Hey guys. Sorry this is a little late, but eh. It's Christmas and I started reflecting on the past year of my life. It's been pretty hectic. And it's really made me think about what's precious to me. So here we go again – my Christmas special for this year. Hope you like it.
Please read, review and enjoy. Merry Christmas and remember what is truly precious to you.
Warning: The implying of some fairly adult themes and slight use of inappropriate language. Santa does not advise you use certain words you may read here unless you want to end up on the naughty list. Thank you for taking the time to read this notification. Please continue.
Chapter 1. That's Precious
Aang
It's Christmas. The war is over and all four nations are at peace with each other... even if I am the only airbender left. But that's not the point – the point is that I fulfilled my destiny and, right now, everyone around me is happy. It's been a pretty rough year – the moment I woke up with Katara leaning over me when she found me in that iceberg, things were crazy! But it's all payed off now.
I came pretty close to dying a fair few times while we were trying to end the war, while I was trying to master the elements and the Avatar State. And now that it's all over and I actually have time to think, I'm really starting to see how lucky I am.
I have friends. Really good friends. Friends who are there for me whenever I need them. And they're friends who stick with me through both the good times and the bad. And they are the most precious thing in the world to me.
Katara – she's the one who found me. She was the first person I'd seen in a hundred years. The first girl I'd seen ever. And she is such a wonderful woman. She is gentle, but firm. She is smart and pretty and strong and kind and helpful. I guess she's the closest thing I've ever had to a mother, even if I sometimes wish we could be something more than friends...
Sokka – he's such a funny guy. And there is so much more to him than you'd expect. He's not just the comedian who is always being laughed at but nobody ever laughs with, except on the rare occasion when he actually does make a decent joke. He's actually a really sweet and sensitive guy. And I'm lucky to have met him, and much more so to have attained such a great friendship with him.
Toph – I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there to teach me how to earthbend. I was utterly hopeless before I met her! But the crazy tough woman really knows how to pass on the talents. Gotta love Toph. She truly does rock – pun intended.
Zuko – now here's a funny one. To think, he's the son of the evil guy who was trying to take over the world, the one who I had to defeat and possibly kill. And to think, to begin with, Zuko was trying to kill me just as much as his dad was... if not even more, seeing as I never actually got to meet his dad until much later. But once Zuko came around and joined us and stopped trying to kill us, he actually turned out to be a pretty nice guy. Sure, he's got a really short temper...
"Aang! Why is there mistletoe right above my bedroom door?!"
"Um... in case a special girl comes knocking?"
"AANG!"
I saw Mai walking away, a smug smirk on her black-painted lips.
Yea... a really short temper...
But hey, that's not the point. The point is, when we get to the bottom of it all, he's still one of my best friends.
Then there's also Iroh – the funny old fuddy-duddy. He's really wise and it's really handy to have him around... even if it takes ages to work out what he means by some of his random proverbs now and then. And there's Suki – she's just awesome. And she and Sokka are so sweet together. Then there's Momo and Appa – the last of my Air Nomad brethren. I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost any of them.
They're all my friends. And sometimes it seems we're so close that I could even call them my family. And ok, so we do call each other family... but that just makes them all the more precious to me.
I think I'll put some mistletoe over Toph's door...
I think I'll knock too.
"What do you want, Twinkletoes?" she calls from inside. Ha, it's too early for her to be up yet. She's still in bed.
"Come to the door, Toph!" I call.
So she comes to the door. And she opens it.
"Good morning, Sifu Toph."
"What do you want, Twinkletoes?" she asks, rubbing her eyes.
"Just wanted to know if you knew about the mistletoe above your door," I smile.
"The wha-?!"
I kiss her before she has a chance to say anything else. The next thing I know, she's put me through the ceiling and I find myself in Sokka's room, the next floor up. He and Suki are making out on the bed and he's got his shirt off.
"AANG!!!"
It's Christmas. They'll forgive me...
