Unexpected Guests

As they were standing there in front of the mirror, she knew she'd done the right thing. They were both wearing typical airbender clothes; orange, red and yellow. They had both the same haircut; bald. And they both had blue arrows stretching out over their bodies. They could be brother and sister. The only thing that made Kiri look different was her red scar on her right leg and of course, her womanly curves. And the color of her arrows was deeper, a more unnatural blue than Aang's, and a red line following along it. It had been two days since she'd gotten her tattoos but her skin hadn't healed yet. But she was joyed. Aang sent her a smile as he studied her. "Are you satisfied with the outcome?" She nodded. She almost couldn't comprehend that it was her own reflection she was looking at in the mirror. Her body beamed with pride. "Wait here, I got you a little something…" With the blink of an eye, he'd thrown himself out of the window. She shook her head, smiling. What have you done now, Avatar? She stepped closer to the mirror to look more closely at her tattoos. They were beautiful. Never in her life had she thought of herself as someone who could wear them; and with pride even. The corners of her mouth were as glued to her eyes; her happiness showed in every movement she made. It was like everything she did, every muscle she flexed, looked so different from what she'd been used to. This was the reflection of a true master of airbending. Her heart raced joyfully. A gush of air and two warm hands over her eyes made her chuckle. "Aang, what are you doing?" He didn't answer her, but started leading her towards the window. He put something in her hand. "I love you so very much." She opened to see Aang's staff placed in her hand. What is this? She looked at him in confusion. He was too holding his staff, a crooked smile on his lips, wait – what? She finally realized it wasn't his staff she was holding. "Are you kidding me?!" She burst with joy as she let the sails of the glider slide out. It was so alike his. He kissed her hard and jumped out the window. "Catch me if you can!"

Finally, she was able to keep up with him. Controlling the glider was harder than it looked. Of course, Aang had done it since he was a little kid, and this was Kiri's first time trying it alone. But the sensation was thrilling. You could go so fast. She was breaking through the clouds with such a speed; she thought she wouldn't be able to stop. Her clothes immediately went soaked but she didn't care. All that filled her mind was the air blowing around her and the warm laughs of her boyfriend. Everything felt good at that exact moment. She had everything she could every dream of. People that loved her, Aang, the tattoos of the master and a safe home. She let out a loud cheer as she raced towards the earth. She was getting a hold of this.

"Hey Aang? Can you get that pan up there for me, top shelf?" Kiri turned around with wide eyes as she felt Katara's finger poking her. "OH, SPIRITS!" Kiri couldn't help but laugh. "I'm so sorry Kiri, I really thought… Oh I'm so foolish!" Toph now came into the kitchen with a big barrel of newly fetched water. "Someone else mistake you for being Twinkles too?" "Yup," she nodded with a huge grin on her face. It didn't annoy her one bit; she only thought it crazy that they could think she was Aang. Yes, they wore alike clothes, and yes they both had the arrow tattoos but come on?! Aang was at least one head taller than Kiri and his shoulders much broader than hers. But was it funny. "We do look alike, don't we?" Aang joined them in the kitchen now and put a hand around Kiri's waist.

They all sat around the table when someone knocked at the door. They all sent each other curious eyes. Who was visiting at this time? Siku slowly got up and darted for the hallway. Kiri watched Aang as he lifted his shoulders and continued with his plate of food. But Kiri couldn't help but try to hear who Siku was greeting. It was very unusual for them to have unexpected guests at the temple; it was far enough from the shore of Republic City to keep people from `just stopping by´. She could hear a male voice speaking and Siku letting him in. All eyes were on the door leading to the hall as the guests approached them. "Hmph" Toph mumbled as she smiled at Katara, "Sparkles here." Kiri's eyes shot open as the Firelord entered their kitchen with a crooked smile on his face. "Zuko!" Katara yelled out in surprise and ran up to meet him in a long hard hug. They all got up to greet their friend. "Hey man, sorry for the situation I put you in," Zuko said as he and Aang hugged each other. "No worries, no worries." As he laid his eyes on Kiri, they shot open in surprise. Oh no, she thought to herself as his lips curled up in a teasing smile. "Grats," he smiled at her while coming closer for a hug. What? No teasing? No silly names? She felt her cheeks blush. That was very unlike Zuko.

They'd spent the night enjoying that they all finally were gathered again. Katara and Zuko were acting like they were stuck to each other, following each other around the whole night. Kiri could understand them, though. She'd felt the same need to be around Aang when she'd arrived at the Firenation a couple of months ago. They all went to bed late that night but Kiri couldn't sleep. She'd laid in her bed for ages it seemed, until she finally decided to get some water in the kitchen. She dragged her feet down the stairs as her eyes studied her newly tattooed arms. Her mind began to daydream about the airtemples back in the days. Aang had told her how peaceful and life-giving his childhood had been. She pictured him racing around on his air-scooter with his bald head and blue arrows. The idea made her chuckle. "I don't know, I'm just really nervous…" Her heart seemed to skip a beat as she heard their voices. Zuko and Aang were still sitting in the kitchen. Didn't Zuko and Katara go to bed before us? She heard Zuko laugh and something light being laid on the table. "Aang, as your best friend, I'm telling you for the last time; she's going to say yes, I just know it!" Kiri's lungs seemed to fail her now. She heard Aang sigh out heavily as she found herself having to sit down on the floor. It seemed like her body was beginning to shut down; only her ears capable of working. She wanted to scream out; to let them know that she could hear them. Her throat had tightened so not even a little yelp could escape her lips. "Well. I guess we'll see about that tomorrow, right?" Aang's voice had a strange tone to it and it didn't sound like him. She could hear chairs being pulled out and footsteps coming her way. Inside, her body was starting to panic. Move, Kiri, move! Nothing happened. It was like every nerve and muscle inside of her had cut its connection to her brain. The Avatar and the Firelord rounded the corner. Breathe… She saw the horror on Aang's face before she blacked out.

DRAMA! What's going to happen next? Please review for the sake of Kiri and Aang's love ;-)