Chapter 2: A River

Nero sat down on the steps outside his parents – no, his – shop. Miho had cried almost non-stop, she had only stopped a few minutes ago. He realized it had only been three days, and finally, he broke down. Out on the steps, in the middle of the night, the grief finally hit him and didn't stop. He heard soft footsteps padding closer and quickly wiped his tears away. He grabbed the sword Jiro had made for him and pointed it towards the sound.

"Relax, it's just me." A red-haired girl stepped out of the shadows and Nero put down his sword. He remembered her, her parents had been killed a few moths before his. There had been no funeral, just like with his parents. There wasn't enough money in either family to afford one.

"Mikka, right?" The girl nodded. "I'm Nero." He held out his hand for her to shake. Just as she took it, a cry rang out from his younger siblings' room. He cursed.

"C'mon, I have a little brother, I'll know how to shut her up." They went inside and within minutes, they were back outside and all was quiet. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened to your neck?" Nero grimaced.

"Firebender." Mikka put a hand on his back and nodded.

"Same one that...y'know..."

"Killed my parents?" She nodded. "Yeah."

"A waterbender got mine," she said sadly.

"Huh. That's unusual."

"He was a triple threat." Nero nodded. Even at eleven, they both knew about bender gangs. "Um, if you have any more trouble with your sister, let me know." Nero nodded.

"Hey Nero," Mikka smiled and sat down next to the almost-empty bowl of tiger-shrimp and took the last one.

"Hey!" Milo stormed off, pouting.

"Hellooo, Mikka," Jiro slid the bowl away and sat down next to her. Mikka scoffed and shoved him off his chair. He yelped and caught himself, Nero and Mikka laughed.

"So, what's up?"

"Nero has a crush!" Jiro shouted, grinning evilly when Nero's face went red.

"What?! Who?"

"I'm gonna go work in the back," Mikka grabbed his sleeve, her full attention on Jiro's account of Nero's crush.

"She's some new girl Nero saved from a mugging. She's really quiet, except when something takes her by surprise. She looked kind of like a doll. And she's got a thing for Nero, too," Jiro said conspiratorially. Mikka smiled brightly.

"Oooooh! We have to get them together!" She turned to Nero. "And don't you dare say you don't like her, because we know you too well."

"I...wasn't going to," he blushed, "but she doesn't like me like that."

"She was staring at you. That, and she wasn't interested in me when I hit on her." Light footsteps on the stairs at the back of the shop proceeded the youngest sibling's entrance.

"Who did Jiji hit on?" She asked, rubbing her eye. Mikka picked her up and put her on her lap.

"Jiji hit on the girl Nero likes, Miho." Miho turned to her younger older brother and patted his head.

"Bad, Jiji. Don't hit on Nene's girl." Jiro nodded seriously.

"Okay sis." Miho nodded, satisfied with her brother's response.

"Sis Mikka, can I braid your hair?" Mikka took her hair out of her short ponytail and sat perfectly still. From the moment she could talk, Miho had her brothers and Mikka wrapped around her little finger. The door opened and Bolin stormed in.

"Oh yeah, this place is amazing, I can smell it!" Ami followed, rolling her eyes.

"Do you always shout your opinion on a restaurant as soon as you walk in?"

"Yeah. I never really dislike restaurants, 'cause no matter what they serve it'll always taste good." Mikka and Jiro glanced at Nero, who was staring at the two of them. Mikka stood and held her hand out.

"Hello, I'm Mikka. What's your name?"

"Ami," she took Mikka's hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you." She let go of Mikka's hand and turned to look at Jiro. "Um, did you by any chance break several girls' hearts after I left?"

"No, why?"

"There are a lot of girls outside...crying."

"Oh, no that's 'cause they found out that Nero-" Mikka jumped on top of Jiro, covering his mouth with her hands as she sat on him.

"Okay," she glanced nervously at Nero, then back at Mikka. "Is she your girlfriend?" Nero blushed and shook his head.

"Oh, no! No, we're just friends!" He glared at Bolin. "What about you and him?"

"Oh, no! I told my friend about this place and she wanted to try your food, but she's bedridden so instead he went with me. To make sure I don't get mugged." Nero's glare disappeared.

"Good." He smiled and pulled his hair back. "So what do you want to order?"

"Can I have one of these!" Bolin pointed at three different things on the menu.

"Will that really be enough for the four of us?" Bolin gave her a confused look.

"Um...I meant for me. I'm a growing boy, you know!"

"Keep eating like that and you'll grow sideways." Nero chuckled as Bolin pouted.

"I don't mind, as long as he can pay for it." Ami glanced at him.

"If you eat it, you buy it." He nodded and stared carefully at the menu.

"Um, can I have this one, this one and two of these," Ami pointed at certain things on the menu, ducking her head slightly to hide behind her bangs. "And some tiger-shrimp?" Nero smiled at her.