Katara
I hear them shout his name angrily and I can't help but chuckle to myself. He's such a troublemaker. But he's my precious little troublemaker... or at least one of them.
I sigh as Zuko walks in, a smudge of black lipstick tainting his unscarred cheek.
"Um... you've got..." I indicate timidly to his cheek and he snorts grumpily, rubbing the back of his hand violently against his cheek, smudging the lipstick. "Oh, come here," I order, picking up a cloth and wetting it.
"Katara, no, wait, I can do it my–"
I grab him by the front of the shirt, pull him closer and rub the wet cloth against his cheek until Mai's lipstick disappears from his beautiful face. "There you go."
"Aw man... you really know how to make me feel like a little kid, ya know?"
I chuckle to myself again, nodding.
He sighs, "Thanks Katara."
"You're welcome," I smile.
He reaches for a strawberry on top of the cake I just finished decorating for Christmas lunch dessert and I smack his hand. "Ow, hey, what was that for?"
"Don't touch my cake! You can have some when it's dessert time. Just because you're the Fire Lord doesn't mean you get to eat dessert before it's even ten o'clock in the morning!" I scold, playfully.
He pokes his tongue out at me, scowling. It's a fake scowl, but he does it so well. I chuckle again.
"What's so funny?" he asks smartly.
I just shake my head. He starts to walk away.
"Zuko," I call after him. He stops and turns around to face me again, his face blank. "Merry Christmas."
Zuko has a beautiful smile. He barely lets it show, but the moments when he does, like this one right now, are some of the most precious moments ever.
"Thanks Katara. Merry Christmas to you too."
There are so many things in the world that are precious to me. And my handful of little trouble makers aren't even the half of them. Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Toph... I gotta love them. I don't know what I'd do without them, even if they are a bunch of pains in the butt to me. And it's Christmas, so I have to keep reminding them that I care. So I will.
Suki
I giggle as he chases Aang away and lay on the bed, watching him run out the door from my upside-down position. I can't help but grinning. He's such a macho man. It's adorable. And just one of the many reasons he is so precious to me.
I really don't mind that Aang walked in on us... or... ok, more like crashed up on us... but anyway, I really don't mind. The reaction it's gotten from Sokka is hilarious. Ha, my precious wannabe warrior boy.
That mischievous grin spread across Aang's face is pretty precious too. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see it now and then – it would be so much more intense around here. Aang just knows how to loosen things up so well! Well, I guess he is the Avatar, the guy who restored peace to the world and ended the war. Gotta love the kid.
Toph appears, smirking happily with herself, "Sorry, didn't mean to make him come crashing in on you and your dear sweet boyfriend..."
I shrug, "No worries, honey. The look on Sokka's face was totally worth it."
She laughs, "True... too true..."
Toph mends the floor where Aang had come in and then walks casually out of the door, shutting it behind her. I love Toph. She's such a tough cookie. I really admire that about her. She is a truly precious person in my world.
I lie back on my pillow and sigh again. It's Christmas – time to appreciate everything that's precious to me.
Sokka
I give up on chasing Aang – the little baldy is too fast for me. Man he is annoying! Urgh! I kick the wall and regret it immediately – ow, now my toe hurts...
As I hop towards the kitchen to grab something to eat – maybe I'll steal a piece of cake while Katara isn't looking – before I go back to Suki, I notice mistletoe has been left on the ground. I laugh to myself – Aang, the silly baldy.
"Hey Snoozles," Toph greets, on her way back to her room. Her door has a piece of mistletoe lying outside of it and I'm guessing that Aang knocked and tried to kiss her, thus, causing her to put her through the ceiling – or the floor of my room... whichever you prefer. I just shake my head before I continue towards the kitchen.
Katara is in there, busy and at work, per usual. I smile at her – I don't know who'd feed me if she weren't there...
