Chapter 12

"Ehm… could I please enter?"

Sakari looked up in surprise – she was having lunch by herself, since the rest of her little family had lunch either at work or at school. "Oh, hello Sho! Of course," she smiled. "What are you doing here? Don't you know Sakka isn't at home yet?"

Sho had graduated months before, just before his nineteenth birthday. Thanks to his will power, he'd managed to catch up with his lost school years and made it to his exams before his class actually should. He'd graduated on his own, alone as an exception, and he was probably the proudest graduated student ever. He had every right to be that, growing up without a father and with such a weak health. He'd grown up to be a fine young man, and he was luckily still the best of friends with Sakka.

It had been Rong who'd chased him that day, four years ago already, and he'd told her what Sho had told him.

He'd been scared: Sakka hadn't been able to firebend because she was a waterbender. Sho himself couldn't bend fire, either, and the last thing he wanted was turning out to be a waterbender himself. Not that he hated waterbenders, but because he wouldn't be accepted anymore. He'd later on understood it had been a silly thought, but he'd been too surprised back then to realize that. He'd quickly returned to lift Sakka in his arms and apologize to her. He'd never let out her secret.

"I know, but I wanted to ask you something," Sho now said, awakening Sakari from her thoughts. "It is still about Sakka, though." To Sakari's surprise, his cheeks became redder by the second as he added: "you're really close to her, right? And-and she trusts you, doesn't she?"

The answer to that was both yes and no. Something had broken that day, when Rong had come to Sakka's rescue. She couldn't express it in words, but the intense bond of trust there had been between Sakari and Sakka had faded away. Not entirely, but most certainly for an important part. She felt as if the girl was slipping from her, especially now that she was growing up and living her own life more and more every day. Sixteen… Her baby girls had already turned sixteen. "Why are you asking, Sho?" she thus avoided her answer.

Sho now bent his head and raised his hand. "I want your permission to give her this," he now muttered, pressing something in her hand.

She opened her hand almost immediately and looked at it, and she gasped from surprise. There was a deep red choker in her hand, bearing a red stone. It bore carves in it: carves that were shaped like a fire lily, Sakka's favourite flower that only bloomed a few weeks a year. She'd been beyond herself of joy when she'd received a bouquet of them from her parents, and ever since, she'd adored the flowers. The carves were made in amateurship, but it was visible that a lot of time and effort was spent into making them. "Sho… this is…"

"I-I love your daughter," the boy, a young man now, eventually confessed. He still didn't dare to look into her eyes. "And I want to marry her, with whole my heart."

Sakka, for once, couldn't concentrate on her homework as she gazed through the window. She knew it was irresponsible: she now had time to make her work in class, but she just couldn't focus on the history of the Fire Nation. The history that was probably made up from a lot of lies, anyway, if she had to believe her parents about what had really happened in the Northern Water Tribe.

She couldn't focus – not like this, not now that she was extremely confused and above all, in love.

She'd always looked forward to the day she'd fall in love, as the romantic that she was. She'd always loved to listen to her mother's stories of the romances in the Northern Water Tribe: between her and Rong, between her friends… But when Sakka herself had fallen in love eventually, she wished over and over again she'd never lost her heart. But she couldn't just walk up to him and ask him to return it. Especially not since she knew he returned her feelings. Why was it so complicated? Why couldn't she just give in to her feelings, the feelings she'd longed to have for so long? Oh, she knew perfectly well why. It was her own 'fault' for wanting to be accepted. She didn't want to be with him, simply because he wasn't a firebender either. If she'd ever marry him, it'd set them apart from the rest. She already was different, he was, too… It just couldn't happen. No, she needed to forget about it, she needed to suppress those feelings.

Only she couldn't, and it took her mind away, to him… "Sho…" she quietly sighed. What had he said again, this morning when she'd run into him on her way to school? Oh, right.

