About a week later, there was a gala being held in honor of the heroes of the Hundred Years War. Naturally, all children of Team Avatar were required to attend, much to their disdain. They were eating lunch when Kya suggested to Lin and Honora that, if they had to go after all, they should do something fun. The waterbender suggested that they match their dresses, eliciting grins and acceptances from the two. Kya smiled as well, happy to be with her friends again.
The night of the gala had arrived and all three girls were getting ready in Kya's bedroom.
"This is going to be so boring. Why can't we just fake sick and stay home?" Lin whined.
"If all of us fake it, it might be suspicious Lin. We just have to suck it up for now." Honora said sadly.
"Look at us, we look like a little rainbow." Kya observed, standing in front of her mirror. Lin and Honora came over to stand by her, smiling lightly.
It was true, all three girls were wearing the same floor length, strapless, form fitting dress but in different colors; Lin in green, Honora in red and, of course, Kya in a blue version. Their colors represented their elements and Kya couldn't help but smile at the picture they made. They were mindlessly chattering away when there was a knock on the door.
"Who could that be? We'll be down in a minute!" Honora yelled at the door.
"Girls, it's Uncle Aang, can I come in?" Kya heard her father ask from the door.
"Of course Dad, come on." Kya said as she opened the door and he walked in with two big bags in his arms.
"Thank you sweetie. Don't you girls look great!" Aang said looking at the three young women in front of him.
"Thank you. What are those?" Lin asked, pointing to the bags.
"Oh! Lin, Honora, my sons got you each something to wear tonight. I have no idea what they are but they said they don't want to see you until you have it on. So here's the one for you," Aang explained while handing one bag to Lin "And the one for you." Aang handed the other bag to Honora. "See you girls downstairs soon. Bye!" Aang said as he left the room.
Kya had a bad feeling about this as the earthbender and firebender laid the bags down on the bed and started to open them.
"What could these be? I don't even have a clue. It's not anyone's birth...Oh! Spirits they're beautiful!" Both girls said as they fiddled with the bags, finally getting them open to see inside.
"What are they?" Kya asked from her dresser.
"This is too much! Look how beautiful this is!" Honora said as she pulled out a stunning red and gold ball gown from the bag and placed it over the dress she was wearing.
"This is so gorgeous! They really didn't have to do this, but I'm kind of glad they did." Lin said, turning to Honora for a short laugh before pulling out a beautiful knee length gray dress and placing it over the dress she had on.
Kya knew where this was going, casting her gaze downwards. She felt the anger at her brothers bubble up inside her, but there was also some anger for her friends who always seemed to forget about her whenever her brothers are so much as mentioned.
"Lin, help me out of this and into this one." "Me too." Both Lin and Honora said at the same time before they unzipped each other's previous dresses before putting on their new ones. Throwing their initial ones onto Kya's bed, the waterbender picked them up sadly and placed them in her closet before turning back to find the two gushing over their new dresses.
"Okay, I think we're ready to get going. Kya? Are you ready?" Honora asked as she and Lin turned to face the waterbender with blissfully ignorant smiles on their faces.
"Yeah. Let's go." Kya said with her voice barley above a whisper as she rushed past the two to get to the door. Lin and Honora exchanged a confused look before following her downstairs.
Upon seeing her brothers waiting for Lin and Honora, Kya moved to a spot near her mother to let the couples be, knowing she wasn't really wanted and her protests would be a waste of breath. She really had had enough of this arrangement and it was really getting annoying. She rolled her eyes as she watched them kiss before heading out with them to Appa. Kya made sure to sit away from them to give them space, and partially out of spite. Lin and Honora shared a confused look at the sight of their friends face but were immediately interrupted from any further investigation by their boyfriends pulling them closer. Kya rolled her eyes again and looked out at the sky.
The party wasn't that terrible actually. People seemed to be having a good time but the waterbender couldn't bring herself to have any fun. She watched her friends and brothers with narrow eyes as they whirled around on the dance floor or laughed at the buffet together. She couldn't comprehend that they were so unaware that they were ignoring her. Her frown deepened as she fingered a piece of salad on her plate before feeling a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey! Why don't you come dance with us?" Honora asked, out of breath and slightly sweaty.
"Yeah, it'll be fun." Lin said with a smile, in the same state as the firebender.
"Why don't you go dance with your boyfriends?" Kya said coldly and the other two immediately sat down on both sides of her.
"We want to dance with you. Come on, we haven't had fun with you in so long!" Honora said as softly as she could and Lin gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"Maybe if you two stopped making out with my brothers all the time, you might've." Kya snapped and both of them visibly paled.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." Kya said, feeling guilty for snapping at them.
"Kya, what's going on?" Lin asked her seriously. Kya heaved a sigh before looking over at each of them, ending up fixing her gaze on the plate in front of her.
"Don't get me wrong, I love that you guys are dating my brothers and that there is a possibility that we could be related one day, but lately I just feel like you guys always ditch me for them. And I don't get to even see you guys that often too, they see you every day." Kya began and they both nodded. "I'm not asking for your full attention all the time, I just miss my girls and all the fun we have together. I just don't want you guys to forget about me now that you have boyfriends." Kya finished and Lin and Honora shared a look of understanding.
"We are so terribly sorry about that." Honora said as she hugged the waterbender, Lin joining in a moment later.
"I guess we just got all caught up in the whole relationship thingy. Don't worry, no matter who we're with or what we're doing, we will always be a trio. Don't you worry about that my dear Sugar Princess." Lin said with a laugh as the other two girls smiled. The three girls hugged again.
"Exactly. Now, why don't we go dance?" Honora said with a smile as they all laughed and got up from the table.
"Hey Lin, you want to dance again?" Tenzin asked as he saw the girls approaching but Lin waved a hand in his face.
"Nope, I'm going to hang out with the girls for a while. See you later Airhead!" Lin called as they walked past them.
Seeing that Bumi was about to open his mouth too, Honora looked back and yelled to him, "That goes for me too! Bye!"
They spent the night talking and dancing together and Kya swore she couldn't remember the last time she felt this happy. Taking it all in and knowing that it would still be this way when the night would end, a similar thought ran through her mind,
"You were right mom, you were right."
