Tomorrow. They had made their plans but it would all come down to tomorrow at Governor Te's estate.

Kirima told everyone to rest, but the looks on their faces showed that they doubted if they'd be able to. Everyone was quiet as they went their separate ways to sleep for the night. It was their final chance to make peace with anything they needed to before heading into the storm.

Rangi went on her own to meditate while Kyoshi finished making their tent and preparing to settle for the night. She was anxious but knew there was nothing more that could be done then they already had. She still hadn't told Rangi about Lao Ge's plan for Governor Te, but since they would be separated for that part of the mission, Kyoshi wasn't worried about her finding out one way or the other. She still had a decision to make all her own, and she knew it was one she couldn't come back from.

Kyoshi laid out her armor and prepared it for the next day. She thought back to when it had first been given to her. If only Jianzhu knew that the armor he had given her would be used in a daofei mission. It didn't matter to Kyoshi what he thought of her use of the gift. She'd wear it all the same when she killed him.

Rangi's armor was there in the tent beside Kyoshi's. Her armor was earned by the sweat of the firebender's brow and had only been worn in honorable pursuits. Tomorrow she would don her armor as a member of the Flying Opera Company, and all because of Kyoshi.

Kyoshi kneeled before their two sets of armors, red and green. She thought, not for the first time, of how different things would have been if she had not been the Avatar. Kyoshi had been content in her life at Yokoya, even though she was a servant. Rangi would still be walking an honorable path as the Avatar's bodyguard. But would they be walking the path together?

Rangi came from a high ranking family of the Fire Nation. Kyoshi came from nothing, less then nothing if she counted her daofei parents. She would have continued to be a servant in Yokoya all the days of her life. Rangi would have never come to Yokoya if it wasn't for the Avatar, and would have been an Avatar's traveling companion. She would have lived an exalted life, and one that Kyoshi could not have followed. Was her only way to be with Rangi by bringing her low to her level? By introducing her to the daofei world and taking her down a path she would have never chosen?

Kyoshi sighed with a heavy heart. She loved Rangi. She was her center and only consolation in this world that had turned upside down. But was it right for her to do this to her honorable firebender? Kyoshi had chosen the path for them, and while Rangi was right, she never would have made it this far without her, was it too late?

Rangi entered the tent to find Kyoshi there looking pathetically at their armor. It didn't take much to understand where the Avatar's mind was going, and Rangi needed to put a stop to that. It was the last thing Kyoshi needed to be thinking about the night before a mission. Rangi lit their small lantern as a silent signal to Kyoshi. The Avatar had become so adept that Rangi barely noticed the flick of a fan as the earth tent wall closed. She finished getting ready for bed, wearing only the cotton shift she slept in.

Kyoshi felt Rangi come up behind her and draped her body across her shoulders. She felt the deep exhale of breath, and the relief that came from the private sanctuary they had created. "When I chose your armor, I never imagined you'd be needing it so often."

The revelation caught Kyoshi by surprise. She turned to Rangi and asked, "You chose my armor?"

Rangi tilted her head to look at her. She stared into Kyoshi's eyes, and realized there was a wound there that for once she could finally heal. "Of course I did. I needed you to be protected."

"But I thought that Jian…"

Rangi cut off Kyoshi before she could finish speaking his name. "No. I had ordered it to be made after Auntie Mui had told me about your background in the village. That's when I ordered the silks."

This did not indicate to Kyoshi when this happened, other than that it was before she was invited to join them. Kyoshi watched as Rangi reached out and ran her fingertips along the fine embroidery of the sash. "I wanted to give you something to show you what you truly deserved."

"But I don't deserve these."

"Kyoshi, you're the Avatar! Are you really going to try to argue with me about what you deserve?" Rangi was firm, but not angry. "We've had this discussion before and last time it ended with a kiss."

"That's not what I meant." Kyoshi gave a small smile but paused to try to explain. "I wasn't the Avatar when you ordered these. Not that we knew."

