"Foul!" the ref cried. Zhong watched the arena as his girlfriend gestured at the opposing team's waterbender.

"Come on," she yelled. "My tornado was less than two feet wide and you know it!"

"Too tall. Now get behind the line missy, or your team gets another penalty as well."

Ning huffed, but she backed up a zone anyway. Zhong was pretty sure the ref couldn't give Ning a penalty for complaining, but he also knew Ning was best off doing what the ref told her to do. The airbender quickly reached back and fixed her brown ponytail, which had been knocked askew by a shot of water from the opposing team. Her team wasn't winning, and Zhong could only guess it was because the referee wasn't nearly as impartial as he was supposed to be.

Zhong was doing his best to pay attention to the game, but his mind was understandably somewhere else. The conversation he'd had with Master Li and his parents the night before, for example. The White Lotus.

"Out!" the referee called, and Zhong noticed Ning's team's earthbender had been pushed out of the last zone. She stomped in frustration, but marched obediently to the bench as Ning and the other two remaining players did their best to dodge incoming attacks. Soon Ning and the firebender had both been pushed into the last zone, leaving their waterbender alone up front. Zhong watched him glance back nervously at his two teammates, a move that cost him the zone as he was shoved back by an earth disc.

Zhong was not going to have a happy girlfriend when all this was over.

Ning's team lost the match, unsurprisingly, and Zhong made his way towards the door to the change room while the rest of the spectators were abandoning the bleachers. When Ning emerged, she was glaring and adjusting her yellow t-shirt. Zhong looked up at her. When did she get so tall?

"You saw that, right? That ref was an ass." Ning leaned against the wall next to her and made a rude gesture towards the ref, who blessedly wasn't looking in their direction.

"Ya. He made some pretty bad calls."

"Pretty bad? My baby cousin could have made better calls than that!" She blew a puff of air out of her nose that sent a small whirlwind into the arena. It was time to defuse.

"Hey, I got you something," Zhong said, reaching into his backpack. He pulled out two parcels wrapped in green cloth and tied with white ribbon. Ning took the first one from him and smiled.

She quickly unwrapped it and threw the cloth over her shoulder so she could unravel what was inside. Zhong was quick to grab the cloth before it fell down her back and into the dirt. He shoved it back in his bag as Ning let out a cry of delight. "A Fire Ferret team jacket!" she cried. "I mean, who didn't love the Fire Ferrets? They had the Avatar on their team." Ning put the jacket on and turned around. Korra, Bolin, and Mako grinned at Zhong and it made the teenager uncomfortable. "How does it look?"

"Great," Zhong said. He handed her the second package. "Here."

The second gift was a pair of boots. "Ooo, Nagas. They're pretty ugly, but damn are they comfortable. Look at how fluffy they are inside!" Ning put the boots uncomfortably close to Zhong's face and he tried to back away.

"I know how fluffy they are," he said. "I bought them for you!" An avatar themed jacket? A pair of boots named after the avatar's polar bear dog? It was like past Zhong had made these choices specifically to make this moment confusing and uncomfortable for him.

"Zhong, what's wrong?"

Zhong blinked and noticed his girlfriend was staring at him with a worried expression. He wanted to tell her he was the avatar, but his brain kept telling him no. What if he told Ning he was the avatar, and then it turned out it was just a misunderstanding? Master Li had come to the wrong house and Zhong really was just some rich, spoiled brat. "Nothing's wrong," he said finally. He smiled half-heartedly. "I just don't need your smelly boots in my face."

Ning hit him in the arm with one of the boots. "How can they be smelly? I haven't even put them on yet!"

He took her by the hand and pulled her into a kiss. "Happy birthday," he said. He turned and led her out of the bending arena and out towards the street. "We're gonna stop by your house first before dinner. I think your parents want to see you before we head out."

But as she followed behind, he could feel her gaze boring into his skull. Zhong frowned.

By the time they got to dinner, Zhong knew Ning hadn't been convinced that he was okay. She'd barely complained to her parents about losing the bending match, and her excitement at opening her presents was minimal. Even now, as they sat in their formal attire in a private room of one of the fancier restaurants in Ba Sing Se, Ning was regarding her boyfriend with uncertain eyes.

"What?" he finally asked, after the waiter had left with their orders.

Ning crossed her arms. "What do you mean what? Something's bothering you, not me."

