A/N – Whoo! ;;does victory dance;; My tenth chapter anniversary! xD Thank you all for the reviews. (And for those of you that don't know, a tankini is like a bikini, except it's longer. Some of them actually go all the way down the stomach.) I don't own Avatar!

Beep! Beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!

Every time one of us walked through the door, the electric counter "beeped". The gang shuffled in behind me quickly, fearing the strange noise.

"Don't worry," I laughed. "It beeps every time someone walks in."

"So… that's normal?" Sokka asked.

"Totally," I said, motioning for the gang to follow. We walked through the racks of clothes until we reached the bathing suits.

"Okay guys, here's the deal. Whenever you go to the beach, you wear one of these to go swimming. They dry pretty quickly and have a special fabric so the ocean won't ruin them. They're not clothes, they're only for swimming. Got it?" They nodded and started looking through the racks.

"Oh, and there's different kinds, too. For you guys," I said, referring to Katara and Toph, "you can wear a one piece or a two piece. Some bathing suits are more revealing than others, so…well, just show me what you want before you try it on, okay?"

"Okay!" Katara and Toph agreed together. I let them go a little farther and then turned back to the boys.

"And you three," I started. Then I paused.

What am I supposed to do? Man, I wish Erick was here.

Then again, I always wish Erick was here.

"Uhm, you guys pretty much only have one option." I pointed to a rack a few feet away. "Swimming shorts. They're just shorts, but for swimming. Self-explanatory."

Aang walked over and picked something off of another rack, but I couldn't see what it was over Zuko's head, so I let them be and went to check on the girls.

"Find anything?" I asked, the mother load in Katara's hands coming into view.

"Oh, just a couple things," she said, smiling.

"We're not really getting all that," Toph laughed, sensing my unease. "It's just to try on, to get the hang of things."

I sighed in relief. "Okay. You ready to change?" They nodded, and I left them to their business.

"How are you guys doing?" I called from outside the men's dressing room. I saw Sokka heading in there a couple minutes before, so they should still be changing.

"What about these?" Aang asked stepping out, followed by Sokka. They came closer and I could see they were both wearing speedos. I did a classic facepalm.

"No, Aang. Not those." I muttered, my eyes never leaving the ground. "Just stay over there, alright? I'm gonna-wait, where's Zuko?"

"I'm not coming out!" came the muffled voice. And, more to himself than anyone else, "This is ridiculous."

I walked away, trying my best not to crack up. "Try again, guys!"

I called into the women's dressing room, this time a little more comfortably. Katara came out in a pretty blue bikini with bright orange Hawaiian flowers all over it. What's nice was that it was not a showy bikini; it covered all the necessary…parts…and she was comfortable in it.

"Nice! And you probably won't even need more than one, since…well, you know." I stuttered.

"Yeah, I know." She smiled sadly and closed the dressing room door behind her to change back.

"Toph? Are you-" She slammed open her door before I could finish.

"Okay, this is weird," she decided. She had on a gold and black bikini that was much too big for her, and definitely not her style.

"Hmmm…hold on a minute," I said, and went to a rack nearby. I picked out a tankini set with boy-shorts, instead of regular bottoms. It was a pale green like her eyes that faded to a deep blue. Very much like something the young Earthbender would wear.

"Try this," I suggested, handing her the bathing suit. She took it in her hands and went back in just as Katara opened up her door again.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said. Then, more quietly, "How's Toph doing?"

"I picked something out for her," I replied simply, and Katara trusted my judgment.

Soon, Toph came back out. We all agreed on that suit, and I gave them money to pay, hoping they'd do it right.

"Okay, guys," I said into the doorway of the men's dressing room, "times up. Whatcha got?"

Aang, Sokka, and Zuko all walked out in their clothes, carrying one pair of swimming shorts each in their hands.

"Nice. Let's go pay."

So the drive home was the usual. The gang was going to change, I needed to go back to get my own bathing suit, and we needed to pack some things, too.

After changing, I dragged the old beach bag out of the closet and shoved in a few towels, a blanket, and some money. Everyone slipped a T-shirt over their bathing suits, and we headed out again.