He'd fiercely blushed and had hardly dared to look into her eyes as he spoke up. "Sakka, I… I don't know when it started, but… I… I'm in love with you…"

She hadn't known how to respond. She'd just stood there, petrified, glaring at him, until the school bell rang just behind them. Sho had shrugged and told her she had to run if she wanted to be in time for class.

Her body made it in time, but her mind was still with him, with Sho.

Sho, who'd been like her brother for so long that it almost felt incestuous when she noticed she was falling in love with him. Like him, she couldn't say when exactly it had started: it was at one point that she started to notice the racing of her own heart whenever he looked at her.

She had no idea how to feel about it all. Her mother had told her she herself had fallen in love just before turning sixteen, and it had been with Rong. So Sakka felt that if she herself fell in love at that age, it had to be somewhat magical. It was because of this special connection she had with her mother. And there was more that mother and daughter had in common – they'd both fallen in an impossible love. Sakari shouldn't have fallen in love with a firebender, while Sakka shouldn't have fallen in love with someone who couldn't firebend. Sakari'd risked something bigger, though: she'd been banished from her place of birth, while the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sakka was that people might resent her. But she already was an outside, and she didn't want to become an even bigger one. Even though there was no reason to, she feared that she was following the same fate as her mother: that she, too, would be banished one way or another.

It was a pathetic way to think about it like that, and she knew it. But it was something else as well. She felt she wouldn't be good enough for Sho. Not for one who'd been the first one to accept her, who helped her to be accepted as much as possible. If she would ever end up… marrying him… she wouldn't be the wife he deserved. She'd noticed that when she'd tried to take care of him during his major health issues years ago. All she could do was talking to him and holding his hands, and she hated it that that had been everything. He needed so much more than what she could give him…

As she left school with Xia, her sister took her apart all of a sudden. "Hey, how do you think about Sho?"

She tried to suppress her blush as she looked up. "W-what? Do you want to date him next?"

It wasn't exactly a secret that Xia had dated quite some guys, and actually, almost all guys from their class already. "No, but I saw him with a necklace quite similar to mum's when he walked away this morning. Thought you might like to know about that."

She thought her heart would stop. Necklace… One like the betrothal necklace her father had given Sakari… "Yeah, right," she hurried to say. "As if…"

"You're completely blind, but that doesn't matter," Xia grinned, "someone will open your eyes soon enough, hm?"

Her heart throbbed loudly now, that loudly that she feared Xia was able to hear it. What was this all about? He'd only confessed his feelings to her this morning! Xia probably hadn't seen it well; Sho had been on quite a distance from her, since he'd taken Sakka apart and Xia had continued walking to school. Yes, that ought to be it.

Coming to think of something, maybe she shouldn't worry so much about others and think about her own fate. Why would she be selfish? Why would she choose for love if she couldn't be sure she could make him happy, if she could also choose to make someone else a good life? Then again, if Xia had seen it well… No, she had to be rational. Love wasn't everything, a marriage could work just as well with someone else. But still, she wanted to know what it'd be like to be with him, to taste his kiss… No! Rational, rational! She had to cut the knot right here, right now, before she'd go crazy. "Hey, Xia? Is that Lee from our class…"

"There are five guys in our class with that name, sis. Specify."

"The one you dated for a week…"

"Specify, I said," Xia merely grinned. People made fun of her regular switching in the boys she dated, but so did she herself. "Come on, Sakka! I've dated every guy in our class except for Sho, I saved him for you. Now, which Lee?"

"Lee with the muscles."

"Lee whose smallest toe is bigger than his brains," Xia now 'recalled' him. "What about him?"

"Is he… seeing anyone at the moment?"

Xia simply chuckled to that. "In his dreams – always. In real life, I probably was his first and only girlfriend. What about it?"

"Oh, nothing. Thanks…" His 'smallest toe bigger than his brains', muscular. In short, nothing like Sho at all.

She wondered if he might be a good match.

