Pre-reading note: as you may have read on my profile page, I'm changing the names of major characters in this story. The names are as follows: Mizumi = Sakari (meaning sweet), Rikoh = Rong (meaning harmonious), Harina = Sedna (mistress of the sea), Hioko = Balto, Hakko = Yukon (meaning river), Zita = Xia (meaning summer). These are more Inuit sounding names (or Chinese, in Rikoh/Rong's case), so therefore in my opinion more appropriate for the characters. I hope you'll understand this decision, also if you're already used to the old names. In case you stumble upon an old name, don't hesitate to warn me. Thank you.

Author's Note: this sequel wasn't really planned, but there were some things I wanted to tell about Rong and Sakari. Their story just wasn't finished yet. I hope you will enjoy this story if you enjoyed Like Water and Fire too. It will take a while before this story is finished, simply because school has started again and this year are my final exams for high school. Trust me when I promise you I will finish it!

Chapter 1

"You may now kiss the bride."

He smiled down upon the young woman by his side that looked back at him, with the happiest face he'd ever seen her with. She was more beautiful than ever that day, wearing her light blue wedding dress and her hair decorated with white flowers. She was his princess – and from this day on, his beloved wife. He now bent to her and softly impressed his lips on hers.

She responded by putting her arms around his neck and kissing him back with deep passion.

Applause sounded now: six guests were present at the private wedding in the Spirit Oasis. Two of them were the parents of the shining bride. Her father was beaming of pride and happiness, while her mother tried to hide her tears in a part of her own dress. At first, she hadn't accepted the marriage, but she'd confessed she'd been too reluctant to give her daughter away just like that. They finally had her permission now, though.

Close to them was a happily married couple, although they were still under twenty. The guy was tall, especially for one of the Water Tribe, and he showed a small limp as he walked up to get in line in order to congratulate bride and groom. The girl wore a decorative tiara in her hair, which had become light-brown – it usually got lighter in summer, like now. Her belly showed she was halfway through a pregnancy.

The final couple wasn't married yet and stood a bit on a distance from everything. The woman had a complicated hair dress: she wore it in four hair loopies and had two longer, small braids in front of her ears. She leaned against the shoulder of her fiancé, with whom she was obviously very much in love. But he wasn't looking at her: no, he gazed at the happy bride with a kind of jealous look. He couldn't get over the fact that in the past year, he'd had her as his wife-to-be for a couple of months. He'd given up on her, but he couldn't help looking at her with a certain desire.

Under normal circumstances, Rong'd gotten angry with Yukon for that. But not today. Today, his life was woven into Sakari's for all the years to come – the happiest day of his life, he was sure of it. "I love you," he muttered in her ear, as they accepted congratulations from her parents.

She beamed of happiness and in a short moment of silence, she whispered: "I love you, too…" She hadn't told him that many times yet: including this time, it had only been three times. Once at their engagement, once at a random moment when they were having a midnight-talk, and finally, now.

But he didn't have time to thank her for it immediately, as he was now congratulated by Yukon.

"Take good care of her," he told him, "she's worth it."

Rong merely smiled at that. "She's more than worth it," he answered, "thank you, Yukon."

Yukon gave him a weak smile and went back to his fiancée, who seemed overly enthusiastic.

"Will we have such a beautiful wedding too, Yukon?"

"With slightly more guests, if you don't mind. I'd like to invite my sister and her family-in-law too, making ten guests already excluding ourselves."

"Hee – okay."

Sakari watched them going with a tender look in her eyes. "Aren't those two just adorable?"

"Not as adorable as you are," was Rong's opinion. He liked complimenting her, as she always blushed and didn't know what to say for a while – meaning she was flattered. And who didn't like to flatter the person they loved?

She now laid her head against his shoulder and didn't dare to look up at him for a while. "I'm not adorable," she eventually muttered.

"Oh, yes you are."

"Not!"

"Yes, and I don't want to argue on our wedding day. End of discussion," he added with a grin.

She muttered something he couldn't hear in response, and he suspected he was better off not hearing it anyway.

He lifted her over the threshold of their very own house, the house they'd already lived in for the last couple of weeks. It had been built for them, as there was a lack of new houses in their village.

"I love you," he muttered once more as he put her back on her feet.

She didn't respond to it, although she wanted to. She just had some irrational… 'fear' to express her love for people. It was why she'd only told Rong three times in total – for some reason, she feared she might lose him if she told him too often. It was strange, as never once in her life her fear had become reality. "I… It's mutual," she eventually replied, carefully avoiding the word 'love'.