She has her back to me and she's leaning over the sink, washing dishes. Quietly, I pick up the knife and edge my way towards the Christmas cake, which looks like it's just been finished.
"Sokka, put the knife down and step away from the cake. I just finished it and no one is to touch it until dessert."
"Aw," I moan. "But Katara!!!"
"Stop whining! Put the knife down and scoot!" she laughs, bending some of the dirty water from the kitchen sink and whacking it across my backside with expert skill. I yelp out in pain and surprise and drop the knife back down to the bench before I clap my hands over my bottom.
"Ow... that hurt..." I complain, rubbing my rump gently.
"Do you really want me to kiss it better for you? Or, wait, I have a better idea. GRAN-GRAN!" Katara sings out musically.
"NO! I'll be fine," I assure her, smiling, cheeks turning red. I disappear from the kitchen in a hurry.
Dumb little sister... why won't she let me eat? I'm hungry now.
"AANG! WOULD YOU STOP TRYING TO PUT MISTLETOE ABOVE MY DOOR?!" Zuko's voice rings down the hallway. I hear Aang's mischievous laughter and decide I'll take the long way back up to my bedroom
As much of a pain in the butt the lot of them down there are, I still gotta hand it to them – they're precious and life would suck without them. I don't really wanna live in a world where there's no mischievous Aang, or hot-tempered Zuko, or playful and motherly Katara, or un-girly Toph, or...
"I was starting to think you'd forgotten me," Suki laughs as I come back into the room.
I smile gently at her and lean against the door frame. "How could I forget about you?" I ask. She giggles – man how I love that sound.
I jump onto the bed next to her and pull her shirt up so that her stomach is showing, then I press my lips there and give her a raspberry. She cackles loudly and I can't help but laugh too. Then I start kissing her lips. And I know that she is truly one of the most precious things in the world to me.
It's Christmas – if she didn't know it before, she'll certainly be finding out today...
Zuko
I hate Christmas...
I rip yet another wad of mistletoe from above my door before Mai can get any more ideas, and, with a quick burst of light, it becomes nothing but ashes in the palm of my hand. I blow the ashes to the ground and glare darkly at them. Then I turn around and walk back into my room, shutting the door loudly behind me.
"Cheer up, My Nephew. Smile. It is Christmas!" Uncle tells me and his sudden appearance makes me jump.
"Uncle, what are you doing in my room?!" I ask, flustered.
"Nothing," he says innocently, although his head is buried in a book that he really shouldn't be looking in...
"Uncle, are you reading my journal?!"
A huge grin cracks across his face and he nods silently, without looking up at me.
"UNCLE!!!"
I snatch the tattered old book off of him, fuming.
"I didn't realize you kept a journal, Nephew. It truly is an interesting read."
"How much of it did you read?!" I ask, panicking slightly, though I'll never admit it.
"Oh... enough to make me want to read more," he smirks.
I realize the page he'd had it open to and blush as I look at the little stick-figure drawing of me and a certain girl who shall remain anonymous, and the little thing I'm saying in a speech bubble next to my head...
"Oh gosh..." I know I've turned bright red. I honestly can't remember the last time I blushed, and I don't think I've ever blushed like this!
"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Nephew. Every single man has a fantasy about a particular girl whom they wish they had the guts to admit their feelings for."
"I do not have feelings for her!" I yell.
My Uncle chuckles. "Nephew, you are a terrible liar. And it is quite pointless telling me something so untrue after I've seen some of the other little drawings and thoughts that you've got there in that journal – there are some much raunchier ones than the one you caught me looking at. And you know that just as well as I do."
I shut the little journal abruptly and smack myself on the head with it. Then I turn around and leave the room with it still in hand, feeling absolutely mortified. As quickly as I can, I go outside and sit under the apple tree by the turtle-duck pond. For a little while, I look over my journal, blushing at some of the things I'd written down. I feel so stupid... it's such a childish thing to have done!