She was stunned, completely taken by surprise. Of course, she'd noticed Sho gave Sakka a more than average amount of attention, but this… "You mean… marry as in…"

Sho carefully nodded. "I want her in my life," he now muttered. "Now and forever."

"You should ask her, not me," Sakari now replied. It was her first, most logical response. "I'm not going to decide for her. I was really happy my marriage wasn't arranged by my parents, so I don't want to arrange my own children's marriages either."

Sho blushed now and avoided her look. "I know, but… if you disagree…"

She couldn't help herself but smile. "Sho, honestly – I offered you to live here years ago! You really think I'd disagree if you joined the family by marrying Sakka?"

"B-but I… I only just told her this morning how I feel about her," Sho now uttered. He was extremely nervous, that was for sure. "I… I'm not planning on asking her as soon as she gets home, I want to wait… I-I just wanted to know how you and your husband think about it…"

"Well, now you know," Sakari smiled, endeared by his shyness. "You could visit Rong in his store, but I'm pretty sure he'll say the same things I just told you. Really, Sho – there's a bigger chance Sakka won't accept than that we, her parents, won't." She now gave the necklace a closer look. It was, once again, obvious that it had been carved by someone totally unfamiliar with the technique, and she wondered if he even had had any help at all making it. "Sho, how did you know…"

"Oh, I looked it up," Sho now quickly said, a whole lot less shyer now that the 'big question' had been asked and answered. "I've known about Sakka's waterbending capacities for quite a while now, so when I thought of it, I went to the library… I hope the scrolls were right about this."

"Definitely," Sakari smiled. She carefully unwrapped her own pendant and showed it, for the first time in fourteen years to someone else besides her own family. It was still shimmering in the sun light: she had never shown it, but she had polished the stone twice a month ever since she'd gotten it. She still treasured it. "My husband made me this," she now explained to Sho. "The stone is blue, so I covered it up. It's very clever of you to use a red one."

She got a warm feeling as she touched the stone, finally bare. It was as if those old times were back to her all of a sudden, the days of puppy love between her and Rong. Nowadays, they were more like parents than husband and wife. They'd grown up, but actually too quickly. She still missed the time she could have spent with Rong, and only Rong…

"It's beautiful," Sho remarked, bringing her back to the here and now. "You shouldn't be hiding it."

"Well, it's too obviously Water Tribe," she smiled, still a bit dreamily, caressing the carving. "Rong went back to the South Pole for me, you know. He'd turned his back on the Fire Nation… They'd stamp it as a betrayal."

Sho nodded in understanding and shook her hand all of sudden. "Thank you," he spoke. "I hope you won't mind if I'm going to visit your husband nonetheless."

"Not at all," Sakari smiled. "Now, off you go!"

As she watched him going, she thought of how much she'd like to have Sho as her son-in-law. He reminded her of Rong in his young years. Sakka and she obviously shared quite some things in common, including their taste in men. Though that couldn't explain why Sakka still didn't open up towards her father, even though it was thanks to Rong that Sakka and Sho had been reunited. Sakka had never even thanked him for it, at least not to Sakari's notice.

"Hello, Lee," Sakka nervously smiled as she approached the guy.

He was just showing off to some girls, who were admiring his muscles. He was genuinely surprised that the silent Sakka was now talking to him. "Hey – Sakka, isn't it?" She nodded and stretched out her hand to him, and he shook it. "You're in my class, right?"

"I have been for the last ten years or so, yes," Sakka smiled, though she had to hold herself back not to sigh. Was she that invisible? Sho always gave her the feeling that she was anything but invisible.

"So, why are you talking to me now?"

"I could be your wife," she almost literally spitted out. That sure had some effects. Lee forgot too show off for a minute, the girls around him were completely stunned, Sakka could do nothing but blush and Xia grabbed her shoulders from behind.

"Okay, you're officially nuts!"