It appeared to be enough for him, as he broadly smiled and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "That's good, I wouldn't like a loveless marriage. Now come here…"He took her back into his arms, and she suddenly tasted his lips on hers over and over again.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed each and every one of them. She'd never expected to be so happy – she had hoped so, of course, but hopes and expectations weren't exactly the same. Just like she hoped to fly one day, though her expectations on that weren't too high. She vaguely noticed how they slowly moved towards the bedroom. It made sense, as it was evening already and the day had been pretty tiring for the both of them. One didn't get married every day, after all.

Before she knew it, they were lying on the bed. Rong kept kissing her as she leaned backwards on her soft pillow. Her extremely soft pillow, actually… "Oh no, wait! Wait!"

Rong let go of her, although quite reluctantly, judging by his disturbed face. "Now what?"

"I'm lying on Pon-pon!"

It was true, although Pon-pon didn't seem to have noticed a thing as she was still fast asleep.

That, however, didn't hold Sakari back from cuddling her and apologizing. "Oh, Pon-pon, I'm so sorry, forgive me… I thought you were at Yukon's… I'm really sorry, don't be mad at me, please!"

Pon-pon didn't really mind, as she yawned and promptly fell asleep in Sakari's arms.

Rong deeply sighed and rolled on his back. "Oh, please, give me a break… Can't you give that pet of yours a room of its own or something? I recall feeling something nibbling on my toes the other day, and it certainly wasn't you – or so I hope."

"You really did that, Pon-pon?" Sakari chuckled, as she laid the koalaotter on the floor. It didn't even wake up because of that. "You naughty girl!" But although she didn't show it, she was pretty mad at her 'pet'. (Pon-pon wasn't a pet, actually, as she just walked in and out as she pleased.) She had loved it when Rong held her that tightly, when they were so intimate, but the koalaotter had disturbed that moment, and she'd chickened out now. She sighed and followed Rong's example, by rolling on her back as well.

He now softly laid his hand over hers and looked at her. "You're beautiful, you know that? And not just today."

She didn't comment on that. What should she say? She never looked in the mirror telling herself she was 'beautiful', as she just thought of herself as 'plain, ordinary, and nothing special'. She could say she thought he was handsome himself, but even though she really thought so, she couldn't say it. It was kind of the same as with her fear of saying 'I love you'. It was odd, irrational, and she had to get rid of it. If only she knew how.

"You're not that keen on compliments, are you?" Rong now remarked with a smile. "It's okay, you'll get used to it. I'll tell you how beautiful you are at least fifty times a day from now on."

"It's not that," she sighed, "I'm just… not that keen on giving compliments myself, or expressing my feelings for that matter."

"I kind of noticed that already," Rong merely shrugged. "But that's who you are. I've told you often enough I love you for who you are, and that I don't want you to change. Change a bad habit and another one will replace it – no-one is perfect, after all."

Her heart warmed at those words, and she finally dared to look into his eyes again. "No-one is, but you're very close to it," she got herself to say. She meant it from the bottom of her heart, but it took her all her strength to say it. She got rewarded for it, though – she had never been looked at with such love as the way Rong looked at her now.

She was so absorbed by her feelings for him that she barely realized he was now kissing her once again.

He woke up much later than usual that morning, but he didn't open his eyes just yet. He wanted to feel her lying next to him… Until he suddenly realized he was alone. "Sakari?" he muttered. There was no response, and he quickly opened his eyes now. He had to blink a couple of times to get used to the light.

Sakari had already risen, and she had covered herself with a deep-blue dressing-gown. It had fur on it to keep her extra warm. She had opened the curtains completely, and she was dreamily gazing through the window. Apparently, she hadn't noticed he was up yet.

He smiled and stood up as well, grabbing a dressing-gown that matched hers in colour. He then stood up and took place behind her, carefully laying his arms around her shoulders. "Good morning."

"Good morning," she smiled, dreamily, without looking up. "Isn't this wonderful? The sun shining through the clouds, lighting the village and reflecting on the ice…"

"Shouldn't you prefer the moon, being Water Tribe and all?" he muttered, just before pressing a kiss on her head.

She merely shrugged. "I was born in summer, maybe that's it," she said, "I've never felt that comfortable in darkness either, for that matter."

"Hm." He held her more closely now. "I'll protect you from that darkness."

"I know," she smiled, "that's why my fear's gone now."

Why, why was it that everything she said or did only made him love her more? He'd wondered about that for several times, but he still hadn't found his answer yet. One way or another, he felt obligated to embrace her and kiss her. His love for her would have destroyed him if he hadn't known it was mutual – it was that powerful.

"What is it, Rong? Are you scared to lose me or something?" she nervously giggled.

"Actually, I am," he muttered, "scared to lose your love to some other man… I don't think I can survive that."

"Don't fear that," she whispered, as she softly laid her hands on his. "I could never fall in love again, Rong. You… you stole my heart."

