bringing a bubble of water-ish material into existence. Letting it settle onto his chest, she let go and it burst. Gali then collapsed, exhausted from the process, and Ralla carried her to the front of the room, where she put her friend into Kopaka's arms.

Ralla returned to Lewa's side, sitting down on the floor next to him and laying her cheek on his limp hand. As the time passed, she grew more and more worried when he didn't wake. "Don't die, Lewa," she whispered, a tear rolling onto his fingers. "Please don't die." She choked back a sob. "I love you." A few minutes later, his eyes opened. She didn't notice that he was conscious until his fingers moved slightly. She sat bolt upright and got to her feet in the same motion, nearly falling over in the process. "You're awake!" she observed unnecessarily.

Lewa blinked a few times. "What happened?"

Ralla barely contained a squeal of delight. "The Rahi got you." She didn't go into details; she hadn't been there and the others hadn't bothered to tell her exactly what had happened. "I'm so glad that you're okay, Brother-"

"Don't speak-call me that," Lewa broke in, his voice uncharacteristically sharp.

Startled, Ralla sat back. Her eyes were wide. He never snapped at anyone, let alone her. "W-why not?" she asked.

Lewa pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Because if you are my Sister, I can't do this," he replied, and then curled his hand around her neck, pulled her face down to his and kissed her, all before she could move. For a shocked instant, Ralla couldn't move. Then her heart took over and her eyes closed as she melted into the Toa of Air's arms. So that was what love really felt like. For her, she realized, it had been love at first flight.

Outside, Tahu peeked in. Straightening abruptly at the sight of the two Toa, he pulled the door closed and looked satisfied, leaning against it. "I knew it," he whispered smugly, smirking to himself. The others just stared at him, bewildered.


Well, there it is. Tacky, I know, and probably most of the Toa are way out of character. Like I said, it's been a long time since I followed Bionicle plus it's like one in the morning.

[Edited 11-17-2009]

[Re-edited 3-7-2015 to fix Lewa's Chutespeak]

[Re-re-edited 6-23-2017 to re-fix Lew's Chutespeak]