Hey guys! Sorry for posting 7 days late… I thought it was going to be like other chapters, a little more than 2,000 words, but I decided to make this one twice as long! :D
So about this chapter, it's more of a non-serious chapter but still carries important things for later chapters, like how "The Spirit of Competition," was. Anyway, please enjoy! :)
Kiara & Bolin
A week had passed since the time in the park. Ever since then, Kiara would only go to her room when it was necessary, hand out with everyone, and meditate at the Meditation Pavilion with Korra, Tenzin, and his children.
As the sun began to rise over the horizon, Kiara woke up groggily, rubbing her eyes and letting out a huge yawn. She sat there for a moment too tired to move until she remembered what today was. The waterbender heaved her tired body to the end of the bed, where a calendar hung. Her eyes darted from date to date until it landed on today, which was circled and written in fine red ink, said 'Me and Korra's Birthday Day.'
Excitement bubbled up inside her as she grinned.
"This is going to be a fun day."
As Kiara and Korra walked into the dining, all their friends shouted, "Happy Birthday!" Both sisters smiled. It was the first time in 4 years since they've celebrated their birthday together, and now it was even better with friends around.
"We're finally 18 Kiara! Think about how many things we get to do now?" Korra chirped happily.
"Like what?" Kiara asked, still somewhat tired. "Voting? That's not really that exciting."
Korra frowned. "Must you ruin everything?"
Kiara scowled at her.
"Being 18 means that we're adults now! We get to make our own decisions!"
Her sister snorted. "Please; you've been making your own decisions since you found out you were the avatar! And guess what? That was 14 years ago!"
"So? Other people like Tenzin won't be telling me what to do!"
"First off, yes he does since he's still your airbending teacher. Second, before, when he told you to do something or not to do something, you wouldn't listen anyway so being a year older doesn't change much."
Korra ignored her as Bolin pouted. "You're lucky; I'm not even 17 yet!"
Korra laughed at him. "Don't worry; your birthday is in a month, right?"
"Yeah, but I would still have to wait another year, unlike Mako who only has to wait about 2 more weeks, Iroh's already 22, and Asami's birthday passed months ago!"
Asami laughed. "Really Bolin, being 18 doesn't change a lot of things."
Korra rolled her eyes. "Another party pooper. Anyway, instead of saying negative things about being 18, let's celebrate me and Kiara's birthday!"
Everyone cheered and Tenzin walked into the room.
"Happy birthday Korra and Kiara." He said smiling down warmly at both sisters.
"Thanks Tenzin," they both said in unison.
"In celebration, I decided to organize a party for both of you."
Korra and Kiara stood there, shocked.
"Really, Tenzin? YOU are going to throw a party of US?" Korra asked.
Tenzin nodded. "Yes, 18 is a very important age that should be celebrated."
Korra turned her gaze to her sister. "Told you!"
Kiara stuck her tongue out at Korra, as Tenzin continued to talk.
"So, I wanted to talk to you two about what kind of food you want at the party."
Kiara jumped up and down. "Oooh! I want sea prunes!"
Korra nodded. "Yes! Please?"
As the three talked, Bolin pulled Mako a few feet away.
"Hey Mako, I want to get Kiara something special but I'm not sure what to get her, got any ideas?"
Mako snorted. "You dated her for nearly 3 months, before you gotten crazy about Korra, and yet you don't know what to get her?"
Bolin frowned. "Are you going to help or not?"
The firebender sighed. "Fine, what does Kiara like?"
Bolin thought for a moment. "Well, I know she likes to stare at the stars."
"Everyone knows that, Bo."
"Um, her favorite season's winter, she loves nature, uh… and other things but those won't help me."
Mako thought for a moment. "Why don't you get something that reminds her of the water tribes? Kiara must be homesick after leaving for so long."
Bolin smiled. "Yes! That's perfect! Thanks Mako!" With that, the earthbender ran off happily.
Bolin looked around the Air Temple, hoping to find Kiara before he headed off to mainland. At last he spotted her; with Korra and Tenzin, still discussing about the party.
"Kiara!" He called softly, not wanting to disturb the conversation between Korra and Tenzin.
Kiara turned around and saw him some few feet away.
