Avatar: The Warring Earth
Book Two—Air
By Twins of the Pen
Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.
Shun stretched up to his full height, his back popping satisfyingly. Now that the noxious gas from the Neo-Equalist attack had finally dispersed, he could see the clear blue waters from his window once more, the sun low on the morning horizon. He could also see the hardened lava on the face of the volcano, the only evidence left over from Syaoran's epic Avatar attack. Shun gazed out at the water, stroking his chin and being unable to regret the fact that he was too tired to shave last night.
It had been an even longer night than the one before, with the metaphorical bomb that was dropped on them just the day before. Shun was not sure if Tiki got any more sleep than he did; he heard her crying on and off all night.
ZanYi had only appeared again the day before for dinner, and she ate very little before she disappeared again, Shun only assume, to question their murderous Neo-Equalist. Tiki could not manage to eat anything, even after urgings from Shun, and she left for bed soon after that.
They were all on tetherhooks, waiting for the information ZanYi would provide, once she broke the shooter. Tiki was the most impatient of all of them, moving around restlessly the rest of the day as they went through the island, checking up on the rest of the Order of the White Lotus and searching for other Neo-Equalists. Shun had to repeatedly ask Tiki to calm down, afraid that she would run off herself if he did not keep a close eye on her.
The giant waterbender sighed. It was amazing that the sun could still rise and be so beautiful when everything was so chaotic at the moment. That was the great thing about life—it went on, regardless of the trials and tribulations of a few people. So fragile and yet so resilient… it was almost poetic.
Despite the early morning hour, a soft knock came at his door. Shun turned at the knock, quirking a brow. He didn't know who would want to see him so early in the morning… but if his hunch was correct…
"Good morning, Lieutenant," Shun greeted once he pulled his door open, smiling when he saw ZanYi. "I thought it might be you."
The lieutenant stood on the other side, ragged and tired, but aware that most people would be sleeping. Most. But if she knew anything of her team, it was that Shun was the only one who would manage to wake up even before herself.
The night had been incredibly long after a battle just as long the previous day. ZanYi had not managed to get any rest yet—she hoped to later. But at that moment, the lieutenant had to see Shun, albeit reluctantly on her part. And since she had not seen anything out on the water, ZanYi had only assumed he was still in his room.
Which, clearly, he was, and when Shun got a good look at ZanYi's face, he frowned. She looked exhausted, like she was ready to drop at any minute. "Come in," he invited, starting to move out of the way to let ZanYi pass. He paused, though, and then stuck his head out of the door frame, looking back and forth. "Master Fei isn't around, is he?" he asked, sounding just a tad paranoid. The last thing the giant waterbender needed was the elder firebender insinuating something indecent between himself and the master's pupil once again.
ZanYi managed a small scoff. "No, he's not," she informed him, slipping past the large man to enter the room. She stiffly walked over to his bed, plopping down on it. It took her willpower not to fall back and succumb to the soft sheets. Looking to Shun, ZanYi continued, "I need you to take a look at something."
With great hesitance, she slipped off her cargos to sit in her shorts on the bed. Aside from revealing the whirling, dragon-like scar high on her leg, there was also a large gash, a heap of dried blood clotting. "I must have gotten hit yesterday at some point. I didn't realize it until my leg started bothering me."
And bother her, it did. Once the adrenaline had worn off, it had starting eating away at her leg, which certainly drew out the interrogation with their shooter since she had to concentrate her efforts on ignoring it as well.
Shaking her head, ZanYi turned back to Shun. "I think there's some shrapnel left in there as well, and instead of trying to pull it out myself, I thought it would be better to let you have at it."
Shun sucked in a breath at the wound. He had a moment of panic when the lieutenant began to undress herself, but he understood once he saw the dried blood. "Jeez," he mumbled, kneeling down next to ZanYi to get a better look. "I'm sorry you had to wait so long to see me."
Reaching blindly for the canteen on his bedside table, Shun frowned as he inspected the wound. There were indeed a few pieces of shrapnel stuck inside the gash, and Shun cringed at the thought of having to pull it out. He was also having qualms about actually touching ZanYi, considering his newly found feelings for her and all…
As Shun was resignedly unscrewing the top on his canteen, he glanced again at the gash and was promptly distracted by the old scar farther up on her thigh.
"What's this?" he asked, tracing the scar with a finger before he remembered he should not be touching ZanYi unnecessarily. He withdrew her finger hastily to re-focus on the open gash in her leg. Dimly, something about a training-related injury came to his mind, though Shun was too distracted to remember where and when he had heard such a thing. "This is going to be unpleasant…" he mumbled, fingertips at the gash, eyeing the shrapnel with distaste. He had to tell himself not to be a coward, because this was bound to be worse for the lieutenant than it would be for him.
"Of course it's unpleasant. It's shrapnel. In a day-old gash," ZanYi sardonically remarked. That was why she had come to Shun, despite knowing the question it had already raised. But Shun was their healer, and a fantastic one at that. The lieutenant knew what would be possible complications and consequences to leaving a wound like this to heal on its own. So, regrettably, she had to rely on him. "Just do what you've got to do, Shun. I can take it."
The woman gripped the top blanket tight, bracing herself for the shooting pain she was about to endure. She sat there, mulling over his question, having known it would come up when he saw her leg. It was a sizable wound, red that marred her skin around and around. It wasn't that the scar itself bothered her; it was the accompanying tale.
"The scar…. is from an accident when I was a child," she slowly answered, still debating how much she was willing to tell. Even if a touchy subject she tended to hide away, technically speaking it was not a big enough deal to tell Shun to back off.
Shun met her eyes briefly before returning to the wound. "You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to," he reminded her, grasping a piece of shrapnel in between his thumb and forefinger. With a grimace, the giant waterbender pulled out the piece, discarding it in the nearby trash bin. "But then again, it might distract you from the pain," Shun suggested quietly, continuing his task.
The first piece of shrapnel was the hardest. After that, it was just a matter of getting them all out, because the faster he got out all the shrapnel, the faster he could heal the gash in ZanYi's leg. It was sort of like ripping off a band-aid… a really long one. The faster he got it over with, the better.
ZanYi almost bit her lip trying to keep from muttering a stream of lively words. It was not as bad as previous times, and certainly not even to the level of the bomb in Omashu. It was bearable. That did not, however, mean she enjoyed it in any way.
