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Ember Island beach house, July 20, 167AG, 5am
(16 years old)
It may have only been 3 hours of sleep, but Sikenna still felt energized with the morning sun. She stretched as the sun shone in on her through the windows, the little shapes from the corner decorations on the windows dancing across her skin as If saying "Good morning!" Her skin felt like it was vibrating as she walked over to her wardrobe, a hand running through her long hair, fixing her bangs after she did.
Her hand reached out for a Mango as she walked through the kitchen towards the back garden, her mother's blue, light silk robe with Fringe in the end billowing behind her as she walked to her favorite spot to meditate outside. But, meditation wouldn't bring any comfort to her today. Besides the way it felt as she did her breathing exercises as the sun beamed on her, she couldn't focus long enough to accomplish anything. It was always like this for a day or two after someone breaks into the house next door, though. She wouldn't be able to think about anything else except what happened to her friend for a couple days. Usually, she blew off steam about this with Sumi. They would go to the arcade and flirt with boys until both of their heads were so big, they waltzed back to their homes like they were royalty. That, or she would show up at Nero's house after the lights are out to make out for a few hours. Either way, it was enough to distract herself from that whole moon awful year.
She was out there for an hour before Kona came outside, hair a mess, just a tank top and shorts he wore for working out on. Sikenna opened the eye closest to him before bending down to stretch with a smirk on her lips.
"Good morning sleepy head!" She said overly cheerfully, if only to annoy him. It worked and he scrunched up his face, running a hand through his already messy hair. Sikenna laughed at him as she rose, pulling her leg up and in front of her, balancing on one foot.
"Going to get in some morning training today, you think?" She asked him. Kona rolled his eyes and mimicked her voice in a higher pitch than it was, repeating the question back to her. Annoyed with him already, she came out of position and shifted her weight onto her right hip, resting her hand on it.
"It's because I can kick your ass now, isn't it?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow. Kona scoffed at her loudly.
"Yeah, okay, Kenna. Like that could ever happen." He laughed at her and she rolled her eyes, shooting a small fireball at the pebbles next to his feet, causing him to jump back.
"Get dressed, Moron, we're sparring in 10." Kona rolled his eyes at his sister but turned around inside to change, nonetheless.
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"OW! KENNA!" Kona shouted at her as she kicked some fire at him that he hadn't been able to dodge after the punch combo she sent his way. She was more frustrated today, this wasn't working, this wasn't distracting her enough.
"What?!" She shouted back as she stood, her arms out in defensive mode. No one was down on the private beach by their house, and it was the most perfect place to practice fire bending, unless your sister was a dirty fighter, like Kona's.
"What even was that?! We're sparring, not fighting for our life!" He shouted at her, his brows furrowed in anger at her. Sikenna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, looking at him with her brows raised.
"Don't be such a baby, Kona. You could have easily blocked that." He shot a ball of fire at the ground next to her feet with a grunt, and she casually lifted one foot out of the way so as to not get burnt.
"At least Mako was fair." She heard him mumble, and her face became angry instantly. Steam came out of her nose as she breathed and she kicked some fire at his back, pushing him forward, and he fell to his knees.
"Whatever! I'm going to Sumi's, and maybe Nero's. Don't wait up." She said as she stalked away, ignoring her brother's insults and jabs at her current boyfriend. He didn't like Nero, but Kona didn't like anyone Sikenna dated. He hadn't liked Kuzon or Lee, he thought Lai was annoying and made himself scarce whenever she was around, and he especially didn't like how she acted when Sikenna broke up with her. Nero had been friends with Kona and Sikenna since they were little, which is why she thought it was a good bet, but Nero hasn't been able to hang out with the rest of the group since they started dating, per Kona's orders.
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Later that night
Sikenna pulled her fingers through Nero's dark hair and pulled him in closer, deepening the kiss. He groaned into her mouth and she smirked, liking being able to get this reaction out of people with just her lips. The sounds of the ember island players playing some stupid play was in the background, a bunch of drunks laughed loudly on the pier above them, it was a typical Ember Island summer night. Sikenna took the opportunity of her straddling him in the sand to push her hips against his as they kissed. This had been exactly what she needed as a distraction. They had been there for the better part of two hours, just laying in the sand, talking about how they were going to get off the island one day and see the world.
