Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Yun heaved a great sigh of relief as the healing water washed over his frostbitten feet.

He looked around at the other survivors on the ship. All wounded, but thankfully, not dead. The mission had been a success. Well, at least Plan B had been. 

The original plan had been to peacefully talk things out with the daofei leader of the “Fifth Nation,” Tagaka. Strike a deal, free the hostages. It didn’t need to get bloody. 

Tagaka, however, had other ideas. She already had plans for betraying Yun, the Avatar, as well as his team. 

She had laid an ambush for them, at the icy mountain top where they would be signing a treaty. Far away from earth and rock. Cutting off the key resource for him and his master, Jianzhu, and the majority of their entourage. 

It was supposed to weaken them, not having their element to defend themselves with. They were also not allowed to  have any waterbenders to protect themselves, disheartening considering they'd be around a terrain that was advantageous for waterbenders. They were only allowed to have two firebenders for any real protection without jeopardizing the negotiations.

It would’ve worked too, if not for Yun’s quick thinking ploy. They had snuck his waterbending master into their group, a man named Amak. They dressed him in Earth Kingdom robes and had him put  spidersnake droplets into his eyes so that it’d temporarily change to the color green. Hiding the last remnants of his Water Tribe origin.

The next misstep for Takaga was not checking their gear properly. Small batches of sand were sewn into tiny folds of their clothing. Their snow boots, thick for the snow, were hollowed out in the middle and filled with perfectly bended rocks. 

It was certainly not enough to fight a whole army, at least for a typical bender. But between Avatar Yun and Master Jianzhu, it would be easy enough.

The last, and most crucial key ingredient, to the backup plan was Yun’s airbending master, Kelsang. He had the hardest task, as he had to follow and oversee everything from the air. All without rest alongside him and his flying Bison. The most difficult part was actively bending without rest for over twenty-four hours, but he said he was up to the task.

This was all so that if anything went south, Kelsang could air drop the real ammunition for the earthbenders from his beasts’ saddle. Giant boulders of earth. 

From there the stage was set, and Tagaka played her role well. She attempted to kill Amak, but was not fast enough. Yun saw the ice spike ready to pierce the man just in time to bend him out of the way with the earth contraband hidden in his clothes. 

From there, it all went right. They were able to take out most of Tagaka’s men, with Jianzhu taking out all of her ships. 

Yun fought Tagaka one on one, his first real fight against an opponent who truly wanted to kill him. He attempted to just disarm her, which was hard considering she had unlimited ammo on the terrain.

The duel finally ended in a fatal blow, a stone spike to her heart. Yun had run up to catch the dying woman, and as she died in his arms she whispered one last attack to him.

“What’s the matter, Avatar ?” she coughed out blood. “Is earth all you can bend?”

The words pierced him harder than any blows she had been able to land.

She just had to hit me right in the complex huh? Yun laughed bitterly to himself. 

Yun was the Avatar. Master of all four elements. But so far, for the past two years, he’d only been able to master one. His birth element, earth. But this was a secret, one that only he and his earth, fire, air, and waterbending masters knew. 

He made up for his lack of bending prowess with his diplomatic wits and studies. But even he knew that could only get him so far. 

He shoved the negative thoughts to the side, and looked across the room to the two firebenders that braved the journey with him. His firebending master, Hei-Ran, and her daughter and his bodyguard, Rangi.

Rangi turned to him with a fierce look in her eye, and a sullen pout on her lips. She wasn’t exactly a fan of her shoes being blown off in the smack dab middle of a snowstorm. She and her mother, however, could keep themselves warm a lot better than the other members of the expedition. All thanks to their firebending.

She pressed a thumb to one side of her nose, and blew out a blotch of blood. It seemed like one of the waterbenders got a solid hit to her face. 

Yun gave her a friendly smile and wave, to which Rangi glared at him harder and then looked away. Yun chuckled to himself.

This whole thing was reckless. You’re too reckless! And what was that stance you used earlier? It’s making the spirits weep! I’m going to give you a crash course in fire academy training when we get back! Yun imitated Rangi’s voice in his head. He knew exactly what his friend was thinking.

And while he appreciated her concern, he was not looking forward to the “training” she was about to put him through.

“-and why did you put your foot there of all places?!” Rangi chastised him for the uptheenth time. It’d been like this their whole trip home, ever since they finished receiving treatment from the healers. Yun was honestly surprised she was able to keep an eye on him during such a haphazard battle. 

“Rangi,” Yun attempted to sound stern, but some mirth still slipped into his tone, “You aren’t my firebending master. You’re my bodyguard.”

“I can still point out imperfections,” Rangi continued, undisturbed, “ especially if they are glaringly painful!”

They were marching through the mansion, and she was going to give him a piece of her mind all the way up until his head hit the pillow.

She may have idolized the Avatar and Avatar-hood as a whole, but she was not going to let him slack off in any way. 

Yun laughed. Having a pretty girl yell at you wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Even if she was the one girl in the estate who didn’t fall for his charms. Or the fact that she looked exactly like her mother. The same person who made Yun’s life a living hell with her training. 

“Quit laughing, this isn’t funny! You could’ve been killed ! And then what? Wh-”

Yun was about to laugh again when he felt something shift in the ground ahead of him. A place where no one should be at this time of night. Especially since most of the occupants were still located in the forefront of the mansion.

Yun quickly clamped his palm over Rangi’s mouth, quieting her.

“Shhh” he whispered when she gave a muffled protest. “Listen.”

There was only silence, but it couldn’t fool Yun. The Earth loved him, and it was warning him someone was up ahead. 

The two slowly crept through the mansion, until they came by a room. Muffled sounds were coming from it. 

It was Kelsang’s room. Yun and Rangi crouched on either side of the door. 

Yun poked his forefinger into his mouth to wet it, and then poked two holes in the white paper covering the shoji door. 

Rangi and Yun peered through the holes, and sure enough someone was there.

For a moment, they both thought it might’ve been Kelsang, as the figure in the room was almost as big as him. But this figure, though tall, was less broad than the Air Nomad.

An intruder! Rangi’s eyes bored into Yun’s. Her thoughts feed right into his own.

Let’s ambush him on three! Yun glared back at her with determination.

One! The duo stood up.

Two! Yun lightly hugged the wall next to the door frame, preparing to ram it.  

Thre-! The wall gave out near Yun, causing his hand to slip and for him to lose balance.

He fell through the sliding door, with Rangi following after him as she tripped over his legs.

It was something so disgraceful, they blanched at the thought of having to ever think or talk about it.

They scrambled, attempting to unlock their limbs from each other and face their intruder.

When they looked up, they were met with a large, ghostly woman, towering over them in the pale moonlight.

Chapter Text

Yun and Rangi looked at the ghostly spirit with wide eyes. All their training, their preparation for any kind of enemy. Gone.

They were beholden to the woman in front of them. Her intense stormy eyes bore down at them with…..an equal amount of shock?

Yun blinked. Despite her fierce face and makeup, her eyes seemed to scream ‘scared turtle duck’ to him. Upon closer inspection, the spirit’s face looked as shocked as he felt!

Yun’s eyes finally had the courage to leave the spirit’s face, flitting down her body to her hands. She held a small tube of what Yun could assume was full of documents. As well as a small toy in her large hand.

Yun’s eyes widened in shock, it was a small clay turtle. The same turtle that Kelsang said he’d bring, along with the other special airbender toys they used to identify the Avatar. Jianzhu had requested him to bring them to the estate, hoping that by playing with them Yun would be able to unlock his other elements.

“Hey that’s-!” Yun started to yell. Not yours!

The spirit took a step back, clutching the turtle closer to her chest. She looked like an overgrown child not wanting to share a toy.

Yun extended his arm and whirled a clay pot that was nearby at the spirit.

The spirit threw up her forearm, eating the hit with ease. Shoving the tube and toy into her tunic, she whirled around quickly and dove through the window.

Rangi finally untangled herself from Yun, “THIEF!” she bellowed as she gave chase to the figure, Yun right on her heels.

Rangi’s yells got the attention of the mansion, and Yun could feel the vibrations in the ground telling him that his companions were heading towards them.

The woman was heading towards the back wall of the mansion, the only way was down or up. Though, with Yun’s earthbending abilities, down was not an option for her either. And the only way to go up was if she sprouted wings and flew. In other words, the spirit was trapped with nowhere to go.

But then why wasn’t she slowing down?

Yun and Rangi’s eyes widened as the woman began to pick up her pace, and then seemingly started to fly into the air! No not flying, it was almost as if an invisible staircase had presented itself to her.

The woman looked back and gave the two a smirk.

Rangi, her face displaying a new found rage at such mockery, started sprinting faster.

“I SEE THROUGH YOUR TRICK!” she bellowed as she started to ascend in a similar manner. Much to the spirit’s shock and surprise.

Yun wasn’t sure what Rangi saw, but judging by the flames coming off of Rangi’s feet, it was possibly some kind of bending.

Yun, not crazy enough to test out a new bending form in the midst of a chaos like Rangi had, decided on a different and more tried and true path.

He timed a formation of a pillar under his feet as he ran, and right when he stepped over it, he launched himself into the air, vaulting over the wall himself. As he cleared the wall, he bent the earth from the other side to deliver a safer landing. Then he dashed after the two girls, and down the mountain side of the mansion into the dense forest.

It was hard to see in the dark, but the light coming off of Rangi’s feet made it an easy beacon to follow.

Where in the spirits is everyone?! Jianzhu? Kelsang? Hei-Ran?! They should’ve caught up by now! He screamed in his head, as his feet pounded the ground trying to keep up to the flying girls in front of him. 

As if to answer his question, a large rumbling sound like an explosion happened behind Yun. In the direction of the mansion.

Did she set a trap ahead of time?! Concern for the residents back at the mansion swelled through him. He needed to catch his thief as soon as possible so he could go back and tend to any wounded.

But it was looking dire. Even without the traps, it didn’t look like they were in a good position to alert any allies to where they were. The trees of the forest were now at their thickest, the spurts of Rangi’s light would not be able to shine through. Any more firebending would probably risk a forest fire.

Yun grabbed at his side, tired from all the running. He was having a hard time keeping up with the flying women in front of him, who were having an easier time covering ground while they ran on air than he did on the ground. If only there was something he could do to slow the spirit down.

Yun let out a small yelp when a speck of dust or dirt flew into his eye.

“Yun?!” Rangi yelled from ahead.

“I’m fine! Don’t worry about me!” he yelled back, bending the dirt out of his eye. “It was just-”

Dirt! But how? Those two hadn’t touched the ground this entire chase.

Yun gritted his teeth and forced himself to pick up his pace, trying to catch up just to get a better view.

Through the lighting of Rangi’s feet, he saw it. Small specks floating around and near the feet of the spirit. It was earth ! She was stepping on small pieces of dust! She wasn’t a spirit, she was an earthbender! And that was just the element he was a natural at.

A large smirk grew on Yun’s face. He reached out his hand and focused, ready to brute force his control over the dust. 

In an instant, just as the bender was moving the dust to the next foot, Yun changed its direction and made it wrap around the woman’s ankle, causing her to stop at a standstill.

Great now Rangi just needs to grab her-wait! To Yun’s shock and horror, he hadn’t bothered to assess just how fast Rangi was going. 

Rangi crashed right into the woman, the surprise caused her to lose control of her bending and shoot a stream of fire from her foot right towards Yun. In the same moment, Yun let go of his control of the dust and dodged out of the fire.

Rangi and the thief fell to the ground, rolling down one of the side hills as they engaged in grapples, locks, and punches. Yun quickly put out the fire caused by Rangi’s flame, by throwing large amounts of dirt onto the area, and chased after them with an earth wave under his feet. 

Yun arrived just a little bit after they reached the bottom of the hill. Rangi had gained the upper hand. Her knees were pinned to the side of the thief’s torso, her left hand anchored to the ground by the thief’s head, and she had a fire blade coming out of her right hand and up against the other woman’s throat. 

“Give it up!” Rangi huffed. “You have nowhere left to run!”

The thief barely acknowledged the blade and only stared at Rangi’s face, which was only inches away from her.

“If it’s a pretty girl like you arresting me, then I don’t mind giving up darlin’,” the thief gave Rangi a coy, lopsided smile.

Rangi’s usually fierce and battle ready face fell, as if she had the wind knocked out of her. 

“I-ah-what?!” she barely puffed out.

Yun’s reaction wasn’t too far off from Rangi’s, completely flabbergasted where the turn of events were taking place. 

The thief took the opportunity to snake her hands onto Rangi’s thighs and gave them a slight squeeze. Rangi tensed up as if she had been struck by lightning.

“Why so tense, Firecracker?” the thief purred, closing the distance between her and Rangi’s face. Not caring if the fire knife scorched her. “Aren’t you going to arrest me?”

The sound of someone sucking in air was all that could be heard, before the lights from Rangi’s firebending went out. A small yelp came from the darkness, which was quickly followed by a big thud on the ground.

The lights came back on as Rangi firebent a torch into her hand, only to see the thief taking off running. The thief had flipped Rangi off and over her head with nothing but the strength in her arms.

Both Yun and Rangi’s feet were moving before they even realized. Revitalized with a new found conviction to catch the thief. 

“What in the spirits was that?!” Yun yelled at Rangi, dodging the ever growing branches that were flying by them.

“I was going to ask you the same thing!” she retorted back in a tone that mixed with shame and anger. Yun could tell she was blushing, he didn’t need light to tell him that much. “Y-You could’ve bent some restraints or something! W-why’d you just stand there?!”

“It looked like a moment I shouldn’t interrupt,” Yun muttered, a slight blush forming on his own cheeks. 

“There was no moment!” Rangi practically screeched at him, as she lobbed a fire blast at a tree in front of them to run through. Both quickly doused the flames as they passed. 

“I dunno!” Yun yelled back, unable to fight back the smile that was forming on his face. “You let your flame go out. Didn’t know you could lose focus like that.” He knew firebending was the most influenced by emotions, and that little incident indicated a lot more under the surface than what her words could ever deny. 

“I didn’t lose focus!” She almost shrieked. 

“Oh then why did the flame go out?!”

“I don’t know! I’m just as confused as you are!”

“Confused? I don’t know you seemed to be enjo-”

The next fire blast Rangi made while making eye contact with Yun. As if telling him to drop it or else the tree she just eviscerated would be his face next time.

Yun decided to drop it for now, he’d have plenty of time to push her buttons later. 

As they caught up to the figure, he noticed the sound of rushing water and wondered which river near Yokoya they were nearby. 

It didn’t matter, as they came out through a thicket, they saw their target standing there. 

Without hesitation, they launched their attack at the thief. Yun went low and to the right, while Rangi delivered a flying kick to the left. 

The thief turned around in surprise, holding her hands up in a surrendering pose.

“Wait don’t-” was all she could get out before the other two collided with her.

The next thing the three knew, they were falling down a dark abyss, not realizing they were near a cliff’s edge. 

Yun looked over to Rangi, who was panicking as she tried to firebend her way closer to him. But what could she do, how was she going to break their fall? It wasn’t like she was an airbender. 

Yun attempted to bend the earth nearby as they were falling, trying to see if he could form a platform. But before he could something hard hit him in the back of the head. It was part of the cliffside they were on, it had crumbled and fallen not long after they had fallen. 

As Yun started to black out, he felt Rangi’s warm hands on his shoulder. And then another gruffer pair following suit.

Chapter Text

Rangi felt cold. She tried to move her body, anything, but nothing would happen. She felt like this had happened to her before, but she couldn’t place it where.

“Hey! Wake up!” a voice from far away yelled at her.

I am awake. 

She was so woefully awake. Even though her eyes only showed darkness. 

It was actually a bit of a pain, she’d much rather be asleep. But as she tried to, she felt something tugging, and some of the cold and heavinesss left her body, though she was nowhere near as warm as she wanted to be. The voice rang out again.

“Wake! Up!”

I don’t want to. Rangi groaned. Why can’t I sleep? What would be so wrong? It’s not like I have anything I needed to do-

A sharp pain rang through her. No! Yun! I need to protect Yun!

That’s right, how could she forget her one honor bound duty? Rangi tried to move parts of her body, but they just felt too heavy. 

Another pain rang through her. And then another. And another. It hurt, but like oil to a squeaky wheel, it helped her start moving again. She dragged her body towards the voice. 

“C’mon, Firecracker! Breathe!” 

Rangi tried, but found she wasn’t able to. She felt like she was miles away from her body. But Rangi wasn’t going to let that stop her. She started running as fast as she could towards the voice, even as her body began to feel heavier. Even as the waves of pain grew and grew. She kept running until-

Rangi’s eyes flew open, she could feel her lungs greedily ripping into the air she inhaled. Her eyes came face to…..something, some mass in front of her, clamping down on her mouth. A jolt of panic flowed through her as she bit down before pushing at the figure.

“Ahck!” it yelled falling to the side.

Rangi moved to follow up her attack, but stopped as she doubled over and heaved out copious amounts of water that had taken residency in her stomach. 

Ah….drowning. Rangi cursed to herself. Of course the sensation felt familiar, she’d gone through this training in her academy and junior corps days. 

“Ah! You bit me!” the figure complained, it was the same voice Rangi heard while she was under. “First he throws up in my mouth, and then you bite me! Argh, this is just injury to insult!”

Rangi wretched out some more water before finding the strength to look up. The figure in front of her was the same woman from before. However, her makeup had become runny and smeared, reds and blacks bleeding into the once mostly white face. 

Rangi would never say it out loud, but the botched makeup made the thief look more intimidating than she had been when Rangi first encountered her. 

Rangi balled her fist on the ground, trying to get her bravado back. “Where’s Avatar Yun?!”

With blood trickling down from the thief’s mouth, she gave Rangi an unamused look, before pointing behind her. “You mean that guy? He’s fine.”

Rangi looked behind her, and sure enough, there was Yun in the same sorry state as her. On the ground, puking his guts out.

Rangi sighed in relief, at least she hadn’t let the Avatar die on her watch. She wasn’t about to go down in history as the ‘worst Avatar bodyguard’ just yet. 

She turned her attention back to the thief sitting in front of her. She didn’t seem to be paying the two any mind, focusing more on wringing her black tunic and undershirts out of any excess water. Rangi saw a brief flash of the thief’s stomach as she raised her shirt up, and quickly looked away when she saw her well defined abs. She fought a hard battle against the flush on her cheeks, but ultimately lost the war. 

“Why….” Rangi growled out, getting the thief’s attention. “....why….why did you-”

“Save your lives?” the thief cocked an eyebrow at them, a lopsided grin slowly growing on her face. “I just felt like it.”

“But why ?” Rangi yelled louder, strength slowly returning to her. Her mind whirled at the possible reasons, but none of them seemed to be in their favor. Perhaps the thief had a trick up her sleeve that could put them at her mercy?

The thief was taken aback briefly, before pure confusion rested on her face. “Because I…..wanted to? Like I said….I just felt like it. I mean I was already saving myself and thought ‘Why not? What’s another two lives?’ ” The dumb grin returned to her face.

Rangi was shaking with anger. She was an idiot, how could she think she wasn’t still in the running for the ‘worst Avatar bodyguard in history’ ?! This thief had saved their lives, the Avatar’s life. Rangi had allowed it so that the Avatar would be beholden to some common criminal . 

She couldn’t believe she’d messed up this badly. 

“Ah,” the thief’s voice pulled Rangi’s rage from inward to outward. The thief, now savior, had their hand behind their neck as they cracked it from side to side. “Did you not want me to?”

Silence from the three hung heavy in the air. The thief was the first to speak up again.

“Huh, I guess we can still fix that issue,” she said darkly, her head casted down as she got up. Making it impossible to read her expression.

The thief made their way over to Rangi, towering over her even just by crouching.

Rangi tried to muster up some fire, but she was still too tired and cold. There was nothing she could do except close her eyes and brace herself as the thief reached her hand out towards her face.

There was a painful flick to her forehead, and Rangi went from her crouching position to unceremoniously falling onto her butt.

“Tooooooo baaaaad,” the thief drawled out in a bored tone. “You’re just gonna have to live with it.”

The thief then stood up and began stretching her arms from side to side, not a care in the world.

“I swear, you firebenders are sooooo uptight with your honor and glory and blah blah blah. Is being saved by someone really so bad that you’d rather die ?”

“It’s not that we got saved, it’s that you saved us!” Rangi retorted, an embarrassed blush creeping onto her face.

“Huh? Got something against earthbenders?” The thief gave her a dubious look, eyes darting to Yun for just a moment. 

“It’s because we’re in your debt!” Yun interjected, rubbing his temples. He’d finally recovered enough to speak.

There was a long pause as the thief’s face slowly changed in realization.

“Oh! Awesome! So like, can you let me go? You don’t need to arrest me anymore, right?” She grinned.

“NO!” Rangi and Yun both exclaimed.

“Well what’s the point of you being in my debt then?” the thief pouted. She turned to leave but was stopped by a wall of earth that Yun bent in front of her.

“Wait!” Yun yelled. “You can leave, but return the items that you stole first.” Didn’t exactly seem like a fair trade to Rangi, she’d rather arrest the thief too but considering their sorry state….. She held her tongue.

The woman turned to them with a sheep goat’s grin “Whaaaat? Oh c’mon now. After I just saved your life? Don’t you think I deserve a reward? You were both verrrrry heavy!”

“Our lives wouldn’t have been in danger if you didn’t steal in the first place!” Rangi retorted.

The girl rolled her eyes. “Fiiiiiine.”

“You’ll give us back what you stole?” Yun raised a questioning eyebrow. They didn’t expect it to be that easy.

“ No ,” the girl scoffed. “I’m keeping it, but I’ll let you tag along with me.”

“ Us tag along with you ?!” Rangi scoffed. “You’ll be lucky if we let you tag along with us !”

The girl laughed. “Fat chance! I doubt you two have any experience in the Spirit World!”

Rangi and Yun grew stiff. Did they hear her right? Spirit World?

It was a place no normal person would usually go, the domain of the spirits. A place parallel to their physical world. Only people with high spirituality like monks, or nuns, or even the Avatar would go here willingly. 

There had been stories, however, where people would be spirited away, but that was less likely than a monk going on a spiritual journey.

Rangi and Yun took in their surroundings, it didn’t look like a forest near a lake they’d ever seen. It was surprisingly colorful and bright even in the dead of night. 

Balls of little light seemed to float endlessly around them, like fireflies. The lake they’d been pulled out of shimmered with a shine they’d never seen before. And the grass they were laying in was softer than any fabric they’ve ever had the pleasure to touch. 

There was so much beauty around them, and they couldn’t enjoy any of it. The realization they were trapped in the Spirit World . This was a place you astral projected to, not physically traveled! At least, they didn’t think so? How were they going to get out of it?

“Hello? Earth to Captors? Everything ok in there?” the thief bent into their view waving a hand in front of their faces. She’d grown concerned the way their faces paled and object horror seemed to be permanently plastered onto them.

“Ok?!” Yun got up to his feet, terrified. “No we are not ‘Ok!’ None of this is ok!” He failed his arms in synch with each word he spoke for extra emphasis. 

He spread his arms around showing off their surroundings. “We are trapped in the Spirit World. Famous for having no exit and no bathrooms !”

While Yun battled with the panic inside him, Rangi battled with both despair and rage.

“It’s my fault,” Rangi gripped at her knees as she knelt on the ground, “If only I’d just captured this thief then-”

“I have a name you know!” the thief pouted. 

Rangi looked up, rage winning the war inside her, a vein pulsing in her forehead, “That. Is. Not. The. Issue. Here.”

“It is to me,” the thief kept pouting.

“The issue is we need to figure out how to get out,” Yun said while massaging the bridge of his nose.

Rangi mirrored the soothing motion, except she chose to rub her temples. Then she remembered what the thief had said moments ago. What was it again? ‘I doubt you two have any experience-’ That implied she was one with experience. 

Rangi turned to the thief, desperate hope burning within her. “Wait, have you been here before?”

“Oh, yeah. I stumbled in here once when I was like seven or something,” the thief shrugged nonchalantly. 

The two looked at her like they’d been casted a lifeline. 

“So you know how to get out?!” Yun exclaimed.

The thief tapped her chin thoughtfully before declaring, “Nope! I don’t really remember to be honest. ”

And the life line sank just as fast as it had appeared. 

“How….can you be so calm?” was all Yun could muster to the strange woman in front of him.

“Eh, we’ll work it out,” she waved her hand as if to bat away his question. “I mean….it did before!”

“What do you remember from last time? Like how did you get here?” Rangi tried to jog the thief’s memory, not willing to give up hope. Even if it was a fool’s errand. 

“Well I was exploring a nearby forest, fell, went through some weird mini portal thing-kinda like what happened today. And, well, I was here. Well, not here per se, somewhere in the Spirit World though. ”

“And, escaping?”

The thief shrugged, “I think the reverse happened, found a portal, and popped back out into our world. I was only in here for what felt like a week, but my family claims I was gone for six months.”

Six months?! Yun and Rangi screamed in their heads. The world could descend into chaos if the Avatar didn’t return by then. 

“We need to get back before then! Bad things will happen if I don’t get back!” Yun exclaimed.

“Ok, well, if y’all are done floundering about like a bunch of yellow-bellied gopher fish, I think we better start exploring our way out of here!” The thief pointed towards the thicket of the forest with their thumb.

Rangi and Yun looked at each other and nodded. This was their best bet. Follow their guide out of here, they could think about capturing her later. Considering the thief could’ve killed them earlier, they were at least safe knowing they wouldn’t be attacked by them any time soon.

“Alright, we’ll follow you.” Yun walked towards the thief with his hand outstretched. “Let me introduce ourselves: I’m Avatar Yun, and this is my bodyguard Rangi.”

“What’s your name?” Rangi asked in an unfriendly manner, arms crossing over her chest.

“Ah my name is K-wait I know what you're doing. Want me to reveal my identity so that you can find me more easily later, huh Mr. Avatar?” The thief ignored the handshake, opting to put her hands on her hips and smirked at the two. 

“No, that was not my intention at all! We just want to know what to call you,” Yun gave the thief a sweet smile, trying to backtrack his real intention. Guess the thief wasn’t as dumb as she looked.

“Or would you rather us just call you ‘thief’ ?” Rangi glared.

“Fine, fine, you can call me Lee.” She gave them a small bow.

“Lee? You don’t look like a Lee?” Yun crossed his arms and cocked his eyebrow. Of course she’d choose the most common name in the world.

“And you two don’t look very competent, but you don’t see me questioning you.” Lee returned the gesture with a sweet smile, well…as much as sweet as she could manage with her ever growing scary makeup.

Lee turned around with a shrug, and started marching towards the forest, unaware of the struggle happening behind her. Yun fought hard to restrain Rangi, as Rangi attempted to grab Lee from behind and throttle her. 

“She can’t talk to you like that! You’re the Avatar!” Rangi angrily whispered.

“I know, but we need to get along if we want to get out of here,” he whispered back. “Just relax, it’s not like it could get worse.”

Lee stopped at the edge of the forest entrance. “Oh by the way, I’m really not just some run-of-the-mill thief,” she turned her head back to the pair and gave them a smile. “I’m a daofei .”

Chapter Text

It took all of Rangi’s effort to choke down her despair as they walked. 

Yun was wrong, it most definitely got worse. It was bad enough when they thought they were beholden to some common thief, but a daofei? 

She might as well cut her sacred hair and have the spirits take her right then. There was no way for her to recover from the shame. 

A daofei! She nervously tried to smooth the loose strands of her hair back onto her head. Forget owing her anything, if word gets out Yun was saved by a daofei. He’ll never live it down. They’ll think he’s in their pocket! They’ll-

Yun put a hand on his friend’s shoulder to calm her down.

“Rangi, stay focused,” he whispered. “We’ll worry about the consequences when we get out of here.” 

Rangi took a deep breath trying to center herself. This day had just been the worst, just been mistake after mistake. Nothing had gone right since they ran into Lee. 

Her brain began to play all the highlights of the day. If only she hadn’t tripped when they first confronted her. Or maybe if she sped up at a certain corner, or risked throwing a fireblast into the dense woods. 

I shouldn’t have lost my grip, I had her pinned down and- her brain worked against her, reminding her of the very reason why she’d loosened her grip on her target in the first place. Rangi buried her face in her hands and clawed in frustration, while a hidden flush ran down her back.

Little did Rangi know, Yun was experiencing something similar beside her. Something about that Lee woman bothered him. It made him feel off kilter like it had with Rangi. Well, not exactly in the same way she had the effect on Rangi, his was more on the unpleasant side of things. Something like a dark foreboding.

He let out a small sigh, he should heed his own advice. Calm down, stay focused. One step at a time. So many steps, they’d been walking for hours with no sign of getting out of that accursed forest.

Yun looked at Lee who led the charge, she would move the unique Spirit World foliage out of the way with her earthbending every so often. A long wavy flow of her arm, a form that resembled a waterbender’s motions rather than a typical earthbender’s.

Interesting. Yun thought.

“Your form is fairly unique,” he commented.

Rangi lifted her head up from her face, small fingernail indents made in ten different places of her face. For the most part she seemed to have calmed down.

Lee flinched for a moment but didn’t stop her motions. “You don’t like the way I bend?”

“No, no! I just found it to be an interesting style, for an earthbender, you know?” He put his hands up in a friendly manner. “It just looked like a motion a waterbender would use.”

“You come across a few waterbenders in my line of work. Maybe I picked up a few of their moves. What? Is that illegal?”

“No, just….. making small talk.” He said simply. Really he was just trying to fish for information. Which daofei organization was she a part of? Which ones had waterbenders and earthbenders working in unison? Fifth Nation? Iron Fins? Lotus Blossom?

Hopefully it wasn’t the Fifth Nation, she might not like the news of their downfall of her kin caused by him.

Yun looked at the way she walked. Her movements were more delicate, like they had been during the chase. Her airy way of walking on the dust was well…..almost like air. Almost like an airbender. 

No, no that wouldn’t make any sense. Airbenders were a peaceful lot, there’s no way one would get tied up with a daofei. Waterbending and airbending could overlap in movements, so that must’ve been what it was. 

“Lee, I have a question.”

“No, really? Just one? Sigh, what is it?” It seemed like the past few hours of prodding information from her was wearing her patience thin. A lot of the earlier questions revolved around her knowledge on the Spirit World or who she was/why she was doing what she was doing. The former was met with many ‘I don’t knows,’and the latter met with tight lips. Thankfully, those same lips appeared to be loosening up now.

“What are your thoughts on the Fifth Nation?”

The snort turned boisterous laughter that came from the woman made it instantly clear she wasn’t a part of them, nor did she think highly of them.

“Haha, those flaunting peacock cats? Getting too big for their britches I’d say!”

“You don’t like them?” Rangi interjected.

“In the same sense you don’t like a nosy neighbor, sweetie. Or just a neighbor you have beef with.” 

 Rangi narrowed her eyes at Lee. If it was because of Lee’s comment or for the question she was following up with Yun couldn’t tell. “So you’re rivals?”

“I guess you could say that. But isn’t everybody?”

Yun’s eyes scrunched up. “No, what do you mean?”

“Everyone’s fightin’ somebody about somethin’,” Lee continued, swishing some ground to the side to move a small boulder in the way. “‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us.’ Or ‘You have something I want.’ And so on and so on. There’s only so much stuff to go around, people are bound to fight over it.”

“That’s a fairly pessimistic way to look at the world.” Not that Yun disagreed exactly, with the amount of info he was privy to, it was hard to stay optimistic with all the fighting that was going on behind the scenes. He supposed that the daofei world must work on a minor scale compared to the bigger governments around the world. Which both intrigued him, and disheartened him.

“I’d say it’s just realistic,” she said with a grunt, moving giant boulder out of the way with more ease than any average earthbender would. She didn’t even break a sweat!

Yun wasn’t sure what to make of her earthbending, her styles were all over the place. But one thing he did gleam was that she could move very heavy objects easily. Actually, the way she moved the foliage in big clumps was a bit overkill as well. She didn’t have to move trees and rocks that far away, wasn’t she afraid of disturbing the spirits? Or maybe she just lacked control?

“And you have an issue with the Fifth Nation because they’re too powerful? Or because they take too many resources?” Rangi asked. “I’ve also heard you lot really like to follow the ‘might makes right’ ideology. Afraid they’ll eat you up?”

“Depends on the group.” Lee shrugged. “It wasn’t their power that made it an inconvenience. Yeah, someone having more power can always be a problem. But attracting attention is also a real hassle as well.”

“Yeah, I’m sure a thief would hate attention,” Rangi muttered.

Lee stopped walking and turned on them, annoyed. “And I told you about a hundred times already! I’m not just a thief. If you’re going to call me anything then it’s a daofei!”

“Like it matters! You’re a pathetic, low-life criminal regardless!” Rangi took a defiant step forward towards Lee.

“It matters to me!” Lee marched her own way to the smaller firebender. As she did, she put her hand up and started visibly counting on each finger. “I saved your life outta the goodness of my heart. I’m getting you outta here outta the goodness of my heart, and you can’t even respect me!” 

“Oh great! Two whole ‘goods’ that were caused because you got us into this mess in the first place!” Rangi scoffed sarcastically. “And ‘Get us out’?” We’ve been walking for hours! What if you’re just leading us into a trap? Do you even know where you’re going?!”

“I may not know where we are exactly, but at least I have an idea on which way is better! If I let you lead we’d be in Koh ‘The Face Stealer’s’ territory!” She rudely pointed a finger at Rangi, and in a patronizing voice said, “And I bet you wouldn’t want your pretty whittle face stolen would you, princess? Wouldn’t get far in life without it would you?”

Rangi made a lunge for Lee, but Yun grabbed her. Luckily he got in the middle of the two before they were within arm’s reach.

“Yun, move.” Rangi glared over Yun’s shoulder, about to shove the Avatar out of her way. This thief had challenged her honor, and she wasn’t about to let her get away with it.