"Point taken," she muttered through her tight teeth. ZanYi took a deep breath to release some of the pain in her leg and to settle her mind before speaking.
"It was Zaron."
Her voice was quiet, still, sure. There was no hesitation in her voice, just reluctance. And considering the nature of the wound, she had every reason to be apprehensive about telling the story. "He… got upset one night. Fire whip. I was seven."
Shun froze for a moment, in the middle of yanking one of the last pieces of shrapnel. He hastily finished the job and went in for another.
"That's terrible," he muttered, frowning in concentration. He considered her explanation in silence, finally ridding her leg of the last piece of shrapnel as he thought. Such an incident would certainly explain why the sergeant major was so overprotective of his grown-up sister, and would perhaps be why Master Fei could not stand Zaron. What the giant waterbender wanted to know was what could have upset Zaron so much to harm his own sister? And yet, that was a question he could not bring himself to ask.
"This is going to sting," Shun warned the lieutenant, bending the water from his canteen and applying it to the gash on ZanYi's leg, "I just remembered that I never emptied it from yesterday. It's full of salt water." And ZanYi could most definitely tell that. The wound began to sting violently and the lieutenant let out a hiss, fists clenching the blankets tightly as she cursed under her breath. But it had to be healed, one way or another. So she was just going to have to bear through it.
Getting her bearings about her, the lieutenant took deep even breaths, keeping her control. Appreciative of Shun's noninvasive questions, ZanYi decided to explain. "It… was a rough time, probably even harder for Zaron," she said tensely, fixing her stare at the wall. "He had been practicing late one night and control was not really one of his strong suits…"
Which carried on still, but to a certainly lesser extent as when he was a teenager. ZanYi was thankful he grew out of a lot of it. "I was," a hiss of pain, "trying to talk to him about something and," another swear, "Zaron got mad." ZanYi looked down to Shun to give him a grave stare, stomaching everything to get down this full statement. "He didn't mean to hurt me. Understand that. He was never abusive."
Zaron had just had no control and quite the temper. It made for a dangerous combination back then.
"I believe you," Shun assured ZanYi, looking up to meet her eyes. "The way he almost took my head off when he thought I was disrespecting you was evidence enough that he loves you." Perhaps that sibling love was a little too enthusiastic at times, but there was no denying that the Tsong siblings cared about one another. Shun was not judging the sergeant major for mistakes made in the rashness of his youth; he had no business—or right—to do so.
ZanYi nodded her appreciation of Shun's consideration in the matter of her scar. It was not a great time for Zaron, before he became the man he currently was. And ZanYi would never want anyone to think that her brother was anything less than the leader, the sergeant major, that he was. But Shun was also a man with tight lips and an understanding mentality. It served him—and her—well.
Finally healing the gash, Shun discarded the soiled water into his trash bin as well. "Thank-you for telling me," Shun felt he had to say, carefully getting to his feet—though Zaron was not around at the moment, he was not too enthused about having a relapse in clumsiness. But he was grateful that ZanYi was willing to share with him. He felt a little closer to her, and it made him happy. "You should get some sleep… but before you do, I have to ask…" Shun's gaze intensified as he looked down at ZanYi, almost fearing the answer. "Did you get him to talk?" he wanted to know, trusting that he needed not explain who he meant. Tiki was in a fragile state, and Shun wanted to know just how delicately he had to treat her today, once they found out just what the shooter knew.
Looking up to Shun's straight gaze, she met it with the same intensity. "No, I didn't," ZanYi told him, slowly rising to her feet. But when she did, the lieutenant gave him a very confident smirk. "I made him sing."
Shun grinned at this.
"Props to you, then. I'm glad you were able to get some useful information out of him," the giant waterbender said, lifting his hand for a high-five—he had almost clasped her shoulder, but had to sternly remind himself that he was not allowed to touch her, other than healing her. A high-five, however, was friendly and completely harmless. It was even up to ZanYi to reciprocate the contact. Completely safe.
ZanYi looked him over, almost amused. It reminded her of children on a playground, high-fives did. "Let's just say he'll be happy if he never has to see me again in his lifetime." Or vice-versa. The man had been a creep the entire time. It had only fueled her fire though. Lieutenant ZanYi Tsong did not respond well to creeps.
She glanced back to the waterbender's gaze and she pursed her lips. "It's all positive right now for Tiki. Her parents are alive and they're staying that way at the moment. You can tell her that."
Hands on her hips, ZanYi looked down to inspect her leg, the scar tissue already healing up nicely. It was done just as well as the lieutenant knew Shun would do it. "Thanks for the patch job," she said to him with a grateful nod. And then she bypassed his lifted hand, going to pat Shun on the shoulder. "And thanks for your help out there in the water," ZanYi also added, giving the muscular arm she'd patted a gentle squeeze. "I told you: I know you wouldn't abandon me." Her gold eyes met his oceanic ones to convey the sincerity of those words.
Then, after that one, brief moment, the lieutenant turned away, grabbed her pants, and headed towards the door. "I'm going to get a couple hours' rest. When Tiki wakes up and wants to know what's going on, I can get up." ZanYi opened the door with those last orders and slipped out just as she had slipped in, the door coming to a soft click behind her.
Once she was gone, Shun felt like he could breathe again. He lowered his still raised hand to touch the shoulder ZanYi had patted. He almost felt as if he could still feel the warmth lingering there…
Shun blushed and shook his head fiercely. These kinds of thoughts were taboo; he was not allowed to have them! He dropped his hand, feeling foolish. Why was he now so hyper-aware that a simple touch from ZanYi could incite such feelings within him? It was ridiculous. ZanYi had such unfair influence over him and she wasn't even aware of it.
…Actually, that may be a good thing, considering the circumstances.
Shun sighed and rubbed his temple. He needed a distraction, and he needed it now. Eyes going to the window again, the giant waterbender watched as the sun glinted off the waves in the ocean in a friendly, beckoning manner. A swim would help cool him down, certainly, but as for taking his mind off things… well, it would help him cool down at least.
He was leaving his room as quietly as he could, conscious of the others still trying to sleep, when a small voice called him back unexpectedly.
"Shun."
Turning, Shun laid eyes on Tiki, who looked as if she got about as much sleep as the lieutenant did. Her eyes were red and swollen, and her nose looked rubbed raw. Her obvious sorrow tore at the gentle waterbender; he placed a hand on her head, as was his habit.