"Maybe I can find Mako and Bolin then." She had thought to herself, and it made her sad to think of her friend again, so the 16 year old flung her leg over her boyfriend, and they had been making out heavily since. She didn't know if it was because she lost one of her best friends the same year their mother had died, and their father sent them off to Ember island to live with their grandparents and barely see them, but she felt like she had lost so much that year. And there was still some hope that they were alive, that they were okay, and if it was possible that one of those people she thought she lost, she could get back again, then she would keep a hold of that hope. But it was years before she was old enough to leave for the mainland, and it hurt to think about when she had little choice other than to sit here, and wait.
It was Sikenna who pulled away from the kiss finally, breathlessly. She smirked at Nero, who didn't stop staring at her lips hungrily as he gripped her hips, obviously frustrated she pulled away. She laughed and pulled away from him when he dove in for more, laying the tips of her fingers against his lips gently. He pouted, but she continued.
"We're taking our birthday trip to Capital city this weekend, since it was the other day. Would you want to come?" She asked softly, biting on her lower lip. Nero groaned and nodded, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. "of course, Kenna..." he started, brushing his face up her chest and laying kisses on her collarbone. "I'll go anywhere you want me to, babe."
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Capital city, that weekend.
Sikenna narrowed her eyes through the darkness. Kona, Sumi, Nero & Kona's friend Raiko waited along the stone wall behind her. Honestly, how many places can a pet peddler hide with a handful of litters of the loud, chattering creatures? Earlier that day at the Capital city market, the group had stopped to talk to a merchant who was selling Fire ferret kits. He was friendly enough at first, though short with a rough air about him in general. But, he had gotten hostile when he heard that the teenagers couldn't afford the animals at that exact moment, and he yelled at them, and ripped the ferret kit that Sumi was holding out of her arms, causing the baby ferret to cry and bite him from fear. He became even angrier and tossed the tiny animal into a cage aggressively, and Kona raised one eyebrow at Sikenna, and that's all it took for them to decide what they were going to do on their last night in Capital City.
Sikenna was getting frustrated, not being able to find where the man was keeping the cages for the night. She grunted and went to go take a step forward, but then she heard him. The heavy door to the pub swung open and the man stumbled out, walking towards the back end of town. Kona, who was last in the line, sped off behind the buildings, leading the other 4 through the shadows behind the buildings as they followed the man back to where he was camping for the night.
His camp was on the edge of town, his musty old cart lopsided as it rested for the night. A tiny, makeshift tent was erected in front of it, and you could hear the chitter chatter of the baby Fire Ferrets from behind the cart. The old man groaned drunkenly and kicked the cart, causing the ferret kits to squeal out in fear.
"Shuuut up SHUT UP, YOU TERRIBLE BEASTS. I should throw you into the ocean in a sack, only costing me money…" he grumbled. The whole ordeal made Sikenna's blood boil. She could feel her inner fire tingling in the veins of her arm, itching for release, to punish this drunken old fool. But she stayed quiet, dipping low and sneaking past her 4 friends to the front to stand next to her brother.
A few minutes later, the drunkard had fallen asleep haphazardly in his tiny, makeshift A frame tent, held up by a couple sticks. Sikenna's eyes traveled to the clock in the town square and realized they were running out of time. If they waited any longer, they wouldn't be back to Ember Island until sun rise. Without waiting for the others, and ignoring the whispered protests of her brother and friends to wait, she stepped forward towards the cart. Kona, herself, and Nero were all fire benders, what could this drunken earth nation merchant do that they couldn't defend against? So, she tiptoed up to the campsite, stepped carefully between the man's legs that didn't fit in his little tent, and up to the cart that held the ferret kit's cages.
As quietly as she could, Sikenna flipped the dirty old sheet over the cages and smiled gently at the tiny red babies in the cages. In a whisper she leaned towards the fire ferrets.
"Hold on little guys, we're going to get you out of here." She smiled at them, as if they understood, and motioned for Kona to take the first cage. The ferrets chittered and squeaked and Kona shushed them like crying infants softly, trying to maneuver around the cart with the big cage in his hands. Raiko stepped up next and grabbed the next cage with a mischievous chuckle; this is the reason he hung out with the twins in the first place. Shenanigans like this.
There was a loud snore/snort mixture and the teenagers froze, even the fire ferrets stopped and kept silent. Kona was on the other side of the man, walking back towards the buildings and froze mid step, his teeth bared in a tense, silent hiss. The old man grumbled something about "stupid animals" and rolled over, and was quiet again. The group of teens let loose a collective sigh and relaxed their shoulders a little before Sikenna grabbed the last cage, handing it to Nero. He blew a kiss to her as he took it, and Sikenna felt her cheeks blush in the dark as she bit her lip.