Rangi rolled her eyes. Would she spend their whole lives convincing Kyoshi she was worth more than she believed? "I loved you before you were the Avatar. I wanted to gift these to you one day so you would know that."

Kyoshi looked at the fine silks that were far above her station. She'd been so overwhelmed with the gift that she had never asked any questions. Now she was learning that that they weren't a sign of favoritism from an unworthy master. Rangi had chosen them for her. Rangi had wanted to lift her up with a gift equal to her own station in life.

"While I think you'd look beautiful in red, I chose the more traditional Earth Kingdom green." Rangi kneeled beside Kyoshi and leaned her head on her shoulder. "I almost gave them to you once before when we had left for Yu Dao. I didn't know how long we were going to be gone. I wanted you to have something so you'd think of me."

"I remember when you left. I thought of you the whole time anyway." Kyoshi laced her fingers with Rangi's while they kneeled together. "Why didn't you?"

"I realized that if I wasn't going to be around to protect you that these silks weren't going to be enough." Rangi held a piece of the chainmail between her fingers. "It was probably just an excuse. I made up a lot of them for why I wouldn't tell you. But it meant that I ordered the armor to go along with the silks."

Kyoshi thought about how the gift was so much like Rangi. The beautiful silks a symbol of her distinguished but soft nature that were enclosed in a shell of armor.

With a sigh, Rangi opened up a topic they both liked to avoid. "Yun found out about it, of course."

Quietly, Kyoshi said, "He did?"

"You know Yun," it was hard to speak of their lost friend. "Once he found out, he wouldn't let it go. He knew how I felt about you."

This surprised Kyoshi more then finding out about the clothes. She visibly startled. "He knew?! I didn't even know."

"Of course you didn't know! You were oblivious and I wasn't ready to tell you." Rangi moved a lock of Kyoshi's hair behind her ear and kissed her cheek. "He knew I didn't like leaving you behind me. It distracted me. That's why he insisted on bringing you to the meeting with the Fifth Nation."

Kyoshi still remembered the day not so long ago. She didn't tell Rangi how Yun had used his charm to convince her. "He told me he wanted me there for perspective."

"Is that all he told you?" Rangi laughed. "He used to flirt with you to try to get a rise out of me and push me to confess my feelings. I was furious at him for asking you to come."

"I'm sorry," Kyoshi said sheepishly. "I didn't know you didn't want me to go."

"Kyoshi…" Rangi said, exasperated because she still wasn't listening. "I didn't want you in danger. I worried for you enough when we were gone but at least I knew you were safe in Yokoya instead of on some iceberg with outlaws all around."

The irony was not lost that they were currently surrounded by outlaws on their way to imminent danger. Rangi lightly punched Kyoshi in the arm but Kyoshi let herself fall backwards as though it were a harder strike. Rangi followed her down and laid beside her on the bedroll, throwing a leg over her. "After I finished yelling at him, he just smiled and told me I'd have to give you the outfit. No more excuses."

"Why didn't you tell me it was from you?"

"You never asked." Rangi shrugged. "By that point everyone knew you were going with us. I didn't want that much attention when I gave it to you. It was easier to let the other servants dress you while we prepared for everything else."

"I did wonder where the clothes had come from because they fit me so well." Kyoshi remembered being afraid to ask in case the already snippy servants joked about having to take them from a dead giant. "It's not like anyone took my measurements."

"I didn't need to take your measurements." Rangi ran her hand along Kyoshi's body. "I watched you so much that I was able to get them just right."

Kyoshi blushed at the provocative words. She knew there had to be truth to them because her clothes fit perfectly. "Thank you for the gift."

"They were always meant for you. I'm just sorry about the way you received them." Rangi looked a little sad.

"Does that mean that if things had been different that we'd still be us?" Kyoshi asked in earnest.