"I'll be right back," she said as she walked over to Bolin. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to know what your favorite flower was."
"Oh," after some thought Kiara responded, "I guess it's the fire lily."
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
"Why do you need to know?" Kiara asked.
Bolin shook his head. "No reason."
Kiara still confused, shrugged as he walked away.
As Bolin walked around downtown in Republic City, he checked many shops, hoping to find the perfect gift for Kiara. Just as he was about to give up, Bolin stopped by a store that sold jewelry.
"Hey, do you have anything here from the Southern Water Tribe?" He asked the salesman.
The salesman hesitated as he looked through everything.
"Actually, I have a lot," he finally said, leading Bolin across the store. "I have mostly women's' jewelry."
Bolin looked at the jewelry, hesitating.
"I'll let you look through it." The salesman replied; walking toward the counter as another customer came in.
"I should get one for Korra too," Bolin murmured. At first, Bolin thought there wasn't anything good, until he spotted two beautiful necklaces. "Wow," he said as he went over to view them. Both were a thin silver necklace that held a clear, hollow glass in a shape of the crescent moon and filled with water from the Southern Water Tribe. Bolin smiled, this was the perfect present for both sisters. He took both and walked over to the counter.
"I would like to buy these two," Bolin told the salesman.
"Ah, good choice, that will be 4,000 yuan in total (about $652)."
"4,000 yuan? That's good I brought 7,000 yuan with me (about $1142)" He thought.
Just as Bolin was reaching for his wallet, something caught his eye from the shelves behind the salesman. It was a dark blue necklace that held a small shiny stone in a shape of a circle. The stone was carved in a specific design that Bolin couldn't make out quite clearly.
"How much for that one?" He pointed at the necklace.
"Oh, that? It's not for sale."
Bolin thought for a moment. "How about I buy one of the silver necklaces and I pay 4,597 yuan for that necklace?"
The salesman hesitated before nodding. "Okay, usually I wouldn't do this, but alright."
Bolin grinned as he handed him the money.
"You know, this was carved by a man in the Southern Water Tribe, then he decided to sell it for money. Such a shame though, it would've made a girl very happy." The salesman said as he placed both necklaces gently in boxs.
"Really? That's even better since the person I bought this for is from the Southern Water Tribe."
The salesman nodded. "Yeah, men in the water tribes carve them and then— well, you probably know since you're buying it."
Bolin was confused but he didn't ask what the salesman meant.
"Thanks!" Bolin replied happily as he gave him boxes.
"Go get her!" The salesman replied, patting Bolin on the back.
Bolin nodded, still confused, and walked out of the store. As he walked toward the direction of Air Temple, he remembered to get flowers.
"This'll take awhile," Bolin sighed as he dragged his tired feet to a flower shop.
As Bolin walked into a huge ballroom early, there were already dozens of people there, with many more arriving; he scanned the room until he spotted Kiara and Korra. They were absolutely stunning, Bolin thought. Kiara wore a dark blue dress while Korra wore a light blue dress. Both were lace dresses that went a little past their knees and had sleeves that went almost to their elbows. Korra had let down her hair while Kiara had her front hair pulled back gently and clipped together.
"Hey there beautifuls," Bolin replied as he walked up to them.
"Hi Bolin," Korra answered, smiling.
"How do you like the party?" Kiara asked, her bright icy-blue eyes shining with happiness.
Bolin smiled. "It's great! You know, for such a serious person, Tenzin sure knows how to throw a party!"
Korra rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, Pema and the air babies helped him of course. Plus Katara told me that when Aang was still alive, he would throw fun parties every month!"
"Really? Avatar Aang would do that?" Bolin asked.
Korra shrugged. "Hey, the war was over and everything was peaceful, so why not?"
The earthbender nodded. "True, true. Anyway, happy birthday."
"Thanks," Kiara replied, smiling.
As Iroh, Asami, and more people began to come over and greet them, Bolin walked away and toward where the buffet was.
"Ugh, sea prunes," Bolin shivered as he watched the dried fruit float in soup. He turned his head to the side and stared at more buffet stands that were lined with meat. His mouth watered as he ran over and began to place one of everything (meat, of course) on his plate.
"Leave it to Bolin to clear up all the meat," a voice spoke from behind him.
