The Green and the Violet

Night to Remember

Two weeks later, the team was stationed on the unique island of Madagascar, home of countless creatures found nowhere else on earth. It was the start of the rainy season and the Tortuga was parked in a clearing surrounded by a ring of trees and other tropical flora. Martin and Chris had spent almost the entire day from dawn to dusk hanging out with a troop of sifaka lemurs, a unique species known for their vertical clinging and leaping locomotion among the trees and barbs of the spine forest, all without being pricked.
Later that evening, while the rest of the crew were sleeping, Chris was still feeling restless. Sleep was the last thing on his mind as he headed towards one of the exits for a walk.
Ever since the Gecko Effect adventure, the two Kratt Brothers had often taken late night strolls such as this. But it seemed as though sleep had already claimed the Kratt in blue as he snored in his hammock, arms clutching a teddy bear. Chris tapped his hand on Martin's shoulder, causing the older creature adventurer to mumble something unintelligible in his sleep, turning away. Looks like I'll be walking solo, thought Chris, watching his brother sleep before he stealthily made his way out the hatch through the maw of the Tortuga. But his departure had not gone unnoticed.
Meanwhile in the inventions garage, Aviva was hard at work on her latest invention. She was extremely close to brink of finishing that sleep was the last thing on her ever creative mind. Seeing the excited looks of the Kratts' faces was usually well worth sacrificing sleep besides. Especially Chris, she thought with a smile.
She was however brought out of her productive trance when she heard one of the doors opening from the second hatch followed by silent footsteps. That usually meant only one thing.
The Kratt in green hardly made it to the edge of the jungle clearing when—
"And just where do you think you're going?"asked a voice directly behind him. With a startled yelp, the creature adventurer whirled around in a ridiculous karate stance until he realized it was only his girlfriend who giggled at his antics. Heaving a sigh of relief, Chris then dropped his guard.
"Oh. Hi Aviva. I was jus–what're you doing out here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing."she replied.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just–"
"Couldn't sleep?" Aviva finished for him.
"Yeah. How'd you know?"
"A girl has her ways."said the inventor nonchalantly, examining her nails. "So where were you heading off to?"
"There's this really cool place I wanted to check out with Martin. But he's out cold. Not to mention he's just as heavy a sleeper as JZ. And the real magic happens at night. Wanna come with?"
Aviva thought for a while. "You know what? I'd love to." With that, she took Chris's hand in her own, interlocking fingers.
.....(BG Music: Sundown in Madagascar by African Tribal Orchestra)
The full moon illuminated overhead, unhindered by any clouds, offering her silver light to the couple.
"We're here."announced the creature adventurer after a half mile trek through the jungle. "The baobab forest."
"Magnifico."
The pair had arrived to a circular clearing ringed by towering baobab trees which stood eighty feet in height, recognizable by their characteristic bottle-shaped trunks and branches that gave the appearance of tree roots. For that reason, they were sometimes called upside down trees according to Chris. At this time of year, the normally barren branches bore  not only fresh, tender young leaves, but also hundreds of white blossoms.
"Wow. They're beautiful."said Aviva, glancing upwards at the delicate buds adorning the ancient branches.
"Wanna get an even closer look?"asked the Kratt in green with an all too familiar smile. Before she could even reply, a surprised squeal escaped Aviva's lips as she felt Chris's right arm wrap around her waist. Using his free hand he fired a grappling hook which pulled them high among the branches until landing in the center where the tree bole met the thick branches, which was more than wide enough for both to stand in.
If Aviva thought the baobab flowers looked beautiful from the forest floor below, they were even more breathtaking up close; They were about the size of saucers, measuring up to five inches across, adorned with delicate white, waxy petals which gradually pulled up like a lady's skirt curtseying for the queen right before their eyes. And that wasn't all.
"Oh my gosh! They're blooming!"exclaimed the inventor, hardly able to contain her excitement.
"Yeah. Once they get started, the baobab flowers can open fully in less than a minute, so you can literally watch them in action."informed Chris. "The blossoms stay alive for just twenty four hours, so by the time the sun sets the next day, the flowers are spent."
"Increíble."
Before long, Aviva's attention was drawn by more than just the flowers in blossom.
"Chris, look!"
From out of little hollows in the tree limbs came scores of little furry masses. The pair immediately identified them as "Mouse lemurs!" No doubt that the normally solitary mouselike primates were hibernating together through the harsh dry season, living off their fat reserves. One landed directly on top of Chris' head, startling him half out of his wits.
"Aghhh!!!! Monster lemur!" Aviva couldn't help laughing as the fearless creature adventurer, her creature adventurer, was freaked out by a tiny mouse lemur no bigger than her hand. The lemur was equally started by Chris' reaction and leaped straight into Aviva's arms.