Rangi placed her hand over Kyoshi's heart and gave her a gentle kiss. "There are not many things that scare me but telling you how I felt was definitely one of them. However, I wouldn't be a very good Fire Nation Officer if I continued to let myself be scared of a girl from the Earth Kingdom. It was only a matter of time."

They both smiled. Rangi cupped Kyoshi's face and held her gaze. "We were only a matter of time."

Kyoshi took a deep breath and let go of a fear she didn't know she was carrying. She could wear her armor with pride knowing where it really came from, and knowing that even in another world there was still a place for her at Rangi's side. While killing Jianzhu in these clothes was a none issue, she didn't know if she could kill Governor Te while wearing Rangi's gift of love. She didn't want to think about that right now. Kyoshi wanted to surround herself in Rangi's love and forget everything else.

Rangi watch Kyoshi process everything. Now more than ever, Rangi was confident that they really were inevitable. Rangi didn't want a life that didn't have Kyoshi in it.

Kyoshi didn't want to waste anymore time thinking about paths not taken. Her path was clear and she could walk it, no matter where it led, with Rangi beside her. She could be the Avatar, an Avatar that Rangi would be proud of.

Rangi's fingers ran through Kyoshi's hair as their lips came together. She pulled and controlled Kyoshi's movements, holding her to her for the kiss then directing her to kiss her neck as Rangi's lips came to Kyoshi's ear. She whispered, "Make love to me, Kyoshi."

Kyoshi relished the feel of Rangi's hands in her hair. She kissed down Rangi's neck and between her breasts. She grabbed the globes of Rangi's breasts through her cotton shift and caressed them on either side of her face. They were fuller than Kyoshi had let herself imagine. Kyoshi had been surprised the first time she'd seen Rangi without her armor because it seemed so much a part of it. The sharp edges seemed like they exuded from Rangi's own body. But they concealed that along with her toned muscles was a soft body that melded to Kyoshi's; they fit together better than the clothes that had been made for her.

Rangi adored the way it felt when Kyoshi laid her body on hers. She wrapped a leg around Kyoshi and pulled her weight on top, letting herself be trapped beneath her love. Her shift slid down to her hip, exposing her thigh, which was a relief as she waited for Kyoshi to remove it. She pulled Kyoshi's hair to emphasize her need as Kyoshi's lips followed the line of Rangi's body down to her navel.

Kyoshi was learning all the ways Rangi wanted to be touched. She instinctively moved a hand to the exposed thigh. Her long fingers reached the edge of the shift and teased the sensitive skin. She hooked her thumb around Rangi's hip and gave her an intimate squeeze. Her other hand at Rangi's side crumpled the shift, pulling the hem up as Kyoshi's lips found bare skin. She feathered her lips across Rangi's hip line.

Rangi arched her back and whimpered. Her right leg found its way over Kyoshi's shoulder. Kyoshi kissed up her left thigh to her bent knee and back again, not stopping at her hip but going lower. Rangi was already wet and eager to feel Kyoshi's mouth on her.

Kyoshi breathed in Rangi's scent. Fire lilies would have new meaning for her as she tried to memorize everything about Rangi. The smooth skin of her thighs like fresh petals, but the hot fragrance that would linger and burn from the inside, heating every part of her.

Rangi could feel Kyoshi's breath on her and squirmed, desperate for her touch. She pushed Kyoshi's head down and pleaded, "Kyoshi…!"

The light pressure on her head aroused her need and she placed a kiss directly on Rangi's mound, loving the cry from Rangi's lips. She deepened her kiss, slipping her tongue into Rangi's folds and the cry turned to a deep groan. Kyoshi's first taste of Rangi's nectar had her humming against the source. Rangi pushed into the vibration.

Kyoshi took her time tracing ever part of Rangi with her tongue, wanting to know her by heart. She traced her opening and pushed her tongue inside. Rangi sucked in a breath and pulled Kyoshi's hair. She found the little bud she had rubbed to bring Rangi release before and lapped her tongue against it in long strokes. She circled it with the tip of her tongue and resumed her exploration.

