Avatar: The Warring Earth

Book Three—Water

By Twins of the Pen

Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.

Tiki yawned, this hour being too early for even her. True to her prediction, ZanYi had woken them up about an hour before dawn to take flight, their destination: Republic City. Tiki was dreading the trip, but it was a full day of flight, so night would fall before they entered the city, giving them excellent cover. Tiki just hoped that nothing would go wrong this time around.

"Wake up, Teeks. We need you to drive," Shun urged the tiny airbender, pacing back and forth as he looked down at a notebook he held, a pen in between his teeth. Tiki blinked rapidly, forcing herself into alertness. How she wished she had time to meditate—or even eat breakfast—before they left.

"What are you writing?"

"A shopping list," Shun replied, glancing up at Tiki before taking the pen and writing another item down. "I want to make sure we're thorough enough that we won't have to make a second trip, but that we buy only what we need."

"Sounds like a plan, but how are we going to—?" In the middle of her question, Tiki remembered the mysteriously large amount of cash that Shun had stashed in his satchel. It made her suspicious, but the last time she tried asking about it, Shun had made a scary face. The tiny airbender was guessing it was a tender topic. Abandoning her conversation with Shun altogether, Tiki turned around, making sure she didn't lose her balance from Bumi's neck. "Are we about ready to go back there?" she called back.

Syaoran snapped his head back up at the sound, looking around with a panicked awareness. It was hard to keep awake—this was even earlier than the days that Tiki would make him get up for meditation. Oh, what he wouldn't give for Tiki to have been wrong about what time they were leaving. "Yeah," the Avatar yawned, looking around the riding basket to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. Each of their small bags was packed up neatly, four bags in total. It was all they had, but it was enough, since Shun planned on going shopping for supplies. "We're good to go…"

"You better be," came the lieutenant's voice from below. ZanYi was awake and alert, almost like she'd been up for hours already. The paperwork had been done so that General Chen knew of their current plans and shifted all of her and Zaron's belongings out of the quarters to be put in storage lockers until a point in time she could return for them. Walking over to Shun as he poured over his list, ZanYi crossed her arms, weighing him a questioning look. "You ready to go? You can keep writing that list when we hit the skies," she told him. The was a squawk of agreement in her ear, and ZanYi smirked a little, reaching up to stroke Xie Xie on her shoulder.

Shun eyed the bird, still a little wary of it—it had pecked him to near death the last time ZanYi had a nightmare. In the end, Shun supposed he was grateful: ZanYi hadn't made a sound, so without Xie Xie, he wouldn't have known otherwise. On the other hand, if Shun weren't a healer, he still would have the scratches from the vicious dragonhawk's talons. He wasn't surprised that ZanYi had decided to keep the bird with her… it was just going to be a bit… straining for the giant waterbender. Xie Xie was much nicer to him now, but the bird still creeped him out.

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed, tucking the pen away into the notebook and stashing the notebook into a back pocket, for the moment. Striding over to the sky bison, Shun climbed in first, the feat made easy because he was tall, and because Bumi was still resting on the ground. Turning, Shun reached down for ZanYi's hand. "Need a lift?" he joked. This always went either one of two ways: ZanYi clambered into the basket herself, or she allowed Shun to help her. The former tended to happen more often than the latter, but even so, Shun made it a point to offer help to the lieutenant.

With a look at Xie Xie and an upward shove of her shoulder, the dragonhawk took flight above her, allowing ZanYi to reach up to take Shun's hand. However, she only used it to help her grab the basket and pull herself up. Once she was settled in the basket, Xie Xie swooped down to circle around her and Shun before going up in front of Tiki and Bumi, eager to take flight. The lieutenant wasn't surprised; as well-trained as the dragonhawk, the sky was where it yearned to be. "We're ready to go now," ZanYi announced, sure that everything was prepared as it should.

Syaoran stifled another yawn, but nonetheless looked forward to Tiki with tired eyes. "You heard her. Let's go, Tiki," he urged the airbender. The Avatar just hoped she was more awake than he was, otherwise they were going to crash.

Tiki sighed. As much as she did not want to make this trip, she kept telling herself that it was necessary, and to suck it up. "Bumi: yip yip!" she shouted.