He wondered how much effort it had taken her to say that. He could only guess, but the sudden, fierce blush on her cheeks and the fact she suddenly found the floor very interesting to look at, said enough. It endeared him and frustrated him simultaneously – was she really afraid to love him because he was a firebender or what? She'd never once given him a proper explanation on why she hardly told him how she felt. And he feared it was indeed as he suspected: his roots were in the way. After all they'd been through to get together, even after their wedding day… Of course, he'd known it would be bothersome from the very beginning, but he hadn't thought it would take such a big place in their lives.

"Ehm… eh… Did you… have any plans for today?" she now whispered, probably just to change to subject.

"Except for the fact I wanted to spend it with you and you alone – no." This time, he wasn't attempting to flatter her: he just said what was on his mind. He felt strange. He loved her so, but at the same moment, she annoyed him to no end. Why couldn't she just be at ease with him, why was she always so tensed? He thought their marriage would have ended that. Maybe not her anxiety for his secret to be revealed, but he had expected something to change. He was actually surprised that she now allowed him to hold her like this.

"I want that, too," she suddenly muttered, as she sought comfort in his arms. She totally surprised him by that. "It's not like I don't want to be with you," she now said, "because I want that, honestly… You think I don't, don't you?"

"You're certainly leaving me under that impression," he confessed. It was no use lying about the way he felt.

"I'm sorry if I do," she now told him, "but I didn't accept the vows of marriage to joke around, Rong. I accepted them because I wanted to spend my life with you. I never intended to leave you under the impression that I didn't want this marriage, because I do with whole my heart. It's just…"

"My firebending," he completed her sentence in advance.

But much against what he'd expected, she immediately shook her head. "No! No, of course not," she said, truly surprised, "where did you get that idea?"

She surprised him as much as he'd just done to her. "Well, it seemed the only logical explanation…"

"There's no logical explanation – there's none," she sighed, "and I want to overcome that stupid illogical fear of mine. I… I hoped you wanted to help me."

"Of course," he quickly said, as he held her as tightly as he could. "Of course I want to…" Truth being told, he had no idea what she was talking about. But at least she didn't want to fear the idea of being with him. She hadn't even thought about his firebending skills might get in the way – she didn't seem to fear that. Whatever she was afraid of instead, he was sure to take it away. She seemed afraid of love, but wanted it simultaneously. He knew he could help her with both.

"Rong…"

"Hm?"

"Will you hold me like this until the night falls?"

He smiled as he pressed another kiss against her head. "I swear."

That next morning, he woke up holding her in his arms.

Lying in his arms, she wondered why she'd been so afraid the other day to wake up like this. She'd deliberately left the bed back then before she'd actually opened her eyes, and because she needed an excuse, she'd pretended to be looking at the sun. But now that she knew what it was like to wake up with Rong's arms around her and to look into his beautiful eyes, she also knew she'd missed something wonderful.

"Good morning," he smiled, as he softly caressed her face.

"Morning…" She snuggled herself against his chest and noticed how much she enjoyed it to be so close to him. Why had she postponed this moment? This was why she'd married him – to be with him forever, for as long as she could for every single day of her life.

"I didn't keep my promise, did I?"

"Eh?" She didn't get what he was talking about.

He smiled at her and touched her face again. "I promise to hold you until the night fell."

"But you did!"

"No. I held you until after nightfall. Far after that, actually."

She now sniggered. "Yes, that's true," she played along, "you broke your promise. You swore it to me, even! Breaking such a thing is even worse than breaking just a promise!"

"I know – I'm a terrible husband, aren't I?"

"Yes, you are," she grinned. "You must pay for it."

"How?"

"You must hold me until next nightfall," she now whispered in his ear, "and after that."

"You cruel, cruel woman," he muttered with a smile, as he softly pressed her against him.

She couldn't look into his eyes now anymore, with her head against his chest, but that didn't matter. She liked being with him more than anything else. "What will we do tomorrow?" she now asked.

"Hm." He stroked her hair now, a bit absent-minded. "Nothing, I suppose. It's still our honeymoon – we only got married the day before yesterday. And after this… I think it's best if I got a job, don't you think? It'd be nice if I had the money to take care of my wife properly."

She looked up in surprise: was he worrying about that already? "Rong, my parents gave me good amount of money," she whispered, "I'm sure we'll manage for a while…"

"But after that?"

"We'll see that," she appeased him. Normally, it was she who was worrying about all kinds of things, and Rong who calmed her down and told her time would tell what she could do best. "We've managed to get married after all, Rong – something stupid like the need for a job can't ruin this anymore. We've been through too much together to be beaten now."

"Maybe you're right," he admitted, although it was with a deep sigh. "I just want to offer you something more than a life in poverty."

