Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kyoshi was going to be fired. She was sure of it. Only two weeks in. At least, she thought it was two? Time was flying by so fast since she started working at the Avatar’s mansion. 

The Avatar was found, the building’s skeleton was basically sprung up the very next day, and at the same time Kelsang informed her she had a job! And a bed! And prepared meals! Everything she could ever hope and dream and ask for!

But now she was going to lose all of that! 

“Please be too busy to notice, please be too busy to notice!” Kyoshi chanted to herself, hoping that if she repeated it enough times she could will it into the universe.

As she was sprinting back to the mansion after retrieving a package in Yokoya she unfortunately she ran into Aoma and her cronies, who gave chase. She really didn’t have time to deal with the likes of them, but, alas, fate was never on her side.

The entire ordeal sidetracked her by nearly twenty minutes . Twenty minutes of having to dodge rocks and dirt! Twenty minutes of running through the nearby forest to lose them! Twenty minutes she didn’t have! And now? She was a mess, and as if coming back late wasn’t bad enough, she would also have to deal with Auntie Mui’s lecture on her attire!

Kyoshi could only hope Auntie Mui, amongst others, were too busy to pay her any mind as she snuck back in and changed.

As soon as she saw the top of the gate that led to the mansion, Kyoshi breathed a metaphorical sigh of relief. Her lungs were too pained and preoccupied to actually waste energy sighing. The guards at the gate nodded at her upon recognition, but did nothing else. Kyoshi nodded at them in return as she dashed through the doors.

Despite her instincts, here she couldn’t help but hold her breath as she passed underneath the gate. Only stopping her run where she got to the other side, and braced herself.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four moments passed and nothing. She quickly looked around. There was no little red terror nearby. She was safe!

Kyoshi got her lungs back to work, and made her way around the back. Her next obstacle was sneaking around Auntie Mui to the laundry area. Luckily, the estate was bustling, in part because the construction workers were attempting to finish another big part of the mansion, the other was because they needed to get things ready for a trip the Avatar was about to take.

I’ll just drop the package off, then I’ll grab a change of clothes. I’ll sneak the dirty ones into the laundry and no one will know! She thought to herself. A fool proof plan!

Making her way down to the kitchen. She quickly and quietly bobbed and weaved through the bustling servants and cooks to drop the package off. Thankfully, everyone was nose deep in their own tasks and worries. Even Auntie Mui was too busy with a giant pot to notice her!

She quickly grabbed a spare uniform, but repressed a swear when she realized the bin of used laundry was already taken to be washed. She’d have to sneak her load in there when the other maid wasn’t looking. With her task done and new bounty in hand, she ran up the stairs as she formulated the strategy in her head.

Rin’s probably near the river. Which means I’ll need to go to the front gate again, and then go around back… But first I need to quickly change in my room before I–

“Where do you think you’re going?” a steely voice asked as Kyoshi passed it.

Kyoshi froze in her tracks and closed her eyes in despair. Dammit. Just… dammit!

Kyoshi turned around to face her demise. Her eyes landed on a Fire National girl around Kyoshi’s age. Rangi .

Rangi had a beautiful face and pretty porcelain skin, one could mistake her for a living breathing doll if not for her attire. Donned in her blood red armor, sleek black hair pulled back into a professional topknot. She was as fierce as any soldier could be. She was also tall, taller than most girls, but not as tall as Kyoshi. Thus, she was still forced to look up at the taller maid. And oh boy, did she have a look. A killer glare that never left her face, only made possible by her piercing bronze eyes.

She was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Surely lying in wait to surprise Kyoshi like she tended to do. Though the posture was the most casual Kyoshi had yet to see the military trained Fire National don. Kyoshi briefly wondered if trying to give Kyoshi a scare was becoming something of a casual event for her.

That idea greatly irked Kyoshi.

“Miss Rangi, what a pleasant surprise,” Kyoshi said with an uneasy smile. She really didn’t know how to deal with the young firebender, and as usual, prayed for the interaction to be over with quickly.

The girl glowered at Kyoshi in response as she stood up straight and approached her.

Friendly as always. Kyoshi thought to herself. But she didn’t let it get her down. Maybe she could talk her way out of the conversation? Her chances were as great as watching a cow pig fly, but she was out of options. “What brings you over here this fine afternoon?”

Why are you hanging around me instead of the Avatar?

Despite Rangi’s moniker of being the Avatar’s bodyguard, Rangi seemed to hang around the staff more than her own charge. Kyoshi tried to piece what little knowledge she had on the other two teens that resided in the mansion with her, which wasn’t a lot and she had made attempts to keep it that way. It seemed that Rangi would be left to her own devices when the Avatar was in the middle of training, which appeared to be often. Which meant she had a lot of free time. Much to Kyoshi's displeasure.

It appeared that Rangi had taken a special interest in Kyoshi. She was always just around the corner, waiting to yell at her about some task she needed to do. Or how her uniform wasn’t up to code. Or vent her grievances about Kyoshi’s (lackluster?) performance. She seemed to have thoughts on just about anything .

Maybe it was because they were the same age? Or because she reigned higher than Kyoshi in status? But like Aoma, Rangi didn’t seem to have the ability to just leave Kyoshi alone.

Kyoshi supposed she should be grateful Rangi was just bossy. She’d yet to lay a hand on her like Aoma or the other children in the village had done in the past. But, Aoma had been like that too. Started off as a mouthy brat that is, but when she realized she could get away with a slap or two? Well… Kyoshi didn’t have the best childhood to say the least. Because of that, she refused to let her guard down around the firebender. No matter what Kelsang tried to convince her otherwise…

As she approached, Rangi’s ever keenful eyes glanced down at what Kyoshi was holding. Kyoshi tried to hide the clothes but she was too slow.

“Why are you carrying those around?” her eyes widened as she took in Kyoshi’s appearance. “Why is your uniform dirty ?!”

Kyoshi repressed an eyeroll. Of course the military brat would be aghast about her dirtied uniform. Yes, she’d become dirty because of Aoma, but it’s not like she wouldn’t get dirty after a hard day's work anyway! With the mansion still incomplete and not open to visitors, Kyoshi just didn’t understand why Auntie Mui and Rangi were so hung up on clean attire… It just felt like a waste of resources to be so anal about having the cleanest clothes when they’re all in the middle of doing hard labor.

She heard the girl was from an esteemed clan in the Fire Nation, she was probably so well off she probably didn’t have to worry about dirt ever existing near her. Maybe that explained it? Rangi probably had everything handed to her too. Like this job, thanks to her mother’s connections with the previous Avatar…

“Well?!” Rangi glared brought Kyoshi out of her thoughts, the look stinging like she was being cut by a thousand knives. What was the saying? ‘If looks could kill?’

“If looks could kill she’d be more like an assassin than a bodyguard,” Kyoshi mumbled to herself. The girl would be better suited on the frontlines of some battle than hanging out in a calm place like this.

“What was that?!” Rangi looked at Kyoshi like she was about to set her on fire.

Apparently she didn’t mumble softly enough. And it probably wasn’t the best idea to equate a bodyguard to their biggest threat.

Still, you’re only proving my point even more! Ugh, me and my big mouth. “Nothing! Just wondering why you’re hanging around here instead of bodyguarding!” Kyoshi said with an anxious smile, attempting to come off as friendly. Despite never having a friend before…and also despite fearing for her life.

Rangi’s mouth fell open, and Kyoshi realized what she said. What it sounded like: ‘Why can’t you do your damn job? You slacker.’ Or probably something insulting like that…

This was why Kyoshi didn’t want to be around her. Rangi had the power to screw over what little lot Kyoshi had in life. And Kyoshi was too much of a clod when it came to talking to people of high status, let alone talking to someone from another Nation. She was sure to piss off the firebender, even if it was accidental.

And she was proving herself right! Talk about a walking self-fulfilling prophecy.

Kyoshi put her palm up in a stopping position. A meager barrier between her and a fiery spirit of vengeance reincarnated, but a barrier nonetheless. “No I mean! I–I, uh,” Come on, think of something before she blows up! “Not that you aren’t a good bodyguard! I just think it’s a little weird you keep following me around–”

Rangi’s face reddened as bright as a fire lily and her mouth snapped shut. Her jaw clenched so tightly, Kyoshi could see the veins bulging from it.

“Not that–that’s an issue!” Kyoshi said hurriedly. Apparently she’d just dosed the flame with gasoline. Was it her phrasing? Yeah it probably was. “It’s totally not annoying!”

Despite Kyoshi trying to sound reassuring, it came off as more annoyed with Rangi. Which she was, but that was still the exact opposite tone she wanted to sound in this situation!

Rangi’s eyes bulged wide as she took a step back. Kyoshi noticed Rangi’s fist balling at her sides. Today was apparently the day she’d pissed the firebender off to no return.

This isn’t working. Maybe I should be a kiss ass? Compliment her? “I mean it! It’s not! It’s actually kind of charming how you’re always biting…at my…heels…”

A cold wind blew past the girls despite it being a warm summer’s day.

Kyoshi could physically feel all the blood draining from her body. Cursing that damned callous tongue of hers. She wondered if she should bite it off. It was too late to salvage the situation, but maybe it’d help her in the future? Assuming she lived. Either from the blood loss of such an act, or from Rangi somehow not killing her on the spot…

She looked back at Rangi who was looking at the ground. Entire body shaking and pissed off looking. Her face was so red it blended in perfectly with her armor. If Kyoshi didn’t want to die by fireblast, she should probably make her escape now.

“I’mjustgonnago!” she said hurriedly, before sprinting off.

“Wha– Hey! Get back here!” She heard Rangi call after her, but thankfully the firebender didn’t give chase.

Kyoshi nodded to the guardsmen again as she raced out of the mansion with her laundry. Rin was probably around back where the nearest river was. With the amount of clothes needed washing for the servants and workers of the mansion, they usually just did it by the river. Though, Kyoshi was sure once the mansion was open to visitors, the visitors would rather their clothes be washed under the safety of the mansion’s roof. Which would mean lugging buckets full of water up the hill from either the well or river nearby.

Kyoshi didn’t look forward to that future.

Swiftly and quietly, she made her way down the path, quickly diverting into the forest to where the river resided. She used her new silent stepping technique she learned from Auntie Mui. Well, more like Auntie Mui drilled it into her like a drill sergeant. She was so strict sometimes, Kyoshi wondered if the woman used to be in the military. Perhaps the cook for the military?

She ducked under a branch and saw Rin, scrubbing a pair of pants on the washing board, back turned.

Kyoshi held her breath as she approached, and dropped her clothes into the dirty bin before slowly easing back. Rin didn’t hear any of it. Mission accomplished!

With a large, pleased grin, Kyoshi made her way to the path and back to the mansion. She was now free to… Well, she didn’t know what to do. She’d finished all the tasks they’d assigned to her today so far. She supposed she would keep busy and clean up around the mansion? That’s what she usually did with her free time. At least, until someone, usually Rangi, came running up to her to assign a new task for her.

“Hey, Kyoshi! Whatcha doin’?” a friendly voice asked behind and above her.

Kyoshi jumped at the sound, and then inwardly groaned when she recognized who the voice belonged to.

It was the other pain in her ass.

She turned around to see the devilishly handsome Avatar Yun, laying flat on his stomach on a nearby roof that peeked over the mansion wall. He had his elbows propped up so he could hold his head in his hands, kicking his legs in the air as he observed Kyoshi.

“You seem hard at work!” he grinned at Kyoshi. Kyoshi fought the blush that rose in her cheeks. It was the world's cruelest joke that he looked so good when he smiled.

“Kyoshi?” she heard Rin’s voice call out through the trees. “Wait, why are you here?”

Kyoshi felt her heart race, realizing that the Avatar had seen the whole thing and that Rin knew she was there too. Needless to say, she booked it out of there.

“H–hey! Wait!” Kyoshi heard the Avatar call after her, but she didn’t stop.

It wasn’t until she was at the gate that it dawned on her, not stopping would mean disobeying the Avatar…which was probably a fireable offense.

Dammit! But I can’t be near him! He and Rangi were both bad news. She upset either one of them? Fired. Instantly. It was better to just avoid them.

Which was harder than it looked. Fate seemed destined to put them in her path, whether she wanted it or not. Like right now.

She gazed up and saw Rangi waiting at the entrance for her. As usual.

Does she really not have anything better to do? Kyoshi griped. Nevertheless, she approached the entrance. Ready to face whatever punishment the firebender had ready to deal out. She was probably still steaming from the earlier interaction.

She greeted Rangi with a deep bow, like she did with every person who was of higher status than her. Which were most people. She hoped that it would help lessen the firebender’s fury, at least by a little.

“Miss–”

“You have duties in the kitchen you need to attend to!” Rangi commanded, in a strong voice like she usually did.

Kyoshi was both surprised and not. It looked like Auntie Mui wasn’t done with her just yet.

She bowed at Rangi again. “Thank you Miss Rangi, I will take my leave.”

Kyoshi passed by the firebender and started walking back towards the kitchen. At least her clothes were clean, so she was sure to avoid a scolding from Auntie Mui… Unless Rangi tattled on her while she was away, which was a possibility.

As she walked, she heard the near mute steps of the soldier behind her. She turned around to face Rangi. “You don’t have to follow me.” She tried to say it as neutral as possible, just a statement of fact. But even Kyoshi knew her voice came out a tad harsh. She didn’t have the energy to feel bad about it, however.

Rangi glared at the ground, and mumbled, “Auntie Mui asked me to fetch you…”

Kyoshi felt her expression soften. Like her, Rangi did have to follow orders. Not that she thought Auntie Mui was her superior, but she did run the kitchen as the head cook. So it gave her some commanding status.

Kyoshi thought back on the other times Rangi came by to deliver a message and follow her to Kyoshi’s next duty. Perhaps the firebender was in a similar boat as Kyoshi? A lot of freetime to help around the mansion?

Regardless, Kyoshi she let herself soften just slightly at the firebender. If Auntie Mui personally asked Rangi to escort Kyoshi…then Kyoshi couldn’t complain.

“Fine…” Kyoshi sighed and kept walking with the little red terror not far behind her. 

Chapter Text

Kyoshi rubbed the side of a cabinet with a cloth in a consistent rhythm. She’d noticed a layer of dust gathering on the unit the past few days and just couldn’t stand it being left dirty any longer! She had a tendency to take such tasks upon herself, even during her down time. She needed to earn her keep after all. 

However, she didn’t mind it. She found the task to be rather relaxing. Relaxation wasn’t something she was used to having, so she greatly enjoyed the task.

I wonder if this is what meditation feels like? I should ask Kelsang.

She hummed a random tune to herself, enjoying the peace and quiet, as most of the staff were on the other side of the mansion. Something about installing a garden or something? Kyoshi wasn’t allowed over there, like with most construction related activities. Both due to her age and her lack of bending talent. No matter, she was happy where she was. Nothing could ruin this moment for her!

“Hey Kyoshi! How’s it–” Avatar Yun’s face popped out from around the corner. His jade green eyes sparkling with intent. 

However, Kyoshi didn’t allow him to make his intent known. As per her now usual conditioned response upon seeing the boy, the second he came into view she was already off her knees and booking it down to the other side of the hall.

“Wait! Ky–Kyoshi! Wait!” The Avatar called after her. But Kyoshi didn’t slow down, she sped up, especially when she could hear his footsteps thundering behind her. 

She quickly rounded the corner to get away, but had to dive to the side into a nearby wall to avoid crashing into someone. After she got her balance back and looked up to see who she just avoided flattening, she was met with a wide eyed and angry looking Rangi staring back at her.

Kyoshi didn’t even apologize, she just started running down the hall again. Ignoring Rangi’s glare and Yun’s cries for her to stop.

“H–hey! Get back here! You can’t run from the Avatar!” Rangi called out, and Kyoshi could just make out her nearly silent footfalls as she began running after Kyoshi too. Kyoshi began sprinting at top speed.

Great, now both pains in her asses were after her! Why'd she always end up crossing paths with them? Was the universe really out to get her that badly?! She was lucky she hadn’t been fired yet. Apparently running away from the Avatar wasn’t the fireable offense she assumed it was. 

Well, it probably was for normal people. But Kyoshi had accidentally eavesdropped on a conversation involving Master Jianzhu and someone else. The words he used seemed to indicate he highly encouraged Kyoshi to not talk to Yun. 

Well say no more!

Kyoshi didn’t know his reasoning. Kyoshi didn’t care. She was just grateful they were both on the same page, and thus she would exploit that. Whatever kept her away from those two loons!

So she ran from the other two teens who were still hot on her heels. She may have had longer legs, but they were in much better shape than she was. 

Thankfully, Kyoshi could see the exit up ahead, light from the outside shining through the open door. She sprinted faster, but as her eyes adjusted she realized figures of people were waiting just outside! Just as she reached the doorframe, she slammed both her hands on each side of the door to stop herself from barreling into them. 

She breathed a sigh of relief, happy she avoided plowing into people. But that relief came for only a brief moment, as all the air was knocked out of her with a sudden assault from behind.

Two heavy objects rammed into Kyoshi’s back, and caused her to fall through the doorway and sprawl out on the ground. She felt the two objects falling on top of her not long after.

Kyoshi felt something warm and hard on her back, and blushed when she realized it must’ve been Yun’s chest. Is this what a guy feels like? It’s different then–

But her thoughts were cut off, her head spinning as she inhaled a distinct and mesmerizing flowery scent to her right, where Rangi’s top half lay. Kyoshi chalked up her quickening heart rate and lightheadedness to the impromptu race and lack of breakfast. 

Kyoshi quickly regained her composure when she looked up, and noticed who had been congregating outside the door. It was Auntie Mui and the Masters: Kelsang, who was Kyoshi’s guardian and, for all intents and purposes, basically her foster father. Hei-Ran, Rangi’s mother and Avatar Yun’s Firebending Sifu. And most importantly Jianzhu, Kyoshi’s benefactor and Avatar Yun’s Earthbending Sifu.

Three of the adults looked down at the teens with unimpressed expressions, while Kelsang grinned happily at Kyoshi. Kyoshi didn’t feel comforted by the smile, sadly.

“Haha, oh man… Keeping us on our toes,” Avatar Yun groaned-chuckled. “That’s soooo Kyoshi…”

“Why the hell did you stop?!” Rangi growled, her hand landing by Kyoshi’s head as she tried to get up. Her attempts were met with her hand slipping and falling back on the other two teens again. Kyoshi groaned at the impact. 

“Owwww, Rangi! Your spikes!” Avatar Yun complained, apparently one of Rangi’s armor’s spikes must’ve been digging into the boy.

“Gah, sorry! It’s not my fault…”  Rangi grumbled an apology.

Kyoshi folded her arms and hands under her head, and pressed her forehead to them, attempting to twist herself into an intensely formal apology bow with what room she had to work with. She may as well start now while she was down there…

“What the hell are you doing?” Rangi fumed at Kyoshi. She must’ve hated that Kyoshi was just lying there like a lump while the other two teens struggled to get upright again. “Why do you have your face in the ground like that?! Have some dig–”

Kyoshi could feel both teens stiffen as they also realized who they fell in front of. 

About time you two realized…

“What are you doing?” Kyoshi heard Master Jianzhu’s deep, melancholic voice say.

Despite its calmness, it shook Kyoshi to her core. What if he thought she was goofing off? Kelsang and Auntie Mui must be ashamed. Kelsang had stuck his neck out for her, and this would surely reflect poorly on Auntie Mui! Kyoshi couldn’t have that!

“Were you all playin–” Kelsang started to ask.

“I was working!” Kyoshi announced, voice a little shaky and high pitched.

“Working? But I didn’t assign you any work…” Auntie Mui mused aloud. 