"No, wait a second," Lee said, in a pondering way. "Sakka – I could choose any of the girls around me who admire me. Why should I choose you, a girl who's never paid much attention to me before?"

He seemed rather amused by the idea, but Sakka was serious now. "I'm a good cook," she started. "I could take care of you when you get sick – I took care of Sho for two years. And, without bragging, I'm pretty smart, but I don't like to call attention upon myself. I could help you with a lot of things."

Lee now looked at Xia, who simply spread her fingers. "Hey, don't look at me! I could only wish I could deny one of those characteristics, but unfortunately, it's all true."

Lee now grinned and looked back at Sakka. "And on top of that – do you like me?"

She swallowed. She'd expected this question, but she'd wished she could have avoided it. "I admire you," she eventually managed to say.

"Perfect," Lee said, while his grin got even broader. "I'll consider it."

"Thank you," she said, as a lump suddenly blocked her throat. "I… I need to go now. Bye…" And he dashed off, just in time to hide her tears from Lee.

What, what in the world was she doing? Besides betraying her heart, Sho and her roots?! Oh, she knew very well what she was doing. Besides of making a fool of herself in front of everyone and erasing her invisibility with it.

She wanted recognition. Someone who was easy to understand, someone she could come in handy to, and above all – someone who would ensure she'd be accepted once and forever. Lee was a great firebender, he was admired for his skills. Behind him, no-one would notice Sakka wasn't able to firebend because Lee'd draw all the attention to him. Sho, on the opposite, wasn't a firebender either. It'd draw attention to them, shut them out of the middle because they were too different. She had no idea why she cared so much, but in all honesty, she knew she wouldn't be able to bear it. Apparently, she hadn't been noticed up until now, but that 'd most certainly change if she got together with 'poor little Sho'.

"Sis, you're insane," Xia sighed at her left side. "Just look at you, crying depressed little creature that you are! You don't love him, so don't ask him to marry you!"

"Almost all marriages are arranged, so it doesn't matter," she muttered, more to herself than to Xia.

"Yeah, and you know very well how much mum and dad resent that idea," her sister groaned. "Some stupid stubborn sister you are! You prefer an unhappy life next to Lee while someone like Sho is clearly head over heels in love with you?! If you just want to choose some random guy, just pick him already, not such a moron like Lee!"

"SHUT UP!" Sakka shouted that a whole lot louder than that she'd meant to, and Xia gave her a furious look before she turned her back to her sister.

"Fine! Go ruin that stupid life of yours, I'll stay out of it! See you at dinner!"

"Xia, wait!" Too late: Xia couldn't hear her anymore. Her sister was impulsive and fierce, but she loved her dearly and hated arguments like this one.

She was really messing up everything there was to mess up today, now wasn't she?

"Take that!" The tree stump tumbled over after Xia's fierce attack. She always let off steam on trees like that whenever she was upset, to avoid taking it out on people instead. That stupid Sakka! She, Xia, could only wish she herself would ever find someone like Sho was to Sakka. She knew she'd never have someone like him, which was even more frustrating. She'd dated a lot of guys, that was true. That is, if you could call 'hang out with them, talking to them and stop doing that after getting to know their real character' dating. Truth was, she'd never even been kissed in her life, no matter how much crap those guys might tell. She had quite a reputation at the early age of sixteen, that was for sure.

"What has that tree done to you?" a voice behind her smiled.

She looked up in surprise, and almost cheered when she saw who had said those words. "Jian!" Of course, she knew him very well. He was her father's best friend, after all. He'd often come by at their place. In fact, he'd even taught Xia some firebending, as far as possible with his one arm of course.

"You've become quite a strong firebender, Xia. If they'd hire women of your age, you'd be great in the army and climb to the top in no time."

She couldn't help but feeling flattered. "Thank you, but I haven't heard much good things about joining the army." She didn't need to specify what she meant: Jian looked down and felt visibly uncomfortable.