With a roar that shook the surrounding trees, the sky bison pushed off from the ground, soaring into the sky alongside Xie Xie. Tiki took a huge lungful of fresh air, the crispness of dawn serving as caffeine for her tired body. It was invigorating to fly through the skies; the tiny airbender made a mental note to do so sometime with her glider. Bumi was nice, but it just wasn't the same feeling as being able to fly under her own power. "We should arrive in Rebublic City after dark," she called back to the rest of Team Avatar.

"That's fine," Shun replied, pouring over his shopping list once again. "Although, depending on how late we get there, we may need to stay the night and get up early—there's a lot we need to get before we set off."

"In and out, Shun," Tiki reminded the giant waterbender, throwing him an anxious glance. "You promised."

"Of course," Shun affirmed with a nod. But then, he could not determine how long they had to stay accurately: there were quite a few things they needed to buy in order to survive in the wilderness of the South Pole. How long they had to stay in Republic City was directly proportionate to when they got there, and how long it would take for them to buy everything they needed. Otherwise, Shun wasn't planning to stay any longer than they had to.

Tiki's estimated time of arrival came true once again… just a little later than she had anticipated. It had taken them longer to sneak into the city this time around—security had increased ten-fold since the last time they were there, and it was a nightmare to wait for the right distraction to come along for them to sneak in. And by the time they had hidden themselves in an alleyway, Shun noticed that most of the shops they needed to visit were closed for the night. So it was with a grudging allowance that Tiki agreed to get another hotel room to stay in for the night. This time, Shun got two hotel rooms for them—one for the guys and one for the girls, he explained—to stay in for the night. He promised they would get up early and get their shopping done first thing in the morning, and ZanYi was going to hold him to that.

The tiny airbender gazed out the window of her and ZanYi's hotel room, keeping the curtain carefully between her and the window. The city hadn't changed much in the past few months—her face was still everywhere, and benders were still being treated like scum. The only change was the broadcasts: her parents now deceased, their message to the bending community to surrender to the Neo-Equalists no longer played. Tiki had, however, received a shock when Kei Ryuunosuke's face appeared on the giant screens, promoting his stance on the war. Many citizens of the city got aggravated whenever this broadcast played, much to Tiki's amusement. She wondered how on earth the nonbender she had befriended managed to get broadcasting privileges with such frowned-upon views, but simply surmised that he must have found a way, probably of a monetary persuasion.

Tearing her gaze away from the flat screens, Tiki looked down at the building across the street from their hotel. It was flashing with neon lights and spotlights, the word 'Heat' emblazoned across the top of the building. There was a long line of people waiting to get in, and music was pumping from the place. A night club… interesting…

"Okay," Shun was saying from across the room; he and Syaoran's room was just across the hall from theirs, and they had come to visit and plan their next move,"I can run out tonight and try to get what we need to minimize our shopping for tomorrow, hopefully some stores are still open. If not, I'll take note of what shops open when so we can pop by as early as possible to—"

"Does anyone else want to do something fun?" Tiki interrupted Shun, turning away from the window to gaze at the rest of the group. Shun gave her a funny look.

"I'm sorry if I'm boring you, Teeks, but we really have to—"

"You're not boring me," Tiki corrected him, cutting across him once again. "I just thought it would be nice to have a little fun for a change."

Shun raised his eyebrows at the tiny airbender. "…Okay, I'll bite," he offered with a shrug, "what do you want to do, Teeks?"

"I want to go to a dance club," Tiki said immediately, her gray eyes already sparkling with excitement. "There's one right across the street from here."

"…A dance club," Shun repeated, monotone.

"Yup," Tiki replied enthusiastically.

"Tiki, you do remember where we are, right? You do realize that there's a bounty on your head in this city?"

"Which is why I think we need to go somewhere to loosen up. Come on, it'll be fun! What could it hurt?"

It could hurt a lot of things, in Shun's opinion. He just didn't have the heart to tell Tiki so. However, someone else in the room easily did.

"No."