"I don't see why you and Martin are afraid of mouse lemurs. I think they're just the cutest little animals in the world."cooed the inventor, petting the minuscule primate with her finger as it perched on her hand.
"That last adventure gave me nightmares for two weeks straight," Chris said, shivering at the memories. "That and Martin and I wouldn't use the Miniaturizer for a whole month." Another giggle that earned a mock glare.
The lemurs made their way to the flowers, where they were helping themselves to drinking the sticky nectar that trickled down the petals. "No better way to start the rainy reason than a sip of sweet, energy-rich nectar."said Chris, watching the little primates drink to their hearts' content.
"What is that?"
Above the canopy descended a moving mass that resembled a small cloud. But peering closely, the creature adventurer was able to make out a vanguard of delicate wings fluttering noiselessly down among the branches.
"Hawk moths!"
Before long, hundreds of the winged insects descended on the vibrant baobab flowers, each one landing on scattered petals  just above the couple's heads.
"Just what the baobab flowers ordered!"exclaimed Chris cheerfully. "See, as they feed on the nectar from tree to tree, the moths transfer pollen and fertilize the flowers."
"They're the baobab's pollinators."concluded Aviva.
"Exactly– Uh oh, here it comes."murmured the Kratt in green, having noticed they weren't the only ones watching the moths in action. "Three. Two. One.."
No sooner had an unwary hawk moth landed on the flower's petals than a mouse lemur pounced on the unsuspecting insect, grabbing it with its nimble hands before devouring its victim, the wings slowly sinking down to the ground before the pair watching below.
A brief pause. "Yeah. I suppose they are rather scary when you're mini-sized."said a wide-eyed Aviva, still not believing what she had just seen. All around them, hawk moths were dropping like flies as the voracious little predators continued their onslaught.
"Oh no, they're eating too many moths! Shouldn't we stop them?"
"Nope. The mouse lemurs need to replenish their fat reserves for the dry season ahead."
"But they're killing the baobab's pollinators and robbing it of its nectar."
"But see how the some of the mouse lemurs have pollen in their fur?"answered the Kratt in green, gesturing to a particularly dusty primate. "When they wrestle the moths, some of their fur gets dusted with pollen. Turns out, they're pollinators too." As if to prove Chris' point, the mouse lemur leaped towards an untouched flower and began to lap down the nectar oozing down the petal base, washing down the remains of its meal. "So now this flower has what it needs to make baobab fruits in the future."
A moment of peaceful silence reigned. "Nature never ceases to amaze me."remarked the inventor.
"Mm-hmm," hummed Chris absentmindedly.
"I guess it's time for us to be heading down now."she said as they both made their way towards the edge of the baobab's thick branches, several of them girdled by tangly creepers hanging just above their heads. Upon seeing the vines, the pair shared knowing glances.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"asked the Kratt in green.
"I'm definitely thinking what you're thinking."replied Aviva with a wink, already grabbing hold of a good vine in one hand while gently holding Chris' hand in the other. Soon the pair stood crouched unto their respective tree limb, vines in hand, both poised to leap into action.
"Ready.... set... go!"
On that exclamation, the pair made their leap of faith, descending down to the understory eighty feet below. Feeling the freedom of soaring through the cool night air, Aviva allowed herself to twirl in mid flight, laughing cheerfully at the exhilaration of feeling the wind in her hair and a certain weightlessness in her soul whenever she was above the ground. Chris soon came to her side, his left hand slowing down the inventor's respective trailing plant while his right maintained its grasp on his own vine. The two vines then crossed and wrapped around each other, bringing the two closer to each other. Aviva turned away blushing as the Kratt in green smiled at her, his brown eyes casting a loving glance.
   Leaving the moths and lemurs behind them, Chris and Aviva strolled further along the moonlit clearing. For several minutes not a word was spoken between them as they walked along the forest trail, the only sounds being the nocturnal choruses of the creatures echoing across the night.
"The jungle sure is beautiful at night."said Aviva, after taking a deep breath of the clean night air, admiring the scenery.
"It sure is."replied Chris, gazing at her with a half-lidded stare, a dreamy smile glued to his face. Catching his gaze, the inventor bashfully turned her head away trying to hide her blush. The Kratt in green's smile grew bigger. For a moment, a dark cloud briefly covered the moon's silver light, limiting the pair's visibility. A startled yelp escaped Chris' lips as his foot made contact with an exposed tree root.
"Chris!"
  Soon he found himself falling forwards before the Kratt in green instinctively tried to right himself, rolling forward until he untangled himself in a leap, performing three forward flips ere lemur-landing on a robust log in his path.
Aviva quickly ran up to him. "Are you alright?"