Kyoshi felt the color draining from her face. She knew she didn’t have any assigned work, but that didn’t mean work didn’t need to be done! But that didn’t matter… Kyoshi didn’t have any proof she had been working. She’d only been scrubbing minute layers of dust around the mansion, no one probably even noticed the muck but her. There was no evidence of her hard work to really be shown!

They’re not going to believe me! Kyoshi cried in her head. They’re not going to believe me, and I’m going to be fired and–

“Kyoshi was working!” Avatar Yun announced.

Kyoshi felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. Both metaphorical, and literal. Avatar Yun and Rangi had apparently found their way off of her. Kyoshi then felt a pull, someone grabbing the back of her robe and pulling up. 

“Get up!” Rangi hissed, one of her hands coming under Kyoshi’s arm to help her up off the ground and out of her dogeza bow.

“Really?” Auntie Mui questioned.

“Yup! She’s been a busy little humming bee all day !” Yun flapped his hands in a bird motion. “Silently fluttering around, but working nonetheless!”

“She’s been dusting the western corridor since oh six hundred hours,” Rangi reported in her stiff army way of talking. 

They noticed that? Kyoshi wondered. She was especially surprised that they hadn’t attempted to bother her earlier. Then, for a brief moment, a worrying thought crossed her mind. Are they watching me? Keeping tabs? I better be extra careful…

“And what are you three doing now ?” Master Hei-Ran asked with a piercing gaze. 

Avatar Yun put his arms behind his head and laughed, carefree from all the adult’s glares on him. “Oh, since I was on my break I thought I’d bother her a bit. I mean! Play! I wanted to see if she’d play with me!”

Play? What on earth was he talking about? Why would I play with him ?!

Kelsang let out a booming laugh that startled Kyoshi. “Oh, Yun . Kyoshi doesn’t like Pai Sho.”

Kyoshi blinked at Kelsang and then at a crestfallen Avatar Yun. And kept looking back and forth at them, completely confused. Why would she want to play? And with the Avatar? And that damn Pai Sho game of all things? Why did it seem like Kelsang knew exactly what Avatar Yun was talking about? Did they talk behind her back? Should she be worried? 

“And what about you, Cadet?” Hei-Ran asked, looking at her daughter.

Kyoshi tried not to let her face show her confusion, at least more than it already was. Was it normal to talk to your family like that in the Fire Nation? Oh, right. If Kyoshi remembered correctly, she heard Master Hei-Ran was a high ranking official in the Fire Army and Rangi had recently gotten out of the junior corps…

But it was still strange to not call each other either by their familial title or name… Did they really put duty above all else? Maybe that’s just how things were in the Fire Nation unlike the Earth Kingdom?

Ah, my head is spinning. I should stop thinking about it.

Regardless if Kyoshi understood the protocol or not, Rangi didn’t waste a second straightening up for her mother to give her an official report. Salute and all.

“Lee asked me to fetch Kyoshi, actually,” Rangi relayed. “He had a job he wanted to assign her.”

Auntie Mui clicked her tongue. “That lazy boy. Oh, I knew he was going to try to offload his work onto Kyoshi!” Auntie Mui stomped her foot in annoyance, and waggled her finger at no one in particular. “You tell him–Actually, no I’ll do it. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind! Kyoshi? You come with me, I have something more important for you to do!”

Kyoshi didn’t waste time to scramble to Auntie Mui’s side. Kyoshi would’ve been annoyed that Lee attempted to make her do his work while he slacked off, but she would’ve taken whatever to get her out of this situation.

“No, let me,” Rangi said almost too eagerly. “You’re busy, and I don’t mind reprimanding a slacker.”

The small smile that curled at the edge of Rangi’s mouth sent a chill down Kyoshi’s spine. Kyoshi made a mental note to never think about slacking off, especially in Rangi’s presence. Not that the thought would ever cross her mind. In fact, Kyoshi was sure her body was incapable of slacking off. 

Auntie Mui chuckled beside Kyoshi. “Alright, his funeral!” 

“Report to me after your task,” was all Hei-Ran said to her daughter, her voice low and brisk, before walking away. 

Rangi finally dropped her salute when her mother started to leave. The firebender stole one more glare in Kyoshi’s direction before storming off to give Lee his hell.

“Kyoshi, I’ll see you later tonight,” Kelsang smiled at her. Then he motioned the Avatar to follow him. “Come, Yun, I’ll play a few games of Pai Sho with you.”

Kyoshi watched as everyone went off in different directions to do their own thing, and jumped when she felt something touch her arm. She looked down to see Auntie Mui, gently pulling her by the elbow.

“This way, dear,” she said soothingly. “I need you in the kitchen.”

Kyoshi nodded and followed the cook, still surprised she hadn’t been fired yet.

Chapter Text

Kyoshi was having a pretty good day! A good chunk of why was in no small part because the little red terror and little green menace were away on some mission. The first mission for the Avatar! At least she thought it was? She was a little spotty on the details. She supposed it was some kind of meet and greet with the leaders of the Earth Kingdom, she didn’t really care because it didn’t involve her. She only cared that they weren’t there!

The only downside was that Kelsang had to go with them (flying bison and all), so that did dampen her mood a tad. She didn’t really have a lot of chances to spend time with him since she started working. At least, not as much as she’d like…

But she had to earn her keep! He stuck his neck out for her, and she was going to prove herself!

And prove herself she did! Since they’d all left, she’d been scrubbing the entire estate (what’s been built so far that is) from top to bottom! There shouldn’t be an ounce of dust within a mile of the premises, especially with how diligent Kyoshi had been! Even the dirt sparkled!

Kyoshi was now in the middle of scrubbing one of the engawa floors zokin-gake style. She was at a full sprint when a figure came into view just around the corner, but she was going too fast to stop! 

Kyoshi’s shoulder hit the figure’s knees and the two toppled to the ground. Over the chorus of their moans and groans, Kyoshi recognizes the voice. Lee, one of the kitchen hands. He was only two or three years her senior, one of the few people in the estate who were close to her in age. 

He must be goofing off again, or he’s on his break. The guy was nowhere near the kitchen, so it had to be one or the other.

“Ugh, where’s the fire bender, Kyoshi?” Lee laughs through his pain.

Kyoshi instantly shot to her feet at the word ‘firebender’ and looked around frantically. “WHERE?!” Had Rangi returned already?

Lee laughed again. “If ya lookin fer the Cadet, she’s not back yet.” He got to his feet, a teasing grin on his face. “By the way, it’s just a saying. It’s usually ‘where’s the fire’ but you always bolt when you see that lass, I figured ‘firebender’ was more fitting.”

Kyoshi’s bottom lip jutted forward into a sullen pout, she didn’t like the wordplay or his insinuation. “I’m aware of the original saying, Lee. I’m not completely hopeless.” 

Sure she was an uneducated orphan, but Kelsang taught her a lot of things! Such as common sayings and phrases! Plus her parents had taught her to read amongst a few other things… So, yes , she wasn’t as hopeless as most people probably thought she was!

“Ok ok, I’m sorry,” he grinned at her, then he leaned over conspiratorially. “Listen I have a favor–”

“I’m not doing your work,” Kyoshi said deadpanned. Auntie Mui told her to say no to him at every turn, otherwise she’d never see an end.

Lee waved his hand and shook his head. “No no, ya gotta let me finish! I’m still working, but it’s a tad hard for one person.” He put a hand to his opposite shoulder and rolled it. “If only a big… strong–” He looked at Kyoshi’s lanky body, sure she was tall but it didn’t mean she had muscle to accompany it. “Did I mention big?”

“You did. Twice.” She may have been failing to not let her annoyance leak into her voice.

“Aw, shucks. Don’t be like that, listen! You’re so good at carrying all those buckets of water–”

“What do you need, Lee?” Kyoshi was getting impatient. She had her own personal schedule to keep.

“Ok ok! You drive a hard bargain! I’ll give you all my side dishes for a month! A month, Kyoshi! Just–”

“Lee.” Side dishes did sound nice… But if he was going to make her do all the work… And not tell her what said work was… Well…

“Ok ok! I just need a teeny-weeny little favor of…you helping me cleanthewholekitchen,” he coughed.

Kyoshi blinked. “What?”

He rocked back on his heels, looking away and all innocent like. “Just you know…cleanthewholekitchenwithme…”

Kyoshi blinked again. “You want me to…clean the whole kitchen?”

“With me,” he clarified. "Together."

“What about the rest of the kitchen staff? This seems like a big job…”

He waved his hand as if it didn’t matter. “They’re busy.”

“Busy?”

“Yeah, busy!”

Kyoshi gave him an unimpressed, measured look. “Why are you the only one cleaning?”

“I lost a bet.”

“Gambling isn’t a virtue, you should know what bed you’re making before you get in.”

Lee got on the ground and started crying at her feet. “Please Kyoshi! I’m not going to finish in time if I don’t get some help!” He grabbed at her legs, cheek resting on her foot. “Please! I’ll never gamble again!”

“Really?” Kyoshi asked dryly.

Lee instantly stopped his crocodile squirrel tears and stood up in a flash with a smile. “Yup! At least for the next month! That way I can bribe you with side dishes again!” He snapped a finger at her with a wink.

Kyoshi gave him an unamused look and sighed. “Ok.”

Lee clapped his hands together and fist pumped the air. “Alright! You’re the best, kid!” 

Before leaving for the kitchen, the two of them finished what Kyoshi was doing and picked up the cleaning supplies.

To Lee’s credit, he was a hard worker. And a pretty good cook from what Kyoshi had seen. Probably why Auntie Mui kept him around despite her gripes. 

He kept his word, not slacking off and helping scrub the entire kitchen down from top to bottom. They worked so well together, and so fast, it looked like they were going to be done around dinner time!

Luckily, because the Avatar and his entourage were gone, the only people the kitchen needed to cook for were just the staff. Which they got by with a large pot of jook they had sitting on the back burner. Because of that, their time limit wasn't as strict. Thank the spirits for small miracles! 

Tomorrow, when everything returned to normal, the kitchen staff would have a pristinely clean kitchen to work with! And Kyoshi would have a few more side dishes to work with!

“Kyoshi!” Lee called out, his head poking up around the corner, face full of grime. “Can you throw this bucket out? I’m almost done scrubbing this one spot and I don't want to stop, it's really stubborn...”

Kyoshi got off her knees and made her way to the grimey bucket filled with dirty water. “Sure, just throw it out by the door?”

“Yeah, sounds good!” He gave her a thumbs up as his head disappeared behind the stove he was working with. 

Kyoshi made her way up the staircase, making sure to duck her head so it didn’t hit any of the low hanging beams. The door to the outside was straight ahead of the staircase. Kyoshi looked to the side and saw some open windows, and noticed how low the sun had fallen in the sky.

She shifted the bucket into one hand, preparing to throw the contents out, as she swung the door open.

“Kyoshi!” Lee’s voice called down from below.

Kyoshi turned her head towards the staircase as the door swung open and she threw the contents of the bucket out the door. “Yeah?”

“There’s another bucket–” 

Kyoshi didn’t hear the rest of what Lee was yelling, the sound of a gasp in front of her stole her full attention.

Kyoshi’s head whipped forward, her fear of accidentally dousing someone with the dirty water was quickly squashed by the fear of who she just doused. 

In front of her stood a very wet Rangi. Eyes closed and face of shock, until her hand swiped down the length of her face ridding what water it could. Now her wide eyes were trained onto Kyoshi, accompanied by an irate scowl.

Kyoshi dropped the bucket as she registered the scene. Her ears began to hum and her eyes began to spin. There was someone calling to her, perhaps Lee, but she couldn’t focus…

“I– I–... I–” Kyoshi could only stutter. She wanted to run, but she had no right. Not when she wronged someone this badly. 

Kyoshi tried not to think about how this was at least the second time she’d mucked up Rangi’s armor. The fear of not getting fired didn’t even enter her mind this time, she was afraid she’d be set on fire. 

“You–” Rangi gasped, she seemed at a loss for words as well. 

Instead of being a coward, she went headfirst into making things right. She surged towards Rangi and grabbed the smaller girl by the shoulders.

“I am so, so sorry! Here, get this off, I’ll clean it for you!” Kyoshi’s eyes spun as she gripped the shoulder pads of the armor, and attempted to lift Rangi out of it.

Rangi’s face blazed so fiercely, Kyoshi could still make out the red under all the muck. “Wha– Wait! What are you–”

Kyoshi was attempting to find the tie on the side of the chestplate. “Your armor– I’ll clean it! I didn’t mean to– I didn’t see you– I didn’t think you’d be back–”

Rangi grabbed Kyoshi’s wrists, trying to stop her from undoing the armor plates. “Wait! You don’t need–”

Rangi attempted to take a step back, but she must’ve slipped. She lost her balance and fell backwards. Kyoshi attempted to catch her, but lost her own balance on the slippery surface and fell right after her.

Kyoshi’s cheek hit a hard surface, and it took her a second to gain her bearings. She pushed herself up, her hands sinking deep into a glob of mud. 

This must’ve been what we slipped on. Kyoshi thought. It made sense, water plus dirt equaled slippery mud. She should’ve realized sooner. 

She pushed herself up to her hands and knees, and as she looked down, her heart stopped. Beneath her, hands on either side of the girl, was a very pissed off looking Rangi. 

Even though Rangi was caked in muck and mud, it gave her usually delicate features a more rugged feel. Like she came fresh from a battlefield. More handsome. If she was a boy, she would probably be really popular with the ladies. Kyoshi would groan about how unfair it was for Rangi to still be good looking even when she was dirty, but a certain threat of death kept that part of her inner voice silent.

Rangi’s angry face stared back at her, face somehow even redder than before. And now? There was steam rising up off of her being and on the ground, turning the mud and gunk dry. 

She’s steaming mad! Kyoshi realized with wide eyes, blood draining from her face.

“I–I’m sorry, I just wanted to help… I didn’t mean to make it worse–”

Rangi’s hands were balled into fists and her forearms were pressed up against Kyoshi’s chest, pushing her away. Her lips parted, about to speak–

“Kyoshi! Didn’t you hear me calling? I said there was another bucket– Oh.” Lee’s voice came from the doorway behind them. Kyoshi and Rangi quickly looked behind and saw Lee standing there, bucket in one hand, his other hand covering his mouth in astonishment. “What happened here?”

“I got Rangi wet…” Kyoshi said pathetically. 

Lee’s eyes widened and she felt Rangi still underneath her.

“You– Ahem – Did?” Lee asked, he sounded like he was choking the question out. His mouth was still covered, but he started to shake and his eyes started to crinkle. Was he in pain?

“Yeah, and then I was trying to get her armor off–”

Lee and Rangi both made a choking sound. What was going on?

“I–is that true? Miss Cadet? Snrk , did Kyoshi make you wet? And now she’s trying to strip you of your armor?”

Kyoshi looked at Lee like he lost his mind. Yes, that is what happened. She threw a bucket of water onto Rangi, and now wanted her to take her armor off so she could clean it. Why was he–

But before Kyoshi could finish her train of thought, she felt something dangerous. She felt like she was kneeling above a bonfire. And now the bonfire was pushing at her.

“Get off!” Rangi yelled, pushing her forearms into Kyoshi’s chest a little harshly. “Off! Now! You idiot!”

“Gah! Wait! Ok I’ll–” Kyoshi fell over from the force. “Ow!”

Rangi scrambled to her feet, huffing and puffing. “You– you– you dumbass! You suck! The both of you!”

Kyoshi watched with her mouth hanging open as Rangi ran away from them. She knew Rangi didn’t like her, but it was the first time she hurled those kinds of words at her… Not that Kyoshi could say she was in the wrong, at least not this time...

Behind her, Lee appeared to have completely lost all sanity, and started laughing so hard he dropped the bucket he was holding and had to brace against the door. She had no time to worry about him, though. Kyoshi knew she was going to spend the next week wondering when Rangi was going to get back at her. 

“You’re as tense as an erhu string. What’s the matter?” Kelsang asked, handing Kyoshi an onigiri and taking a bite of his own.

Apparently the Avatar and his entourage had returned a day early. Would’ve been nice for Kyoshi to know, she would’ve been more careful not to fling water at people. 

She and Kelsang were having a late dinner, it took some time to finish cleaning up the rest of the kitchen (Lee was too busy laughing, and now owed Kyoshi two months worth of side dishes). Then she had to tend to cleaning herself up with a quick bath. 

Kyoshi sighed. This might be the last dinner she’d have with Kelsang. Rangi was sure to get her revenge at some point… Kyoshi figured she had less than a week to get her affairs in order. Hell, maybe less than a few hours. 

“I made Rangi wet,” Kyoshi mumbled. She wondered if it was a big faux pas in the Fire Nation? Did it inhibit their firebending? Maybe that’s why Rangi didn’t burn Kyoshi where she stood? She couldn’t firebend because of the water?

Beside her, Kelsang spewed the onigiri he’d just taken a bite of all over the grass, and started choking. 

Kyoshi, who would’ve been horrified at the wasted food, was concerned he may need help. “Kelsang! Are you ok?!”

“I’m fine, Kyoshi,” he coughed out, grabbing some tea to drink. “It just went down the wrong pipe– But, um. Can you repeat what you just said? What happened with you and Rangi that is?”

He was fanning himself, face red. Probably from almost choking to death.

Kyoshi didn’t see why what she said earlier was important, they should go to the healers station… But it’s what Kelsang wanted, so she recounted the events with Rangi in full detail.

“Oh .” Was all Kelsang had to say for a while. “So you just…dumped a bucket of water on her?”

“Yes,” Kyoshi confirmed sullenly. He now understood the severity of the situation. He may not have much time with Kyoshi going forward.

But what Kelsang did next surprised her. The sound came like thunder, and his body shook the earth like an earthquake as he bellowed out a deep laugh. Kyoshi looked at him shocked. Once again, she was telling him some earth shattering news and he was…laughing! 

“T–this is serious, Kelsang!” Kyoshi protested, cheeks puffing up into a pout. How dare he laugh at her misfortune?!

“You got her– oh! Oho! And then you–” Another string of booming laughter escaped from the giant monk. 

“Wha– Why are you laughing?!” Kyoshi cried as her fists pounded gently against his shoulder, trying to get him to take her woes seriously. But soon, her own sides started to shake with her own laughter. His laughter was infectious. 

Kelsang wiped tears away from his face as he tried to catch his breath. “Oh! Ohhhh. Oh my. That was. Well… That reminds me I need to have a talk with Mui.”

“Really? About what?” Kyoshi said through her own stray giggles.

Kelsang coughed. “Oh, you’ll find out later.”

“Kelsang…” She didn’t like him stringing her along with secrets.

Keslang ignored her, apparently thinking about the story again. “Oh, snrk . Poor little Rangi…”

Kelsang flopped over onto his back, another bout of laughter hitting him.

Many Years Later…..

Kyoshi’s eyes shot open from her dream, Kelsang’s laughter still ringing in her ears as she gazed at her bedroom ceiling. Kyoshi was on her back in bed, and she could feel a familiar, consistent warmth clinging to her side. 

Kyoshi looked down to see Rangi in her usual position, cuddled up against Kyoshi’s side, head on chest, and arm and leg possessively thrown over her. Kyoshi was pretty sure Rangi used Kyoshi’s chest more than she used her own pillow. Kyoshi had her own arm wrapped around Rangi, hand resting on her hip, keeping the firebender welded into place beside her.

Rangi’s soft, steady breathing indicated she was still fast asleep. Kyoshi pressed a small kiss to the top of her head before training her eyes back to the void called the ceiling.

“I made Rangi wet!” Kyoshi’s younger self’s distressed voice echoed in her head again. 

