Oh hey, look at that. I wrote ATLA fic about someone other than Earth King Kuei! What an achievement. XD Yes, this is some Teo/Ty Lee fluff, because I ship it so hard. And writing this was a refreshing change of pace from the current chapter of my multi-chapter fic, "Cause Some Trouble", which is soooo full of angst right now. D: So yeah, I wrote fluff to lighten the mood! Delicious fluff! Enjoy!
The title comes from a song by Greek band Antique, of the same title. Here's a Youtube link to it! (take out the spaces)
http: / / www. youtube. com / watch? v=CFF0Peo_5IA
SOMETHING ABOUT YOU
They'd met at Fire Lord Zuko's coronation. He was there with his dad as the Avatar's honored guests; she was there as the newest recruit of the Kyoshi Warriors, who all got awards for their exceptional service to the Avatar's cause. She'd told him that she'd never seen such a bright aura before; he told her that the Kyoshi facepaint looked nice on her. The post-war party at the Royal Palace lasted two weeks, and they spent most of it in each other's company. They got along like they'd known each other for years.
He made friends very easily, and so did Ty Lee. It was one of many things they had in common, and that included a love of being airborne—her with her fancy flips, and him in his glider chair. So, no, he wasn't surprised that they got along so well. He had been a little surprised, though, when she'd leaned down and kissed him at the end of those two weeks. Katara and Aang thought it was cute, and Sokka had given him a congratulatory fist-bump. But everyone else seemed kind of surprised. Teo knew why.
Everyone from outside the Northern Air Temple seemed to think that, because of his disability, he was some kind of hermit. Which was, quite frankly, ridiculous. Teo had never wanted for friendship at the Temple, and he'd even had a girlfriend for five whole days once. Of course, they'd been eleven at the time, so their "relationship" basically consisted of holding hand, giggling, and trading shy little pecks on the cheek.
But the celebration ended, and the Firelord had work to do, so the two of them went their separate ways—Teo to the Northern Air Temple, and Ty Lee to Kyoshi Island.
Life at the temple was better than ever. With the trade routes moving freely again, the Temple's colony grew in size. People would come to the Temple on business and fall in love with the setting. The Mechanist's business was booming, and Teo quickly proved to have inherited his father's knack for all things mechanical. But as life went on, he didn't forget about the lovely, gray-eyed acrobat. And she didn't forget him, either, it seemed, because he got a letter from her a couple months after coming home.
In it, she gushed apologetically about not writing sooner. She'd been incredibly busy with warrior training, and with passing her chi-blocking moves on to her fellow warriors. And then, on the anniversary of the war's end, she came to the Temple. Sokka, Katara, and Aang had come to visit their friends at the Temple, and Ty Lee had insisted on joining them. He didn't get a lot of spontaneous hugs from people, due to the unavoidable height difference, but Ty Lee managed it anyway. As soon as she'd clambered down from Appa's saddle and spotted him, she'd squealed loudly and rushed over, dropping into a crouch and flinging her arms around his neck.
She'd grown a lot over that year, and so had he. In fact, his father had even built him a new chair to accommodate his longer frame. She was a little taller than she'd been, and even more beautiful. And to see them together, you'd never know they'd been apart for an entire year. They spent entire days exploring the Temple, with Teo bragging about his father's inventions as she ooh'ed and ahh'd over them. And when they weren't exploring, they were gliding on the currents high above the earth.
But then that visit ended, too, and away she went—but not before giving him another little kiss.
More time passed. Aang and Katara came back to the temple three months later; this time, they were staying for good. Aang thought it was appropriate that the last Airbender should make a home at the world's only occupied Air Temple. Teo was overjoyed, of course, to have two of his best friends living there with him. Sokka, who was living on Kyoshi Island, came up frequently to visit his sister. And every time he did, Teo would hope against hope that Ty Lee would be there with him.
She wasn't, though. The letters kept coming, but one letter brought some… interesting news.