“No, you two need to stop. Fighting is going to get us nowhere.” He understood why his friend was upset, as pretty as she was, she worked hard to get where she was. Insanely. So Lee’s jab might’ve prodded deeper than she’d realized. But as justified as Rangi’s anger was, fighting wasn’t going to get them out of the Spirit World.

“Oh it’ll get us somewhere,” Rangi made an attempt to get around him, but as she sidestepped him, Yun grabbed her from behind, locking his arms under hers and pulling her back with all his might. He cursed inwardly at how strong she was. “Back at the Fire Academy, fighting was the best way to resolve a dispute.”

Lee gave a cocky grin at the struggling firebender. “Let her go Lil’ Avatar, this girl is finally speaking my language. C’mon Firecracker, I’ll have you on the ground before y…ou….can-”

Lee took a step back, her exposed skin paling to the same pallor as her white makeup.

“Yeah I’d run too if I was you!” Rangi made another lunge but Yun pulled her right back.

Lee’s eyes widened in horror, “S-shut up.” She whispered oh so quietly, Yun almost didn’t hear her at first. 

“I’ll shut up wh-” Lee took the risk of Rangi biting her fingers off, and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Shhhh! Behind you!” she whispered.

Yun and Rangi slowly turned around to see a very giant and very, very angry looking spirit behind them. It looked like a crossover between a Kanga-frog and a deep sea angler snake-fish. It had the head of the more angler fishy side, and the body of the kanga-frog.

It appeared to be blind, its milky eyes drifting off in all different directions, the light hanging off its forehead acting as a means of detection. Black goo pooled and oozed off of the spirit, giving it a tainted appearance. 

Before Yun and Rangi could think about fight or flight, they were both pulled by their collar and were booking down the forest.

Lee had picked them both up like sacks of flour, throwing Yun over her right shoulder, and carrying Rangi under her left arm. The two were still too shocked by the spirit to even marvel at the woman’s strength.

Lee was running at full sprint, forsaking the floor entirely this time. Having only stayed on the ground floor on the hike as a courtesy to the companions who couldn’t walk on dust like she could.

However, despite her soundless flight, it appeared that the dark spirit was still alerted, as a deafening shriek echoed through the forest. Vibrations of its running soon followed.

Lee let out a string of curses that only a daofei would be accustomed to, “Is it following us?!”

Yun and Rangi looked behind them, and they could see the light bobbing ever so closely.

“Yeah it’s gaining!” Yun yelled.

“Then do something about it!”

“What do you expect us to do?!” Rangi yelled back.

“I don’t know! He’s the Avatar-'' Yun braced himself, for the woman to demand something from him that only the Avatar could do. Fire-air-waterbend or use the Avatar state or something along those lines. All the things he wasn’t capable of doing yet. “-build a big Earth wall or something! Just slow it down!”

Yun wasn’t prepared for that, an earthwall. That was something he could do. He flexed his arms and brought up several pillars of walls. Which got knocked down almost instantly. No matter, Yun could keep bringing them up as long as he had earth to work with. 

“And Firecracker-!”

“Wh-what?!”

“-If he gets too close, light his ass up!”

Rangi looked at Lee and smirked. “Can do!”

She proceeded to twist around in Lee’s arm, grabbing at Lee’s waist and trying to climb up the woman.

“W-what are you doing?!” Lee’s cries came out a little more high pitched than she probably wanted.

“I need to get in a better position!” Rangi threw her left leg around Lee’s waist, and then threw both her arms around Lee’s shoulders, almost like a rucksack. Her right leg was almost in position to attack the spirit freely.

“Well hurry it up, you’re making this harder than it already is!” Lee slowed down from stumbling a bit while she tried to readjust her hand on Rangi’s waist, but regained her momentum as Rangi finally got into position.

“Rangi get the blast ready! I don’t think it cares much for earth!” Yun yelled to her as the spirit kept crashing through each of his earth walls, none of them slowing it down. He tried mixing it up with tripping the creature like he did Lee back in the mansion’s forest, by grabbing it by the ankle, but each time it broke through the hold easily.

Rangi took a deep breath while angling and bending back her foot. Right when the spirit was just a human length away she jutted her foot out and unleashed a giant fire stream right into its face. Coincidentally as she did so, a giant gust of wind flew by, causing the stream of fire to expand bigger and rage out of control onto the spirit.

“What? Argh!” Rangi grunted, trying to get the flame under control, but it kept expanding as the wind mixed into it, feeding off the wind’s power, before suddenly cutting off.

The spirit stumbled back from the blast, at the same time the same blast thrusted the trio forward…..right off another cliff.

“Agh! No, no, no, nooooo not again!” Lee complained as they started rapidly descending, this time it was more controlled thanks to her dust. She was taking giant leaps downwards like you would if you lost control running down a mountain. Risky large steps. But she controlled it all the same.

The landing spot was in a grassy meadow, and the second Lee’s feet touched the ground, she collapsed…. Right on top of Rangi, with Yun crushing Lee’s shoulder.

“Mmmrrrphf!” Was all Rangi could make intelligible.

“Sorry Firecracker,” Lee heaved, exhausted. Yun could hear small attempts of shoving being made against the wall of a woman, but Rangi might as well had been trying to push a mountain with her bare hands because it yielded the same effect. “You’re gonna have to blast me off of ya, I’m too beat to move.”

Yun unceremoniously disentangled himself from Lee, before rolling Lee off his friend. Rangi was redder than he’d ever seen her. Her face bore an expression akin to a mouse cat having been caught falling off the furniture. Total and complete embarrassment.

Five. Yun humorously made a mental note to himself as he stared at Rangi’s flushed skin. That makes five… I think?

“What was that?” Yun gasped out, his arms were tired from all the tough bending he had to keep up.

“A dark spirit,” was all Lee could manage to say, and Yun briefly wondered how a child was able to survive this accursed place. 

“Why did it attack us?” Rangi asked, making a point to have her back facing the two, but Yun could still clearly see the redness still creeping up her neck.

Lee shrugged. “No idea, I don’t think they like humans.”

“So we just need to avoid them?” Yun asked.

“Pretty much.”

“What about other spirits?”

“They can be iffy, it’s best to avoid most of them if we can.”

The trio sighed. Escaping the spirit world was going to be harder than it looked.

Yun looked at the exhausted Lee and realized the literal opportunity that literally laid before him. “Lee, can you get up?”

“I think I need a minute, sorry. You guys are heavy.”

Rangi turned around and gave her a light kick.

“Ow!” Lee gave a half-hearted moan, it sounded more amused than anything else. “Is that how you treat someone who saved your life twice?”

“Sorry,” Rangi muttered, and she almost sounded like she meant it.

“Oh, that’s good,” Yun said cheerfully as he squatted down next to Lee, a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Then I guess that means I can have my stuff back.”

Lee suddenly paled whiter and whiter.

“L-let’s not be so hasty,” she squeaked. She made a futile movement to get up, but exhaustion must not have been a lie as she barely budged.

“Oh c’mon now, this is a great time to return my items that you stole,” he gave her his award winning smile. He figured they were probably in some hidden pocket near the arm sleeve. 

Lee, visibly sweating, put one arm over her chest, “C-c’mon, you wouldn’t do something so lecherous, would you? T-the Avatar isn’t a creep! R-Right?!”

Rangi whipped her head around so fast an audible snap could be heard, her expression horrified. Yun stopped his hand, completely confused. He looked at the arm he thought the items might be, and where Lee’s chest was. Back to the arm, and to her chest. Then to Lee’s panicked face, and then back to Lee’s chest.

As if he was shocked by lightning, he took his hand off Lee’s shoulder, and then scurried back a few feet away from her. It was his turn to blush from head to toe in embarrassment. 

“I-I-I’m not a creep!” he protested, sweating profusely. “I-I thought you’d hide it in the sleeve pocket! H-h-how was I supposed to-Why would you put it there of all places?!”

“Girls have more pockets than boys! Sue me!” Lee protested back. Yun wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that, but who was he to argue?

“I didn’t know! I’m not a girl!”

“Thank the spirits for that!” Lee threw her hands up in annoyance and relief.

While Yun recovered, upset by the dirty tactics, he noticed Rangi was now sighing in relief. A childish idea ran through his head.

“But you know who is?” Yun put out hand, palm facing upward, as if offering something to Rangi. “It’s true it’d be lecherous if I did such a thing, but the same couldn’t be said if it was Rangi now would it?”

Rangi’s eyes widened bigger than a pai sho board, Lee started sweating even more. Yun suspected that Lee knew she wouldn't have such an easy out, and she was spinning her wheels. 

“W-what do you want me to do?” Rangi asked, taken aback.

“You can retrieve the items!” Yun smiled. “I mean, you’re both girls so it’d be fine right?”

Rangi looked like a panicked cat mouse yet again, her face reddening and fanning down her collar. She, however, made a motion to stand.

Lee crossed both her arms over her chest, “T-that doesn’t matter! It-it’d still be dishonorable!”

Rangi stopped her motion and went rigid at the word. The Fire Nation’s core values were rooted in what was honorable and dishonorable. Yun could see his friend spiraling, weighing the honorable and dishonorable actions in her mind. It’s honorable for her to follow the Avatar, but he’s asking for a dishonorable act. But disobeying would be dishonorable.

Yun realized, in his attempt to take the heat off of him, and to tease Rangi a bit, he may have created an unwinnable scenario for her that deeply shook her to her core.

Lee, however, was willing to grab onto anything that would dissuade Rangi, which would in turn twist the knife deeper.

“T-that’s right! It’s dishonorable! You’ll be dishonoring your family! Your country! Your topknot! Your cow!” Lee wasn’t really making any sense as she continued down the list, but it didn’t matter. Every word made it look like Rangi took another physical blow. 

Finally, just as Lee finally ran out of nouns and adjectives that could be dishonored by Rangi. Rangi stood up.

She was stiffer than a statue, her voice was devoid of any emotion or inflection that Yun had ever heard. “It’s been hours since we last ate. I’m going to go look for some food.” Despite her monotone nature, she still bore a slight flush.

She then turned around and stiffly, but hastily, shimmied off into some nearby foliage, and quickly went out of sight.

Six. Yun thought. 

“Wow, she really negative jinged outta here,” Yun sweatdropped, feeling a little bad for putting his friend in an uncomfortable situation, not that he’d planned for it to be more than a joke. He was going to need to apologize…. And to figure out how to retrieve his stolen items some other time. 

“I thought she’d do it to be honest,” Lee sighed. “She seems like a real hard ass-turtle.”

“She is.” The duo sat in silence for a good long time, while Yun pondered over what to do next. “Lee, can you get up yet?”

Lee sighed, “No, still tired.”

“Ok,” Yun stood up. “I’m going to go talk with Rangi, you stay here.”

Lee gave him a thumbs up as Yun left in the direction Rangi went in.

It didn’t take long to find Rangi, she was crouched near a bush full of berries. She only looked up at him when she heard a branch break behind her. 

She held up a handful of strangely colored berries. “I’m not sure if these are edible, I’ve never seen anything like this…..”

Yun shrugged, “They kinda look like forbidden sweets.” He got closer to her and gave her a sheep goat’s grin, and tried to make sure his voice showcased his pure sincerity, “Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to put you in a crisis. It wasn’t supposed to be that serious.”

“Oh,” she said while she turned her attention back to the bush. “Don’t worry about it, I’m over it.”

Yun blinked at her and then teased, “Really? Huh, you forgive pretty easily. Do you happen to get over crushes that fast too?”

Rangi whipped her head around, Yun was concerned she was going to have severe whiplash at the rate she was going. “Crush??? I don’t have a crush. What are you talking about?! What would give you such an idea?!”

Yun tapped his chin, “I think I recall someone ogling some very nice abs earlier today, don’t worry, I understand. I was looking too.” He winked at her. Rangi’s eyes bulged a bit, possibly realizing she had been caught staring? He slapped one of his own shoulders with his hand, and then rolled the shoulder. “For your information, her shoulders? Very steady too! Oh wait, you probably already realized that, considering you were clinging to her like a spider monkey a second ago…..” 

“You’re talking about the daofei?! No I wasn’t-That’s not-that wasn’t- I looked away!” she finally said indignantly, and then stopped her foot. “Th-that’s all circumstantial! You have no real proof. Honestly! What would ever make you think this?!”

Yun put his hands up, as if he was in a hostage situation, but his grin said he was going on the attack. “The six intense blushes-that I’ve happened to notice- in the past 13 hours make me think that.” Rangi went ridged where she stood, realizing she’d been caught. Yun’s grin grew wider. “Listen, I get it! She’s a very pretty lady, and maybe you’re into the whole bad girl kind of thing-”

Rangi spluttered at him. “I. Do. Not. Have. A. Crush. I carry no attraction for that criminal!” 

Yun sighed, as fun as it was, he decided not to push his luck any farther. “Fine, fine. But if that’s the not reason, why are you so upset-”

Rangi punched the tree behind her, letting her fist heat up into a flame, and slowly ignited it.

Yun jumped back in surprise, “Ah! Rangi what’s the matter with you?! I stopped, so w-?”

“It’s my firebending!” She yelled at him, shame leaking into her voice. She moved her hand and extinguished the flame on the tree, leaving a smoldering hole. “It’s been messed up since we ran into that criminal!”

Yun recalled how Rangi’s flame extinguished when she’d almost caught Lee, but when were the other times? “What do you mean?”

Rangi began pacing in a perfectly straight line, “First, it’s extinguished out of nowhere! And then with that spirit, I lost control! It just started getting bigger and-”

Rangi continued her rambling, she was quickly wearing a rut in the ground. Yun thought about his training on firebending. Firebending came from within, and emotions could heavily influence how the flame took shape. It’s possible she got surprised by Lee earlier, and then was scared by the spirit. The latter, however, seemed so out of character for the military trained firebender in front of him, but it was the only plausible explanation.

“Maybe your emotions aren’t in check,” he offered.

“My emotions are in check!” The girl yelled, in a tone that showed they were, in fact, not in check.

The two sighed and pondered, at a loss. Sure, it'd only been two instances. But both happening under twenty-four hours and to Rangi of all people? It raised some concerns.

It was highly unlikely Lee herself had anything to directly do with it, she was just an earthbender after all.

Wait, Lee! Yun thought with a shock. They had left her by herself for a bit too long, and fear that she may have slipped away coursed through him. He and Rangi decided to quickly head back, foregoing the little foraging Rangi had found.

When they arrived at the clearing, Lee wasn’t there….but a message dug into the ground was.

You took too long. I got thirsty. Found a river this way.

An arrow pointing in the direction they assumed she’d went.

When they arrived at the river, they saw Lee crouched by the bank, her gloves laid next to her as she appeared to be washing her face in the river. A warm fire was lit nearby, with a few strange large fruits on sticks roasting over it. There were also three haphazard earth beds bent nearby as well. 

Yun wondered how Lee had gotten all this set up, it wasn’t like he and Rangi were gone for that long.

“Ah I was wondering when you two would be back,” Lee said, turning to the two. “I figured this would be a good place to set up camp and get some rest.”

Yun’s breath hitched when she fully faced them. She had pretty chestnut skin, with freckles that starred her face as brightly as the stars shown in her grayish green eyes. The only thing that marred her face was a small crescent shaped puckered line running from her lower lip downwards. Possibly from where Rangi bit her earlier. However, it looked less worse for wear since they had last seen her, and he wondered how that could be possible.

He could feel a slight flush taking over, the girl was very pretty. And she appeared a lot younger than her height had let on.

“C’mon what are you two gawking at?” Lee gave them a lopsided smile that turned both the other two teens’ stomachs lopsided too. “I found us some food, let’s eat”

She walked over to the campsite, beckoning them over.

It took all of Rangi and Yun’s strength to snap out of their daze, and follow the pretty girl.

Chapter Text

A long silence followed the teens at the campfire, one that Lee happily ignored as she chowed down on her food. The other two weren’t sure what to make of the strange fruits she had gathered, but she seemed to be fine eating them. So they each took one she had been roasting, and hoped for the best.

Yun glanced at Rangi, wondering if she was brave enough to dig in next. She picked at the fruit instead, almost dissecting it. Wait, did the fruit have eyes?! And legs??? Was this an animal not fruit? Did the Spirit world have animals? Yun shook his head, the Spirit World was way too strange.

Focusing his attention back at Rangi, he did see a light blush dance on her face as she focused on her food. She had been unable to meet Lee’s eyes since they arrived at camp, but Yun had noticed Rangi stealing some glances at the taller girl when she wasn’t looking.

Yun cleared his throat, deciding to break the silence.

“So you removed your makeup, why’s that?” he tried to ask nonchalantly. Not that he had any complaints about the removal. 

“It was itchy,” Lee mumbled between bites.

I guess that’s fair. “But, I thought you were trying to hide your identity?”

“Yeah, well, it was half off anyway. So why bother, right?” Lee shrugged. “Plus, in terms of physical clues, I’m already Spirits-Out-of-Luck in that department. I can totally see you putting out a hit on any almost seven foot tall girl when we get out anyway.” 

Well, yeah, that was a given. Yun sweat dropped. Well, at least he knew she really was around seven feet tall. 

“How did you get a fire going?” Rangi asked Lee abruptly, pivoting the conversation. 

Lee choked lightly on her food, before nervously answering. “Just some good old fashion survival skills!” She thumped her chest a few times, either trying to clear some loose food or to show bravado. “You know, sticks on sticks, elbow grease. Guess you could say I’m a firebender too!”

Lee laughed at her own joke, but neither Yun nor Rangi were amused for different reasons.

Lee pulled at her collar, trying to ventilate some air down her shirt, “C-c’mon don’t look at me like that. It was a joke! A joke! Me? Bending two elements? That’s just not natural. Haha.”

Yun rolled his eyes, “Of course not, you aren’t the Avatar.” But his response was just met with a confused look from Lee.  

Before Yun could question her about the look, Rangi continued her interrogation.“Starting a fire that way takes a good amount of time to prepare.” She looked Lee in the eyes with a piercing gaze. 

“H-how would you even know anyway?” Lee sweated, trying to dismiss the firebender. “You just have to punch the air and fire will appear!”

“Time,” Rangi continued, ignoring her diversion. “That you lacked.” With every word the flame in front of her felt hotter, and her glare became more piercing. Yun was starting to sweat as well. 

Is she trying to get her to admit she has flint or something? I guess it’d be good to have, but we have her. Yun scratched his head, confused why Rangi was digging into Lee. Then he realized, she was just probably venting her frustration out on the girl that’s making her frazzled. He chuckled to himself. She really is childish sometimes. 

“Well, I’m fast!!” 

“Ignoring the fact, that you were able to hunt for food on top of it-”

“So what? I’m a good hunter! Maybe I’m like Avatar Kuruk’s reincarnation or something!” Lee threw her hands up in exasperation. 

Rangi threw her food down and stood up, the fire in front of the trio expanding into an uncontrollable flame.

“HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A BLASPHEMOUS THING IN FRONT OF THE AVATAR!” she roared, actually angry now.

“Argh, it was a joke! Calm down!” Kyoshi still put her hands up in surrender. “I just know the guy was known for his hunting skills! He was the only one I could think of! I didn’t mean anything deeper.” She continued to list off various excuses to pacify the firebender. Her surrendering hands made a pushing motion, as if to signal the other girl to back off. 

“Hunting?” Yun cocked an eyebrow, he was more confused than offended by Lee’s comment. It was an odd thing to single out about Avatar Kuruk. He was more known for his Pai Sho skills, or his proclivity with various ‘extracurricular’ activities. Even his habit of challenging people to random feats of strength was more known than his ‘hunting abilities.’

“Yeah, hunting!” Lee latched onto Yun’s question, in hopes of steering the conversation away from Rangi’s anger. 

“No, it’s just-” Yun tried to find the right words. He’d learn all he could about a bunch of past Avatars. He even had a team of people who used to work with Kuruk. Yun should’ve known everything about him. But hunting? “I really-I mean. He was good at hunting. His pelts say that much, but really? That’s not the first compliment that’d come to mind for him.”

“Maybe when he lived in the North?” Rangi suggested, aware of the pelts and teeth jewelry he was known to wear as trophies. Even she was completely perplexed by Lee’s words as much as he was. She should know almost as much about Kuruk as Yun. Partially because of her mom being his companion, but also because of her own devotion to the Avatar mantle that bordered on fangirlism. She probably studied Avatar history nearly as much as he did.

Lee looked at them as if they’d grown extra heads, “His pelts? You’re joking, right?”

Both Yun and Rangi glared at the girl, not exactly pleased with her tone. As if she was a school teacher who was disappointed in her students' lack of elementary level knowledge. 

“No we aren’t, we know everything about him,” Yun furrowed his eyes at Lee in defiance.

“Then you should know that complimenting his hunting skills should be the first thing anyone compliments him on!”

“We know of his bouts of strength! He was a very strong and talented Avatar,” Rangi defended. “It’s just that….”

Due to her devotion she was not one to insinuate anything negative about the Avatar, past or present. Yun, however, could. “He just never showed it outside of silly competitions. And hunting animals isn’t exactly that big of a deal when you’re the Avatar….”

Lee just stared at them dumbfounded for a minute, then a smug smile slowly grew across her face. “Animals? You two really don’t know anything do you? Not what he really hunted?”

Something in Yun snapped, he got up from his log and grabbed Lee by the lapel, “You think I don’t know my past self?!”

He’d studied so much, spent so many sleepless nights researching. Yes he’d had a hard time communicating with his past selves, but with all the knowledge he had from his associates and his own research…. To have someone laugh in his face and say he didn’t know anything? It was almost too much for him to bear.

“Calm down Lil’ Avatar,” Lee shifted on her log, not phased by Yun’s sudden outburst. She raised her arms in the air in a mock reverence, “‘The only true knowledge is in knowing you know nothing.’ Or some bull shark like that. Don’t let not knowing things stress you out so much!”

She was quoting an old Air Nomad phrase, a little high end for a run of the mill daofei to be familiar with. Was she someone high end? Or connected to someone high end? Some of the bosses of the bigger daofei organizations were more well rounded with their knowledge of the world. The first one that came to his mind was Xu Ping An, and the thought of Lee being connected to that monster put a pit in his stomach.

But if she really was connected to Xu….well, it was both a blessing and a curse. Maybe Yun would be able to take that man down once and for all. Avenging Jianzhu’s failure of catching the slimy bastard. 

“I’m not making fun of you, I’m just excited I know something you don’t.” She gave him a smug grin. “It just means I have leverage.” 

Yun let go of her lapel and took a step back. “What do you want in exchange for it?” 

Lee hummed while Rangi protested to Yun. “I don’t know, yet. It’s just good to have, no?”

Yun glared warily at her, she was too free spirited. He didn’t know if that made her more dangerous or not. But something in his gut told him he’d want whatever information she had. 

“How do we know if it’s even real?” Rangi asked in the middle of her protesting tirade. “She could just be lying! How did she even get this information? She wouldn’t have known him when he was alive-for spirit’s sakes Yun she looks our age!” 

It was an unsurprising and normal question, which led to a horrifically surprising answer, “Huh? He told me himself. That Kuruk guy.”

Rangi and Yun stood stock still, the air leaving their mouths in a puff, as if the wind had been knocked out of them. Their bodies began to numb into pins and needles as they tensed themselves from the blow they just heard.

Yun’s heart began to quicken, the only thing moving in him at the moment. Every pump turned into an electrical shock radiating throughout his body. 

When he finally gathered the strength, all he could say was, “What do you-how do you? You can talk to Kuruk? H-how?!”

Lee gave the two a worried look, surely because Yun looked as sick as he felt. “Yeah. Buff waterbender guy, right? I can talk to him through meditation. Why are you two acting like this? It’s normal innit?”

Yun and Rangi blinked at Lee, then at each other, then at Lee again. 

“No!” Yun threw his hands up in the air, “It’s not just ‘normal’ to speak to a past Avatar! It’s hard to do even when you are the current Avatar! Let alone some layman!”

It was Lee’s turn to go stock still, “Oh.”

The word hung heavy in the air. How was it that a random daofei of all people was able to spiritually connect with a past Avatar? What made her so special? It was almost laughable, as if the spirits were taunting him.

“M-my mom spoke to a past Avatar once,” Lee suddenly spoke up, combing a nervous hand through her hair. “W-we were passing by one of her big statues, and my mom wanted to meditate. When she came to, she mentioned that she communicated with some Avatar lady.”

“Lady?” Yun’s thoughts swirled as he tried to think of a female Avatar who had a statue that a random person could come across. There was only one that fit the bill. “ Avatar Yangchen?” Yun asked, bewildered but a little more hopeful for some reason. “Your mother spoke to Avatar Yangchen?”

Maybe this girl’s family was just more spiritually inclined? She did say that her mother wanted to meditate. Sure some daofei leaders had a tendency to become megalomaniacs or religious fanatics, but maybe this one just happened to be a normal and slightly more spiritual person? As laughable as that may be. 

Wait, was her mother even a daofei? What if she was raised in a normal spiritual household, and then ran away to become a daofei later? That made more sense. There’s no way the most holy of the Avatars, Avatar Yangchen, would speak to a lowly daofei. Kuruk, maybe, he was a bit of a trickster. But surely not Yangchen!

“Yeah! Yangchen! Arrow Avatar!”

Yun cringed at the disrespectful names Lee kept coming up with for his past lives, but he kept pressing on. “What did she say?” 

Lee scrunched her face up, confusion evident on it. “Something about…..auspicious winds?”

They sat there for a moment, unsure of what to make of such a cryptic phrase, if there was anything to glean from it at all. The air was tense for a moment until Yun broke it with a sigh. “I….think I recall non-Avatar people communing with the Avatar spirit on occasion.” He sat back down. “It’s not exactly common, but it does happen.”

Yun rubbed his forehead, trying to recall the information. Was it a journal? Or was it mentioned in a passing conversation? If he could just remember, maybe it’d soothe his worry a bit more.

Lee let out a sigh of her own, but gagged when it was Rangi’s turn to ask a question. “Do you have high spiritual awareness? Really? A criminal like you?”

Lee let out a nervous laugh, “Maybe I was a nun or monk in my past life?”

Rangi narrowed her eyes at Lee, and then walked away from the fire. “We should rest here, and then continue walking in the morning.”

“Sounds good to me,” Lee waved lazily.

The three teens trudged over to their sloppy earth bent beds. Yun noticed Lee pat herself down.

“These beds suck,” he mused.

Lee waved her hand, annoyed. “Well then you do better Lil’ Avatar. Should be easy, I know you’re the better earthbender.”

Yun fixed their sleeping arrangements, and they all went to bed.

“You know, I know we ate that food you found, but I feel like it didn’t really do anything,” Yun said, stretching his back. He may be an earthbender, but it still wasn’t exactly pleasant to sleep on the ground. He missed his bed. 

“Yeah, food’s kinda just a fun thing around here. You don’t gain any weight, but you don’t lose any weight…. Which means you don’t really feel full,” Lee shrugged. She was patting herself down again as soon as they’d all woken up. 

Then why did you let Rangi go off to forage-. Yun was about to dismiss the girl’s train of thought, assuming it was another weird thing about her or the Spirit World. But then realized in a panic that maybe she’d wanted to be alone, separate from him and Rangi. Yun took in his surroundings and Lee, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He decided to ignore the nagging feeling for now.

“Maybe that’s why there’s no bathrooms in the Spirit World?” Yun questioned, mostly to himself.

“So where are we going now?” Rangi asked. 

After spinning around in one spot, carefully looking in every direction, Lee decided on a path. “That way!” She pointed.

It was a forest, but as the three looked over the horizon, they saw it would turn from a welcoming lush forest, into a dark barren one the stuff of nightmare. Yun could’ve sworn he saw a very unfriendly mountain range in the far off distance, accompanied by lighting and everything. So welcoming. He thought sarcastically.

“Just say you’re trying to kill us,” Rangi turned to Lee, deadpan. “No need to insult our intelligence.”

Lee blinked at them. “I’m not? This is the best way.”

“The hell it is!” Rangi spread her arms out in exasperation, then moved her pointer fingers so they were both pointing at her eyes from the side. “Did your eyes suddenly stop working?!”

Lee walked over to Rangi and slapped her happily on the back. “Of course my eyes are working, silly! Are yours?”

Rangi smacked Lee’s hand away, “Don’t touch me!”

Lee rolled her eyes and mumbled. “Fine, fine. I was just trying to be friendly….”

“If that’s not the way to Koh, then what is?” Yun asked, exasperated. 

Lee scanned the area again, this time she cupped her ear as she did, and then she pointed in the opposite direction she planned to go in. “It’s that way.”

Yun and Rangi followed her finger, it pointed to a field that looked like it was filled with happiness and cotton candy. Of course.

“Screw this, I’m done with you messing with us!” Rangi started to charge off in that direction, not believing Lee’s words for a second. Yun was about to follow her when Lee’s hand shot out and grabbed Rangi by the back of her collar.

“I don’t think so, Firecracker. You’re too pretty to have your face stolen,” she said as she started dragging Rangi from behind. Rangi’s arms flailed behind her trying to free herself, she peppered her anger with curses and protests.

“How do you know that’s the way to Koh?” Yun asked Lee, his eyebrow raised. 

Lee looked back in the direction of Koh and shrugged nonchalantly. “Just follow the sound of Kuruk’s cries and you’ll get there eventually.”

Just as Yun was about to bolt towards the field, he felt himself fall back. Lee was dragging him by his collar alongside Rangi.

“Oh no! You aren’t going there either, pretty boy!” 

“Bu! Bu-bu-bu….but Kuruk!” Yun whined. He had a chance to meet his past self! 

“Uh uh, you want to get out of here? Then you’re going to do what I say! I’m not pussyfooting around anymore!” Lee scolded, as she dragged the two smaller teens behind her.

To the world, Rangi was an exceptional person. She graduated not only top of her class, but early from the Fire Academy as well. Then she did the exact same thing at the Junior Corps. She’d been in many duels and Agni Kais but never got a mark on her once, let alone lost. Her combat prowess was almost second to none. 

So why was it, she was being manhandled by a damn daofei like no one’s business?!

“Let go of me,” she said with an even whisper. 

“No,” Lee said, her tone commanding a finality and smugness to the conversation. But that only made Rangi’s blood boil that much more. 

Lee was holding Rangi by the waist, an ironclad grip on her hip. It didn’t matter how much Rangi twisted and turned, she couldn’t break free. Her heart was pounding abnormally fast, surely it was from all the strain from trying to break out. Nothing else would explain it. 

“We can’t get through if we don’t kill it!” She yelled-whispered, hoping it would drive her point home. It didn’t. 

Lee just hugged her closer to her body, not caring about the contact in the slightest. This girl really had no boundaries.

“We shouldn’t kill it,” she whispered. Despite her grip on Rangi, the girl’s eyes never left the creature that stood in their way. A tall, purple ghostly spirit, with strange yellow wisps of hair. It had a strange darker purple pattern on its body, and an even stranger red pattern on its head. It had spikes protruding from various parts, and had very long claws to accompany it. Oh yeah, don’t kill it! Who would want to kill such a friendly looking creature? Rangi had to suppress an eye roll.

“Why?” Yun asked, his neck bent at an awkward angle from the way Lee had snarled his ponytail into her fist. He and Rangi had tried to make a break to start a fight with the monster despite Lee’s protest. And now they were both victims of her manhandling. Thankfully she had the sense to not hold Rangi the same way she was holding Yun. 

Though with how tight Lee was holding her, and the different curves she could feel pressed against her back- well…. Rangi wasn’t sure which one of the two was in the worst position. 

“We killed the weird fishy one, why can’t we kill this one?” Yun continued

“We didn’t kill that one.”

“How do you know?” Rangi spat at her. 

Lee finally looked down at Rangi, examining her. Rangi squirmed under her gaze. Once she was thoroughly looked over, she cocked an eyebrow and a smirk danced on her face, “Oh trust me, you’d be able to tell.”

Rangi thrashed in Lee’s arm again, she was getting sick of her weird, cryptic way of talking. “So we’re just supposed to wait here?! It hasn’t moved in twenty minutes!”

“Yes! …..or….” Lee trailed off.

“Or what?!” 

“You two can calm down and we can walk past it!” 

Rangi just stared at Lee dumbstruck, it was official. She was working with a certified idiot. “You want us to walk past it?!”

“Like it’s just a neighbor in a village? ‘Hey Jun! How’s the crops? Did that boy propose to your daughter yet?’” Yun added in sarcastically.

Lee rolled her eyes, “I mean, if that’s what you need to do to get in the zone! By all means!”

“WE AREN’T DOING THAT!” They yelled to Lee in unison, a bit too loud. The spirit turned its attention to their hiding spot.

Lee detangled her hand from Yun’s hair and quickly clasped it over his mouth, then pulled his head down into a headlock. She adjusted her hand on Rangi slightly, before hoisting the girl up by the waist, lifting her off the ground. Then she started walking towards the spirit. “Great job, now you don’t have a choice!” She muttered annoyed to her captives. “Now stay calm, hold your breath or something, just don’t freak out!”

Lee walked up to the spirit while the other two tried to swallow their caged horror. The spirit looked down at the three menacingly, but it didn’t move. It just observed. Its head slowly turned as they moved past it. When they were far enough away, Rangi saw the spirit slowly turn its head and body back to where it was looking before their outburst.

When the figure was out of sight, Lee dropped the two teens on the ground unceremoniously. 

“Now are you going to listen to me? Or do I need to carry you like a misbehaving cat?” She chided them, annoyed.

Rangi sniffed and wiped her nose. Lee had been right about the spirit, all they needed to do was stay calm. They were the ones who were about to put them in undue harm. 

“Sorry,” they both mumbled.

Lee sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “It’s fine. You two don’t trust me, and you don’t understand this place. I get it.”

“But why didn’t it attack us? I thought you said we should avoid the spirits?” Rangi asked. 

Lee sighed. “This place and the creatures that inhabit it, can be…. changed by our emotions.” She scratched the back of her head and looked at the other two teens wearily. “If we remain calm, we can usually skate by but…..”