Embarrassment hit her like a bolt of lightning that would rival what Xu had done to her years ago. Fast and painful. She did her best not to cry out loud from embarrassment. 

Her free hand went to her head and gripped at her hair as she silently groaned. 

Why the hell did I phrase it like that ?! Am I an idiot?!

Kyoshi apparently didn’t know as many phrases and sayings as she thought she did back then…

Chapter Text

Kyoshi sat down on an isolated bench in the back part of the mansion with Auntie Mui, scattering feed onto the ground for the picken to feed on. Auntie Mui had wanted to talk to her about something, but she seemed a little hesitant. 

Kyoshi, of course, couldn't help but think it was the worst case scenario. “Auntie Mui…am I being let go?”

Auntie Mui, who was deep in thought, startled out of her stupor and looked at Kyoshi with wide eyes. “What? No! What in the spirits would make you think that?”

“Oh,” Kyoshi looked back down to a picken who seemed taken with her feet. It even started roosting on her toes. “Well you’re all serious, and you wanted to talk with me alone… So I thought… You wanted to save me from some embarrassment and fire me in a more secluded place.”

Auntie Mui started sweating, waving her hands frantically. “Spirits no, child! Nothing like that! I was just, um, thinking about what flavor of mochi to make for dessert! Yes! That’s it! What flavor would you like dear?”

Kyoshi frowned. “We can have mochi?”

Seemed like a delicacy that the staff wouldn’t be allowed to touch, she didn’t know they could have that kind of stuff. They usually had to make do with the jook in the kitchen and the leftovers they made for the higher ups for their side dishes. 

“I’ll sneak you one, they won’t know,” she winked.

“You don’t need to do that, I wouldn’t want you to get into trouble…”

“It’s not trouble at all! All young girls should be allowed something sweet!” Auntie Mui protested. 

“O–ok!” Kyoshi finally relented. If Auntie Mui was fine with it…

“So what flavor?” she pushed.

Kyoshi bit her lip. She didn’t really have a favorite flavor. Anything that wasn’t trash? Most Air Nomad treats Kelsang could get her were… airy . Lightly sugared crackers, not very sweet. It was the best he could do with his trip time and lack of a kitchen. He’d expressed wanting to make her a fruit pie, but between his fears of it going bad while on his trip to see her, and his own worries about it tasting good (he usually worried more about using it for ‘target practice’ than food, whatever that meant). He had gotten her a cookie one time, but she was so sick she could barely taste anything at the time. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that, though.

“I don’t have a preference, whatever you make I'll be happy.” It was the truth, Kyoshi wasn’t very picky. She’d eaten worse to survive before.

Kyoshi heard Auntie Mui mumble something like “I wonder if she has any thoughts on this. Maybe she brought some cinnamon from her country I can use?” 

Kyoshi didn’t bother to ask her to clarify who ‘she’ was.

Kyoshi stood up. “Is that all? Should we head back?” She’d empty out all the feed in her bag, and if this little rendezvous was because Auntie Mui wanted to make sure Kyoshi got a spare treat, then they’d accomplish it. But Auntie Mui wasn’t done, she pulled Kyoshi back down to the bench.

“Now, now. There’s no rush. I have more to talk with you about!”

Kyoshi gave her a quizzical look. The older woman was back to looking anxious. “Ok?”

Auntie Mui cleared her throat. “Kyoshi, as you may know, I don’t have any children…”

Kyoshi did know that. But she also didn’t know how they got onto such a topic out of the blue. In moments like these, it was best if she just nodded her head and pretended like she knew what was going on.

“So this is… Oh, I know why I was asked but… Just… Please know I’m as uncomfortable about this as you are…”

Well, Kyoshi wasn’t uncomfortable…until now . What was going on? 

Auntie Mui cleared her throat. “Kyoshi, do you know about the frog birds and the lady bees?”

Kyoshi blinked. Why were they talking about animals now? They were just talking about Auntie Mui’s lack of children…

Roll with it. Roll with it. 

“I see the frog birds when they’re migrating. And lady bees are a good snack if there’s nothing else around.” She thought about the last time she had one. It was a few days before they found the Avatar, there was an abundance since it was almost the start of the summer so she had a little feast for herself. It’d been awhile since Kelsang had visited, and had run out of any alms he’d gathered for her since he last visited. And due to her current age, she found it riskier to take on errands around the village like she used to. So she opted to eat the bugs in the forest instead.

They tasted pretty decent, but she had to be sure to remove the stinger from them first. They at least tricked her brain into thinking she could go a little longer without meat.

Auntie Mui, finger raised in the air and ready to continue her monologue, stopped. Eyes wide and face paling, she turned and looked at Kyoshi. “Snack?”

Kyoshi nodded, staring right back. Then realization hit her. “Oh! Sorry, I guess most people don’t eat lady bees…” 

Oh, right. I don’t think most people eat bugs. She had noticed some of the poorer families would resort to that when their harvest wasn’t as abundant that year. Just another thing that was different between the haves and have-nots. Even being destitute herself, however, Kyoshi somehow found herself the odd one out of the have-nots as well. 

This always happened to her. Kyoshi would think something is normal and talk about it, only to find out how odd she was. She’d been doing so well, though. Gauging and figuring out what to say and keep to herself. Looks like she messed up this time. Auntie Mui was probably disgusted by her. That’s how it usually went anyway.

Auntie Mui waved her hands frantically. “No no! It’s not it’s– Um, I heard it’s a delicacy in the… Fire Nation! Yes! That’s it! The Fire Nation! You should ask Miss Rangi about it–”

“I’m good.” Kyoshi said without hesitation. “Auntie Mui, why are you asking about animals?”

Auntie Mui put her head in her hands. “I– Ok, maybe I should just– Kyoshi, you know when a man and a woman love each other? They um…have a child?”

And then they abandon them. Kyoshi thought coldly. But she nodded regardless.

“Well, making a baby is a process ! And that, um, that process is–”

Something about the conversation felt familiar, and with a surge of sadness, she remembered a moment with her parents. Jesa and Hark. They spoke in round about ways about where babies came from too, but they didn’t stutter like Auntie Mui was doing. They were confident, even told a fantastical story (not that she remembered the details), something about a pigeon stork.

After they’d abandoned her in Yokoya, Kyoshi found out the real truth , and there was no pigeon stork that dropped babies off. 

Suddenly it dawned on Kyoshi what Auntie Mui was trying to say. She didn’t know why Auntie Mui was doing this… But after a moment she realized, maybe she was trying to teach her something! Yes! That’s what Auntie Mui liked to do after all!

She watched as Auntie Mui was fumbling with her words, twisting a dish rag in her hands to self soothe. Kyoshi remembered how awkward she felt when she first learnt about it, the real truth that is. Maybe she could set Auntie Mui’s mind at ease by showing how much she knew? How knowledgeable she was? But was that a good idea? 

“Auntie Mui, are you trying to tell me how a baby is made?” Kyoshi asked. If she kept it vague, maybe she wouldn’t have to go into detail.

Auntie Mui laughed nervously. “Yes! Yes, that is what I– Are you ok with me telling–”

“I already know,” she said confidently. “ And I know it’s not the pigeon stork either!”

Auntie Mui looked at her confused. “Oh? Did one of the other maids tell you?”

Kyoshi shook her head. “Nope, it was before I came to the mansion.”

Auntie Mui nodded slowly. “Then was it Master Kelsang? But wait– Then why–”

Kyoshi shook her head again. “No, I learnt it before I met Kelsang.”

“Did your paren–”

Kyoshi felt her entire being become like stone at the mere mention of her parents. Auntie Mui quickly changed the subject, most likely because of Kyoshi’s reaction. She never did have a good handle on controlling her expressions.

“Um, how about you tell me what you know. Where you learnt it isn’t the issue. I just want to make sure you have the correct information!”

“You sure?” 

Kyoshi really didn’t like the topic, but Auntie Mui was a good person. So far she’d only had the best for Kyoshi in mind, always consistently warning Kyoshi about certain matters, and it was probably the case here too! She did have questions on some specifics, but didn’t have anyone offer to help until now. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad telling her?

It’s Auntie Mui, of course it’d be fine. She was slowly talking herself into it.

“Yes yes! Go ahead, tell me everything , nothing is off limits. I won’t judge,” she said with a kind smile.

“Ok…” She didn’t know why Auntie Mui would judge her for what she knew, people judged Kyoshi for much less. Like existing. But it was still nice to hear nonetheless, it set her at ease.

Then Kyoshi went into detail about everything she knew. She felt confident in most of it, though she didn’t understand all the specifics, she was fairly sure with certain aspects of the act. All in all, it felt really good to share what she knew, to get it off her chest. 

When she was done, she looked back at Auntie Mui expectantly. A part of herself kind of wanted to hear a compliment, maybe how smart and knowledgeable she was. But she quickly shoved down the silly notion. She shouldn’t expect such things for supposedly common knowledge. 

However, when her eyes finally landed back on Auntie Mui, she found the older woman was extremely pale and appeared to have trouble breathing. Kyoshi felt her face fall slightly. 

“Is…Is this not what you wanted to teach me?” A ball was forming in Kyoshi’s stomach. Yelling at her that she said too much, again ! She should’ve been more careful, she knew what she’d seen and heard was bad. No one had to tell her, she could feel it deep in her gut. She should’ve been more aware of the social contract, yes she was given permission but that didn’t mean she should divulge. Hadn’t she learnt by now?

“Kyoshi… I… What I said before, about how it didn’t matter who taught you this. Ignore it. Who told you these things? Where did you learn… those words ? How… How do you know–” she couldn’t finish the rest of her sentence.

Kyoshi’s confidence in her knowledge sank instantly, and she looked anywhere but Auntie Mui. She could tell by her tone, she really had said something very wrong. 

Kyoshi couldn’t tell Auntie Mui that she originally learnt about sex from one of Aoma’s older cousins. Especially when the girls were standing over her, hitting her with a rock. All of it was in retaliation of Kyoshi revealing to Aoma that it was her parents leaving treats under her pillow, not the Harvest Spirit. She supposed it was retribution, an eye for an eye. 

Kyoshi ( accidentally ) had ruined Aoma’s preconception of the Harvest Spirit, so they thought to ruin Kyoshi’s preconception on where babies came from. Aoma ended up in the crossfire of that one as well… Her cousins probably should’ve made sure she was out of earshot before they started talking.

That wasn’t so bad though. What they told her did shake her, but she remembered having more issues treating her open wounds and making sure they didn’t fuse with her clothes than anything else. No, it’s what she saw and heard and learned first hand on the docks that bothered her more. 

It was a long time again, most of it anyway, but regardless… Kyoshi knew if she said anything, Auntie Mui would march down there and cause trouble. Which would cause trouble with the Avatar and Jianzhu’s relations with the villagers. Which would probably in turn…cause trouble with Kyoshi again and would probably get her fired. 

It’d be best to make up a visiting sailor unrelated to the town, it wouldn’t be too far off from other similar encounters anyway. 

“Around…” Kyoshi paled, looking as another picken had come over. Now she had two pickens roosting on each of her toes. 

“Around where ?”

“...by the port?”

Aunty Mui clucked her tongue. “Sailors and fishermen… degenerates …” She said it with such disdain. Disdain Kyoshi only ever heard from the Yokoyans whenever they said her name. It was enough for Kyoshi to want to defend them…as weird as it sounded.

“They aren’t really…they’d give me scraps sometimes…” 

Some of the kinder fishermen, usually from out of town, would see her struggling and just out right give it to her. Some made her work for it, a dance here, an errand there. Other times she stole from them, usually the ones that didn’t keep their end of the bargain. 

She would usually feel bad for doing such an act, but then she’d remember how they’d humiliate her or failed to pay her after her errand… Or she’d remember the cries of poor farmer women that they’d paid to come into their quarters, preying on their need to feed themselves or their families… Well, Kyoshi’s guilt would dry up fairly quickly. Especially the latter, she always hated sneaking around when the latter was happening. 

Auntie Mui smacked her legs. “Kyoshi! That does not excuse–” She stopped, she must’ve seen how uncomfortable Kyoshi got, and softened her voice. “They shouldn’t have– No, they had no business talking to a young lady like that! Ohhh– Did you happen to catch their boat’s name? Are they local? I ought to have a word with them!”

The older woman started huffing and puffing in her seat, expanding like a balloon as Kyoshi shook her head. She didn’t keep track of whose boat was whose. Not that she would’ve told Auntie Mui anyway. She didn’t want any trouble… Even if they were from out of town, they would stop coming here, and that would hurt the already poor town’s economy. Which would hurt relations with the Avatar and Jianzhu…which would get her fired. 

No, she’d stay quiet. She understood what people did to survive, she wouldn’t get rid of that avenue for them. Especially now she was in a much better position, who was she to take options from people who had less? Even though she loathed those certain sailors who now found it just fine to poke and prod and comment on her newly formed dimensions. 

Kyoshi balled her fists involuntarily from her recent memories. It was almost enough for her to let Auntie Mui go on her inquisition. But she remembered she couldn’t be selfish. Others relied on those bastards, they were sometimes the only thin line between starving or a meal on the table for the night. She’d stay silent. 

Auntie Mui took a few more deep breaths and turned to Kyoshi. “I’m sorry I just… None of this is aimed at you dear, you’ve done nothing wrong! But can you tell me how old you were when you learnt this?”

Kyoshi thought about it. She remembered Aoma’s cousins were about twice Aoma’s age, and Aoma was around the same age as her… She knew she was around five or six when she was dropped off, and it was not long after she got kicked out onto the street when this occurred.

 “Five?”

“FIVE?!” she squawked, standing up. “That’s way too young!”

Kyoshi had a feeling that was the case… She didn’t know why, but she felt the lump in her stomach moving up to the back of her throat. Moisture pricked at the corners of her eyes, and she felt waves of heated shame rolling through her.

Auntie Mui was now puffing in place, inconsolable. The rest of the world was mute to her rage. Kyoshi kept staring at the ground, more pickens had come over, nestling all around her feet. She wondered if they were trying to console her?

“That’s it! I’m going to have a word with– Kyoshi, you have to tell me who told you–” She stopped and went quiet. Kyoshi didn’t know why, she just kept looking at the pickens, trying to keep the pain in her throat from becoming worse.

She felt Auntie Mui softly sit back down, and a gentle arm went around her shoulders. Kyoshi felt herself stiffen at the foreign touch, before slowly melting into it.

“I’m sorry for my outburst,” she said quietly. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Kyoshi just nodded, afraid of her own voice. She hated it, unsure why she felt like this. 

Auntie Mui rubbed a hand up and down Kyoshi’s arm, trying to soothe her. “If it’s ok, can I clarify some things with you? I couldn't help but notice…the way you phrased certain things… I think they need more explanation.”

Kyosh nodded again. 

“If you have any other questions, you can always come to me and ask. And when you do, I’ll make your favorite kimbap. Ok?”

Kyoshi finally looked at Auntie Mui, she looked a little distorted in her suspended tears. But nodded, grateful.

Kyoshi sat under one of the giant trees, relaxing. She’d just finished eating her supper (jook with moo-sow strips, an extra portion courtesy of Lee’s share), and was now about to take a bite into what Auntie Mui called ‘cinnamon sugar mochi.’ One bite in and she felt an explosion of flavor enter her mouth. It was almost as overpowering as it was addicting. She couldn’t help but kick her feet from the sugary goodness!

It took all her self control to not eat the treat in two whole bites! But alas, it was still gone way too soon. 

I should’ve savored it more. Kyoshi pouted.

A sound of a breaking tree branch alerted her attention, and she turned around. Rangi stood there, a small wrapped bun looking thing in her hand, and Kyoshi’s heart plummeted. Her day had been so hectic and fraught, she’d forgotten all about her immediate dilemma!

This was it, Rangi was going to get her revenge! Kyoshi wanted to run, but now that her stomach was full she didn’t think her chances of getting away were very high… It was best to just sit here and accept her fate.

At least I was able to have such a delicious treat before I went! Kyoshi cried in her head. 

Kyoshi’s eyes briefly darted to the object in Rangi’s hand. It was probably an oil bomb of some sort, she was going to make sure there was nothing left of Kyoshi to bury after she burned her!

Rangi’s mouth pulled to one side, into a frown. “Did you enjoy your dessert?” 

Kyoshi winced. Was she going to make Kyoshi puke it back up? Maybe force her to eat it again? It wouldn’t be the first time someone did that to her…

Kyoshi nodded hesitantly.

Rangi’s face went back to her usual fierce neutrality. “Good. You can have mine then, I don’t want it.”

With that, she dropped the package, which was another cinnamon sugar mochi but wrapped to go, into Kyoshi’s lap. Then promptly walked off. Kyoshi could only stare after Rangi, mouth agape. Her mind flitted to multiple things at once. Did she not like such a delicious treat? Was she just so used to these kinds of things she didn’t care where she tossed it? Why give it to her? 

Amidst her confusion, she did realize one thing. Kyoshi decided to take it as a sign that Rangi wasn’t going to kill her.

Chapter Text

“I know, let’s play a game!” Lee said excitedly. He was chewing on a long toothpick as he paced around the clothing hanger.

“Go back to work, Lee,” Kyoshi and the rest of the maids that were designated to laundry duty mused in unison. 

“Don’t be like that!” Lee said, waving his hand dismissively. 

“Yeah, we’re on break! If you play along, we’ll try to save some good side dishes for you!” Guo, a boy a little older than Lee who also worked in the kitchen, said. A few of the other kitchen boys nodded in agreement.

Kyoshi shot a side eye at Lee, who quickly looked away. That type of bribe didn’t matter when he already had to give her his side dishes for the next two months. But apparently, the rest of the maids seemed taken by the offer.

“Fiiiiiine, what is it?” Lihua, a fellow maid, responded on behalf of the other maids there.

Lee gave a wide grin as he removed the toothpick from his mouth and pointed it to the sky. “The game is… We go around and name who we think is the best lookin’ guy or gal on this here peninsula!”

The kitchen boys nodded enthusiastically. Kyoshi could feel her face forming into an unimpressed frown. The chill behind her back indicated the other maids thought the same thing as her, and were giving the boys the same icy stare.

How the hell is that a game? Kyoshi thought. Sure, she never played many games before, and certainly not with people her age. But she was at least aware they had rules and what those rules were! And they were fun! At least, the ones Kelsang had shown her. What was the point of this ?

But as she was questioning their sanity, she noticed them preening and realized… They were fishing for attention.

Oh it’s a social game. Kyoshi had even less interest in that. She went back to folding and hanging up the clothes.

“I think Jae’s pretty cute,” one maid said without missing a beat.

“Jae?!” Lee and Kyoshi yelled in unison, questioning her sanity.

That bull frog of a boy?!

“The fisherman’s kid?” Rin asked. “Really?”

The Jae admirer shrugged. “I like his jaw line.”

“His personality is trash,” Kyoshi grumbled under her breath. Kelsang tried teaching her the Air Nomad way, which included not trash talking people behind their backs. And Kyoshi did a fairly good job of it, but she still had a particularly nasty scar on her left hip from Jae’s fisher’s hook. It was when he decided to ‘play’ pretend she was a fish on dry land and was trying to ‘catch’ her. So she figured she was allowed at least one petty comment. 

The maid shrugged again. “Hey, he asked who I thought was cute, I said my piece. I’m not going to marry the hick .”

Kyoshi, who was more preoccupied with hanging the laundry and thus not facing the rest of the group, felt her face twitch. For all the grief Jae gave Kyoshi growing up, she at least had a good reason to be at odds with him. She didn’t, however, like it when people made generalizations and discriminated against the Yokoyans because of their poorer stature. It left a very foul taste in her mouth.