"We'll find you a job, I promise," she smiled at him, although she had no idea what kind of job he could fulfil. He couldn't maintain the job he once had: as a firebender, he couldn't help the waterbenders with fighting. His secret would be out in no time. But what else would suit him? Maybe helping to make supplies for daily life? The pendant he'd made her was gorgeous, after all, although he'd admitted he'd had some help from Balto. Then again, maybe she should follow her own advice: to stop worrying about things for a while.

And she did stop worrying. In fact, she'd never felt as relaxed and happy as during her honeymoon. All they did was staying at home most of the time and just spending time with each other. She loved the little simple things in life: eating together, talking about whatever was on their minds, being able to be her complete self in front of him… In fact, all those little things were more important to her than the fact they were married. It had just been a formality to have the rest of the Tribe know she was officially taken by Rong, although that wasn't exactly the right word for it. They had chosen for one another, even though Water Tribe girls usually didn't choose for their husbands. Then again – It wasn't like their relationship was normal to begin with.

Quite some weeks after their marriage, however, Sakari started to long to the company of other people. It wasn't like she didn't like it to be with Rong: no, she just needed to talk to Sedna. She wanted to know how she was doing, now that she'd unexpectedly gotten pregnant. She'd worried much about it at first, although she was now accepting the fact a child was coming. She was kind of reluctant, but she was dragged along in Balto's enthusiasm. Sakari now wanted to know how she felt about it, and if she was still doing okay. Some women in the Tribe had gotten severally ill halfway through their pregnancy.

"Rong, can't we visit Sedna and Balto some time?" she carefully brought up the subject that evening at dinner.

"I just wanted to propose the same," he smiled, "it's been a while. It's been some weeks since the wedding, and even before we hardly saw them… Shall I ask if it's okay if we come over tomorrow?"

"Perfectly fine," she shone. There was really no need to worry about anything with Rong in her life.

As he woke up that morning, it wasn't as he was used to. Sakari wasn't lying in his arms, just like the time she'd been watching the sun in the early morning. Was she doing that again? But as he looked up, the curtains were still closed. "Sakari?"

That moment, she stumbled back into the bedroom, looking tired and pale. "Hi…"

"What's up?" he asked, almost as quickly as he stood up now to take her in his arms.

"Oh, just something I ate I think," she muttered as she leant against him. "Nothing to worry about…"

"Nothing to… Sakari, have you thrown up?" he now guessed.

She carefully nodded, and she didn't dare to look at him. "But I feel better now," she hurried to say, "I ate too much last night, that must be it. My stomach needed to get rid of something…"

"If you're sick, you're sick," Rong sighed, "why are you trying to deny that?"

"I want to go to Sedna," she now whispered, "I haven't seen her for so long…"

He couldn't help himself but smile. Sometimes, she really was as naïve as she always said she was. "Sedna wouldn't want you to show up sick at her door, believe me," he assured her, "she'd want you to stay in bed until you're better. And I want the same, so you get back into bed right now." With a little pressure, he helped her back into bed and tucked her in.

"But I'm not sick…"

"Even if you're not, you're not completely healthy either," he sighed, "otherwise you hadn't thrown up. Now you stay here while I get dressed and make you breakfast, okay?"

She weakly smiled now, but shook her head anyway. "No, Rong, you don't have…"

"Protest one more time and I'll force you to stay in bed for a week," he threatened, although it was with a smile. He almost fell when he walked off, and noticed he'd tripped over Pon-pon. "I think there's someone here who would like to keep you company," he smiled at Sakari, as he lifted the little creature.

Sakari embraced her, although Pon-pon wasn't really in the mood for cuddles. She was sleepy, and fell asleep almost immediately on Sakari's belly. "Nice and warm," she weakly smiled, stroking the creature. "Thank you, Pon-pon."

"Stomach ache?" Rong asked. He couldn't help feeling sorry for her, even though he helped her – he knew how much she hated it to be taken care of. Which was probably a reason for him to enjoy it if he could take care of her.

"I can't really say," Sakari muttered, "it's not really my stomach…"

"Don't let it bother you. Just hope it'll be over soon, okay? What do you want for breakfast?"

It wasn't over soon. Sakari felt better that afternoon and even got up, but the next morning, she was back at throwing up again. Even though he told her it might be better if some Healer took a look at her, she refused, saying that she was a Healer herself and knew perfectly well she just had to heal with time.

But after a week or so with the same symptoms, Rong couldn't watch it anymore. "I want you to see someone, today," he told her, "this can't be good."

"No, really, it's okay," Sakari said in a desperate voice, "I'm just… just fine…"

"You are NOT!"

"Okay, I'm not fine!" she now shouted, "and you know why, Rong? I'm… I'm…" She gestured that she couldn't say it out loud, and asked him with a motion to come closer. And eventually, she whispered in his ear.

The shock couldn't have been greater. "You're WHAT?!"