"Are you sure? Last time you barely ate one." Ami blushed and stared at her feet.

"Well I'm sure that I'll be able to eat more, seeing as I'll be expecting it this time," she smirked up at him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, alright. What does your friend want?" Bolin was still reading through the menu with a look of extreme concentration.

"Bolin, how about tiger-shrimp?" Ami asked, trying to keep the smile out of her voice.

"Yeah, okay." He nodded and put down his menu, the look on his face staying the same. Ami and Nero glanced at each other and laughed as quietly as they could. As Nero made their orders something tugged on the bottom of Ami's dress. She looked down and into Miho's large amber eyes.

"My name's Miho. Can I braid your hair?" Ami smiled and nodded. Miho stood on the chair next to Ami's and Ami turned her chair, keeping her eyes on Nero. "Your hair is pretty. What's pretty big sister's name?"

"My name's Ami. Are you Nero's sister?"

"Uh-huh." Nero looked over his shoulder at Ami. "Big sis Ami, what happened to your hair? Its so soft and shiny." Nero smiled to himself, remembering the feel of her hair from earlier that day.

"Um, it's been like that all my life." Miho took a small section of her hair and braided it, the braid falling on top of her hair and down her back. Miho clipped the end of her braid shut and tapped Mikka, who still sat on Jiro.

"Lookit, isn't it pretty?" Mikka smiled.

"Its very pretty, Miho. Why don't you show Nene?" Nero turned around and glared briefly at Mikka.

"Who's Nene?" Ami asked.

"Um, that's what Miho calls me." Nero said, running a hand through his hair. Ami smiled.

"Aww that's so cute." She turned her back to him, "so, what do you think?"

"Beautiful. Very beautiful." Ami ducked her head slightly and blushed.

"Th-"

"Thank you Nene!" Miho smiled brightly at her brother. He smiled back and went back to making Ami and Bolin's food.

"Um, Nero?" He looked up at Ami.

"Yeah?"

"The girls from earlier, they...they're making faces." They all turned to face the windows, and sure enough, the girls were making faces.

"Oh, just do it back," He pulled the sides of his mouth wide and crossed his eyes. "Blegh!"

"Oh! Okay," Ami kept her arms at her sides and stuck out her tongue. "Myeh!" Nero chuckled at Ami's attempt. "W-whats wrong?"

"Nothing! It was cute." Ami blushed.

"Oh...okay." They stared at each other, both smiling slightly as the others continued to make faces at the girls. Nero cleared his throat and they quickly looked away from each other.

"So, uh, your food's ready." He ran his hand through his hair again and blushed.

"Oh, thank you. Um, Bolin, food's ready!" She put her money in his hand and Bolin did the same, Ami quickly grabbed the boxes and rushed out, only to be greeted by Nero's fangirls.

"You! You're the girl Nero likes?"

"Um, what?"

"Oh don't act dumb! Its so obvious! He's so smiley around you! He's never that smiley, not even with Mikka!" Ami blinked, dumbstruck. She gave the food to Bolin and shooed him away.

"...Really?"

"Well yeah! His enigmatic gloominess is part of his charm! It makes his smiles all the more precious!"

"What? He's not gloomy, what are you talking about?"

"Yeah, 'cause you showed up!" The girl that had spoken last whimpered, her eyes getting teary. "It's not fair that you can make him smile more than we can!" The girl stomped her feet and wailed.

"I...I'm sorry? But if you love him, isn't it good enough just to see him smile?" The girl stopped wailing and gave her a strange look. She ducked under her bangs and blushed. "That, and I really don't think he likes me like that."

"C'mon, don't sell yourself short." Ami turned around and saw Mikka poking her head out the door. "And the rest of you, either buy something or leave." The girls cowered and most left while some went inside.

"T-thank you."

"No problem. You alright?" Ami nodded.

"Yes. Um, what they said, about Nero never smiling..."

"He does smile. Not much though. It got better after a while, I think he just needed time after his parents died."

"What happened?" Mikka grimaced.

"Some benders got them when he was younger...look, it's not my story to tell, ask him about it next time you see him. Now go find your friend, he's waiting around the corner." Ami thanked her again and waved goodbye. She walked to the corner and found Bolin salivating over the food.

"Give it to me, before you get too tempted and eat it." Bolin grudgingly gave her the food.

"Ami, you okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"You're crying all over the food."

"Heh...oh. I'm okay, just a little sad."

"Why?"

"Nero's parents died. It was a while ago, but it must have been so painful for him and his siblings," she wiped her eyes and tried to shake it off.

"Me and Mako's parents died too."

"I'm sorry." He shrugged.

"Its alright. What about you?"

"A firebender killed my dad, my mom got sick a few moths ago. She died too, but at least I knew it was coming, you know?" He nodded, and they walked in silence the rest of the way.