But she held her tongue. 

Kyoshi listened as the girls listed off various boys they liked, much to the kitchen boys’ chagrin none of them were on that list. They were getting more and more sullen with each passing name. And then it was their turn. 

Lee coughed into his fist, deciding to be the first of the boys to first. “Well I think–”

“We already know it’s Mirai.”

“It is not !” Lee screeched, voice cracking, embarrassed. 

“Well I think Su’s the prettiest gal!” one of the kitchen boys announced suddenly. Su was a maid, but not one that was presently here. Regardless, this caused quite a stir and now everyone was too engrossed in gossip to work.

Except for Kyoshi. Kyoshi continued on folding the dry laundry and hanging up the wet laundry, ignoring the prattling behind her. Until someone called out to her.

“Kyoshi! We haven’t heard your thoughts on the matter!” Lee cried suddenly. Probably trying to shove whatever attention that was on him off and onto Kyoshi. As usual.

Kyoshi blinked as she bent down and picked up the next article of clothing. “About what?”

“Who do you think is the best looking on this whole peninsula?”

“Oh…” She never really left the village, unlike most of the staff here who came from nearby small cities. So her pool was much smaller. But she was still confident in her answer. “I think it’s obvious that it’s Yun and Rangi.”

She kept hanging up the clothes until she realized the dead silence behind her. She sighed internally.

Something…tells me I shouldn’t have said that. But it was too late now. It was out there, in the universe. She had to confront her words. Even if she didn’t think complimenting someone was bad, apparently it was . 

She slowly turned around to see various sets of eyes looking at her. 

“What?” Kyoshi sweatdropped. 

“What did you say, Kyoshi?” Rin asked. She looked thoughtful, while the other, older maids, casted suspicious glances at her.

Kyoshi blinked, very confused. “Um, that the best looking guy and gal on the peninsula are Yun and Rangi?”

“But like, why did you mention the firebender ?” Lihua asked, a bit more accusing. Almost spitting the word out. It set Kyoshi on edge for some reason. 

Kyoshi blinked again. “Because she is ?” 

Kyoshi remembered when she first met Rangi, she thought she was the prettiest girl she’d ever seen. Not only did Rangi meet the Yokoyan beauty standards, she shattered the whole damn ceiling and shot straight into the great beyond. Right into the galaxy where no human could reach her. She was beyond intimidating…and that’s not accounting for the murderous look in her eyes. 

Lihua looked like she was about to say something when Rin cut her off. “ Why do you say that?”

Kyoshi sighed. She didn’t really want to talk up the two people she was working so hard to avoid. It felt weird. But now she felt like she had to defend her choice. 

“Well…Rangi not only meets the beauty standards everyone’s set here, she exceeds them–” Kyoshi went off on a tangent about said beauty standards for both men and women in the area. How Rangi was able to achieve the coveted soft pale skin, the long neck and perfect posture. How her hair seemed soft and sleek. Intricate details on what made her face beautiful

Then she did the same with Yun. How Yun had a cut jawline, coveted jade green eyes, and an award winning smile. She honestly didn’t understand why she had to go into such detail when it was so obvious!

Because, really ? People set the beauty standard, and then seemed to just overlook the most obvious by the book definition when it walks right in front of their face? Sometimes Kyoshi didn’t understand people.

When Kyoshi finished her rant, most of the looks had turned to complete and utter confusion. Except for Lee.

Lee’s eyes seem to glitter like the stars in the sky. “Oh-ho? You think they’re attractive, but you’re always running from them!”

Well when you phrase it like that … Kyoshi frowned, willing herself to keep a flush down. Couldn’t he see that this and that were different . 

“So? I have working eyes.”

“Do you…” Lee walked up to her, and pretended to faint against a tree, the back of his hand pressing to his forehead. “...run away because of their–” he sank to the bottom of the tree and clasped his hands over his heart. Twisting his tunic and looking away dramatically. “Beauty? Is it just too much?”

“No,” Kyoshi said without any hesitation. “How I think they look, and why I want to avoid them are completely unrelated.”

“Aw, shucks. That’s no fun.” Lee stood up suddenly, and wrapped his arm around Kyoshi’s shoulders the best he could. “You should tell them!”

Kyoshi rolled her eyes and flung his arm off of her. “And why the hell would I do that?”

“I think they’d warm up to you if you flung a few compliments in their direction!”

Kyoshi gave him an unamused look. Couldn’t he see she was trying to avoid their attention? “Again, why the hell would I do that?”

Lee poked Kyoshi with his long toothpick. She paled, that thing had been in his mouth ! She was going to need to wash these clothes, stat. 

“Don’t be such a prickly cactus pear, kid!” He poked her again.

Kyoshi promptly smacked his hand away, causing the long toothpick to fly out of his hand. “Gross! Quit touching me with that! Get it away!”

“Ah! My toothpick! I wasn’t done with that yet!” 

Kyoshi felt her skin crawl as she saw Lee on his knees, searching for the damn thing in the grass. She didn’t notice Rin sidling up next to her.

Rin sighed and scratched her head.

“Well… I guess when you put it all together like that…” She nodded to herself, “I understand your thought process.” But then she got really close to Kyoshi. “But you need to be careful how you phrase things! People might… misunderstand .”

“Misunderstand? Oh! Oh.” Kyoshi figured it out. The Earth Kingdom didn’t exactly like people dating and marrying outside of the norm . And that’s what Kyoshi sounded like she was doing. She sighed, of course, more stupid traditions threatening to ruin the little peace she had for herself. It was best if she cleared the air. “It’s not like that, I’m just jealous…”

Rin just shrugged. “Eh, no need to justify yourself to me. But I’ll be sure to pass that along so people don’t misunderstand, you know how they like to jump to conclusions…”

Kyoshi frowned. She didn’t need to tell her twice, she knew how people could get about various things. Instead, she grabbed the now full clean and folded laundry and made her way back to the mansion.

As she rounded a corner she noticed something. Two small oval shaped burn marks on the ground. She blinked at them and wondered what they could be… Then promptly walked off to her next designation. 

It’s probably nothing…

Kyoshi was carrying a new load of dirty laundry to the washers. She was being careful to use the avenues that guests normally wouldn’t take.

She was about half way there when she turned a corner and one of the people she least wanted to run into was at the other end of the hall. Kyoshi locked eyes with Yun’s, his eyes were wide and surprised. She felt her body tense up. She really didn’t want to start running from him, not with all these heavy clothes she was carrying. 

But before she could send the energy to her feet to pivot, he quickly turned away from her, cheeks dusted pink, and raced around the corner. 

Kyoshi blinked. This was new, usually she was running from him . Not him running from her. Regardless, it was a nice change of pace. And easy on her knees. She hoped it was a new permanent thing. Whatever made her life easier.

Kyoshi was almost done sorting through the newly cleaned and dried clothes when she heard something behind her. She turned to see Rangi awkwardly standing off in the distance, shuffling her feet as if trying to decide where she needed to go next. Kyoshi went back to her work, but after a moment turned back and saw Rangi was still there.

Did she need to talk to Kyoshi? Usually she would just march up, regardless of what was happening, and bark orders at Kyoshi like it was second nature. 

“Did you need to speak with me?” Kyoshi called out. 

At the sound of Kyoshi’s voice, Rangi visibly flinched. Then after a brief moment, stalked over to the taller girl. Eyes locked on the ground. 

“You’re busy, I’ll come back later,” Rangi mumbled quickly. 

Kyoshi’s brow furrowed. When the hell did Rangi care about if Kyoshi was busy or not when she had something to say?

“Well, I’m almost done, might as well spit it out,” Kyoshi sighed. She really was almost done, it was better to hear her next task than be jumpscared by the little red terror later. 

Rangi didn’t meet her eyes still, her gaze was fixed firmly at the ground. She shifted slightly from foot to foot.

What was with her today? What was with both of them today? Kyoshi already had her hands full with how they acted normally, she didn’t need them acting weird on her too. Who knows what could happen!

“Auntie Mui wants to see you in the kitchen,” she muttered. “When you’re not busy…that is…”

Kyoshi narrowed her eyes at her, wondering if Rangi was planning something. Maybe that’s why she was all fidgety? But, Auntie Mui needing to see Kyoshi was a common occurrence. Wait! What if that was the perfect disguise for a plan?! Assuming something is ordinary and then boom! Kyoshi would be– Kyoshi would be–

What? Fired? Pranked? Is she gonna get back at her now? She already had her perfect chance the other day but– No, maybe she had something more dastardly planned…

Well, I guess I’ll find out. Kyoshi thought, accepting her fate.

“Ok,” was all she said as she turned back to the basket to pick it up. The faster she got this over with the better.

“Wait!” Rangi said suddenly, causing Kyoshi to jump. Kyoshi looked back at the firebender, befuddled. Rangi still wasn’t looking at her. “You– Why did… I don’t understand…”

Did Kyoshi do something? Kyoshi wracked her brain, trying to think of a task she did this past day–no, week that she may have messed up. Nothing came to mind. “Did I do something?” 

“No but–” Rangi bit her lip as she glared at the ground, face reddening. She looked about ready to blow up. Kyoshi should probably leave. 

She started to quickly walk past Rangi, before the firebender could figure out what she wanted. But was suddenly stopped when the firebender grabbed her by the sleeve. “WAIT! I said wait!”

Kyoshi looked down at her, extremely confused. Rangi was looking up, glaring, face red as the peppers that the farmers grew.  “O–ok?” 

Rangi seemed to realize she was grabbing Kyoshi by the arm, and quickly let go like she’d been shocked. Or she just realized she was holding onto something dirty. “I– Why–why are you like this ?!”

Kyoshi blinked. “I’m sorry? Like what ?”

Rangi waved her arms around while pointing at Kyoshi. “Like… Like this ! Why are you like this ?!”

Kyoshi looked down at her uniform, it didn’t seem too dirty. “Am I…unclean?”

“No! It’s– I don’t get you!” she yelled.

Kyoshi jumped back. “I–I don’t get you either?” 

Rangi yelled at the sky. “Gah! You are so infuriating!”

Well you’re no bright spot either…. Kyoshi barely held her tongue. “I’m sorry, did I do something–”

“No! You didn’t do anything! Just– Get to your station! Now!” she yelled again, before stomping off.

Kyoshi stared off at the other girl, bewildered. Then promptly left for the kitchen, feeling dazed and confused. The only thing waiting for Kyoshi in the kitchen was Auntie Mui’s next task. Nothing else.

Many Years Later…..

“Kyoshi… When did you realize you had feelings for me?” Rangi swirled the tea in her cup, making a point to not look at Kyoshi. A quirk she only exhibited when she was really shy about something. Kyoshi found it absolutely adorable.

She blinked at her, surprised, wondering what brought this on. But she replied without missing a beat, confident. “When we were running from the cops in Chameleon Bay.”

Rangi looked up from her cup with a variety of emotions. Surprised, dismay, frustration, embarrassment. “What?”

Kyoshi felt herself falter. Was that the wrong answer somehow? “I thought you looked… really good evading arrest?”

Rangi’s face reddened to the point it almost glowed. “N–no I–” She sighed and put her hands over her face as she leaned against the table. “I’m such an idiot.”

Kyoshi laughed at the absolute falsehood. “I doubt it, you’re like one of, if not the smartest, people I know.”

She could see Rangi’s ears getting redder at the compliment. It took a moment for her to gather her courage to speak again. “Was that really the earliest that you found yourself attracted to me?”

Kyoshi snorted. “Oh no, I was attracted to you well before that.” She took a sip of her tea. She tried not to choke when two hands slapped the table, surprising her.

“What?!” Her face blazed redder than a fire lily. “When? Where? Why ? How?!” 

Kyoshi put her hands up. “Woah, I–I don’t know! I’d have to think about it! It’s complicated!”

“How is it complicated? You either liked me or you didn’t!”

Kyoshi’s eyes began to spin. “I–I was in denial! One day I admired you and the next I was thinking how nice it was holding your hand and I wanted to do that more and– I was kind of aware I liked you like that but also trying to deny it because– Well, I didn’t think you liked me and it was all very confusing–” 

Rangi’s head hung, the aggression was gone. She sat back down in her chair. “Gah, damn Earth Kingdom propriety…”

Tell me about it. Kyoshi sighed in relief. 

Rangi took a deep breath and pinched her nose. “Ok, let’s backtrack… The iceberg!”

Kyoshi felt her heart flutter from the memory. “W–what about it?”

“Did you like me then ?”

“I–”

“No! Scratch that, did you find me attractive then–”

“Spirits, Rangi! Of course I did! You don’t know how hard it was for me to control myself in that tent!” Kyoshi choked out. “It was the first time I saw you out of your armor and– Was it not obvious I was gawking at you?”

Rangi’s face was in her hands again, rubbing her face up and down in ever reddening despair. “No…I can’t believe I acted like that, not when you– I– Well you always did things like that and they never seemed to mean anything– Damn it! Damn that Tagaka! If she didn’t air my family’s dirty laundry I could’ve taken my shot!”

‘Things like that?’ Kyoshi wondered what she meant by that, before becoming briefly distracted by what Rangi taking her shot would’ve looked like.

“Rangi, why are you asking about this all of the sudden.”

Rangi’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. It wasn’t often she was at a loss for words. 

“She wants to know why you gushed about how pretty she was when y’all both started working at the mansion,” Rin drawled as she walked into the dinning room, dropping off a package of some sort on a nearby table.

Rangi’s eyes locked on the table, drops of sweat falling down her face. Her distressed face was also really cute. 

Kyoshi looked at Rangi surprised. She’d forgotten about that day until now. It felt like another lifetime. She couldn’t help but internally cringe at her past self. Oh, how wrong she was about a lot of things back then. 

“ Really ?”

“It’sbeenkeepingmeupatnightforyears,” Rangi said quickly. 

“It’s been what–”

“It’s been keeping me up at night for years!”

Kyoshi was taken aback. “W– why ?” 

“Oh? I don’t know. You went into heavy detail on what you thought was attractive about me! Maybe that’s why!” Rangi got up and started pacing. “I didn’t know what to think. It didn’t help that you were complimenting me in the same breath as Yun!” She threw hands up in the air. “I didn’t know if I had a shot or not!”

A flash of realization hit Kyoshi. “Wait? Shot? Rangi, when did you start to like me?”

She watched as Rangi’s face crumpled, and Rin sighed in frustration.

As Rin went to leave the room, she stopped to rest a hand on Rangi’s shoulder. “Remember, Mistress Rangi, she’s an idiot .” And then promptly walked out of the room. 

Kyoshi looked down at the table, disheartened. “Am I an idiot?”

Rangi sighed and sat back down in her chair. She lowered her forehead to the table. She let one hand reach out and grab Kyoshi’s. “No… And even if you were, you’re my idiot. Ok?”

Chapter Text

“Kyoshiiiii!” Yun called out as he walked the halls. “Kyoshiiiii! Come out and plaaaaaay!”

Kyoshi remained motionless, holding her breath, pressed up against the wall, hiding like she was in some sort of horror story. She had dove into a hidden corridor that the maids and other servants memorized around the mansion. They were to hide from guests if they heard them coming, but it also worked when it came to hiding from the Avatar .

When she couldn’t hear Yun’s voice or footsteps anymore, she breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of stepping back out into the open the way she came, she decided to go the other way. It was a shortcut anyway. She’d go down this corridor, through the newly constructed drying room, and would find herself at the also newly constructed washing area. 

She backed up slowly, keeping an eye on the entrance she’d come through, making sure Yun didn’t follow her. She was on her fifth step when her back hit something. No, not something… Someone !

A scream threatened to escape, but she threw her hands over her mouth just in time for only a muffled squeal to escape. She quickly turned around to see who she ran into, only to see a familiar little red terror.

“Where do you think you're going?” Rangi growled in a low voice. Her brief expression of shock quickly melded into anger. She was definitely mad that Kyoshi barreled into her.

“The washing room?” Kyoshi squeaked out through her fingers. 

Rangi opened her mouth to continue her interrogation–

“Kyoshiiiiiiiiiiii!” Both Kyoshi and Rangi jumped at the sound of Yun’s voice. It came from the hallway, and they could hear him running down the way. Kyoshi supposed she made the right choice to not leave her hiding spot. Supposed . Because now she was trapped with Rangi. Stuck between a literal rock and a hard place. 

She could feel her skin prickle like static electricity, hiding from the Avatar, being so close to Rangi and in a dark room at that. Her senses felt heightened as well, she could smell an enticing floral scene coming from somewhere. It set her on edge and made her heart pound for some strange reason.

What new form of fear have I unlocked within myself? She cried in her head. Mistaking what her body was experiencing for fear.

As they listened to his footsteps passing them by and receding out of earshot, Kyoshi kept an eye on Rangi. Who’s eyes followed where she thought Yun’s footsteps were located. After it sounded like he’d left the vicinity for good, she turned her hot ire back onto Kyoshi.

“Didn’t you pay attention in this morning’s meeting?” Rangi chastised in a hush whisper. “This way is off limits !”

Kyoshi had been paying attention to the morning meeting, like she did every day. And she was pretty sure there was no reason for this area to be closed off. But Rangi was scary, and Kyoshi didn’t want to stick around the other girl longer than she had to. 

“Are you sure about–”

“Of course I’m sure!” Rangi hissed. Kyoshi noticed Rangi was keeping her voice quiet, and she wondered if it was because she was hiding from Yun too.

No, that doesn’t make sense… 

She was his bodyguard! Or did they not get along? She didn’t get that from the few times she ended up interacting with them at the same time. Not that she stuck around long enough whenever either crossed her path… 

Oh, whatever, I don’t really care. That’s for them to sort out. 

“So go the long way to the washing room, don’t cut through the drying room. You got that?” 

Kyoshi nodded, finally removing her hands from her mouth. This sucked. If the drying room was off limits… Well…there went all of Kyoshi’s short cuts for now..(until construction was done at least). The walk to and fro was going to be a pain today.

“ Good , now we’re even ,” Rangi coughed into her fist, looking away from Kyoshi.

Even? Kyoshi stared at the smaller girl completely confused. What were they even about? She meant it as if Kyoshi did her a favor? Kyoshi wracked her brain but she was pretty sure all their interactions had resulted in cardio. Specifically Kyoshi running away from the firebender. When the hell did she have an opportunity to help or do a favor for Rangi? She could’ve sworn she’d done the exact opposite over the past few days. 

“Well? What are you waiting for? Get moving!” Rangi snapped at her, and Kyoshi snapped out of it in turn. It was a bizarre turn of events, usually Kyoshi was a block away and Rangi was yelling at her to come back. 

Bossy, bossy… Whatever, she and that boy are weird. There was no hope for her, why bother attempting to understand the strange. 

She was about to get moving before she forgot her manners. She felt like she’d been slipping recently when it was just the staff around. She couldn’t slip up, what if she did that in front of someone really important? She could get fired if she got sloppy. Plus, Auntie Mui taught her better.

Kyoshi turned back to Rangi and bowed. “Thank you for informing me, Miss Rangi. I’ll try to pay better attention during the morning meetings.”

Kyoshi’s only response was Rangi clicking her tongue at her, and she took it as her cue to go.

“Kyoshi!” A friendly voice came from around the corner.

Kyoshi looked up from the table she was polishing to see Lee. “Yes, Lee?”

“They need you back in the washroom. Something about more water?”

Kyoshi groaned. She’d spent all day running up and down various hills to fetch water from the well (she knew she was going to hate this future and she was right!). She was sick of it. On top of that, she couldn’t use the shortcut between the drying room and washing room! The day just couldn’t get any worse. 

Lee laughed. “What’s up with you? It’s not like you to complain!”