Of course the immediate negative answer came from ZanYi, leaning against the wall as they tried to figure out what their next plans were from here. It was bad enough that they had to stay overnight in the city again; the lieutenant didn't want anything else that could mess them up. This would certainly be one of them.

Syaoran, however, knew exactly why the idea appealed to Tiki: the girl was quite the little dancer herself. And considering she had been good enough to get them there and push herself through the motions of getting back into Republic City, it was only natural that she would want to do something to take her mind off of the bad. After all, this was the place where she'd seen her parents brutally murdered just a few short months ago. Maybe it was all of that combined that made Syaoran do what he did next, albeit reluctantly. "I don't know. I mean, it could be fun, guys, right?" he suggested to Shun and ZanYi. The Avatar was going to try and stick up for Tiki on this one; she deserved a little bit of fun for being a team player, as far as he was concerned.

But ZanYi just frowned at him then. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe 'fun' was on the agenda," she snipped at him. "It's just a bad idea. We need to stay inside, lay low until we get the shopping done, and then get out of here before anyone realizes we were even here."

"It's not like anyone is going to recognize us in there," Syaoran tried to debate with the lieutenant, who did not seem to appreciate the Avatar doing. "And it'll be just for a little bit. We're all tense and we've been sitting all day. Might as well get out for a bit while we can."

But again, ZanYi asserted, "No."

Tiki had expected the lieutenant to shut her down, but the tiny airbender still had one tactic up her sleeve: insubordination.

"It's fine if you don't want to go, ZanYi," she said with a nonchalant shrug, surprising Shun enough for his mouth to come open with a pop. This she ignored, keeping her eyes steady on the lieutenant. "I just thought I'd offer, since it's generally frowned upon when I disappear without telling anyone where I'm going."

Shun frowned. He did not like where this conversation was going…

"You're making it sound like you plan to—"

"Oh, I'm still going," she affirmed, unfortunately confirming Shun's suspicions. "I'm twenty years old, therefore I'm legally capable of taking care of myself." Fearlessly meeting ZanYi's gold with her grey, Tiki continued, "and it's not like ZanYi's my mother or anything, so she really can't boss me around."

Warning alarms were going off in Shun's head: if this wasn't taken care of soon, he was certain that a fight was going to break out. "Tiki, come on," he tried to talk down the tiny airbender, "we need to stick together. If you go somewhere strange by yourself, how are we supposed to help you?"

"I guess someone's going to have to come along after all, then," Tiki said loftily, flipping her hair back behind her shoulder. "Either way, I'm going."

Shun recognized the stubborn look Tiki wore and heaved a sigh. There was no way she was going to be talked out of this one. Which spelled trouble for them, of course: he could practically feel the rage ZanYi was about to spew for Tiki's defiance. And Syaoran could see the rage on the lieutenant's face. This was not going to be good. The Avatar stood stock-still, unsure whether to inch closer to Tiki in case ZanYi exploded or whether to get the heck out of the way in case ZanYi exploded.

ZanYi gave Tiki an incredibly dark look, and fire played at her fingertips—she couldn't even stop that. It was a struggle to make the blue flames die back down to gold. She knew this was not the time or place to have one of her recent fits of anger, like she had in private as of late. But Tiki was beyond pushing the envelope this time. "If you have to state your age and assert legalities to get what you want, then clearly you are not mature enough to know what's best for you," the lieutenant rebuked between grit teeth, doing her best to keep things under control. "Only a child resorts to such actions in order to get their way."

Syaoran looked warily from the lieutenant to Tiki, anxiety at the situation rising. "You really didn't help our case for them treating us like kids," he muttered to the airbender. But with another look at ZanYi, he could tell things might just get ugly in a minute. There was a reason that he always tried not to set off the lieutenant if he could help it: things went to crap if someone did.

"Okay, okay," the Avatar tried to diffuse the situation, his hands held up in a motion of surrender as he moved between the two females. "How about we take a vote? Democracy? We're a team, so everyone should have a say. And clearly we know where Tiki and ZanYi's votes lie, so…" Syaoran turned to Shun, hoping the waterbender would step up and help him out here. "Shun, what do you think?"

