A/N: Hello everyone! Since the servers were down, I couldn't post this one-shot yesterday... But thanks to that, you should get two one-shots from me now, this one, and the one right after x)))

STORY 7 - DAY 5 - TRADITION

The spirit vines on which Varrick is working seem to be communicating with him, always leading him to Zhu Li. Varrick soon realizes what he has to do, but for that, he first needs someone who could inform him about some Earth Kingdom traditions...

They had been working for Kuvira for a while now, exploring the possibilities of the spirit vines. Those things were amazing, so powerful, but yet, so unstable... Working with them was a privilege, but sometimes, Varrick had the impression that he was playing with something that far surpassed his level of understanding. It scared him a bit, but at the same time, it made him want to learn more. It also made him more receptive to the outside world, more receptive to other people's feelings and somehow more in harmony with himself. It was as if working with spirit vines increased his own spiritual awareness.

If it wasn't for the looming sense of dread that this situation gave him, he might have never taken action. Being surrounded by spirit vines made him feel good, but turning them into a weapon made him feel guilty, as if he was interfering with the natural order of things. He didn't know what would happen next and, even if uncertainty never annoyed him up till now, things had changed. He felt as if his days were counted and that the end might be nearing. The end... Or a new beginning...

Sometimes, he felt as if spirit vines were communicating with him. Especially when his hands were on one of them, and Zhu Li's on another... It was as if he could feel her heartbeat under the palm of his hand, from the other end of the room.

It happened several times. They had their hands on the spirit vines at the same moment. They both felt it. They turned towards each other, as if to verify if the other one felt the same thing, and their eyes locked. Immediately, they tried to mask their feelings.

"Pass me the thing, Zhu Li," he said, trying to take the attention away from this moment of weakness.

Zhu Li took her hand off the spirit vine so abruptly that one would think it had burned her. She walked to the metal recipient and handed it to Varrick.

"Thank you, Zhu Li," he said, trying to turn around in order not to see her.

That wasn't the only time that such a thing happened. Every time that they would both have their hands on the spirit vines, their spiritual energy would be transmitted to each other. Soon enough, there was no more sense to be pretending: Varrick knew that Zhu Li felt the same way that he did.

The tradition of the Water Tribes wants for a man to make a betrothal necklace to the woman that he intends to marry. Varrick only needed to find a way not to let Zhu Li see it before it's finished... Since Zhu Li never left his side, it was hard to do. He could get up in the middle of the night, maybe, while Zhu Li was still sleeping, and make it then?

The problem with that was, of course, the fact that Zhu Li would wake up almost immediately. She was inhumane when it came to that. She was able to work like a machine and to wake up on command.

There was only one person who could help him through it: Bolin.

"Psst! Kid! Come here!" whispered Varrick, when he managed to reach Bolin alone.

"Varrick? Why are you crouching beneath the desk? And where is Zhu Li?"

Varrick crawled from under the desk and stood up in front of Bolin.

"I don't have much time," he said. "I told Zhu Li that I have something to do, but since she's always around, she will end up noticing that there's something weird with me going away without her..."

"Couldn't you just tell her that you need to discuss something in private?" asked Bolin.

"Then Zhu Li would know it too," said Varrick, waving his hand. "But this is different. This concerns her, directly."

"Ah..."

"Bolin, I need to make betrothal necklace to Zhu Li and I thought that..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" interrupted Bolin, smiling. "You and Zhu Li? You told her your feelings?"

"No, I was waiting for... Hey, how did you know about that… feelings… thingy?"

"I see how you look at her," answered Bolin. "But I'm disappointed that you hadn't told me earlier."

"I didn't propose yet, I want to propose her with a necklace, like a Watertribe man! And that's where you come forth!"

"I don't understand what that has to do with me," said Bolin confused. "I've never... I'm not even Watertribe and I don't know if I..."

"I know that you're an earthbender, but you've got first-hand experience with betrothal necklaces!" said Varrick. "Eska had forcibly made you wear one!"

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that..."

Varrick's eyes suddenly went wide. Bolin was an earthbender... From Republic City... But with links to the Earth Kingdom traditions...

"How could I be so stupid?" yelled Varrick, facepalming himself.

"Errr... What's the problem now?" asked Bolin.

"Zhu Li is not Watertribe! Why would I propose her in a Watertribe fashion? Bolin, how do you propose in Earth Kingdom? And don't try to avoid answering by saying that you're from Republic City! You have family in Ba Sing Se, where Zhu Li is from, and I know that you know those things!"

Bolin sighed and massaged his temple. He loved talking with his cousins and, indeed, they taught him some of their traditions.

"Well... My grandma wears a ring," he started. "She said that our grandpa gave it to her, when they got engaged... He kneeled in front of her and asked her to marry him."

Bolin told it in an over-emotional way, smiling, as always. Varrick loved this kid so much that he sometimes felt like Bolin was his own son. If he ever has kids, he will make them watch Nuktuk movies and make Bolin their role model. But before he gets to have kids, he needs a woman. A woman named Zhu Li, to be more specific.

"I miss my grandma..." admitted Bolin, breaking the train of Varrick's thoughts. "She gave me some great ideas like that... And if Opal ever wants to talk to me again... I miss her so much..."

"Hey, kid, cheer up," said Varrick, putting a hand on Bolin's shoulder. "Things get better."

Bolin thanked Varrick with a weak smile. Varrick was trying to be encouraging, even though he wasn't certain himself of what he should expect for the future, with Kuvira and the spirit vines. But he put an act on for Bolin. He owed this kid. He felt as if Bolin helped him become a better person and now, Bolin also taught him about the Earth Kingdom proposal traditions.

Varrick should get Zhu Li a ring.

The ring was a green one, with spirit vines motives. It was important. It was spirit vines that made him aware of his own feelings, after all. He had the ring made by a jeweler he knew and trusted, a former circus member who was always gifted in working on metal.

In the meantime, Kuvira went completely crazy. There was no more hope for them. The spirit vine weapon became too much of a threat to continue working on it, but Kuvira forced him to keep doing the work that was assigned to them, and which involved risking everything else. The only way to save the world, or rather, to prevent destroying it, was getting the hell away from Kuvira as soon as possible. Varrick ran away with Bolin and his wife to be. He intended proposing her once that they reach safe ground.

That didn't happen.

They were captured and made prisoners in front of Kuvira. The three of them were to be put in prison. Except...

"Wait!" shouted Zhu Li, before throwing herself in front of Kuvira's feet. "I want to pledge my loyalty to you!"

The words that she said next were too painful to repeat, but each one of them still burned in Varrick's memory. So that's what she really thought of him...

Compared to you, Varrick is a fool, she said.

"Oh come on, I'm right here!" he shouted, but louder than his words was the sound of his heart shattering in his chest.

"Guards, do the thing!" she finally said, and guards dragged him away.

The next few days were the worst of his life. He kept dreaming of her every night. When awake, he hoped that he will see her, that she will appear out in front of him. Then arrived anger and despair. The only thing that helped him through was, strangely, fiddling with the ring he had acquired for Zhu Li. Even if he was probably never going to put it on her finger... Having it around brought him solace.

She came back though. And their lives were at risk yet once again. Up till now, they always survived, but this time, it was less certain than ever. There was no more waiting. If they lose their lives to Kuvira's colossus today, let it be as an official couple.