Everyone has read of the adventures of the Toa Mahri in Mahri Nui. And if you haven't, shame on you.

In those tales, the Toa were caught up in a race to save the Great Spirit and the universe, while simultaneously dodging mutated warlords and overlarge aquatic sea life. They succeeded, but barely, and with the loss of one of their teammates.

However, these things rarely happen in only one universe. In an alternate Mahri Nui, far away, the Toa Mahri heroically arrived as they did in our tales, but to happily find that the Barraki had taken a wrong turn and were now successfully conquering the wrong island. The Toa Mahri saved the Great Spirit in five minutes flat, and without the loss of any companions. Finding Mahri Nui to be quite the peaceful haven, they decided to build vacation homes. After sending the Turaga a quick postcard, they settled down to use their new leisure time for gardening, starting businesses, and most importantly --- romance.

The Toa Mahri of Fire swam up to Hahli's front door. Taking a deep breath, he hid one hand behind his back and knocked.

The door opened, and Hahli Mahri's brilliant orange eyes peered out. "Why, Jaller! Hi!"

Jaller wracked his mind for a bravado response and offered the best he could think of. "Hi!" He stared dumbly at her for a moment, then remembered the hand behind his back and pulled it out with a dramatic flourish. "I, uh, picked these for you, because you look like a leafless flower and these sort of look like you with leaves, and both are pretty, and, uh..."

"Aquatic Irises!" Cutting off Jaller's attempts at a compliment, Hahli swept the flowers into her hand and breathed deeply. "They're gorgeous! How did you know they're my favorite?" She suddenly hugged him. Jaller enjoyed the hug, but wasn't quite sure he deserve it, considering Aquatic Irises were the most common weed in Mahri Nui.

"Do you want to come in?" Hahli led the way into her hut. "I just need to find a vase for these. You can talk to Squishykinz while I'm gone. He might like a little manly companionship."

Jaller watched Hahli's retreating form, then turned to the tank beside him and looked doubtfully at the orange squid swimming merrily in circles. "Uh... hey."

Squishykinz gave him a bored look, then went back to his circling.

"Nice weather today, huh? Though kind of humid. I guess it's always humid at the bottom of the ocean, though, isn't it?" Jaller continued, trying to make conversation. The squid paid him no mind, so he turned to the far more engaging task of drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair.

There was a knock at the door. Jaller jumped up and opened it to see Nuparu with a huge bouquet of flowers. Jaller slammed the door in his face and ran back to his chair.

"Who was that?" Hahli called from the next room.

"Uh... nobody!" Spotting Nuparu and Matoro trying to peer through the window, Jaller hurriedly yanked the curtains together.

Hahli returned, carrying a salad bowl. "I'm back!"

Jaller admired the shimmer of her silver wings for five minutes before it occurred to him that "and suddenly the room is far brighter" would have made a great reply, but by then she was arranging her flowers.

"So, uh, Hahli," he said. "I have a question."

Hahli turned to him. "Yes?"

Jaller stared blankly at her for a few minutes, lost in the orange of her eyes, then shook his head to clear it. "Um... uh... uh... would you... uh... would you be mine?"

Hahli lost her grip on the salad bowl. It hovered in the water for a few moments, then slowly sunk to the floor. "Would I what!?"

"Be mine," said Jaller, gathering courage. "You know, when you promise that I'm the only guy for you. Like Macku and Hewkii. Macku missed Hewkii so much that she wrote him a letter eight postcards long, and then couldn't bear to watch them going to Hewkii without her, so she hopped onto the mailcrab and arrived at the same time as her letters. Their new business is doing really well, and they're planning to continue it when we return to Metru Nui, although no one's quite sure how motorized underwater canoes are going to work out there, since there's not as much water and the Turaga probably won't want to flood the entire island for the sake of transportation and... stuff?" he finished lamely, not quite sure how he'd gotten onto the subject of canoes.

Hahli looked down at the flower in her hand. "Jaller, that's really sweet of you, but... well... I'm afraid I'm going to have to say no."

Jaller felt like she'd whacked him over the head with her salad bowl. This hadn't been in his plans. "No?"

"No," she repeated sadly. "I'm... I'm afraid there's someone else. And he gets very jealous."

"Who?"

Hahli turned away. "I've promised to keep his name secret."

"Oh." Jaller manfully attempted to hide his sorrow and failed miserably. "Uh... bye then."

Kongu rushed about his restaurant, dishing out orders. Spotting Jaller coming in, he flung the three lightstone shakes over his shoulder and rushed over to him. "How did it happen-go!?"

"She said no," Jaller said, still in shock. "She said there's already someone else, though she wouldn't tell me who."

"Really?" said Kongu. "Huh. Probably Matoro, she's always liked the quiet type. And Hydraxon visits her a lot. And that salad bowl of hers was hand-crafted by Defilak..." Noticing Jaller's depressed expression, Kongu quickly interrupted himself. "Well, that's not a big surprise."

"It's not?"

"Of course not!" Kongu flopped into a seat beside Jaller. "Not everyone can have the skill-flair of a Le-Matoran when it comes to romance. You just question-asked 'will you be mine?' Didn't you?"

"Well, yeah," said Jaller. "What else is there to say?"