"How about here?" I said, dropping the beach bag where we stood. The gang nodded and helped me flatten out the blanket on the warm sand. I took a deep breath. The salty ocean air was fresh and new, and the sun was beaming. It was a beautiful day for the beach.

For a while we just kind of hung out, but then it was getting hot.

"Hey, wanna go in the water?" Aang suggested. I looked out at the sea. It was rough that day, and there were no lifeguards at this beach.

"Okay, just be careful," I answered. "Toph, do you want to go over and just let the waves hit your feet?" She nodded and we all got up and walked down to the water.

I stood beside Toph, where I could keep a good eye on everyone.

"You're quiet today," I told her.

She shrugged. "Guess I just have a lot on my mind."

I wondered what that could've meant when suddenly, I heard a big crashing sound. A giant wave had just come down on Zuko, and Aang and Katara were pulling him out of the water.

As they dropped him on the sand a little farther towards our stuff, Toph gasped. "He's unconscious!"

Concurrently, all the lessons of my elementary Girl Scout days came flooding back to me. I knew what I had to do. Hesitating, I walked over to Zuko and kneeled down beside him. I laid my head lightly against his chest and listened. He was breathing, but that wasn't good enough. Tucking my hair behind my ears, I picked my head up and thought,

Here goes nothing…

Giving someone mouth-to-mouth is an extremely awkward experience, especially giving it to someone like Zuko. He was a complicated person, and we barely knew each other. I talked to him the least out of the group, which was a pity. Zuko was a mystery to me, and I've always wanted to get to know him better.

I could feel the gang's eyes burning into me as I held Zuko's nose.

"What're you--" Katara's question was cut off immediately after I lunged for Zuko's mouth. I breathed into him, trying to bring him back to consciousness. Then I leaned back and did it all over again. And again. And again….

Somewhat thirty seconds later Zuko opened his eyes. He seemed to be in a daze. It was a pretty weird situation, if you think about it. He was laying there in the sand with me leaning closely over him. I could tell my hair was bothering him, the way it brushed his shoulders, but I didn't care, and he forgot about it too. We were so close that I could feel his breath, hot and shallow, against my face.

Those few seconds after he opened his eyes seemed like forever. He groaned and blinked slowly, as if he were an animal just retaliating from hibernation. I smiled shyly and dug my hands into the sand to push myself up and give him some space. But he grabbed my arm and jerked me down, shocking me with his strength. For some reason my lips were tingling, and I couldn't figure out why. Suddenly the sensation spread to the rest of my body and I realized this: he was kissing me.

I didn't really know how to react to this type of thing. I mean, I've dated guys before, but I've never been kissed. So whatever happened that day was not me, it was instinct.

I didn't start kissing back. I didn't relax my muscles. I didn't run my fingers through his bangs and I didn't let him hold the back of my head.

But one thing I can take credit for is the feeling. It was amazing. I could taste the ocean in that kiss and feel the rumble of waves and current in his heartbeat.

When we finally broke away from each other, I dared to open my eyes. Zuko was staring up at me with a look of pure joy on his face. They say that eyes are the doorway to the soul, so that's where I searched. He seemed okay, but there was a deeper emotion in those amber depths. A slight feeling of sadness, and, wait-was that recognition I saw? I imagined a memory flashing across his eyes, too quick for me to catch.

Too deep for me to currently understand.

As my mind wandered, I realized that I was still crouching over him, our noses just a few inches apart. His hands were back at his sides, and my hands were at his sides, too. I pushed myself up and adjusted my bathing suit. Then I froze, remembering the gang.

Should I really look back?

I blame instincts again.

Aang and Katara's expressions were hard to read, but Toph was just smirking as if she had predicted our whole day before breakfast. Sokka looked kind of sad, but then his face grew sarcastic and mischievous again. The whole beach seemed to be frozen.

"Uhh…" I stammered. What was I supposed to say after something like that?

"You don't need to talk." For once I was happy that Toph had interrupted me. She inched over to one of our beach chairs and, slowly and carefully, started to fold it up. I guess she can't see that well on sand.

"Let's just pack up and head back," Katara muttered, following Toph's lead. Everyone else did the same and we drove home in silence.