AN: James Michener's mythical island Paradise of Bali Hai was said to be based on the island of Moorea, Tahiti's sister island. For the purpose of this tale, Bali Hai is an island close to Moorea. Though I may write Bali Hai very differently from Mr. Michener, it is still his island.

The lyrics and music to the song "Bali Hai" from the musical "The South Pacific" were by the talented duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein.

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For the damage that had been done to Kristin's ankle from Nikki's bite, the doctor was getting around well, as Wendy found out the next day as she trailed Kristin around Moorea. Too well. While she had her ankle bound tightly, she walked normally.

Wendy decided to follow Kristin after the incident with Nikki. She knew there was something amiss for the dog she raised from a puppy to attack someone. The dog had never shown any aggression towards anything, much less blatant dislike of a very much-liked woman like Kristin. She felt strongly that her dog knew something about the doctor and was determined to find out what. Before the shore leave, Wendy was working on bridging the telepathic gap between humans and animals. Experimentation had only just begun and was incomplete, but Wendy wanted to do some testing on Nikki in hopes of discovering what he knew. However, Wendy could not find her dog that morning. No matter how much she called him or tried to bribe him with food, he would not come to her. Wendy figured he was still hiding after his ordeal with Kristin.

Wendy herself felt like hiding after the verbal lashing Bridger had given her. She was greatly saddened that she would have to give Nikki up. The Captain had made it vibrantly clear that the dog was not allowed anywhere near Kristin and under no circumstances was he to return to seaQuest with Wendy. As hard as it would be to leave her puppy behind, it was better than Bridger's original sentence- he had wanted the dog put to sleep.

Without Katie to bum around with, Kristin did not linger long on Moorea. She quickly headed for the docks and boarded a small white fishing vessel. Wendy had to hurry to keep up with her and not get left behind. She was determined to find out more about Kristin Westphalen.

The boat Kristin got on, turned out to be a type of ferry that was taking locals to the nearby island of Bali Hai. It also turned out to only ferry locals; Wendy had an incredibly difficult time persuading the captain to let her on. No matter how she pleaded, the old man steadfastly refused to let her on. He spoke in a tongue Wendy had no knowledge of, but by the sneer on his face and rather rude gesture at her skin she got his message loud and clear- locals ONLY.

Frustrated, she blurted out, "I have to find Kristin Westphalen."

Whether or not the captain understood everything she said, he understood Kristin's name. His eyes widened in surprise. He glanced over his shoulder at the other doctor- he seemed angry when he looked back at Wendy.

"O vai to oe i'oa!?" he demanded, black eyes flashing.

"Wha-?" was Wendy's stunned response. "I-I don't understand."

"Ihea oe e faeia ai!?" he shrilled advancing towards her.

Wendy looked around her desperately.

"Tunui!" a new voice snapped from behind her. "Eaha te tumu?"

Wendy turned around to see a beautiful Polynesian girl standing behind her with her hands on her hips. The girl was frowning beyond Wendy to the old man.

The captain looked sheepish but still stubborn.

The two exchanged a few words, before the girl turned to Wendy with a bright smile.

"Please forgive," she said extending her hand in a friendly gesture. "It is not often that visitors ask to visit Bali Hai. But if you are with Kristin, then you are welcomed."

Wendy took the girl's hand.

"My name is Marania," she grinned, helping Wendy onto the boat. "Tunui," she nodded at the captain. "Simply wants to know what your name is and where you are from."

"Oh," Wendy replied, mystified by the situation. "I'm Dr. Wendy Smith, Chief Medical Officer of seaQuest DSV."

Marania regarded her skeptically, then nodded. "Yes. I see. You are a friend of Dr. Kris, no?"

"Well," Wendy contemplated the question. Friend wasn't exactly the most accurate description of her relationship with Kristin. "We're colleagues."

"Good, good." Marania gestured for Wendy to sit down next to her.

"How do you know Kristin?" Wendy asked.

Marania looked to Tunui who shook his head fervently.

"Haere mai!" he snapped, shooting her a fierce look.

"Excuse me," Marania smiled apologetically.

Wendy frowned. How strange she thought. Marania was gone for several minutes and Wendy took that time to look for Kristin. She did not want the doctor to discover that she was here. Kristin, however, was nowhere in sight.

After a few minutes Marania returned and seated herself next to Wendy. Marania was pleasant to talk to and very deft at maneuvering around questions related to Kristin and avoiding the topic altogether. During their conversation, Wendy took the time to study the island girl.