It had been quite some years since his wife had passed away, but he still felt guilty about it. Xia couldn't understand why. Jian often said she'd gone crazy because of him, but she couldn't believe it. Not that she'd ever actually met his wife – she just couldn't imagine someone going mad just like that. Maybe her own personality was too strong to ever understand a weaker spirited woman, just like how she couldn't understand Sakka right now.

Jian had never really mentioned how his wife had died, but she'd once overheard a conversation with her father in which 'setting herself into fire' was mentioned. She'd had nightmares about being burnt alive ever since, very much to her own surprise. It was for the first time in her entire life she was actually afraid of something. "Sorry about that, that was a thoughtless comment," she now said.

"It's okay," Jian weakly smiled. "Hey, don't you want to come with me? We're close to our… my place."

She shyly nodded and allowed him to grab her hand with a smile. He was nice to her, almost like her father. The last one had only little time for her now, ever since his store had become quite a big business and ever since he'd decided to spend more time with Sakka. She felt slightly abandoned – not really, but still… just a bit.

Softly, Jian now pinched her hand as he dragged her along with him. "So, who is it whom you're so angry with? For some reason, I can't believe a tree could hurt you so much."

She weakly smiled. "It's that stupid sister of mine," she confessed. "Oh, for Agni's sake! She has the love of the one she loves, but she's too stubborn to accept it! He wants to marry her and she runs off with some stupid other guy she's never even paid attention to! I was surprised she even knew his name, she probably just guessed it right by accident!"

They'd now reached Jian's house, and he quickly dragged her in. "You worry that much about your sister or is there more that's bothering you?"

"I'm just plain jealous," she now sniffed. What was the matter with her all of a sudden? She wasn't even this open towards her own father! But it was something about Jian that soothed her and made her feel so at ease that she felt she could tell him anything. "I know people see me as… Well, a flirt is probably too nice a word for it. But I'm just looking for the one I can love, even though I already know he doesn't exist… And Sakka could get married right away to her true love, and she just doesn't, that spoilt fool! It's so… unfair…"

She only noticed she was crying when Jian stroked away her tears. "Xia… Dear Xia…"

She threw herself into his arms without a second thought and cried, cried until she'd run out of tears and continued crying without them.

And all along, Jian held her and was silent, as if he felt she wouldn't be able to bear soothing words right now.

She was still sobbing when she had almost reached her home. She was suffering, really suffering, and worst of all – it was completely self-inflicted. All she had to do was telling Lee she'd changed her mind and confess her true feelings to Sho. She probably didn't even have to, if Xia turned out to be right about the necklace. If he'd ask her to marry him, all she'd have to do was saying 'yes', it was as simple as that. Then why was she so stubborn, so stupidly crazy? If only she knew the answer to that…

"Sakka!" She looked up in surprise, saw, in shock how Sho ran towards her. "I was hoping I'd run into you," he smiled, though he visibly seemed nervous. "I just got back from your father's shop. Oh, Sakka, I… I…" He took her hands now and looked into her eyes. "I love you so," he now confessed, with the most tender expression on his face that dazzled her. "It's such a relief I can say it out loud now, even though I don't know your answer yet."

She blushed, she deeply blushed. Oh, how much she'd longed to hear those words! But now he'd spoken them, and now, she wished with whole her being that he had not. "A-answer to what, Sho?" she whispered.

"T-to this," he muttered. She didn't understand him – until he seized her face and impressed his lips on hers.

Intuitively, she closed her eyes and returned the kiss. For one moment, she forgot all of her worries and simply wanted to be with him, to melt into him – to be him. She hardly even noticed they were kissing – she allowed him to hold her and pressed herself against him. For a short moment, she felt complete, one being with him. As if nothing could ever part them: as if they were two separated pieces of the same and now melted back together again, here and now.

"Sakka…"

His whisper parted them, his loosened grip broke their being. Her soul returned from wherever it was back to earth, and she could only glance at him.

