AN: Read and enjoy. Things are getting interesting.
Blind Are Our Children
JIE WAS ITCHING with curiosity. She had seen the way Lian and Zara had been leaning into one another; she had seen the way they were gazing into one another's eyes. She always knew they were meant for one another…were they finally ready to admit it? She felt giddy at the idea of her beloved big brother and her absolute best friend being together.
She glanced at Zara, who eased into the hot waters of the bath with a sigh. She unfastened her own towel and slid into the bath without any modesty. They had been bathing nude together their whole lives, why should she be shy? Jie knew that in the next room, Lian, Kai, Kato, and Razo were all nude together without pretense.
Jie was glad though, that the Bei Fongs had separate bathhouses for both genders. She wasn't sure if she could handle having Kai, Kato, and Razo seeing her nude. Lian had seen her a million times already, so that was okay.
Ah, Lian. She gazed at Zara and fought to hide a simpering grin. "So…glad to see us again?" she inquired slyly.
Zara beamed. "Yeah, I'm so glad you all came." She took the ponytail out of her hair and reached for one of the various bottles of shampoo.
Jie began unwinding her long braid. "Hasn't Lian changed?" she asked. She also, took a bottle of shampoo. It was going to feel so heavenly to be clean…
Zara's face flushed suddenly. "Yeah…he has…" her voice sounded almost wistful. She wet her ebony hair and began to work the shampoo through it. Zara wondered why Jie would ask such a carefully worded question.
Jie smirked at Zara's blush. "He looked at you in such a way…" she reminded her friend.
Zara shivered slightly, despite being submerged in warm, nearly hot, water. "He did…his eyes were so…" she trailed off, feeling her heart flutter.
"Intense." Jie finished for her, wetting and shampooing her own hair. She felt like laughing stupidly.
Zara beat her to it, giggling suddenly. "Yeah."
"So what are you going to do?" Jie inquired, her blue-gray eyes wide.
Zara paused for a second, looking at Jie. "What do you mean, 'what am I going to do?' I'm going to do nothing. Lian and I are friends. Close, good friends. Nothing more." She responded. She began to rinse her hair as an excuse to avoid Jie's gaze.
Jie scowled suddenly. "Well, what about Lian's feelings?" she, too, began to rinse her brunette hair
"What about them?" Zara decided to play stupid, it'd be better off for Jie not to know what Zara truly thought and felt about her older brother.
"What if he loves you?" Jie pressed. Honestly, could Zara be anymore difficult?
"Well, of course he loves me! We've known each other our whole lives!" Zara grabbed the nearest bottle of conditioner and busied herself with coating her hair with it.
"I don't mean like that, I mean like romantic love!" Jie argued. She felt irritated as she reached for her own bottle of shampoo.
"He doesn't love me like that!" Zara blushed, mortified that Jie was perhaps onto her and just wanted to call her out on it.
"How do you know?" Jie persisted.
"Because. He's fourteen and I'm twelve." Zara bickered.
"He's going to be of marrying age in two years!" Jie fought her. Didn't Zara like him back?
"And I still have four years to go. See?" But her heart felt hurt at the idea of Lian marrying some other girl... she bit her lip and grabbed a bar of soap.
"Zara…" Jie sighed her name as her friend turned away from her. "He'd wait for you." She assured her gently.
Zara's turbulent emotions stilled at Jie's words. "You think so?"
Jie smiled softly, taking Zara's hands in her own, interlacing their fingers. "I know so." She squeezed gently. "Lian is a man of honor, a man of his word."
Zara's face softened. "Yes, he is."
"So, tell him you like him. And then he can ask your father for your hand. And then you-" Jie began to blurt.
"Jie…it's not that simple." Zara rejected her.
"He'll carve you a betrothal necklace." Jie sighed romantically.
"I'm not even of the Water Tribe!" Zara protested.
"So?" Jie giggled.
Zara sweat-dropped. "Jie, I'm going to hold off on telling him for a while longer."
Jie frowned. "Why?" she demanded.
"I need to just sort myself out." Zara explained feebly.
Jie sighed, but pulled Zara into a hug. "Okay."
Zara sighed contently.
LIAN FELT SLIGHTLY distraught since he had seen Zara again. She was beginning to blossom into a beautiful woman, and it had affected him in a strange way that he'd never felt before. He felt dizzy, hot, faint, and altogether strange. He vaguely wondered if something was wrong, but felt too strange to be truly concerned.
He turned the image of Zara over and over in his head, contemplating it carefully as Kato horse-played with Razo, splashing water everywhere. Kai joined in, and soon water was flying in all directions. Lian sputtered as a particularly large wave crashed on his head. "Guys!" he protested.
The three boys in varying ages paused, looked at Lian sheepishly, then resumed their horse-playing. Lian sighed exasperatedly and Kato looked at his cousin thoughtfully. "What's wrong Lian?" he inquired, still very much innocent at the age of eleven.
"He's got a crush on Zara." Kai teased.
"Kissy kissy!" Razo cried, tackling Kato. Both boys went underwater for a few seconds, struggling and wrestling before emerging for air.
Lian felt himself blush from his toes to the roots of his hair. "Am not!" he protested weakly.
Kai smirked, being an expert at annoying and humiliating people. "Then why are you denying it so passionately?"
Lian scowled, splashing Kai. "You date her." He dared his cousin.
Kai looked thoughtful. "Hmm. Maybe I should…she is developing quite nicely." He pondered out loud.
Lian grit his teeth. "She's not some floozy for you to take advantage of, Kai. She's our friend!" The mere idea of Kai toying with Zara's emotions and body really irritated him.
Kai smirked. "So that means you like her."
Spirits, did he ever hit the nail on the head. Kato beamed. "Are you going to marry her?" he asked eagerly, excited to have Zara and Razo as true cousins.