Shun, however, gave the Avatar a doubtful look. "I think it'll be a stalemate anyway," he said honestly, his gaze bouncing back and forth between the two women of the group. Shun knew who he was going to side with, mostly because it was important that they lay low, but partially because he did not want to risk ZanYi's doghouse over something like this. And the giant waterbender suspected that Syaoran would side with Tiki to make the tiny airbender happy. Either way Shun sliced and diced it, it was going to be an impasse.

Tiki recognized this fact as well, and she shook her head. "Vote all you want, I don't care," she commented, actually heading for the door. "I'm still going to go."

"Tiki," Shun called after her, his voice stern. The tiny airbender paused, turning to give Shun a look he had never seen aimed at him from her: disappointment. And it wasn't the standard "You-Guys-Are-No-Fun" disappointment Tiki usually displayed. It was a look that suggested that Shun should know better than to try and stop her.

"I don't care if you think I'm a child," Tiki said, the comment aimed toward ZanYi. "And I don't care that I might be putting myself at risk. For one night, I just want to be able to forget that my parents were murdered on the island of this city, and that there's a bounty on my head, and that I'm supposed to be the leader of my people, and that we're at war with the rest of the world. For once, I want to be able to feel like I can laugh without feeling like I'm going to cry the next minute, and I want to feel like I can dance the night away without a care in the world. I want to have fun. I want to prove to myself that I'm not just going through the motions, but that I'm actually alive instead of just existing. So you can say or do whatever you want, because I'm not waiting for you 'adults' to decide what I can and can't do. If I can have an entire race's future in my hands, I can go to a dance club. And I will."

Not even pausing for her speech to sink in, the tiny airbender pulled the door open and made to leave the room.

"Wait!"

Tiki paused one last time, looking back at Shun, who had gotten to his feet. He seemed to be at war with himself, weighing the pros and cons of what would happen, and what might happen. Finally, the giant waterbender let out a core-deep sigh. "…Fine," he decided, frowning at the tiny airbender. "But only because I don't want you out there alone." Shun folded his arms, scrutinizing Tiki. "…And because I suspect you'll just sneak out the window as soon as ZanYi's asleep," he added.

Tiki smirked, affirming in Shun's mind that the window was definitely her second plan of action.

ZanYi was near the point of boiling over, and it was getting much, much harder to control herself. It didn't matter what Tiki said: her speech meant nothing to the lieutenant. If anything, it only fueled her fire. At the moment, dealing with Team Avatar felt like a punishment from General Chen. They were unruly, undisciplined, and insubordinate. For a woman like the lieutenant, this was more than a migraine to deal with.

Syaoran could tell that the woman looked like she was at the end of her rope, but there was nothing the lieutenant could do. They were going to the club, apparently. Hopefully this would all be worth it to Tiki, because it would certainly incur ZanYi's wrath on all of them later. Especially if anything went wrong, as was likely to happen, given their luck.

"Well, that settles it then," he finalized hesitantly, doing his utmost best to avoid looking at ZanYi as he spoke to the group. "We're going to the club, I guess." Walking over to close the door that Tiki had opened, Syaoran stood there, unyielding yet to just let them go. "So, what's the plan then?" he asked.

"First we need clothes," Tiki decided, seizing upon the opportunity. Now that Shun had conceded, and she had Syaoran on her side, there was no way she was going to let ZanYi throw her weight around to force her to stay in the hotel. As she eyed the attire of the men before her, Tiki continued, "Because, no offense, but you guys would probably be arrested by the fashion police for daring to step into a club dressed like that."

Shun looked down at his attire—a dark t-shirt and jeans with the biker boots he always wore. What was wrong with the way he was dressed? Sure, it probably wasn't considered 'trendy' by any means, but it was a little difficult for him to find 'trendy' clothes that fit him. Tiki, of all people, should understand that.

"I propose we head back to Duds from last time," Tiki proclaimed. "It had a lot of cool outfits in there—!"

"It's probably closed by now," Shun pointed out with a frown. And he did not like the idea of breaking into and stealing from the same store twice. Tiki seemed oblivious to his reservations, however.

"Uh, hello, Locksmith over here?" she reminded him, gesturing to herself. "That shop had no cameras—which is kind of naive—but we can just get back in through the back door, grab some clothes, and leave some money on the counter. It's not stealing if we leave money, right?"

