Chapter Eleven
Mud
It was pouring. The raindrops were big and fat, and splattered down, soaking us in mere seconds. I squirmed in Aang's grasp, cursing him aloud and mentally as the freezing cold rain soaked me to the bone. Aang was laughing, stomping around in the muddy grass with me thrown over his shoulders. Lightening cracked over head, low rumbles of thunder streaking, throwing down more rain.
"Aang," I was saying, "Please, please, please let me go!" I pleaded, closing my eyes as he twirled around in circles.
My fiance slowed, "You aren't going to run back inside, are you?" he inquired, referring to my past two escape attempts.
"No," I returned, blinking the rain out of my eyes. "I promise."
Aang seemed satisfied, and dropped me from his back. My feet touched the grass—mud, actually. I moved my wetted hair out of my face, observing myself. My clothes were stuck against my body, dripping wet. I was cold. "You're evil." I told him, making a face up at him. Lightening danced behind him in the darkened night sky.
He grinned, "I know." He splashed around in the puddles, "But you have to admit, this is fun!"
I giggled, rolling my eyes, "Sure!" I ducked as he scooped up a pile of mud and threw it at me. "Oh, you want to play that way?" I raised my eyebrows, grabbing a handful of the brown mud and throwing it at the Avatar. It took him by surprise, hitting him square in the chest.
"Hey!" Aang exclaimed in surprise, and with a cheeky look on his face, he drew his hands upwards before expertly moving them forward in a fluid movement, collecting the mud out of the ground and sending it hurling towards me.
Breathing in abruptly, I swept my arm across me, blocking the mud with a force of strong air. I wasn't quick enough, however, to dodge another wave of mud, which covered me from almost head to toe. "Monkeyfeathers." I mumbled, shooting him a stare of daggers. "Do you know how long it'll take to get this out?" I stressed.
"I'm sorry," he chuckled, covering his mouth as he saw my current situation. The mud even covered my face. I glowered at him as he burst into full laughter. "Hah, er, s-sorry," he struggled to keep his giggles at bay, I mock-pouted at Aang as he tried to contain his laughter. A smile tugged on my lips, however, as an idea struck me. Using airbending, I gusted myself over to him, wrapping my legs around his waist and tackling him to the ground, earning a very unmanly yelp from him.
Sputtering, Aang tried to worm his way out from under me as I sat on him, picking up mud and laughing as I rubbed it onto his clothes. "N-No!" Aang cried, laughing loudly, "Stop!"
After a few more minutes of adding more and more mud, I backed off to admire my art work. Aang's clothing was now a dark, sopping-wet brown. We matched. "Now, we're even." I announced in triumph, placing my hands on my waist.
Aang splashed his hands around in the mud like a child as the rain poured down harder, "Fine." he tried to wipe the mud off, but his attempt was fruitless. He sighed, jumping to his feet. "You're evil." he countered goofily.
My eyes wandered back to the palace, "Race you to the courtyard?"
He blinked, taking on the challenge. He grinned. "Sure. You know I'll beat—,"
Before he could finish, I took off into a sprint, laughter trailing after me and dismayed grunts from Aang as he struggled to catch up.
"Not fair," Aang whined as we collapsed under a canopy. We were both breathless and filthy. At least we weren't being poured on being the rain, which didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon.
I shrugged, leaning into him with a smile, "It was fair." I insisted weakly, kissing his mud-tried cheek.
"No it wasn't." he lifted my chin up with his gentle hands to look into my eyes. We both looked like fools. I giggled at the thought. "What's so funny?"
"We must look so stupid."
"Nah...only you." Aang teased, and I swatted him, causing him to chuckle and apologize. "Kidding!" he promised, and before I could make a comment, he closed my lips with his.
I drew in a sharp breath as he pressed me against the palace, my heart lurching. My fingers entwined around his neck, pulling him even closer, our lips moving together in a sloppy, urgent dance.
A loud knocking noise snapped both of us out of our trance, and in a daze, we looked behind me to see a closed window with a not-so-happy looking Firelord looking tiredly out at us.
"Will you guys please go make-out somewhere? Some people are trying to sleep, here."
Blushing and laughing, Aang and I both made the trek back to my bedroom, unknowingly leaving a trail of muddy footprints.
AN: Sorry for that super-short chapter! Some Vicaang fluff, and a not so happy Zuko! :)
Until next time~