Marania was a tall girl with beautiful brown sugar skin. Her hair was as black as space, as radiant as a diamond, and hung well below her waist. She was blessed with the curves of a Polynesian goddess and the face of an angel. And her eyes.

Those eyes! Wendy's own eyes went wide and she inhaled so sharply that she began to cough. Marania's eyes were obsidian replicas of Kristin's eyes. They were so dark and deep that Wendy could see no reflection of light within them.

"Wendy," Marania's voice startled the doctor from her thoughts. "I must warn you about something. Bali Hai is not a an island that is open to." The girl frowned, trying to decide how to phrase her thoughts. "Tourists. Outsiders are not welcomed. Is it really so important for you to go?"

Wendy stared at the girl. Now she was certain that the answers she was searching for lay within Bali Hai.

"It's very important that I find Dr. Westphalen." Wendy prayed silently that she would not be asked why for she had no excuse prepared.

Marania nodded, her eyes still devoid of emotion. "If you insist. But I must stress that you will not find your journey to be an easy one."

Wendy sighed, wondering what she was getting herself into. *Perhaps this is a bad idea, she mused.*

There was a moment's pause as Marania glanced over her shoulder. An odd smile graced her lips.

"You will not get far on your own," she predicted. "But I will go with you to help."

Wendy smiled gratefully. Though the eyes troubled Wendy greatly, the girl did not seem as intimidating as Kristin.

"I would truly appreciate it," Wendy said.

The island of Bali Hai was fast approaching. It seemed to Wendy, to be the epitome of paradise, enshrouded in thin blue-green mist making it mysterious and dangerous- and completely compelling. Wendy could not have escaped the island's enchantment if she had wanted to.

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At no point in his earlier conversation with Kristin did Nathan voice any of the questions he had for her.

Kristin woefully told him of her "responsibilities" that she neglected during the first tour. She did not elaborate on what those responsibilities were or what she had done over the last two years. She apologized profusely for breaking his trust as she did; Nathan assured her that, while confused by her sudden lack of communication, he still trusted her greatly. She didn't seem to believe that he could be so forgiving.

Kristin shamefully admitted that she maintained contact with one person of the crew religiously and that it was Katie. He was rather hurt by the admission but said he understood. He did- at least somewhat. Again, Kristin didn't seem to believe this.

There came a point in the conversation, after he repeatedly ensured her that they would put the past behind them and begin again, that she seemed on the verge of telling him something. She sat there on the edge on the bench on the boardwalk, fidgeting with the hem of her tank top in clear conflict over something. She opened her mouth to speak, but her jaw snapped shut. Instead of saying anything, she just stared at him with those eyes. Those eyes that in that instant held all the sadness of the world.

Nathan sighed wearily as he thought of the current CMO and the accusations she had brought against Kristin. Accusations that she could not even properly verbalize much less substantiate. It seemed as though Wendy was jealous of Kristin, though he was unsure why. He imagined that the situation would only worsen once Wendy was informed that Secretary General Corbin had reinstated Kristin as CMO effective immediately.

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Wendy, along with Marania, followed Kristin into a rather unsophisticated village. In fact the town looked much like those that Cook would have seen when he first discovered the islands. They did not seem to belong to the twenty-first century.

Kristin stopped in the marketplace and immediately struck up a conversation with a local woman that surprised Wendy due to the hostilities she had already endured. It was clear to Wendy that her presence on the isle was resented and Marania was the only thing protecting her from the punish that befell those who trespass on Bali Hai. Kristin, on the other hand, seemed immune to all this.

The local woman wearing many leis and flowers in her silver hair laughed at something Kristin told her. She fondly patted the doctor's cheek, and with a swift graceful movement, pulled a flower from her hair and tucked it behind Kristin's ear. Kristin smiled almost shyly and gave the woman's cheek a kiss of gratitude.

The old woman seemed so kind that Wendy was eager to speak to her once Kristin was gone. Marania, however, advised against it.

"She will not be so understanding if you speak to her first," the girl informed her.

Indeed she wasn't. The duo passed by the woman as they continued after Kristin, and she gave Wendy a black glare. The young doctor shivered as she again saw those eyes.

For once, Kristin did not seem to know where she was going, and this, for some inexplicable reason, gave Wendy satisfaction. Kristin stopped at a small booth set up outside of a thatched roof hut. The man at the booth eyed her suspiciously.