"No, but it is suspicious for a random pile of money to be left on the counter," Shun noted, his frown deepening. Tiki waved his concern away.

"Whatever, they should be happy that we're paying this time… We are going to pay, right?"

Shun sighed. "I suppose, since I'm the only one who has cash and I'm not comfortable with stealing…"

"Okay, that's settled," Tiki determined. She was ready to set off again, but Shun had another query to hold her up.

"Hang on. I'm not sure, since I've never been to a club before, but they sell alcohol right? Don't we need ID to get in?"

Tiki was already two steps ahead of the giant waterbender. "Here," she said, shoving a plastic card at him. "Apparently Kei's been using his influence to get the Resistance fake IDs when they need them. General Chen gave these to me yesterday."

Shun stared down at the card in surprise: it was his face, along with his actual height and age, but his name was different. He glanced up at Tiki, a little dumbstruck. "How did Kei get a hold of these?"

"I don't know, and I'd rather not find out," Tiki replied, handing Syaoran his before strolling over to ZanYi. The lieutenant did not look particularly happy, but nonetheless, Tiki held out the fake ID that was meant for her. "Kei had yours altered a little so that your eyes look brown and your dark hair is a little lighter," Tiki explained to ZanYi, "and he changed your name, of course. He was able to change the appearance on my ID and assured me that no one would be able to tell that they were fake. So if you want it, it's yours."

ZanYi did not want it. She didn't even like this plan. All of this trouble and risk, just so the airbender could have a night out of fun? It sounded ridiculous, selfish, and immature. And the worst part of all? She'd managed to get everyone else to go along with it. ZanYi wanted to dig in her heels, but there was no way she felt comfortable with all of them going out without her. She wouldn't be doing her job.

Which is why, though while scowling, the lieutenant took the ID from Tiki. She eyed it and turned it between her fingers, examining it. Kei really had gotten some pretty good fakes; after all of the trouble he caused them, at least he could do this for the Resistance. It just also seemed that it was still causing trouble for her personally. ZanYi briefly pondered over why she hadn't killed him when she had a chance.

"Fine," she said at last, fixing all of them with a dark look. "We'll go. But as soon as there's even a whiff of trouble—related to you all or otherwise—we're gone."

"Agreed," Syaoran said easily. He wanted Tiki to be able to enjoy herself, but at no further expense than she was already pushing them. The Avatar would prefer them alive to fight another day than die tonight. With only a cursory look at the ID that Tiki gave him, he pocketed it. "So, we heading out now?"

ZanYi growled under her breath, knowing they were. Pocketing the ID—not that she would probably need it, in all actuality—the lieutenant stood up from leaning against the wall. Hands on her hips, she jerked her head to the door and then started for it. "All right. Let's get this over with."

Tiki resisted the urge to pump her fist in the air; she would probably not be doing this again, because it seemed bad for her health, but she would relish this little victory for the rest of her life. As she followed after ZanYi, Shun glanced over her shoulder, wanting to see just how Tiki's picture was altered. Her eyes were blue rather than gray, and her hair had a darker tint to it. Shun could only hope that the lights would be dim enough for them to avoid scrutiny when it came time for the bouncers to check IDs. A little detail on Tiki's ID, once Shun noticed it, held his attention though.

"Tiki… why is your last name 'Ryuunosuke' on your ID?"

Tiki hurriedly stowed the ID away into a pocket, her face turning pink. "I don't know, maybe Kei wanted to make sure I didn't have any trouble with anyone. The Ryuunosuke name carries a lot of weight, you know." But by the way Tiki was steadfastly not looking at Shun, the giant waterbender felt it was safe to assume that Tiki assumed, just as he did, that Kei had an ulterior motive when deciding Tiki's fake last name.