"Nothing's bothering me."

"Really? Because you've been acting weird since the match." Zhong glared, but didn't say anything. He saw his girlfriend's features soften as she leaned forward. "Please, Zhong. If something's bothering you, you need to tell me. We're in a relationship."

She was right, but Zhong still didn't want to answer. He settled for a partial truth. "My... parents want me to start metalbending training," he said.

Ning looked confused. "Well, that's good, right? You can go to the Tun school in the upper ring."

Zhong shook his head. "Master Li thinks I should have private training. He wants to send me to Zaofu."

"But... they can give you a private instructor at the Tun school." Ning looked worried. "Why would they send you to Zoafu?"

Zhong shrugged.

"You're not telling me everything."

Zhong should have known better than to hide the truth from Ning. She was sharp, and she cared for him, and that was a very bad combination for a reluctant avatar-to-be. He settled for a shrug, but of course that was the wrong response.

"Are you kidding me? It's my birthday, Zhong. At least have the decency to be honest with me. Now why does Master Li want to send you to Zaofu instead of the Tun school?"

It was useless. Zhong was going to feel completely foolish saying this next sentence but he had to get it out. Ning was unrelenting. The young man lowered his voice, despite the fact that they were completely alone in the room. "Master Li thinks I might, potentially... be the avatar. Maybe."

Ning had to lean forward to hear what he had to say, but when the message finally hit her, she sat back quietly. Then she snorted. "Nice try. What's the real reason?"

Zhong glared. "That is the real reason. Why do you think I didn't want to tell you? It's ridiculous! There's no way I'm the avatar."

"Well don't sell yourself short," Ning replied. She still bore the expression of someone who had been slapped in the face with an elephant koi, but at least she was discussing it with him. "You're a pretty talented earthbender."

"Pretty talented isn't exactly avatar material," Zhong said. He opened his mouth to continue, but at that moment a waiter came through the door with appetisers. He didn't want to be spreading word that the avatar was found, and figured it was better to keep his mouth shut around strangers until he'd figured this out. Ning, however, didn't seem to have the same reservations.

"Why is Master Li qualified for this avatar stuff anyway?" she asked as the waiter placed the food on the table. The man didn't seem to respond to the word 'avatar' though, and Zhong really hoped that wasn't because it was simply his job not to react to guest discussions.

"He's apparently a member of the White Lotus."

Ning sat quietly and picked at her food while the waiter left. Zhong was as tense as he could be, and wanted nothing more than to know exactly what was going through her head at that moment. Finally, she put her chopsticks down, having not taken a bite of anything.

"Okay, so say you're not the avatar. It's Master Li's job to do his best to find the avatar, and he's honed in on you for whatever reason. Isn't it kind of your responsibility as a citizen of the Earth Kingdom to help him? You do what he asks, he learns more about you, and the White Lotus is one step closer to finding the actually avatar after having ruled you out. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? You go to Zaofu, learn metalbending, and meet some kick-ass famous people?" She picked up the chopsticks again and stabbed at her food. "You'd be a fool not to do this."

"What if I wanted to go to university or something?"

Ning laughed. "I think your parents want you to go to university, but studies where never one of your passions." Zhong stared at her blankly and Ning sighed. "You can go to university after the whole avatar thing has been sorted out. You're a Yoa! Nobody's going to deny you entrance."

She was right, and even though Zhong wanted nothing more than to hide in his room for the next year instead of moving to Zaofu, he probably shouldn't deny the White Lotus. The new avatar had to be found, and with the size of the Earth Kingdom and the cultural spread that had been experienced since the end of the 100 Year War, it was taking them quite a bit of time.

After he had finished about half of his appetizer, Zhong spoke again. "If I go to Zaofu," he said quietly. "Will you go with me?"

Ning stopped eat for a moment and Zhong immediately regretted the question. She was giving him that look. The look of pity. "You know what I want to do when the study year is up. I've been accepted into Ba Sing Se University. I'm not going to turn that down and you shouldn't ask me to."

Zhong shook his head. "I know, it was a stupid question. It's just, I don't want to live that far away from you."

Ning smiled. "You are such a softy. Besides, we'll get to see each other. Just not as often as we would like." Zhong stared at his food silently. "Zhong, we'll be fine."

Zhong nodded. But if he went to Zaofu, he didn't know how long he'd be gone. He really hoped Ning was right.