"E?" the man did not seem to like Kristin much, which delighted Wendy. It was about time that someone was resistant to Kristin's charm. In addition to this, the man did not seem to speak English, which would make it difficult for Kristin to communicate with him.

"Hina'aro vau e parau ia Malia," Kristin told him.

The man seemed as surprised as Wendy that Kristin spoke Tahitian.

"Tapiti?" The man stared the doctor.

"What?" Wendy was floored by the British doctor's knowledge of such an unusual tongue.

Marania looked at her.

"He asked her to repeat her question," Marania translated, surprised by Wendy's surprise. She did not think it was odd that Kristin her native language.

"What did she ask?" Wendy asked the girl.

"She said she wants to speak to Malia." Marania turned her attention back to Kristin.

"O vai to oe i'oa?" The man stood up to face the doctor. At full height, he towered over Kristin. It didn't bother her in the least.

"O Kristin Westphalen to'u i'oa," she responded coolly.

"He asked her name and she told him," Marania explained at the sight of the confused look that Wendy gave her.

"E?" the man exclaimed excitedly. "E, maita'i oe?"

"Maita'i vau," Kristin replied smiling warmly.

The man was now very enthusiastic to accommodate her in any way. They continued talking for a few minutes, before the man gestured for her to follow him.

"Where are they going?" Wendy asked craning her neck to see beyond the corner that Kristin had disappeared around.

Marania's brown eyes suddenly became very black and cold. Her demeanor changed to stony aloofness.

"It does not matter," she responded dryly. "Where they are going you can go. It is tabu."

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Lucas was bored. He had been bored since early afternoon. The captain was in his bungalow taking a nap, Ben and Katie were in Tahiti, and the others were off doing their own thing. Being rather lonely, he decided to search out Kristin, but had no luck finding her. A captain of a small fishing boat whose name was Tunui informed Lucas that Kristin had gone to Bali Hai for the day, but assured him that she would return by sunset.

He was disappointed. He had hoped to spend part of the day with her. Lucas blew his bangs out of his face. Oh, well, he had the next day to look forward to- Kristin promised that she would be exclusively his.

Contemplating ways to amuse himself, Lucas suddenly realized what an opportunity he had on his hands. With all the adults occupied, there was no one to tell him not to go off exploring Moorea. And that was exactly what he decided to do.

Moorea was everything Lucas ever expected a tropical island to be. It was exotic and completely intoxicating. Lucas almost wished they never had to leave.

He had already seen the town, so Lucas decided to do some exploring off the beaten trail. He found what he wanted nearly a mile and a half outside of the village they were staying in. Thick dense foliage covered the entrance to a forbidden looking forest. Wild hibiscus and plumeria wove themselves into the bars of a rusty, ancient gate. The gate was so hidden that Lucas had to push back the vines of the flowers in order to see it.

*No way* Lucas thought excitedly. *This is too cool!*

He fought for several minutes trying to free the gate from the plants that shackled it. It took all of his strength to force the gateway open. In his anticipation to see what lie beyond the portal, Lucas failed to see the rudimentary sign that read: TABU!

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"Most people live on a lonely island,

Lost in the middle of a foggy sea.

Most people long for another island,

One where they know they will like to be.

Bali Ha'i may call you,

Any night, any day,

In your heart, you'll hear it call you:

'Come away...Come away.' Bali Ha'i will whisper

In the wind of the sea:

"Here am I, your special island!

Come to me, come to me!"

Your own special hopes,

Your own special dreams,

Bloom on the hillside

And shine in the streams.

If you try, you'll find me

Where the sky meets the sea.

'Here am I your special island

Come to me, Come to me.''"

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Kristin stepped up to the door of a large bungalow and sighed. She raised her hand to knock on the wooden door, but paused in mid-air.

She stood there, absorbing the sunlight and island air, letting the ocean breeze lift her hair from her shoulders.

*It's so good to be home* she thought.

This time she did knock on the door. She could here the sound of bare feet scuffling across the floor on the other side of the door. She smiled.

The door was flung open suddenly. A mountainous brown woman in a yellow pareu with her long black hair up in a topknot stood across the threshold, a look of astonishment frozen on her face.

Kristin's smile widened.

"Malia," she said quietly.

The woman clapped her hands together.

"Oh," she breathed as joy spread over her face. "Oh, Kris. You come back!"

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Tabu: Forbidden

The language that Kristin and the islanders speak is Tahitian.