"Shut up. Go, follow Kona." She whispered to him. He chuckled under his breath and turned back to the buildings where Kona and Raiko were hiding in the shadows with the other cages.
Sikenna turned and flipped the sheet back over to where it was. It was obvious the cages were missing, but with any luck, the grumpy old ass would be too hung over to notice, and they would be long gone by then.
"Okay, let's go." She said over her shoulder to Sumi. She elegantly stepped over the sleeping figure in the tent, and started off at a trot back to the buildings when she heard a loud gasp and the old man sputtering as he woke up. Sikenna froze in fright before slowly turning around to her best friend, using only the balls of her feet to pivot. The drunk old man was rubbing his eyes, trying to look around, sputtering incoherent words. Sikenna shot her hands out to the side and her eyes widened at her best friend and mouthed,
"What are you doing?!"
Sumi's wide eyes looked back at her, her feet frozen in fear on the other side of the man as she mouthed back to Sikenna.
"I tripped! I'm sorry!"
Sikenna's hand met her own face. For a girl who's been a dancer since she could walk, Sumi was the clumsiest girl in the world when it came to, you know, actually walking.
"gotcha! THIEF!" the old man crowed, wrapping a hand around Sumi's ankle. Sumi screamed and Sikenna jumped into action, pulling the scarf around her neck over her nose and ran forward, punching a fireball at the man's tent. The old man let go of Sumi as he yelled and stood up to dodge the flame, staring at the now burning piece of cloth he called a tent. Sumi ran forward towards the back of the building.
"GO!" Sikenna yelled over her shoulder at her brother and friends before turning back to the old man, who took a wobbly fighting stance.
"Stop! Thieves!" He tried to yell, but stumbled. Sikenna rolled her eyes at him. So pathetic. Look at him, he couldn't even defend his stuff. He was ballsy enough to treat an innocent creature the way he does, and let himself be vulnerable? He over bred fire ferrets, then ripped the babies from the mother just to treat them like garbage until they're sold, and left himself weak like this. What an idiot, a terrible criminal all around. Sikenna just shook her head before taking a stance, and jumping into a spin kick, sending a blade of fire towards the man and the cart with her foot. The old drunkard dodged it, and it slashed the cart in half while igniting in flames, which was her entire point anyway. She didn't want to hurt him, just make it so he couldn't do this to any more animals. The old man turned and gasped at his cart, wobbling around his site to look for water.
"That should distract him." She laughed in her head, as she turned around and disappeared into the shadows towards the port, to meet her brother and friends to head home to Ember Island, with 3 crates of fire ferret kits.
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Ember island beach house, July 17, 158AG
(One day shy of 7 years old)
Sikenna's shrill laughter was all that Mako could hear over the waves.
"It's not funny, Kenna!" He shouted, trying to talk over the ocean and her laughter. She was hopping along the rock wall that met the sand with the grassy slope that led up to their beach houses. Sikenna wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at him, telling him it was, in fact, funny.
"Why do you hate it so much?" She laughed out, hopping to the next tallest rock, almost losing her balance.
"Because it's so girly." Mako spat out dryly. Sikenna rolled her eyes at him.
"It's just a nickname, Mako. It's not going to hurt you." She teased, hopping to the next rock. Mako trotted along beside her on the sand.
"You don't have a nickname for Kona!" He argued. Mako didn't mind nicknames, but he really, really hated the one Sikenna was calling him all day. Sikenna rolled her eyes at him again, a thing she had really picked up this year, much to her parents dismay.
"What am i going to call him? You can't get any good nick names out of his name. It's too boring."
Now it was Mako's turn to roll his eyes at her.
"Oh, so boring. If only he could have a name like Sikenna." He teased her, but she only laughed along with it. Another thing he admired but got annoyed with. Kona was one of the only people who could make her mad when he teased her, nobody else could touch her confidence. It wasn't that she thought she was better than anyone, but she was strong and liked who she was, even at 7.
"That's why nicknames are important." She said to him as she hopped to the next tallest rock on the wall. Well, she had a point. None of them ever really called her by her full name anymore. In fact, it was weird to hear it used unless in a formal way by her parents or grandmother.
Mako's face flushed in annoyance with the girl.
"I won't go to your birthday tomorrow if you don't stop." He looked at her as serious as his little 7 year old face could, and she stopped, narrowing her eyes at the boy from the wall. She crossed her arms defiantly, but sighed, keeping her eyes narrowed at him. She said the word slow, with meaning, a slight challenge in her tone.
"Fine."