"You totally left her unimpressed! You've got to throw your all into it. Say more. Start off by compliment-praising her, then move on to the promise-vows of eternal devotion, and finish-wind up with the question. You'll sweep her off her feet. She'll completely forget the other guy, whether he gave her a salad bowl or not."

"I can do that," Jaller mused, reaching for a tablet and a carving tool. "Compliment first, huh?"

"But not too much," warned Kongu. "If you go too far, she'll ponder-think you're just flattering her and totally shut down. So no lines like 'thine shining orange eyes art the everlasting sunshine of mine life, dearest love.'"

Jaller hastily scratched out what he had just written.

"Off to work!" Kongu said cheerfully, gesturing to the mob of growling, hungry customers. "Good luck, firespitter!"

Jaller plucked up his courage, shifted the heavy stack of waterproof papers in his arms, and knocked on Hahli's door.

The door swung open and Hahli appeared, holding a stone plate in one hand and a dishrag in the other. "Jaller! Hi again!"

Before he could lose courage, Jaller dropped to one knee. "Hahli, light of my life, please lend me a few precious minutes of your time to hear me out! When I look upon you, the flames running through me flare in pure happiness, because your beauty is like the lava of Mount Ihu! Each day is dull before you appear, and when you vanish, all the color and... and..." He paused to consult his stack of papers. "And light of the day goes with you! Your perfection haunts my dreams, and I could want nothing else! Even simply a greeting from you brightens the rest of the week! Hahli, I beg you... will you be mine?" He stretched out his hand.

Hahli set down her plate and dishrag to clap enthusiastically. "Jaller, that was wonderful!"

Jaller stared up at her, hand still stiffly outstretched. "So, uh... will you?"

Hahli's smile faded and she sighed. "I'm sorry, Jaller. I'm really sorry. But there's still someone else."

Jaller found himself as much at a loss for words as he had been the day before. "Oh. Okay. Um... bye." He gathered up his papers and turned away, wondering if fighting off murderous Rahkshi might not have been easier.

As he passed through the gate, he spotted a small crowd of Matoran gathering under Hahli's window and bursting into the tune of "Oh Beauty, We Sing For You." A sigh escaped him.

This time, Kongu was so impatient that he met Jaller on the way home. "Did it work!?"

Jaller looked from the stack of loaded plates in Kongu's hands to the yelling, hungry crowd behind him. "Are you sure this is a good time?"

"Oh, never mind them," said Kongu with a careless wave of his hand. "What occur-happened? Did she pledge her love at last?"

"It didn't work," sighed Jaller. "She's still devoted to Nuparu. Or Matoro."

"Hmm," Kongu mused, taking a handful of berries off one of the plates and popping them in his mouth. "It seems you'll have to go to desperate measures. If the question straight out didn't work, nor the long speech, you'll have to impress her eyes."

"Her eyes?" Jaller suddenly saw Hahli's beautiful eyes before him, quickly followed by the rest of her. They were alone in a moonlit field, except for a few Hydruka quietly grazing at their feet. Her eyes turned to him, and in them he read what he had always wanted to read. He grasped her hands, and then they were dancing in the moonlit waters, only her and him, dancing forever and so infinitely happy, until a sandwich whacked him in the head and brought him back to reality.

"As I was saying!" Kongu continued. "Everyone knows Ga-Matoran adore-love shiny objects. You've got to get her a ring."

"A ring?" Jaller blinked. "Whatever for?"

Kongu threw his arm around Jaller's shoulders. "Trust me. When have I ever been wrong?"

Jaller stared at him.

Kongu slid his arm off. "Okay, bad phrase. But just try it. You've got to force-make her entirely forget this other guy! Don't give up without a war-fight! This is the final attack, and you've got to make it the best you've got! What's better than a ring?"

Jaller continued staring. It suddenly occurred to him that Kongu happened to be walking toward's Hahli's hut. What if all his tips were merely meant to throw him off the trail? Then, once he failed miserably, Kongu could just step in and Hahli and he would live happily ever after!

But then again, what else did he have?

"Alright," he said slowly. "I'll try it,"

This time, Hahli opened the door before Jaller even had a chance to knock. He caught his breath upon seeing her, then shook his head to clear it. "Hahli! Behold!" He thrust the ring toward her.

She stared at it in awe. The large stone shimmered in the waters, and its sparkling metal band seemed to summon her finger. "Jaller, that's... so lovely..." She touched it gently, then threw her arms around him.

He grinned with relief. "So do you say yes?"

"Yes?" She looked up in confusion.

"Will you be mine?"

"Oh," said Hahli. "Jaller... I understand how you feel. I really do. But this other guy... he takes up almost all of my time, and you wouldn't believe how angry he'd get. He's very possessive, and... he's awfully good-looking."

"Who is this other guy, anyways?" Jaller demanded. "Do I know him?"

"Yes," said Hahli. "I think you know him pretty well. But he doesn't have to come between us! We can still be good friends!"

"I... I guess so," said Jaller dejectedly. "I'll see you later."

Hahli disappeared into her hut. Jaller turned to go, then looked back for one last glance to see Hahli bending over her fishtank.

"Aren't you, my little Squishykinz?" she cooed, petting her squid. "Aren't you the only guy for me?"