Bolin turned around to see a 17 year-old boy with brown hair and side bangs. As he walked over to Bolin, many girls turned stared at the handsome boy.
"Oh, hey Kai," Bolin replied, not that happy to see him. Kai was a waterbender and a friend of him and Mako while that lived on the streets after Kiara left. He was always running around, going after nearly every 'pretty' girl he saw. Bolin always felt that Kai was pretty annoying, though he had some good qualities, some.
"What? That's it; 'hi' is all I get? What happened to the times when we worked together, doing errands for the Triple Threat Triad?" Kai asked, baffled, not noticing the group of girls giggling near him.
Bolin saw a few heads turn towards them. "I'm sorry, how do you do?" Bolin retorted. "Shut up about the Triple Threat Triad, okay? I'm different now."
His friend looked confused. "What's so bad about it? We never did any crimes, just did a few things for them."
"Yeah, well whatever, I still don't want you talking about them with me."
Kai rolled his eyes and looked around. "So, how about we go pick up a few girls here?"
Bolin shook his head. "No thanks," but Kai didn't seem to hear him.
As he scanned the crowd, Bolin's blood turned cold as his gaze rested on Korra and Kiara.
"Hey, how about those two girls over there? They seem pretty hot," Kai replied, licking his lips as he looked them up and down.
Bolin made a disgusted face. How could he even be thinking about sleeping with girls already?
"No thanks, I'd like to live more years," Bolin responded.
The waterbender turned his attention back to his friend. "What do you mean?"
"Well, that's Avatar Korra, you know. She'd kick your ass before you can even get near her."
"Oh yeah, I didn't even recognize her, with her wearing a dress and all." Kai replied. "Anyway, I think I can handle her." Kai answered, turning his gaze back on Korra.
Bolin shook his head. "Unless you don't want to face Mako, I suggest you don't make a move on her."
Kai turned his head again to Bolin. "What?! Your brother is dating her?!"
Bolin smirked. "Yeah," before drinking lychee juice.
He sighed. "Alright, I won't hit on her." Kai then looked at the girl standing next to Korra, laughing as someone told a joke. "What about her? What's her deal?"
The earthbender spat out the lychee juice. "Kiara? You want to hit on Kiara?"
It was Kai's turn to smirk. "So she's the avatar's sister? I guess hotness runs in the family."
Bolin began to panic. "I can't let him make a move on her!" He thought. "Uh, no Kiara has a boyfriend."
"Really? Where is he?"
"Damn it! Did I really have to say she had a boyfriend? What am I suppose to say now?" Bolin kept panicking. "He's not here right now; he's in the Fire Nation… studying."
Unfortunately, Kai smirked. "She's probably heartbroken he's not here right now, I guess it's up to me to comfort her."
As he started to walk toward Kiara, Bolin grabbed him by the arm.
"Are you serious, Kai? Have you really become this low by hitting on girls who have boyfriends?" Bolin asked angrily.
At first, the waterbender didn't say anything. "Don't worry Bo; after I'm done with her, her boyfriend wouldn't have to know a thing."
Bolin stared at him in disbelief before he freed his arm from Bolin's grasp.
Kai went up to Kiara and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey there beautiful."
"Hi Bol—" Her reply cut short when she turned around to face Kai. "Oh, hi there, can I help you?"
Kai led her a few feet away from the group of people she was with. "Hi, my name's Kai. First off, I wanted to say happy birthday, and second, I think you're the most beautiful girl at this party."
"Oh, thanks, but I think Korra's a lot prettier than I am." Kiara glanced at her sister happily.
"Nonsense, I think you look very sexy in that dress." Kai replied as Kiara's face turned red in embarrassment.
Bolin watched them talking from a few yards away as Mako walked up to his brother. "Great, look at them, their hitting it off," he told Mako, not close enough to hear what they were talking about.
At first Mako didn't know what he was referring to until he looked in the same direction. "Hey, is that Kai?"
"Yeah."
Mako chuckled. "Oh, I always hated him."
Bolin was shocked. "Really?"
His brother nodded. "Uh-huh, Kai was mainly the reason why you kept getting into trouble in the past. After hanging around with him a lot, you got into habitat of getting into stupid situations, like the time you decided to work for the Triple Threat Triad and then got caught by Chi blockers."