"Hey Teeks," he greeted softly, kneeling down to get a better look at Tiki's face, "how are you?"
Tiki sniffed and did not reply; she just looked at him, her expression miserable. Quickly, Shun cast about in his mind for a way to cheer the poor airbender up. The only thing he could think of, however, was, "Do you want to go sit on the beach with me for a while? Until it's time for breakfast?" She nodded silently. With an encouraging smile, Shun stood up and offered the tiny airbender his hand. She took it and they set off down the hall together, Tiki walking closely by Shun's side. She looked like the little girl everyone expected her to be, so lost and helpless. The absence of her mischievous giggles was sorely missed, and Shun found that he could think of nothing to say to her, even after they had been sitting on the beach for ten minutes. Usually Tiki chattered so much that he never needed to fish around for a topic.
"…I saw ZanYi this morning," Shun told Tiki, just now remembering the lieutenant's words, "and she told me to tell you that she found out that your parents are alive, and that there are no plans to harm them right now." It pained Shun to qualify Tiki's parents' well-being, but that he could not help. "That's good news, right? It means we have time to save them."
"…Yeah," Tiki finally answered after a moment, "but… isn't that a summary of what we already know?"
Shun had to think about this for a moment. Technically it wasn't, since he was sure that not even Tiki knew for sure whether her parents were all right or not… but the giant waterbender wisely chose to keep that observation to herself.
"ZanYi said she'd tell you everything later," Shun continued, as if Tiki's objection had not been uttered, "she's sleeping right now, but she'll probably be up around breakfast time." He was not sure if this was true either; the lieutenant had looked pretty exhausted, and he did not really want to go and wake her up now that she was finally in bed. Hopefully Tiki would be willing to wait until then.
And to his immense relief, Tiki nodded in agreement. The tiny airbender was willing to wait, so when ZanYi got the chance to talk to her, Shun hoped she would be a little more rested.
When Syaoran had awoken, it was already well into the morning, and yet he was feeling tired still. He made a note that doing so much in the Avatar state had lasting consequences. It was as if his body was still heavy, the very innards of him weighing down.
Having already missed breakfast, he was sure, Syaoran cleaned off in the washroom, taking his time. By the time he wrapped up, it was on the earlier end of the lunch time. Syaoran noted that the lieutenant's door was closed, but he had no inclination as to what that meant. So when he walked into the grand dining hall, he was not surprised to find ZanYi still not in attendance. That could mean several things, considering she was either always late, or barely there. The only difference was that he was alone in the room for once.
Syaoran wasn't sure. But he sat down, ready to eat some food. Somehow he had a feeling that this could possibly and probably be the quietest day of the ones to come. That is, if the lieutenant managed to get any information about Tiki's parents. Still, the quiet was almost disturbing, since it meant the absence of his other two teammates. He thought he'd seen Tiki and Shun by the beach, so perhaps they were still there?
Oh, how Shun wished they were still by the beach.
"Let go, Shun! It's already the afternoon, and ZanYi still isn't awake! I want answers and I want them NOW!"
As they had whiled away the morning hours, Tiki's patience had grown thinner and thinner, only to snap when the sun was directly overhead. She had sped away while Shun wasn't looking, and it was all he could do the chase after her and keep her from doing anything rash. But the violent Tiki was back again, and she struggled with all her might once Shun had caught her in the hallway near the dining room.
"Tiki, please calm down. I understand you're upset, but ZanYi had very little sleep last night."
"I didn't sleep either! I was too worried about the fate of my parents, which is STILL hanging in the balance while ZanYi sleeps!"
Shun did not appreciate at all what Tiki was implying. He stepped into the dining room, thinking it empty, and set Tiki down on her feet, fixing her with a serious and stern gaze.
"Tiki," he began, the severity of his voice causing the tiny airbender to tense up, "believe me when I say that I am sorry for your predicament. But what you are failing to understand is that we—ZanYi, Syaoran and I—are doing our best to help you. ZanYi was tired, so I let her sleep. If you want your answers so badly, I will go and get her. But I will not let you insinuate that the rest of us are not taking this seriously. ZanYi stayed up all night questioning that man to get you answers, and I will not let you suggest that she is not trying her hardest to assist you."
Tiki shut her mouth, startled. Shun had been irritated with her a couple times before, but this instance took the cake. Clearly, it was a no-no in Shun's book to insult the lieutenant. When she nodded stiffly, showing that she understood, Shun relaxed a little. It was then that he realized Syaoran was seated at the dining table.
"Ah, Syaoran, good afternoon," Shun greeted, trying to sound pleasant, since his ire was all aimed at Tiki. He gripped the tiny airbender by her upper arm and steered her into the chair next to Syaoran's. "Do me a favor and watch Tiki for a minute. I'm gonna go see if ZanYi is awake yet."
"I don't need baby-sitting!" Tiki spat at Shun's retreating figure. He paused, and then turned to give her his serious face.
"You're in a delicate situation with an even more delicate state of mind, Teeks," he reminded her, quirking a brow. "You need watching." With that declaration, the giant waterbender jogged up the steps and out of the dining hall.
Tiki glared after him even after he was gone, frustrated and humbled. He was right, of course, and that annoyed her. How did they expect her to sit still when she had just been informed that her parents had a two-week deadline on their lives? If it was ZanYi, Shun would surely be all for taking off immediately to perform a rescue mission, but no, Tiki had to sit down, shut up, and let the 'adults' take care of everything. It was way beyond unfair.
"I hate this," Tiki mumbled bitterly, nearly forgetting Syaoran was there as she crossed her arms and glared moodily at the empty plate in front of her. It was a nightmare that the tiny airbender felt like she would never awaken from—and would not, if their two-week deadline was spent unwisely.
Syaoran, at Tiki's muttered words of anger, finally looked away from where Shun had run off. His forested eyes found their way to look at Tiki, disbelieving for multiple reasons. "You managed to make even Shun irritated," he breathed, as if that was some sort of feat she had accomplished. And it was. Just it was a feat that one should not be proud of.
The Avatar wanted to go warn Shun that waking the lieutenant was a dangerous task, but since he was stuck with Tiki, Syaoran could only hope that he remembered that. After all, Syaoran had gotten himself burned last time.
Eating his food, he looked over at Tiki from the corner of his eye, seeing her empty plate and huffy attitude. Taking her plate, Syaoran piled some food on it—just a little bit of everything—and put it back in front of her. "Eat," he told her, focusing on his own food. "Can't do anything if you starve yourself."