"Was that even a kiss?" he now muttered, almost drunk-like. Had he felt the same connection? Probably, judging by his face – yes. What did it mean, that they were made for each other? Oh, how she'd love to believe that! This hadn't been just a first kiss between two people in a puppy love, this was far beyond that.

"Sho, I can't," she now whispered, even though it was much against her own will to say it. "I'm sorry… I… you must leave me alone, Sho, please…"

"No," he refused, suddenly a whole lot more confidently. "I'm now sure I've done the right thing by asking your parents for your hand. Marry me, Sakka of the Northern Water Tribe."

She was shocked by his way of addressing her like that, almost as shocked as she was by the actual proposal. She'd been aware of the possibility of the last thing, after all. Just say yes, her heart screamed. Say yes to my deepest desire, accept him! Make the both of you happy, that's all that matters!

But her brain was more powerful, telling her to deny. She was playing with the hearts of two men now – if she accepted Sho, she'd probably be engaged to the both of them simultaneously. If she said 'yes', she'd hurt the both of them… "I'm sorry," she eventually whispered. "I just can't… You see, I just asked Lee to try seeing me as his wife, and he'd consider me…"

"Consider?!" Sho shouted – she hadn't seen him angrier than this before, and that while he didn't even seem really angry with her. Just disappointed, which made it even worse. "Sakka, I am begging you! I'd do everything for you and you know it!"

"I can't," she whispered, swallowing her tears away. "Sho, I'm so, so sorry, but…"

"Which Lee?"

"Excuse me?" His question was so random that it completely confused her.

"Which Lee?" he repeated, gritting now. "I know five of them."

"Lee from our class," she muttered. "With the… eh… muscles."

"A firebender," he remarked. That was rather superfluous to remark: except for Sakka, the entire class besides Sho could firebend. That meant all five Lees were firebenders, so it didn't make a difference whom of them was meant here. "I see. So that's it – you want a firebender… Goodbye, Sakka." And he left, without giving her an opportunity to say anything.

What was it, where was he going? And what was going to become of them as friends after this? She didn't want to lose him – not again, not for real this time.

He came home late that night, completely confused after a long day at work. He wasn't really confused by his work itself – just by the customers he'd had today.

When he got home, it was rather quiet. Sakari was in the kitchen, doing the dishes – only one plate from dinner, he spotted. "I miss something," he muttered in her ear, as he softly embraced her. He had approached her from behind, and thus, she only noticed him after that embrace.

"Ah!" she yelled, looking up startled. "Oh, you scared me," she smiled, playfully splashing some water on him. That was one of the very few times she used her bending skills, for something as childish as splashing someone with water. "How was your day?"

"Confusing," he sighed again, this time out loud. "Where are the twins?"

"I haven't seen Xia," she confessed. "I think she's at Jian's again. I was going to check on her there after the dishes. And Sakka… well, I guess she ran into a certain someone," she chuckled with a wink.

Rong now let go of her and looked into her eyes, that were once again twinkling with joy. "Yes, she's quite popular," he sighed. It had been Sakka who'd confused him so much today, or rather… the men that had come for her.

Earlier that day, Sho had paid him a visit and had asked, shyly but sincerely, for Sakka's hand. He'd been expecting him for that, and thus, he'd already known what to say.

'I'd be glad to accept you as my son-in-law, Sho. But it's Sakka herself who will make the final decision. Sakari and I decided a long time ago that we didn't want our children to be engaged into an arranged marriage. We chose for one another, so we wanted our children to be able to choose their own partners as well."

Sho had nodded and told him he'd mostly just wanted to know if Rong and Sakari would be happy to accept him. And Rong respected him and admired him for that. He was thoughtful: he didn't just follow his heart, he also thought of what effects that would have on the lives of people inflicted by that. He was a sensitive guy – Sakka was also sensitive, but she could be over-sensitive. Sho would be able to understand her, but he'd also be able to help her whenever she was dragged along into her feelings.

