Anuri's POV
It was now winter in the year 170 ASC. Over three months have passed since I defeated the bear demon Katahdin and my dear friend Avatar Korra defeated the Equalist leader Amon. We were all living in a time of peace once again.
Not only was in now winter, but that also meant that my seventeenth birthday was nearing, and boy, do I have a story to tell about that. The story of my best birthday ever started three days before the actual day. I was sitting alone on the top of the steps leading down to the courtyard, surveying the scenery around me.
The snow was a brilliant light blue, just like it was the day I was born nearly seventeen years ago.
As I continued looking around, I felt a pair of warm, gloved hands clasp over my eyes. "Guess who I am?" said a male voice, and I smirked, knowing instantly who the voice was.
"I know it's you, Bolin," I said, gently removing his hands from my eyes as a small chuckle escaped my mouth.
Bolin chuckled himself before he came and sat down next to me. "And how is my dear starlit-haired girlfriend doing this morning?" he asked, just like the gentleman he was.
"I'm doing quite well, my dear earthbending sweetheart," I said, before laying my head on his shoulder, but not before I planted a kiss on his cheek, earning another chuckle from him.
Bolin wrapped his left arm around my shoulders and dropped a kiss on my forehead, and we locked our hands (my left and his right) together. Quite a romantic image, is it not? Well, we are boyfriend-girlfriend, after all.
"Are you looking forward to your birthday in three days?" Bolin suddenly asked after a brief pause.
"Oh, you bet I am!" I said excitedly. "I can't believe I'm actually going to be 17! And once again, after so long, it seems we've been blessed by a lovely blue winter. There hasn't been a blue winter since the year I was born."
"I'm glad you're excited," Bolin said, "because I know that you're going love the party we're throwing for you, sweetie."
I couldn't help but smile in content, he was so sweet. Not once since we started dating over three months ago has he ever called me nicknames such as 'sweetie', but I knew one thing: I was so lucky to have him as my boyfriend.
"Oh, I know I will… sweetie," I said, and then I leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "So what did you get me?" I asked, still looking him in his handsome green eyes.
"Can't tell you," Bolin said, a smirk forming on his face. "It's a surprise, but I know one thing: you'll love what it's going to be."
I laughed, but then I saw a faint golden glow in the distance. "Well, looks like it's that time again: time for me to call the sun," I said as I stood up and stretched.
"Go ahead, Anuri," Bolin said. "I'll be watching from here."
I nodded and jumped down the steps, changing to the feral side of my werewolf form in the process, running down the beach, and jumping up to the cliff, where the first rays of sunlight touched the island. Once I was at the top of the cliff, I threw my head back and unleashed a mighty howl, one of my best howls ever.
The second I started howling, the sun began coming over the distant mountains, and soon enough, the sunrays were on me. I stopped howling after a minute of doing so, and I looked down over at Bolin, smiling at him.
Did I ever mention that your howl is one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard in my life, and a great sound to wake up to in the morning? Bolin asked through telepathy.
You could stand to mention it more, my love, I answered, smiling brightly. I then started jumping down the cliff and running over to Bolin, changing to my human form the minute I reached him.
"I love going to the top of that cliff, howling to the sun as it comes over the mountains each morning," I bragged to him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug.
"You're great at doing it, too," Bolin said, hugging me back, and I laughed.
Tamaska's POV
I walked down the halls of the men's quarters, and I found Bolin sitting on his bed, looking at something he had in his hand. "Hey, dude," I said, walking into his room.
Bolin looked up and said, "Hey, Tamaska, what brings you here, buddy?"
"No reason," I said. "I was just walking along the halls and I saw you holding something in your hand and came to investigate." I then looked at the object that he was trying to hide. "What is that, anyway?"
Bolin reluctantly opened his hand and in the palm of his hand was a white-gold ring with blue sapphire gem in the center, our family symbol engraved into it. "Who's this for?" I asked, taking the ring from his hand and looking it over curiously.
"It's for Anuri," Bolin admitted, rather hesitantly.
I scoffed playfully and said, "What, are you going to ask her to marry you or something?"
"Actually, that kind of was the idea," Bolin said, and my bright gray eyes nearly popped out of my head right after he said that. I looked at him, shock all over my face as my jaw nearly dropped to the wooden floorboard.
"You're really going to propose to my sister?" I asked incredulously, and Bolin nodded. "Have you talked to my parents about this?"
"Yes, and they're going to let me ask for her hand," Bolin said. "And they're not the only ones who know about this. I've told the others about this as well, and they're all surprised, but they're supporting my decision." He then looked down at the floor sadly and added, "But I feel that proposing to the love of my life isn't enough. I want to get her something else that she'll love."
"Like what?" I asked, and Bolin shrugged.
"I don't really know," he said. "I was just about to head for the city when you showed up."
"Well, I was just about to head down there myself," I said. "I was going to look for some white glass beads to make my sister a bracelet. Let's go into town and see what we can find for her."
Bolin nodded and we set off.
When we arrived to the city, we walked as far as Fire Lord Zuko's statue in Central City Station. "Wait here, alright?" I said. "I'll be a minute." Bolin nodded, and then I ran to the jewelry shop across the road.
It actually took me five minutes to find the white glass beads I needed to make Anuri's bracelet for her birthday in three days. I then ran back to meet Bolin by Fire Lord Zuko's statue, only to find that he wasn't there. I looked around for him, and then I spotted him talking to some middle-aged man who had a fully-grown male polar bear dog at his side.
"How much?" I heard Bolin say to the man.
"Five grand," the man said back. Must be a bidder, I thought to myself, but then I widened my eyes at what he was doing. Wait, is he going to buy that polar bear dog for Anuri?
I saw Bolin reach into his pocket and pull something out of it. "How about ten?" he suggested, and he held up a white signet Wolfen coin, the rarest coins out of our currency.
The bidder tapped his chin thoughtfully. "One white signet Wolfen coin for a fifteen-year-old sixteen-hundred-pound polar bear dog?" he asked, and then he smiled and nodded. "You've got yourself a deal, young man."
"Thank you, sir," Bolin said, tossing the man the coin and taking the end of the rope that was tied around the polar bear dog's neck.
"Hey, Bolin, dude!" I called from the across the street, and Bolin turned and saw me, and I ran over to meet him.
"Hey, Tamaska, did you find those white glass beads?" Bolin asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, and they only cost me fifteen yuans," I said, and then I looked over at the polar bear dog that he had supposedly bought for Anuri. "So, is this the other surprise you're getting for my sister?"
Bolin nodded. "Yeah. I hope she'll love him," he said.
"Hey, I'm sure she will, if it's coming from you, my friend," I said, and then I noticed the color of the polar bear dog's eyes. They were a glistening dark blue, slightly darker than my sister's blue eyes. "Hey, Bolin, look, he's got blue eyes just like Anuri does."
Bolin looked at the polar bear dog and said, "Yeah, he does. I never noticed that before."
I smiled to myself as we continued to head for the docks to head back to Air Temple Island. My sister's in for the surprise of her life. I thought to myself, a small smirk forming as we finally boarded a boat and headed for home.