“But that dark spirit attacked us without warning, so why didn’t this one?” Yun asked.

“The one that attacked us was dark, the one we snuck past wasn’t. It was just scary looking, but it would’ve become a dark spirit if you freaked out!” 

Rangi’s head hurt. “But, why?”

“Like I said, this place and the creatures can change based on our emotions. Fear and anger can turn them dark, I wouldn’t be surprised if the fishy spirit was turned because of our fighting,” Lee sighed. Her face bore an expression of….shame? No that couldn’t be. “Ninety-nine percent of spirits are normal as a default, not dark. Even the ‘evil’ ones like Koh or Father Glowworm….” She let out a shudder. “If we avoid both, it’s safer for us and for them.”

There was a long silence as the teens mulled over the information they got. Dark spirits were made because of them? Lee also mentioned the Spirit World itself too, and considering what happened to the fish spirit…. Rangi shuddered at what possibly could happen if the Spirit World itself turned dark. 

“How did you survive? As a kid, the first time?” Yun asked, surprising the two girls. ”It’s just been bothering me. We’re all barely getting by right now, so how’d you go a week as a little kid?”

Lee gnawed on her lip, despite the wound healing at a fast pace, each time she bit into it, it would open up again. “I had help.”

The two stared at her wide-eyed. “Help? Did someone come in with you?” Yun asked.

“No, I ran into them here….”

“Any chance we’ll come across them again?” Rangi asked. 

Lee looked around and shrugged, it had a more defeated flavor to the action than her usual nonchalance. “I was hoping we would run into her, but so far….nothing.”

Rangi looked away, somehow unable to look at Lee’s downcasted expression. It was the first time she saw the daofei looking vulnerable. It set her on edge. She told herself it was because Lee was a fearsome daofei, so anything that made her worried should be worried about. Yes, that was it.

Lee sighed forlornly, resting her cheek in her hand. “I miss her. She was really cute too…..”

Rangi scowled at the comment, an irrational side of her hoped they wouldn’t run into the Spirit World guide anytime soon. Her scowl then turned into a deep pout, unsure why that comment annoyed her in particular, and unaware of Yun’s watchful gaze on her.

Chapter Text

It had been several days since the trio had entered the Spirit World. It was unknown how much time in the real world had passed. They could only hope it hadn’t been too long. 

The group had gotten into a rhythm. They’d travel in silence, dodge some spirits, all three would have a few arguments, Rangi and Lee would fight, and Yun would tease Rangi every so often. Rinse and repeat. 

It was on the fifth day, Yun’s attempts to pry deeper into Lee’s life started becoming successful. 

“Why did you steal from me?” Yun finally broke one of the hours-long silence between the trio.

Lee, however, didn’t seem phased by the question. “I have my reasons.”

Deflecting again, huh? Yun frowned. 

“Well, did you get what you wanted?” he goaded some more.

“Hmmm, I suppose.”

“Which was?” 

Lee didn’t respond. She didn’t respond for so long, it took Yun and Rangi by surprise when the silence was broken again.

“I wanted something with the Avatar’s seal on it.”

Yun and Rangi blinked in surprise. “Just, anything with the seal on it? Not those documents in particular?” 

So she wasn’t trying to gain intel on what the Avatar’s next move was? Then what was she doing?

“I mean, I did try to find some Earth Kingdom related documents, I mean that’s where I usually reside. But no, it didn’t really matter what it was. These seemed like some non-important Air Nation related documents, so I figured no one would notice nor care if they went missing.”

“And the toy?” Yun asked. Even if she was telling the truth here, it was the one thing that didn’t line up.

Lee bit her lip, a very bad habit of hers that Yun realized, “That one’s…more complicated.” 

“Please, enlighten us,” Rangi sighed, rolling her eyes.

Lee was silent for a while, and then spoke again when she finally found whatever courage she needed. “It’s mine.” There was an intense possessiveness that took over her voice. 

“No, it’s the Avatars’.” Rangi corrected her. “It’s been in their lives for generations.”

Lee looked at her confused and then downcast. “Oh, I had no idea. It was just the toy I wanted to get back then.”

Yun cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Years ago, some weird officials came into a town we were passing through. They were asking for kids to come up and choose toys from a pile.” She moved her hand instinctively to a place in her tunic. Possibly where the turtle was being held. “I happened to see the turtle and thought it was up for grabs. But my father pulled me away and told me not to ever approach them.”

Yun furrowed his brow. He had heard of Jianzhu’s attempts at finding him by using the Air Nomads' way of finding the Avatar; they were desperate. He had been unlucky to be too sick to move when Jianzhu came to his city to perform the toy test, otherwise he would’ve been found sooner. 

But why that toy? Why an Avatar’s toy? He didn’t like it, it set him on edge. Even though he heard about how they almost crowned Suzu as the Avatar cause she happened to pick out three of the four relics one time. He still didn't like the idea of people touching his things.

“But, why break in?” Rangi asked, pulling them back to the original question of the papers and the break in. She didn’t seem interested in Lee’s parents and their version of stranger danger. “Why would you risk your life and livelihood to break into the most important place on the planet? And for something so….meaningless?”

“L-like I said, I have my reasons,” Lee stuttered as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. 

Something about this didn’t add up to Yun. If she wanted something benign and to not get caught, then why the explosion? “But why would you go so far as to set a trap for such meaningless documents?” Yun asked. 

Lee stopped and blinked at them, “Trap? I didn’t set a trap. Why would I when I thought no one was going to be there and I was trying to be sneaky?!”

Rangi and Yun looked at each other, “Then if it wasn’t you, what was that explosion back at the mansion?” 

“I dunno, it wasn’t me.” Lee scratched her head, equally confused. But she decided to steer the conversation back to the original track. “Listen, I can let you look at the documents, to show you it’s nothing. So will you let me keep them without a fuss?”

Yun gave her a long look, measuring her reaction, before responding. “Fine.”

Rangi turned towards Yun with widened eyes, “Yun-!”

But Yun put his hand up to silence her. “One condition. If, and again, only if, they are just bland governmental documents that are but a footnote in my life, and hold no real meaning. You can have them.”

Lee gave him the brightest smile, her cut threatening to open up again with how wide she was grinning. As if he had made her day, no, life. If he was being honest, it made his heart thump a bit. 

“But-” Yun continued, Lee’s face falling slightly. “In exchange you can’t tell anyone you encountered us. We didn’t give chase, you didn’t save us, this whole journey never happened.”

The wide grin came back full force on Lee’s cheeks, “That? Of course, fine by me!”

Lee continued marching forward, with a new skip in her step. He’d need to figure out how to deal with the turtle toy some other time.

“Yun, what are you thinking?” Rangi whispered to him.

“Better to have people, especially criminals, think they can steal from me when I’m away than to have the hope in people’s eyes tarnished because we were in figurative bed with an outlaw.”

Upon hearing that, Rangi could only nod in agreement. All they would need to do was increase security at the estate. It’d be annoying, but it was a better trade off than his public image being ruined.

“Hey you two slowpokes!” Lee yelled, apparently she had gotten farther ahead than they’d realized. “Get over here and let’s take a break!”

Lee was waving for them, she was in a field surrounded by…..very bright and very large mushrooms. 

“Check it out! I found some spirit mushrooms!” Lee laughed as she poked the giant fungi.

Yun marveled at the spirit mushroom, it was large and squishy…. And glowy. It was out of this world, nothing could tear his eyes away from it. Except something more surprising and extraordinary.

He noticed an odd motion coming from his bodyguard. Rangi was….wiping away drool coming from her mouth. Not only that, her eyes were sparkling. 

Yun was stunned, it wasn’t often, no ever, that Rangi showed an active liking towards something. Anything, really. 

“Ah I wouldn’t eat that one!” Lee yelled to them as she scoped out some other mushrooms in the area. Only Yun had the pleasure of seeing Rangi’s face look so crestfallen. “Not if you want to lose your sense of self! …..or is it that you’ll leave your body for good?” She wandered off, muttering to herself, apparently trying to remember which were safe to eat. Not that eating really mattered here… but it didn’t not matter. 

“So you like mushrooms?” Yun whispered to Rangi.

Judging by how straight Rangi’s back became, it seemed like she’d come to her senses and returned to her usual self. “N-no. It’s just food. I like it as much as any other food.”

Yangchen forbid she admit she likes something. Yun sighed before realizing he had a new opportunity to press the firebenders buttons.

“So…” he took a step closer, nudging her shoulder, careful to avoid the spikes. “Mushrooms or Lee, which do you like more?”

She turned to him, face blazed and eyes bewildered, but she wasn’t able to give a coherent answer. Yun gave her a shit eating grin. Maybe she’s attracted to Lee more than I thought. Or maybe she’s reading into the question more than I planned. 

Before Rangi could form an answer, Lee popped out from behind another mushroom. “Did someone say my name?”

“No one is talking about you!” Rangi spit out, stray sparks leaving her mouth.

“Oh I thought I heard my name?” Lee smiled, oblivious to….everything apparently. This was good for Yun, it meant he could be more risky with his teasing. 

“Oh but we were! Rangi was just telling me how she liked you more than mushrooms!” Yun gave Lee the best political smile he could muster, all while Rangi gave him a look as if he had just stabbed her in the back. The fresh red in her face drained instantly, along with all other color. 

Lee just blinked, “Cool. I guess?” And then promptly walked away. 

As soon as she was around the corner, Rangi dropped to her knees, exhausted by the interaction. “Avatar Yun, do you hate me?”

Yun tried not to laugh at the helplessness in her voice. “No. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re attracted to my enemy. Just want to know if she’s going to steal you away from me.”

“I’m not atr-I mean… I’m not going anywhere,” Rangi said weakly. Yun noticed the slip up. Can’t even lie about it anymore, huh?

“Well I think you should go for it,” he laughed, half-jokingly and half-serious.

Rangi looked at him incredulously.

“What? Do they not have flings in the Fire Nation?” the incredulous-ness of her look intensified, but she did gnaw on her lower lip. Thinking about something.

Yun imagined himself on Rangi’s shoulders, one acting as a righteous spirit, the other as a dark spirit. Then he merged them together, he was going to be both. He did owe her one, for using his Avatar status to command her to steal the documents back, it was time he paid her back.

He knelt down next to Rangi, and gave her a one armed hug around the shoulders while avoiding her armor’s spikes.

“C’mon, we aren’t going to see her again after we leave! What’s a little handle holding? A stolen kiss?” He jostled her a bit, and she looked at him, eyes wide. Sweat pooled from her face, and her ears were redder than a white dragon bush flower. He started walking two fingers up her arm. “A little….” Then he booped a finger on one of her spikes. “Tryst?” 

The flush had spread throughout the rest of her face, she was redder than the Fire Nation’s hottest volcanic lava. And about as warm too. He was definitely putting her into a spiral again, but this one seemed to be less devastating. Maybe just one more push?

“C’mon, live a little! Who’s going to know?” He gave her a smug grin. “As your Avatar, I command you to seduce the beautiful daofei and to have some fun!”

Yun watched as the bronze left Rangi’s eyes. Actually her entire body lost its color, and she felt rigid, like her spirit left her body. Maybe I went too far? He thought. He didn’t have time to right his wrongs, as he felt footsteps making their way back to them, unbeknownst to Rangi. He decided to just double down. 

Yun slapped Rangi’s back encouragingly, “Go get her tigerdillo!”

“Whatcha doin’?” Lee appeared before them, head cocked to the side. Yun could feel Rangi' under his hand practically jump out of her skin and flee into the woods. Well at least it seemed her spirit re-entered her body… “Did you eat the mushroom I said not to?”

“No….” Rangi muttered, not bothering to look up.

“The air’s just a little thin here, don’t you think?” Yun said coming to her rescue, he waved his hand to punctuate the issue of the seemingly bad air.

“No? It’s not like we’re not on the mountain yet.” Lee said pointedly. But then she shrugged and made her way to Rangi’s side. “Well good news, I found some edible mushrooms! They’re over here!” She scooped down, picked Rangi up around her waist, and proceeded to carry her like a very docile cat mouse…or a sack of flour. Regardless, Rangi hung there limply, not bothering to protest.

Lee plopped Rangi down on a mushroom that was stool level, and then handed her what appeared to be an edible mushroom. Lee took a mushroom seat on the opposite end, while Yun took a mushroom seat next to Rangi.

Rangi stared at the mushroom sullenly, but then brightened up after she took the first bite. Life and light shone back into her being in an instant, it was almost as if Yun’s earlier conversation never happened. 

“Oh so you do like mushrooms,” Lee said as she happily bit into one of her own. Her comment caused both Rangi and Yun to choke on their bounty, and slowly drained the life right back out of Rangi once again. Maybe Lee wasn’t as dense as she let on? “And here I thought you were being sarcastic.”

Yun tried coming to Rangi’s rescue again, but could he really say it was a rescue when he got her into these situations in the first place? “Of course we were being sincere! You could say we’ve grown fond of you these past few days!”

Lee blinked at him, surprised. “Really?”

Yun nodded, “Yup! I feel a kinship! Almost like a friendship!”

Lee’s eyes sparkled, “Friendship?!”

Yun was a bit taken aback by the utter happiness that was radiating off the criminal. “Y-yes?”

“So, we’re kinda like…friends?” Lee had dropped her mushroom and stood up, excitedly.

“Yes? R-right, Rangi?” Yun looked at Rangi, who was in the middle of chewing another bite of spirit mushroom. 

Why are you dragging me into this?! You brought it up! Is what her look communicated to him.

“I’ve never had friends my age before!” The sparkle in Lee’s eyes was getting dangerously happy. “So if we’re friends, that means we can do each other favors right?!” 

“S-sure?” Yun couldn’t stop agreeing to the girl’s questions. Her enthusiasm was magnetic.

“Then…” She turned to Rangi, expectantly. “Can you show me some of your Firebending moves?!” 

Rangi started choking on her mushroom. “What?! Why?”

Some skittishness seemed to seep into Lee’s demeanor. “Um, well, uh…..”

“No, really, why? What use could an earthbender have learning firebending moves?” Sure there were some stances that overlapped, but it made more sense for an earthbender to learn from another earthbender!

Lee bit her bottom lip, wincing a little when she bit her cut. “I…I’m not really all that great with my earthbending.” She looked down, fiddling with her hands. “I’ve gotten some help, drawing off of other bending forms, like waterbending. You know what they say! ‘Wisdom can be gleaned from any nation!’”

Rangi thought back to when Yun questioned her about her odd earthbending movements days ago.

“So I thought, maybe firebending could help……fix my issue? Or at least improve it?”

Rangi blinked at the taller girl, still dumbfounded. She supposed it could work, but it was still a waste of energy. It’d be more beneficial for Lee to learn from an earthbending master. Rangi was about to say no, when Lee cut her off.

“I’ll tell you all I know about Kuruk!” she blurted out. “Whatever you wanna know!”

Rangi and Yun shared a look, “You want to give up your leverage for….this?”

Lee nodded, relieved. “Yeah! I mean, you said I could keep the documents if they were bunk, right? And we can easily part ways after. So besides those two things, this is really the only other thing I need.” 

Rangi raised her eyebrows at the girl. She really wanted something this useless in exchange for something that could be otherworldly useful? It almost hurt her honor taking advantage of someone in such a lopsided bargain, but if it helped Avatar Yun…..

“Fine, but you tell us what you know first. And then I’ll hotsquat you to Koh and back.”

Lee beamed. “Ok ok! So um, where do I start? Oh! He tried to teach me Pai Sho a few times, but I really hated it.”

Rangi glanced a look at Yun, sure enough, it looked like he’d been gutted. “How about something a little more useful. You mentioned something about his hunting earlier? Something about what he really hunted, if I recall correctly?”

Lee smacked her forehead. “Oh right! His hunting! You’re, like, Avatar Kuruk’s reincarnation correct? And remember when I said it’d be best if we just avoid spirits in general?”

“Yes and yes,” Yun nodded in recollection.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly the whole truth.” She grinned sheepishly. Rangi could only wonder what else the girl had lied about, but didn’t press. This information was more important. “There’s another reason we need to avoid spirits than the ones I explained a few days ago. That reason is because the spirits really dislike Kuruk. They have a big grudge against him.”

Rangi blinked. That didn’t make sense, nothing they knew about Kuruk would indicate spirits would hate him. Did he even interact with spirits? Outside of Koh stealing his wife? If anyone would have a grudge against him, it’d seem more likely to be the human world. Considering he neglected it and all.

“Why?” Yun asked. 

“Because he killed them,” Lee shrugged. She said something so heavy, oh so easily. As if handing a 100 pound weight to a scrawny child, unaware of how it would cause them to fold. 

Yun’s eyes widened in shock, “W-why?!” 

Lee took a step back, surprised by the reaction, “Um, for some reason the spirits were angry. They were threatening to destroy the world, so he had to take them out.”

Rangi blinked at the other girl, this was the first she heard of this information. It was never in any of her mother’s stories. 

“Why were the spirits angry?” Rangi asked. 

Lee shook her head, “I dunno. He never wanted to tell me the why. He said I’d have to ask someone else, since it wasn’t his story to tell.” 

Rangi scrunched up her face. It was so hard to believe, maybe Lee was making this up?

“That’s why he died so young!” Lee blurted out, seeing the apprehension on Yun and Rangi’s faces. “The spirits he killed, they took a piece of him with them each time. He told me that’s why he drank and partied, to numb the pain.”

The two stood shell shocked by the revelation, and Lee kept going. “That’s why Koh stole his wife's face! Why else would a spirit just do that, you know? He obviously hated Kuruk and what he did to the spirits!”

Lee looked at the other two teens expectantly, but they only returned with stunned silence. “He also taught me a poem.” Was the last little ‘fun fact’ she could come up with for her earth shattering bombshells.

Rangi and Yun could only stare at Lee, mouths agape.

Lee waved her arms a little impatiently, “So….are you going to teach me firebending- I-I mean firebender forms, or what?”

Rangi nodded, but asked if they could have a moment to collect themselves.

A few hours, and a very long conversation with Yun later over the revelations. Rangi was finally in a headspace to teach Lee. 

They weren’t exactly sure of the implications of Lee knowing vital knowledge about Kuruk, nor why he would tell a random daofei of all people. But they decided to run it by Jianzhu when they got back. 

There wasn’t much they could do now, so instead Rangi set out to be the first firebending sifu for an earthbender. It didn’t make any sense to the girl, but she was damn sure going to do it as right as she could.

“I told you to mirror me! It’s already hard enough I have to do this form in reverse for you, can’t you just copy?! Mirror! Shadow! Anything!” Rangi yelled, like the drill sergeant that she was. “Your elbow is too low! Your legs aren’t low enough! You call that flexible?!”

“I’m sorry Sifu Firecracker!” Lee pleaded, some fear showing in her voice. Sweat dripped from her forehead and other exposed parts of her skin. She’d kept her entire attire on despite the layers, opting to only roll up her sleeves and pant legs for ventilation.

Not enough to drop that ridiculous nickname apparently. Rangi frowned. 

Yun was off to the side of the meadow, watching them like he was at one of those fancy theater plays. He lounged back, laying down on his arms, and hollered at the girls. “Rangi, why don’t you just physically guide Lee? Cause shadowing is obviously not working!” He then gave a wink when only Rangi was paying attention.

That jerk! Rangi scowled. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he could tell Rangi was trying her best to keep a safe distance between her and the daofei. Rangi still hadn’t forgotten the last time she invaded the daofei’s personal space. She didn’t think her heart could take a repeated offense. 

“Um,” Lee’s squeak pulled Rangi’s scowl away from Yun and onto Lee. Lee flinched and looked away. “He’s right, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Lee looked back at Rangi with the eyes that would put a deer puppy to shame. 

Damnit! Why does she have to have such pretty eyes? Rangi bit the inside of her cheek, willing it to not heat up, as her heart thudded hard against her armor. Then mentally kicked herself, realizing too late her thoughts were starting to get a little too honest. 

Rangi grimaced, and made a move towards the earthbending girl, “Fine.” 

It’s fine, I’ll just make it quick. Rangi thought as she stomped over. Just don’t look at her face and you’ll be fine.

She kept her eyes to the ground and saw Lee’s foot placement. Perfect. She put her foot on Lee’s thigh and lightly pushed. “Lower.”

Lee yelped as she dropped into the position Rangi was pushing her towards. Rangi made a mistake by looking out of the corner of her eye and saw Yun wiggling his eyebrows at her as he mouthed ‘You've got this!’

She snapped her attention back to Lee, absolute focus on her face. 

Ok, now arm placements. “You need to bend it more here.” Lee bent her arm as she was told. “No! That’s too far! Go back!” Lee bent it back but past the original position. “No that’s wrong-argh-just-”

Rangi gave up, and grabbed Lee’s arm, both girls visibly flinched at each other’s touch. Rangi cursed to herself, as caressed the other girl’s much cooler arm. Rangi wasn’t regulating her body temperature well, how was she going to explain this? 

She shook her head, deciding ignoring the problem was better than addressing it. Let your opponent make the first move. But Lee kept quiet, perhaps she assumed that firebenders ran hotter than others? That wouldn’t be incorrect, but the temperature Rangi was running wasn’t exactly a normal firebender temperature at the moment. 

She put Lee’s arm into position, “Like this, now thrust it outward as a palm strike, and bring it back to this position. Then do the same but with a closed fist.” Lee obeyed fairly well. “Good, now stand up, and do the same thrusting motion, but bring your leg down to that bent position at the same time.”

Lee complied, after attempting the form a handful of times, Rangi stopped her. “Ok now watch me.” Rangi performed the same attack, but this time twisting her shoulders and hips to give the thrust more impact. “Do that.”

Lee attempted the action, but didn’t get the twisting movement down right. “No! Not like that! Just-here!” Rangi got behind Lee, before her brain caught up to her. 

When she placed her hands on Lee’s shoulders, she realized her mistake. Lee’s shoulders were broad and firm, there was definitely muscle underneath her tunic. It wasn’t the first time she was getting acquainted with them, but she also didn’t get a chance to really appreciate it the first time. Due to their lives being in danger and all. She briefly wondered if they were as chiseled and defined as the abs she happened to catch a glimpse of the night they met. 

Rangi tried not to be distracted by how nice Lee’s back felt, choosing to look away from it to save her from the distraction.

She made yet another fatal error by choosing to look up rather than down, because she could see Lee’s fully exposed nape. Lee’s long hair was tied up into a messy bun for this exercise, and Rangi could see everything in all its glory.

Strands of loose hair stuck to Lee’s neck, caressing it in a fashion that Rangi could only view as a taunt aimed directly at her. She watched as a stray bead of sweat fell down, tracing every muscle along its path, before disappearing into the tunic below. 

The action caused Ragni’s breath to hitch, which led her into suppressing a cough. She realized she was drying the air out as well. She needed to move soon or she’d be caught. 

She gripped Lee’s shoulders. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands! She chanted in her mind as she twisted Lee’s shoulders into the correct movement. 

“There like that,” Rangi forced out, clearing her throat. 

“Don’t forget the hips!” Yun jeered. “That’s where all the power comes from!” Rangi briefly considered if it’d be a crime if she burned the Avatar’s eyebrows off, before she found her distracted by Lee’s body again.

Rangi could feel a white hot flush forming throughout her body. Just make it fast!

She put her hands on Lee’s hips, and turned them, Lee easily complying with every motion. “Just rotate it at the same time as your shoulders,” she forced out breathily. It, or the steam that came out of her mouth, caused Lee to flinch, which caused Rangi’s heart to quicken even more. Damnit, control! Control yourself!

Rangi took a step back, “Now, show me the form again.”

If Lee had noticed something was up with Rangi, she didn’t let it show on her face. Rangi prayed to Yanchen and every Avatar she could think of for that minor blessing.

It was short lived when she noticed Lee’s hand placements, how could she have not noticed sooner?!

“No! No! No! You’re going to hurt your wrist with that palm strike! And spirits of the islands! What are you doing with your fist?! Are you trying to break your fingers?!” 

She grabbed Lee’s hands in annoyance, with the intent to put them in the correct position. Another mistake. Just mistake after mistake today, or really since she met Lee. 

Lee’s hands were much softer than Rangi thought they’d be, and smoother too. They were so pleasant to touch that Rangi’s heart stopped for a moment before it spluttered back to life. Rangi was mesmerized by how her thumb dented into Lee’s hand as she pressed into it. 

She slowly made her way up from the wrist to the fingertips, making sure her own fingers gently scraped over Lee’s tendons, as well as a bulging vein that’d become more prominent since they started the training exercise. 

Her hands are so big. Lee had a wide palm and long fingers, even longer than Rangi’s. Rangi wondered how big they really were. Twice as big? They could definitely engulf Rangi’s if they were ever intertwined. 

It took all of Rangi’s strength to return to her sense, and readjust Lee’s fingers and hand into the correct position. “You want to strike with your palm,” she whispered, her hand still over Lee’s. 

She could hear Lee gulp dryly. She really needed to get her heat under control, she was drying them both out.

“Now show me your fist.” 

Lee compiled again, curing her fingers. Her fingernails catching the tips of Rangi’s fingertips, and accidentally curling Rangi’s hand over hers. 

Rangi stopped breathing, and her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she could’ve sworn it was at risk of bursting through her armor and running off into the wilderness. 

Very big. Was the only thought that could come to mind, when she noticed the size difference.

She bit her lip, trying to ground herself.

“Sorry,” she heard Lee mutter from what felt like a very far distance. Rangi was torn between forgiveness and ire. 

With the strength one would require to move a mountain, Rangi detangled her fingers from Lee’s, and quickly readjusted them into a proper fist. 

As she was in the process of turning her head and body, so she could get away, she caught the side of Lee’s neck. 

A collarbone teased Rangi from just under the tunic’s collar. It gleefully pointed her to the divet in the throat. From there she followed a line from Lee’s very sharp muscle up to her jaw line, and stopped at Lee’s lips. 

The bite mark she’d given Lee when she performed CPR on her was still prominent. It seemed to have healed a lot faster than Rangi had anticipated, even with Lee reopening it from her bad habit. 

Something in her didn’t like that it was disappearing. It made her want to do it again, albeit, more tenderly this time.

Her eyes went up from Lee’s lips, to her cheeks, and marveled at the freckles that dusted her face. It was the first thing Rangi noticed when Lee took her makeup off, and it was something she couldn’t help but steal glances at since. 

Lastly was Lee’s eyes, gray like storm clouds, but there was a light that danced in them. There was a sparkle that drew Rangi in, especially as they bored into her like they were now. Wait. 

Rangi’s eyes widened. Lee was looking at her. She could see Rangi was ogling her. 

Without thinking, Rangi grabbed Lee’s face by her cheeks and forced it forward, “What are you doing looking at me? Focus on your form! Look straight!” 

She tried to make her words sound like a strong instructor. Did it work? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. How long was she in that stupor? A second? A million seconds? 

“Yefsh Sifuuu” Lee slurred out between her puckered lips and pinched cheeks. 

Rangi released Lee from her grip, her thumb accidentally sliding over Lee’s bite mark. Rangi was surprised by the heat in her thumb it left after she pulled away, surprised she hadn’t spontaneously combusted against her will just yet. 

“We’re going to run that form again! Mirror me properly this time!” she commanded her student.

She turned away from Lee, planning to get back to her position, and caught Yun’s eye. He’d transfer to laying on his stomach, his face in his palms. He was kicking his feet lightly, like a schoolgirl. When their eyes met, he gave her the smuggest grin she’d ever seen. She almost set the whole meadow on fire right then and there, her honor and all, but somehow kept it restrained. 

“I won’t let out any flame at the end of the set, so feel free to relax.” It was easier said than done, her entire body wanted to let loose the flame building up inside of her. But maybe her focusing would help keep her mind off things. Such as Lee, and how she seemed completely unperturbed by the whole situation that just happened!

Not a single blush was in sight. Rangi chewed the inside of her cheek and let out a string of curses in her mind. Why was she the only one that felt this way? Why was she the only one who had to suffer? 

She inhaled sharply, and got ready to start the set. No, maybe I covered my tracks better than I thought. She doubted it, but now she had to focus regardless. 

They started in sync, only five feet apart. Lee was mimicking her perfectly this time. Guess she was a fast learner. 

There was a twist here, a stomp there, a palm strike here. 

The last move was the punch she’d just helped Lee with, Rangi inhaled on the twist, making sure to repress her firebending. 

Right as the duo followed through on their punch, a giant ball of fire appeared before them. Rangi grabbed Lee by the shoulder and threw her behind her as she jumped back. Rangi was just barely able to escape the licks of the fire as she maneuvered it upward, and Lee ended up flying to the ground.

“Woah are you alright?!” Yun yelled at the girls as he ran over. 

“H-hey, Firecracker! I thought you said you weren’t going to bend!” Lee asked, nerves clear in her voice as she shakily stood up. She tried to laugh “You scared me!”

Rangi just stared dumbly where the fire appeared. Yun grabbed her shoulder. “Rangi are you ok?”

A distant part of Rangi, one too far to occupy her body at the moment, knew he was probably concerned about her lack of control she had been experiencing. That part of Rangi wanted to reply, but she couldn’t. 

Rangi shook Yun’s hand off and warily approached Lee, she could feel her look of shock and horror still on her face.

“Hey if you’re going to be the Avatar’s bodyguard, you should really learn to control yourself,” Lee laughed, trying to make light of what just happened.

Rangi grabbed Lee’s hands, unperturbed by her earlier feelings. She gripped them tightly for one second, then dropped them instantly as if she’d been shocked, and took a step back.

Rangi’s ears were ringing. She was finding it hard to breathe, it was a struggle to talk but she gasped each word out as she gained what little air she could. “That- it wasn’t- That wasn’t me.”

Rangi couldn’t see Yun’s face, she couldn’t see anything now. Anything but Lee. Her whole world was crashing down, and Lee was ground zero. 

Lee’s smiling demeanor started to melt away, into a more horrified expression. She attempted to speak, but nothing came out. It looked like a scream was caught in her throat. 

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?” She heard Yun ask from a million miles away.

Rangi took a couple gulps of air before forcing out the words, “It. Was. Her.”

The hands Rangi had held, which were ice cold to her before, were now scorching hot. A flame out of control. 

“N-No it wasn’t! It wasn’t me!” Lee took a step back, terrified.

“Why?!” Rangi screamed, her voice cracking in sync with the tears welling up in her eyes. Hope and what she thought was the truth, hanging onto the bitter end before it all blew up. “How is it that you earthbend and firebend?!”

Rangi’s eyes widened in realization. The dark spirit. When her fire had lost control, there was wind. The wind had fed into her flame. “And airbend?” 

The edges of Rangi’s vision started blackening, everything was being consumed by the blackness. Everything but Lee. Who’s face looked as decimated as Rangi felt. Fury coursed through Rangi, and she ran up and grabbed the girl by the front of her tunic and started shaking her.

“HOW?! Tell me!” The campsite. How she got it all set up in such a short time. Even the way her fire dagger had gone out! How she was able to talk to Kuruk! It was all adding up!

Rangi finally met Lee’s eyes, the storm clouds inside threatened rainfalls.  

WHY?! Don’t make that face! Not when it’s me who-

“Answer me!” Rangi screamed. “Answer me, you- you-!” Every word that came out felt like a sob, as she shook the other girl. She couldn't say the word. It would be final if she did. 

Lee pushed Rangi away and fell backwards onto the ground. 

“Th-this isn’t- It’s not-. This isn’t what it looks like!” Lee scrambled to her knees, arms outstretched pleading, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Pleading. As if she was afraid for her life.  “I have a condition!” 

Chapter Text

 “I have a condition!” Lee pleaded. 

Rangi fell on her back foot, her head was swimming. A condition?! That was quite a description for someone to describe the Avatar of all four elements! She made it sound like she was at a healer’s talking about a bad cough. What in the world was going on?! Everything was wrong, just wrong! Up was down, left was right!

Was it the mushrooms? Were the mushrooms doing this to them? No, except for the crushing reality her life had been a lie the past two years, everything felt very real; her poison training in the Junior Corps made it possible for her to diagnose this to be true. If it was a bad trip, then the drug in question was reality.

Which meant, the literal giant mess in front of her, was the Avatar. How could this have happened?

How could a daofei, the world’s biggest and most current problem, be the Avatar?! Didn’t Master Jianzhu, Master Kelsang and her mother claim Yun as the Avatar?

Yun!

Rangi broke through her mental fog, she ripped her eyes away from Lee and looked towards her friend, and once charge. He looked about as devastated as she felt. And completely catatonic to boot. All light was out of his unfocused eyes, and he just stood there in shock and horror. 

A wave of guilty flavored relief swept through Rangi for a moment, at least she wasn’t the only one losing her sense of self and purpose. 

A sob broke Rangi’s trance and tore her attention back towards Lee, the person she was now in charge of taking care of. Lee now had her hands on the ground, and she was prostrating herself towards them. She looked deathly pale, as if terrified. 

Lee was the Avatar, all powerful, master of all four elements. She was now Rangi’s charge. Rangi mentally flinched. I’m going to need to get used to that, huh? Rangi was a daofei’s bodyguard now. Lee's bodyguard. 

What could possibly terrify Lee this much? What could Rangi do to stop the threat as fast as possible? Her mind whirled with questions and grasped at nonexistent solutions to quell the fear.

“I-I know it’s not natural, but please. Don’t kill me!” She pleaded.

Rangi’s eyes widened in shock. The threat was herself?! The Avatar was afraid of her?! And what did she mean ‘not natural?’

Rangi clutched her dizzying head. What in the world is she going on about? D-did I hear that right? Kill? Did Lee not pay any attention to her introduction? She’s the Avatar’s bodyguard! Why would Lee, the Avatar, think her own bodyguard was going to kill her?! It was a direct hit to her honor as well as her pride. 

“Wha-what?!” Was all Rangi could force out. Her confusion only increased the longer she stood there listening to Lee’s pleads of mercy and sobs. 