Tiki sighed gustily, causing her bangs to go aloft for a few seconds. Obediently, she picked up her fork, but then just began to pick at the food Syaoran had given her, not particularly hungry. "How do you eat when it feels like your stomach is turned inside out?" she asked moodily. She had barely eaten anything the night before either. Physically, she should have been ravenous, but there were no hunger pains or churning stomach at all. It just felt like there was a big, gaping hole where most of her organs used to be. It was not a pleasant feeling.
Syaoran looked at her stirring up her food and was reminded of his younger sister—before the camps, anyway. He sighed, a bit of a grunt, really. "You force yourself to eat, knowing it's something you've got to do," he told her, answering the rhetoric.
He knew what she felt like. It was how his and his sister's stomach had been when they were first taken. The last thing they'd wanted to do was eat, away from their home and everything they had ever known. But Syaoran couldn't watch his sister waste away like that, so he'd forced himself to eat, just so that she would.
"Even if eating becomes a chore, you've got to do it. Otherwise you'll only be in the way when we actually get to moving and doing something about all this crap."
Tiki frowned. She did not like Syaoran's answer, because it made too much sense and possessed too much truth. That meant she had to eat, no matter what. Bitterly, the tiny airbender took a reluctant bite, after which her face soured even more. "It's really good," she commented, taking another bite. Her stomach felt like it was rioting against the meal, but her taste buds were pleased, so she was able to keep eating. It was a waste to let such a delicious meal go uneaten anyway.
But Tiki's eyes remained on the entrance to the dining hall, where she awaited the appearance of ZanYi, and the reappearance of Shun. A small part of her—a part that was not in as bad a mood as the rest of her—prayed that the lieutenant had not injured Shun too badly in his endeavors to awaken her.
Syaoran gave a little snort. "Of course it's good. It has been for our entire stay here, you know," he told her, continuing to eat his own food eagerly. The consistent, and delicious meals have certainly been a favorite of his, despite all of the chaos of the past week. It was great to finally get some real food back in him. He'd even noticed he was starting to gain back some weight—which was a good thing, for the most part. Syaoran was thankful for ZanYi's strict regimen; it made it easier to turn that weight into muscle mass.
Finding Tiki quiet, the Avatar turned to her, only to find her gaze elsewhere. He followed it to the stairs and groaned a little. She was anxious, which was understandable for the circumstances. "Tiki," he called her back again, giving her a raised eyebrow, "they'll be here soon. So just eat already. Give yourself a break."
Tiki sighed again, this time much heavier. "I really can't eat anymore," she objected, setting her fork down next to her half-eaten meal. "I feel like I'm going to throw up." Tiki's tiny body was not accustomed to such strong levels of anxiety—which was partially why she was such a goofball most of the time. It was easier to be flippant about the serious stuff than it was to cry or worry about it. But this time, the tiny airbender could not find it in herself to be her usual dopey self. Too much was at stake, and she could not afford to 'give herself a break', as Syaoran put it. Something huge would have to happen for her to be distracted from such a terrifying time in her life.
"What's taking so long?" Tiki wondered out loud after silently pondering the question for some time. She turned to Syaoran with a frustrated look. "It didn't take much for you to wake ZanYi up, did it? Why does Shun seem to be having issues?"
At the mere memory, Syaoran's cheeks grew a bit pink. To avoid thinking about the lieutenant's graceful face when she slept, he shoved more food into his mouth, as if making up for the food that Tiki didn't seem to eat. "Maybe he got burned and he's taking care of it before coming back," the Avatar suggested mildly.
But Tiki had raised a good point. It had been barely a touch that had woken up the lieutenant when Syaoran had done it on accident. And while he half expected them to walk in any minute, he was still a bit unsettled. ZanYi was pretty easy to wake up, so why was it taking so long?
He found himself gazing towards the stairs himself as he wondered. Upon that realization, he turned back to his food before frowning. "Hey, Tiki?" he ventured hesitantly, looking at the airbender. "There's nothing going on between ZanYi and Shun, is there?"
Tiki froze, her agitation forgotten in the shock of Syaoran's question. Oh yeah—she had almost forgotten all about the love triangle that had recently formed within Team Avatar's ranks. Had Syaoran figured out Shun's feelings for the lieutenant? Granted, the giant waterbender had been behaving a tad suspiciously—the other night with him leaving ZanYi's room shirtless certainly didn't do him any favors—but Tiki wondered if Syaoran knew, or if he was just fishing.
"I don't think so," she replied after a pause, in which she pretended to consider the question while her mind was scrambling for a solution to this awkward moment. And she had discovered that she did not even need to lie—nothing was going on between ZanYi and Shun. That would imply that ZanYi was interested in Shun the way he was interested in her… which she was not, according to Shun, at least. But that didn't mean that things would always stay that way…
"Why, what makes you think so?" Tiki asked casually while she eyed the Avatar. She definitely wanted things to work out for Syaoran, but at the same time, it was not her place to tell him how Shun felt about ZanYi. She also felt that she owed it to Shun to warn him that Syaoran was getting wise to him, and that coming clean might be the best thing for him to do. All these secrets were bound to come out some time, and once they did, Tiki was certain that crap was going to hit the fan.
Syaoran nodded for a moment, trying to cement the answer in his mind. If there was something going on between the lieutenant and their resident healer, Tiki would know. So if she didn't think there was anything happening, then Syaoran felt it safe enough to assume it was the truth.
"I'm not sure," he finally answered the airbender, shoveling food between sentences, "Just feels like the two are even closer lately, the way Shun talks about her…"
And it was making him a bit suspicious. Everything that made him suspect Shun—the compliments, him coming out of the lieutenant's room, even just the way he spoke of the woman—were all circumstantial. "I'm just being paranoid. That's got to be it," Syaoran mumbled to himself, trying to shake off the unreasonable feeling of suspicion of his friend. "They already get along so well, anyway. I'm lucky if she even treats me like I'm on her level."
The Avatar dropped his fork and stared at his plate with a mix of irritation and dismay. "If Shun got in the picture, I wouldn't even have a chance…"
Guilt flooded Tiki, along with a weird sorrow she was not familiar with… like pity, but stronger. So even Syaoran realized that he did not exactly measure up to Shun in more ways than one… in Tiki's mind, it was an unfair comparison. "You're selling yourself short," she insisted, determined to cheer the Avatar up, even if she had to lie through her teeth. "You're a great guy too, Syaoran! Any woman, ZanYi included, would be lucky to have you!"