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Capital City PD holding cell, August 8, 167AG
(16 years old)
If we're being honest, Sikenna slept like shit. She sat on the floor of her holding cell at the police station with her head against the wall, her eyes closed. Honestly, they had gotten away with stealing the fire ferret kits for longer than they should have. A whole 19 days the 16 year old had gotten away with arson. She was making bail, of course, but her grandmother decided to let her stay in jail for the night anyway, hoping to "teach her a lesson." Whatever that meant.
Don't get caught next time? You got it, grandma.
It was enough time to find homes for all the fire ferret kits, at least. All except one, who she named Lotus, who was back on Ember island asleep on her pillow, she was sure. Kona, Raiko, and Nero had gotten out of everything scott free, since they had stayed in the shadows, and the old merchant didn't see them. Only Sikenna and Sumi were brought in for questioning, but only Sikenna was arrested, since she started the fire. Sikenna got off pretty easy, too, all things considered. They had managed to convince the cops it was self defense. They said they were on a walk, talking about boyfriend problems, when they heard the chitter chatter of some small animals. They were curious, as innocent 16 year old girls usually are, so they snuck over to see the animals, when the man woke up and screamed at them. Sikenna said she was scared once the man grabbed Sumi's ankle, and started the fire so that they could run away.
So Sikenna got a fine, which was paid, and her grandmother paid the bail, plus some, to have her treated as a prisoner for the night. Classic grandma. Kona and Sumi were coming to pick her up today. The police left her alone all night, really, and one of the female officers even brought her some tea and a breakfast cake. Mostly, it was quiet, lonely, and boring without Kona.
"Hey, Sassy flames!" One of the officers clanged her cell door loudly, making Sikenna open her eyes slowly and glare at him.
"Your friends are here."
"Finally" Sikenna thought as she stood up, hearing the locking mechanism to her cell clink as the guard unlocked it.
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"Kenna!" Kona yelled from the bottom of the steps of the police station. Sikenna smiled and hopped down the stairs towards her brother and best friend, smiling brightly. With loud laughter from them both, Sikenna launched herself into her brother's arms in a bear hug. She ruffled his hair jokingly when they let each other go, and she moved to hug Sumi tightly.
"Thanks for coming, guys. I was so bored." Sikenna laughed and shook her growing bangs out of her eyes. Sumi rolled her eyes at her and shoved Sikenna's shoulder.
"Stop. That was scary! We've never gotten caught doing anything before."
"Kenna never set anything of value on fire before." Kona laughed, and Sikenna couldn't help but smirk, either.
"Okay, but still, all I got was a fine, and I'm out!" Sikenna shrugged. "They didn't even catch me for almost 20 days. That's pretty good."
"Kenna, it was really scary watching you get arrested. My mom was so mad, I had to argue with her about still being friends with you." Sumi said sadly as they walked back to their boat to take them home. Sikenna furrowed her brows. She didn't think that would have been a problem. She thought of what her life would be like without Sumi, and decided right then and there that she had to be smarter from here on out. Sikenna frowned before addressing Sumi.
"I'm sorry, Sumi. I did panic when he grabbed you, and I just couldn't stop myself. But I'll be smarter from now on. I promise." Sumi smiled warmly at her.
"Hey, at least she believed the self defense story too, and now thinks you're an even better friend for protecting me." Sumi winked at her best friend and took Kona's hand to help her climb into the boat after Kona, as they started their ride back home to Ember island.
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Ember island beach house, July 18, 158AG
(Twins 7th birthday)
The party had been a great time, honestly. Sikenna felt cute with her hair in braids going over each shoulder, her bangs had been freshly trimmed to skim the top of her eyebrows, and all her friends came. Kona had been nice to her all day, Mako was spending the night along with Sumi, and they were going to camp on the beach outside their house tonight. It was the perfect birthday. The sun was going down, the tent was set up on the beach, Kona was inside having some sort of "manly discussion" with their father, and Sumi had gone home to have dinner with her family and pack for the night. It was just Sikenna and Mako playing in the tide pools.
Mako couldn't help but blush watching her. She was still in her pretty pink birthday dress, hair perfect, cheeks flushed from just playing tag, calf deep in a tide pool. She cooed softly to a tiny sea crustacean as the edge of her special dress soaked up the salty ocean water, trying to convince the little slimy thing to come out of its shell and say hello. He might be 7, but she was pretty, and funny, and a lot of fun to play games with. She always had lots of ideas and made up things to do quickly. Her smile and laugh were infectious and Mako found himself looking forward to every summer to see the twins. He would write down things he wanted to remember to tell them, so he wouldn't forget. But Sikenna just got prettier and prettier, and even more exciting to be around, and he would be lying if little him didn't have a teeny tiny crush on the girl. If Kona hadn't already teased him about staring at her one day earlier this summer, he probably could have admitted that it was a bigger crush than that.