Overhearing the exchange, Syaoran stopped in his tracks. "What?" he uttered, looking between Shun and Tiki. The latter's rosy face betrayed her, and he knew he had heard right. Great. Even after he was gone, Kei was messing with her. It was annoying. Syaoran felt a bit prickly in response. "Yeah, yeah, let's get going," he grumbled, wrapping an arm around Tiki to put her in a loose headlock to lead her out of the hotel room. There was no way Tiki was going to be a Ryuunosuke. Not on his watch. Kei wasn't going to go anywhere near the airbender as long as he was around. Sure, the nonbender may have saved his family—which made him tolerable—but when it came to how he acted around Tiki, Syaoran was never going to like him.

Other than a slight smirk, Shun hid his amusement at the pair. Although Syaoran was displaying jealous tendencies, he did not seem to realize it. His extreme dislike of Kei made it all the more obvious. And Tiki, though her blush deepened at the arm around her, seemed content to not point this out. The signs were all there… but, if Syaoran and Tiki were happy in their ignorance, Shun would not be the one to break that sphere of happiness. If they decided they wanted things to change between them, Syaoran and Tiki would have to work towards that goal on their own.

Shun was almost wishing that he had not given in to Tiki after all. As soon as they reached the alley next to Duds, Tiki had jimmied the back door open and dragged him in with her, deciding that he 'needed help' dressing himself while ZanYi and Syaoran kept watch in the alleyway. A few agonizing minutes and several wardrobe changes later, Shun was permitted to leave the store, a little disgruntled with the tiny airbender.

She had not picked anything outlandish, thank goodness, but Shun still felt odd: she had shoved a gray v-neck shirt on him that showed off more of his chest than he would have liked, though she did allow him to pull on a black leather jacket he had found by chance over the shirt. A thick chain hung around his neck, compensating for the empty space left behind by ZanYi's dogtags, which were tucked safely away in his satchel. Tiki had also made him swap his perfectly good jeans for a pair that was tighter than he was used to with rips on the thighs and knees—because that was apparently 'in'. She could not, however, find shoes for him, so the giant waterbender was relieved to say that he could keep his biker boots. Tiki insisted on changing his hair, however, and it was now in a half-up, half-down style, his hair brushing his shoulders while being in a ponytail at the same time… it was a strange feeling for Shun.

"…This is weird," the giant waterbender grumbled, a rare moment of complaint as he tugged at his new jeans.

"Oh stop it, you look great," Tiki chided him, emerging from the store a few minutes later with a new fashion of her own. Thankfully it was nothing as outlandish as the last time she had visited the store, but still attention worthy: she wore a long, white lace tunic that emphasized how slender she was while still managing to show off what little curves she had. She wore black leggings under the tunic as well as a black bordello jacket over it—the end of the jacket cut off just under her chest. There were strappy wedges on her feet, boosting her height, and she wore a pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands. Tiki had styled her hair so that it was in the shape of a bun, with the ends cascading out from the top and draping over and past the bun, giving it an exploding look. Her bangs were swept to the side but obscured her arrow perfectly, and Shun was surprised to find that Tiki looked a lot older with the dramatically dark eye make-up she had applied, contrasting with the bright blue eye contacts she had rustled up from somewhere. Overall, the tiny airbender looked great.

"Wow," was all Shun said, impressed. Tiki smiled in response.

"I would have worn something cuter… but I had to hide my arrows," she explained, a sigh of regret working its way into the conversation. Still, she was happy with the look she had achieved, and she turned to face Syaoran and ZanYi. "Your turn, you guys. I know you can dress yourself, ZanYi, but you might want to help Syaoran," the tiny airbender suggested. ZanYi and Syaoran gave each other a disparaging look. The former rolled her eyes and went straight on in to the store, ready to move this along as quickly as possible. The latter gave Tiki a look that told her he wasn't amused, knocking her head lightly before following after the lieutenant.

It was probably due in part that Tiki was not inside the store with them to make them stylish or wearing anything that was 'in' that the other two members got out a lot quicker.

First to step out was Syaoran, almost looking more comfortable than he had the entire time he'd known the group. Mildly ripped jeans and a short-sleeved green hoodie fit him quite nicely—not too tight, but fitting. It was a change from the varieties of hand-me-down clothes the Avatar had been using for the past couple months since he escaped the camps.

One more look at Shun and Syaoran clapped a brief hand on his shoulder, wincing. "Sorry, Shun," he apologized, knowing he was the lucky one of the two of them. ZanYi was not going to play stylist like Tiki had.