When exactly did their conversation take such a weird turn? Originally it had been Tiki in a funk, and now Syaoran was getting down on himself. Tiki did not care for these depressing feelings at all.
"What you need to do," she continued to counsel Syaoran, turning towards him and sitting on her knees in her chair, "is show ZanYi that you're not just some kid who got shoved into the Avatar role by accident. You need to show her that being the Avatar is your birthright and your destiny, as well as part of what makes you a man. I don't mind her calling me a kid, because let's face it, I am. But you, Syaoran… you're way more responsible than I am, almost to the point where you're boring. But that, too, is what makes you a man. A great man."
Focusing on someone else's problem seemed to be just what the doctor ordered: as she talked and encouraged Syaoran, Tiki found that she was able to find her way back to herself, as if she was lost in the dark until just now. As if by a miracle, she was able to smile sincerely at the Avatar. "You're awesome, Syaoran," she persisted, "I know it, and so do you. You just need to make ZanYi realize it."
Syaoran listened to Tiki, and weighed her words in his mind, wondering if they were even true. It was all very flattering, but it was difficult to believe. It may be his birthright and his destiny, but Syaoran knew he was also some kid that had gotten thrust into this role.
"What are you, my cheerleader?" he mocked her, not for the first time. Syaoran knew she already practically considered herself as such; that's all the airbender did during his training sessions. But she also did it out of practice too, in moments like this when he felt like things were hopeless. Looking back to the tiny airbender, he smiled a little. "But thanks, Tiki," he confided in gratitude. It was good to see Tiki closer to her normal self as well. The brooding was not settling well with him—not that he would ever tell her that. Syaoran was not going to encourage the wild tendencies that nearly drove him crazy.
Tiki blinked, caught a little off-guard by Syaoran's smile. Usually he was frowning at her for something she had said or done, but a smile every once in a while was a nice change. But sometimes he asked such ridiculous questions—of course she was Syaoran's cheerleader! Hadn't she made that obvious already?
Tiki was about to say so when Syaoran's mood plummeted again with more scrutiny over ZanYi and Shun's relationship. He leaned back in his chair, resigned and frustrated. "But c'mon, let's face it: even with all of that, if Shun was a player in this, he'd already have an edge. ZanYi already gets along with him better. She trusts him." And it sucked.
The airbender sort of wanted to change the topic, considering that they were headed for dangerous waters if they kept talking about it. But such a serious issue was helping her avoid her own problems, so the tiny airbender could not say that she was not grateful for that, at least.
"This is weird," she commented out loud, tilting her head to the side as she surveyed Syaoran, "I never thought I'd see the day where you became jealous of Shun."
Granted, Syaoran did have a good reason to worry… but it was not Tiki's place to say so, so she wouldn't.
Syaoran let out an exasperated groan. Jealous? Of Shun? He wanted to deny it out of principle, but it was the straight-up truth. It didn't matter to him that women seemed to give Shun the eye everywhere they went. What did bother Syaoran was that Shun, even when on her black list, somehow managed to stay on ZanYi's good side.
"So it has come to this…" he muttered, disgruntled with himself. The Avatar let out a frustrated sound, furiously scratching at his head. Shun was his friend, of all things. The man had a big heart and cared about all of them. "I just need to get over it," Syaoran tried to tell himself resolutely, resuming to eat. "The two of them get along, but Shun doesn't feel like that about ZanYi. They're just friends, like you and me, Tiki." Shun wouldn't try to put moves on the lieutenant, not that Syaoran could imagine him putting the moves on anyone. The Avatar just had to pound it into his own head so that he would believe it. Despite the advantage he held, Shun would never do something like that.
"Yeah," Tiki agreed, albeit slowly, "friends." The tiny airbender avoided her reflex reaction of snorting in disbelief, but only just. If she was responsible for compromising Shun, she was certain that she would never hear the end of it.
Turning forward in her seat, Tiki picked up her fork, but only to chew on the prongs as she contemplated her half-empty plate, among other things. She was glad beyond expressible words that Syaoran had not asked her flat-out if Shun had feelings for ZanYi, for then the airbender would be forced to lie. Tiki had no problem with lying, but only when it was to bad guys. Lying to Syaoran, even if it was to spare his feelings, seemed very, very wrong. It was just a sticky situation all around.
'I really hope Shun is keeping his word and not putting the moves on ZanYi,' the tiny airbender thought, their continued absence suddenly taking on a whole new meaning. Maybe Syaoran's paranoia was catching, but as far as Tiki was concerned, the lieutenant and the giant waterbender had been absent for far too long.
Shun stood outside ZanYi's door, frowning. He did not particularly want to wake her up; if anyone needed sleep, it was ZanYi. But the giant waterbender was already aware that Tiki had run out of patience, and if they did not come up with a plan of action soon, there would be more chaos on the tiny airbender's part.
So, with a heavy sigh, Shun raised a hand, knocked three times on the lieutenant's door, and waited… Nothing. Shun knocked a couple more times, but upon receiving no answer, his frown deepened. Was ZanYi sleeping that deeply? Or had she just gone somewhere else?
"ZanYi? I'm coming in," the giant waterbender called uncertainly, feeling foolish once again. He twisted the doorknob, only a little surprised that the door was not locked, and stepped inside ZanYi's room for the second time in three days.
ZanYi was still in bed, proving Shun's former theory true. The sound of knocks at her door had not even registered to the lieutenant. In fact, she had been so tired earlier that morning, ZanYi hadn't even bothered to change her clothes. As soon as she'd hit the top of the bed, she must have been out like a light. So the problem at hand was that she was still out like a light, unable to be recalled from her slumber by such mere means.
He shut the door behind him and crept over to the lieutenant's bed, staring down at her. How Syaoran had allowed himself to awaken ZanYi, Shun would never know, for the raven-haired beauty looked too peaceful in her sleep, almost like a different person entirely. Even now, it ached having to rouse her; this was probably the only kind of peace she was afforded in such horrible times.