Rangi was panting, caught between loving the attention Kyoshi was giving her but being driven crazy by it at the same time. The ever controlled firebender thought she'd loose flames soon if she wasn't careful. But as much as the sweet agony pained her, she couldn't get enough.

Kyoshi found her way back to Rangi's clit but was beyond teasing her, needing to wring an orgasm from her. She wanted to taste it and feel Rangi cum against her tongue. When she found the spot that made Rangi's thighs squeeze against her face, she dug in with fast, constant laps and focused all of her attention on that spot.

Rangi squeezed harder, pushing Kyoshi against her and commanded, "Right there! Don't stop."

For the first time, Kyoshi was glad for her size. The firebender was strong and a lesser person might be squeezed to death at the pleasure of Rangi's thighs. Kyoshi was strong enough to take it. She held one of Rangi's thighs to her, loving the feel, but pushed back against the bender to spread those creamy thighs and open her to Kyoshi's need to please her.

Rangi groaned and released Kyoshi's head in surrender. She pulled her shift up, drawing Kyoshi's eyes, and squeezed her breasts for Kyoshi's pleasure. They locked eyes over the curves and Rangi bit her lip.

Kyoshi groaned, never stopping her tongue assault on Rangi's clit. The hand holding Rangi's thigh open slid back to her core and smoothly pushed two fingers inside her lover.

Rangi came.

Her whole body convulsed. She screamed Kyoshi's name, not caring if the earth tent was enough barrier to contain it. Tomorrow was uncertain but tonight was theirs. She would hold back nothing. Kyoshi pumped her fingers in and out of Rangi and she went mindless to the feel of her lover's demands on her body. She pushed her beyond into another orgasm.

Kyoshi slowed to allow Rangi to come back down but she wasn't done with her yet. She had an unfamiliar hunger and it was completely focused on Rangi. She kneeled between Rangi's spread legs. Rangi pulled herself up to kiss Kyoshi and cling to her chest. She kissed everywhere she could reach and gave love bites all over. Kyoshi lifted Rangi's shift and though she seemed surprised, she allowed herself to be undressed.

Rangi turned to set the shift aside. Something about the bend in her body triggered Kyoshi. She pulled off her own shift and pushed Rangi on her hands and knees, surrounding her with her own body. They both reacted to the feel of their skin contact. Kyoshi squeezed Rangi's ass and ran her hand along Rangi's pussy before pushing two fingers back inside.

The quick movements were unexpected. They startled Rangi and she gasped as Kyoshi filled her again. "Kyoshi!"

Rangi's surprised was lost to the intensity of being taken. She loved Kyoshi's hands and how deep her fingers reached inside her. She felt Kyoshi's other hand wrap around her breast while she fingerfucked her. Rangi pushed herself back against Kyoshi's thighs. She reached as far as she could behind her to touch Kyoshi and let herself be held up by her lover's sure grasp.

Kyoshi pulled Rangi into her body, Rangi's back to her front. She briefly pulled herself out of Rangi to move her hand to the front, never hesitating to push back inside her. They kneeled together in their tent, with Rangi moving her thighs to rock up and down with Kyoshi's forceful penetration.

Rangi tilted her head and pulled Kyoshi's head down. She took Kyoshi's mouth with the same intensity that Kyoshi fucked her. She pushed her tongue into her mouth so that she could be inside Kyoshi while Kyoshi was inside her.

Kyoshi fucked her harder and Rangi panted into her mouth, taking it all. "I want to be so deep inside you that you feel me even when I'm not inside you."

"Yes! Inside me…" Rangi would feel this tomorrow. She wanted it. They would be parted and at risk but they would still feel each other.

"Kyoshi… I need…" Rangi couldn't get the words out with Kyoshi's insatiable pounding. She grasped and used her body to communicate.

