The Night After

It was the night after the Toa Metru’s victory over Sidorak, Roodaka and the Visorak Horde. Vakama had sent Matau and Whenua to Le-Metru and Onu-Metru to gather six cargo ships to carry the Matoran from Metru Nui to Mata Nui. He had also sent Nuju, Nokama, and Onewa, along with Keetongu to clean up the mess made by their battle in the Coliseum and the Rahaga to locate food. He himself had set to work on setting up a camp just outside the Coliseum walls. After the battle and their transformation from Hordika to Toa they had basically collapsed in exhaustion, though with Whenua curling up uncomfortably close to Vakama.

As Vakama started setting up the final tent his mind began to replay that scene again: the Toa had just been returned to their normal forms and were profusely thanking Keetongu for his action. Afterwards Matau made a note of the fact that it was extraordinarily ‘late-nite’ and that he was ‘dead-tired’. The other Toa gave various grunts or groans of agreement and small campfires had been quickly erected.

One by one the Toa picked spots near the fires and fell asleep. As Vakama closed his eyes he noticed something rubbing against his back. Looking in that direction he saw Whenua curled up behind him. At first Vakama had felt very awkward and unsure of the closeness but had eventually shrugged it off and fell asleep.

Shaking himself out of his memories Vakama saw that he had somehow managed to tangle himself up in the various polls and cloth of the tent. Hearing a bemused snort he turned around to find Matau and Whenua standing before him. Matau was holding his mid-section and trying not to laugh maniacally while Whenua merely looked at him with a smile of understanding. Vakama blushed and asked, “Could I get some help?” For reasons unknown to either Vakama or Whenua this drew Matau over the edge, for the poor Toa of Air fell on his back and erupted with laughter. Vakama looked down to the ground in front of him and sighed in defeat. Whenua growled harshly and made his way over to Vakama (though not before giving Matau a swift kick to the side).

Whenua untangled Vakama and helped him to his feet, then brought him over to one of the camping stools to sit. “Y’okay?” Whenua asked after setting Vakama down on the stool. Vakama nodded, then cleared his throat and said, “Did you get the cargo ships?”

“Yep, all six. Surprisingly they were all 100% intact. Though I guess that says a lot about Onu-Metru hangar security. The hangars and the archives in Onu-Metru were the only places I’ve seen that were left untouched. The Le-Metru hangars were trashed, more so than usual.” Whenua allowed a hint of pride to enter his voice during the last statements.

Matau “hmph”-ed indignantly and was about to walk away when Vakama asked him to call the others back to camp, the Rahaga were due back any minute. As Matau walked away Vakama stood up and went back to finishing the last tent. He knelt down and was about to start on it again when he noticed someone kneeling down on the opposite side of the tent as him. He looked up and saw Whenua’s smiling face looking at him. Vakama blushed and muttered a “Thank you” as the two set to work on the last tent.

-

That night the Toa, Rahaga and Keetongu sat around a large fire eating various nuts, berries and rodents that the Rahaga had managed to collect. Matau was off to one side regaling Nokama, Onewa and Nuju about his “dangerous seek-quest to find the ‘Six Legendary Ships of Le-Metru’”. The Rahaga were circled around Keetongu who was answering various questions that they were asking. That left Vakama and Whenua to themselves. Whenua was bristling with anger at the blatant lies and half-truths that made up Matau’s story. Vakama chuckled and placed his hand on Whenua’s shoulder.

“Let him have his night of fun. You know he enjoys weaving tall tales of his heroics. The others probably don’t even believe it themselves.”

Whenua looked over at Vakama and relaxed. “All right, I guess I just don’t like the idea of myself and my Metru being so blatantly disrespected.”

Vakama understood. Onu-Matorans worked hard for a living, collecting and meticulously cataloging artifacts of the past, often supplying their data to Ga-Matoran and Ko-Matoran alike to further their own work. Many of the other Matoran often viewed their work as a simple desk job with no real present-day or future significance. As a result all Onu-Matoran were touchy when it came to their importance.

As the two Toa continued eating in silence a cold breeze blew past. Vakama shivered and instinctively moved closer to Whenua to keep him warm. Realizing what he did, he looked over to Whenua who was looking at him. The two couldn’t help but stare into the others eyes. Their bodies slowly inched closer and closer until they were inches apart. Realizing what he was doing Vakama rapidly backed off and quickly made his way over to one of the tents and crawled in.

Once inside he allowed himself to breathe, not remembering ever holding it in. Had they been about to kiss? It seemed like that was where they were going but what he couldn’t understand was why. He had never felt that way about Whenua before, but now all of a sudden he was acting shy and awkward around the Toa of Earth and blushing a lot. It scared him. Just when I thought things would get easier this happens! The Great Spirit must hate me, he thought to himself.

Someone was approaching; Vakama could clearly hear the footsteps closing in. Turning around he saw Whenua slowly step into the tent. Whenua knelt down beside the Toa of Fire and said, “I’m sorry Vakama, I didn’t mean to…I-I wasn’t trying to…” Whenua gave up and sighed before adding, “You must hate me don’t you?” Vakama thought for a minute, thinking of all the times he had spent with Whenua, enjoying each other’s company, searching for the Great Konoka Disks, battling the Morbuzakh vines, the Vahki and the Visorak. After a while he realized that he really did like Whenua, possibly even loved him. But could a romantic relationship between them work? They were Toa first and foremost; all other concerns, duties and loyalties were secondary.

On the flip side Mata Nui was in a coma, Makuta was encased in protodermis, the world had already gone to hell and the Toa had gotten yet another victory to add to their list: what was the harm in allowing a bit of selfishness into their lives?

Vakama smiled and positioned himself so that he was level with Whenua’s head. He then rapped his arms around Whenua’s neck and smashed their lips together. Whenua was totally caught off guard, but only for a second or two. He finally regained his composure and, grinning like an idiot (a horny, terribly in love idiot), returned the kiss.

-

Outside, the remaining four Toa, the Rahaga and Keetongu were sitting near the tent Vakama and Whenua had entered a few seconds ago. They were listening intently to the sounds being made by the Fire and Earth Toa’s make-out session. Gaaki and Nokama were furiously scribbling down everything they could make out of the actions displayed by the shadows of the two Toa, all the while giggling girlishly. Iruini, Pouks, Matau and Onewa were exchanging I.O.U’s to one another. Norik, Bomonga, Koalus and Keetongu merely sat back and remembered their own loved one.