The world started to slant and darken, and that’s when Rangi realized…. It wasn’t in her head. The clearing they were in was starting to physically change. Soft and vibrant colors were losing their luster. The softness of the clearing was becoming barren, and jagged. Sounds of cracks could be heard in the distance. 

“This place and the creatures can change based on our emotions,” Lee’s voice from the not so distant past rang in Rangi’s head like a gong. And their emotions were a perfect typhoon of horrible. They needed to calm down! Or at least, get out of this despairing spiral before they were swallowed whole by the Spirit World itself!

Despite the world spinning beneath her feet, both physically and metaphorically, she forcibly steadied herself. Someone had to be in their right mind. Between the Avatar having a meltdown and her friend looking like a walking corpse, apparently she had to be the one in that mindset. Oh joy. 

“Why would I do that?! I’m the Avatar’s bodyguard!” Rangi exclaimed.

Lee stopped her sobbing, and forced her head up right to look at Rangi. “W-what does that have to do with this?”

Rangi shook her head in disbelief, “It has everything to do with this!”

“What does he-” Lee nodded her head at Yun, “Have to do with my condition?!”

There that word was again. ‘Condition.’ Did she really think absolute divine power was the same as a lame leg? Rangi’s head started to pound. Great, a headache! The added benefit of being the only one with their head on straight. 

“Gah- What are you on about?! What do you mean ‘condition’?”

Lee winced, “T-that I’m a fourbender…..”

Fourben-the spirits was that?! Rangi was fighting with every fiber of her being to keep her head on straight, but this accursed girl was doing her best to set her back to square one!

“W-what the hell is a fourbender?!” Rangi yelled, unable to keep her frustration in. She was getting angry now.

“S-someone who can bend all four elements…” Lee mumbled.

“That’s-argh, that’s the Avatar! You’re the Avatar!” Rangi yelled again. She literally just described the Avatar, what was this girl on about?

“No I’m not! He is!” She yelled back, anger replacing her fear now. She motioned to Yun again, as she stood up. Wait, did she really believe Yun was the Avatar?! Despite her ownability to bend all four elements? 

Rangi smacked her own forehead, what in the spirits was going on?!  “No, you’re the Avatar, he’s-”

“No! He’s the Avatar! It was his house I broke into!”

Rangi started rubbing her temples. We’re just going in circles. She tried to taper her anger back down, they weren’t going to get anywhere if she didn’t. She needed to ask questions and then piece it together herself. “Ok! Fine! Can you explain to me what the Avatar means to you then?” 

“Wha-why are you asking such a question? I wanna know if you’re gonna ki-” Lee started to protest.

“I’m not going to kill you! Just answer the damn question!” Rangi bti back, exasperated.

“F-fine…. The Avatar is a very powerful bender who gets reincarnated in a cycle of Fire, then Air, then Water, and last Earth.” Lee threw her hands up in the air, now she was getting annoyed.

Rangi noticed that a very important detail was missing in her explanation. She twirled her hand for Lee to continue, but Lee just looked at her. “And? What about their bending?”

Lee looked at her confused. “I already said, they’re powerful-”

“No! What?! Do?! They?! Bend?!” 

“Their element!” 

“How many?!”

“O-one! The cycle they were born into!”

Rangi stomped her foot in frustration, she didn’t care how childish it made her look, she was beyond frustrated. Screw the Spirit World, she could only hope that the Spirit World reacting to their anger was better than their despair. “O-one?! What idiot told you they only bent one element?!”

“M-my parents….” Lee mumbled. Great! Two idiots! “A-and the rest of our inner circle within our daofei group.”

A resounding slapping noise echoed around them, Rangi had slapped both her palms over her face. And her parents are daofei too! She’s probably been raised by daofei her whole life! Sure, her and Yun had a suspicion, but hearing it outright confirmed was still a blow. And it being coupled with her being the Avatar just doubled the blow tenfold. The new revelation on how much muck they were in was causing her resolve to sink lower and lower. 

“Why would they tell you that? Why would they talk about the Avatar like that?!” What in the spirits possessed them to come up with such a ridiculous lie?! It was hard to tell which would be worse: Lee’s parents just being that stupid, or them just flat out lying. 

“W-we didn’t really talk about the Avatar much, my ma forbade it!”

Was her mother the leader? Who else could just command a bunch of daofei to not talk about something? It just gets better and better.  

“And what about your-argh- your ‘fourbending’? Did they know about that?” Saying the phrase tasted bitter on her tongue. So this is what stupidity tastes like….

“They knew….. My parents, and our inner circle….”

Ok, so she was getting somewhere. “Really? And what were their thoughts?”

Lee took a step back, uncomfortable. “They accepted me,” she started. Oh I bet. “-but told me to never bend more than one element in front of people.” Gee I wonder why?

Rangi could imagine the daofei going about their normal day, when their toddler just starts bending more than one element out of nowhere. They probably panicked. Maybe they considered dropping her off somewhere? Risking her becoming their enemy in the future? Or did they really think the best course of action was to keep her hidden? 

Well, with the daofei running rampant across the Earth Kingdom, they probably supposed it was better to have the Avatar with them rather than against. And with how vast the Earth Kingdom was, it was probably doable to keep her hidden in secret.

One thing was for certain, they hadn't taken advantage of using the Avatar’s power. Was it because she was family? Or because of the daofei’s superstitions concerning the Avatar?

Rangi should just count her lucky stars that Lee hadn’t been taken in by Xu Ping An. No way that monster would let the chance to use the Avatar as his lackey slip through his fingers.

“Why?” Rangi decided to see through the daofei’s stupid lie through to the stupid end. “Why did they tell you not to do that?”

“B-because I’d be killed if anyone ever found out,” Lee looked down, true vulnerability leaking through. She was shaking. 

It was then, Rangi realized, why the formidable daofei, and Avatar, was scared of them. She thought she was the prey of Avatar Yun, an almighty being. And considering Rangi herself briefly had an upper hand on the girl during their one skirmish….. No wonder she was scared. She felt cornered. 

Sympathy washed over Rangi and she took a step forward, her hand outreached. She planned on steadying the girl in front of her, as a means of comfort, but stopped in her tracks when Lee mirrored her approach with a retreat. It felt like a slap in the face. 

Rangi stopped where she was and forced her hands to her side, and then took a deep breath. So her parents lied, or they terrified her to control her. Whatever the reasoning was… it didn’t matter anymore, it was now Rangi’s problem. 

She realized her new objective: Win Lee to her side. 

She’d need to calm Lee down, make her see she was in no danger, and to convince her she’s the Avatar. And then…. And then….. What? Make her see the daofei way wasn’t the right way? No, that was too far into the future. She needed to focus on the short term first.

She opted to dig for more information. “What have other people told you about the Avatar? Outside your family and group?” 

“I… My ma told me not to listen to other people. That they were wrong, they didn’t know the truth,” Lee was gnawing on her lip again. “So whenever the Avatar was ever brought up, I just ignored them. She said to never correct anyone either, to just stay quiet.”

So it was a lie. Listen to mommy only sweetie, it’s everyone else who doesn't know better! 

“So you want to tell me to my face, that I don’t know what I’m talking about?” Rangi raised an eyebrow, challenging Lee. Well, it explained why she was so insistent on Yun being the Avatar. Come to think of it, Rangi realized the girl never assumed any other element out of Yun besides Earth. How had Rangi not caught that earlier? 

Lee’s response was just to stare at her, mouth open like a fish gasping for air. Her answer was a perfect parallel to their fine situation.

Rangi sighed again. She placed her right elbow into her left hand, and massaged her right temple with her right hand. This was a nightmare. An actual, living nightmare. Had there been another Avatar in history who was as in the dark as the one in front of her right now? Oh, and was a criminal on top of that? 

“Tell me, the past Avatars. Did they really not say anything about you maybe being the Avatar?” 

“They did.”

Rangi gave her an incredulous look. Did the girl really not trust her own past life?! “Wha- Who?! Which ones?”

Lee kicked the ground, she was looking more like a child who got caught with their hand in a sweets jar. “Kuruk… Arrow La-um-Yancheng. And…um…. Mr. Hat.”

Rangi narrowed her eyes at Lee. “Do you mean Avatar Szeto?”

Lee gave a bashful smile, well at least someone was smiling around here. “Yes?”

“And did you not think, maybe, just maybe, they were the ones telling the truth? And that your parents lied?”

“My parents didn’t-!” Lee started to protest, but it died in her throat from the look that Rangi gave her. Lee looked away, an annoyed pout resting on her lips. “It doesn’t matter, they’re all liars!”

“What?!” Rangi couldn’t hide her surprise from the conviction in Lee’s voice. Was she really that brainwashed?

“I told you about Kuruk! He lied and fought dark spirits in secret! Yangchen lied all the damn time. Spirits, no one really knows what Mr. Ha-Szeto- was really like cause he never showed his true self!” Lee waved her arms in frustration as she paced back and forth as she continued her rant, a flood gate was open. She was spilling secrets that only the person themselves would’ve known. 

Rangi….couldn’t respond. She was hearing brand new information about past Avatars, and not just any past Avatars, but Yangchen and Szeto! Some of the most regaled Avatars in history. No one would ever say anything like this about them. It’d damage their reputation! 

If finding out that Daofei Lee was the Avatar didn’t start to crumble the righteous title in her eyes, the truths she was spilling about the past Avatars was definitely…. well making it worse. 

Lee was ranting about them like a younger sibling that couldn’t take listening to the praise of their less than perfect older sibling. Her annoyance was not something that could be feigned, what she was saying was the real truth!

“Ok, ok! I get it!” Rangi put both her hands up in a stopping motion, she couldn’t take any more of this. 

She had stopped Lee just as she was finishing her story on what Yangchen told the Saowon clan they had to do to appease the phoenix-eel spirits. That portion of her rant made her sick to her stomach, considering she was Fire Nation as well. Maybe that’s why they always seemed to sneer the Avatar? Rangi thought, as she recalled a classmate of her’s, Koulin, always speaking out the side of her mouth about the Avatar. She shook her head, that wasn’t important right now. 

“But you see? Why should I believe them?! They’re all liars!” Lee whined.

“But in this case they’re telling the truth!” How was Rangi going to get it through this thick-as-earth skull of Lee’s? 

“I’m not-”

Unable to take it anymore she crossed the distance, chasing after the retreating Lee until Lee’s back ran into an overgrown tree sized mushroom. Rangi proceeded to shove her finger into the other girls’ chest, punctuating each word as she spoke. “You’re the Avatar, and you’ve got to deal with it!” She yelled. “You can bend all four elements! The Avatar can bend all four elements! Therefore- YOU! ARE! THE! AVATAR!”

Lee winced. “I….still….don’t believe you…..”

Rangi grabbed the girl by her tunic and shook her. “For spirits sake! Then let’s talk to Kuruk! Or Yangchen! Or Szeto! Anyone! They’ll corroborate with me!” She started to tug Lee back from where they came. If Kuruk was near Koh, then they’d go that way!

“Buh! But if I’m the Avatar, then what is he?” Lee asked.

Rangi froze in her tracks. Shame washed over her, realizing she’d completely forgotten about Yun! She mentally kicked and cursed herself, how could she do that to her beloved friend?

“He’s your…… other bodyguard,” she proclaimed without thinking. 

They watched as Yun’s face suddenly changed, some light coming back to his eyes, and confusion resting on his face. “Wait, what?”

“But you said he was the Avatar befo-”

Rangi pinched Lee’s lips together with her thumb and forefinger. “I know what I said before. We were both misinformed. He’s now your bodyguard.”

“Wuf abouf youf?'' Lee mumbled through her pinched lips.

“I’m your bodyguard too!” Rangi rolled her eyes. “Yun! Get over here! Don’t make me drag you too!” At Rangi’s words, Yun started to shuffle over to them.

Rangi grabbed Lee by her tunic again, and started marching off towards where they came from. But before she could take two steps forward, she felt a strong hand on her bicep pick her up and twirl her around.

“You’re really crazy, you know that?!” Lee yelled at her. How strong was this girl, she picked Rangi up like she weighed nothing. Lee was behind Rangi now, pushing her. When Yun met them halfway, she did the same to him. “Why are you so hellbent on going to that creepy place? You want Kuruk? Fine. I’ll call him here!”

She can do that? Wait, no, of course, she’s the Avatar. 

“Alright, alright! We’ll follow you! Stop pushing!” Rangi dug her heels into the ground to stop Lee. Lee may be the Avatar, but Rangi still didn’t want to be manhandled by her.

Lee let them go, and the Yokoya duo followed behind her as she….looked for something.

“Rangi,” Yun’s voice pulled her attention away from Lee. “Rangi, I’m sorr-”

“Don’t apologize,” she whispered softly. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“But I-”

“Yun, I can tell, you didn’t know,” she bit her lip, trying to ground herself. She didn’t want to think too deeply about these feelings, at least not right now. They all needed to find stability before they thoroughly worked through the past. “None of us knew….”

He nodded at her silently. If he wanted to say anything more, he decided to hold off. Probably thinking the same thing as her.

They weren’t walking for long when Lee decided to plop down. They had arrived next to a stream, and Lee had gone into a meditation position. Yun and Rangi looked at each other a little confused. Usually you’d meditate into the Spirit World, but they were already there. 

Maybe this is how they call on each other?

They didn’t have to wait long for their questions to be answered, because unnatural glowing mist started to pool out from the water that sat across from Lee. It billowed outwards and engulfed their feet, and soon someone was sitting, hovering over the water.

He was a large Water Tribe man, decked out in a polar bear type pelt. He had strong sharp features, with a look like he commanded power and the room he was in. He was exactly as her mother had described him to be. He looked like an Avatar.

Rangi heard Yun gasp, a sound of exaltation. She could imagine Yun’s eyes shining, but she didn’t dare take her eyes off of the apparition of Kuruk that appeared before them.

He opened his eyes and looked at Lee, a serious expression resting on his face. But then his eyes flitted upward, meeting Rangi’s and Yun’s. There was a slight tug at one of the corners of his lips.

“Well this is new,” he said with an amused tone. “You’ve made some friends. And you’ve called on me for once? Usually we’re the ones calling on you. What’s the occasion?”

Lee gave a huff of air, she didn’t sound like she was happy to see him. 

Kuruk furrowed his brow, and looked around. “Please tell me you aren’t in the Spirit World, again?”

“It’s not like I want to be here….” Lee mumbled. “But that’s not why I called you here.” Kuruk raised a single eyebrow at that. Lee fell out of the meditation position she was in, and fell back on her hands. She picked one hand up briefly to point a thumb at the two teens behind her. “They wanna talk with ya.”

Kuruk eyed Rangi and Yun again, with a slight squint this time. “Hei-Ran?” Rangi’s heart lurched at her mother’s name. She never really paid much mind to how people compared them, how they’d proclaim they looked almost like twins. But for some reason, this put her on edge. “No, no. You aren’t Hei-Ran. There’s too much Junsik in you-wait. Are you her daughter?” Kuruk’s eyes widened at the realization, an excited smile stretched along his face.

Rangi bowed forward, with her palm and fist pressed together. “I am Rangi, her daughter. It is an honor to meet you, Avatar Kuruk.”

When she looked up, she saw Kuruk’s face was shocked but warm. “It’s an honor to meet you too.” Rangi’s eyes drifted to Lee who looked…. displeased? 

“And you are?” Kuruk continued, looking at Yun.

Yun mimicked Rangi, “Avatar Kuruk, it is an honor to meet you. I’m Yun, and I-....I-.... I’m your…. disciple!” Rangi heard a bit of choking in the middle of the sentence, but by the end he seemed to settle on an apt description of himself. And he said it with confidence. “And Lee’s new bodyguard.” 

“Yun? As in ‘Avatar Yun?’” Rangi saw Yun flinch at his old title. Kuruk looked at Lee for a moment who didn’t meet his gaze. “The same one that was proclaimed my successor by my old friend Jianzhu?”

“Yes,” was all Yun could whisper in response. “But, I’m now aware that I’m not actually the Avatar.”

“I see. I apologize for the mistake and inconvenience…. that you must’ve gone through,” Kuruk looked sorrowful, like he’d been the one who put Yun into the position.

“You have nothing to apologize for Avatar Kuruk! It was an accident…..” Yun trailed off.

“Yes well…. Maybe if I was better…. at….with..….” Kuruk looked wearily at Lee, before looking back at the duo. “Please, tell me, what is it that you-WAIT! If you two are here then-” He looked back at Lee with a shocked expression. “Kid, don’t tell me. You didn’t actually- Didn’t Yangchen talk you out of it?”

Lee finally looked back at Kuruk, a sly grin spreading across her face. “She’s the one that actually talked me into it.”

Kuruk stared shocked at Lee, before abruptly slamming his hands down onto his thighs and letting out a boisterous laugh. Rangi and Yun were as confused as they were stunned. “Oh that crafty nun! Haha, I knew she was a good actress, but even knowing that she still fooled me! She fooled the both of us! Oh, Szeto is going to have a field day when he hears this!” He slapped his thighs again, and let out another howl of approval.

“Wah… What did Yangchen talk you into?” Rangi asked, confused.

Lee looked back at her, her grin turning sheepish. “If I should break into the Avatar’s estate or not.”

Rangi and Yun’s eyes grew as wide as saucers. The Great Yangchen. The Great Benevolent Yangchen. An Air Nomad. The most peaceful people on the planet. Where thinking of them committing any sort of crime seemed impossible to even conceive. She was the one who convinced Lee into breaking into the ‘Avatar’s estate?!’ She was the reason they were in this mess?!

“Why?!” Rangi barely squeaked out. Just when she thought the Avatar’s image was being repaired after seeing Kuruk, now she found herself questioning the Great Yangchen!

Lee waved her away “I-I already told you why I was in there, she was just trying to push me into following through or not. I-it doesn’t matter!” Lee cleared her throat. “Just ask Kuruk what you wanted to already!”

Kuruk stopped laughing, looking at them expectantly. 

“Avatar Kuruk, please tell us what you told Lee. We keep telling her she’s the Avatar, but she won’t listen.” Rangi said.

 Kuruk looked at Lee again, one eyebrow raised. “‘Lee’?’”

“Just go with it,” she said through gritted teeth.

Kuruk responded with a snort, an amused look taking residence on his face. “So, you finally messed up and showed off more than one element?” 

Lee’s only response was an indignant blush that spread across Lee’s face, up to her ears, and down her back. 

Kuruk laughed again. “And see how it turned out? You don’t look dead to me. I’ve told you that was a load of hogswallop!” 

“It wasn’t hogswallop when I was in Emerald Claws territory…..” Lee mumbled. Rangi’s eyes widened and her neck snapped towards Lee. The Emerald Claws were notoriously violent daofei who ravaged countrysides and especially farmers. Rangi could feel her palms sweating, thinking the Avatar was anywhere near them.

Kuruk’s laughter died in his throat. “That was different.” His voice was stern and commanding.

“Why?” Lee challenged.

“Those people were criminals, they would’ve loved to tear you limb from limb regardless if you were the Avatar or not!”

“And what makes them different?!” Lee pointed at Rangi and Yun. Rangi felt like she was pierced with an arrow, and she let that be known by the wounded look she let fall on her face. 

“They aren’t criminals!” Kuruk yelled.

“They’re abiders! The daofei are my people! If I’m going to trust anyone, it’s them!” Lee yelled back. Oh, great, her Avatar wasn’t going to listen to a word she said because she was an ‘abider.’ 

Kuruk let his head drop to his hands, and let out the longest sigh known to men. Rangi’s heart went out to the deceased man, imagining this is what he’d been putting up with for years. 

“I showed you my past, you literally saw all of Yangchen’s memories, and the others-JUST WHAT MORE PROOF DO YOU NEED, KID?!” Kuruk yelled, exasperated.

Lee only sniffed in reply, and ignored his question. “Well if that’s all you wanted to ask him-” Lee got cut off, trying to catch herself as she suddenly went flying forward due to a smack to the back of her head. She looked up to see Rangi and her hand gearing up for another swing. “Wha-wait!”

Another smack upside the head. Then another on top of the head. Then the side of her head. Then a smack on Lee’s shoulders. Rangi kept up the barrage, alternating between the same places.

“Why! Can’t! You! Get! It! Through! Your! Thick! HEAD?!” She yelled each word in tandem with a slap. Rangi couldn’t take it anymore, she was going to just smack the stupid out of Lee. 

“Ah! St-stop! That kinda hu-hurts! Gah!” Lee wrapped her arms around her head to protect it, but it didn’t stop the barrages.

After a few more rounds of ‘Whack the Avatar,’ Rangi finally stopped and looped around to the front of Lee, and grabbed her by the tunic and shook her. “Are you done now?!”

“Me?! Y-you’re the one who’s been smacking me! Are you done?!” Rangi raised her hand. “Argh! Fine! Fine! I’m done! Stop it! …..what am I done with?”

“Being stupid!”

“You are soooooo mean you know that?!” Lee whined. Another smack, but on the arm this time.

“Tell me who you are then!”

“I-if this is about my real name, you could just ask-Gah!” Another smack to the arm.

“No, rocks-for-brains! I mean the thing we’ve been talking about for the past twenty minutes!” She shook Lee for emphasis, or to jumpstart the girl’s brain. Rangi wasn’t sure and she didn’t care if she was being honest.

“Guh-You’re the worst bodyguard ever!”

Instead of smacking Lee again, she clasped both of Lee’s cheeks with one hand, a thumb and the rest of her fingers on either side. She shook the girl’s head. “I’m sorry? What was that? Did you just imply that I’m your bodyguard? I thought I was the Avatar’s bodyguard.”

“Youf arf!” 

“Then what does that make you?” When Rangi didn’t get a response, she swished Lee’s head side to side. “I said: ‘What does that make YOU?!’”

“Ef Avaf-taf!” 

Rangi let go of Lee’s face, and returned both hands to her tunic, and shook her. “What was that?!”

“The Avatar!” 

“Who is?” Another shake. 

Lee put her hands in front of her face in defense “I-it’s me! I’m the Avatar! I’M THE AVATAR! JUST STOP IT ALREADY!!” 

“FINALLY!” Rangi yelled, releasing Lee from her grip. Lee dropped to the ground, completely rung out. Rangi still eyed Lee with suspicion that the girl hadn’t really accepted the fact, but it was good enough she got her to admit it….. Even if it was by force.

As Rangi was basking in her victory, she froze, remembering she had an audience. Yun? She didn’t care about how he’d react. But Kuruk? She only just realized she made a complete ass out of herself in front of a past Avatar. She actually berated and manhandled his successor in front of him.

She turned slowly to look at his reaction. Sure enough, he was wide-eyed and his mouth was hanging open at an alarming angle. 

“I-I….uhhh…” She gasped out. ‘I couldn’t let her keep talking to you like that.’ ‘I was as sick of her stubbornness as you were!’ Come on Rangi, any one of these excuses! Just say something! Now that her brain was slowly catching up to her, the next wave of chagrin was hitting her, she’d assaulted the very person she was bound to protect. And not just any person, but the Avatar. There was a special place in the darkest afterlife waiting for her.

After blinking at her a few times, Kuruk slapped his legs and let out another boisterous laughter. He was laughing so hard that Rangi could see tears coming out of his eyes. Wait, could the dead or spirits even cry? 

He wiped his hand at him, taking gasps of air. “I-I can’t believe it! Oh man, Szeto was right. I owe him an apology, and something-do you know what to give a dead man? Oh, nevermind I’ll figure it out. Farewell!”

Kuruk disappeared, the only thing that remained was the wisps of mist and laughter, but even that slowly dissipated. 

“Huh?” Rangi squeaked out. But she wasn’t done talking with him. 

“Bu-but I wanted to talk to him more!” Yun whined. Apparently, neither was Yun. 

Lee groaned from where she laid. “I hate that guy.” Rangi kicked Lee’s foot for the remark. 

The three teens were exhausted from the day’s event, the sooner they got to sleep the better. They decided to make the last bit of trek towards the mountain side, and camp out in the base of the mountain. 

Yun and Lee had just finished carving out a new cave with their earthbending, when Yun went to pop some earthbeds around the fire that Rangi had started. 

As soon as they were up, Lee all but jumped onto one. Only stopping herself at the last second, to pat herself down. Once she was satisfied, she plopped herself down.

“Hey, I’ve been wondering. Why do you pat yourself down when you go to bed and when you wake up?” Yun asked. 

“Hm? Because it’s good to know your stuff is still there,” she shrugged. “It’s a habit, you know, cause I run with thieves.” She shot daggers at Rangi.

“Do you really think we’re gonna steal from you?” Yun raised an eyebrow. 

Lee gave him a pointed look. “I dunno. You tell me Mr. ‘Hey Firecracker! Shove your hands down her shirt!’” The statement caused Yun to blush slightly.

“Will you two shut up? You’re giving me a headache.” Rangi rubbed her temples as she leaned against the cave wall. The statement was incorrect, it was more like her 50th headache of the day, they kind of started to stack on top of each other. Beginning where the other ended, bleeding into one continuous hell.

“Good! It’ll match the one you gave to me!” Lee threw an obscene hand gesture at the firebender, who just ignored her.

“Whatever,” she waved her away and began to walk out of the cave entrance. She wanted a moment to just sit with her thoughts. Just as she got to the caves's entrance, she stopped. “By the way, since you're the Avatar, you technically stole your own stuff. We aren’t going to take it.”

She rounded the corner out of sight before she could see the reaction. Once she was outside, she looked up at the tall, unfriendly mountain. She saw a platform about a story or two up, and decided that would be a great place to clear her head. She easily scaled the wall with her jetstepping, and let her legs dangle off the side of the cliff’s edge.

Well….this day was a mess. She thought, a bead of sweat rolling down her cheek as she looked off into the horizon. She had no idea how they were able to power through it, but at least the Avatar wasn’t a sniveling pile of despair, and they didn’t get swallowed up by the Spirit World! All in a fair day’s work for the Worst Avatar Bodyguard in history!

Rangi slammed her face into her palms. Everything was a disaster, and her temper hadn’t helped. Maybe it had in some regards, but if she just kept a cooler head maybe….. No, what ifs and maybes don’t matter, actions do. She’ll never know what would’ve happened if she tried a different route. It was best to just accept what happened and keep moving forward.

Lee’s pissed with you, so what are you going to do? She thought to herself. She rubbed her hands over her face. Do I pacify her? Ugh, can I even pacify a criminal? Wouldn’t that be reinforcing bad behavior? And what if I do pacify her? Is it because she’s the Avatar? Or because I-.

She stopped her thought right then, but she couldn’t stop the blush that seeped into her cheeks. I really am the worst bodyguard. I need to work on my temper, stat.

A sound next to her almost caused her to yelp, thankfully instinct told her it was just earthbending. And not just any earthbending, smooth as butter earthbending she had grown accustomed to over the past two years. There was only one person it could be, out of the two earthbenders around that is.

Yun plopped down beside her. “Lee’s pissed at us.”

She raised an eyebrow at him “You too?” She had no idea what he could’ve done to piss her off. 

“Eh, guilty by association,” he winked at her. Then stared off into the horizon she was looking at.

The two sat in silence for a long time, letting the events of the day finally settle in.

“Rangi, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Yun finally spoke first.

Rangi closed her eyes and sighed. “I know.”

“Jianzhu, Hei-Ran, everyone told me I was the Avatar. Why would I have questioned it?” He defended, mostly to himself than to Rangi. As if trying to convince himself of something.

“I know, it’s not your fault.” It was all she could offer. Agreement. Her entire purpose in life was a lie, but at least she forged a friendship with someone. She wouldn’t trade that bond for the world. 

She heard the tightening of fists, and finally looked at him. His fists were curled on his lap, and he was hunched over and shaking. “I just…. I worked so hard! All those sleepless nights. All that intense training, and for what?!” He yelled the last bit, and Rangi could see spirits fly to the sky as if they were startled birds.

She didn’t say anything as he huffed. He put his hands in his face. “You didn’t deserve to be deceived either, Rangi.”

Rangi snorted. “Yun, I doubt they knew they were lying to us. They probably believed it just as much as we did, let’s be honest.” If she was being honest, her issues were more of who she now had to serve, rather than the lie she was forced to live the past two years. Yes, the lie was a shock to her system, but the future issues she had to dwell on were more urgent than the lies of the past.

“But still!” He whined.

Rangi shook her head and shrugged. While she was still reeling from a change of charge, she didn't think to blame anyone but luck. “Not much we can do now. Even if they did lie knowingly, which I doubt, it’s not our fault. We were just….” Rangi trailed off. She was going to say something along the lines of ‘Of course we went along with it, why would we question them otherwise?’ when she realized something. She groaned, and put her head in her hands, a new headache coming on. “We’re just like Lee.”

“Um, what?” Yun looked almost offended as he was confused.

“Ugh, we’re the same as her.” Rangi made a face. “The three of us just…..believed the adults around us without question! Regardless if they knew if what they were saying was true or not! I can’t believe this!” She’d given Lee such a hard time for something she herself was guilty of doing. Of course Lee would believe her own parents, she’d done the same! It was the natural order of things, the young listened to the old to guide them. She was going to have to apologize tomorrow, but she’d need to figure out a way to do it without making Lee think she wasn’t the Avatar.

“So you’re saying, we’re all rocks-for-brains?” Yun smirked, humor leaking into his voice.

“Yeah, we’re all rocks-for-brains,” she groaned.

Yun laughed. And laughed. And laughed. Rangi almost smacked him, it wasn’t that funny. Then he suddenly stopped. “Ahhhhh…. What am I going to do now?” There was a lot of weight in that question. 

Rangi could only fill in the blanks, afraid of giving voice to one of his fears. Was he afraid he didn’t have a home or Sifu anymore? Was he lost of what to do with his life now he lost Avatarhood? Or one of the million things that stemmed from that? 

She decided to just give him an answer to all those things.

“You can do what I’m going to do. Follow Lee,” she offered nonchalantly. Yun raised his eyebrows at her, his eyes wide. “I was serious when I said you should also be her bodyguard too. Or you could put that brain to work and help be an advisor. You care about this world as much as any Avatar, you should put what you’ve learned to good use.”

Rangi looked over at Yun, his wide-eyed expression started to melt and soften. He looked away and sniffed, and then wiped his face with his sleeve. “I guess I could do that.”

Rangi smiled, and gave him a nudge with her shoulder, forgetting her armor had spikes. “See? Losing your sense of self isn’t so bad.”

Yun winced and laughed. “Yeah I guess. To be honest, I feel more sorry for you than I do myself.”

Rangi gave him a confused look. “Sorry? Why? You’re the one who realized you weren’t the Avatar.”

Yun laughed again, “Yeah, but you’re the sad sack with a crush on the Avatar.”

Rangi didn’t bother to stick around and listen to Yun hit the ground after she pushed him off the ledge, he knew how to soften his landing. She got up, and jet stepped back to the cave entrance, ignoring his angry calls of her name.

She’d work on her temper starting tomorrow. 

Chapter Text

When Kuruk opened his eyes, he was surprised to see a bubbling little seven year old meditating in front of him. His eyes widened as he looked at the little girl, except for her darker skin tone, brown hair, and the lack of arrow tattoos, she was the spitting image of an Air Nomad girl he’d met in his youth.

She also kind of reminded him of Yangchen, both in looks and in spiritual prowess. Was Yangchen this young when she knowingly made contact with a past life?

He briefly wondered why the little girl looked like so many Air Nomad nuns when surely she should be the Earth Avatar.

Regardless, he was excited. Maybe his predecessor was a prodigy? If that was the case, he was going to do his damndest to make her the best Avatar that he could.

“Hello little one,” he said in his deep rich voice. “Do you know who I am?”

The little girl tilted her head to the side, as if inspecting him at a forty-five degree angle could help.

He smiled, and continued his introduction. “I’m Kuruk, and I-”

The little girl pointed at him, “Ah!” He sat there, surprised but waited for her to continue. Could it be that she recognized him? From a dream? From a statue? “You’re….”

Kuruk gripped his knees, waiting in anticipation. If he had a heartbeat, he knew it’d be pounding. If he had a kid, maybe this is what it’d feel like to be waiting outside the delivery room? Or waiting for them to say their first word? He wasn’t sure, but he felt excited all the same. 

“You’re….” her little face scrunched up, as if trying to recall something. Kuruk nodded, encouraging her to continue. “You’re a manwhore!”

Kuruk felt like he had been punched by the strongest spirit that had ever existed. And that was saying something, considering what kind of spirits he'd face. What-what did she say?! He wasn’t sure what hurt more, that a little girl called him that, or that she was not a hundred percent incorrect, or that she wasn’t exactly correct either, or that his successor called him that, or-

THAT’S NOT THE POINT! WHERE DID SHE LEARN THAT WORD?!

“I-I’m sorry, what?” 

“You’re a manwhore! Mom says you’re a gigolo and not to talk to you!” The little girl exclaimed.

Kuruk felt deflated, his hope and air leaving him like a balloon that had been popped. Was it possible for someone’s soul to die twice? Because that’s what it felt like. How had he gotten here? Was it his choices? 

There wasn’t much he could do, but accept that the little girl thought he was a degenerate. He could only hope that by contacting him so easily, it meant someone else could talk to her. Hopefully Yangchen would be able smooth things over.

And thus the ending of Kuruk’s first interaction with his successor came to a close.

Yangchen sat down next to the little girl. It had not been their first meeting, and it wouldn’t be their last. Not if that nun had anything to say about it!

“Child, I mean it. You’re a great hero that’s called an ‘Avatar.’ You have the ability to do things most people can ever dream of! That includes bending more than one element!” She tried to coddle the child, make her feel wonder and powerful about the title. But the little girl just shrugged her off. 

“Mom says you're a liar,” the little girl muttered as she played with her toy.

“I’m not a liar, sweetie,” Yangchen said through a tight smile. Their interactions usually played out like this. She’d try to convince the little girl she was the Avatar, the little girl would spew some random bunk her parents fed to her-something about a fourbender nonsense- and then would proceed to call Yangchen a liar. 