Kyoshi stood up, and massaged one of her shoulders. “I’ve just been doing it all day …”

“Yeah I can see how that could be bothersome.”

“Plus it doesn’t help that the drying room area is closed, so it cuts off all the shortcuts,” Kyoshi bemoaned. “The extra time and distance really begin to add up when it’s your eighth run…”

Lee looked at her confused. “What’re ya talking about? The drying room is open.”

“Huh?” Did it open up later today? If it did, why didn’t Rangi let her know? Why didn’t anyone let her know?!

“Yeah, I’ve been cutting through there all day . It’s not off limits.”

All…day? … ALL day?! It’s been open ALL DAY ?!

Kyoshi smiled at Lee, but her eyes were far away. Her smile slowly started to fall apart as her cheek twitched uncontrollably.

Why that no good little– Kyoshi suddenly had a lot of unpleasant things she had to think about a certain firebender in the estate. Specific words she heard the local sailors used that made Kelsang blushed whenever she used them. He begged her not to speak like them again, but, oh boy , was she ever tempted now! 

Well, it’s not like anyone here can read minds. Kyoshi determined. At least her thoughts were safe.

“Good, now we’re even,” Rangi’s voice echoed in her head. 

That little shit… She was trying to get back at me all along! She was just waiting for the right opportunity! Kyoshi realized. She wanted to throttle the firebender until fire was coming out her ears! She wasn’t really a violent girl. Even when she got into scuffles with the other local children she chose the route of neutral and negative jing, because smacking children around that were half her size would be disproportionate retaliation… But Rangi was military trained, she could probably handle a wallop from Kyoshi or two! Hell, Kyoshi may be the one at the disadvantage, but at least she could go all out!

When I get my hands on her– Ohhh! She’s going to wish her ass never landed in Yokoya!

“Why’d you think it was off limits?” Lee asked, curious.

“Oh nothing, just that little – I mean, Miss Rangi told me it was,” Kyoshi fumed. 

Lee scratched his head, equally as confused as Kyoshi. “Really? Now why the hell would she tell you that?”

How the hell am I supposed to know? No… Kyoshi knew… Rangi hated her. Like all of the other kids (and most adults) who stepped foot on this peninsula apparently. It was the only possible explanation. Kyoshi was just a bother. To both the locals and foreigners alike. It was fine, she was used to this…

“I mean, she usually looks out for the staff–”

That’s one way to describe an anal busy body. Always in everyone’s business…

“–and she’s too much of a perfectionist to make a small mistake like that,” Lee continued on his ramble. 

“Guess I’m not included in that group…” Kyoshi muttered, picking up her cleaning supplies, not bothering to listen to Lee’s analysis. It was best she got a move on.

Kyoshi moved through the mansion quickly, she’d arrive at the washing station a lot faster than she had earlier that day. She should’ve realized Rangi was lying much sooner, the fact she hadn’t seen an increase of the staff using the long way should’ve been her biggest indicator. She blamed how heavy the water was and how tired she was on her lack of awareness.

I’ll get back at her somehow… Kyoshi thought, trying to formulate a plan of retaliation in her mind. Maybe she’d let loose a bull frog in her room? Most of the village girls she knew didn’t like them, but then again…maybe Rangi was different? Well, even if she liked the creatures, it’d be a pain to get them out at least.

Kyoshi made her way through the hidden passage that she had used earlier that day when she ran into Rangi, but this time the firebender was nowhere in sight. She continued on, and opened the door to the drying room. 

An annoyed smile graced her lips as she disobeyed Rangi’s ‘orders.’ It opened fine, and there was no sign saying not to use it. Rangi really had lied. 

Maybe I’ll use two bull frogs… Maybe even throw in a prickle snake for good measure. She thought, already formulating a plan where she opened Rangi’s bedroom window from the outside and tossed the animals into the firebender’s room.

She closed the door quietly and looked around. She was just outside the drying room. The drying room was surrounded with multiple shoji doors and pillars. Some doors were open and some were closed. When Kyoshi peered into the room, she saw it was completely filled with multiple linens and clothes that were hung up to dry. She could just make out shadows past the hanging sheets and closed doors, it appeared to be a group of laundry maids. 

They didn’t seem to be working, it looked like their workload was done for the day. They were taking their time to lounge around now. 

Kyoshi considered cutting through the middle, to save time, but anxiety took over. She wasn’t very close with a lot of the other staff, and walking in front of them as they were relaxing felt a tad too invasive. She could imagine them staring at her like she just ruined a moment of theirs as she walked by, something that happened often growing up when she walked past the other children in the village when they played. It made her uncomfortable.

She opted to just go around the outer walls instead. It didn’t add that much to her walk, so no skin off her nose. She could just see the washing room door and–

“Kyoshi…” a high pitched voice drawled. Hearing her name caused Kyoshi to stop in her tracks, heart nearly leaping out of her chest. “The one you were talking about before, when I walked in. She’s that tall one, right?”

Huh? Kyoshi should move. She knew nothing good ever came from hearing her name spoken about from the shadows. She knew it would only hurt more if she didn’t move. But…she felt as if she was cemented to the floor. Too afraid she’d accidentally make a noise and then a different kind of consequence may be brought upon her.

“The one who’s always hanging around the Avatar and that fire brat?” a haughty voice replied. 

“Yes! Her! The tall one who’s always running around,” the high pitch voice groaned.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” another nasally voice complained. “Talk about favoritism.”

But I don’t ! Kyoshi gritted her teeth in frustration. Yes, this was just another reason why she knew being near them was a bad idea. This kind of thing would happen. 

“Oh, don’t get me started on the favoritism!” the haughty voice groaned. “First, she gets this coveted job because of nepotism! It’s only because she had connections with Master Kelsang, I tell you! 

“Because of his past companionship with Avatar Kuruk,?”

“Yes!”

Kyoshi felt dread dropping into her stomach like the adult size rock that Aoma dropped on her not three months ago. They’d heard about that? How Kelsang begged Jianzhu to give her a job here. That was supposed to be a secret! 

Oh no, Kelsang stuck his neck out for me and– This is my fault. I must’ve done something that led to them finding out.

“Not just that, but have you seen Mui and the rest of the kitchen staff? They keep giving her special treats and extra portions! It’s not fair !” the nasally one growled. “I’d like some extra side dishes!”

The extra side dishes were because of Lee’s bribe, but they didn’t know that. She should probably tell him the deal was off, so that they wouldn’t get into trouble. As for Auntie Mui… 

I knew it. I knew I shouldn’t have taken those treats. Kyoshi cried in her head. She was just causing all kinds of problems for the people she owed. She’d need to pay them back, even the scale. Forget about just earning her keep, she needed to exceed that!

“Well we can’t be too harsh,” the high pitched one crooned. “I heard she’s an orphan !”

The pit that was in Kyoshi’s stomach now multiplied, stacking its way up her being. Right into her throat. Swallowing was becoming impossible. Her mind was going blank.

“An orphan?!” the other two gasped.

“Yes, and an unwanted one from the village at that! They told me she’s been causing problems since she was young!”

“Does Master Jianzhu know about this?!” 

“I can’t believe he would, Master Kelsang must’ve lied and kept it hidden from him! I doubt he’d like a street urchin near all his valuables! Muddying up the corridors.”

“I heard she was abandoned. That, or their parents sold her.” 

“Must’ve been a piss poor worker then, because I heard she ate out of the trash for years. They must’ve let her go, knowing they got a bum deal when they bought her.”

“Surprised she does any work around here if that’s the case.”

“Must not want to be abandoned like the last time, poor thing . But it doesn’t give her a right to be treated special. We all work hard, so why should she get anything extra?”

“Exactly! I’m going to bring this to Master Jianzhu’s attention, we can’t have filth muddying up our–”

“Interesting, you all were so hard at work earlier, but it seems like you’ve finished?” a familiar raspy voice appeared from the other end of the way, there was a bite to it. Rangi had circled back to this room at some point.

Kyoshi could feel the tension in the air as the gossiping maids went silent. Unable to talk back to someone of higher status.

“I’m sorry, but if you’re done here, I believe there’s other work to do around this mansion.” Rangi’s raspy voice never sounded more threatening. “And no need to speak to Master Jianzhu, if you have any complaints, please bring them to me first. I’m in charge of filtering such requests for him after all.”

“Y–yes, Miss Rangi.”

“Of course, Miss Rangi.”

“Right away, Miss Rangi.”

With a few more scuffles, Kyoshi could hear the other maids quickly leaving the premises. Kyoshi didn’t move. She was too…was too… It was best if she just waited for Rangi to leave as well.

“I told you this place was off limits, didn’t I? So why didn’t you listen?” she heard Rangi sigh from around the corner, sounding disappointed. Of course she knew Kyoshi was there, Rangi always knew where Kyoshi was. She slid a shoji door open and peeked around the pillar where Kyoshi was hiding. “Now look what ha–”

Rangi stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide and brow furrowed in consternation. Then she started to blur in Kyoshi’s vision.

“Wha– at ?” Kyoshi glared at the blurry figure, trying to keep her bravado up in front of the firebender, her voice cracking mid-word. The back of Kyoshi’s hand flew to her mouth, embarrassed that her own voice was giving away her real emotions. Of all the people Kyoshi didn’t want to cry in front of, Rangi was pretty much at the top of the list. 

She turned her glare back to Rangi, blinking away tears so she could see again. Shock laid on the firebender’s face, like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. No…not just shock, pity was very much mixed into it. Kyoshi turned her head and eyes away, gritting her teeth. Embarrassment hitting her even harder. What little pride she had crumbling before her. 

“Happy? Yeah, I didn’t listen, looks like I got what I deserve …” she said through her teeth, it would’ve been better if Rangi was smug about all of this. She could handle that, but not pity. She took another shuddering breath, tears were distorting her vision again.

“N-no–I…” Rangi seemed to be at a loss for words. 

Kyoshi couldn’t bear to be in the same room any longer. She was sure if Rangi could come up with anything, it wouldn’t be anything Kyoshi wanted to hear. It would probably just be salt in her now freshly open wound.

“I need to get back to work. If you’ll excuse m–e–” her voice came out hollow and stilted, breaking on the last word again. 

Kyoshi ran in the direction from where she came, barely aware that Rangi wasn’t following her or calling out to her. That was fine, she’d be fine never running into the firebender ever again in fact! 

She sprinted down various secret passages so she could get to her room. She needed to fix her face before she made her way to the washroom.

Chapter Text

Rangi dragged her pointer finger down the length of the table and then examined it. “Is this the best you can do?” she asked the nearby maid.

“Ah, well, um…” The high pitched maid, named Lanying, fumbled through her sentence. She was only a few years older than Rangi, maybe a year older than Lee. But Rangi was taller than most girls not only her age but even older (again, not including Kyoshi), and it was enough that it allowed her to slightly tower over Lanying. Making her more intimidating, causing the maid to fumble even more.

Kyoshi was hiding around the corner, clutching at the vase filled with flowers she had just come back from attending to. 

Why does she have to be here? Kyoshi sighed. The vase was large, and extra heavy with all the fresh water she just put into it. After Kyoshi fixed the flowers in the room, she was going to help Lanying with the cleaning. They’d only just started on the room after all, but the little red terror was already terrorizing them! How could they work in this environment?!

It’s too early in the morning for this. How long was I gone? What? Ten minutes? At least it felt like that… Does she think we’re superhuman with superspeed like her? Give us a break, we just finished the morning meeting. While Kyoshi could appreciate someone else who valued tidiness and timeliness, this was a little extreme even for her. Again, for spirits sake the day just began! Give them a moment to start!

Kyoshi readjusted her grip on the vase. She was in a tight spot. Yes, normally she would jump out and help her coworker out… But it was Rangi . Whenever the two of them were involved with anything, it usually spelled trouble for the coworker Kyoshi was working with. It would probably be better for Lanying if Kyoshi left and came back. 

Kyoshi would usually wonder if Rangi had a job to do (such as guarding the Avatar!), but apparently this was her job… too . To yell and instruct others. And she was damn good at it. 

It’s like she was born to yell. She’d fit better as a drill sergeant than whatever she’s doing here…

“Kyoshi!” Rangi snapped loudly, obviously reading Kyoshi’s thoughts and wanting to show off her impressive voice projection to prove a point. Regardless if she was really a mind reader or not, Kyoshi still nearly jumped out of her skin. She still couldn’t understand how Rangi was able to tell where she was despite being so sneaky. “I know you’re there, get over here!”

Kyoshi groaned inwardly and came out from around the corner. “Miss Rangi,” she bowed the best she could. The reciprocity for her politeness was a very deep scowl. 

Friendly as always. Well…at least she’s consistent. 

“Explain to me how it is you’re the only maid in this mansion who knows how to clean a damn thing!” She asked, resting a hand on her hip. 

It was hard to tell if she was complimenting Kyoshi, or just trying to insult Lanying (Kyoshi assumed the latter). Regardless, Lanying shot Kyoshi a scornful look from behind Rangi’s back, and Kyoshi couldn’t help but begin sweating. 

Is she trying to ruin my relationship with the other maids?!  

It seemed Rangi’s entire manner of operation was to just make Kyoshi’s life as difficult as possible, so she wouldn’t put it past her. But Kyoshi was pretty sure this was the eighth time the firebender had thrown one of Kyoshi’s colleagues under the caravan. And each time she did, Rangi would somehow drag Kyoshi into it. Usually to showcase where Kyoshi’s colleagues’ weaknesses lie, and how they could improve. Which did not endear Kyoshi to them at all.

Kyoshi sighed, knowing her fate was sealed. She decided she could multitask with her work while being scolded, made her way over to the table the vase belonged to, and put the heavy bastard down. She may as well attempt to salvage the situation.

“I disagree, Miss Rangi. Lanying is fantastic in what she does. We’ve only just started, it’s not fair to give us a full evaluation when we were just given the task.” 

It was the truth. 

“Hm... Still I don’t see much progress. Care to explain?” Rangi challenged both of them. 

Micromanage much? Kyoshi bit her tongue. She tried to recall everything they’d been doing up to that point.

“Well we spent a few minutes observing the area to see what we needed to tackle first, then Lanying was going to prep the area while I handled the flower situation.” Kyoshi glanced over and saw Lanying nodding her head enthusiastically. “And then once I came back we were going to tackle the whole thing together.”

Kyoshi was confident as she spoke. When it came to what she needed to do with her job and how to do it, she was always sure of herself. It was the one thing in life she was actually confident in.

“Tell me, Kyoshi, how long were you gone?” Rangi asked, looking at her nails. 

“I dunno,” Kyoshi shrugged. “Ten minutes?”

“Ten minutes?” Rangi rolled her eyes, “You were gone for nearly forty ! That task was given to you over an hour ago!”

Kyoshi felt her heart stutter at the realization, and fear she was about to get in trouble. Had she really been gone that long? Ok, maybe she got a little side tracked from her main task but– She really was working the entire time! But Rangi may not know that–

“I already know where you were. You were helping Auntie Mui, Lee, and even the main gate guards were you not?” 

Kyoshi’s only response was for her eyes to widen to the size of plates. Ok, Rangi did know what she was doing… Had she been watching Kyoshi? Or did she just have eyes and ears everywhere ? 

“So how is it,” Rangi continued while she started pacing the room. “How is it that you could get all of that done in that amount of time, but this one couldn’t even wipe the dust off of a table properly?”

Rangi looked at Kyoshi expectantly, as if they were conspiring together. Kyoshi really didn’t understand the firebender. 

“Listen, I’m sorry I got a bit sidetracked, but that’s not Lanying’s fault!” Kyoshi defended her coworker. She watched as Rangi’s face quickly fell from a ‘confident investigator’ persona to a pout that read ‘What the hell are you doing? Why are you undermining my words?’ “She thought I was going to be back sooner, so she didn’t want to do anything too drastic without me! What’s so hard to understand about that?”

Rangi closed her eyes in frustration and sighed. “It doesn’t matter if she had to wait for you! She should’ve figured out something to keep herself busy! She’s being paid to work , not stand around and wait! I shouldn’t have to hold everyone’s hand!” 

Kyoshi could feel herself getting irritated. She understood the need to earn her keep, but for Rangi to act as if they were machines instead of humans? Was she really so callous ?

“What? Is it that this place isn’t as much of a well oiled machine as ones in the Fire Nation?” Kyoshi asked sarcastically. Gearing up for her next dig. Probably something about how Fire Nationals are (ironically) cold-hearted machines. Would explain their heartless and insensitive nature. 

Instead of a scowl that Kyoshi was expecting, Rangi’s eyes began to sparkle. “Yes, exactly ,” she said, a hint (understatement) of pride radiating in her voice. “I’m so glad you understand .”

Rangi’s sudden elation took the wind and irritation out of Kyoshi’s sails, and dread started creeping up on her. 

No… Don’t look at me like that . Like I just agreed with you! It was the opposite! The opposite! Kyoshi bit her tongue, attempting to chew right through it. It seemed nothing she said in any scenario helped her in any way. She was damned if she did, damned if she didn’t.

Kyoshi could barely look at Lanying, who was certainly glaring holes into Kyoshi’s skull. ‘How dare you choose to side with the foreigner instead of backing up your own country and countryman!’ Was what she was probably thinking.

This was going to be a very awkward cleaning day.

______

The sun was high in the sky as Kyoshi pulled various weeds from the front garden. She was almost done, and when she finished, Auntie Mui said she’d make her a cool drink when she got back! She really should decline, but the sun and heat made one do crazy things.

This is the last treat, then I'm quitting cold squirrel turkey!

As Kyoshi pulled one of the final weeds, she saw two familiar blood red and black feet plant themselves next to her, facing away, and she sighed. She looked up to see Rangi, looking out, over to the main gate.

“Continue with what you’re doing, I just want to watch the show,” she said without so much as looking at Kyoshi.

Kyoshi frowned and stood up to look at whatever Rangi was watching. Her brow crinkled in confusion as she watched Lanying walking out of the mansion with some of the guards, carrying something. It looked like Lanying was trying to resist walking forward, talking with the guards very animatedly.

What on earth was going on?

“I really hate slackers,” Rangi announced out of the blue.

Then why do you act like you hate me so much? Kyoshi wasn’t a slacker, you’d think they’d get along on that front. But no. Rangi was abrasive as always.

The thought was quickly pushed away as she watched as Lanying was being escorted out to the front gate, a few of the maids following and seemingly yelling at the guards to stop. And then Lanying was thrown out. Kyoshi’s eyes widened as she realized what just happened. Lanying was fired . Was it because of this morning?

She stole a glance towards Rangi, who had a smug, self-satisfactory smile on her lips. Happy to have screwed someone out of a job. It didn’t take a detective to figure out that much.

The rage inside Kyoshi started to build from the indignation of it all. How can someone ruin another person’s livelihood like that, and look so pleased with themselves? How could Rangi lack any compassion? Was tar filled in her chest where her heart should be? Maybe that’s just how all firebenders were. They traded their ability to care about others in exchange for power. 

“Do you just like ruining people’s lives?” Kyoshi seethed, just barely managing not to raise her voice. She didn’t want to cause a scene, nor did she want to give Rangi the satisfaction.

That statement instantly wiped the smirk off of Rangi’s face, and she looked back at Kyoshi, confused. “What?”

“I asked: ‘Do you like ruining people’s lives?’ ” Kyoshi repeated. “Does it give you some sick joy? Destroying their income and livelihood? Knowing they may not have a meal in the future?”

“What? No . Like I said earlier, I hate slackers ,” she repeated. As if that justified what she did. 

“It was just one day ! She was imperfect for one day and you fired her?!”