"Hey, I was only trying to help us get more money to enter the Pro-bending Championships."
Mako rolled his eyes. "Anyway, what's the situation with those two?"
Bolin sighed. "I told him that Kiara had a boyfriend so he wouldn't try to hit on her."
"Well, that obviously didn't work and why did you tell him she had a boyfriend?"
The earthbender shrugged. "I dunno, it just came out, I panicked and told him that."
Mako glanced at his brother. "Bolin, do you still have feelings for Kiara?"
"What? No, I was just trying to protect her from Kai. You know how he is, right?"
"Oh yeah, you don't need to remind me."
Bolin kicked some dirt on the ground from outside. "Well, it doesn't matter now because their hitting it off."
"I don't think you need to worry about Kiara, she can defend herself easily especially against people like Kai. Plus, it seems like she's about to punch him.'
Bolin looked up at an angry Kiara who looked about ready to beat the daylights out of Kai.
"Excuse me?" Kiara asked, her eyes lighting up in fury.
"N-no, I didn't mean it like that," Kai stammered.
Kiara scoffed. "Oh yes, like 'can I touch your body' could mean anything else!"
As Kai tried to explain, he took a step forward and placed his hand on her lower back. Kiara's temper snapped and punched him hard in the stomach that sent him half way across the room, surprisingly not breaking anything.
Korra ran up to her. "Kiara, what happened?!" She asked, looking at Kai's unconscious body being taken away by healers.
"Don't worry, he was a pervert." Kiara answered loudly enough for everyone to hear her. They all nodded in understanding and continued talking and laughing.
Bolin stared at her in shock.
"See? Told you, you didn't need to worry about her." Mako said, laughing as he remembered Kai's shocked expression when Kiara punched him.
"I know right? I've never seen anyone make that face before," Bolin replied before laughing with his brother.
"Anyway, I'm going to go talk to Korra." As Mako walked toward his girlfriend, he said 'happy birthday' to Kiara and stared at her for a moment before bursting into a fit of laughter as he still remembered Kai's expression.
Kiara stared at Mako like he was high before going to Bolin.
"Hey, Kiara, nice job on driving Kai away."
"Oh, his names Kai? I thought it was asshole." Kiara replied coolly.
Bolin chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about him."
Kiara waved it off. "No, it's fine; it's not your fault he was like that."
They stood there in awkward silence for a few moments before Bolin remembered something.
"Oh yeah, here, I got you a present and fire lilies. I know there not in bloom yet, but when it's time, they'll be beautiful."
Kiara stared at Bolin, surprised by his generosity. "Th-thank you Bolin."
Bolin smiled as she began to tear the wrapping around the box. "I got you and Korra similar things, both were really nice, but I felt that this one was really beautiful so I decided to give you it since, you know, I've known you longer. Also as a way to say 'happy birthday' and sorry about everything I did to you that hurt you."
Kiara gasped when she opened the box, staring at it with shock.
Bolin waited eagerly for her response. "Well? Do you like it?"
But all the waterbender did was picked it up holding the necklace with both hands. Bolin took the box and was beginning to wonder whether he had bought the right present for her.
"Bolin? What did the salesman say about this necklace when you bought it?"
Bolin looked confused. "All he said was that it was made in the water tribes by males for something." He hesitated before adding. "Why? Do you not like it?"
She shook her head. "No, no; it's really beautiful, it's just…" she paused.
"Just what?"
Kiara swallowed before continuing. "This is a betrothal necklace, men in the water tribes make one to give to a woman they love as a proposal to marry."
Bolin's mouth went dry after hearing this. They stood there in silence as others partied around them, unaware of the situation.
"Um, do you want me to take it back? I'm not asking you to marry me, I didn't even know until now… I just wanted to give you something beautiful, because you know, you're beautiful and a way to say 'sorry' again." Bolin's voice faltered.
Kiara shook her head. "It's okay, even though this isn't a proposal, I'd like to keep it. You're right, it really is beautiful." She murmured as she stared at the necklace.
Bolin smiled. "Here, let me help you put this on." He took the necklace and gently clipped it around her neck as she held up her hair. "There, you look even more beautiful."