"I meant to do that!"he said with a chuckle from his wooded platform, dusting himself. The inventor rolled her eyes at his remark.
At that moment, the cloud receded, allowing the lunar glow to return, her light filtering down into the glade where they now stood, almost as though they were standing in the spotlight. This gave Chris an idea.
   "Chris," Aviva laughed, watching the Kratt in green balancing himself on the fallen log before he launched himself in the air with a spin, grabbing an overhanging vine ultimately landing back to earth with his trademark pose. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, just dancing," he replied, grinning his goofy grin as he spun around in the clearing as though he were possessed by one of Donita's pose beams. Aviva giggled, ruffling his spiky hair.
"You're such a goofball,"
Chris chuckled. "And you just found this out?" She simply rolled her eyes in amusement.
The creature adventurer then surprised the inventor with a series of backflips across the jungle floor, ending his feat with a handstand. She never ceased to be amazed by his agility whether in the trees or on the ground. Inwardly she wondered if he ever went to gymnastics class in the school years. Walking on his hands, Chris made his way over to Aviva until–"Ahh! Oof!"– he fell forward, landing hard on his bottom. "Oww... Not one of my better landings."
Muffling her laughter behind her left hand, the Tortuga designer extended her right one to assist the fallen Kratt. Chris accepted gratefully. One he was back on his feet, he extended his own.
"May I take this dance?"asked the Kratt in green coyly, with a bow, earning another giggle from Aviva.
"Why of course you may. But.."–here she raised an eyebrow–"there's no music."
"Listen."came the simple reply.
At first the inventor wasn't sure what she was hearing, until her ears caught onto the silent bells of the nocturnal insects and the hooting of an owl perched on the highest branches; the gentle sway of the grasses as they danced before the calm night winds; the rustling the mouse lemurs made as they raced along the baobab branches and the choruses of tree frogs calling in the darkness; the night song of the Malagasy forest.
Like a newborn antelope taking its first tentative steps, Aviva slowly made her way through the moonlit dance floor, one foot in front of the other. As the nightly choruses grew, so too did her confidence.
  Moving with the rhythm of the night, Aviva performed her signature move, spinning on one foot, dancing effortlessly until her other foot met an exposed tree root, causing her to lose her balance. She struggled to right herself, but gravity had other plans. Falling backwards with a squeal, the inventor expected to hit the forest floor, but instead landed in Chris' strong arms. Their gazes locked for a moment as Aviva leaned against him.
"Oops." A nervous giggle escaped her lips as she felt her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Chris chuckled in response while she blew a stray hair from her vision. As he helped her regain footing, Aviva quickly recovered, swirling as Chris lifted his arm.
"The earth has music for those who listen."said Chris gently as they waltzed around the clearing, now illuminated not only by the full moon's glow, but also by scores of lightning bugs hovering among the foliage seeking dance partners of their own. From the trees above, their silent dance was observed by the golden eyes of curious mouse lemurs.
The pair danced on, oblivious to all else, eyes fixed only on each other.
"You never cease to amaze me."whispered Aviva, leaning her head against his shoulder, listening to his heart beating steadily like a drum.
The pair then gazed deeply into each other's eyes, hazel brown meeting stormy gray, their faces slowly drifting closer and closer, eyelids beginning to close, until they paused, now just a lip's distance apart. A momentary pause... until the next moment, their lips met in a passionate kiss. Aviva's arms wrapped around Chris' neck as his strong but gentle arms constricted around her waist, deepening the kiss, slow yet full of meaning and passion, and with the peaceful song of the Malagasy jungle surrounding them, it is perfect.
Admittedly, the trip back took longer than it should have. But Chris and Aviva were in no hurry and strolled leisurely, hand in hand, back to the Tortuga HQ, exchanging glances and whispers.
"Te amo."
"I love you too."
****  I just wanna thank all of you guys so much for all your reviews (especially you dragonrider1234.. ;) ) I honestly didn't really think that these stories would get very many. It really means a lot to me as an author. And thank you Guest reader dude, whoever you are, for that great idea of yours. As for that musical track, it served as a major inspiration, so I felt it was just perfect for this particular short. (I'm not exactly known for my talent in selecting music, I mean my buddy Alex is a master at that stuff..) It's called Sundown in Madagascar and it can be found on YouTube.
  P.S please be sure to check out an all new crossover story called Cadillacs and Wild Kratts on LionKingAlex's fanfiction page starring the WK Team and the cast of Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (for those of you who grew up with the game..). It's a really cool action-packed tale 65 million years in the making, full of surprises, and I'm very proud to say that I'm sort of the coauthor in that story. That's right: me and Alex are working together on this one! :D Please don't miss it! You won't be disappointed.. ;)