Rangi snorted, trying to look unperturbed, but she was obviously getting angry. “ Please , she never did her job. Let alone properly. She’s been lollygagging about day after day, getting other people to do her work while she thought no one was the wiser. Why would we need someone like her? Someone who’s a drain on our resources?”

“Drain on your–” that stopped Kyoshi up short. She felt sick. Yes, maybe Lanying wasn’t earning her keep like Rangi said, but to just be let go outright? Not given a warning? Not given a chance to repent and fix her behavior? Knowing one could be cut just like that... Kyoshi already thought that’s how things worked around here, feared it. But to see it working in front of her eyes? It all frightened her beyond imagination. 

She’d been right all along, despite reassurance from Kelsang and Auntie Mui. If she wasn’t careful she’d be next . Working here one moment, then cut the next with no warning, sleeping with the deer dogs on the street again. And Rangi was the greatest threat to all of that, just as Kyoshi had predicted.

“ Yes ,” Rangi replied, a smug smile growing back on her face. “You understand now, right? She needed to be cut loose, so we could run more efficiently!” 

But even still, Kyoshi couldn’t control her anger. Even if she could get fired. 

“Like in the Fire Nation?” Kyoshi bit out lowly.

“Yes! Like in the Fire Nation .” Rangi still had that smile on her face, unaware of the anger building inside Kyoshi. “We’re very efficient there. If you can’t pull your weight, you’re cut. Plain and simple. It keeps everyone in tip top shape and from being dragged down by dead weight. For some reason, the Earth Kingdom seems to not mind such weight, maybe it’s the rocks that you bend? I don’t understand it, but you needn’t worry, this is partially why I’m here. To fix problems like this.”

“You still shouldn’t have done that. Not like this, it wasn’t right . She should’ve been allowed to defend herself or at least get a warning .” Kyoshi gritted her teeth. “You’re just mean . A spiteful, elitist snob who doesn’t care about anyone but yourself . I just don’t understand how you take pride in cutting people down like this.”

The smile fell from Rangi’s face, cut down by Kyoshi’s words. Her eyes widened in shock before quickly forming into sharp daggers. “What?! No I’m no– Are you serious ?! Are you an idiot ?! ” She pointed at her temple to exemplify her point.

“Maybe I am? At least I’m not someone full of hot air ,” Kyoshi grumbled. 

She looked at Kyoshi incredulously, but only got a glare in response. “W–well you’re just a dipshit dirt eater !” 

Dirt eater... It was an insult that other nations had of the Earth Kingdom citizens. Probably because they thought they were poor and dirty. Uncivilized savages who ate rocks and dirt to survive. So this is what she thought of Kyoshi? Fine, Kyoshi had a feeling it was like this anyway. But at least she had confirmation now. 

Instead of Kyoshi defending herself, she decided to roll with the insult. It wasn’t untrue, at least...not in the way Rangi knew. “Maybe you’re right. Because I have eaten dirt before.”

Rangi’s face frowned slightly, uncertainty creeping onto it, not sure where Kyoshi was going with it. She wasn’t expecting that, she probably had enough sense that the dirt eater slur was a falsehood…for most people in the Earth Kingdom. But for Kyoshi, it was very much a reality.

“Sometimes it was the only thing I knew I could have for my next meal. Though I’m sure you never had to deal with something like that. Not everyone can be lucky enough to be born a rich ash–” Kyoshi stopped herself, but not quickly enough for Rangi to not know what she wanted to say. To see Rangi’s face recoiling and bracing for a verbal slap in the face. 

To be born a rich ash maker like yourself. What was the point of her slinging slurs around as well? It just made her feel dirty, and it wasn’t going to solve anything. 

Kyoshi grimaced, ashamed of herself. “You know what? No. I won’t stoop to your level,” Kyoshi spat. 

Rangi’s eyes widened and quickly looked down at the ground. Shame evident on her face. And then her jaw started flexing, and her signature scowl slowly formed on her lip; obviously annoyed she knew she was in the wrong and had no comeback. It should’ve been an ugly expression, one that reflected her inner cruelness but…no. It didn’t. Nothing Rangi did seemed to mar her beautiful features. She just looked more fierce and powerful, but beautiful nonetheless. And she probably knew that. 

Still, Kyoshi wished she could just… Just have one dig at her. She wanted to be cruel for once herself, but in a way that didn’t lower her to the same gutter as Rangi. Maybe it was petty and childish but…Rangi already had beauty, strength, money, and power. So why did she feel the need to take from others? 

“If you keep scowling like that, you’ll ruin your pretty face.” Is what Kyoshi wanted to say, to say it with so much vitriol, just to make Rangi second guess herself. To make her self-conscious. But she doubted Rangi could ever be self-conscious, it seemed like a foreign concept to her. So why bother?

Some people just have all the luck. Kyoshi thought bitterly. Life’s fairness was not equal to all. And it just felt so much more apparent when the two girls stood next to each other. 

Suddenly, Rangi’s eyes shot towards Kyoshi. Mouth opened, eyes widened, and face began to redden. Kyoshi wasn’t sure if she was shocked or angry or both. But… why ?

Then Kyoshi’s eyes widened in reflection of Rangi as a realization hit her. “Did I just say that out loud?”

Kyoshi did it again, her tongue just did whatever it wanted, consequences be damned . Rangi probably thought the comment was impudent or something. 

Rangi apparently was at a loss for words too. Her cheeks puffing out. Kyoshi couldn’t tell if she was really fuming mad or…perhaps… Was she trying to avoid scowling? 

That kind of shocked Kyoshi, had her words actually affected the firebender? And why didn’t she feel the gratification she thought she'd feel? Maybe Kelsang was right, trying to bring others down was poisonous to one’s soul? Or maybe she didn’t like that she got caught? She’d have to reflect on this at a different time, namely a time that didn’t involve her skin potentially being barbecued. 

Kyoshi didn’t want to test her luck, it was best to just leave. “Please don’t kill me,” she said hastily.

With those parting words, she left the still fuming firebender to her own devices.

Chapter Text

The week had sucked, and it seemed like it was going to continue to suck. Kyoshi had upset a lot of the other, older maids. She had a feeling as to why. It wasn’t exactly Kyoshi’s fault, in fact, it was the little red terror’s fault ! It was because Rangi got Lanying fired, but they somehow blamed Kyoshi for it! It wasn’t fair!

Kyoshi may not have gone to school, but it didn’t take a brainiac to see that the people upset with her were the same circle of friends that Lanying was in. 

It was fine. Kyoshi was used to this kind of treatment from the Yokoyans. She was used to the harsh glares, the snarky whispers, her stuff going missing, even being purposefully tripped. Both from adults and children. It didn’t matter how old someone was, if they were confronted with something they disliked, their first response was to be petty.

Still, Kyoshi went about her days. She made sure to tell Lee he didn’t need to give her his extra portions. She figured he’d be ecstatic when she told him, but she could’ve sworn he looked a tad hesitant. Maybe he thought she was mad or planning something? She’d have to figure that out later when she had more free time, it wouldn’t be good to have another person who’s shit list she was on. 

She also fully noticed the special meals Auntie Mui was trying to sneak to her, and made sure to decline them. Now that she knew she was getting special treatment, it just didn’t feel right. However, It didn’t stop Auntie Mui from raising a big stink about it.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do about her…  

It seemed the only way to make Auntie Mui happy would be to listen to her, but the other staff members were getting angry at her favoritism… So she couldn’t listen to her, but that just ended up making Auntie Mui mad… Then there was also the fact that her relationship with the other staff wouldn't change overnight. So at the present time, both parties were mad at Kyoshi… 

It was a real rock and a hard place… Alas , such was the life of an Earth Kingdom Citizen. 

As for Kelsang… Well… He was away on a mission and wouldn’t be back for a few days. She’d warn him when he got back. It was her fault if she caused him any troubles after all.

For now, she’d have to do what she could to improve her stature in the estate. She’d just have to work even harder and prove she wasn’t dead weight! That she could still be a good worker even with Kelsang’s nepotism!

But as Kyoshi delivered the newly washed laundry to the maids in the drying area, she found that would be a tad harder to accomplish.

“Are you messing with us?” an older maid scowled at Kyoshi as she threw various wet linens she'd washed an hour earlier at her feet. 

“N–no?” Kyoshi mumbled, a little panicked, trying to step around the linens before placing the basket of newly cleaned clothes down in its rightful place.

“What was that?! Speak clearly!”

“N-no!” Kyoshi said, still panicked, with a bit more volume. 

“Then why–” She held up a sheet that looked freshly cleaned, almost spotless. “–are you bringing us dirty wet clothes?”

She threw the item into Kyoshi’s face and it hit her with a very wet sound. Kyoshi grabbed the sheet and pulled it away, then inspected it. It looked basically brand new. Not a speck of filth that Kyoshi could see.

“Well? Got anything to say for yourself? For this mess you’ve brought to us?”

Kyoshi sighed inwardly. Just go along with it, it’s better than fighting back…

Kyoshi picked up the now dirty linens, and then bowed. “No, I apologize for my oversight. I will wash them again and make sure they are up to standard.”

The maid snorted. “You better! Because I’m sure you heard what they do to slackers around here.”

Kyoshi nodded, then walked away back to the washing station, the sounds of the maids’ laughter and jeers echoing behind her. She tried to ignore the annoying ball in her throat that had formed.

Why are you getting upset? This is nothing new. Nothing you haven’t been able to deal with before. Kyoshi chastised herself. She realized that it didn’t matter what station or stature you had in life, sometimes people would act this way. She’d seen it with Aoma. She’d seen it with Rangi. Kyoshi just needed to accept this fact. 

Kyoshi swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed onwards. She had work to do, there was no time to feel sorry for herself.

“Hm, better,” the older maid said. 

Kyoshi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. She watched as the senior maids looked at each other and smiled. Then the older maid threw the cloth at Kyoshi’s feet again, and stomped it into the ground.

“Do it again,” she ordered.

Kyoshi felt her face pale. Is this what it was going to be like from now on? It was fine, she could handle it. She could wash it again. She could–

The older maid put a hand to her cheek and sighed. “You just can’t seem to do your job right, can you? If you can’t get this simple task done, how else are you going to get to your other tasks?”

“She’ll probably get kicked out on the street at this rate,” one maid sneered.

“Oh, but that would be ok, no? Since you’re used to living there, right?” another jabbed. "Probably have a favorite gutter or two you used to hold up in, hm?"

Kyoshi felt the ball from her throat move to her stomach. They were right, even if they’re the ones keeping her from doing the rest of her chores, if she couldn’t finish this one then… She’d surely get fired for sure. It didn’t matter if they were in the wrong to begin with, it was their voices against hers. She was outnumbered. Just like when the children in the village would gang up on her, when she tried to plead to the adults for help. The other kids would just say they were playing, and the adults would just move along, leaving her to scramble.

But the funny thing about all of this? Kyoshi realized living back on the streets wouldn’t have been the thing she dreaded the most. It would’ve been her disappointing Kelsang. Even disappointing Auntie Mui. The people who put their necks out for her, if she let them down…then…

Maybe if I skip dinner and go to bed late tonight, I’ll be able to finish. Kyoshi tried coming up with a new game plan. Maybe she could stay up all night ? Skip breakfast too? Then she’d make her deadline! But then…this was just for one day. What about tomorrow? The future? Could she keep this up?

I need to find a way to placate them…

“You’re right I–” Kyoshi began.

“Kyoshi…” a familiar, authoritative voice rasped somewhere behind them.

The maids stilled as Rangi approached them, glaring mad as all hell. As per usual.

“O–oh, would you look at that! We’ve just finished!” one maid said.

“Yes, let’s get to our next task. Hurry, hurry! It’s up to us to keep this place running efficiently,” another said in a hurry.

“Right! We shouldn’t dawdle!”

The older maid shoved the newly dirtied sheet into Kyoshi’s hands, then whispered, “Clean this again and hang it up, if you know what’s good for you.”

The maids quickly gathered their things and scattered before Rangi got within five feet of Kyoshi. The two girls watched as they moved faster than Kyoshi had ever seen them move before. Once they were out of their line of sight, Kyoshi turned her attention to Rangi, who was still glaring in their direction. Then, as if realizing she was being stared at, quickly turned her attention to Kyoshi; her features softened into something more…neutral? It was an expression Kyoshi couldn't exactly place. It wasn’t anger or frustration, or it was frustration but it wasn’t aimed at Kyoshi.

Which might’ve been a first, Kyoshi always seemed to be at the top of the firebender’s shit list. Or just the only name on said list. 

Well, this sucks. Kyoshi thought. She really didn’t want to be near the girl. She still felt right mad about what happened the other day. She almost wanted to wallop the firebender. It was best to get this conversation over with as quickly as possible.

“So? What is it?” Kyoshi said, a bit coolly.

“H–huh?” Rangi looked at Kyosh, confused. It wasn’t a look that Kyoshi had seen on the firebender before! And she sounded nervous ? Caught off guard? Was she sick or something? If she actually liked the girl, she may have dragged her to infirmary. But that wasn’t the case. Instead, she was just going to grit through the conversation.

“What do you mean ‘Huh’ ? Don’t you have a new task for me or something?” 

“Oh...” The confusion left Rangi’s face and she looked at the ground. “No, I don’t.”

Kyoshi couldn’t stop the shock that rose to her face. “What? Then why are you here ?”

“I thought you were– I mean those other maids were being– I mean… I…wanted to… help .”

Help?!

“But–” This didn’t alleviate Kyoshi’s confusion in the slightest. “I– Argh, how do you think that’s helping?” They were just going to retaliate more later! Why couldn’t she see that her damn meddling was just going to cause more issues?

“I–I don’t– I don’t know. I didn’t know what to do just that–” Rangi’s mouth opened, she raised her hands palms out and slightly shook her head. She looked lost, helpless. Then she slammed her eyes shut and sighed. She looked like she was struggling.

“You didn’t like how I handled it last time so–” Rangi worried her lip between her teeth, then a defeated look crossed her face as her shoulders slumped slightly. “This was…the only way I could think of that could…maybe…stop them from…?” She opened her hands up again and gestured at the space. 

She’d wanted to stop the maids from picking on Kyoshi. And Kyoshi absolutely couldn’t fathom why she wanted to do this? It seemed antithetical to everything she'd known up until now...

“Why?”

Rangi looked up at her. “Why, what?”

“Why did you want to help me? It makes no sense.” Didn’t she hate Kyoshi?

Shock crossed Rangi’s features, and then it quickly melded back into her usual angry face. “‘It makes no–’ Of course it makes sense you–” 

In an instant, her frustrated face crumpled into something akin to having swallowed something foul. She brought a hand to her face and growled and groaned to herself. 

“No that’s not why I– This isn’t…” Her hand flew away from her face and she yelled, “I came here to say something!”

Kyoshi jumped back slightly at the volume change. Did all firebenders have such erratic mood swings? She could’ve sworn she heard they were super disciplined with their emotions! “T–then what is it?!”

Kyoshi wasn’t sure she could handle any more outbursts. Maybe she should run? Yeah, that always worked out for her! One should always stick to their tried and true method! But the way Rangi’s face went deathly pale before breaking eye contact and looking at the ground… Well... Kyoshi felt rooted in place for once. 

“I–” she began. She looked ill. Kyoshi definitely never saw the little red terror like this… Something serious must’ve happened…

Then a tidal wave of dread washed over Kyoshi, over the one possibility of what it could be. “Did someone get hurt? Did something happen to Kelsang?!”

Rangi flinched and looked back up at Kyoshi. “No! No, that’s not it! No one’s hurt!” Then she mumbled. “Well, not physically at least…”

Kyoshi pinched the bridge of her nose. Rangi was usually straight to the point. This whole conversation was painful and now she was just dragging it out! “Then out with it! You’re making me anxious!”

“I’M SORRY, OKAY?!” she suddenly bellowed, face redder than ever before.

The two stared at each for a few beats.

“Okay, sorry for rushing you,” Kyoshi mumbled. She’d kept her own voice at a normal conversation level, there was no need for Rangi to start yelling or for Kyoshi to match that energy…”Take your time…”

Rangi’s face crumbled and looked absolutely devastated. “No! Not for this– I wanted to apologize for yesterday !”

Oh. Kyoshi wasn’t expecting that. 

Kyoshi felt her body shift and tense, as if bracing for impact. Fearing the unknown. “O–okay?” 

Rangi gritted her teeth, either in frustration or pain. “I…I’m sorry for what I said yesterday. It was wrong, and there’s no excuse... No excuse for why I said it.” Her eyes drifted to the ground, hardening. As if bracing for impact herself. “I’m…not saying this because I’m looking for forgiveness… I just think you have every right to an apology… You can do with it what you will…”

Kyoshi stared at Rangi, shocked. This was the first time someone had apologized to her for…well… anything ! No, not just anything, no one’s ever apologized to her in general! The shock of it all almost blinded Kyoshi to the realization…

She was in Kyoshi’s debt after wronging her. That was…noble, typical of a firebender. Maybe the way Kyoshi reacted hurt her honor? 

Oh… That’s why she helped me out… Kyoshi wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand she was getting an apology, but on the other it was only out of some strange inclination from the Fire Nation culture to do such a thing. It most likely wasn’t sincere. Her first apology, and wasn’t even real. Just her luck.

“Okay,” her voice felt dead as she spoke her words. She didn’t know what else to say. Just decided to accept that it was said, but nothing else.

Rangi just nodded at the ground, unable to look at Kyoshi. Kyoshi readjusted the dirty laundry in her arms and began to walk away, when she felt something scratching at the back of her brain. A big boisterous laughter of a jolly man. Kelsang.

She remembered a time when she was ten, Kelsang had gotten into an argument with one of the local Yokoyan fisherman. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about, but she was under the impression the man had wronged Kelsang in a way. It looked pretty bad from what she saw, however, the next day the man had returned to apologize to Kelsang… And Kelsang forgave him. Kyoshi had no idea why.

“There are two fools in this world, Kyoshi. The one who doesn’t confess their mistake and the one who doesn’t pardon someone who has. That man apologized to me, and I do not plan to be that second fool,” he beamed at her. Then, slowly, his smile softened into something more melancholic. “But sometimes it can be hard to forgive…”

Argh, damn it… Kyoshi scratched the back of her head in frustration. Well she did say I didn’t have to forgive her, and I just had a right to an apology… Whatever that means… Maybe it’s not a cultural thing? Maybe she really meant it? Meant it or not…she at least apologized…so that’s something… But…

She looked back over her shoulder to see Rangi hadn’t moved at all from where she stood. She just continued glaring at the ground in defeat. 

Kyoshi pouted. She wasn’t sure if Rangi was being sincere, but it appeared she was making an effort. And as Kelsang said, if someone was making the effort…she didn’t want to be the second fool. That, and if she wanted to continue to be the bigger person (figuratively, not literally), she’d need to swallow whatever resentment she had. 

Be like Kelsang, be like Kelsang. She chanted in her head, determined to be like the man she looked up to. 

She walked back over to Rangi, who startled when she saw Kyoshi approaching again.

“Okay,” Kyoshi said.

“H–huh?” Rangi blinked at her, confused. “Okay, what?”

“Okay, I’ll forgive you.” Then she thought about it. Just because she was forgiving someone, didn’t mean she needed to be nicey-nicey. She could show a little backbone. She leaned down slightly, voice low. An attempt to be threatening. “But only this once. Don’t ever do it again.” 

The vibe Kyoshi was aiming for was intimidating, hoping she could maybe shake Rangi in her little Fire Nation boots. Instead, the shorter girl looked absolutely glowing. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm.

“O–okay! Don’t worry, I won’t! I promise!” 