"Yes…" Kyoshi answered as they quickly repositioned. Still on her knees, Kyoshi turned Rangi around. The hotwoman locked her legs around Kyoshi's hips as they both rushed to return Kyoshi's rightful place inside Rangi.

Rangi was dripping and she needed all of Kyoshi to fill her. "More."

Kyoshi nodded and pushed three fingers inside her love.

Rangi lost all thought. She bit down hard on Kyoshi's shoulder. She would leave her mark. If she was going to ache tomorrow from their lovemaking, so was Kyoshi. She held on, and moaned into the bite with each impact of Kyoshi's fingers. She felt Kyoshi's thumb stroke her clit, and she scratched her nails down Kyoshi's back.

This was not the gentle lovemaking they had began. It was needy and primal.

Rangi's third orgasm was more than either of them could take. She clamped down on Kyoshi so hard for a moment Kyoshi thought she wouldn't let go, but she didn't care. As it rocked through Rangi, Kyoshi stared at the bliss on her face, and took immense pleasure that she had given that to her.

Kyoshi fell forward, cradling Rangi to her, and gentle laying her down but holding herself above. They breathed hard and dripped with sweat. Rangi moved her hands over Kyoshi's body. She stared in her eyes as she clutched Kyoshi's hip and lowered her fingers to stroke Kyoshi.

"You don't have to…" Kyoshi started to say but Rangi's touch made her falter.

"Are you kidding? I always want to touch you." Rangi guided Kyoshi for a loving kiss. "I will not go so thoroughly loved without making you feel just as good."

"You already do…"

"Shh… Let me love you." Kyoshi could never resist her.

Rangi stroked Kyoshi, feeling her swollen clit. She wrapped a finger around it to stroke on all sides while her thumb made circles on the tip. She kept kissing Kyoshi while her arms shook from the strain. With nothing but breath and sweat between them, Kyoshi grunted as the pressure coiled low inside her. Rangi whispered against her lips, "Cum for me, Kyoshi."

Kyoshi did just that. She came for the love of her life, and kissed her while the orgasm rushed through her body. It drained the last of her energy. Her arms started to droop. Rangi pulled her to rest on top of her with Kyoshi's face nestled at her neck. She stroked her hair and back, letting the Avatar rest.

They stayed in silence, not sleeping, but enjoying the after glow they experienced every time they made love. It didn't matter that they were laying on a bedroll in the middle of nowhere. They could be anywhere. It could be this lifetime, or another in the Avatar cycle. It would always be this. The two of them together for as long as they could have.

Kyoshi found enough energy to move and laid beside Rangi. She kept an arm draped over her firebender, keeping her close. Rangi rolled to her side and let herself be held. Kyoshi's eyes were closed but Rangi knew she wasn't asleep. She watched her, full of love.

Without opening her eyes, Kyoshi asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"It was a good hurt. Don't worry." Rangi brushed Kyoshi's hair aside and saw the angry bite mark on her shoulder that she couldn't feel guilty about. "I would ask if I hurt you but I know the answer."

"Worth it." Kyoshi said.

Rangi laughed. "Sometimes I think you like it when I hurt you."

Kyoshi finally opened her eyes. "Of course I do. You're my firebending sifu. I accept your torture on a daily basis."

Rangi bit her lip. Kyoshi was probably right. She knew she pushed her hard for the right reasons, but there were times she took a whole other pleasure from their training sessions. "I'm surprised you always want to sleep naked after."

Kyoshi closed her eyes and yawned. "If I still had enough energy to put on clothes, it just means I'm not done with you yet."

Rangi flushed. "Is that so?"

Kyoshi nodded. "Once we get started, I can't get enough of you."

"That's fair," Rangi settled herself to sleep in Kyoshi's arms. "I'll never be done with you either, Kyoshi."

Tomorrow was uncertain but there was one thing about their future that was without question: they were not done yet.