Not that calling Yangchen a liar wouldn’t be incorrect, she had to tell a few white lies in her time, just to keep things stable. But it still didn’t feel good to have it thrown back into her face.

“That’s what a liar would say,” the little girl pouted with a side eye that could start an Agni Kai.

She’s seven Yangchen, just remember she’s seven! You’re an adult! Oh spirits, is this what Jetsun felt like? 

Yangchen rubbed her smooth forehead as she contemplated on how to convince the child. Maybe Szeto will have a better time?

Szeto was, in fact, not having a better time than his two successors. After the first real attempt, he understood a lost cause when he saw one. So he decided to put his energy into better things. But that didn’t stop him from asking as a formality each time he and the child talked.

“Tell me child, will you listen to me if I say you’re the Avatar?”

“Nope,” she said with a matter-of-factness that Szeto liked.

“I see…..” he nodded solemnly as he stroked his beard, playing along as if his ploys got foiled. Then he switched tactics. “Would you like me to explain how best to clean up both a nation and a house?”

The girl put her toys down and looked at him. “You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.”

Kuruk, Yangchen, and Szeto all sat on the ground in a void where the Avatar spirits would congregate.

“No luck for you two, still?” Kuruk asked, slumped over in despair.

Yangchen massaged her temples in frustration. “She keeps calling me a liar. She’s not wrong in the general sense, but it’s still not helping.”

“I’ve been making great progress, actually,” Szeto announced, fiddling with his sleeve.

The other two looked at him surprised. 

“We’ll be talking about Ancient Fire Nation History next session,” he said with pride.

Kuruk and Yangchen deflated. Of course he was only interested in giving her an education, which made Kuruk and Yangchen feel doubly bad. At least he was doing something beneficial for their successor.

Szeto stroked his beard, unperturbed. “She’ll figure it out eventually, she’s bright.”

Sure the girl did pick up on concepts they presented to her pretty well, but it was sullied by the fact she couldn’t let go of the greatest lie ever told in history. 

“What makes you so sure?” Yangchen asked.

Szeto stopped stroking his beard, and rested his hand on his chin, deep in thought. “It’s just a feeling…. But I can’t help but feel like something Fire Nation related will set her straight!”

Kuruk rolled his eyes, “Szeto, you can’t make everything Fire Nation related! Especially since the Fire Nation is too big of a risk for that daofei group!”

Szeto shook his head and waved Kuruk away. “I’m not saying the Fire Nation will fix it. Just that…. Something related may. I’m not entirely sure what, but it’s a gut feeling.” He nodded to himself, pleased.

Kuruk gave the Fire Avatar an obscene gesture. “Szeto, for the love of Yangchen, please eat coals.”

Yangchen side-eyed the two men in front of her. “For the love of Me, please stop using my name.”

Chapter Text

“Hello, I’m Avatar Yun,” the boy in front of Rangi bowed. He looked around her age, fourteen. Even Rangi had to admit he looked fairly handsome, despite not being her type.

“Greetings Avatar Yun, I’m Rangi. I will be your bodyguard from now on. I am here to serve,” she bowed in deep respect for the boy she was honor bound to protect with her life. Her spirits were high, she was ready to fulfill her purpose in life.

The boy looked at her slyly and winked. “I’m honored to have such a gorgeous girl guard me.”

Rangi stared deadpanned at the boy, feeling the looks of disapproval down on her by her mother and Master Jianzhu. She withheld the urge to deck him across the face. She had to be professional about this. “I’m not interested.” She said out flatly with a tinge of disgust leaking into her voice.

Ok, she was fourteen, a knee jerk reaction wasn’t out of the ordinary. The boy, however, didn’t look too upset by the rejection. Nevertheless, Rangi cleared her throat to mend her mistake. “I’m not interested in being romantically entangled with the Avatar. Neither now, nor in the future.” 

As she said those words, the world around her began to fall apart around her.

Rangi stared at the cave wall as she jerked awake. She slowly blinked her eyes. They felt dry, had she fallen asleep with them open? She was definitely dreaming just now, about her first introduction with Yun, who at the time she thought was the Avatar. 

She guessed it was a befitting thing to dream about, considering their situation from the day before. The whole ‘everything is not as it seems!’ revelations that happened back to back. She just hated the portion that the dream decided to end on. Like her own brain was mocking her. 

She kicked a nearby rock in frustration. Maybe she was spending too much time with Yun. His way of teasing was slowly seeping into her own subconscious.

After rolling around trying to get comfortable and fall back asleep, she found it was for naught. Sighing, she got up. Might as well do some drill exercises. What one does without guidance defines who they were, and what that meant for Rangi was…. She was a workaholic.

As she made her way to the cave entrance she passed by Lee’s sleeping form. Her feet started changing course before the thought of asking Lee if she wanted to join in the fire training exercises fully formed in her mind.

She squatted down and took in Lee’s sleeping face, and frowned. She’s way too pretty for her own good. She thought, as she observed just how long Lee’s eyelashes were, and how they licked the freckles on her cheeks. Or how softly she exhaled air out of her full lips. Rangi’s stomach felt like it was doing flips.

She put her hand on Lee’s shoulder, to lightly shake her awake. But upon hearing Lee’s slow and soft breaths, she decided against it, it was better to just let her sleep. She couldn’t help but squeeze her shoulder softly once before letting go. She gently stood up and turned around, careful to not make a noise, but before she could take a step, she felt something grab her arm and yank her back.

The next thing Rangi knew, she was laying on the ground, on her side. Lee’s arms were wrapped around her, one at the tops of her shoulders and the other on her lower back. One of her legs was also locked between both of Lee’s.

Rangi laid there frozen for a moment, listening to Lee’s soft, sleeping breaths and steady heartbeat. It was an easy thing to do, considering her face was pressed right into the other girl’s chest. Up against Lee’s whole body, really. 

Rangi didn’t have to move to realize she wasn’t going anywhere, she was in a vice grip. It was just her luck that Lee seemed to be a serial cuddler. Grabbing whatever she could in her sleep to squish up next to. At least that’s what Rangi could only assume. Rangi made a mental note to get this girl various body pillows, lest she become one again in the future. Then upon further examination, struck the item from her to-do list. Perhaps not all ‘accidents’ were a bad thing. 

She tried her best to remain still as a statue, unsure of what to do, but knowing she should definitely not nuzzle her face into the soft mass in front of her. She’d admit, only to herself, it wasn’t a bad position to be in. If only there wasn’t something hard hitting her cheek to ruin the moment for her…. It was something hidden under Lee’s tunic, and it didn’t feel like the turtle toy or a scroll tube. 

“What were you doing just now?” A cool and dangerous voice whispered, the breeze from their lips gently tickling Rangi’s hair. Rangi went rigid where she laid, realizing Lee had woken up-no-had been awake the whole time. She felt Lee’s muscles tighten, this wasn’t a friendly hug, if Lee wanted to she could break Rangi’s bones.

Rangi remained still and tried to explain herself, but it came out muffled by the clothing pressed against her mouth. She felt a sigh escape Lee, and the taller girl loosened her grip around Rangi’s shoulders, allowing the shorter girl to lift her head back slightly.

“I didn’t catch that,” Lee said dryly.

“What I said was ‘I was going to do some firebending exercises, and I was going to wake you and see if you wanted to join me.’” Rangi couldn’t look Lee in the eyes as she said her piece. She knew her face was probably glowing red. She forced whatever teenage hormones that were attempting to take over down in the face of possible death. Apparently her self-preservation wasn’t as strong as she thought it was. 

“Hm, but you didn’t,” Lee hummed discontent with the answer. Her muscles flexed just a tad, and Rangi felt and heard one of her joints crack in a similar fashion one would crack their knuckles. It was a warning. 

“You looked too peaceful to wake up, so I changed my mind,” Rangi answered hurriedly, fearing what type of real damage Lee would do with her grip. “What? Is that illegal?” She cheekily threw words that Lee had thrown at Yun a few days ago.

Lee looked down at Rangi, her frown turning to a pursing of lips. And then she released the smaller girl. “No, it’s not.”

Rangi quickly scrambled away as soon as she was loose, and then sat on the ground eyeing Lee warily. 

Lee patted herself down, and then narrowed her eyes at Rangi, looking her up and down. After a few pats, Lee finally relaxed, apparently finding everything in order. She really doesn’t want us to go through her things.

Lee looked at Rangi a little coldly, she was still angry with the firebender, “Is the invitation still open?”

A hidden bead of sweat behind Rangi’s hair ran down her neck. Instinct tells me ‘no.’ But maybe I can clear the air with her? “Yes.”

“Alright,” was all she said as she stood up and walked towards the entrance. Rangi got up and followed behind her. 

Once they were outside, they walked a ways away from the entrance, so not to wake Yun up with their training. When they were a few feet away from a nearby small forest, they stopped.

“Alright Sifu Firecracker, time for you to show me how to really firebend,” Lee gave a cocky smile, showing just how ready she was to set fire to the Spirit World. Guess now that her little secret was out and she wasn’t dead, her confidence was back to where it was before. She dropped into the stance Rangi had helped her the day before.

Rangi slowly circled Lee, taking in her stance. It had vastly improved from the day prior. She really is a fast learner. 

She stopped in front of Lee, and squinted her eyes at Lee’s legs. Then she swiftly swept her leg from under Lee’s front foot, causing the girl to topple sideways onto the ground. Her stance is still weak, though. 

“Gah! Hey will you quit-”

“We need to improve your stance, otherwise you’ll keep getting knocked on your ass,” Rangi cut her off sternly, she was in full Sifu mode.

Lee got up, annoyed and got in Rangi’s face. “I don’t care about stupid stances! I want to firebend!”

“Oh yes, because firebending nearby a bunch of trees is a smart idea,” Rangi gestured behind her. “We're reviewing the basics. we aren’t going to be producing flame. Which means stance training, now!”

Lee’s eye twitched, and she turned away from Rangi and walked a few feet, and then kicked the ground. The ground around them shook as a giant boulder of earth flew out of the ground in front of Lee, and sailed onward and over the forest they were facing. There was a moment before a distant sound of it crashing was barely heard in the distance. Rangi only let her eyes widened for a fraction, not wanting to show any form of shock so as not to give Lee any power in the interaction. 

Lee huffed a few times, before turning around to face Rangi again. “I’ve been wanting to firebend since forever! And now I finally have a firebending Sifu, you’re gonna withhold it from me?!”

Lee got into a fighting stance. “Uh uh, no way, you’re going to teach me some real firebending, even if I have to force it out of you!” She charged at Rangi.

Rangi sighed inwardly, She was going to need to teach her hothead student a thing or two, even if it was by force.

Lee threw a right hook at Rangi, but Rangi dodged before both the fist and the flame hit her. Lee kept the onslaught up, and Rangi would either dodge or deflect the blows or flame that came at her. She stayed on the defensive, a perfect student of negative jing, as she dodged Lee’s oncoming barrage. 

The first thing she’d noticed about Lee’s firebending was she had fairly good breath control, however, she lacked discipline in basically everything else. But that breath control was probably why she was able to produce a solid flame every so often. It was also probably how she was able to extinguish flame, both her own and other’s.

The next thing she realized was that Lee was just barely better than a flailing five year old learning how to firebend. Not bad for someone who was self taught, but her flames were too inconsistent. They either were a decent solid flame ball one would want, or they spluttered like water hitting an oil pan. 

Rangi kept dodging and deflecting up until Lee’s flames started acting more erratically, and she could see slight burns forming at her knuckles. Right then, Rangi switched to an offensive, and grabbed both of Lee’s fists, using her own firebending to stop any pathetic flame from producing. 

Lee struggled against Rangi’s iron grasp, and proceeded to try to push and knock Rangi off balance using the rest of her body’s strength. Rangi just anchored herself down, digging her heels into the ground into a horse stance. Despite her size, Lee couldn’t move Rangi.

Lee twisted her arms in Rangi’s grip and growled. “This! Is! Such! Bull-”

“Do you want to burn our faces off? Or do you want to actually live to be able to firebend more than once?” Rangi cut her off and glared at Lee sternly. On the outside, Rangi looked like she had everything under control. On the inside, she was sweating. She was supposed to be mending the relationship, not digging the rift deeper. But her inner perfectionist had easily won the war inside of her. That, and she didn’t want her student and charge accidentally being set on fire. Especially with their own fire.

Lee struggled for a few more moments as the words started to take root. Then slowly, her efforts petered out into a stop, and looked at Rangi with a sullen expression. Then she looked away with a pout.

“You need to work on relaxation and mental coordination first,” Rangi explained, finally letting go of Lee’s fists and walking to a spot in the field she deemed sufficient for training. “Early lessons in firebending are all about suppressing flame and keeping it controlled. For a beginner, making visible fire means failure.”

Rangi got down into a deep horse stance. “We’re going to do stance training first. I want you to mimic me and get into a horse stance.”

Lee sauntered over to Rangi, but instead of getting to the stance position, she lifted her foot up and placed it on Rangi’s thigh. And then she pushed. Rangi braced against the surprising force, but she didn’t budge or make a noise. She was used to that kind of strain from her own personal training regiment. 

After a moment, Lee stopped and then pouted again. “Damn it… You really are sturdier than I thought… Alright, I’ll listen to you.” She moved to stand across from Rangi, and squatted down.

Rangi stood up and started circling Lee, looking for faults. “Get lower, your hips need to be more parallel.” Lee flinched, and then looked at Rangi wearily, Rangi scoffed. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not going to force you down. Unlike what you just tried to do, I’m not trying to break you.” Lee looked away guiltily, and then eased herself down.

She saw Lee struggling with her breath control. “Maintain your breathing, you’re pretty good at it. Breathing will help fuel your Fire Chakra.” Rangi gestured towards her stomach. She kept observing Lee for a few more breaths before feeling satisfied with the rhythm she had going.

Rangi circled around to Lee’s back. “I owe you an apology.” She saw Lee flinch her words but didn’t say anything. “I shouldn’t have called you stupid, or ‘rocks-for-brains’. Nor should I have hit you. Just because I found the situation frustrating, didn’t mean I should’ve taken it out on you. I’m sorry.”

“So that means I’m not the-”

Rangi jabbed Lee’s lower back with her finger, a little harder than she intended, it almost jammed her finger. This girl is just solid all around, isn’t she? She thought, biting her lip, relieved that Lee couldn’t see her face right now. “That’s not what I was insinuating, you’re still the Avatar. I just…. I realized I was in a similar situation as you, my mom lied to me too. I don’t think she meant to or realized it, but it happened.”

Lee didn’t respond until the five minute mark had passed. “You know, this exercise was not made for tall people in mind,” she let out a strained chuckle, seeming to accept Rangi’s apology. 

“Tell me about it,” Rangi groaned, she was above average height herself so she understood the struggle. “But it’ll help you, with both firebending and earthbending.”

“Great, cause I need it,” Lee laughed again. 

Rangi sighed and proceeded to circle Lee again, “So are there any other earth shattering secrets you want to get off your chest? Like, do you have a second head hidden under your clothes?”

Lee arched an eyebrow and gave Rangi a smug grin, “You want to see what’s under my clothes?”

Rangi swept Lee’s leg out from under her and scoffed, a blush dancing on her face. “Focus on your training, you sleaze!”

Lee got up in huff, and grabbed Rangi by the shoulder. “Hey! That hurt, don’t just do that!”

Rangi poked Lee’s chest in retaliation. “D-don’t say weird things!”

Lee groaned, “ It was a joke! I was just joking! Ugh, Kirima was right, you Fire Nation lot really don't know how to take a joke!”

Rangi couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed hearing another girl’s name coming out of Lee’s mouth. More so than the slight against her own country.

“Now you listen here, I can take a joke-ow!” Rangi stuck her finger into Lee’s chest again, to prove a point, and then winced. It had collided with something hard, really hard, if she wasn’t getting so acquainted with Lee’s muscles she would’ve just assumed that’s what it was. But the lack of give made it apparent it was metal not muscle.

Without thinking, she flattened her hand out over the object that was hidden under Lee’s tunic. It felt rectangular, with sharp edges. Nothing like the toy and circular tube she’d seen Lee shove into her tunic before.

She rubbed the object slightly, trying to figure it out. She furrowed her brow and parted her lips in concentration,  but couldn’t pinpoint what the shape could be.

“What’s…” Rangi looked up, but the rest of her question died in her throat.

Lee was looking down at her, a slight blush on her own face. “That’s-uh….um….”

“Um, am I interrupting something?” A voice tore their attention away from each other. It was Yun, and his eyes were almost bulging out of their eye sockets

Rangi felt Lee jump under her hand, and she saw Lee look away from Yun. Rangi blinked and looked back at Yun, she was getting concerned by how far his eyeballs were almost coming out of his head. 

What’s the matter with these two? She looked down at her hand where it rested on Lee’s chest, and realized what the situation looked like. She could feel her own eyes almost popping out of her head Oh… Oh! Oh no! No no no no no no!

“N-no! This isn’t-I was just-!” Rangi should’ve pulled her hand away like what one usually does when they accidentally touch hot metal. But her hand felt like it had melded in with the hot metal instead. 

“Um, yes you were,” Lee said with ease to Yun, Lee was finally facing Yun again but her demeanor was back to normal. Rangi looked at her, confused and on the verge of freaking out. “Firecracker over here was trying to help me control my firebending-” 

Oh, oh yes! Right, that’s what we were doing. 

“-and she told me to take off my shirt,” Lee said, removing her hand from Rangi’s shoulder, and pulling at her own tunic’s fabric for added effect. 

Hm? Rangi's own wide eyes strayed from Yun’s ever growing shocked face, to Lee. Lee narrowed her eyes at her and gave her a teasing smile. Eh? EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!

“That’s what you wanted, right? My shirt off?” Lee asked with an impish tone with feign innocence. She grabbed the hand Rangi had on her chest, and slowly dragged it to the middle of her being, just above her heart. Rangi could feel the hard object fade away from under her palm and was instead replaced by something soft. With each inch, Rangi felt her body flushing, starting at the tips of her toes, and slowly creeping its way upward; with it, the inability to breathe as well.

“I think you wanted to check my chakras? Was it here?” Lee pressed Rangi’s hand harder into her chest. Rangi could hear whistling, perhaps steam was leaking out of her ears?

“Hmmmm, but that’s the air chakra, I think this is what you’re looking for….” She trailed off like how her hand made Rangi’s trail farther down onto her body. Rangi didn’t need to imagine the muscles under Lee’s tunic anymore, her hand was painting her a clear picture all on its own. 

Lee stopped Rangi’s hand at the base of her stomach, Rangi couldn’t help but hook her finger tips forward, catching them in the grooves of Lee’s abs. “The fire chakra. This is the one you really wanted, right?” Lee leaned forward and said the last sentence low into Rangi’s ear. 

Rangi reached a boiling point, and like a tea kettle cap, burst. She shot away from Lee’s reach by a few feet. “OH, WOW, I’M TIRED, I’M GOING TO BED!” Her voice had a high pitch whistling sound as steam seeped out of her mouth and ears. 

Rangi quickly turned to run away from the duo, only to slam face first into a tree. Her limbs sprawled out on either side of the trunk like a children’s cartoonist portrait.

“That’s not the way to the cave, dear!” Lee smiled, her voice a little condescending.

“I don’t want to sleep with you!” Near! I meant near you! I don’t want to sleep near you! Be near you! She cursed at her own fumble, but didn’t bother to correct it because her vision was getting dizzier by the second. If it was the sudden concussion she might’ve just given herself, or something else, she wasn’t sure. 

“Oh, you wound me!” Lee exclaimed, sounding anything but wounded.

Rangi sprinted off into the distance, not caring where she was going as long as it wasn’t there. In her mad get away, Rangi had an epiphany.

The death of her. Rangi was sure of it. These two earth assholes were going to be the death of her!

Yun watched as Rangi ran off….somewhere to cool off. Or combust. 

Yun could only stand there stunned. He’d read up as much as he could about the Fire Nation, especially about their customs and ways of living. He’d found it fascinating, as he did with every nation. One thing he found especially interesting was just how…..emotional Fire Nation could be when they weren’t busy trying to control or suppress their emotions. 

He’d read that they could really go off the rails at times. And Yun should know how true that statement was, upon hearing such a statement he indulged himself in as many Fire Nation romance stories he could find. 

And you know what his research proved to him? It was a bunch of bull pig. The Fire Nation romance novels were about the same level of intensity that the other nation romance novels he read. Ok ok, maybe a little spicier, but not that spicy. 

If the Fire Nation’s people and their intense way of romance was a statistic, it was all because of Rangi. Which meant, she was an outlier and should not be counted. Rangi was her own special breed of disaster.

Maybe it’s the more tightly wound they are, the more they just lose it like this? He theorized, trying to give his observation of Rangi the benefit of the doubt. Rangi was the most tightly wound person he knew, so it’d make sense.

Yun stopped his theorizing and looked at Lee, who was as calm as a sea cucumber. She noticed him staring at her, and clapped him on the back. “You saved my bacon!”

Yun just blinked at her, really unsure what he walked into. He thought he heard the girls whispering about firebending training, but what he saw was…..well…. NOT firebending training that’s for sure. He cursed himself, he should’ve kept quiet. Waited for something juicer to happen before interrupting them. 

He decided to let curiosity get the better of him, even if it may ruin his fun in the long run. “Why’d you do that?”

“Hm? Do what?” Looked at him confused. 

“You know,” Yun took one of his hands into his own, and then slid them down from his chest to his stomach. “Chakras.” He spoke the last word in a deep, mock seduction voice.

Lee let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, that. I was getting back at her. I think we’re even now.”

Well that piqued his interest. Yun cleared his throat from the glee that was trying to emerge from it, trying to play it cool. “Back at her? Um, w-why do you pshh, I mean, what makes you think that’s going to get back at Rangi?”

“Because she hates me?” Lee looked at him confused, like it was the most obvious thing on the planet.

Yun’s jaw unlatched like a trap door.

Lee started listing all the obvious clues on each finger. “I mean, she acts like I have some sort of disease, she never wants to get near me. If she does touch me, she acts like she’s being stabbed. She’s always red faced and angry. And did you see her? She was literally steaming mad.” Lee shrugged. “I mean she made it clear she hates daofei, so I guess it makes sense. So I thought ‘If she hates daofei so much, she’d really hate touching one of their chakra points. You know, really feel the bad daofei juju flowing through me.” Lee wiggled her fingers, like she was casting a spell.

“Yeah….you…..might…..be on…to….something,” Yun struggled to get the words out. I don’t think it was the chakra points she was feeling up.

“Yeah, well, she’s going to have to deal with it, I guess?” Lee shrugged, then yawned. “I’m going to go back to bed. I’ll be in the cave.” 

Yun stared at Lee as she left, and the biggest grin spread across his face. She had given him the best birthday present ever, and it wasn’t even his birthday.

Fate may have screwed him over from being the Avatar, but he was given a fairly fun and distracting consolation prize. He was going to enjoy his fun while he could.

Chapter Text

“H-hey, ah, Firecracker…. D-don’t go, ah, so fast,” Lee gasped, sweat pooling down her face from exertion. “I…I don’t think I….can keep up!”

“That….just means, you lack….endurance!” Rangi panted as she thrusted forward.

“Why am I doing this too?” Yun complained, sweat resting on his brow. “I’m not even a firebender!” Rangi had no idea why he was struggling so much, surely her mother put him through worse. “Ugh, by the way, this is way worse than Hei-Ran’s drills.” Nevermind, apparently Rangi was worse.

As the trio were making their way to their next destination, which was apparently around the mountain rather than through it. Rangi demanded the hotsquad part of the way. Rangi said it was to help with Lee’s training, but it was pretty clear to the other two she wanted to just torture them. 

But Rangi insisted it was to help Lee’s firebending training, they had a lot to drill into her, and she wasn’t sure how much time they had. So hotsquat hell it was.

“I told you I was going to hotsquat you from here to Koh!” She yelled as she continued to perform perfect hotsquats.

“What is your obsession with Koh?!” Lee whined. “And we aren't even going in the right direction for that!”

“It’s just an expression!”

“It’s a messed up one, that’s what it is!”

“It’s not my fault! It’s a common expression!”

“Ahhhhh, how much longer?” Yun was gasping.

“Fine, just five more squats,” she relented.

“No, I mean how much longer until we are out of this nightmare?!” Yun clarified, gesturing to their surroundings.

“Oh, I think we're close,” Lee said nonchalantly. 

“WHAT?!” Yun and Rangi yelled in unison. They were so surprised they stopped their hotsquats. 

“I mean, we're getting close to how I got out last time…..I think,” she scratched the back of her head, unsure.

“Let me guess, you can tell because of some special Avatar senses?” Rangi asked.

“No…..” Lee pouted, then reconsidered. “Maybe?”

“Great! And we did it all without that spirit guide, too?” Yun stretched his body, happy to be out of the torture. 

Lee sighed unhappily. “Yeah…. It's a shame we didn't get to see her.”

Not for me. Rangi tried to taper down an ever growing annoyance, which apparently the mysterious spirit guide had a direct line to. 

Rangi looked over at Yun, who flashed her a wicked grin. Well that can’t be good. 

“What's she like?” he asked.

Lee seemed to perk up at his inquisition. “She's super adventurous, really likes to learn new things, and can be a little nosy and mischievous.” She let out a carefree laugh, she seemed happy talking about the mysterious woman. It made Rangi want to punch holes in the mountain next to her. Pride in her ability to restrain herself was the only thing that kept her from doing just that.

Yun seemed happy to prod for more info. “Did you learn a lot from her in the spirit world?”

“Yeah! Actually we've met up in the real world too, she taught me most of the stuff there, but she's pretty busy. Her boss can be demanding.”

Yun gasped in mock despair, “Well, isn’t that just a shame! Don’t you think so, Rangi?”

Rangi could feel a vein pulsing in her head. “Yeah, truly a shame.” Saying the words felt like gravel in her mouth. She wasn’t sure why he was trying to goad her, but she did know one thing. Even if he was an earthbender, she’d figure out a way to bury him six feet deep.

“Yeah it is,” Lee sighed sullenly and then whined, “She's soooo pretty too.”

“Oh, well, that does it! We can’t get out of the Spirit World just yet!” Yun declared, with the same smarmy voice he’d use to quell some delegates. Lee and Rangi both stared at him with different types of wide eyes.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rangi growled. She was completely confused by his one-eighty, and livid at where the conversation was going.

“Yeah, I’m with Firecracker. Don’t you need to get out of here as soon as possible?” Yun and Rangi exchanged an unsure look with each other upon hearing Lee’s words. Before, they needed to get back because of Yun. Now? Once they got back, their next trial would be helping guide Avatar Lee to Avatarhood. If they could get Lee to do her duties. 

Perhaps they could wait a bit. Better to be stuck in the nightmare you’re familiar with than jump headfirst into one you aren’t, right? 

Yun turned back to Lee. “I mean, it’d just be a shame if we didn’t get to see your pretty gal! I want to meet her! Rangi and I can help you find her!” He flashed Rangi a smile that could incite a riot. “But first we need to know what we’re looking at. So tell me…. What does she look like? Hair color?”

Lee blinked at him a bit confused, “Hai-oh! Um, I think I could best describe it as rustic brown, really soft and full too! I love running my hands through it!” Rangi felt like she got pierced by an arrow, and staggered a bit, not the other two noticed just yet. It was fine, maybe she could cauterize the wound!

Yun nodded in understanding, “I see, I see. Eye color then? Face? Height?”

“Um, striking green eyes, the prettiest I’ve ever seen, in fact! Slim face with cute round cheeks…. And pretty short? You could easily pick her up! Great to cuddle with!” Mayday mayday! Too many arrows were striking Rangi. Cauterization was too risky! Immediate medical attention was needed and soon!

“Aaaaand does this mysterious girl have a name?”

“Kuzunoha, but I call her Kuzu!” Lee grinned. She even has a nickname for her! A normal one! Rangi was bleeding out emotionally. 

“Hey, Firecracker, you ok?” Lee turned to Rangi, confused.

Rangi was leaning one hand on the mountain side, while the other rested on the side of her waist while she was bent forward. “Yeah…. never better,” she strangled out. 

Is that her type? I-I’m not anything like she described. Rangi bit her lip as she felt sweat starting to pool down her neck. My hair is generically black and not a unique brown, it’s thin and silky but not full and fluffy. Plus, we’d be in big trouble if anyone caught her touching my hair. My eyes are the color of mud, my face-well- my jaw is too strong. And while I’m shorter than Lee, I’m way above average for a normal girl.

It wasn’t that Rangi thought she was bad looking, quite the opposite. It was the fact that she was pretty much the opposite of everything Lee had described about this girl she deemed pretty. It didn’t matter how pretty she was, if she wasn’t Lee’s type she was at a serious disadvantage. It made her want to throw up. 

“How did you meet her?” Yun continued his questions, either not caring or not noticing his friend bleeding out. “I think you implied you met her as a kid in the spirit world, but you didn’t tell us how.”

“Oh yeah, I was wandering around here when Yangchen Introduced us-” Lee gasped in realization. “Wait! Maybe I can ask Yangchen!”

Without taking Rangi or Yun’s opinions into consideration, Lee dropped down into a lotus position, and began to meditate.

Yun took the opportunity to saddle up to the nearly catatonic Rangi. “Soooo, why so quiet?”

Rangi choked and then cleared her throat. “What kind of game are you playing at?”

Yun chuckled, “Calm down, I’m just wondering how you're doing.” His friendly smile became mischievous. “Because you seem to have some competition.”

“In what?” Rangi scoffed, feigning nonchalance. As if she was trying to cover her tracks, unfortunately for her, her tracks were the size of craters. 

“Oh you know, just trying to figure out Lee’s type,” he whispered. “I’m doing this for you, fishing for information. You should be thanking me!” Then he tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Then again, I noticed you didn’t fit any of the things she described Ms. Kuzunoha.”

Rangi slammed her shin into his ass. She wasn’t trying to hurt him, but she wanted him to knock it off. She wasn’t in the mood.

“You are aware the only thing keeping me from ending you before was your Avatarhood? Do you really want to test me?”

“Gah! Sorry, sorry!” He gave her an actual apologetic smile. Then his expression became thoughtful again. He tapped his cheek, just under his eye. Then he twirled his own hair between his fingers, examining it. “Huh, maybe I have a shot?” He gave Rangi a joking smile that turned fearful when he saw the piercing glare she gave him. 

She was about to….do something, rip into him? Kick him again? But both she and Yun were knocked off balance by a powerful gust of wind. They whipped their heads over to Lee, and saw the gust forming around a spot right in front of her. A miniature vortex. It grew denser and denser until….. It instantly vanished, leaving a person behind.

A beautiful nun sat in place of the vortex, her sharp eyes taking in everything around her. Eyes, that Rangi couldn’t help but compare to Lee’s. They surprisingly looked so similar, despite Lee not being of Air Nomad origin. Maybe it was a reincarnation thing?

Her face had a gentle benevolence to it, but also stern, like the powerful woman of legend that she was. Just like Kuruk, she radiated the same Avatar aura. 

Yangchen looked directly at Lee. “My child… I-I don't believe it! You’ve called on me of your own accord?” Her voice was gentle, patient, and pleasant.

Yun grabbed Rangi’s shoulder and shook her excitedly, “Rangi! Rangi! It’s Yangcheng! It’s THE Yangchen!” Rangi could only nod in astonishment.

Yangchen gave Lee a warm smile. “Kuruk gave me a quick briefing, please, how can I be of service? Do you need guidance out of the Spirit World? Or-”

“I wanna see Kuzu,” Lee said with such disregard for any type of polite conversation, that it ruined the mystical moment instantly.

Some of the gentle happiness seemed to melt away off of Yangchen, and she sighed. “Yes, yes. Of course you’d ask that.” Yangchen rose to her feet, Lee following not long after. “You’re in luck, I believe she’s this way.”

Yangchen gestured towards a nearby forest and proceeded to lead them. They traveled in silence. Yun and Rangi were too stunned and nervous to work up the courage to talk to the past Avatar. Lee because, well, she probably didn’t care to make conversation. 

After about ten minutes of silent walking, the trees began to open up, and a lake appeared before them. A familiar lake, and a familiar clearing.

Rangi blinked, “This…. This looks like the place where we were first dragged into.”

“Huh, yeah it kinda does,” Lee commented back. 

Rangi slowly turned towards Lee, who flinched at whatever expression laid on Rangi’s face. “Lee, did we just spend spirits knows how many days….going. In. A. Circle?”

Lee took a step back, sweat pooling down her face. “W-what? No! This place is totally different! I swear!” She spluttered. 

“I don’t know, it looks the same to me,” Yun said darkly. Murder, also apparently on his mind.

Rangi grabbed Lee by her tunic and shook her. “I swear, Lee. I swear on every spirit in existence. IF THIS IS THE SAME PLACE-”

“It’s not! It’s not!” Lee shook her head violently. “It’s completely different!”

“No, it’s the same place,” Yanchen said, beaming at the three teens. “You’ve gone in a complete circle.”

Lee yelped as Rangi’s knuckles cracked as she gripped the tunic harder. Heat was starting to roll off of her so violently, her and Lee’s stray hairs started to rise up. “She’s lying! I’m telling you! She’s a liar!”

Rangi shifted her foot, the ground cracked under the building combustion pressure her body was starting to generate. “LEE! YOU-”

“I’m just kidding, it’s not the same place, it just looks similar,” Yangchen laughed, covering her face with her robe’s sleeve. Then she gave the three a gentle smile. “Consider this payback for always calling me a liar, dear.”

Rangi let go of Lee, who looked ready to murder someone herself. Too bad for her, her target was already dead. She marched her way over to the apparition of Yangchen. “Oh! That’s a bright idea, lie because you hated being called a liar!” 

Yangchen’s gentle smile turned sly, very unbecoming of a nun, or Avatar for that matter. “Hmmm, I know. But I’m petty and I saw an opportunity. I’m known for seizing opportunities when they’re presented to me. You should already know that, though.”