He found out that she had gotten a boyfriend. That stung, but he told himself that he'd just overestimated her interest in him. So he moved on and got a girlfriend. She was nice, funny, and very pretty, and they had fun together. It ended after a few months; they parted on good terms, though, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. And then, a month after that, Ty Lee's latest letter told him that she, too, had broken up with her boyfriend. But he didn't think anything of it, really, until Sokka's next visit to the Air Temple… because Ty Lee was there that time.
Things were a little awkward between them for the first day, but it passed quickly. And it passed even more quickly after they snuck a bottle of rice wine out of the kitchen with Aang and Katara. The two lovebirds had gone off somewhere after a while, and Teo wasn't particularly curious about where. He was sure he wouldn't want to know, anyway. So that had left him and Ty Lee there, both of them definitely tipsy. One thing had led to another, and "another" led to her sitting in his lap, her slender fingers twisted in his hair, telling him that the only reason she'd gotten with her now-ex boyfriend was because Teo hadn't gotten the hint with her kisses.
Well, he'd certainly gotten it then. Ty Lee's visits to the Temple got much more frequent after that—she came up as often as her warrior duties allowed. Finally, at the age of sixteen, Teo went to live on Kyoshi Island. Officially, he was there on behalf of his father's mechanics business. Sokka had gotten into the business himself, and the two of them would spend all day in their shared workshop, coming up with all sorts of new contraptions.
Unofficially, though, everyone knew he'd moved to be closer to his girl. It had been five years since then, and she was still his girl. And he was definitely her man. He saw the baffled looks people gave them in the marketplaces and restaurants. He knew what they were thinking: Ty Lee, the beautiful acrobat, with a guy who couldn't even walk?
He didn't care, though. Why should he? After all, he was the one with a sweet, kind-hearted, gorgeous girlfriend who was so flexible she could almost lick her own kneecaps. They were just jealous that they were missing out.
They were all grown up now, and living in a world neither of them would have dared to imagine when they were kids. Teo was twenty-one years old now, and Ty Lee was twenty-two. They'd moved in together two months earlier; some people in the village had expressed disapproval of them living together while unmarried, but they didn't see the point in living apart anymore. They always seemed to end up in the same bed in the morning, anyway, and they practically lived together already, so why bother? And besides, Teo had plans to make the arrangement a little more official soon. He smiled as he thought of the small silk pouch currently residing in his cloak pocket… the very same cloak he planned on wearing to dinner that night.
"What're you smiling about?" Ty Lee asked him. His smile widened as he watched her brushing out her long, coppery hair.
"Nothing in particular," he fibbed. She smiled back. He finished buttoning up his tunic and sat back in his chair, watching her. Early morning sunlight streamed through the open window, casting a warm glow over her smooth skin and shiny hair. He chuckled a little and shook his head.
"Okay, something is up. What's on your mind, hmm?" she asked in a teasing tone.
"I just can't get over how lucky I am," Teo sighed.
"That makes two of us," she replied softly. She swept her hair forward and started braiding it. He loved watching these little morning rituals of hers.
"It's just, sometimes…" He puffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.
"Sometimes…?" Ty Lee prompted.
"I wonder if you're gonna get bored with me." He said it in a joking tone, but Ty Lee picked up the serious undertones beneath it. She nearly dropped her hairbrush, head whipping around with a hurt look on her face.
"Why would I get bored with you?" she asked, frowning.
"I won't always be able to keep up with you, y'know," he pointed out, gesturing to his legs. She gazed at him for a moment, going over his words in her mind. Then she stood up and crossed the room, settling in his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Well, you haven't had much trouble so far, cutie. And if you ever can't keep up with me… I'll just have to slow down a little and wait for you," she said gently. He smiled and reached a hand up, laying his palm against her cheek.
"You're the best," he murmured happily.
"And don't you forget it!" she agreed, giggling.
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