Gyatso and Kara: Prodigies of an Avatar

Chapter 36- Looking Through You

Gyatso walked mind boggled back to his room. What was that about? What just happened, he thought shaking his head. His head was spinning so fast that he felt sick.

When he finally got back to his side of the base and into his room, Iroh, Li, and Roku were sitting on their beds laughing about how they Roku had smuggled half of the food from the party into their room. They were mellow and casual, so Gyatso's thoughtful aura stuck out like a sore thumb. All three boys turned to him with concerned looks on their faces in silence.

"What is it?" Gyatso asked trying to act like nothing was on his mind. Iroh saw through his façade, but tried to be subtle about how he confronted him.

"Why are you red?" Roku asked back before his brother could try to get the truth out of their friend in a way that didn't blow up his spot.

Gyatso's hand slowly felt his left cheek, purposely avoiding the right one that Topaz kissed moments early. He looked down nervously and shrugged, about to lie.

"I didn't know that I was-I just fell up the stairs is all."

Iroh didn't buy it.

"How do you fall up the stairs?" Roku questioned more, detecting the lie as well. For someone as young as himself, he was brave to question people that could easily hurt him without thinking twice.

"It's possible," Li chimed in, eating one of the candies that he snuck upstairs. "If you're running up the stairs you can trip and fall up."

Thank God for the new guy, though Gyatso collapsing on his bed, trying to calm himself. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he realized that he had been sweating earlier. His hair had a "just dried" texture to it and he could smell himself, unfortunately.

"I'm going to bed." Roku yawned dropping to his bed and throwing the pillow over his head, showing that he was not to be messed with.

Soon after, Li decided to go to bed as well, and Iroh and Gyatso pretended to fall asleep. However, after blowing out all of candles, both Iroh and Gyatso were very awake.

"You awake, man?" Iroh whispered creeping out of his bed. He tip toed to Gyatso's bed slowly and stood over him until he responded.

"No." Gyatso grumbled turning around in his bed.

"I'm sitting down whether you like it or not." Iroh said defiantly, seeing right through his friend's lie. He sat in the bed with great effort right next to Gyatso's feet.

"No!" Gyatso whispered, trying to push Iroh off of the bed.

"Stop it. You know that even if you do knock me over, I'll just get back up and annoy you again."

"Of course," Gyatso mumbled, turning around, and then sitting up in the bed. His hair was a horrible mess. It looked like a dirty stray cat was sleeping on him after an intense fight.

"Of course, what?"

"Of course you would say something like that. You and Topaz are two of a kind." Gyatso sighed. "Of course you aren't as h-. . . never mind. . . what do you want?"

Iroh sat up straight and crossed his arms, looking down at Gyatso. "I want to know the real reason why you were red, and why you and Topaz disappeared almost as soon as she arrived at the ball."

If not for the dark, Iroh would see the Gyatso's face turn strawberry red merely at the mention of Topaz. The blushing boy went on to explain what had happened when he came upstairs. By the end of his confession of sorts, Iroh had lit a candle to see his face and had a mischievous smile on his face.

"Gyatso, I don't see what's the problem. You've been kissed on the cheek before, why would Topaz doing what, I don't know, fifteen other girls have done affect you?"

"It's weird. Those girls are just girls, but Topaz. . ."

"Do you like Topaz, Gyatso? I mean, like her like her?" Iroh boldly asked as his smile faded. Things tended to get dramatic when two friends went out. They either fell completely fell in love with each other, showing public displays of affection at nauseam, or the relationship crashed and burned horribly, forcing everybody caught in the middle to pick sides.

"No, it's not that." I think. . . "I just-I'm just . . . confused, that's all." Gyatso said more to himself than to Iroh.

"Okay," Iroh sighed massaging the small hairs that were growing on his chin. He had just shaved the stubble that had grown on his face the week before.

"You know what, um, I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow?" Iroh yawned, standing up from his seat.

"Yep, night, man." Gyatso said, turning around on his bed to go to sleep. He wasn't tired, but forced himself to sleep, thinking that it would get his mind off of the night's previous events.

He woke up the next morning with a start. Not even washing his face, he ran to the girl's side and panged on the door to their room frantically, still half asleep. Of course Topaz opens the door to the crazed looking Gyatso. Instantly, he pulled her close in a tight hug that took her breath away.

"G-G-Gyatso!" Topaz wheezed, putting her arms around him and patting his back softly (she would've hit him had she been able to breathe).

"Gyatso, get off!" Rika growled pushing her friend off of her enemy. She had had enough and her jealousy exploded. "Why don't you just come clean and tell everybody that you two are going out already?!"

"What?" Topaz almost screamed, crossing her arms and taking a few steps back to increase the space in between her and Gyatso. She pushed her hair, which was uncharacteristically down again, back trying to get the warm feeling that had come over her neck after Rika's outburst.

"Topaz and I aren't going out." Gyatso added. His cheeks were red again, as he guessed, and he was fully awake.

Rika wasn't convinced. "Whatever." Gyatso has barely talked to me since he reunited with his past, anyway. She thought bitterly.

"Gyatso," Topaz sighed once Rika had walked back into the room. "Why did you do that?"

She leaned against the door, her arms still crossed, with a confused look on her face. Her rosy lips were slightly pursed, as if she were about to kiss someone, but her eyes were serious as she looked at the boy before her.

"I. . . You- . . . I kind of had a nightmare with you in it." Gyatso explained sheepishly.

"What happened in the dream?" Topaz asked, stepping outside of the door and closing it softly.

"Something happened to you."

"Why do you have to be so vague about everything?" She said with a hint of amusement. Her left eyebrow rose as she forced a questioning look to show on her face. The happiness left, though, because she could see the serious look on his face.

"C'mon! Tell me!" She giggled, trying to cheer him up by playfully pushing him. He looked like he was about to barf as her hand touched his shoulder for only a half-second.

"What? Did I get really fat or something?"

Gyatso looked down guiltily. He had no idea what to say, but settled with what she said.

"Yes, something like that. You got fat and nobody liked you. Everybody talked about you- the girl who got fat, and I was the only person who still talked to you, though I didn't want to. It's just that you looked so, so sad. I couldn't take it. All you wanted was a hug."

"That's weird. . . I hate hugs; they make me feel dirty-literally." Topaz said breaking the awkwardness with a stupid comment.

"Yeah, the dream was weird. I wanted to give you what you wanted, though, because nobody else did. A hug won't kill you."

"True that." Topaz said with a small laugh. The awkwardness came back between them-if the feeling in between them was awkwardness at all.

"Topaz, do you want to train with Iroh and me today?" Gyatso asked, trying to break the tension.

"Well, I can't train with you, but I'll watch-oh, as long as everybody else gets to come too."

"Okay," Gyatso said giving a sigh of relief. "See you in and hour?"

"See you in an hour."

Yipee, another inference chapter. I HATE inference chapters, but I needed to get it done. Sorry.

God Bless,

Leelee488512

P.S.- Trust me, Gyatso and Topaz are NOT getting together (at least in this book).