Still, it had to be done. For Tiki's sake. Suddenly wishing he had his canteen, the giant waterbender sighed and leaned over the lieutenant, grasping her shoulder and shaking it firmly. His canteen was sounding more and more like a good idea as Shun endeavored to wake ZanYi up. Why didn't he grab it on the way out of his room? Or even before he approached ZanYi's door? Now it seemed like a rookie mistake, foolish. ZanYi, it seemed, just had that effect on him.
"ZanYi, it's me," Shun announced, in the hopes that this would prevent the firebender from lashing out at him as she did with Syaoran. "Can you get up? Tiki wants to speak to you."
While she hadn't heard anything earlier, the lieutenant felt the hand weigh heavily on her shoulder. It was enough to jolt her awake. It was also enough to kick her right into gear.
Her eyes snapped open and her hand went up to grab the wrist on her shoulder. With speed and quick force, ZanYi whirled the unsuspecting Shun onto the bed with a small cry. The lieutenant leaped on top to straddle her assailant, one hand clasping his shirt tight, the other pulled back in flames. Her eyes danced dangerously with the reflection of blue fire. And then, once her mind caught up to the rest of her body and training, ZanYi realized who it was beneath her. "Shun?" she panted, her voice a bit gravelly with sleep. Her hand was extinguished and she looked at him with confusion and irritation. "What do you think you were doing?"
Shun was frozen underneath ZanYi, his position all kinds of awkward.
For one thing, he realized that ZanYi moved really fast for someone who had been deeply asleep just a few seconds ago. For another thing, he had expected a burn or two for surprising her in her sleep—he definitely was not expecting to be straddled and put in such a compromising position that would make Master Fei blast him to kingdom come, if the elder firebender could see him and ZanYi now. And the last thing was that Shun really needed to learn to enforce his own 'No Touching' rule, because every time he allowed himself to touch ZanYi, it felt like bad things happened. Like right now, for example.
"…ZanYi, I'm sorry," Shun mumbled, a large hand covering the top part of his reddening face, "…but, could you please move?"
There was no way the giant waterbender was going to be able to have a conversation with the lieutenant like this. His mind was already spinning dangerous fantasies, some of which would get him electrocuted by ZanYi herself if she could see what was going on in his head right now. She needed to get off of him before things got any more out of control than they already were.
With a mild shrug, the lieutenant rolled off of Shun back onto the bed. ZanYi sat up, tossing her legs over the edge as she leaned over. Her hands went to her eyes, wiping away the sleep roughly. "Just what do you think you were—?"
Her growl cut off, her thoughts and wits starting to return to her. ZanYi hung her head a bit, holding it in her hand. "Crap. I told you to wake me, didn't I?" she muttered mostly to herself. Glancing at Shun, the lieutenant continued, "Sorry for attacking you. Usually, if I've just gotten to sleep, I'm pretty easy to get up, and I figured Tiki wouldn't want to wait until breakfast…"
ZanYi then saw the amount of light streaming into the room and she lifted her head in surprise, almost startled. She whirled back to Shun, her expression one of stern confusion. "Shun, what time is it?"
Shun sat up slowly, as if moving quickly would cause ZanYi to attack him again. He was breathing slowly in an effort to calm himself; he felt a lot better once ZanYi had quit straddling him. His face was still burning hot, though.
"Um, early afternoon," the giant waterbender replied, just a tad uneasy. ZanYi did not look happy, though he could only venture guesses as to why. "I asked Tiki to wait for a while so you could sleep. She really wants to see you now, though," he explained to the lieutenant, feeling a little bad. He was only just now beginning to realize how hard it must have been for Tiki to wait for the lieutenant to wake up so she could give the tiny airbender the news she so desperately needed to hear.
ZanYi's golden eyes flared a bit. "Early afternoon?" she repeated, astonished. "Are you kidding me?"
She looked to the windows and sunlight, it pooling far into the room—something that wouldn't happen in the morning. Rising quickly to her feet, the lieutenant crossed over to it, gazing outside. The sun was high in the sky, causing the sea to glimmer and shine under its rays.
Moving as quickly as she could while waking her mind, ZanYi grabbed her pants and pulled them on over her spandex quickly. "Why did you let me sleep this late?" she demanded of Shun as she did so. "I told you that you could wake me up when Tiki did." The lieutenant started to scrounge around for a shirt, only able to find traditional clothing in the wardrobe. She muttered a string of curses towards Master Fei as she continued to look around. "By the way, can you pass me that hair band on the dresser?" she asked Shun as she searched, frowning at the clothes.
"You had just gone to bed when Tiki came out of her room," Shun explained, moving to the dresser to do what ZanYi had asked. "I wanted to give you a chance to sleep before…"
Shun trailed off, his eyes drawn to the solitary photo in the frame of her mirror. A face had caught his attention, and he bent to get a closer look. Once he did so, he was able to see that the woman in the picture was not ZanYi, but an older version of her, her features softer than the lieutenant's. She was smiling, holding a bundle of an adorable baby in her arms. They possessed the same eyes.
"…She's beautiful," Shun found himself saying, finally locating ZanYi's hair tie and handing it to her, "the woman in the photo, I mean."
ZanYi's mother, Shun assumed. Come to think of it, the giant waterbender had no idea what happened to ZanYi's parents, though he could guess it was a tragedy, considering ZanYi had grown up under the care of Master Fei and sometimes her older brother. ZanYi never talked about it, and Shun, though he was curious enough, was not rude enough to ask her.
The lieutenant reached out to take the tie from him and her gaze found the picture as well. From afar, it almost looked like her; no wonder Shun had taken a closer look at it. But it made her frown a little. "Yeah… maybe she was," she allowed. Flipping her hair over, the lieutenant quickly pulled it back into a ponytail, still unable to gather all of the strays up. Finally finding a shirt, ZanYi pulled it over her head and sports bra, moving back over to the bed. She grabbed her boots and put them next to her, starting to unlace them. "It's hard to tell from one picture," ZanYi admitted, focusing on her task at hand.
It's not like she even remembered to be able to say herself. Maybe a glimpse, a flash every once in a while in her memory. But even that wasn't full, complete. ZanYi couldn't actually remember what her mother looked like.
Shun turned to watch ZanYi, saddened by her words. Was she not old enough when she lost her mother to remember what she looked like? Did she really only have one picture of the woman who had given birth to her? It was worse than Shun thought, and he felt the familiar stirrings inside of him at ZanYi's pain.