"What's it like living on the mainland?" Sikenna suddenly asked. Mako blinked up at her for a second, realizing that she was looking at him with her head slightly cocked to the side.
"I don't know. It's, uh…" Mako started, but he didn't really know what to say.
"It gets… colder?" He shrugged, and Sikenna scrunched up her button nose in disgust. Mako melted.
"Gross. I don't ever want to be cold." Sikenna shuddered as if she had just seen something gross, and stepped out of the tide pool.
"So, can I call you that nickname, now?" She asked.
"What?! No! Kenna, please don't." Mako begged her as she laughed at his response.
"But it's fun!" She tried to reason with him. Mako glared at her and Sikenna just rolled her eyes, seemingly getting bored of his glare and starting to spin in slow circles as they wandered back to their tent.
"You've been to every single one of my birthdays, you know. I don't think we have a birthday picture without you in it. And now Bolin, too. I hope he stops smelling funny soon." Mako laughed and followed after his spinning friend.
"Yeah? So?" Mako asked, raising a brow. What was her point?
"So I would have been awfully sad if you didn't go to this one over a nickname." She stopped spinning and looked at him, a sad smile on her big pouty lips.
"I still would have come, Kenna." Mako smiled at her. She made a face and pushed his shoulder.
"Then why did you say that?!" She demanded. Mako rubbed his shoulder, but pushed her back jokingly.
"Because the nickname is embarrassing, duh." He joked with her. Sikenna smiled and started walking again, this time back to the tent. They walked by a teenage couple who were kissing on a rocks, and for the first time in Sikenna's young life, she didn't think it was gross and didn't look away. Would that be nice? What makes people want to do that? Mako snorted beside her and she jumped, turning to stare at her feet, feeling her cheeks blush at being caught staring at people kissing.
"Kona, Raiko and I saw him kissing a different girl there the other day." Sikenna looked back at the teenagers, curious. You could kiss more than one person?
"Have you ever kissed somebody?" Sikenna asked suddenly, turning to Mako as they walked.
"Wh-what?" He stuttered, his cheeks blushing. Sikenna giggled at her reaction.
"Don't be stupid. It's just a question." Mako relaxed when she laughed and shook his head shyly.
"No. I haven't. Have you?" Sikenna shook her head almost instantly.
"No. I wonder if it's gross?" She giggled.
"I think it's probably nice." Mako began.
"I mean, my mom and dad kiss. And your mom and dad kiss when he's home, too. And the teenagers seem to keep doing it. People don't keep doing things they don't like, right?" Mako shrugged, but Sikenna scrunched up her nose.
"Not true. Kona still eats grandma's stew, even though he doesn't like it." She had a point, and Mako stayed quiet, not sure what else to say. Sikenna suddenly jumped up, excited.
"The sun's down. Do you wanna play a game?" Her eyes shone brightly, and Mako couldn't help but get excited. She did, after all, have the best games.
Mako nodded enthusiastically and Sikenna smiled wide.
"Okay. Let's call it, fire bug tag. Whoever isn't 'it' runs around and randomly bends fire, and that's how you find out where they are, and try to tag them. Sumi can run with me. Let's practice. TAG." Sikenna yelled as she tagged him rather aggressively and ran away from Mako, giggling madly
They played the game for 20 minutes or so, Mako or Sikenna randomly bending a small flame in their hand so the other could find them in the dark. The game was fun, and a few times, Sikenna had snuck up on Mako and lit a flame close to their faces to scare him. There were lots of squeals and happy screams and laughter as they played it along the beach, waiting for their friends. Eventually, they both collapsed on the sand in a fit of giggles. They laid like that for a few minutes in happy, childlike bliss. Then, in very, very typical Sikenna fashion, she sat up and turned to Mako.
"Hey." She said seriously. Mako sat up and faced her, confused, thinking she had heard something scary.
"What?" He asked, curiously.
"Thanks for coming to my Party, Koko."
Mako was about to yell at her for the nickname, but then, she kissed him.
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Republic city, 170AG
(18 years old)
"Thanks for coming to my party, Koko."
Mako was about to yell at her for the nickname, but then, she kissed him.
Mako woke up with a jolt, his eyes shooting open. The sound of republic city swirled around him and he relaxed his head into his pillow, realizing he was home. What was that? Who was that? What a weird dream. What an embarrassing nickname.