Lee grabbed her head in frustration and stomped her foot. “Ugh! This is why I hate you! This is wh-”

Lee stopped her tirade and gasped. She was looking at something right behind Yangchen. She rushed forward, practically pushing the nun out of the way. While Yun and Rangi stared at the sacrilegious act in shock, Yangchen only briefly had a look of surprise before it turned into resignation. Such an occurrence was normal for their dynamic apparently.

“Kuzu!” Lee screamed with such unbridled joy, she almost seemed like a different person to Rangi. A sour taste began to fill her throat that dripped down to the very core of her being. 

Rangi expected to see a beautiful woman right behind Lee and Yangchen, but still wasn’t able to see said woman, she was completely obscured by Lee’s large form. Was she really that short?

Then Lee dropped to her knees, and Rangi finally saw something. It was a big, bushy….tail? Yes, that’s what it was. It poked out over Lee’s shoulder, it resembled a falconfox’s tail. Or perhaps a fox antelope?

Lee finally moved her body so they could see the creature. It did look like a falconfox but without the feathers. The creature's thin snout lapped at Lee’s face, who laughed with glee. “Stop it! Hey! Come over here, this is Kuzu!”

Rangi and Yun didn’t move, they could only blink.

“It’s….a…….fox?” Rangi finally forced out.

“It’s a fox?” Yun repeated.

“It’s a fox,” Yangchen clarified for them, not taking her eyes off of her successor.

“Not a falcon fox?” Rangi asked, eyes still not leaving Lee and Kuzu.

“Or a fox antelope?” Yun added.

“Nope, it’s a fox. Just a fox,” Yangchen patiently clarified. 

Rangi felt her color and energy seep away from her body into nothingness. She fell to her knees. “I was jealous, over a FUCKING fox?!”

Yangchen finally gave the duo attention. “Y-yes?” She took a step back in surprise and confusion, but then her look melded into something more akin to pity. 

Yun seemed to collect himself upon seeing Rangi’s despair. “I’m sorry my dear friend. What was that? Care to repeat?” He cupped his ear in delight as he squatted down next to his friend. 

“You. Heard. Nothing.” She strangled out, as she let herself sink to the spirit floor. A worm, she was going to let herself become a worm. The emotional whiplash was just too great for her, she craved to be reincarnated as a simple worm.

The fox bounded over to Rangi, and began digging her snout between Rangi’s face and the ground. It was wet. Rangi turned her face over to accept her fate, and let the animal lick her face. It didn’t matter if she got slobber on her, she needed a bath anyway.

“Wow, Kuzu really likes you Firecracker!” Lee said, astonished. Rangi chose to read it as ‘I can’t believe anyone would like you!’ which caused her to sink lower into the ground.

She felt a hand hook itself between the bottom part of her armor and lift her up. “Woah now! I don’t know why you’re so out of it, but the Spirit World might eat ‘cha if you aren’t careful,” Lee said, hoisting her over her back onto her feet.

Kuzu jumped onto her hindlegs, and yipped happily at Rangi. Rangi patted the soft cheek of the fox. “There, there. Pretty girl, pretty girl.” Then she stared blankly at Yun. “Still think you have a shot?”

She let her eyes relay the real message. ‘Yeah, you seem to be her type, for a pet!’

Yun scowled at her as a blush crept across his face. He should know that if he couldn’t handle the heat, then to stay out of a firebender’s way.

Lee looked between them, confused. “A shot at what?”

“Nothing!” Yun yelled, still embarrassed, making his own way over to pet Kuzu. “N-now that we found Kuzu, perhaps we should get out of here!”

The fox yipped at them again. 

“Aw really? Darn,” Lee complained, as if she could understand the fox.

“What? Did she say something?” Yun asked. 

“I thought we were close, but we’re still another day away,” Lee shrugged, accepting that this was just how things were.

Yun groaned in despair. 

“I think we should just camp here,” Rangi declared as she wiped her face with her sleeve. She was too tired from the emotional whiplash anyway. Plus she could clean herself off in the nearby lake.

Yun looked like he was about to protest when a voice spoke up, “I think that’s a good plan. You’ll have a lot of trials to get through soon, so it’s best to rest while you still can.” The trio looked over at the voice.

Yangchen arched an eyebrow at them, as if saying ‘Yes, I’m still here.’ It was surprising it took this long for them to remember that one of the greatest Avatars that ever existed, was still four feet away. Yun and Rangi gave her sheepish and embarrassed looks, Lee looked like she didn’t care, and Kuzu….panted happily. 

“Thank you for the wisdom, Avatar Yangchen,” Rangi bowed to her. “And, I’m sorry for the late introductions, but I’m Rangi, Lee’s bodyguard.”

Yun bowed in a similar fashion, “And I’m Yun, Lee’s bodyguard…..and advisor!”

Yangchen looked at Lee with both eyebrows raised, wrinkling the airbender arrow on her forehead. “Lee?”

“Whaaaaat?” Lee shrugged, annoyed.

“Really?” She almost scoffed out.

“I’d like to see you do better!”

“I can and I have, you know this!” 

Lee waved a shooing motion at the world’s most sacred nun to ever walk the planet. “Whatever.”

Yangchen sighed, “Well if that’s all that’s needed-”

“Wait!” Yun cried out, he wasn’t going to let Yangchen go as easily as he had let Kuruk go. “I have a question! Two actually!”

“Yes, what is it?” Yangchen tilted her head to the side, curiously.

“So the first question is, Kuruk said you’re the one who convinced Lee to break into the Avatar’s Estate in Yokoya,” Yun began. “We just wanted to know the whole deal with that.”

As Yangchen parted her lips, Lee intervened. “I said I already told you why I broke in! Don’t try to go higher up the command chain to dig for something that’s not there!”

Yangchen shrugged, choosing to side with her successor. “What’s the other question?”

“Lee mentioned that her mom was able to contact you, is that true? And if so, what did you talk about? Lee only said some garbled stuff about ‘auspicious winds’ or whatever!”

Yangchen looked uncomfortable, she paled and a bead of sweat rolled down from her forehead to her cheek. “Oh….. Um… Well,” she coughed. “Ky-I mean-Lee and I communicated a few times when she was a child, trying to convince her she was the Avatar. One day during our sessions, I tried to show her one of my memories. Then she grabbed my head and well….. She didn’t see one memory.” She put a hand to head and pressed it in really hard. “She saw all of them.”

“And it hurt!” Lee grinned, as if pleased with herself. “You really had a lot of dirty little secrets, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes, yes. I know,” she snipped at the younger girl. “In any case, this child decided she would ask her mother to clarify some certain moments in my life. Which led to the world’s most embarrassing parent-teacher conference, as you could imagine.”

“Hey, I didn’t blab all of your secrets! Like how you’re the reason the spirits went dark! I kept that hidden!” Lee shifted her eyes around at the people near her. “Until now….”

Yangchen gave Lee a deadpan look that could rival Rangi’s. “Yes, Lee. Thank you. Back to your question, I basically got chewed out by her mother over something outside of my control.”

“Huh, and here I thought it might’ve just been your bunk about me being the Avatar.”

Yangchen gave her a withered look. “But you are the-” She stopped herself and looked at Rangi. “Can you hit her again?”

“No!” Lee jumped back, arms covering her head.

Rangi shook her head and said in a defeated tone, “If I did, that’d make me a poor bodyguard.” She was determined to not lose herself like that again.

Lee turned to Rangi, annoyed. “Make? You already did it once! You already suck!”

“That was different!” Rangi defended.

“Oh really? Tell me, what justified you using my head as a damn taiko drum?!”

Rangi threw her hands in the air. “Excuse me for having a rough time with my duties and the sudden transition of power!! I’m not going to do it again!”

Yangchen rested a hand on her own cheek and sighed. “Well that’s a shame.”

“You’re a nun! Why advocating for violence?!” Lee yelled at her past life.

“I don’t want to hear it, especially coming from Jesa’s kid!” Yangchen waved her hand away. “Either devote yourself to Air Nomad way of life and hide behind that rhetoric, or don’t and take your licks as they come!”

Rangi looked at Yun, confused. Why were they talking about Air Nomads and their way of life when there was only one here?

Yangchen cleared her throat, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to head back. Goodbye.”

Lee kicked the ground where Yangchen had been standing. “Gah! I can’t stand her! ‘Head back,’ the hell does she mean by that? She's dead! What else does she plan on doing?”

“Um, Lee, what was that bit at the end-” Yun began to ask.

“Don’t worry about it!” Lee batted the question away. Ok, she wasn’t in the mood for prying. 

Lee then turned back, her focus on Kuzu. “Who’s a good girl? Did you miss me?”

Kuzu bounded over to Lee and nuzzled its face into her open hands. 

“Did you name her? Kuzu I mean,” Rangi asked. The fox didn’t seem capable of speech, then again it seemed that Lee could understand it.

“Yeah! Didn’t I tell you guys earlier?”

“No,” Rangi replied, her eye twitching a bit. If Lee had then she might not have gone into a mini spiral. It would’ve at least raised a question for why Lee named a human. 

“Oh, well, yeah! I named her. Isn’t that right Kuzu?” Lee’s voice went into baby talk mode as she cooed at Kuzu and ruffled her fur. The fox barked happily. “Your boss didn’t give you a name, but I did! Yes I did!”

“A fox can hold a job?” Rangi asked, rubbing her temple trying to stave off a new headache.

Lee scoffed, “Not like in an abider sense, but yes, she works at a library. Wan Shi Tong's library in fact!”

Yun’s eyes widened. “Wait, Wan Shi Tong? That Wan Shi Tong? That legendary spirit? Is that fox a spirit, not an animal?” 

Lee blinked at them. “Yeah, yeah, yes, and yeah.”

“Bu-but you said to steer clear of spirits!”

“I did.”

“But what about Kuzu?!”

“She’s different.”

“How?!”

“Because I love her,” Lee’s eyes shone like a proud parent. Rangi patted Yun’s back, signaling to just drop it. He needed to choose his battles.

“Well,” Rangi started making her way towards the lake. “I’m going to get myself cleaned up, and go to bed.”

She started untying her armor’s knots swiftly and efficiently, easily peeling them away.

“Ah, what are you doing?” Lee asked.

Rangi was on the edge of the lake now, and dropped her armor pieces onto the ground. She sat down to start taking off her boots and socks. “I’m going to jump in this lake, and wash off what I can, and then go to sleep.” She got up and proceeded to take off her red long sleeved shirt and pants that went under her armor. She was now dressed only in her white sleeveless tunic and her white undershorts, one layer away from being in her undergarments. She turned back to look at Yun and Lee. “Unless….you’re about to say that’s not a lake and actually a spirit that’ll eat me whole?”

She watched as Lee’s eyes flicker up and down a few times in her direction. “Uh, no, that’s just a normal lake. It should be clean, but….”

“It’s probably cold, Rangi,” Yun interjected, a small smirk playing on his face. He started making his way over to the edge of the lake next to Rangi. Lee quickly got up and followed. 

Rangi rolled her shoulders. “I’ll be fine, firebenders can handle a little cold-Ah! No stop! Don’t bite that!” The fox thought the armor pieces were a nifty new chew toy. Rangi tried to shoo Kuzu away from her armor, unaware of Yun whispering something to Lee.

After she made sure Kuzu wasn’t going to eat her clothes, she stood back up, and was instantly greeted by an unfamiliar warmth on her left side. 

Yun had grabbed her left arm with one hand, and wrapped his right arm all the way around to her other shoulder. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, in fact he was dressed down to his briefs. “What do you think you’re doing?” She said annoyed. 

“You just gave me a great idea, Rangi!” He looked down at her with a sly grin and a wink. 

She looked back at him confused and irritated, then jumped when she felt a different presence wrap their arm around her waist, and grabbed her right hand. She looked to her right to see Lee standing next to her with her own grin of mischief. Both thankfully and upsetting to Rangi, Lee had chosen to stay fully dressed in her thief’s attire.

Yun playfully shook Rangi’s shoulders, “I never could handle cold water, so-”

“Thank you for your service, soldier!” Lee finished with a grin. 

Rangi’s eyes widened in horror as she saw the two earthbenders that sandwiched her bring their front legs down in unison, and launched them into the air via a pillar of rock. 

The three teens screamed with different emotions as they flew through the air. Rangi kicked her feet, wishing she had something solid, and only held off on not jet-stepping in fear of burning the two idiots that had a vice grip on her.

They landed in the middle of the lake with a giant splash. They all kicked up in unison towards the surface of the water, the two earthbenders still not letting go of their heatsource. 

Rangi felt her back pressed up against someone, “Ah! Yeah this does make swimming in a cold lake soooo much more tolerable.” Lee snuggled her face into Rangi’s back as she held her from behind by the waist. Rangi had mixed emotions about it.

Rangi felt something cold press into her arm and leg, it was Yun’s hands and feet. “Wooot! Now my fingers and toes won’t go cold! Thanks Rangi.” Her emotions on Yun? A lot less mixed. 

Rangi tried swatting at them. “Ugh! I hate you both!”

Lee grinned. “I know, but that’s what makes you so warm!”

“Argh! Get off of me! Get off!” She tried kicking away, but it was futile in Lee’s iron hold. Remind me to never get into a grappling match with her. She thought to herself.

“Woah! Hey, Rangi! I get you’re mad but tone it down!” Yun cried. “It’s getting too hot!

But I’m not that hot-! Rangi’s eyes widened as she looked down, the water around them started to bubble. Before she could warn them to move, something shot up past them, knocking them all back.

Rangi went under and somersaulted backwards. She opened her eyes, and saw a blue and green body with red glowing veins. It was almost worm-like in appearance. She quickly swam forward and to the top, trying to get closer to Lee. She had to protect the Avatar!

She burst forth from the water with a gasp, and she heard two other gasps do the same. She looked around, both Yun and Lee had been thrown back on opposite sides of the lake. 

“Who dares disturb my domain?!” A powerful voice echoed above them. Rangi looked up, while the bottom half of the body was worm-like, where the head should have been, it looked like a snow monkey leopard, but without the leopard parts. 

A spirit?! But was it dark? No it was talking, and it didn’t secrete the black good the fish head one had. 

Rangi looked at the distance between how far she’d have to swim between Yun or Lee, it was about the same distance. She started thrusting her arms forward as she swam, and, surprising herself, swam to Lee without hesitation. Duty, honor, instinct, reasonable thought? It all felt like shields made of glass that were breaking and cutting into her as she turned her back on her friend. 

She grabbed Lee by the waist and started pulling her to shore. “We were just leaving!” Rangi yelled at the spirit. “Waterbend! Can you waterbend?!” She whispered to Lee. It was the one element she hadn’t seen her use yet.

Lee responded by nodding and digging into her tunic, after the longest five seconds of Rangi's life, Lee procured something from underneath. A long rectangular….thing? Metal bar? It almost looked like a folded fan.

Rangi had no idea how that related to waterbending, but didn’t bother to chastise. She just started kicking the two of them away as fast as possible.

Lee angled the item in her hand at Yun, and then with a few swishes of her wrist, his body was sent away by a tidal wave until he was back onto shore on the left side. Rangi sighed inwardly with relief that her friend was saved. 

Her small calm was short-lived as a finned tail shot up from out of the water, and hit Rangi and Lee. The two girls separated into the water. Rangi saw Lee tumbling and tried to swim to her, but was hit and carried by the tail on its way up and out of the surface. The force caused Rangi to go careening towards a rocky surface on the right side of the lake. She tried to right herself with jet stepping or any kind of firebending, but her flames spluttered from the water she was still soaked in.

Just as she was about to hit the sharp rocks, they receded and softened. Rangi hit the newly pulverized rocks hard in the left shoulder. She let out a strangled gasp of pain, the wind knocked out of her, and her shoulder most likely suffered a broken bone. But it was still better than the alternative if the rocks hadn’t softened.

“Rangi!” She heard Yun cry. She wanted to wallow in self pity, knowing her friend did what he could to save her, while she only thought of Lee and how her choice only worked out in convenience.

But she couldn’t do that, she needed to force her body to roll out of the way from an oncoming attack. The spirit inhaled deeply from its mouth, as it did so its red veins began to glow, and then shot out a torrent of boiling water at her.

She barely got out of the way and hid behind a boulder. Once the torrent of water had subsided, she looked around behind the rock. It appeared during the attack, Lee had somehow been flung onto Yun’s side of the lake. 

“Firecracker!” Lee yelled. “Run into the forest! We’ll meet up! We gotta get out of here!”

“Tch, alright!” Rangi clicked her teeth in frustration. This meant she had to leave her armor behind, and Yun all his clothes. But it was better than getting boiled alive.

She inhaled, and made a break to the forest in front of her as she heard the spirit wind up with another attack. She only stopped and looked back when she heard barking. 

Kuzu was nearby and was barking at the spirit for some reason. To Rangi’s horror she realized that Yun and Lee were farther from the forest edge than she was, and the spirit was going to attack them. And there was nothing she could do about it but watch.

However, Kuzu’s barking seemed to have drawn the attention of the spirit, because it now aimed its attack at her!

Rangi sprinted as the spirit inhaled, and lunged forward as she heard it exhale, grabbing the fox and shielding it with her body as she dove out of the way. A stream of the water hit her already injured left shoulder as she dodged under it, and burned it. As Rangi hit the ground she let out a gargled wail. Which increased when Kuzu grabbed her arm with her mouth, sinking her teeth into her wrist and pulled her along the forest floor to get her into the treeline. 

As Rangi’s body and wounds scraped the forest floor, she looked through tearful eyes and saw that Yun and Lee had gotten to safety in the treeline. 

Rangi wavered in and out of consciousness as she was drugged along. For a good while, the only thing she could hear was the sound of the water torrent hitting the trees, the trees violently being blown apart, and Kuzus's whimpering. They may have had a close call with a tree falling on them, if they did it was during one of Rangi’s periods of blankness.

The next images whirred by her like she was watching a play while intoxicated. The voices of Lee and Yun calling to them. Someone, probably Lee, picking her up off the ground. And running. So much running. The bouncing movement hurt almost as much as being dragged by Kuzu. Until it stopped, and she was on the ground again, laying on her good side.

There was yelling. Someone commanding another to get water, and then to get….wood? The screams slowly faded into the background of her subconscious as Rangi passed out yet again.. 

It was only when the water arrived that she woke up with a scream. The blackness gave way to blinding stars in her eyes, until a new scene melted into view.

They were in a new cave, there was a fire in front of her, keeping her warm. But it wasn't as warm as the fire scorching her lame shoulder.

She tilted her head to see blue glowing water wrapped around the left side of her body. Her shoulder was black and bloodied, and bubbling in various areas.

Lee was holding out her palm with one hand, and flicking the metal object in small circular motions with the other. The motions almost looked like waterbending. 

There was a high pitch wailing that caused Lee to flinch, and it took a moment to realize it was coming from Rangi herself.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Lee chanted the mantra as the spirit’s water glowed. Tears welled up in her eyes with each new howl she heard come from Rangi.

Rangi bit into her hand, to stifle the screams, to focus the pain somewhere else. She bit into it so hard, blood started pooling down her wrist. As excruciating as it was, she could feel some relief on her wound forming as well. Cuts were closing, bones were mending, blisters were receding. She could tell she was healing despite the immense pain. Why did it hurt so much?

She'd been healed by waterbending before, but why was Lee’s version of it so horrendous? Was it because she had skipped learning Fire? Was bending out of order? Did she curse the cycle?

Rangi could only guess until the pain made her black out again

The first thing Rangi perceived when consciousness came back to her, was that her shoulder hurt. The next was that her head was laying on something warm.

Tenderly she reached behind herself, and felt fur and heard a small, sleepy chirp. It appeared that Kuzu was letting her use her as a pillow.

She opened her eyes and looked to the right, she was in a cave, she could see the entrance, and there was a bonfire blazing right beside her. But there was something missing….. Her companions.

“Are you awake?” A wary voice next to her whispered. Rangi turned her head away from the fire and looked to her left to see Lee laying down a few feet away from her.

“Wh-” Rangi started coughing, her voice felt like sandpaper. 

A ball of floating water appeared before her in an instant, accompanied by a hand under her head for support. Lee had the strange metal rectangle out, pointing at the water. Rangi awkwardly drank from the floating water, and once her thirst was quenched she began to speak again.

“What happened?”

Lee looked downtrodden. “We got attacked by an angry spirit. Not dark, just an asshole. You got hurt protecting Kuzu,” Lee clenched her fists and looked away pained. “Thank you, for that.”

“I'm here to serve,” Rangi chuckled jokingly, then winced when the rocking hurt her shoulder. “Is it bad?”

“Was, I healed you. But, um, my healing is….um….peculiar.”

“Oh, you don’t say?” Rangi couldn’t hide the good nature sarcasm in her voice. “Well, don't hold back the details on my account.” 

“I'm still learning to control my power,I think I put too much chi into the healing, and well….. while I can heal you just fine….it hurts. ”

Rangi groaned softly, “That's the biggest understatement of a lifetime.”

Lee chuckled, “Tell me about it. Why do you think I haven't tried healing my lip faster?” Rangi’s eyes widened, realizing why it seemed to heal faster than expected, but never fully. 

“Oh, so that's what was going on. I should've figured.” Rangi looked around, trying to find one last person. “Where’s Yun?”

“Lil’ Ava-....um… Estate Boy? He's asleep,” Lee pointed her chin down to where he was laying out of Rangi's sight. “I ran him ragged getting water. A different source than that lake, though.”

“You know the estate is for the Avatar right?” Rangi informed dryly. “You'll need a different nickname, otherwise you might insult him. Or better yet, you could just use our real names. Or did you forget them?” She was only teasing at the end, but she wouldn’t put it past Lee for that to be the real reason.

Lee looked like she'd rather do anything but that, but in an amused way. “I’ll figure out a different name for him.”

Rangi sighed, deciding to let this battle go. She looked at her hand, the one she'd been biting. There was no pierced skin anymore but a nasty teeth shaped bruise was scattered across it. As well as her wrist, most likely from when Kuzu had to drag her, “Wha-?”

“Oh, yeah, some wounds leave bruises with my healing. It'll be fine in a week? Same with your shoulder.”

Rangi turned slightly and saw a nasty black and blue mass where her shoulder should be, and sighed. “You suck at bending”

Lee laughed, “I was pretty open about that part to be fair.”

Feels like the only thing you've been open about.

“You should go back to sleep, you'll feel a lot better in the morning,” she saw Lee roll over, her back now facing Rangi. “If you need anything I’m right here, just wake me up.”

Rangi sighed in response, deciding to do just that. 

Many minutes passed and Rangi finally felt like sleep might be nearby, Lee spoke up.

“Firecracker?” She whispered, “You still awake?”

Rangi hummed in response. 

Lee didn’t speak, causing Rangi to finally open her eyes and stare at Lee's back. “Yes, what is it?”

“Kyoshi.”

“Huh?” Rangi lifted her head up and stared in confusion. What was she on about? Her mind spun with what ‘kyoshi’ was and the different meanings behind it. Is this some sort of riddle?

“Kyoshi. That's my name.”

“Oh…..” Was all Rangi could say in response. She stared at the girl’s strong back, letting the new name settle in along with a new perception.

“T-thats all I wanted to say, good night.”

Rangi put her head down and stared at the cave ceiling. Replaying the day's events in her head. Then she closed her eyes.

“Good night, Kyoshi,” she murmured softly, thinking about how much she liked the name.

Chapter Text

“So what did we learn?” Rangi asked, as she held her right elbow in her left hand and looked at her fingernails. 

Yun and Kyoshi sat in front of her, kneeling on their legs seiza style, their arms raised above their heads.

“I-I just wanted to see if my theory about using a firebender to keep you warm in cold water would work!” Yun stuttered out, his arms were shaking from staying up for so long.

Rangi took the hand she was inspecting, and snapped her fingers. She flicked her wrist just slightly so that a small ball of fire would fly past Yun’s ear. He yelped in surprise as the heat grazed his ear, but the fire didn’t touch him.

“That didn’t sound like an apology,” Rangi said with cold indifference as she resumed looking at her nails. 

“We’re sorry, Sifu Firecracker!” Kyoshi yelled like a new recruit to their commanding officer. If she was trying to butter Rangi up, then her student figured out exactly how to do it. That, or her self-preservation was really good. “I shouldn’t have let myself be roped into this guy’s stupid plans! It’ll never happen again!” 

It’ll probably happen again. Rangi sighed. 

“Good girl, you can put your arms down,” she waved her hand at Kyoshi.

Kyoshi’s face was red from strain, shook side to side without making eye contact. “Uhhhh, I’d rather keep them up.”

“Suit yourself,” Rangi shrugged, she wasn’t the type to get in the way of someone else's self reflection. 

Sweat pooled down Yun’s face. “I’m really sorry, Rangi. If I knew you’d end up getting hurt and we put ourselves in danger, then I wouldn’t have done it.” 

Obviously. Rangi didn’t blame the spirit attack on Yun, that was just their bad luck. She was more upset by their little shenanigans. And the fact she lost her heirloom armor. 

“No, it’s my fault, I should’ve sensed the spirit inside the lake,” Kyoshi sweated. “I got, um, distracted.”

By what? There wasn’t anything around at the time to distract Kyoshi, but Rangi chose not to dwell on it.

“Alright, fine, I forgive you. Get up,” she sighed, and so did her captives. As they wobbled to stand, she flashed them her brightest smile. “But if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll hunt down your nearest family member or loved one and gut you right in front of them. Do I make myself clear?”

Yun and Kyoshi nodded vigorously, their faces whitening from new stress. Despite their reaction, Rangi would give them a week before they tried something stupid like that again.

Kuzu panted beside Rangi, and she bent down to scratch the animal’s cheek. “Who’s a good girl?” 

Kuzu yipped happily, and then whined and looked at Yun’s feet. 

“That? I’m not mad. At least he can have his dignity, though you really shouldn’t have chanced it going over there,” she soothed the fox. Kuzu had snuck back to the lake, and attempted to retrieve their clothes. She was only able to get one piece of clothing before being spotted and having to retreat. That piece of clothing happened to be Yun’s pants. “Don’t worry about it, we’ll manage.”

Kuzu snorted happily, and pranced around.

“So, are you guys ready to get out of this nightmare?” Yun asked, re-tightening the string on his pants.

“Can't get out of here fast enough,” Rangi grumbled, making her way to the entrance.

“You two go on ahead, I’m going to make sure we got everything,” Kyoshi shouted to them as the duo exited the cave with Kuzu.

Rang and Yun stood outside the cave as they waited for Kyoshi to finish whatever it was she needed to do.

“I can’t believe we’re going to be out of this crazy place soon!” Yun said while stretching his arms up high.

Rangi sighed, “It feels like we’ve been stuck here for ages.” So much had happened in such a short amount of time. 

“Yeah, hopefully not too much time has passed on our side,” Yun looked a little worried. Rangi was sure that Kuruk’s old team could manage to keep the world from falling apart. Short term that is. They’d done it before, even when Kuruk was alive, and they did it after Kuruk had died.

If their time in the Spirit World had turned to something much longer on the other side, and spirits forbid their side thought the Avatar was dead, again. The world might be in chaos.

The two stood there in silence for a good while. “Man, what is taking that girl so long?” Yun scratched his head and started making his way over to the cave entrance. Before he could go more than three steps, Rangi grabbed his arm.

“Yun I-I need to tell you something…..” Rangi hadn’t been able to feel comfortable around Yun since the lake incident. First she’d completely disregarded her friend’s life in the heat of battle, then she postponed them leaving the Spirit World by a few days so she could recover. 

Her transgressions weighed on her and she needed to make them known. For both their sakes. It wasn’t right for her to keep it from him.

Before Rangi could continue, Yun put his hand on his friend's shoulder and gave her a sad smile. “Rangi, sometimes you're too honorable for your own good. So much it hurts the people around you.”

Rangi's eyes widened, then she looked at the ground. She understood. Clearing the air was for her own self conscious, she failed to consider Yun's feelings yet again.

She sniffed, “You're right. I’m sorry.”

Yun shrugged, “Eh. Anyway, I wonder what's taking our giantess so long.”

Rangi sighed, “I'll go get her.”

Kyoshi watched as her old friend and two new ones left the cave. She did a once over of the ground to make sure nothing was left behind. Once satisfied, she decided to pat herself down, to make sure everything was in order on her person.

She patted her pant legs and felt the familiar objects. In one pant pocket was a pouch of money, her emergency fund. The other pocket held her tightly sealed makeup container and a whistle for her mount. Unfortunately for her, she was most likely going to have to walk back to her parents rather than hitch a ride with her friend Byakko, as she told her friend to head back to home if she took too long to get back to the rendezvous point.

Kyoshi sighed. As if the Spirit World hiking hadn’t been enough, she wasn’t looking forward to one across the Earth Kingdom itself, especially since she’ll have to worry about food and water in the Human world. 

She shook her head, she needed to focus on one thing at a time. She needed to finish patting herself down first.

She brought her hands to her torso and patted around. One. Two. Three. Four. She counted off in her head. Five.

Everything was there. The scroll tube, the turtle toy, her two fans, and-

“Are you done in there?” Rangi yelled from the entrance, her voice causing Kyoshi to jolt.

She really knows how to give a girl a heart attack. Kyoshi thought, nervously chuckling to herself. Calm down, it’s the home stretch. She tried to calm herself down, knowing that there were still too many opportunities for her to get caught. 

“Yeah! I’ll be right there!” she yelled, leaving behind the campsite as well as another secret intact.

“Another damn forest,” Yun complained. “How many forests are in this place?!”

“As many as the Human World?” Kyoshi offered. “Or more?”

The tall trees towered over the group as they tried to climb over caravan sized roots. Kuzu led the charge with Kyoshi right behind her.

“You know what could make this go by faster?” Yun asked as he earthbent a platform over one of the roots. “Teach me how you do that thing.” He took two of his fingers and waggled them, imitating a running motion. “That trick. The earth-stepping.” 

“No,” Kyoshi responded without hesitation. “And it’s not earth-stepping, it’s dust-stepping!”

“Wha-why not?!”

“Trade secret, if I tell you how to do it, I’ll have to kill you,” she said simply.

“You're acting pretty serious about a technique I cribbed after seeing it once,” Rangi said, eyebrow raised.

Kyoshi sighed. “And I probably should kill you for that.” Kyoshi watched her companions' reactions as their skin paled and eyes widened. Rangi’s fine jawline hardened, and her shoulders squared ever so slightly into a defensive position. She really should, that’s what other groups did. But she wasn’t those other groups. “I should, but I won’t.” 

“W-why?” Rangi’s position switched from defensive to offensive. She looked at Kyoshi in a way that Kyoshi wondered if she was challenging her. Kyoshi briefly wondered if she let her companions tag along with her into a daofei circle, if Rangi would actually challenge her to the lei tai. A lei tai fight was basically the daofei Agni Kai, right?

Kyoshi briefly wondered what kind of declaration of grievance Rangi would make towards her to put them on that fighting platform. 

A smug smile played on Kyoshi’s lips. “You’re just too cute to kill,” she taunted, crinkling her eyes and nose at the girl in a patronizing manner. She felt satisfied with how the firebender's entire body flushed in anger. One of the many perks Kyoshi discovered now that Rangi’s armor and layers were missing. 

It’s just too easy to rile her up. Kyoshi wondered how Kirima, her older “sister” would fare against the firebender. She’d probably make her combust.

Kyoshi shrugged. “Eh, you invented it, you’ve earned it. I’ll let it slide” She turned to Yun. “If you can do the same, figure out how to do it yourself, that is, then by all means it’s your’s!” 

“Fine, next time I see you dust-step, I’ll pay very close attention!” he smirked at her.

Kyoshi smirked back. “Oh, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that from here on out.” 

“What?! But why?”

“I only dust-stepped to throw any witnesses off my trail,” her smirk grew wider. “I much prefer air-stepping and airbending.” Mostly because airbending was the cover they went with when they wanted to hide her bending. Which was why earthbending had been the perfect cover to use at the time. They’d be looking for an earthbender, all while she played the role of only an airbender.

She shrugged at Yun’s gaping mouth. “I have no reason to earthbend unless I really have to.” She was really thankful for that. Earthbending had always been the hardest for her, especially when she couldn’t use her fans. This whole excursion had been one giant pain in the ass.

“F-fine! I’ll just copy Rangi then!” he said indignantly. 

“I don’t think that’ll work,” Kyoshi pursed her lips.

“Why do you think that?” Rangi asked.

“I’m not exactly the best firebender, but from what I saw, it looks similar to my air-stepping. Dust-stepping and mist-stepping require-” she paused, thinking if she should leak a clue to Yun on how to do it. She decided not to, he was talented enough to figure it out without help. “Let’s just say they require help in a way fire and air don’t.”

“Well that’s not cryptic,” Yun rolled his eyes.

“Oh it’s supposed to be,” Kyoshi punched the air encouragingly. “Don’t give up! I’m sure you can figure it out!”

Yun grumbled annoyed, as Kyoshi turned around ready to continue following Kuzu. She stopped when she felt a weight appear on her back, and it took all her instinct to not flip the foreign weight over her shoulders.

“Then gimme a ride, Avatar!” Yun kicked his legs against her thighs like she was a damn ostrich horse. Kyoshi was about to admonish him when she saw Rangi giving them the most livid look she’d seen yet. She smirked at the other girl and took Yun’s legs and made him wrap them around her stomach rather than pinching her sides.

Afterall, any attention from the firebender was good attention.

“Yes milord!” Kyoshi laughed. “This fine steed can do just that!”

“Ah yes, a very fine steed you are, Avatar! Fast too?” he joked back. He rested his chin on the top of Kyoshi’s head, and wrapped his arms around her neck. 

Kyoshi looked over at Rangi, who had her jaw clenched so hard into a scowl that it could’ve cracked through a femur bone. Lil’ Miss No Fun over here….

Kyoshi puffed out her chest while placing her right fingers over it, “I am the fastest steed here, Milord! I can cut down the journey in half- no- five times the time!”