"…I'm sorry," he said, meaning it. It was all he could say, though he apologized both for ZanYi losing her parents so early as well as bringing it up again. There was a reason he cringed whenever Tiki asked an insensitive question; moments like this killed him.
He turned once more to stare at the picture, committing ZanYi's mother's face to memory. ZanYi would look like that one day, though her eyes had seen much more hardship and sadness than the eyes of the woman in the picture. Still, the elder Tsong's beauty was stunning, and if Shun never saw the lieutenant again, he would comfort himself with the image of her older form. Maybe ZanYi would even look as happy as her mother appeared in the picture, holding her baby girl. Shun hoped so, at least.
ZanYi paused a moment, giving Shun a dirty look. Next to him, she gave the waterbender a small shove with one of her hands. "Hey," she said, "don't look like that." She hated that look: that sad, pitying look. It was one that Master Fei had given her half of her life. Thankfully he had stopped—and so had the members of the White Lotus—but it did not mean it didn't rattle her cage a bit.
Shaking her head, the lieutenant put on her boots, starting to lace them up tight after tucking in her pants-legs. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm fine with it." And that was the honest truth. She couldn't remember her mother—her father even less, which was not at all. It was a fact that she'd learned to accept.
"You can't miss something you don't know, Shun."
Shun scrutinized ZanYi, wondering if what she said was true.
"Fair point," he admitted after a moment's consideration, but in his head, he continued to consider the issue. Was ignorance truly bliss in this situation? ZanYi had not been wanting for a parental figure—Master Fei attested to that—but was she really fine with not knowing what kind of people her parents had been? Shun supposed it was just one of those things he would never fully understand about ZanYi, no matter how much he tried.
"Are you ready to go?" the giant waterbender asked, though the question was nearly rhetorical as he watched ZanYi lace up her boots, "I left Tiki with Syaoran, and we both know why that's not a good idea for a long period of time for several reasons." Though, with the way the tiny airbender had been sulking, perhaps it was not as much of an issue as it was when she was bursting with energy.
Either way, ZanYi grimaced a bit at the thought. "That really is a terrible idea, Shun," she agreed, knowing how Tiki could grate on the Avatar's nerves. The airbender had the same effect on ZanYi's nerves. And she was bound to be even worse because of this whole mess. Finishing her laces, the lieutenant stood, finally ready. "Let's go save the Avatar and get down to business," ZanYi said, looking once at the mirror. It was not for vanity; she couldn't care less about how she looked. But it was to pick up the photo that was in the frame, to peer at it. With one last frown, she put it face-down on the dresser.
A corner of Shun's mouth turned down at the lieutenant. He did not understand why she would put the only photo she had of her mother face-down like that on the dresser, as if she were ashamed to see it. He was tempted to put it back up, but did not see how he could do so without ZanYi seeing.
Walking over to the door, the lieutenant leaned against it and stared at Shun, refusing to open the door at first. "Shun," she beckoned to the waterbender, eyes on him, "What I told you about Zaron this morning and about my parents: don't go telling the others about it. I don't need my business out there unless I tell them." ZanYi allowed herself to smirk a bit. "Do that for me and I won't tell them about how you got your rear end handed to you when you tried to wake me up just now."
"Would I do that to you?" the giant waterbender asked as he approached, his speech again rhetorical because he felt ZanYi should know better. At the mention of her attack on him, however, his cheeks blazed crimson. "And please keep that to yourself," he pleaded with the lieutenant, peering down at her earnestly, "If Master Fei finds out I was in your room again, there is a strong possibility that he'll neuter me."
Shun wished he was kidding. The smile on Master Fei's face the last time he warned Shun to stay out of ZanYi's room was more frightening than any glare the elder firebender could have given him.
ZanYi scoffed. "Sifu is an old man with an overprotective complex," she told Shun, rolling her eyes. But then she looked at Shun and saw the red that streaked across his face. Then the lieutenant snickered a bit. "Now, what do we have here?"
She pushed away from the door and stepped closer to Shun, practically touching. Grabbing the front of his shirt to bring his head a bit lower, she looked more closely at his reddened face. ZanYi looked up at Shun with fiery golden eyes. "I do believe someone looks quite embarrassed right now," she observed, her lip curling up in the corner. "Now, what would be the reason for that?"
Too close! That was his reason. More blood pooled into Shun's face and he hastily looked away, a hand raising reflexively to cover his mouth, as if he wished to hide his blush from the scrutinizing lieutenant's view.
"I don't know what you're talking about," came Shun's muffled voice through his hand. A second later, he cringed; the lie was so obvious that it was pathetic. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, the giant waterbender forced himself to meet ZanYi's gaze. "ZanYi, we should go. Tiki's waiting for us," he reminded her, dropping the hand from his face to loosen the grip she had on his shirt. His fingertips brushed the back of her hand before he remembered he was not supposed to be touching her. Gulping a bit—this was more difficult than he thought—Shun let the hand drop to his side. "Let go, please," he requested, meeting ZanYi's gold gaze unflinchingly. This moment reminded him of the other night, where he had finally realized his feelings for the lieutenant. Was it because she had been too close to him then as well?
Accidentally, Shun's gaze dropped to ZanYi's lips, and he gulped again. This was bad. He kind of wanted to kiss her now. But he was not allowed, he reminded himself: not only would ZanYi kick his butt—again—for such an impertinent act, but it would break Syaoran's heart if he ever caught wind of it.
What Shun would not have given for the obliviousness he suffered before coming to Roku's Island. It would have made things so much easier. After all, ignorance is bliss.
ZanYi observed his reactions closely, taking note of each. It was certainly curious, and although the lieutenant did not normally care about such shy tendencies, in a way, it amused her with Shun. He was not easily perturbed—his friendship with Tiki exemplified that. So to find him so very much out of sorts was a change.
"What's the matter, Shun? Can't take a bit of confrontation? Or do you have a problem with your pride now?" she asked him, eyes piercing through his. Her eyebrow briefly quirked like her lip. However, ZanYi, as per his request, then let go of his shirt to allow him to straighten back up. "When you figure out why you're getting so embarrassed, let me know. Because if you don't figure it out, I will."
The lieutenant stepped back away from the waterbender, opening the door wide. ZanYi walked out into the hall and looked back Shun. "Hurry up, Big Guy. We've got to go save Syaoran from Tiki." Without waiting for an answer, as usual, ZanYi started down the hallway towards the dining hall.