But just when Rong had thought he could lean back happily now that this matter was settled, another guy showed up and introduced himself as 'Lee from his daughters' class'. He'd wisely shut his mouth about the fact he still hadn't known who he was now.

"And why are you here, Lee?"

"Sakka thought she could make me a good wife, so I'm here to ask about that."

He'd been extremely surprised by the way he said that, and 'surprised' was just a huge understatement. "Eh…"

"She said she was a good cook and well, I'm a good fighter and I'll probably join the army soon," Lee had now said, not without some pride in his voice. "So I thought I should consider a marriage. Well, do you approve?"

"Popular?" Sakari now interrupted his thoughts. "I wouldn't call it like that. Sho adores her, that much is true, but we already knew that. What are you talking about – or should I say, who are you talking about?"

"Some guy named Lee came by at the store today, not long after Sho," Rong now told her. He grabbed her hands in advance, in case he'd surprise her too much. "And he asked the exact same question, only in a bit more… practical way."

She blinked with her eyes, completely astounded. "W-what? I've never even heard her talking about someone named Lee, it's always been Sho! What did you tell him?"

"That I wanted to think about it for a while," he sighed, truthfully. "That's all I could think of at that moment. He said Sakka'd come to him, but…"

At that moment, the door flung open and Sakka stormed in. In her hurry to get to her room, Rong noticed as yet the tears in her eyes.

"Either she heard us, or something else is going on," Sakari softly said.

He noticed how eager she was to go after her, and even though he wanted to go himself, he bent to his wife and kissed her forehead. "You go check on her," he whispered against her lips, just before he kissed those too. "You two are both girls, it's probably easier for her to talk to you than to me."

"Thank you," she weakly smiled, stroking his face before getting up.

He watched how she went upstairs, and noticed how he admired her, still. Her adulthood, her motherhood only seemed to have made her more beautiful than she already was. She'd become calmer, more serene, and she'd learned to treasure her memories of her life on the North Pole instead of yearning back for something she couldn't get anyway.

He loved her so – it sometimes even hurt him to think of her and his feelings for her. He wished the same for his daughters, too – to marry someone they would feel such powerful love for.

And at that moment, Xia stumbled in, a whole lot merrier than her sister not so long ago. "Dad, dad!" she shouted, embracing him and surprising him once again that day.

"Good afternoon?"

"Yes, it sure is," she shone. "Dad, I really need your permission for something, please!"

"What is it?" he inquired, as he held her hands. He couldn't help but smile when he looked at her merry face.

She quickly kissed his cheek and embraced him. "Daddy, please – will you allow me to live with Jian?"

Author's Notes: First of all, a very happy, healthy and creative 2008 to all of you!

Well, I decided not to do a chapter in between the age of 12 and 16 for twins after all. Instead, this chapter is a page and a half longer than the usual pages (they're normally around 4½ pages in word, this one was exactly 6 pages). This is quite a busy chapter, I realize that. I will work some things out in chapter 13 of course - Xia suddenly asking to live with Jian isn't just an ordinary thing, right? There's an explanation, and there is a lot more to come. I'm really looking forward to type more of this story!

I hope I haven't disappointed you with this chapter. I could have written the promised in between chapter, but I decided not to because I wanted to avoid a writer's block. I think I wouldn't have known what to write, while I had more than enough for this chapter. I think it's better I wrote a chapter I enjoyed writing than a chapter that I'd have to force myself to write, isn't it?

The next chapter will be the final interlude of Pon-pon and actually about the entire North Pole and how they deal with things. It might not have anything to do with the main story at first glance, but it's supposed to be a parallel. Pon-pon needs to let go of things, Yukon, Kaya, Sedna, Balto... everyone. And so do Rong and Sakari.

I hope you still like 'Between Two Fires', and please stay tuned! The interlude is already in process, so it can't be too long.