“Well that is very fast! It makes me wonder why you didn’t try to think of that before!” He put her head into a friendly chokehold.

“Oh, well, I did think you two would kill me if I showed more than one element!” 

“That is a fair reason to waste our time, tis fine, I'll spare you for now!” He let her go, and ruffled her hair.

“Will you two idiots quit it?! I want to get out of here before the next Avatar cycle!” Rangi yelled at them, unable to take their antics anymore.

Kyoshi smirked, happy to see she riled up the other girl yet again. Though this time she lacked the usual flush of anger that Kyoshi liked to see. Then she realized Rangi only got a certain type annoyed whenever Yun and she would joke around together. Wait a minute, does she like Mr. Pretty Boy? Annoyance flared through her for a brief second, before giving way to pettiness.

“Suuuuure, let’s get going!” Kyoshi smiled at the firebender, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “Kuzu, you can keep up right?”

Her friend barked at her. Obviously! 

“Fine, we’ll get there by stepping,” Rangi shook her head and sighed, and then turned her back on Kyoshi and Yun to face Kuzu. She bent her legs slightly, getting ready to make a dash at the word go. Kyoshi looked at how Rangi’s calf muscles flexed and resisted the urge to swallow. “Which direction are we goi-AH!”

Rangi yelped in surprise as Kyoshi picked her up in a bridal style. The shorter girl looked up with a red faced indignant look. Much better. Kyoshi mused to herself, happy to see the red glow, then she looked at the rest of Rangi’s demeanor. She had her arms squished in front of her, as if trying to keep as many parts of her from touching Kyoshi as she could. 

Kyoshi felt a new surge of annoyance at the sight, the girl always acted like Kyoshi was contaminated with something. Which didn’t help by the fact that Kyoshi absolutely loved the warmth that radiated off the girl. The more Rangi seemed to want to pull away, the more Kyoshi wanted to follow.

A wide grin spread across Kyoshi’s face, “Sorry, jet-stepping is a little too slow for me.” She tightened her grip on Rangi’s back and legs, relishing in the squeak that elicited from the smaller girl, and pulled the addictive warmth of the firebender as close as she could towards her. “I recommend you both hang on tight.” 

Kyoshi was sure the sounds of the two goody-two-shoes’ screams could be heard for miles. It would’ve made her go deaf if she didn’t delicately use airbending around her ears to protect them. Despite the protection, they were both still very loud, but the way Rangi suddenly clung to her made the noise worth it.

Kyoshi twisted and volleyed through the air at speeds that sky bison and eel hounds could only dream of. She effortlessly bounded between the trees and their complex branches, only narrowly avoiding some to scare her occupants.

She watched as Kuzu nimbly ran across the Spirit World floor, as if flightless herself. She was happy she could finally let loose in her mobility. 

She kept this up for a good while before she realized her fun had come to an end, as Kuzu had come to a stop in the forest. For one last hurrah, Kyoshi rocketed herself towards the ground, causing the duo to let loose one final scream of terror. Right before she made impact, she twisted herself and created a large puff of air that instantly stopped her gently onto the ground.

“SS Kyoshi has arrived at her first destination!” she exclaimed loudly.

Her response was whimpers from her passengers. She tried to inspect them as best she could. While she couldn’t see Yun’s face, she knew he had a practical death grip on her, forehead and arm wrapped around her neck. She should consider herself lucky he had the mindfulness not to cover her vision or choke her out mid flight.

Kyoshi looked down to inspect Rangi, she seemed white as a ghost, judging by her arms and legs. Her arms were wrapped around Kyoshi in her own death grip, her face, however, was burrowed into Kyoshi’s chest. 

On one hand, she was a little upset that she couldn’t see the firebenders' scared face, on the other hand, she felt pleased with the placement. She resisted the urge to do something Mr. Hat would’ve disapproved of, even if the smaller girl was in the perfect position. It would’ve been seen as chaste by Earth Kingdom standards, and all she would’ve needed to do was turn her face just a little…... Perhaps she would’ve acted on her secret impulse if she didn’t have Yun clinging to her back, even if it did mean fiery retaliation. 

She let the desire wash over her, and focused on the next task at hand. She knelt down and let Kuzu scramble on top of Rangi, burrowing its head between a lock in Rangi’s arm. “Ok! Time for our final destination and ascent!” Kyoshi cheered. She was assaulted by an exclamation from two sides before she bent her knees and shot straight up. 

The four burst through a door in the floor of a building, and landed softly on the ground. 

“SS Kyoshi has arrived at the final destination! You may disembark at your own leisure!” Kyoshi was having fun sounding like a captain. Or at least, what she thought a captain would say. 

Kuzu yipped happily and scrambled onto the ground. Yun slowly released his grip, and to Kyoshi’s surprise, fell to the ground half dead. When she saw his eyes rolled to the back of his head, she kicked him to make sure he was alive. He groaned, which was as good a sign as any.

She looked down at Rangi, who wasn’t moving, just clinging harder than ever before. She shook the smaller girl. “Disembark soldier!” Kyoshi laughed, but Rangi didn’t move. She was still shaking, and what Kyoshi could see of her skin still looked pale. She didn’t like that, Rangi looked better when she had color. So she’d do just that, with the most tried and true way she knew how. Pissing Rangi off.

Kyoshi bent her head down slightly, so she could whisper into Rangi’s ear, careful to avoid the firebender’s sacred hair that had tempted her earlier. “I mean, if you want to stay this way Firecracker….then I don’t mind this position in the slightest,” she both flirted and jeered. 

As if a switch had been flipped, she instantly noticed the higher degrees of temperature rising in the girl’s body, and the flush slowly spread down her arms and legs. Kyoshi stood there for a moment, to enjoy the warmth. But Rangi still didn’t make a motion to move. 

Kyoshi shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She started walking, testing the waters. She wasn’t opposed to carrying the fiery girl all the way to their next destination. 

That’s when Rangi started to squirm in her arms, apparently realizing she wanted to maintain at least some dignity. Kyoshi loosened her grip to allow the girl to scramble out of her grasp, but as soon as she stood on the ground, she fell to her hands and knees. So much for holding onto your last shred of dignity. Kyoshi sweatdropped.

 She wanted to admonish herself for ever feeling afraid of these two at anypoint. 

She knelt down next to Rangi, not done with her fun. She stroked a finger from the top of the smaller girl’s shoulder blades all the way down to the bottom of her back. Enjoying the way she twitched from her touch. Is she ticklish or does she hate me that much?

“Aw, and here I was content to carry you for the rest of my life!” She whispered into Rangi’s ear, punctuating the sentence by blowing a cool breeze of airbending from her mouth.

She marveled at how flushed the firebender got, then stood up once she found her job had been done.

She clapped her hands. “Ok guys, c’mon we’re here! Let’s get out of-” She was cut off by someone grabbing her by the shirt. She didn’t need to look down to know who it was.

“You suck!” Rangi yelled as she rocked Kyoshi back in unison. “You suck! You suck! You suck! YOU SUCK!”

The girl was so angry that tears were practically falling out of her eyes. She sounded more like a child throwing a tantrum than a stick-up-their-ass soldier. Kyoshi grinned, seeing her new friend acting her age for once. 

“Aw, I do, don’t I?” she taunted. “Do you hate me?” Kyoshi was sure the girl hated her, or at least had an intense dislike for her. Maybe that’s why she enjoyed teasing her so much?

Her response was Rangi’s eye twitching as she glared up at her. “GAH!” she pushed Kyoshi away. 

Kyoshi watched as she stomped over to a nearby desk……and picked it up. She watched in horror, and…something else, as the firebender back muscles flexed and flipped the giant thing over. Then she picked up a nearby chair by its back, and started slamming it to pieces onto the turned over table.

Kyoshi felt the blood drain from her face as she watched the girl desecrate the furniture of the world’s most prestigious library. Kyoshi ran over and grabbed the girl from behind, pinning her arms down, and lifted her up into the air.

“Put me down!” Rangi screamed, kicking her legs.

“Suplex her!” Kyoshi heard Yun yell from behind. Oh now he comes around!

“Gah! Will you quit it?!” Kyoshi staggered, trying to keep her footing with the flailing girl. “Quit acting like a psycho brat throwing a tantrum!”

“Quit manhandling me!”

“Quit breaking stuff!”

“Quit pushing me to break stuff!”

“Quit fighting and just kiss-” Kyoshi and Rangi whipped their heads around in unison to Yun. “-and make up! Duh!” He shrugged at them with a smile. 

The two went back to ignoring him and continued on with their struggle, at least until Rangi yelped in pain. The jostling had irritated her bruised shoulder in some way. Kyoshi swore to herself and dropped Rangi down as gently and fast as she could. “Sorry.” 

Rangi didn’t look at her, she was pouting with her right hand ghosting over her left shoulder. Wanting to rub and soothe it, but realizing she should probably not touch it.

Kyoshi floundered for a moment. Wondering how she could help alleviate the pain. But realized she couldn't. Her healing would just make the pain worse.

“So where are we?” Yun said, approaching them with Kuzu. 

“A library, duh,” Kyoshi whirled her hands around.

“Where are the books?” Rangi asked. 

“We, uh, took the back entrance?” Kyoshi scratched the back of her head. Wan Shi Tong had moved stuff around since she’d last been there. 

“So you’re telling me I just destroyed some of Wan Shi Tong’s property?” Rangi asked, blood leaving her face again.

“Yup,” Kyoshi stared at her deadpanned.

“Perfect….” Rangi put her face in her hands, she did that a lot. Kyoshi wondered how she was able to know where she was going half the time. 

Kyoshi waved her hand, “Eh, if worse comes to worse, I’ll arrange to get it fixed or replaced. C’mon, let’s go!” She could always just steal some furniture from the Ba Sing Se library.

The trio and their foxy guide walked throughout the library. There were so many books and scrolls from all eras, and the walls just felt like they kept expanding over and up. It was almost dizzying. 

Kyoshi watched as the Yokoya duo looked around like tourists, and decided to play a little prank on them. “You know, this library didn’t originate with Wan Shi Tong, it actually was originally founded by the 5th Avatar, Avatar Chu.” She gave them a lopsided grin.

“Woah, no way, really?” Yun looked at her in wonder, ready to memorize the information she just gave him.

Rangi gave her a dirty look instead. “You know, for someone who complains so much about the past Avatar’s lying so much, you sure like to lie through your teeth.”

Kyoshi’s eyes widened a little, taken aback. Both by the fact Rangi saw through her, and for how right she kind of was. Maybe she was the Avatar. Not that she’d admit to believing it just yet, that ammo was still too good to rile them up. 

“Aw, you’re such a wet blanket, Firecracker!” Kyoshi fake moaned in chagrin. “Ok, how could you tell?”

Rangi pointed an accusing finger at her, “Because that’s the same expression you like to use when you mess with me!”

Kyoshi stared wide eyed at the firebender while she touched her chin. Had she really been too consistent with a certain facial expression when she teased the girl? Or was she bluffing? Kyoshi would need to mix it up regardless, she didn’t want her little firecracker catching onto her too easily. 

Kyoshi let out a boisterous laughter. “Aw, am I getting too predictable? I guess I’ll have to do better!”

“Wait, that was a lie?” He whined. Kyoshi felt a little bad, the boy seemed to really be into Avatar related stuff. She’d have to make it up to him at a later date.

“Yeah, Wan Shi Tong’s the one who made this place, sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” a melodic voice rang from above.

A large mass slammed down behind Kyoshi, and a gust of wind soon followed. Rangi and Yun stared up in abject horror at the creature that stood behind Kyoshi, but Kyoshi just calmly looked over her shoulder at the giant owl that landed behind her.

“‘Sup Wan Shi Tong!” She grinned gleefully at the owl. 

The owl looked at the two unknown humans. “Hello, I am Wan Shi Tong, the being who knows ten thousand things.” After his quick introduction, he tilted his head at Kyoshi. “Kyoshi, what are you doing back here in the Spirit World?” He noticed they came in from the Spirit World entrance rather than the Human World one.

“I fell in!”

“Again?”

“Yeah again, no I just found a super glowy place and jumped in for giggles- OF COURSE I FELL IN!” The only time she’d ever come here on purpose, with her physical body that is, would be when she knocked on the librarian’s door from the Human World. His library was one of the few places that connected both the Spirit World and the Human World. And he knew that too. 

“Alright, alright, child. No need to get huffy,” Wan Shi Tong ruffled his feathers. “But you know the rules.”

Kyoshi sighed, right, to be in this place they’d need to give him a piece of new information. Each. She may have at least one or two things she could offer, but she didn’t know if she could give him three things. Or if her friend’s could provide anything enlightening 

“I’ll be generous this time, only one piece of new information for all three of you.”

That was being generous coming from the old owl. “Ok, I can work with that. Can I ask why the sudden generosity?”

“I didn’t think you had any friends.”

Ouch. That hurt, he was right but it still hurt.

Kyoshi tried to ignore the pitying eyes from behind her. She smiled through her teeth at Wan Shi Tong. “Alright, well I got a doozy for you!”

Wan Shi Tong crouched forward, waiting for her new fun fact in anticipation. Kyoshi in turn closed her eyes proudly, puffed out her chest, and poked it with one of her thumbs. “You may not have known, but it turns out that I’m the Avatar. OfcourseIdon’treallybelieveitbutthesetwosaidit’strue!”

She felt her smile radiating. But there was no sound. She waited a few more moments. Still nothing.

She opened her eyes and looked at Wan Shi Tong. Who just stared at her for another few moments before blinking. “Oh? Oh! Oh. Oh yes, yes. That is, uh, very insightful. I did not know…..that.”

Kyoshi pursed her lips. He sounded unsure, maybe her parents had been right? Maybe she wasn't the Avatar.

“Tell me child, do you know what an Avatar’s duties are?” Wan Shi Tong tapped his foot on the ground. 

Kyoshi thought about it, she remembered her past selves tried to teach her what it meant to be an Avatar, but she’d ignored them. Even Mr. Hat, the one who’s lessons she liked the most. 

She shrugged at the giant spirit. “Nope, not really.”

“We’re doomed,” he sighed. 

“W-we’ll catch her up to speed, Great Wan Shi Tong!” Rangi pushed past Kyoshi to appease the old owl. 

But I don’t wanna…. Kyoshi pouted. 

“Well that puts me at ease,” Wan Shi Tong sighed again, but a little less depressed. “So what I’m assuming you’re just using this as a transit station rather than a place of learning?”

“Today? Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll be sure to come back another time and read up on, um, Mesose’s Discourse on Floodplain Management!” She felt the Yokoya duo’s eyes look at her like she’d grown a second head. She knew she probably sounded insane, being interested in such a dry book, but if they knew it connected to learning about a past Avatar life then they probably wouldn’t be eying her so hard.

“Very well, I believe you know the exit,” He spread his wings, getting ready for a take off. “I believe there is a sand-sailor by the entrance you can use.”

Kyoshi cocked her head. “I don’t think I used a sand-sailor last time.”

“You didn’t, it was someone else’s.”

“Oh, what happened to them?”

“I ate them,” Wan Shi Tong stated as he flew off. 

Huh. He’s gone soft in his old age.

She looked over at her two companions, who paled to the point of blueing in distress. 

Kyoshi patted them on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, he only does that to people who misbehave!” She flashed them a bright smile, but it didn’t seem to cull their worry. “No really, you two are fine! Plus, he usually does much worse to people!”

Kyoshi could see beads of sweat pooling down their faces now. Did I say something wrong?

Not wanting to waste any more time, especially since the feeling of hunger and the like was starting to come back to her the closer they got to the Human World, they made their way to the entrance of Wan Shi Tong’s library.

They entered through a large door, and were greeted with a large greeting room and another large door. The sand-sailor laid fairly pristine in the corner of the room. Kyoshi walked past it to open the second door.

Rangi’s eyes widened. “Wait, if we’re using a sand-sailor does that mean…..?” 

She didn’t have a chance to finish her question, because the door Kyoshi opened, and the blinding light and rippling heat answered it. 

“The Si Wong Desert!” Kyoshi announced. She then turned back to her companions with a bright smile that put the sun they were looking at to shame. “I hope you don’t mind the heat!”

End Arc 1: Journey through the Spirit World

Chapter Text

Arc 2: Journey to the Thieves Daofei Den

The sun bore down harshly on Rangi’s head, sweat slowly pooled off her skin in the heat. Thankfully, it was a dry heat, which meant the sweat didn’t linger on her exposed skin for long before evaporating. It was different, she was used to the Fire Nation’s humid heat and the feeling of being soaked most days, so this was a nice change of pace. 

She turned her head to look across the lowered sand-sailor deck. Yun was sprawled out on the floor, sweat dripping off of him and pooled on the floor as he gasped in the warm air. Kuzu, who had decided to join them on their journey, laid near him, but not touching, and panted trying to fight off the heat. They were both clearly having a hard time. 

Rangi looked over to the corner of the sand-sailor and took stock of their supplies. They had plenty of water, despite being out there for a handful of hours. They were smart to stock up with water from the Spirit World before heading out. Though they had made a dent… Well, more like Yun had made a decent dent in their supply. Regardless, they should be good for a good number of days if they played it safe.

Rangi closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the small wall of the deck, gently propping her arms to span against the higher deck above her, almost like she was resting on a couch. She took a deep breath of the warm air and sighed. It tasted more earthier than she was used to. She was used to such warm air around her tasting more like cinnabar from her home country, or salt from the sea nearby. The desert lacked both familiar flavors. Just pure, unsalted sand.

She didn’t let the new taste get her down, she stretched her arms a little wider, trying to soak up as much sun as possible. The sun was strength for firebenders, they drew their power from it. And there was just something special about the physical world’s giant light ball in the sky that the Spirit World didn’t satiate within her. 

A smile played on her lips and she hummed contently, feeling like a cat basking in…well…the warm sun. A cough, more like an attempt at a poorly suppressed laugh, broke her out of her reverie. She opened her eyes.

She made eye contact with Kyoshi, who was on the uppermost deck of the sand-sailor. The taller girl was manning the helm, blasting the sail with nonstop airbending with one hand, and poorly covering her mouth with the other. Rangi could still see a smirk peeking out from behind. 

“Enjoying yourself?” she asked, still maintaining eye contact that made Rangi blush a bit, but she held her gaze despite it.

“No!” Yun bemoaned, not realizing she wasn’t talking to him. “It’s too hot!”

“Oh? Poor boy.” Kyoshi took the hand she had been using to hide her mirth, and gave him a small blast of air, still not looking away from Rangi. “Better?”

“No, that air is warm… .” Yun groaned.

“Picky, picky,” Kyoshi tsked. “Don’t you think, Firecracker?”

Rangi shrugged, holding back a wince as she realized she jostled her bruised shoulder a little too roughly.

“You’re not overheating, though, are you?” Kyoshi continued, Rangi could feel her eyes flitting down what she could see of Rangi’s body. Rangi figured she was probably taking stock of the sweat, and wondering if she’d end up like Yun at any moment.

Rangi tilted her head as she inspected Kyoshi back in turn. Kyoshi seemed cool as a sea cucumber, like it was a mild day on the beach instead of the middle of the desert.  

I wonder if it’s an airbender technique. Airbenders had the ability to regulate body temperature the best with their breathing techniques, and from what Rangi could gather, Kyoshi seemed the most apt at airbending. She wondered why that was…

“Not all of us were raised in fire and brimstone!” Yun cried, answering for Rangi.

“Yun, shut up, you were raised near a volcano too!” Rangi scolded.

“Near! And only one! Not in multiple volcanos like you have in the Fire Nation!” 

Rangi finally broke eye contact with Kyoshi to glare at Yun’s feet. “My island didn’t have a volcano!”

“You have your own island?” Kyoshi asked, drawing Rangi’s attention back to her. Kyoshi tilted her head curiously.

“Not me, but my clan.” Rangi wasn’t sure how knowledgeable Kyoshi was about the Fire Nation, so she wasn’t sure exactly where she needed to start.

“What clan are you from? I might recognize the name!” 

Rangi furrowed her brow, she highly doubted it. A tiny clan from a tiny island. To her clan’s credit, they were a fearsome bunch, exporting only the highest quality of skills and people. But as renowned as they were, it didn’t put them on most Fire Nation maps. Let alone Earth Kingdom ones. “Sei’naka.”

She watched as Kyoshi pursed her lips, the name obviously falling foreign to her ears. Her brow creased in a cute way, as she searched in her memory for something that might spark a flame of recognition. Rangi looked away, choosing to focus on the endless sandy sea in front of her. 

“Eul-Na!” Rangi’s head whipped around at the sound of the familiar name. She saw Kyoshi looking at the sky, her fingers snapped, like she just recalled it. “Yeah… Yeah! Eul-Na of the Sei’naka clan!”

Kyoshi looked at Rangi, expectantly and beaming. 

When Rangi didn’t answer, Kyoshi continued. “He helped evacuate Ma’inka from a flood, helped support Mr. Ha-Szeto’s grain management proposal, and fought and won the battle of Iron Fins right?”

Yun sat up in surprise, looking back and forth between Kyoshi and Rangi. Rangi could only stare at the other girl in shocked silence. She just listed off only a few of her old clan leader’s biggest accomplishments. But not just any clan leader, one from more than two hundred years ago! Most children in her class would trip up on this type of knowledge on their graduation exams, how could Kyoshi possibly know about him?

“Is that...not right?” Kyoshi asked, looking unsure under her companions' shocked expressions. 

Rangi blinked, finally finding herself. “No, no, that’s correct. I’m just surprised. How did you know that?”

Kyoshi relaxed and shrugged. “Mr. H- Szeto  told-well, taught -me. He actually taught me a lot of things. Mostly Fire Nation stuff though, kinda didn’t really get out much.”

“Oh! That’s...amazing.” Rangi was surprised, a complete loss for words. She didn’t think Kyoshi had any formal schooling, due to being a daofei and most likely on the run all the time, but she had her own personal teacher all along. And it was the world’s best teacher to boot! She could only imagine how many of her countrymen would boil in envy over the tall girl. 

Kyoshi grinned, and the nonstop air stream she was blasting into the sail got a little bigger. “Yeah it is! He had the best stories! And, he was the most informative when it came to stuff I actually cared about!” She nodded her head with a smug smile, as if recalling a memory.

“What you actually cared about?” Yun parroted. 

“Yup! The best way to keep your home tidy, how to get blood stains out of clothes and-”

“I’m sorry, what?” Yun asked deadpanned. Rangi felt her face forming into a similar deadpanned look. That wasn’t the direction they thought the conversation was going. To her credit, Kyoshi had a knack for doing this, so they shouldn’t be surprised. Yet here they were.

“A clean home is a clean mind, I’ll have you know!” Kyoshi defended herself. “If we don’t maintain our space and ourselves, then we are nothing more than animals in fancier furs!”

Kuzu barked in appreciation.

“Exactly, Kuzu!” 

“Cleaning’s all well and good, but have you ever thought of, you know, asking him to teach you firebending ?” Yun continued his questioning. “Why wait until you found Rangi?”

Kyoshi looked at them deflated. “I tried. There were a lot of accidents. We all just agreed it might be better if I found a real person, self-teaching wasn’t the best way to go about it…” 

“That….doesn’t really explain or make any sense?” Rangi furrowed her brow.

“Yangchen said it might be a spiritual thing? Things might get messy if I only rely on my past lives for that kind of thing. I think the spirits want me to learn from other people or spirits or animals, because I’m a bridge? I can’t really do that if I only talk to myself...” She shrugged.

“I’m surprised you listened to Avatar Szeto,” Rangi said. “You like calling them all liars, but you didn’t mind learning from one?”

Kyoshi shrugged again. “He didn’t seem that interested in pushing me into believing I was the Avatar. He’d rather focus on other stuff.” She stared off into the distance, and then her eyes widened. “Oh-ho! Would you look at that! A pitstop!” 

Rangi and Yun got up and looked around the sail, there it was, in the distance a town was slowly coming into view. 

“I think this’ll be a good place to rest for the night! But we need to get our affairs and bearings in order first.”

Kyoshi pulled the sand-sailor into the shade behind a rock, almost a mini cave, near a small mountain side that lay just outside the town’s borders. 

“We’ll hide this bad boy here for now and come back for it in the morning,” Kyoshi said.

“But we’re so far away from the town!” Yun whined. 

Kyoshi waved her hand. “It’ll be fine, I’ll carry you if I have to.” Yun blanched at that, remembering the last time she carried him, he almost threw up from the speed.

“I’ll take my chances walking,” he said, getting up to leave the sand-sailor. He was promptly pushed back into the vehicle by Kyoshi.

“Nope, you’re staying here for now!” 

“Wha-what do you mean staying here?! You aren’t going to leave me here all night are you?!” 

Kyoshi shooed her hand at him. “Calm down, we’ll come back for you. Like I said earlier, we need to get our affairs and bearings in order. But we can’t do that if you're there looking the way you do. You’re a problem.”

Rangi and Yun looked at her confused. Kyoshi rolled her eyes at them, waving her arms around as if it was obvious. “I am not waltzing into a town, probably a daofei infested town, with the Avatar!” 

Oh, right. The world still thought Yun was the Avatar. Only Rangi, Yun, and a daofei group knew the truth. Fantastic .

“W-what am I supposed to do about that?” Yun protested.

“You’re going to sit your butt down and look pretty,” Kyoshi pointed to the ground. She held the pose until Yun sat down lotus style. “Then we’re going to come back, with new clothes, and we’ll cut your hair.”

Yun grimaced but accepted it. Rangi, however, felt her right hand fly to her hair in a panic. Kyoshi looked over at her and waved her hand. “Calm down, toots. We only need to completely overhaul his appearance. You should be fine with just a hat and some new clothes.” 

Rangi pouted, but conceded. A hat wasn’t the worst thing. 

“I still can’t believe you’re going to just leave me here! Alone!” Yun whined.

“You’ll have Kuzu!” Kyoshi offered with a smile. Kuzu panted happily beside Yun. 

“I’d rather hang with Rangi,” Yun mumbled. Kuzu whined, and Rangi saw Kyoshi’s mouth turn downwards. 

“If that’s what you two want to do...” Kyoshi trailed off.

“Um, I’m right here. And no,” Rangi raised an eyebrow at them. “If I stay here, then who’s going to keep an eye on you? Spirits know that you’ll run off! I can’t have that happening.”

Kyoshi gasped in mock chagrin. “Just run off and leave you two alone in the desert? Why I would never! You know Firecracker, sometimes you treat me like I’m some sort of criminal!”

“You are a criminal,” Rangi deadpanned.

“I know,” Kyoshi responded with a carefree grin that made Rangi’s heart thump. The girl was a real criminal alright. That smile should be illegal. 

“But it’s going to be hot!” Yun cried. That would be a bit of an issue. 

Kyoshi sighed. “Don’t worry I got you.” 

She went over to their water supply and picked up a waterskin. She opened the top and poured the contents out. Yun and Rangi let out a small cry, but Kyoshi silenced them by raising one of her fans, now openly stuffed into her obi rather than in her tunic. She pointed the fan at the falling water and caught it midair, letting it form into a blob. Then she carried the blob over to where they kept the blankets. She froze the water midair, and wrapped it with the blanket. Then she floated it over to Yun, who took hold of the frozen block when it got within arm’s reach.

“Don’t put the ice directly on you, but that should keep you cool.”

Yun responded with a sigh of pure delight, and then flopped back onto the floor, cuddling the ice pillow. Kuzu bounded over and cuddled up on the opposite side of the ice. Within seconds, the sounds of soft snores could be heard. Rangi was surprised he was able to fall asleep like that.

“Well, let’s get going,” Rangi made a motion to get out of the sailor, but Kyoshi gently grabbed her good shoulder and pushed her down onto the middle deck, making her sit with Rangi's legs dangling onto the lower deck. “What is it?”

“One more thing we have to do before we leave,” Kyoshi said, as she hopped down to the lower deck and started taking off her top layer off. 

Rangi looked away with a blush. “What are you doing?!” She whispered-yelled, not wanting to wake Yun or Kuzu up. She felt a little silly, Kyoshi was still fully clothed, it was just one layer out of seemingly endless layers of clothing.

Get it together!

“I can’t risk you getting hurt,” Kyoshi said, putting her teeth to the fabric and with a tug of her mouth and hands, started ripping at it in two. She knelt down next to Rangi, putting one of the two pieces of cloth on the ground while she held the other, and grabbed Rangi’s foot.

Rangi’s eyes widened and pulled her foot away at the contact. Kyoshi's skin felt pleasantly cool. “W-what are you doing?!” She repeated herself.

Kyoshi tilted her head and looked at her. “You don’t have shoes.” She then grabbed Rangi’s foot again, and started wrapping it with the cloth. “It’s going to be blistering out there, I don’t want you getting burned when your feet have to touch the ground.”

Rangi scoffed, trying to ignore the warm feeling settling in her stomach. “I’m a firebender, I can handle heat.”

Kyoshi snorted. “Firebenders can still get burnt.” She punctuated her sentence by tightening the knot on the cloth, securing it to Rangi’s foot and leg. Then she picked up her other foot, but didn’t start wrapping it. Instead, she gently rubbed her thumb over the top of Rangi’s foot and gave the girl a playful smile. “You can risk it, but then you’ll have to deal with my healing. Don’t tell me you want that?” 

The warm, taut feeling in her stomach tightened with each pass over of Kyoshi’s thumb. She wanted to stay like that, in that moment, forever.

Now what are you doing? She questioned herself this time, biting her lip. She was thankful Yun was asleep so he wouldn’t notice her spiral. She needed to speak, she was taking too long to speak.

Rangi turned her head away, indignant. “Whatever.”

Kyoshi chuckled and started wrapping her foot. “ Whatever,’ she says.” She deftly wrapped the foot, faster than she’d done the other, much to Rangi’s chagrin. “Well we’re good to go! Though I don’t really want you jet-stepping in those, so I guess I’ll have to carry you into town.”

Rangi blanched.

Kyoshi put her hands up. “Hey! Don’t give me that look, I’ll go slow this time!” She gave the shorter girl a wink of reassurance.

Rangi looked away, trying to hide the blush on her face. The realization of their close proximity was now hitting her. She stood up and cleared her throat, trying not to let any giddiness leak through. “Ok, how do you want to do this?”

Kyoshi took a wordless step into Rangi’s personal space, and her heart lurched. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the bridal carry like last time, but was completely thrown for a loop when Kyoshi grabbed her good arm. 

In a swift motion, Rangi found her upper and lower body on either side of Kyoshi’s shoulders. Her cheek rested on one of the shoulders, and her legs straddled the other. Kyoshi had each arm looped around one of Rangi’s arms and legs. 

Kyoshi twisted her head the best she could so she could look at Rangi, and gave her a wicked grin. “I call this the ‘Firebender Carry!’”

__________________

Rangi rested her forehead against the alley wall they had just vaulted over. Kyoshi was true to her word, she did go slower than she had in the Spirit World. That didn’t mean it was slow enough .

Kyoshi hovered over her with hands unsure if they needed to steady the firebender, something akin to worry was playing on her face. “You ok?”

“You suck,” Rangi groaned. 

“I’m starting to think that I might,” she snickered. “You sure it’s not the heat.” 

Rangi batted her hand at her, “I’m a firebender! The heat doesn’t bother me!”

Kyoshi dodged the arm and countered it with a gentle grab to her bicep. Her hand was still really cold. “Oh I’m sure it doesn’t. But are you sure you don’t want to cool off? I can help with that.” 

She blew a puff of air at Rangi's face, towards her ear, it was frosty. However, it only made the girl heat up more, and the frost quickly melted away.

“I-I’m fine!” She wasn’t fine. She was becoming less fine by the minute. She was going to do something she’d regret at this rate.

Kyoshi gently, but slowly, released Rangi’s arm. Her fingers grazed down the length of Rangi’s arm, like a match being struck. Just when she thought Kyoshi was going to completely release her, to make the delicious torture stop, Kyoshi’s hand stopped at Rangi’s hand. She held it delicately with the tips of her long fingers, and then started to tug. 

“C’mon, I don’t want to deal with Pretty Boy’s whining if we take too long.” She pulled Rangi towards the alley’s exit and towards the center of town, hand in hand. Rangi wanted to readjust, interlace their fingers, but she was doing all she could to not implode.

The two girls squinted their eyes as they came out of the alley’s shadows and into the blistering sun again. The place was a medium-sized town. A decent amount of bustle, even in the middle of the desert. 

They walked along the walls of the city, Kyoshi angling herself so that Rangi was concealed between her and a wall. Rangi wasn’t sure what she was doing, until she was pulled into a store alcove, and felt something plop onto her head. 

“There,” Rangi heard Kyoshi say. Rangi looked up to see something obscuring her vision, she grabbed the brim of the straw hat and adjusted it, and saw Kyoshi smiling down at her. She was entirely too close .

“Now you won’t stand out as much.” Rangi watched as Kyoshi looked her over, her eyes trailing from her chin up to Rangi's eyes. “Well, as long as you keep your head down. Then you won’t turn heads.” 

“What makes you think I’m going to turn heads, I know how to keep a low profile,” Rangi glared at Kyoshi, slightly insulted that she thought Rangi couldn’t do her job well. 

Kyoshi smirked and then leaned down to whisper into her ear. “Pretty girls always turn heads.”

Rangi’s heart beat against her chest like a bird against a cage. It wasn’t the first time she'd been called pretty by Kyoshi, but it felt different somehow. Before she could easily tell she was being condescending to her, but now? It almost sounded sincere. As if she was really hitting on her. But that couldn’t be possible. 

Rangi looked away with a grimace, hoping her red face didn’t undermine her expression. “Don’t patronize me.”

Kyoshi gave her a smile that crinkled her eyes into squint. That look definitely looked a little patronizing. “Alright, alright. Now let’s find some clothes.” 

Kyoshi turned the corner into an aisle, and started descending deeper into the maze-like store as Rangi watched. Rangi quickly followed after her, not out of duty, but because she hated the vacuum of space Kyoshi left in her wake and wanted it filled by her again.