Kyoshi couldn’t help but stare at her dumbly as the sparkles flew and bounced off of her. It was almost as if the girl was…happy?! Why? Because Kyoshi forgave her? No that couldn’t be it.

This is too weird. Alarm bells from when Kyoshi lived on the street, when animals started acting outside the norm were cause for alarm. Like how nocturnal animals would come out during the day because they had rabies. 

Maybe she was sick? Regardless, the sooner the firebender went back to yelling at her the better. She should get out of there before something happened.

“I need to get back to work,” Kyoshi quickly said, before sprinting off. 

Chapter Text

Everything wasn’t alright for Kyoshi. The little green menace and the little red terror would not leave her alone. It felt like they were waiting around every corner to bother her, and she just couldn’t understand why! Especially Rangi.

Kyoshi wondered if the Fire National was making it a secret game to literally hide around every corner Kyoshi walked past. She was damn good at it, and Kyoshi didn’t think her heart was going to be able to take it! Every encounter almost guaranteed a scream of terror!

Oh, and if she wasn’t hiding around a damn corner to scare Kyoshi, she’d come running at her at full speed!

Aren’t they busy? I’m busy, and they’re even more important than me! So they must be extra busy! She tried to reason with herself. 

But…Rangi. Spirits, what was Kyoshi going to do? It was like their little spat never happened. In fact, she couldn’t shake the little firebender now! Every new task Kyoshi was given, was now accompanied by the little red terror herself. Kyoshi had no idea what came over the firebender and her need to escort her to every little duty she had, but she really had too much free time.

That was her life now. Day in, day out. At sunrise Rangi would be waiting for her, to damn sunset. And everything in between! 

The only time she had a break, when Rangi couldn’t follow her, was when Kyoshi had to go into Yokoya for a delivery… And could you even count that as a break? Not when the locals gave her grief and she was unable to hide the evidence of their said attention. When Kyoshi would return, Rangi would be waiting there. No time to clean up, and the whole ordeal seemed to make her angrier. 

But that was the least of her worries. She had more dire things to worry about. Something about her new work companion caused unrest among the rest of the staff. Maids and other servants seemed to part like an Avatar parting the sea wherever she went. Which wasn’t helping her standing in the estate at all. 

She needed to separate herself from Rangi as fast as she could. Otherwise, a peaceful life in the Avatar’s Estate was unlikely. 

So when Rangi showed up to escort her to her next task, Kyoshi was ready. She’d already gotten the low down from another servant where she was to go to next. So all she needed to do was make her way there before Rangi had a chance to escort her! 

…Except… Rangi seemed to have a pulse on when Kyoshi seemed to finish her current task. Materializing almost instantly as soon as the last piece of trash was thrown out or clutter was put back in order. Which led to the current situation she was in now.

Kyoshi sprinting widely through the mansion, with a firebender hot on her heels.

“Why are you running?!” Rangi yelled at her.

Kyoshi took a sharp corner, narrowly avoiding a collision with another maid. “You keep chasing me!”

Rangi nimbly followed her around the corner. “Because you keep running!” 

Kyoshi burst through a door and jumped over a crate in front of her. “I’m just trying to get there faster!” she lied.

“You don’t need to ru–” There was a sound, it seemed like Rangi just narrowly avoided running into someone. 

“I do if I want to get there fast! Don’t mind me, I can make it on my own! You go wherever you need to be!”

The hard clomping of Rangi’s footfalls grew louder, no more silent running. No more sneaky footfalls. Kyoshi chanced a look back and blanched, Rangi was an honest to spirit, wolfbat out of hell! “Wai– Gah! Just let me escort you!”

“No!” Kyoshi yelled over her shoulder.

“N–no?!” Rangi sounded incredulous.

Kyoshi didn’t slow down. There was no need to, she could make it to her next task just fine on her own! They bobbed and weaved through the back of the compound, hopping over various building materials. But Kyoshi could just not shake her! Even one as experienced as running away as Kyoshi, both from her time with her parents and on the street, Rangi was just too persistent. 

Kyoshi rounded the corner to the back entrance of the kitchen, and came to a full stop on her tiptoes, arms whirling at her side to keep balance. 

A scream appeared caught in Lee’s throat as Kyoshi towered over him, he was carrying a new, freshly made cake. Decorated beautifully with various colors, it looked like it took hours to make. The duo sighed in relief as they realized Kyoshi wasn’t going to crush him and his charge. And just as Kyoshi started to lower her heels to the ground, she felt a force push her from behind.

“I got you–” Rangi’s voice echoed from behind as she rounded the corner. Kyoshi felt her grab the back of her shirt, but something something ‘law of motion’ (?) or whatever Kelsang had taught her. Happened. Rangi’s moving body came crashing into Kyoshi’s stopped one, and propelled them both forward. Right into Lee. 

Both Kyoshi and Lee closed their eyes as they accepted their fate, and crashed to the ground. Cake splattering all over Kyoshi and Lee. 

“Wha–why did you stop?! You need to stop doing that–” Kyoshi looked over her shoulder to see Rangi’s face paling. She must’ve seen the cake, and knew she messed up too.

“All morning,” Lee bemoaned beneath Kyoshi. “I spent–hic–all morning on this…”

“I’m sorry, Lee…” Kyoshi mumbled, barely aware that Rangi was trying to pull them both up into a sitting position. “I–”

“WHAT IN THE BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE?!” a voice screeched above them.

Kyoshi’s eyes drifted upward to see a very, very angry Auntie Mui. Face so red that it looked like a very angry apple. Kyoshi couldn’t help but fall and shrink back, even going as far as to hide behind Rangi. She’d never seen Auntie Mui this mad, especially at her, and didn’t know how to handle it. 

This is it. This is how I get fired. Kyoshi gulped and shook. Out of all the ways, this really takes the cake.

She watched as Rangi got in between them more, face paled deathly white, and she could’ve sworn she saw a bead of sweat roll down the firebender’s face. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Auntie Mui.

“You two girls are in a lot of trouble,” Auntie Mui said in a low, threatening voice.

Kyoshi must’ve upset the spirits in a past life, because why else would this be happening to her? 

Kyoshi, broom and mop and bucket in hand, stole a glance to her left. There she was, the little red terror, still donned in her battle armor ready for any kind of battle… Including this one. 

Rangi held the same weapons Kyoshi had in her hands, and Kyoshi let her eyes drift back to the battlefield they would have to share together. The stables. 

This is so unfair. Kyoshi griped in her head. I didn’t do anything wrong! It’s all because she…why do they always chase me?! 

Even before the spat, she was always getting chased by those two. This was bound to happen eventually. But, really, she wasn’t at fault! If those two would leave her alone, no accidents would ever happen! 

“Tch, the sky looks bad.,” Rangi grumbled, looking up at the sky, as if it was Kyoshi’s fault.

Damn Rangi, I can’t control the weather…

It was best they get started, out of all types of weather, Kyoshi hated rain the most. Especially storms. She had one distinct living nightmare that was burned deep into her soul that always came up when a really bad storm hit. 

After rain it’d have to be snow– well, if she was being honest, all precipitation was a negative for her. It always made battling the hypothermia she had to endure that much harder growing up after all.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Rangi grumbled, opening the stable door. The two girls wrinkled their nose as they were hit with the smell of ostrich horse manure. “Ugh, I hate this, this is such a mess…”

“We wouldn’t be in this mess if you knew how to pump the damn breaks…” Kyoshi muttered under her breath.

“What was that?” Rangi yelled. Apparently, she didn’t mutter softly enough.

“Nothing.” Or how to regulate your damn voice. 

Rangi threw her cleaning materials at Kyoshi’s feet, and crossed her arms as she got into Kyoshi’s personal space.

“No, you have some thoughts, please enlighten me.”

Looks like they were fighting again. Kyoshi tried to keep her temper under control. She had a callous tongue, but she knew it’d only make matters worse if she also yelled. She stepped past Rangi, stepped over Rangi’s supplies, and moved to the back corner wall where there was a shelf. She started reorganizing the various tools and objects on the shelves. Might as well start here.

“Listen you little–” Kyoshi stopped herself before she spoke her little nickname aloud. No need to make her situation worse than she had to.

“Little, what?”

“You literally–" she corrected, trying to save herself from her slip up. "Ugh, maybe if you didn’t chase me all the damn time, this wouldn’t have happened…”

Rangi rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Please, if you didn’t run this wouldn’t have happened.”

Kyoshi turned around and smiled through gritted teeth. “Again, if you didn’t chase me, I wouldn’t have to run!”

“But–”

“Uh-huh.” Kyoshi pointed at her with the pointed end of her broom. “Don’t even try to pin this on me, you ran at me first. Any normal person would run away at the sight of you– you–!” She grimaced at the memory of the events. “Do you know how scary you look?!”

Rangi scratched her head and growled, then mumbled something about scaring Kyoshi.

“Yeah you sure did scare me!”

“I was trying to avoid scaring you!” Rangi clarified.

“How? By scaring my own spirit out of me first?!”

“No! I– It just wasn’t my intent!” 

“Well you did a piss poor job of it!” Kyoshi rubbed her temple. “So, what? Did you think running at me at full speed was the ideal play?”

Rangi was silent.

Kyoshi let out a long, painful sigh. “You…”

“I thought, it would be better if you saw me coming…since you didn’t seem to like…my other methods…” She kicked the ground. “I thought I’d be more approachable if you…well…saw…my approach…”

Kyoshi looked at her flabbergasted. Did she really think Kyoshi would believe she didn’t intend to hide around every corner ready to scare her?! 

No no, she…she just doesn’t make any sense. She never makes any sense. Why even bother following her logic.

“Ugh, nevermind, it doesn’t matter. What I want to know is why do you keep following me? Why do you keep bothering me? Are you trying to make my life here harder?”

“No I–” Rangi released an annoyed breath through her nose. “I’m just trying to keep people from messing with you!”

“You’re messing with me!” Kyoshi sighed. 

Rangi’s mouth fell open in surprise before she clenched it tightly and glared at the ground, quietly flexing her jaw. Sharp, annoyed huffs of air escaped her nose as she puffed up. 

“Fine! I’ll just leave you alone then!” she yelled, kicking the nearby wall. The kick had so much force, it left a dent in the wood, and shook the shelf violently. 

Kyoshi’s eyes widened as she saw various items on the shelf start to pitch forward, right when Rangi turned away. Without thinking, Kyoshi shot her arms forward, throwing Rangi and herself against the wall, catching the falling shelf with her shoulder. Some of the items hit her head, back and shoulders as they fell down, but luckily none were that heavy to have done any real damage to her. 

Something in the back of her head tickled her, feeling like something like this had happened before. Or maybe it was the barrel of hay that had fallen on her head. Nevertheless, she didn’t dwell on the feeling for long.

Slowly, she nudged the shelf back into place with the shoulder she caught it with. When she felt it was safe enough, she slowly pulled away from the wall. Kyoshi looked down at Rangi, who looked like a stunned, flattened cat. Wide eyes and a red face, she was too shocked to speak.

Without putting much thought into it (or really, thinking about the consequences), she grabbed the firebender by the edge of her chestplate and hoisted her into the air, then in a few strides threw her out of the shed.

“You’re making a bigger mess! Stay out!” Kyoshi said as she slammed the shed door. 

Chapter Text

Kyoshi’s first meeting with the green menace and the little red terror probably couldn’t have been any more different. And yet the end result of their meetings were the same… Disaster.

The day Kyoshi met Avatar Yun, was the day she started working at the mansion. Master Jianzhu had returned with him and already erected the skeleton of the mansion up within less than a day.  A handful of workers had arrived that day as well, presumably Master Jianzhu had sent out word via Messenger Hawk to head to Yokoya. So by the time they arrived, some of the new staff was already there.

One such staff member was the head cook, Auntie Mui. Despite being decades older than Kyoshi, probably closer to Kelsang’s age, the plum shaped women barely came up to the not-so-little fourteen year old Kyoshi’s chest. 

Kyoshi’s role in the mansion hadn’t been, and if she was being honest still wasn’t , solidified. However, some way or another, they’d decided that she would fall into the ‘maid’ category. They’d even given her a temporary uniform, something similar to a jinbei, with tatsukis wrapped around her to keep her longer sleeves from getting caught in the mayhem. It was hard finding an adult size that would fit the girl, her height proved an issue for anything appropriately fitting her lengthwise. Her lack of muscle and fat on her also proved an entirely separate issue, as now she swam in the clothes. But she would need to make due for now. Her clothing wasn’t the top priority of the mansion. Apparently, neither was her training.

And so, Auntie Mui took it upon herself to teach her not only the basics for a normal maid, but one of ‘high society.’ Kyoshi supposed it made sense, she was working for the Avatar and an Earth Sage. Nothing could get any higher than that in the Earth Kingdom, unless she worked in the Earth King’s personal circle… But even that was debatable.

From street urchin to maid of the Avatar? She was really rising up the ranks in the world!

Kyoshi quickly learned that Auntie Mui had an interesting fixation on the higher arts and such ways of high end Earth Kingdom society. Which, while a tad odd, proved to be very helpful considering the high station Kyoshi was about to work in. 

She also happened to be a really great teacher in other areas as well! She taught Kyoshi how to cook, being the head cook and all of course she'd be good at teaching that, but she also instructed her in the art of the silent step. Something Kyoshi figured would make more sense with hunting rather than working in a mansion, but apparently she was wrong.

“The guests can’t see you!” She lectured Kyoshi as she stirred a pot of stew. “It doesn’t matter how hectic the mansion is, we must maintain the illusion of serenity.” 

Auntie Mui smacked Kyoshi’s hand with a spoon as she watched the girl reach for a knife. Kyoshi wanted to help with dicing the green onions. 

“Too early for that,” she hissed sternly. Auntie Mui proceeded to push stalks of corn in front of Kyoshi to peel instead. “I don’t want you cutting yourself and bleeding all over the new lacquer!”

Kyoshi nodded, and began peeling the stalks. “So how do I do that? Not be seen?”

Kyoshi wished she knew this growing up, maybe it could’ve helped her avoid a few scuffles with Aoma or the other children. Only the children, though. The adults in the village had no issue acting like she didn’t exist…usually.

Auntie Mui hummed to herself as she stirred the pot of stew, trying to decide where she should start with the lesson. “Always be mindful of your surroundings. Keep an ear and eye out if a guest is coming by, and if you do hear them coming, then hide .”

“Hide?”

“Yes, again, be mindful of your surroundings! You need to know where the nearest corner or storage room is for you to hide in,” she said, moving from the pot to a nearby table and managing some work over there.

Kyoshi accepted what she was told, even if she didn’t think that was very fair. Having to do all that work but be treated like she didn’t exist? But she held her tongue. She was used to that sort of treatment anyway. At least now she was being paid to be ignored.

She placed the last stalk of corn down in the bucket, but her hands instantly became full again when a long seaweed wrapped rice tube was suddenly thrust at her. It was an uncut gimbap wrap, Auntie Mui must’ve made it when Kyoshi wasn’t looking. She looked up and blinked at the older cook, unsure of what to do with it.

“Nibble on that while I show you how to deer fox step, child.” 

Kyoshi did as she was told, enjoying her lunch as she absorbed all that she could learn from Auntie Mui.

Work and training was done for the day for Kyoshi, officially at least. However, the young girl wanted to try perfecting her new way of walking as soon as she could. The faster she learned, the less likely she would get in trouble later down the road. And maybe Auntie Mui would be impressed by how much she improved in just a day!

And that’s how she found herself in the back part of the estate. The walls were newly built, but it still had a small forest of trees that had yet to be chopped down. The landscapers were probably still deciding on what trees they would still like to keep for the aesthetic, if they wanted to keep any at all. 

It was in that place Kyoshi had the meeting of a lifetime.

“One… Two… Ugh, three!” she counted aloud, grunting in an effort to stay in rhythm. Auntie Mui tried to teach the form to her like it was a dance. It helped, Kyoshi felt like she was slowly getting it. She needed to keep her weight on her back foot, then step on the outside of her front foot, ball first, and then roll her foot over and land on her heel last. 

It was the opposite of how she usually walked, heel first and all, but if she wanted to survive she’d need to adapt. At least that was something she knew she was good at doing.

She had just made it three steps on each foot without making a noise, when something fell (or rather, jumped?) out of the tree next to her!

“Hey whatcha doin’? Looks like fun!” the tree person announced right next to Kyoshi.

Kyoshi screamed and pushed the figure away out of instinct, falling back on her rear from the force of it all. When she looked up, she saw a boy she’d never seen before.

He was very handsome, the most handsome boy she’d ever seen in her life. He had jade green eyes, and warm brown hair pulled into a small ponytail. His face was still round with baby fat, but she could see a strong jaw line forming at the edges. He donned a bright, lopsided grin on his face.

“Ow!” he laughed. “You sure are strong!” 

The boy rolled off of his back and onto his knees, and started crawling towards her. Excitement glistened in his eyes.

“What were you doing just now? Dancing?” he asked as he got in her face. Kyoshi could feel cheeks heating up, she’d never been this close to someone her age before. At least, not without a rock in their hand. And especially not someone this good looking. 

Kyoshi found she couldn’t speak, her tongue felt thick in her mouth. And her heart was beating a bit too fast. What was going on? Was she having some kind of attack?

“And how tall are you? Are you the same age as me? Fourteen? Man, you’re the tallest person I know! At least besides that one monk!” he kept on jabbering, undeterred by her silence. “Are you still growing? How tall do you think you’ll get? Are your parents tall too? Mine–”

Kyoshi looked at his attire. His robes were bright and fresh. He must’ve been a nobleman’s son or something of the sort. But how could that be? No one brought their child along, at least not yet.

But the only people here are Jianzhu, Kelsang, the workers, the staff, and the…

Dread slowly creeped into Kyoshi as she realized who the boy in front of her was. Fourteen? Noble clothes? He had to have been the Avatar ! He was Avatar Yun !

I assaulted the Avatar! Kyoshi thought with dread. First day on the job and she already did something fireable! Oh, who was she kidding? She could be put to death for what she’d done!

She could feel her chest starting to contract, and hyperventilation started to set in. She needed to get out of there!

“So I was wondering, do you want to–”

Kyoshi didn’t bother to listen to what he had to say. She scurried back on her hands and feet, away from the Avatar, and then booked it out of there. 

She was lucky she was able to meet with Kelsang later that night, and she explained the whole thing. But the monk had the audacity to laugh at her misfortune! At least he swore he’d smooth things over for her. He even offered to have her meet the Avatar officially, but she declined. No need to get involved with him, he was sure to be nothing but trouble. 

She ended the day with only a copious amounts of apologies and a thankful heart.

The day Kyoshi first saw Rangi, was about two days after she’d met Avatar Yun. 

During that time, Kyoshi was intently dodging Avatar Yun at every possible second of the day. At least it felt like it. He was really putting her new maid training to the test. She had to quickly learn to walk silently so he couldn’t hear her, as well as learn to strain her ears so she knew when he was near. 

He’s like a brightly colored parrot frog. Kyoshi groused. The boy shined and drew you in with his enchanting features, but could easily kill you with his poisonous skin! The perfect predator. 

In this case, his brightly colored features were his good looks and smile, and his poisonous skin was his ability to get Kyoshi fired. Well, Kyoshi wasn’t going to let that happen! She may have been an uneducated orphan, but she was one who knew not to touch any brightly colored parrot frogs! 

So she trained herself to run at the first sight of him! Or in this day’s case… Sound! 

As she was picking flowers for the vases in the mansion, a field a ways away behind the whole estate, when she heard him. He was calling down to her from one of the hills above. She didn’t bother to turn and look in his direction, instead opting to skitter to the nearest exit path and to get as far enough away from him as possible. 

She still had a task to finish after all.