Lian blushed a darker red. "She's my friend." He fought them, reluctant to admit his feelings. To get teased by them would be bad. To be rejected by Zara would be worse. He couldn't bear the thought…
"Zara loves you." Razo innocently blurted.
The three boys blinked in response to Razo's careless statement. "Oh, really?" Kato grinned, tickling Razo.
"There you have it." Kai said smugly, turning to face Lian.
"Kai…" Lian's voice rose to a warning tone.
Kai smirked. "When are you going to tell her?"
Lian only scowled in response.
"Well?" Kai's voice lilted coyly.
"When the time's right." Lian answered firmly, distracting Kai by tackling him into the water. Kato and Razo howled with glee and joined in on the battle.
THAT EVENING THEY decided to have a camp fire in the courtyard. Treats were roasted over the open flame, and Zara made patterns of animals and people to amuse Razo. Jie sighed contently, snuggling deeper into her brother's arms. She was quickly growing sleepy, and Lian wondered if he should tuck her into bed.
Razo was already asleep by the time this thought occurred to Lian, and he shared a smile with Zara, who affectionately stroked her brother's sable hair.
"Hey, do you remember when Uncle Aang saved me from the Unagi?" Kai asked suddenly, staring into the flames, entranced.
Kato stirred, frowning. "Yeah. It wasn't funny."
Kai shrugged, poking a stick into the warm glow of the fire. "I didn't say it was…it's just…" he trailed off, not certain of what he was trying to get at.
"I haven't seen Uncle Aang since before Razo was born." Zara commented thoughtfully. She pulled her dozing brother into her lap, studying him to make sure he was safe and sound in her arms.
"I don't think he even knows about Razo." Lian added.
Jie stirred in her brother's embrace. "I miss Uncle Aang." She murmured sleepily.
"I wonder where he is…" Kato murmured out loud.
Kai frowned, dropping the stick he poked at the flames with. He always did like playing with fire. "I bet he's out having all sorts of cool adventures." He speculated.
"I wish I could have cool adventures." Zara lamented.
Lian furrowed his brows, looking thoughtful.
"Then why don't we?" Kai asked, gazing into Zara's face, highlighted by the flames.
Lian blinked. "Kai, we can't."
"Why not?" he asked impetuously. He sat up slightly, now alert. "We've traveled to Gaoling all by ourselves. Why can't we travel the world searching for Uncle Aang too?"
Zara rolled her eyes. "Kai, you're the Prince of the Northern Water Tribe. You're needed there. You have duties. And Kato…he's too young to be away from your parents for too long." She informed him.
Kai rolled his eyes. "If we go now, we'll find him before I need to take the throne. And Kato's got me, Lian, Jie, and you. He'll be okay." He nodded to Kato.
Kato grinned at his brother's confidences in him.
"I need to help my father fish. And Jie needs to master the fighting style of the Kyoshi Warriors." Lian protested. Kai's idea was crazy, really…
"Your dad won't have to work as hard if you and Jie aren't there. And Jie's already really good at being a Kyoshi Warrior." Kai retorted, sharing a smirk with Jie.
Lian looked to Zara as if to ask, 'what now?'
She merely shrugged and glanced at Kai. "Okay. So when do we leave?"
Kai grinned. "Let's all save our money for the next year and we'll leave on the anniversary of our leaving to come to Gaoling."
Lian faked surprise. "Oh. Moon. Spirit! Is Kai actually thinking it out and planning ahead?"
Kai playfully punched Lian's shoulder. "C'mon, admit it, it's a good idea. And by then we'll be a bit older, and our parents won't mind as much."
Lian frowned doubtfully. "I won't even be sixteen."
"Uncle Sokka was fifteen when he traveled with Mom and Uncle Aang." Kai argued pointedly.
"True…and we are in times of peace now." Zara suggested helpfully.
Lian laughed. "Well, let's get planning then."
Kai picked up his stick once more, poking at the fire. "We have a whole year to think about it."
Kato grinned at the prospect of another adventure with his brother, cousins, and friend. He closed his eyes and was soon asleep by his brother's side.
Kai found himself yawning, his little brother's fatigue rubbing off on him. "We're going to turn in for the night." He told his friends, hefting his brother up in his arms.
Lian and Zara nodded in approval, watching Kai bring Kato into the house.
"He's a good brother, even though he doesn't like to show it." Zara commented softly.
Lian smiled, turning back to Zara. "He's getting better at it." he assured her.
Zara nodded. "I know…Kai's not as…mean…as he used to be." She seemed almost amazed.
"That's all, right?" Lian questioned suddenly, unsure of what exactly Zara was trying to get at.
"Well…he's growing into a very handsome guy." Zara teased, flicking Lian's nose.
He touched his nose, pulling his sleeping sister closer. "Zara." His voice was a quiet plea.
Zara blinked, her eyes searching Lian's. She noticed how blue they were, even in the glow of the fire. The flames highlighted his features which were shifting from that of a boy into a man. He really was handsome…. "Lian." Her voice spoke on its own accord.
He leaned in closer, studying her intently, his mouth only inches from hers. His heart began beating like a drum and he wanted to tell it to shut up.
They were both startled by Razo's content sigh in is sleep, which seemed so much louder since they were both silent. They both blushed and turned away, embarrassed.
"I need to put him to sleep." Zara mumbled, stroking her brtoher's unruly hair. It helped to calm her trembling hands.
"I need to get Jie to bed also." Lian blurted. He rose quickly, not sure if he looked like a fool or not.
They nodded in agreement hastily as Zara snuffed out the flames.
"See you tomorrow." They echoed one another, embarrassedly rushing to the house. Both inwardly cursed themselves and hoped the other didn't read further into that strangely intimate moment.
