A/N: Romance blossoms in the dark. This the product of a spontaneous RP in the AtLAFC forum, polished a bit to be turned into an actual fic. Thanks to Ciloron, who is the most amazing person in the world. There are going to be continuity problems and some plotholes but just bear with it.
Disclaimer: I do not own AtLA.
Hahn ducked quickly into the mouth of a cave, seeking refuge from the torrential rain. He had gone out of his village, as he often did when he was feeling very contemplative, to think at his favourite spot. It was a beautiful place a top a tall hill that gave him an impressive view of his village in the valley below. Unfortunately, the sky had turned dark and on his way back home, the clouds had finally torn open.
He stood within the rock formation, wringing out his soaked white shirt as he watched the droplets fall onto the dry Earth. Though the rain had forced him to stop, he was happy for it. It hadn't rained for awhile around the valley and it meant life-giving water for his crops.
But then he heard a strange sound approaching him quickly. He soon recognized them as muffled footsteps on the wet ground, almost drowned out by the sound of the rain. He reached his hand to his pockets for his blade. What if it was a thief? It wasn't uncommon for them to use this land to move between villages.
It was a girl. Her short brown hair was plastered to her scalp and face, more than a few droplets dribbling down to meet under her chin. Her long green dress clung to her body like a second skin, causing his face to slightly redden as he tried to look away from her... womanly curves. They weren't many girls his age in his village, and his father had always taught him to be respectful of women. The quick thoughts that flashed across his mind at that moment weren't very respectful.
"Are you stuck here too?" she asked, gesturing about the space.
He simply nodded as walked towards him and said, "Well, let's make the most of it."
So for the next few minutes, Hahn sat with the strange girl as she pulled out a yellow lantern and cast shadow puppets on the cave walls. They dissolved into fits of laughter as Hahn tried to make a shadow of a platypus bear but it came out just looking like an overgrown bunny rabbit.
But then Hahn wondered, "Where'd you get that lantern? You don't have any pockets."
The girl turned to him with a dazzling smile and said, "Wouldn't you like to know," but her sudden movement caused the lantern to fall to the cave floor and shatter, plunging them in moderate darkness.
He heard some shuffling around him. "Where have you gone?" he asked as he tried to see better.
"Just follow the sound of my voice," she called out, her words bouncing off the sides of the cave. Hahn tried to follow her, noticing that they were going deeper into the cave. "Just a bit more," she called back, but she didn't say much more, making it harder to find her.
He walked carefully, his foot stumbling over stones and ledges before the ground disappeared. He screamed out, his arms flailing before being submerged in a large body of water. He pushed himself upwards to break the surface and took a deep breath. He looked about wildly and called out, "Hello?"
There was a scream before there was a large splash near to him. The girl! She was flailing her arms wildly, her head sometimes sinking beneath the water's surface. He had to help her.
He was just a few feet away when suddenly, she shot out of the water and flopped onto the stone at the edge of the lake.
"You can't swim?" Hahn asked in confusion. Hahn had learnt how to swim when he was but the height of his father's knee, and he loved it.
The girl just coughed in response before she rasped, "Yes, I'm a waterbender who can't swim. You can begin to laugh now."
Hahn was definitely confused by the concept, but he wouldn't laugh at his new friend. She already seemed to be beating herself up about it. "Why can't you swim?" he asked.
"Before I knew I could bend, I was crossing a bridge across a cold, icy river. I fell in and couldn't get back to the surface on my own," she said as she slowly began to sit up. "Since then, I stay out of the water as much as I can."
Hahn just nodded, his arms and legs keeping him afloat in the surprisingly warm water. It felt really nice actually.
"So what now? I don't know if the rain's stopped yet," she said as she wrung some water from her long dress.
Hahn moved to swim towards water's edge to pull himself out. He placed his arms onto the stone floor and was about to push when he looked down at his white, soaked clothes. He could see his body beneath the wet fabric and felt his face grow hot, knowing the girl was watching him as well.
He dropped himself back into the water. "I cant get out of the pool, so I think we've got a problem..."
The girl just looked at him oddly and asked, "Why can't you get out?"
"Im wearing white clothes... so... you know..." Hahn answered in shame. This was the most exposed he had ever been in front of a girl.
There was a pause for the girl let out a laugh. "I can barely make out my hand in front of my face, so I won't be able to see anything... inappropriate."
Hahn still didn't feel very comfortable and he could tell the girl knew. "I think I'll just stay in here."
"I can get you out," she said with a giggle before she stood up from her place on the stone floor.
She began to wave her arms around and the water responded to her movements. Hahn's eyes widened as he was slowly lifted out of the pool in a large ball of water, his head still on the outside. "Oo la la," she joked.
"What are you doing?" he asked, squirming within the waterball as he rose higher over the pool. He was now at her mercy and was sure she could see him now.
She didn't say anything as she moved him slowly over to the stone before unceremoniously dropping him near her feet.
"Sorry about that," she said, "I'm also not good at bending. Are you okay?"
Hahn tried to get up but himself a bit waterlogged. He must have landed wrong. "O think I'm at your mercy actually," he said grinning.
"Why are you grinning at me?" she asked worriedly. "Do I have something on my face?"