Frustrated, I throw the journal into the cold water where it disappears with a splash below the surface. The turtle-ducks quack indignantly and I smirk at the annoying little beak-heads.
I stand up and suddenly, I feel sorta empty. There were a lot of precious memories, thoughts, and moments kept in that journal. I'd spent so much time writing in it, that, now that I'd gotten rid of it, it sorta felt like I'd lost a huge part of me...
I tell myself to snap out of it and I kick myself in the shins, nearly tripping myself up and falling into the pond too. Feeling grumpy, I huff back inside.
I hate Christmas.
Iroh
I sip my tea lazily and chuckle to myself. My nephew knows how to overreact far too well. The look on his face is more than priceless. Though I must admit, perhaps I should have calculated a little better – perhaps I crossed the line a little too far this time. He truly does seem upset...
Ah well. It's Christmas. He'll get over it... and maybe I can convince him to ask her out.
Maybe I can even earn his forgiveness if he decides to be a stubborn-arse about it – I'll give him some good tips to use on her. With my help, he'll reel her right in!
I shake my head gently, deciding that I should probably leave before my nephew returns for wherever he's disappeared off to. I wonder if he's writing about how embarrassed he is that I found his journal...
I can't help the low chuckle that escapes my throat as I walk off to my room, a cup of fine tea in my hands, occasionally being raised to my lips so that I may sip at it.
Aaaahhh... tea is wonderful on cold winter mornings such as this one. But the tea that I'm drinking today is particularly precious – it is very rare and usually only found on the market at a very high price around this time of year. So, naturally, I only get a chance to drink it around this time of year. It is nowhere near as good as ginseng tea – that will forever remain the most precious of teas in the world in my eyes, but I think it gives jasmine tea a bit of a run for it's money. If only I could get my greedy little hands on this stuff a little more often...
I freeze where I am at the sound of loud crashing, clutching my teacup very close to me in the hope that I would not spill it if the ground started shaking or something or someone whizzed past me.
"MY CABBAGES!!!" I hear someone cry out in dismay somewhere out in the main street outside the palace. "MY CABBAGES!!!"
The next thing I know, Aang is hurtling towards me, riding atop an air scooter.
"Aang!" I call out, clutching my teacup tighter and putting one hand out in front of me. "NOOOO!!!!" I close my eyes and look away, waiting for the horrible moment when I would feel the warm liquid that was in my cup spilling over the edges, all over my hands and down to the floor.
"Mr Iroh?" the boy asks.
The moment doesn't come.
I open my eyes and look at Aang. He is standing in front of me, his head cocked to one side.
I let out a held breath. "Aang, can you be a dear and please not come hurtling around corners when I am carrying precious cups of rare and expensive tea around?" I ask, reverently displaying the cup for him to see.
A sheepish grin appears on his face and he rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry Mr. Iroh," he laughs, hunching his shoulders.
I take a deep breath and sigh. Then I smile at him and pat the top of his bald head.
"It is alright, Aang. My tea is safe – that is all that matters!"
I continue down the corridor, taking deep breaths as I await the moment my heartbeat would slow back to its normal pace. By the time I reach the kitchen, there is only a drop left in my cup. I sigh as I let it slip onto my tongue and I see Miss Katara smile sweetly at me.
"Do you want me to make you another cup, Mr. Iroh?" she asks politely.
"No thank you, Miss Katara," I wave my hand quickly, smirking to myself as what I read in Zuko's journal comes back to me. "I'll wait until lunch is ready. Would you like some help around the kitchen?"
"Well... if it wouldn't be too much trouble, do you think you could just warm up that pot of soup over there for me while I cut up this seal jerky? It's Sokka's favourite and he complains if it's not cut just right!" she says, pointing to the far bench.
I nod and lumber over to it, putting the pot on the stove and lighting it up. I find a wooden ladle and stir it gently, breathing in the sweet, delicious scent. "Ah, Miss Katara, you make quite a fine soup!"
"Thank you!" she grins.