Kiara gave him a sweet smile, something he hadn't seen a long time. "Thank you Bolin." She leaned forward and gave him a small kiss. As she leaned away, people were clapping around them. Bolin and Kiara looked confused and saw Korra and Mako running toward them.
Korra stopped and stared at her sister.
"What?" Kiara asked.
Korra couldn't speak for a few moments so Mako spoke for her.
"Kiara? Is that a betrothal necklace?"
Kiara glanced at the blue necklace that hung loosely around her neck.
"Yeah?"
"And Bolin gave that to you?" Mako asked slowly.
Kiara nodded slowly, not realizing what they were getting at.
Finally, Korra was able to speak again. "Oh my spirits… you guys are getting married!" She gave a small happy squeal and hugged Kiara tightly.
Kiara pushed her away. "N-no! It's not what you think!" She told her sister and then to the crowd of people watching. "It is not what you think!"
"Y-yeah! I just gave her that necklace as a present! I didn't know that was a betrothal necklace!" Bolin added, his face turning all kinds of red.
"So are you keeping that?" Someone from the crowd asked.
"Yeah, why not? Even though it's not a proposal to marry, it's still a present from a great friend." Kiara answered.
Ikki and Jinora then popped up randomly. "Oh, but you two would make such a cute couple!" Jinora sighed dreamily.
Kiara and Bolin stared at each other, both their faces were blushing madly. Bolin could see that Kiara was having the same thought in her head: "Us? A couple?"
"Well, I'm sorry but there isn't going to be a wedding, and I'm still keeping this!" Kiara replied staring at everyone.
"But won't it be awkward?" This time it was from Iroh, who was holding hands with Asami a yard away.
"What? Why?"
"Think about it," Iroh retorted. "If you end up with someone else, how are they going to react when you're still keeping something a male friend gave you? It's going to be complicated you know."
Everyone nodded.
Kiara didn't reply at once. "What do you mean 'if'?"
"Well, you and Bolin are going to be together, right?" Asami asked. "It's pretty obvious to everyone that you two would make an adorable couple."
Kiara and Bolin were speechless as others murmured in agreement. As everyone decided to leave them alone, they went back into their own groups and chattered.
"I need some fresh air," Kiara muttered and stormed out of the ballroom as Bolin followed.
Once they were outside, the sun had already set and the clock on Aang Memorial Island ticked at 9:45 pm.
"This party is going to last another 2 hours and 15 minutes." Bolin murmured as Kiara sighed. He glanced around. "Here, let's sit down." Bolin led Kiara to a bench nearby that was under a cherry blossom tree.
After minutes of not speaking to each other, Bolin began to fidget slightly. Kiara glanced at him with one eyebrow raised.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
Bolin laughed. "Yeah, I'm fine; it's just a little cold out here."
"Do you want to go back in?"
He shook his head. "No, I'd rather be out here alone with you than surrounded by crowds of people asking questions about the betrothal necklace and other stuff."
The waterbender was silent for a moment. "When they said that we would make a cute couple, they were kidding, right?"
Bolin sighed. "I wish I could lie, but you know as well as I do that they were serious."
"Do you think we were a cute couple before?"
Bolin glanced at Kiara, who was looking at him with a slight blush on her face. "I don't know, I mean I wasn't paying attention really. It didn't matter to me if we appeared to be a 'cute couple,' I just cared about our relationship."
"Oh, okay."
Bolin glanced around, not knowing what to say. "If we were to get back together…" he started to say as Kiara looked at him curiously. "I think we would make a 'cute couple.'"
Kiara stared at the earthbender with surprise.
"I'm going to go back inside, where is party now; it's getting pretty cold out here." Bolin replied, shivering. He held out a hand to Kiara to help her up; she shook her head.
"No thanks, I think I'll stay out here for a few more minutes, and then I'll join you."
Bolin nodded and walked back inside.
Once he was gone, Kiara sighed and sat back, staring up at the pitch black sky that was dotted with multiple bright stars.
"A cute couple, huh?" She murmured, as a smile began to form on her lips.
So that's chapter 10 for you guys! Please R&R and tell me if you think Kiara and Bolin will get back together and if they should :)