Hahn felt uncharacteristically bold upon making the previously confident girl flustered. "For no reason particularly," he said, "but here I am, completely helpless at your feet. It is now up to you to decide what you want."
She turned her head slightly to the right and muttered, "I thought I heard something."
Hahn could tell she was just stalling. "Hey, keep your thoughts to the matter at hand. I'm still on the floor, cold and wet."
"You want someone to watch us?" she asked, her mouth open in shock. "I didn't know you were into that."
Hahn wasn't really but it was funny watching her who obviously wasn't. "I would be willing to give it a try," he said, "besides, I didn't hear a thing."
She looked about the cave for awhile, the small amount of light reflected from the surface of the pool illuminating her face. Then she shook her head and looked down at him. "How are we going to do this if you can't move?"
She was taking him seriously. Though he had been joking at first, the more he thought about it, this girl was very pretty. "It'll be fine if you roll me onto my back. I can't move my legs at the moment but my arms still work," Hahn said, trying to lift himself up a bit.
She bent down and helped him into a more comfortable position. Up close, he could see that she was slightly blushing from the proximity. "Now what?" she asked.
"Well," he said hesitantly, "I don't know really. I don't have that much experience... like none."
She looked into his eyes and began, "So you're..."
"I've grown up in a village that had no girls my age, so yeah...," Hahn confessed. "Not that I feel ashamed because of it."
There was a slight pause in the conversation. What a time for his inexperience to rear its big ugly head. Now he probably scared her off. From the way she was acting, she probably wasn't in his situation.
She was muttering under her breath to her shoulders. "What's wrong?" Hahn asked. "Are you having doubts? Did I do something wrong?"
She looked into his face as she had forgotten he was there. "No, no," she said hastily. "I just realized that I know nothing about you. What if you're some type of spy?"
Hahn would have laughed out loud at the idea. "Do I look like spy material?" he asked. "I mean, first I get stuck in a cave, then you find me with here, only for me to turn out paralyzed on the ground." He took some time to breathe before he added, "I'm not good-looking enough to be a spy either."
"Awww, don't say that," she said as she placed a hand on his arm. "You're pretty cute, among other things..." her voice trailed off at the end.
"You are pretty, and cute, yourself," Hahn replied, smiling faintly. He looked deep into her eyes, slowly getting lost in them. He could feel her pulling him in, their faces getting closer and closer. He could feel his heart rate increase as blood flowed around his body.
"I'm getting some feeling back in my legs," Hahn said, his body starting to feel slightly warm. But there was an embarrassing side effect to the increased blood flow as something else began to get some feeling.
The girl giggled at his reddening face upon seeing his "rising" problem. "It's okay," she said comfortingly as their lips met in the dimly lit cave.
The kiss was soothingly soft and surprisingly sweet, but unexpected above all. However, it mattered not. He didn't stop her, instead, he gave in and enjoyed the silken touch of her lips. She led their little dance, and though inexperienced, Hahn was a quick learner. He reached his arms up and pulled her down on top of him. But actually, he had no clue what he was doing, acting on instinct only, but gently so, as the first rays of the rising sun shone light into the cave.
When they pulled apart, she turned towards the direction the rays were coming from. "Oh, the rain's stopped," she commented breathily.
"Mhm," Hahn hummed. He had thoroughly enjoyed their little moment and wanted to continue. He began trailing his finger up and down the side of her arm. "You want to take this outside?" he asked, "out in the open? Or do you want to stay in here?"
She punched his arm playfully, a little harder than he thought she would. "You and your exhibitionist tendencies. You sure you don't know what you're doing?"
"I don't know, only you can be the judge of that," he said, rubbing his arm where she had punched him. "And ow... that hurts you know."
"Wimp," she teased as she dived on him again. She seemed happy to stay in the dark cave and he was perfectly fine with that.
"Wimp?" he asked, chuckling softly. "Careful with what you say... you could hurt my feelings," he said dramatically. He twisted himself around, turning out on top of things. "Now what..." he mumbled.
"Wait, hold on. You're on top now? You gotta know what you're doing to be in control, sir," she said cheekily.
"Well, that was a pathetic attempt..." Hahn said, his bravery failing him, but he would let her continue leading, surrendering to her superior skills. He could feel her smirk against his mouth, her hands playing with the ends of his shirt, as they blindly inched closer and closer to the water.
"Uh... I think we are..." Hahn's words were cut short as they both fell into the pool plunging into the water. She began to wave her hands but he made sure her head didn't get submerged. With one hand around her slim waist, he held onto the edge of the edge of the pool. Her hands were thrown around him, hanging off his neck and acting like she wasn't just panicking like a crazy person.
"Now we're all wet," she commented, holding onto him for dear life.
"Dont worry," he said. "I've got you and I wont let go." And he meant it. In the short time, he met this girl, he had felt this odd connection with her that he just couldn't explain. She was beautiful, spunky but also wasn't perfect. She was brave but she wasn't fearless. With her body close to his in the warm water, he could feel his heart rate increasing again and he wondered if she could feel it too.
They clung to the stone just staring at each other before she said, "Maybe we should get out of the water..."