Sokka
I decide it's best if I take a breather outside for a little while. Suki has gone to help Katara in the kitchen and I know I'm not welcome there because I keep stealing food and I really don't want Katara to cut one of my fingers off during Christmas...
Anyway, Aang is still being a pain, running around and sticking mistletoe everywhere... I don't know how I managed to dodge Ty Lee while I was looking at the Christmas tree in the hall and absentmindedly standing under a bundle of it when she walked in... close call much!
"HI SOKKA!!!" Aang yells, jumping out of the bushes at me as I walk by the peaceful turtle-duck pond.
"AAAARRGH!!!" I don't now how high I jump. But I don't land properly. One foot lands splish-splash in the water and the other right on the edge of the bank... I end up falling in. "!!!"
I jump up and down in the freezing cold water as I try to get out, but I can't stop slipping. And it is soooooo cold, it's not even funny.
"AANG! IT'S COLD! GET ME OUT!"
"Oops..." he ogles, trying to stifle laughter.
"GAAAAAAH!!!"
I start crawling along the bottom of the pond towards the bank because of my lack of balance, and as I near the moment when I will pull myself to dry land again, I see Aang running off in a hurry not to be yelled at by me.
"AAAAAAAANG!"
I pull myself onto the bank and curl up in a ball there, shivering from top to toe. My teeth are chattering so hard I can hardly breathe. Somehow, as if they know that I need warmth, the turtle-ducks that had been in the pond when I fell in came waddling up to me and huddled around me.
"There... nice... duckies...OW!" I shriek as one of them bites my ear. "GET OFF!!!" The little bastard lets go and waddles away mischievously. The vast majority of his little brethren follow after him and I feel quite abandoned, thinking all of them went. But one remained, although I had my back to him with the way I was laying. It came around to where my face was, dragging something along, by its beak.
I frown for a moment. It is a book – absolutely sopping wet, looking as sorry as me, but a book nonetheless. With a strong toss of his little head, the turtle-duck managed to throw the little book over my face, opening it to a random page. I see black ink that is starting to run a little... a lot... on the pages that look down on me. But everything is far too close to my face for me to be able to decipher anything. Although, as my eyes slowly adjust, I'm absolutely sure I saw my sister's name on one of the pages...
"Sokka?!"
It's Suki's voice. Hallelujah.
"Sokka! Oh my gosh, did you fall into the pond?!"
"No shit, Sherlock..." I stutter breathlessly.
She comes and kneels by my head, knocking the book away thoughtlessly and wiping drips and drops from my face with her hands.
"Come on," she sighs. "Let's get you inside before you catch death!"
She helps keep me standing upright as I tremble my way back indoors and up to our bedroom. How I love this woman...
Toph
Oh the precious sounds of people getting pissed off ... at Aang, nonetheless. Sure, I fell victim to my own entertainment this morning when he woke me up with mistletoe above my door... but whatever. The reaction I got out of Sokka when I put the kid through the ceiling/floor into his room was P-R-I-C-E-L-E-S-S.
With a huge grin spread across my face, I wander around, making sure to avoid any immediate scenarios where there is yelling involved – I enjoy them most when they have no idea I'm listening in.
I cackle quietly to myself and walk outside, passing Suki, who is carrying Sokka who is for some reason shivering. I can't help but laugh to myself as I notice the faint vibrations of the drops of water that are coming off him and hitting the ground – I can just guess what's happened. Oh, Sokka, you are a precious one.
As I walk out to the gardens to wake myself up properly with the chilling air outside, I notice something on the bank of the pond that hadn't been there yesterday. And as I approach, I realize it's a book of some description. I pick it up and look blindly at it, wishing I could read. But whatever, I'd go and find someone else to tell me what the book was about.
I tuck it away in my robes and walk back inside, feeling wide away thanks to the cold air.
Ah, precious Christmas. I love you very much.
(Please reivew) To be continued...