Once she was done picking the appropriate amount of flowers, this time farther away from the estate, she made her way back. There were a lot of people gathered in the courtyard, mostly the soldiers that Jianzhu had hired to protect the mansion. However, something interesting stood out to Kyoshi.

In a forest of green soldiers, two bright red flames stood among them. 

Fire Nationals. Kyoshi thought, gawking at the foreigners' backs, who she would later be informed were Master Hei-Ran and her daughter Rangi. She’d never seen one before, and now there were two of them! And by the looks of their attire, Kyoshi was sure they were in the Fire Army. 

They’re armor was much sleeker and formfitting than the Earth Kingdom ones that she had become accustomed to. They also stood out a lot more, but she wondered if that was because she was too used to the browns and greens of the Earth Kingdom. Maybe they didn’t stand out as much in the Fire Nation? She did hear gossip about how the entire country was painted red…

She couldn’t help but gawk at the two as she passed by. As she did, she got a better view of them. The slightly shorter one was a girl around Kyoshi’s age… And she was the most beautiful girl Kyoshi had ever seen. Far lovelier than any flower Kyoshi had in her basket. It surprised her so much, she couldn’t help but stop and stare.

The girl had a porcelain doll-like face that any real porcelain doll would’ve been jealous of. Her pitch black hair stood in stark contrast against her pale skin, with perfect pink, heart shaped lips that rested into a natural pout.

Kyoshi could feel her heart beating fast and hard as she looked at the Fire National, and it only quickened when the other girl noticed her staring and made eye contact. The intense, piercing glare that the girl’s bronze eyes gave her sent rolling waves of electricity down Kyoshi’s spine.

And Kyoshi panicked.

What is this feeling? Kyoshi thought. It felt familiar , but Kyoshi couldn’t quite place it. But as she gazed at Rangi’s furrowed brow and soft scowl, Kyoshi realized what it was. 

Loathing. And fear. Rangi’s loathing towards Kyoshi. Kyoshi’s new growing fear of the Fire National. Yes, Kyoshi had felt something similar before. When she wandered too far into the forest one time and was attacked by a wild wolf monkey, or when she was being chased by a group of a dozen children hell bent on making Kyoshi’s head their new target circle. Her heart beating like a battle drum was her body’s indicator she was in danger. 

Somehow, Kyoshi had made a wrong impression, a bad one, and she needed to get out of there!

She quickly scurried off, face blazing from shame of gawking at a stranger, semi-aware that Rangi’s gaze stayed on her until she turned the corner. 

The next day had been when Kyoshi finally interacted with Rangi. She learnt the Fire National’s names after asking Kelsang the day she first saw them. He’d offered to formally introduce Kyoshi to Rangi, but like with Avatar Yun, she declined. This time, it was because she remembered Rangi’s reaction to her, and figured the bridge was already burnt before she could even approach.

It was fine, Kyoshi could live with it. She was there to work, not dilly dally around. 

What Kyoshi couldn’t live with, was that the same firebender she decided to avoid, was now stalking over to her. 

“What are you doing?” she asked curtly, stopping Kyoshi right in front of a nearby scaffolding. They were still doing heavy construction in this area of the mansion.

“I–I–” Kyoshi was at a loss for words. The girl’s glare was beyond intimidating, she made Kyoshi lose her train of thought with just a look. Were all Fire Nationals like this?

“You what ?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. Obviously irritated that it was taking Kyoshi so long to answer.  

“I’m helping with the kitchen!”

Kyoshi readjusted her grip on the fruit she was carrying to highlight her point.

Rangi’s brow furrowed. Apparently she didn’t like that for… well Kyoshi had no idea what the reason could be. “You're with the kitchen staff? I didn’t see that on the staff ledger…”

So this little girl had the authority to peep at the staff ledger? She must’ve been someone with a pretty high rank. Even higher than what Kyoshi originally assumed. That could prove to be trouble…

Kysohi should probably ask Kelsang some more questions about the two other teens before he leaves. Not because she wanted to get to know them, she needed only enough to know her standing. And maybe give her some insight on how to avoid them further… But nothing further, she didn't want word to some how get back to the other two teens she was inquiring about them. They may take it the wrong way... And that'd put her in danger of getting fired!

“Oh, I’m not… I’m not really assigned anywhere… I just help the kitchen from time to time…”

“ What ?” Rangi asked in a voice that sounded almost insulted, it almost made Kyoshi drop her basket of fruit. Did she seem to think Kyoshi was at fault for her strange predicament at the estate?

“I don’t know! I’m just– I just do whatever someone asks me to do!” Kyoshi explained hurriedly. 

Rangi looked down at the ground, annoyed. Her hand reached her chin as she appeared deep in thought. They stood there for a bit too long, and Kyoshi’s arms felt like they were getting tired.

“Um, if that’s all I think I’m going to–” Kyoshi cut herself off, the sound of a creaking noise piquing her interest. 

“Wait!” Rangi shouted, but Kyoshi’s attention was torn to the falling scaffolding. 

By the time Rangi looked up, the fixture was already on its way to crush both girls. Kyoshi reacted without thinking first. She pushed Rangi and herself out of the way. She sent them flying, just far enough that when the scaffold collapsed, it barely missed Kyoshi’s legs.

Kyoshi had landed on her stomach, aware of only two things: an amazing floral scent, and something sticking into her gut.

She pushed herself up onto her hands and was greeted with a blazed face and angry looking Rangi under her. Kyoshi’s eyes drifted downward and saw the basket of fruit she was carrying was now crushed, destroyed beyond all recognition. Its contents had already leaked out and stained both their clothes.

Kyoshi felt the blood drain from her face, realizing she’d not only crushed the other girl, but also dirtied her heirloom armor. And she’d destroyed the charge she was selected to deliver. She was going to be in so much trouble, and from so many sides at that! She could probably be fired! Not even a week in and she was already in danger!

Kyoshi quickly sprung to her feet, grabbing what remained of the basket and contents. “I–I–I’m sorryyyyyyy!” She yelled, bowing deeply and then sprinting off to the kitchen before she could receive fiery retribution.

“Wait! H–GET BACK HERE DAMN IT!” She heard Rangi yell after her, but Kyoshi couldn’t stop. She was too afraid to.

Her reprimanding from Auntie Mui was thankfully light that day. No fiery vengeance was enacted either, but that didn't mean there wouldn't be in the future...

Chapter Text

Fire burned in Kyoshi’s lungs as she ran up the back hill to the mansion. She was coming at it from behind, after having to use a forest as a detour to escape her pursuers. The usual suspects, Aoma, Suzu, and Jae had caught her mid delivery and decided to make it their personal life’s mission to make her day horrible.

Her body ached, her temple was bleeding from a rock that had cut her. Blood slowly pooled down the side of her face, staining her jinbei (she was going to need to sneak it into the wash later). But the crate she carried? Safe, not a scratch on it.

At least that’s one good thing.

It was the only good thing. The entire ordeal had delayed her by over an hour. She was going to get yelled at for sure. Hopefully she’d at least be spared a lecture at the gate. Kyoshi had opted, or really her options were limited and she was forced to go this way, to approach the estate from the rear. The only bright side to this route was that Rangi and Auntie Mui and others wouldn’t be waiting near this gate for her, only the guards. As for the guards, the worst she’d have to manage is maybe a stray leer or two, but she could manage that. 

Her feet pounded the dirt in the road, over the second to last crest of the hill, beyond the trees flanking her vision, she could see it. The gate. 

Kyoshi almost sighed in relief, if she had air, and a grin stretched across her face. She just needed to sneak in, put the crate down. She’d be closer to her room so she could change out of the bloody top and maybe even stop the bleeding. Then she’d only have to worry about being reprimanded in regards to her timing. But that was more manageable than being caught outright. She'd take it as a win.

With her destination in mind, she tried picking up her pace. She was gunning for the top of the first crest, the one right before the final hill up. Just as she reached the peak, there was a quick change in her vision and she instantly stopped. Something, or someone , had jumped out of one of the trees that walled the sides of the road, and it took all of Kyoshi’s strength to stop and not plow into them. She used up all her effort to stop herself from crashing that she didn’t have anything left to stop the scream of horror that escaped her lips. 

Rangi glared up at her, angrier than Kyoshi had ever seen. Kyoshi blowing out her eardrums probably didn’t help her already foul mood. “Where the hell have you been?! Do you know how late you are?! And–” 

Her eyes widened as she took in Kyoshi’s appearance. But Kyoshi didn’t care about that. 

Weeks. For weeks she had to put up with Rangi’s bull horse shit. The constant glares, always looking ready for a fight. Her hiding around every corner, ready to scare her shitless. The chasing, the crashing into her. She already had to deal with Aoma and her gang, the physical abuse she’d endured from them for years. She didn’t need Rangi to add to her stress. She'd finally had enough . 

Rangi’s mouth opened, surely to reprimand her for one thing or another. But Kyoshi cut her off, words flying out of her mouth faster than she could stop them.

“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” Kyoshi bellowed, her voice echoing all around Yokoya. Birds nearby and in the distance took off from the sound. Then there was silence. It almost crackled around them, or maybe that was just the blood rushing to Kyoshi’s ears? It raged and raged and raged in her, she was starting to see red. And then the dam in her broke.

Kyoshi watched as Rangi looked at her with an expression she’d yet to see. Absolute stunned silence. Eyes wide, mouth hanging open. Then slowly, her face melded into a serious expression. Annoyance.

Her voice came out even. Cool and stony like a mountain. “Well, well. So you can raise your voice louder than a mouse cat. And here I thought your vocal cords were broken.”

It was only then, Kyoshi realized what she just did. She could try to apologize, show her belly and beg for forgiveness. But even she knew she was screwed, may as well dig your heels in and hold your head up high.

She cut Rangi off for a second time that day. 

“Why, yes, I can raise my voice. Congrats! Want a prize? Seriously, what is your issue ? You say you don’t want to scare me but then you– you pull shit like this!” She punctuated her blaring words with a wave of her arm, almost teetering over to the side from the weight of her charge. “You’re always on my ass, say you don’t want anyone messing with me but then you cause problems! I can’t tell if you’re looking for something to get me fired over or what! I– What do you want from me ?!”

Kyoshi finally stopped her rant followed by heavy breaths. It felt good finally getting everything off her chest. 

Rangi glared at her. Jaw set, eyes like daggers. “Is that what you think? You think I want something from you ?” 

Did Kyoshi love how she ignored everything else she said? Oh yes, very much so. Her teeth were grinding so hard they risked cracking. So she wasn’t messing with her out of some sick enjoyment? She just wanted to get her fired? 

Rangi took a step forward, getting into Kyoshi’s face (the best she could that is). “Tell me, Kyoshi. What is it that you want?”

A vein pulsed in her head. “I just want to do my job and be left the hell alone! By you! By those brats down in Yokoya! Just– Quit bothering me! How many times do I have to say that to make myself clear?!” She stepped around Rangi, ready to finish her delivery like she was ordered to do. “And if you don’t like that then– then– then go and get me fired if it bothers you that much!”

Kyoshi was fired. She knew it deep in her bones. It’d been three days, and she’d seen no hide nor hair of Rangi. She’d gotten what she wished, to be left alone. But she knew the signs, with Rangi not around…surely she was orchestrating her downfall. 

The signs were all there. Her workload had seemingly decreased. It was to the point she actually had to beg for work. Most turned her down, but after a few attempts she got Lee to help her out, and so she was off fetching another delivery from Yokoya. 

This time had gone much smoother than before, Aoma and her cronies were too preoccupied with the crops and fish to bother her today. She made her way up the back entrance, hoping she’d avoid much trouble. Of course, Kyoshi didn’t have such luck.

Waiting there like a sentry of doom, was Rangi. Kyoshi sighed, it was time to meet her maker. She walked past the guards, bowed her head to Rangi in acknowledgement and attempted to walk past her. 

“You can put the crate down right here,” she announced. Her face was stone, perfectly impassive. Business like. 

Kyoshi stopped, heart beating fast. She looked at her confused. “Wha– But I need to–”

“Someone else will come pick it up. You’re coming with me.” She waited for Kyoshi to respond. 

“W–where am I going?” she asked hesitantly. 

“Master Jianzhu wishes to speak with you.” With that, she swiftly turned on her heel and started walking away.

Kyoshi’s heart was torn between hammering her chest until her rib cage broke from the inside, or jumping into her throat and suffocating her. She had it coming, she shouldn’t have talked back like she did. She knew and yet… It was still nerve wracking.

She walked silently behind Rangi, hands twisting various parts of her jinbei. She wondered if this was how Lanying felt when she was kicked to the curb. Had Rangi also accompanied her on her walk of shame to Master Jianzhu? Would Kyoshi also be thrown out of the estate by the guards? Would there be a show of it? Would Auntie Mui and Lee watch? Would Rangi watch like she did with Lanying? 

At least Kelsang isn’t here. I don’t think…I could stomach his reaction…

They approached one of the estate’s meeting rooms. Rangi stole one last, expressionless glance Kyoshi’s way before opening the door. 

“I’ve brought her as you asked, Master Jianzhu,” she announced. Crisp and clean, like the fresh recruit she was.

Jianzhu looked up from his sitting desk and waved her off. “Thank you, you are dismissed.”

Rangi clicked her heels together, the sound echoing in the room, bowed and left. Kyoshi felt like she could feel her eyes on her as she left, but her body was frozen. Her entire attention was focused on Jianzhu and what he was about to do. 

He looked back down at the paper he was reading, and held out his hand. “Sit.” 

Kyoshi’s legs wobbled to the plush pillow that sat across from him. She kneeled down in a seiza style, and awaited her sentencing.

Jianzhu proceeded to write on a sheet of paper without looking up. Once he was done, he began to talk, but didn’t lift his eyes once from his desk. “I believe you probably know why you are here.”

Kyoshi gulped. Yes, she knew. She was toast. 

“I–I believe so…” she squeaked out.

Jianzhu finally looked up. He placed his utensils down and folded his hands over, resting his elbows on the table. “Good, this’ll make this easier.”

Kyoshi gripped her knees, involuntary shivers ran down her spine. She was attempting to keep her whole body from falling apart, and failing spectacularly.

“I’ve talked to the staff around the estate. They have a lot to say about you. As you know.” 

“T–they do?” She barely got the words out, was she not breathing? Oh, she wasn’t. Trying too hard to keep her breath under control, her body decided the easiest way was to not breathe. 

“Yes, it's made me think quite a bit. To the point I think restructuring in this house is in order.”

This is it!

He leaned forward, ready to deliver the words. Kyoshi braced herself. 

“I’m relinquishing you from your current duties,” he said. Kyoshi closed her eyes, realizing she might not be able to take hearing the rest. “And instead, I’m assigning you to a new position. The Avatar’s personal maid .”

Kyoshi’s eyes shot open from the hit, a puff of the last bit of air she held onto escaped her lips. “I– Uh… What ?”

His eyes went back down to his desk and began “Think of it as a promotion, and your pay will increase as well, do not worry.”

Kyoshi blinked at him, confusion overriding her nerves. “P–promotion, but–but how ? Why?”

A frowned infinitesimally. “Why? Why, I’ve heard you are a very hard worker, always trying to help. And that you also have a knack for cleaning up, which fits perfectly for this role.”

While this was true, she considered herself a hard worker, and she always helped out when asked… But this meant others (most likely senior staff like Auntie Mui) saw what she was doing and… She was being rewarded for it? Did the cycle go in reverse? Did the moon become the sun, and the sun become the moon? What was going on? This type of luck didn’t happen, not to someone like Kyoshi.

Jianzhu sat back up, he began drumming his fingers on the table. The steady rhythm grounded Kyoshi, it gave her something to focus on as her perspective of the word seemed to go all topsy-turvy. “You don’t seem pleased. I had people who highly recommended you for this position. Do you not want it?” 

She realized she should speak. She bowed down, into what was basically a dogeza, to show her appreciation.  “I– No! Thank you for the opportunity, Master Jianzhu. I will not let you down.”

The drumming of his fingers stopped. “I know you won’t. Now, go along, Rangi will catch you up to speed and inform you of your duties.”

And with that, the meeting was over. Kyoshi quickly, at least as quickly as she could while the blood escaped the trapping of her legs, and wobbled to the door. Rangi was standing there, arms folded behind her back. The perfect example of a statue, only moving when Kyoshi had slid the door shut behind her. Her chin lifted slightly in acknowledgement, a hint of something dancing behind her eyes. Was it smugness? Kyoshi couldn’t tell. She could only look at her, dazed and confused. Like a freshly hatched turtle duck. 

“Follow me, your duties are this way.” And with a perfect ninety degree angle turn, she started to walk away. Kyoshi stumbled after her, thankfully, Rangi kept her perfectly even steps at a reasonably slow pace so that Kyoshi could keep up with her.

“Your duties are simple,” she began, possibly unaware of Kyoshi’s daze. “You pick up after the Avatar, or you organize his belongings. Simple as that.”

Kyoshi couldn’t help but stare at the firebender’s back. She’s not mad? Shouldn’t she be mad? I don’t get it.

Rangi looked over her shoulder, and then seemed to slow her pace even more. Now she and Kyoshi were walking side by side. She continued as if Kyoshi had vocalized wanting more information. “The Avatar receives a lot of… gifts , you see. And it’s become hard to manage. We need someone with intense organizational skills to help sort through the mess.” 

She listed off other things she’d have to do. It essentially amounted to ‘pick up after the Avatar.’ Nothing too extravagant. But, by the spirits this confused her. There had to be some sort of caveat. 

It didn’t take too long to arrive at their destination. It was in the nicer part of the mansion she’d only visit to polish or clean. The room they were in front of was the one where gifts were received, if she recalled correctly. It was when Rangi opened the door to the room that Kyoshi realized what the caveat was.

“It’s all yours.” With a flourish Rangi waved her hand. A small, self-satisfied smile donned on her lips.  

The room was wall to wall with various objects, and stacked all the way to the ceiling. You could barely walk three feet into the room without your foot hitting a stray sword or pai sho board. It was an absolute mess and it set Kyoshi’s compulsive cleaner on edge.

Ah. She is still mad. She was getting back at her. This was Kyoshi’s punishment. But…I don’t get it, why doesn’t she just get me fired?

Little did Rangi know, this type of punishment… wasn’t really a punishment for the likes of Kyoshi. If anything, she could view this as recreational work. But the firebender didn’t know that. Either Rangi didn’t actually hate her (which she doubted), or she thought this would be a better punishment than kicking her out on the streets. Like a cat ‘playing’ with a bird and giving it a slow concussed death. The latter seemed plausible, but if that was the case… Shouldn’t Kyoshi be handling the dirtiest and most impure jobs? Certainly not having the title as the Avatar’s personal maid. 

She looked at the smaller girl, unsure what to say. She still had a pleased smile on her face, eyes closed basking in whatever it was she was pleased about. The weird, serene moment lasted for only a moment before a loud voice interrupted it. 

“Hey, Kyoshi! How do you like the new job?” Yun asked enthusiastically, leaning in through a window nearby. He had the brightest smile Kyoshi had ever seen. 

Rangi’s smile instantly disappeared, and she was in full soldier mode again. “What the– You’re supposed to be in training! Get back there right now!”

Yun’s smile vanished, and he paled several shades. “Gah! C’mon Rangi, I get enough from the Sifus!” he cried as he ran away. 

Rangi jumped over a sea of objects to get to the window sill, ready to chase after him. Then she turned back around to address Kyoshi in her usual military brat demeanor. “And you! You better have made progress on this when I return! Yun! You get back to training!” 

Kyoshi watched as the last teen sprinted away from the window, and she was left with her trove. All she could do was blink after them. “Huh?”