As they walked, Kyoshi took her hair out of her usual low ponytail and wrapped it into a messy bun. Then she grabbed two more hats on the way over. Making sure to put one on top of her head, completely covering her hair.

Kyoshi started grabbing various tunics and trousers. Mostly consisting of whites, greens, browns and dingy yellows. Much to Rangi's dismay, none were red.

“If we put red on you, you'll definitely stand out as Fire Nation,” Kyoshi muttered. “It'd defeat the purpose of the hat. We need to keep a low profile.” She turned back and grinned. "Nothing screams 'Something's up!' like a Fire National in the middle of an Earth Kingdom. You're like a walking fire in the middle of a forest."

Rangi tried to hide the pout forming on her lips. She must not have hid it well, because Kyoshi gave her a sympathetic smile.

“I mean, we can part ways and you two can go back to where you need to go.”

“Wherever you are is where I need to go,” Rangi responded.

Kyoshi coughed and then laughed, a light dust of pink flitted across her face. “Tone it down there, Firecracker! You might make me swoon.”

Rangis face went red again, “I-I am honorbound to follow and protect you!”

“Aw, it's not because of my own charm?”

“Is this charm present in the room with us?” Rangi raised an eyebrow.

“Ow, you wound me!” Kyoshi laughed. At least she was having fun. She gathered up the last of the clothes and started making her way to the front desk. “Excuse me, I'm still looking around, but can you hold these up here for me?”

The man at the counter took the pile. “Sure thing, is there anything else you need?”

“A bag and a knife.”

“Ah, the knives are back here. I recommend this one, it's said to be the world's most dangerous knife!” The man held up the knife. Its sheath was gaudy and bedazzled in some type of knock off looking jewel. 

Rangi saw Kyoshi's eyes gleam a little too brightly at his words. She stepped in before her charge could get swindled. “Anything is the ‘most dangerous’ in the hands of an idiot.”

Kyoshi deflated at her party pooping.

“Let me look at them, I'll choose a good one,” she stepped in front of Kyoshi and began looking at the wares. It was a subpar collection, most were overpriced and flashy or janky and cheap. After a moment, Rangi found a medium sized knife that wasn’t too shabby and the price wasn’t egregious. 

“Nicely chosen,” he gave a strained smile, she must’ve chosen the best option that yielded him the least amount of profit. “The bags are over there. Over three and down five.”

Rangi and Kyoshi followed where his hand was pointing. Kyoshi took her time, looking at bags of various sizes. Rangi started looking around the store, not really impressed with the quality of what was there.

She heard some other customers enter the store. Rangi looked through the space of one of the racks and saw two men. One was a hulking mass, the other had strange face wraps that covered his scars. They made their way to the front desk and began looking at the weapons, falling instantly for ‘the world’s most dangerous knife’ ploy. 

Rangi didn't like the cut of their jib, and made a move to find Kyoshi. Just in case anything unsavory happened. But as she turned she felt a pull on her arm, and felt herself flung with her back flushed against a wall. The hat had falling onto her back, only being stopped by the string that looped around her neck.

Rangi was ready to set fire to whoever was bold enough to pull such a maneuver, but stopped herself when she realized it was Kyoshi. The larger girl's arms were on either side of Rangi’s shoulders, she had her pinned down.

“Firecracker!” she spoke in a hushed whisper. “Your shoulder looks really bad, we need to do something!”

Kyoshi's face was obscured by her own large hat as she leaned forward to examine Rangi’s shoulder.

Rangis eyes widened at the closeness of the two, but distracted herself by looking at her shoulder. She hadn’t noticed anything alarming, just normal soreness. Sure, it was a little swollen, but it didn't look like it needed any emergency medical attention. “I–its fine! Now back off–”

She put her arms on Kyoshi’s chest and attempted to push her off, but the taller girl didn't budge.

Instead, Kyoshi placed her left hand on the small of Rangis' back, and pulled her close. She leaned her mouth down, and gently traced her right fingers over Rangi’s left shoulder. Rangi’s breath hitched and her mind started to stutter to a stop.

“No! We need to do it, right now!” Kyoshi whispered.

Do it ?! D–do what–? Was the last coherent thought Rangi had upon hearing a small hiss of air come from Kyoshi's lips, and the feeling of ice hit her exposed shoulder. 

Rangi gasped, not expecting the drastic change in temperature. She could feel Kyoshi tracing circle motions into her shoulder as she kept up small puffs of ice air. The cold wasn’t unpleasant, not like Kyoshi’s healing had been, in fact it felt good. A little too good. 

Rangi squirmed in Kyoshi’s grasp, trying to hold back noises that threatened to escape from her lips. Her mind was torn in two and her body caught in the crossfire, unable to agree if she should escape or lean into the touch. 

Kyoshi let out another blast of air and Rangi’s hands found purchase on Kyoshi’s back, the rest of her body pressed flush against Kyoshi’s, her body instinctively trying to reclaim warmth through any means necessary. She clawed and raked her nails down Kyoshi’s back in an attempt to ground herself. The action must’ve caused Kyoshi to lose balance and lean forward, her lips now making direct contact with Rangi’s shoulder.

The new wave of cold pleasure shook her, and Rangi burrowed her face into the crook of Kyoshi’s neck, trying to mask her noises she couldn’t hold back anymore. She felt like a rope frayed to its last hair and was about to break. 

A cat calling whistle broke her briefly out of the fog of fire and ice. 

“Get it son!” a deep voice called out. 

Rangi regained just a bit of her senses, and peaked around Kyoshi’s stiffened arm. It was the hulking man from earlier. Right, she wanted to find Kyoshi because they were in the store. 

Son? She looked up slightly, remembering Kyoshi had her hair up and hidden. Between that, her height, and just how she was all around dressed... Rangi realized they must’ve looked like a normal earth kingdom boy and girl getting frisky in a store. 

The scarred man hit the bigger one up the back of the head, as he looked at her and Kyoshi disdainfully. “Don’t encourage them. Tch, young people these days.”

Rangi listened as their jeers and grumbles became more distant, until it was evident they left the store.

Rangi felt Kyoshi release her, and it took a moment before Rangi realized she also had to let go. 

Kyoshi took a step back, her face was pale and she looked absolutely terrified. “I–, uh. I was–. I’m sorry I–” Clammy sweat pooled down her face. She was acting strangely, even stranger than she usually was. It only took a moment but the pieces began falling into place. Kyoshi was messing with her, again, but this time she’d gone too far and she knew it. 

Rangi’s shock boiled over into rage, she let out a breath of steam before pushing Kyoshi away. “Go finish the purchase, I want to leave!” she snarled.

Kyoshi nodded her head as she caught herself on the rack she was pushed into, and then stumbled and ran away to the counter. Rangi made her way to exit, readjusting the hat onto her head. 

It didn’t take long for Kyoshi to meet up with her, their haul bundled neatly together. 

“Is that all?” Rangi snapped.

Kyoshi flinched and nodded. Rangi quickly turned to follow the path they’d used to go into town. It didn’t take long for them to arrive at the wall they had vaulted over before. 

Kyoshi finally spoke up, holding the bundles. “Here, if you hold this, I can carry you-”

“Don’t. Touch. Me,” Rangi warned, glaring at her with the full might of a Sei’naka. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to touch Kyoshi or for Kyoshi to touch her, she would’ve certainly enjoyed the contact. And that was the main issue. 

Right now, she was at her wits end. At this rate, she wasn’t going to be able to stop herself from doing something stupid. Maybe she’d indulge in that stupidity if she knew if Kyoshi was serious about her. But right now? It all felt like this was some kind of game for the Avatar…

No, she’d had enough Kyoshi for today.

Kyoshi winced and then nodded. She rummaged in the pile and pulled out a pair of shoes.

“Put these on first, though.” 

The two vaulted over the wall and began stepping their way back to Yun.

Chapter Text

The fly over was extremely awkward. Yun clutched onto Kyoshi’s back, and stole glances at Rangi who flew beside them at a considerable distance. She was tasked with carrying Kuzu. The three teens had changed, cut Yun’s hair, and left the extra clothes back with the sailor. They earthbent a closing around it so that no one could easily find the vehicle. Now they were on their way to rest at an inn back in town.

“So, did something happen?” Yun asked. 

“Nothing happened!” Rangi yelled back, annoyed. She glared at Kyoshi out of the corner of her eye, but Kyoshi kept her eyes steadfast ahead of her. A sullen expression resting on her lips.

“So we’re sleeping at an inn tonight? Did you get a reservation?” Yun kept up his questions.

Rangi furrowed her brow, no they hadn’t. 

“I was going to…” Kyoshi trailed off. “But I…got distracted .” She had a defeated tone in her voice, which Rangi scoffed at.

She tried to keep her eyes looking forward, despite feeling the burning holes Yun was bearing into her as his head flicked back and forth between her and Kyoshi.

“We’ll figure it out,” Kyoshi sighed.

There was a long silence as they flew above the sand. Rangi was starting to get a bit tired, jet-stepping for a long period of time wasn’t easy. But she persevered. While Kyoshi was strong enough to carry both teens and Kuzu, she was still adamant in having too much of Kyoshi for the day. 

“I have a question!” Yun announced.

Kyoshi groaned. “You and your damn questions! When do you not? What? What is it?” 

“When we first arrived in the Spirit World, you mentioned that you got out through a portal you fell through,” Yun started interrogating. “But we just walk through a door with Wan Shi Tong. How did you know about that? Had you–”

“If you’re asking if I’ve visited the Spirit World more than once, then yes !” Kyoshi sighed. “The first time Kuzu showed me a portal to fall through to get back home. The other times I willingly went through the library entrance and exit. At least, until I encountered you two. Happy ?”

Yun nodded to himself. “Hm, that would explain how you knew about spirits despite only going there once as a wee lass.” 

“Keep up the commentary and I’ll buck you off.”

Yun laughed. “That sounds like a challenge! Someone’s a little testy today, I’m starting think something hap–”

Kyoshi let go of her hands on his legs, and leaned back to drop him. Yun flailed, realizing he was about to plummet to the earth, and quickly grabbed at Kyoshi’s neck. The motion caused the girl to careen backwards, and the air shooting out of her feet caused them to now propel towards the ground. The two Earth Citizens hit the ground with a fwump . 

Rangi stopped and hovered in the air as she watched the two Earth Citizens scramble in the sand as they yelled at each other. She turned her attention to Kuzu in her arms and scratched the fox’s cheek. “You’re the only other smart one here, Kuzu. We have to stick together.”

The fox yipped happily in her arms. 

The woman at the inn gave the teens a hard look. “You three are going to share a room?”

“Yeah? Is there an issue?” Kyoshi looked at her, annoyed. She’d already given the woman the money, but now she was giving her a hard time.

“It’s just,” she eyed Yun and then looked at Rangi and Kyoshi again. “I don’t think two young ladies should be sharing a room with a man . It’s a little indecent .”

Oh, if only you knew which one was the real indecent one. Rangi thought, shooting daggers at Kyoshi from behind.

Kyoshi rolled her eyes. “Nothing’s going to happen.” 

“That’s what they all say,” the woman clucked her tongue.

Kyoshi slammed one hand down on desk and pointed at the two behind her with her other thumb. “Listen lady, I’ve been sleeping with these two for the past week and nothing’s happ– AHRGJKDLA!”

Kyoshi let out a strangled scream as Rangi jumped on her back and put her in a headlock. It was then muffled by Yun’s hand that he clamped over her mouth. The woman at the desk looked at them horrified.

“She has a horrible way with words, ma'am!” Yun laughed nervously. “Unwell in the head, you see!” He twirled a finger in a circle around his temple. “Nothing’s going to happen! No one here likes anyone,” he lied. 

“You don't have to like someone to– Tsk, oh nevermind .” The woman glared at them in annoyance, but conceded, then threw a key at them. “Just get out of my lobby. Especially if you’re going to suffocate her. I’d rather the cleanup be behind closed doors.” 

Kyoshi was turning purple, and Yun released his hand and grabbed the key. Rangi jumped off of her, but twisted Kyoshi around so she was still dragging her in a headlock.

“Thanks ma’am!” he yelled as he and Rangi dragged the half conscious girl towards the stairs and raced towards the room number that was on the key.

“Did you have to say that?!” Rangi yelled at Kyoshi as they ran into the room.

“What? It wasn’t wrong!” Kyoshi yelled back.

“You couldn’t fudge it a little ?!”

“It was the truth!”

“Oh, now she speaks the truth!” Rangi threw her hands in the air, fed up. “Well since you’re in that kind of mood, how about you tell me what the hell was up with you at the store?”

“So something did happen!” Yun interjected, excitedly.

Rangi turned to him, picked up a pillow that was lying on the floor, and threw it at his face. “ Shut up!” 

Rangi rounded onto Kyoshi, and shoved a finger into the girl’s chest. “Out with it! I want answers, now !”

Kyoshi went pale, sweat pooling down her face. “I– That was. I was…”

“Well? Spit it out!” Rangi poked again. She was fuming, and she didn’t care if Yun saw or not. The entire run from the town and back had given her enough time to think about what happened, and she realized… She didn’t know why she was so angry. Was it that Kyoshi made a move on her and maybe she wasn’t mentally prepared? That they were seen? That they’d gotten interrupted? That she had to hold herself back? All the above? 

But as she stood there, ramming her finger into the girl who she’d much rather be pinning up against the wall. She finally realized what it was. She was mostly mad at Kyoshi’s reaction after the fact. Like most things the girl did, it didn’t make sense. Almost no logical rhyme or reason to it. And if there was a reason, then she kept it close to her chest. 

Her constant flip flopping nature was fraying Rangi to her wits end. She wished the other girl would just pick a lane. She wished she’d quit playing with her. 

She watched as Kyoshi’s eyes, filled with dread, bore into her own, before screwing shut in an instant. She didn’t take her eyes from Kyoshi’s face until she felt the other girl’s hands clasp over the hand she’d been poking her with. When she looked back up to Kyoshi’s face, she was met with an intense half lidded gaze that stared right into Rangi’s being. One that caused heat to rise to her cheeks, and lighting to shoot down her spine.

“Ok, you got me,” Kyoshi said huskily as she pulled Rangi’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles. Rangi fought the shiver and heat that ran down her spine, and lost, as usual. “There’s just something about you that drives me wild . And I just couldn’t hold back, hit me if you must , but I don’t regret it.”

The room was silent as the three teens took in what Kyoshi just said, nothing but the sound of warm wind coming through the window and of the town bustling outside. Rangi let the warmth pass over her until she felt like cooled tempered metal. She frowned at Kyoshi, and her flirtatious demeanor started to crumble quickly under her glare.

Rangi slowly pulled her hand back and out of her grasp, and Kyoshi scrunched her face up in preparation for a slap. But it never came. 

Rangi turned on her heel, and stalked towards the door. 

“Wait! Rangi, where are you going?” Yun asked, his eyes looked like they were only an inch away from leaving his skull completely.

“I’m going for a walk–”

“I’ll come with you, I don’t want–” Kyoshi interjected. It was sort of amazing, the audacity she’d think Rangi would want to even be breathing the same air as her. Was she thick in the head, or just cocky?

Rangi thrusted a finger in Kyoshi’s direction, “I don’t want to be anywhere with you right now. YOU stay here .” Then Rangi pointed the same finger at Yun. “ You , stay with her . Got it?”

“Ok, but where are you walking to?” Yun asked, worry showing on his face.

Rangi threw her hands up in the air as she stomped towards the door. “I don’t know! Just… anywhere that’s not here !”

“At least take Kuzu with you!” Kyoshi yelled as Rangi slammed the door.

Rangi stomped all the way through the inn and out the back entrance, only stopping when she heard a familiar bark. She looked over in a shaded area, and saw Kuzu lounging about. The group of teens had planned to sneak the fox upstairs once they’d settle in.

Rangi sighed. “Sorry, I’m down here because I’m going for a walk. I can try to sneak you in through the window though.”

Kuzu whined, and made a motion like a headshake. 

Ok, she doesn’t want to go upstairs.

“Then, do you want to accompany me?”

Kuzu barked happily.

Ok, I think I’m getting the hang of this. Wait, no, I’m talking to a fox. I’m not ‘getting the hang of anything,’ I’m actually losing it.

“Well, let’s get going,” Rangi turned and motioned the fox to follow her. Kuzu barked again, and the sound of trotting could be heard behind her.

She worked her way to the main drag and let herself be taken by the flow of traffic. She didn’t really have a destination in mind. Maybe loop around the city and head back? 

She was about to take her hat off, annoyed with the foreign object being on her head for too long, when someone coming out of a building ran right into her.

“Hey! Watch it!” the voice exclaimed. 

Rangi growled, annoyed that someone had the audacity to act like she was in the wrong. He was the one that ran into her without looking! She glanced up slightly, ready to let her mouth fly at the man. Then she realized…his voice sounded familiar. 

“What are you doing, you nimrod?” another growled. Another familiar voice. 

Rangi’s eyes widened. Are these the two from the store?

“ Keep your head down ,” Kyoshi’s voice rang in her mind. 

Even though the last thing she wanted to think about was that daofei, her instincts told her to listen to her advice. Begrudgingly she forced herself to stand down and act as meek as she could. She tipped the brim of her hat forward to make sure it completely covered her face.

“Sorry,” she simply said.

“Hm? A woman?” Rangi tried to repress a shudder when she heard the smile in his voice. “Wait a minute, are you the one who–”

“Will you quit lollygagging around! We’re going to be late!” the man with the wrapped face grumbled.

Rangi took her que to quickly slip past them, melding herself in with the rest of the crowd before the conversation could continue. As she walked, she realized Kuzu was not following her anymore. She looked around to see Kuzu by the edge of the crowd and made her way to her. 

Kuzu sat ramrod straight, head swishing vigorously trying to see into the crowd. Her ears perked up when she saw Rangi and did a little dance with her front paws. When Rangi finally got to her, she held out her palm. The animal spirit licked and nuzzled her appreciatively. 

“I’m sorry, was I walking too fast?” she asked softly.

Kuzu let out a snort into her hand.

I’m…taking that as a displeased ‘yes’ ... She thought as she wiped her hand on her tunic.

“Come on, I want to check out a few more places and then we can go.” Something about the town greatly unnerved Rangi, it was best if they got out of here in the morning. But first, she’d want to secure her knowledge of the place before heading back.

When Rangi arrived back at the inn, she opted to jet-step up to the patio near their window with Kuzu. As she approached the open window, she heard talking.

“Nah, I don’t think Rangi would like that,” Yun said.

Talking about me, are you? Rangi thought, annoyed as she wrenched the window open. 

“ What wouldn’t I like?” she growled.

The undignified squeal of terror that escaped Kyoshi probably should’ve disqualified her from holding any form of office or power. Kyoshi, who looked half jumped out of her skin, slowly turned herself around to look at Rangi.

“Heee–eyyy… You’re back…” she tried to sound enthusiastic, but instead sounded like a mechanical creak. 

“That I am.” She thrusted Kuzu into Kyoshi’s arms, and hopped down off the windowsill. “So what the hell is going on here?”

Yun’s eyes were still wide with surprise, but slowly relaxed. “Uh, we… We were discussing what the next game plan should be. Yeah, that’s it. You know, where we’re going next and all of that.” 

Rangi raised an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t think to wait for me to be included in this conversation?”

Yun rolled his eyes. “ Well , if someone didn’t decide to run off–”

“Well, I’m here now. So, what wouldn’t I like?”

Kyoshi made a small choking noise. Rangi’s head whipped around to see the taller girl sweating and looking at a creaky floorboard like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Rangi narrowed her eyes suspiciously, ready to interrogate when Yun spoke up.

“J–just the pros and cons of going North, South, East, and West.” Yun waved his hand to get Rangi’s attention back onto him.

“And what about that would upset me?” 

“We were also discussing the pros and cons of us splitting up –”

Rangi felt her temper flare and whipped her head back to where Kyoshi was. She stared wide eyed at the two, probably surprised Yun would throw her under the caravan like that, instead of hiding what they had been discussing. To deflect Rangi’s anger, she raised Kuzu in her arms by the armpits, hiding her face in the process. Like a coward.

Why that little– She can’t even look me in the eye! How dare she use poor Kuzu like that, what kind of Avatar–

Hands came down onto her shoulder, causing her to wince slightly, and turned her back around to Yun. “And I obviously told her that wouldn’t be a good idea!”

Rangi narrowed her eyes at him. If he’d already listed why it wasn’t a good idea, then why bring her up at the end of the conversation? She decided to dismiss it for now, the day was already way too long. She didn’t need to incite another headache. It was better to know the game plan so they could leave in the morning.

“So which way are we heading?”

“North,” Kyoshi mumbled. 

Rangi frowned. Going through more of the desert? Away from Yokoya? Well she very much didn’t like that either. 

What will be will be. She sighed, wherever the Avatar wanted to go she’d go. She’ll waddle her way up to the damn North Pole with all the otter penguins if she had to. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t try to change the Avatar’s mind the whole way, though. 

Ugh, another thing I have to broach… How was she going to convince the Avatar back to Yokoya? To abandon the daofei life?

Rangi pinched her brow and sighed. “Fine, we’ll head North. We’ll leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn.”

Yun let out a disgusted noise. “Really? Dawn? Why? Can’t we sleep in?”

“The desert will be cooler in the morning, plus I don’t like this town…” 

Yun dropped his hands from Rangi’s shoulders. “Why? Did something happen while you were out?”

Rangi shook her head. “No, I’ve noticed a few shady looking figures wandering the streets. Two of them seem extra shifty in particular. Kyoshi and I ran into them in the store but I just saw them again–”

Hands roughly grabbed her shoulders yet again. Do you both think this injury doesn’t hurt?! And swung her around…again.

“You did?!” Kyoshi’s face was close. Too close. She was looking Rangi up and down and spinning her this way and that to see if she had any injuries. ”Are you ok? You didn’t get hurt, did you, Firecracker?”

When Kyoshi’s hand ran down Rangi’s good arm, she had enough of the manhandling, and smacked Kyoshi’s hands off of her. 

“Will you get off of me! Yes I’m fine!” She narrowed her eyes at the Avatar suspiciously. “Why do you care? You’re acting really strange–”

“C–can’t a ward be worried for their bodyguard?” she laughed nervously. But at Rangi’s ever growing glare she suddenly turned defensive. “I told you this was a daofei town, and I knew you two were not, well, keen on daofei. So I just want you two to avoid trouble –”

Did Rangi have a short fuse? No. As of right now, the fuse was nonexistent . Kyoshi just lit an explosive directly at its core. And it was about to blow up in her face. 

She made each point by slamming a finger into Kyosh’s chest. “Oh? Avoid trouble? Tell me, were you ‘avoiding trouble’ when you started necking me in the damn store?!” The sound of Yun’s delighted gasp caused Rangi to snatch a nearby pillow and deck him with it in under a half a second before continuing her rant. “Cause I think you were the one causing trouble !”

“W–well for one thing it was your shoulder , the one necking was y– Ow!” Rangi slammed a finger into her chest. Then her shoulder and back as Kyoshi attempted to turn and run away from her. But she wasn’t going to let her prey go that easily. “I–I mean, there was a very good reason– Ow! You’re just so irresistible? Ow! Damn it woman, these aren’t the kind of bruises I want you to leave on me– I mean– Ow ow ow ow! Uncle! Uncle I call– Ow!”

“WILL YOU BRATS SHUT UP?!” A voice boomed from next door, rattling the walls. 

Rangi, still high off her own anger, turned and inhaled deeply. Ready to give the stranger a piece of her mind. But as she was about to let loose what was surely a snappy and smart comeback, a hand clamped over her mouth and another arm wrapped around and restrained her.

“O–okay! That’s enough, Firecracker! I don’t want to piss off every daofei in this inn!” Kyoshi said hushedly, fighting easily against Rangi’s thrashing. 

Yun clapped his hands, a delighted, shit eating grin radiating on his face. “You know what we need? To cool off! I think there’s a bathhouse downstairs, maybe we just need to wash up and cool our heads. I think it’s ladies’ turn at the moment. You two should go wash up.”

Rangi felt her face flare up at the notion. “The hell I’m going anywhere like that with her!” she exclaimed, breaking free out of Kyoshi’s grasp. 

Kyoshi mock gasped. “Am I really so horrible , Firecracker?”

“You’re a menace ! We’re going in separately!” She turned to Yun. “You and I are going to station ourselves outside the bathhouse.”

“What? Why ?” Yun looked at her like she was crazy. 

Rangi pointed a finger at Kyoshi without looking. “So this one doesn’t sneak off!”

“Now why would I do that?” Kyoshi asked innocently. Rangi only returned her question with a glare.

“After she’s done, we’ll take turns watching her and bathing. Same thing with sleeping tonight.”

“Oh, come on! You can’t be serious! I think you’re a little paranoid, Rangi,” Yun laughed while rolling his eyes.

Rangi was very serious. “You get the first shift tonight, wake me up when it’s my turn. Now let's get downstairs.”

“I’m not going to run off, I don’t know why you don’t trust me a little,” Kyoshi grinned at them, looking not trustworthy in the least.

“Just get in there, I want to get this gunk off me too,” Rangi growled at her. Kyoshi slipped into the changing area before she could feel the firebender’s wrath.

Yun sighed as he leaned against the wall entrance. “I’m just happy you’re here with me. If I was by myself well… Ha! How would that look? A guy waiting outside the bathhouse entrance when it’s the women’s turn, it’d– H–hey! Where ya goin’?”

Rangi had started stalking off towards the building’s exit. “Somewhere.”

“Ah, wati! You liar!” he yelled after her. “You said you’d wait here with me!”

“I didn’t lie!” Rangi called over her shoulder. “I said I’d wait down here by the bathhouse, but not by the entrance!”

She picked up her pace, she needed to get into position before it was too late. She weaved through people on the streets and rounded the corner into an unsuspecting alley. Looking up, she figured out the best position to be in and went to a nearby wall.

Rangi leaned back against the alley wall and looked up again. Above, a wooden panel covered a closed window. The way she angled her body behind a beam hid her fairly well from the window. Steam from the bathing room funneled through the cracks in the material. Rangi watched it intently, waiting for some kind of movement.

It was a wonder why Yun didn’t see it was obvious Kyoshi would want to try to escape them. Back in the Spirit World, they were all trapped, they had to work together to escape. But now that they were in the real world? Kyoshi just needed to drop their asses off in a relatively safe place, and skadaddle to do whatever little daofei things she planned on doing. But Rangi wasn’t going to let that happen. She was going to follow that idiot Avatar of hers to the ends of the damn earth if she had to. 

But for now? She had a waiting game. Luckily it wouldn’t be for long.

After about five or so minutes of waiting, it happened. The wood on the window started to move, it pushed out and with a stick stored inside, propped itself. Rangi sighed and rolled her neck side to side, and wondered what her ward’s reaction would be. She considered jet-stepping up, to flick Kyoshi’s forehead, but decided against it. Who knows what she was about to face…

Once the window was propped up, hands appeared on the sill, then a familiar head. It swiveled side to side to see if the coast was clear. Then, once satisfied, Kyoshi lifted herself up more, her bare shoulders peaking out and– Wait, BARE ?!

She’s not going to–

“What do you think your doing?” Rangi called up, keeping her voice as steady as possible, as she stepped out of the shadows to confront her ward. Her calm voice belied the franticness she had waiting underneath. 

Kyoshi visibly flinched before slowly turning to meet Rangi’s gaze with a sheepish grin. Resting her arms on the sill. “Oh, hey, Firecracker. Fancy seeing you here.”

“Were you really thinking of running naked through the streets?” Rangi asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Would you judge me if I did?” 

“Immensely,” she said dryly. Rangi could’ve sworn she heard giggling. Ah, so her Avatar had an audience inside the bathhouse. Lovely.

Kyoshi scoffed playfully. “Ah, well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint you.”

Rangi put a hand on her hip. “You attempting to run away already has.”

Kyoshi fake gasped. “Run away? Oh, Firecracker, no no! This isn't what it looks like. I was just going to sneak around front and surprise you! And give you a little show while I was at it.” She let loose a flirtatious wink that bounced right off of Rangi.

“Me and the rest of the town ?” 

“Oh, what can I say? I’m an entertainer at heart.” More giggles from the background.

“An entertainer , you say? Like a circus clown? Tell me, how are you hanging in there?” Kyoshi was tall, but not twenty feet tall. 

Ah no, that was a stupid question. She must’ve air-stepped up to the window, so she must still be air-stepping. That’s why she doesn’t look like she’s breaking a sweat. Rangi was confident in her deduction. But Kyoshi decided what she loved to do, lie.

“Oh this? This is nothing!” She let one arm hold her up as she brought the other up to flex, showing off her muscles that she wasn’t using…but still impressive nonetheless. Rangi was really glad she chose to stay on the ground and not jet-step up there. She probably would’ve lost her concentration and fallen. Her pride would’ve certainly hurt more than her tailbone.

Rangi waved her off. “Yeah, yeah! Quit showing off and get to bathing! I want to get in there before the next cycle!”

Kyoshi unleashed her most deadly weapon yet, certainly would’ve been a one-hit-KO if Rangi was up close. She flashed a crooked, flirty smile with half lidded eyes. “Well you can always join me, Firecracker.” 

Oo’s radiated from the bathhouse. 

Rangi felt her back heating up at the thought. She wondered if it was inherent for an Avatar to push their luck. She’s been messing with me all damn day, if I wasn’t honorbound to protect her I swear I would– Argh!

“Now why the hell would I do that?” she scoffed.

“Hey now, I won’t bite!” she laughed. “Unlike you, you know, the marks you left on me are starting to bruise .”

Rangi’s eyes widened and her heart began to beat in a panic. Was she implying she left hickies when it was just her finger? Wait…did she bite her in the store? Rangi couldn’t remember and that sent a new wave of panic through her. 

“That was just my finger and you know it!” she shouted. As if that sounded any less dirtier.

“Oh, I know you like to use your fingers, darlin’!” More cooes and giggles rang through the bathhouse. “My back is plenty evidence of that!”

Rangi choked, her face was boiling now. She did vaguely remember running her nails down her back. 

Haaaa, I wish I was an earthbender, then I could make the earth swallow me whole.

“C’mon up! It’ll be faster, and it’ll be a great bonding moment. We can really get to know each other . I’ll even wash your back!”

Rangi felt a new wave of flush run up her back, she could read between the lines easily. And it only grew hotter the more she heard the women in the bath giggle and whoop louder and louder. She gritted her teeth, trying to hold her resolve together and not take her up on her offer. Trying not to think horrible things about the Avatar.

I guess Kyoshi gets her propriety from Kuruk rather than the Great Yangchen… She thought about all the womanizing stories she’d overheard from various people over the years. At the time, her mother had told her to pay no mind to the loose lips of others, but now she was wondering if she should’ve . 

At least I’d know what I’m working with. 

She sent the embarrassed energy to her palm. It didn’t matter if she knew how deep Kyoshi’s shallow flirtations lay, she knew how to shut her up.

Rangi watched as Kyoshi’s as her smile quickly fell and she began to pale.

“You have five seconds!” she announced.

“H–hey hey hey hey! You put that thing away–”

“Four!”

Kyoshi started to scramble and attempt to close the window. “Alright, alright! I’m going to bathe! Sheesh! Are all Fire Nation women like this–” A fireball landed on the stone wall of the building right next to the window.

“Three!” Rangi generated another fireball in her palm. “And I won’t purposefully miss this time!”

Kyoshi promptly shut the window, cutting off the roar of laughter from behind. Rangi shook out her hand, extinguishing the flame. Calmer again. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.

‘I’ll even wash your back!’ Kyoshi’s voice echoed in her head. 

That sounds pretty nice right about now… She thought as she took stock of today’s grime on her body. Then she shook her head and groaned. No! She needed to be strong! She needed to not give into the whims of the beautiful, tall, fit Avatar. She needed to keep some form of self-respect left.

“I need a nap…” In a handful of hours, she’d be taking the first sleep while Yun took the first watch. 

Rangi woke to something wet nudging her cheek. She swatted at whatever it was, wiping her cheek down and went back to sleep. Then the wetness was back again, accompanied by a familiar whine.

“Nng?” Her eyes slowly came apart to a dark room, the only light was from the moon outside spilling in through the open window. Her eyelashes fluttered, trying to figure out why she was woken up, then she remembered they were taking turns as they slept. Yun was probably waking her up for her turn.

A wet strip of something ran up her cheek again.

And Yun was…licking her face awake?!

Rangi shot up straight, wiping at her face. That weird bastard, I’m going to give him a piece of my–Oof!

A weight slammed onto her lap, and she felt a cold snout in her face again. Kuzu was whining at her, and Rangi’s anger dissuaded. She blinked, why was Kuzu waking her up instead of Yun? More importantly, why weren’t Yun and Kyoshi giggling and laughing at her behind her back? 

She quickly turned around to find the room still and quiet. Yun was passed out in his chair, a lone tea cup on the table next to him. She vaguely remembered him getting tea somehow, but she was already on her way to falling asleep when that happened. 

Rangi got up and approached Yun, attempting to shake him awake. But while his head bobbed all around, he didn’t stir. 

Then she picked up the cup and took a swig of the liquid inside, then spit it out. It was subtle, but there was a distinct taste of a sleeping agent. Yun had been drugged, who knows how long he’d be out or had been out. 

She ran to the corner of the room where Kyoshi got her sleeping arrangements set up. She quickly flipped the covers over to reveal the bedding had been stuffed with pillows.

Kyoshi had run away. Just like Rangi thought she would.

Rangi’s jaw clenched in frustration. “Why that little…” 

She turned towards the open window, Kuzu was leaning against it on her hind legs, yipping at Rangi and then out to the open. She was telling her where Kyoshi had gone. Rangi quickly made her way over there and looked out.

The crisp, cold air of the desert hit her skin. In the distance, she could see a figure moving on the rooftops. It looked like Rangi was in for another chase with her thief. 

Fine, you want a round two? I’ll give you a round two.