Shun stared after her, his heart beating faster than was appropriate. It was so unfair—why did she have so much influence with a single look or gesture over him? It was bad for his health. And, contrary to what the lieutenant thought, Shun knew perfectly well why he was embarrassed. But he refused to tell her, and hoped fervently that she would not find out, as she had threatened.
Taking more deep breaths to calm himself, the giant waterbender made to follow the woman who kept unknowingly tormenting him, when he remembered the photo frame on her dresser. Checking quickly to make sure ZanYi was not waiting for him—which she wasn't, figures—Shun darted back to the dresser and very carefully set the photo back up. Smiling slightly, Shun left ZanYi's room, shutting the door behind him.
Tiki's relief was immense once ZanYi finally appeared, followed by Shun. If she had been paying more attention to the healer, Tiki would have noticed how red Shun's face was, and how he seemed to be keeping a careful distance from ZanYi. But since Tiki did not care about either of those details at the moment, she only had eyes for the lieutenant.
"…So?" she asked ZanYi with a bit of hesitation, almost afraid of the answers. "What did you find out?"
Please, please let ZanYi have come up with a feasible plan of action, Tiki prayed desperately. If the lieutenant told her that rescuing her parents would be impossible, the tiny airbender's already fragile psyche would surely shatter.
Syaoran looked to the lieutenant as well when she finally entered. And unlike Tiki, he did notice the flush to Shun's face. His worries and envy came flooding back, and the Avatar wanted to ask what had taken them so long, but Tiki had already jumped to the matter at hand, and the severity of it took precedence over his pettiness.
Walking across the room, ZanYi took an empty seat, piling food onto her plate. She wished there was coffee out, but she knew there would be none on the table at the late hour. So she started to eat a bit, getting some food in her.
It was after several long, silent moments that the lieutenant finally looked to Tiki, sobered from her exchange with Shun as she looked at the airbender. "Tiki," she said with a serious gaze as she put down her cutlery and leaned her elbows onto the table, "I will only tell you what I found out if you keep your wits about you. If you are going to fly off the handle like yesterday, I will not tell you a word. Your parents are fine at the moment, but I need to know you are going to keep your head and act your age. I can't have you going and doing something stupid."
Syaoran winced a little at the lieutenant's tone. It was sharp and it was serious. ZanYi was never really great with Tiki, but this did not resemble the scolding tone she would normally use. No. Syaoran had only seen this tone when speaking with fellow soldiers, when planning.
"She'll do it," Syaoran tried to help her out, keeping a steady gaze on ZanYi. When the lieutenant looked over at him with that razor gaze, he kept Tiki's encouragements in mind and did not look away for once. Syaoran kept his eyes set on ZanYi, as if willing her to believe his confidence.
"Syaoran, I need her to answer," she told him before looking back to the airbender across the table. "What do you say, Tiki?"
Tiki kept her gaze locked with ZanYi, weighing each word the other woman spoke. ZanYi was trying to make sure she, Tiki, would not run off and attempt a rescue mission by herself. The tiny airbender would be lying if she said she had not considered taking such a route, only to shoot it down every time when she thought of what the others would say if she actually went through with it. ZanYi now needed confirmation from Tiki that she would not do whatever everyone expected she would do. Did that mean that her parents' situation was not that great, even though they were alive?
As if she needed the moral support, Tiki pulled out the amulet she always wore tucked away under her shirts, given to her by her mother, who was directly descended from Avatar Aang. Squeezing it tightly, Tiki searched for the strength she needed right now. Glancing up, Tiki's gray eyes found the ice blue irises that belonged to Shun, who was seated next to ZanYi as always, were trained on her. He gave her a nod, encouraging her. That, coupled with the comfort her amulet provided, was all Tiki needed. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly so as not to upset the dishes on the table.
The calming breath was effective: Tiki sat up a little straighter, and her eyes, once she opened them again, were calm. The airbender was in her serious mode.
"I understand," she replied with a slight nod, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "So, please tell me what you know."
Tiki could handle this. She just had to remain calm… which probably meant she would have to do a lot more meditation nowadays. But if it meant being able to help her parents, Tiki would do whatever it took.
Syaoran believed Tiki, knowing the look in her eye. It may be a rare sight to see, but he knew she was ready to be serious and ready to do whatever it takes. He looked to ZanYi, hoping she would continue. And she did not. Not immediately. Instead, the lieutenant just watched Tiki, as if gauging the validity of the airbender's words.
However, it seemed the change in attitude was enough to convince her, and ZanYi took a deep breath herself before delving into her find. "Good," she encouraged Tiki with a nod. Then her gaze never left the airbender's.
"Your parents are alive and being held in Republic City," ZanYi divulged, taking care with her words. "They're being used to promote anti-bender propaganda, encouraging the Resistance to stand down and give up. I'm not sure for how long this has been going on, but I gathered the impression that it's been long enough to turn the bender community against them. As of late, they are branded traitors."
Syaoran stiffened. If they were as prominent airbenders as they seemed to be, that could cause a huge problem for their cause. And it didn't make sense. They were airbenders, descended from Avatar Aang. It didn't sound right at all for them to turn treasonous.
"That doesn't make any sense," he did voice aloud, looking at ZanYi perplexed, "Why would they do that?"
"To prevent their only child from being killed."
ZanYi's gaze met Syaoran's briefly to see the dawning realization come to him as to what that meant. Syaoran averted his eyes, just like ZanYi, to look at Tiki, a dreadful feeling building up inside him. Tiki was being used as blackmail against her parents.
And to make matters worse…
"The Neo-Equalists have a bounty out for your capture, Tiki."
A/N from Eva: WHOO-HOO! Book 2, baby! I'm excited now, because the story shifts to our resident airbender and her life. :) Don't worry, we'll still be focusing on Syaoran, Shun, and ZanYi, but Tiki's going to have her own spotlight throughout this book. As always, DJ and I appreciate your support, and we hope that you all will continue to read and love this story!
Froppo: Thank you so much for your kind words! We appreciate your support, and hope you will continue to give it!
Wiechcheu1925: Thanks for the review and the author alert! DJ and I always enjoy reading your reviews because they're always so detailed. We appreciate your support! :) Hope you will keep reading!
xIceArcher: Aww, thank you! This makes me and DJ happy. We hope you continue to keep reading!
J Philip: Syaoran is 19 years old. He's fairly young, though not as young as Aang was. :P