Speaking of the lieutenant, she followed soon after him. She'd known before even going in that dresses, skirts, and heels were not an option this time around. No way was ZanYi risking that one again. So what did she wear?

Well, her black jeans hugged her long legs, down to the boots that started to cover them around her shins. There was a mild heel to them, but it wasn't enough that it would hinder the lieutenant. But that's not to say she was going modest this time around. Her tubetop was black, a tribal fire design spiraling in the corner. It showed off her midriff and bare shoulders, the scar from her childhood more apparent now. But part of those shoulders was masked by her raven hair, longer than it had been in probably her entire life.

Syaoran had to keep from looking; despite giving up the lieutenant to Shun—and possibly liking Tiki—he couldn't deny that ZanYi knew how to dress to play her strengths when she wanted to. He also spotted a necklace falling down her front that he'd never seen on her before… but was certain he had seen before. It was too similar to Shun's necklace for it not to be his.

"Now, we ready to go or what?" ZanYi asked the group at large, surveying them with brown eyes that were not her own. Syaoran nodded before looking over to Tiki, to double check with her. Then he caught his gaze lingering. Tiki looked her own age for once. And she looked good doing it…

No! Focus!

"We ready to go, Tiki?" he asked her, forcing back his hesitation and blush.

Tiki contemplated the Avatar for a moment, a finger to her lips as her gaze swept him from head to toe. It wasn't what Tiki would have picked for him, but she had to admit that Syaoran looked good; he had that boy-next-door charm going for him. Smirking a bit, the tiny airbender stepped closer, thinking Syaoran still needed a little something. She ran her hands through his hair a couple times, giving him that bedhead look that was so popular nowadays. Satisfied with her results, Tiki linked an arm with Syaoran.

"Let's go," she said at last, tugging him out of the alley to blend in with the nightlife of the city. Shun had dipped back inside briefly to leave some money on the counter for the sure-to-be baffled owner of the clothing store before he emerged once again, his eyes immediately going to ZanYi. He swore she was doing this on purpose—why else would she dress in such a fashion? Tonight was just a night of fun; she didn't have to seduce anyone for information. It was almost enough to make the giant waterbender ask her to go change… yeah, like she would have taken that very well.

Instead, Shun merely shrugged out of his new leather jacket and draped it over ZanYi's shoulders, giving her a complicated look before he jerked his head to the mouth of the alley, gesturing for her to follow as he walked after Tiki and Syaoran. As enticing as she looked, Shun did not want any other man to see her that way, the way he saw her. It was aggravating. But Shun would not make her wear the jacket all night… just until they got into the club. There would be men there too, yes, but it would be harder to stare at ZanYi if they were in a dark, contained space… at least, that was what Shun was trying to tell himself. The sole comfort he retained from ZanYi's attire is that she kept his necklace on, a display that she, on some level, was spoken for.

ZanYi gave him an equally complicated look back, unsure of what to make of Shun's jacket. She didn't remove it, and she did follow after him. It wasn't particularly cold, so out the window went her theory on his caring nature again. Perhaps it was just him being bashful again; the lieutenant wasn't blind to the reaction she'd gotten last time she'd worn civilian clothes. It shouldn't have been as bad this time though; the outfit was not as bad as last time, at least by her count.

It didn't take the group long to get to the nightclub, and it didn't take long to get through the line. The IDs worked just fine as well, much to Syaoran's relief. The bouncers hardly gave him, Tiki, and Shun's a second glance; ZanYi wasn't even required to produce one. Suddenly, the Avatar felt like he knew how she had got into the bar last time.

Inside the club, the music was loud, the lights were dim and flashing, and people were everywhere. It was a good thing that Tiki was still holding onto his arm. While he hadn't appreciated her towing him around at first, at least this way he wouldn't lose sight of her. Wedges or not, the airbender was still short, especially in such a massive crowd.

"Okay, now what?" Syaoran asked, peering from his teammates to the thriving and thumping scene around them.

Tiki actually rolled her eyes. Didn't these people know what the concept of 'fun' was?

"Now, we have fun!" she obliged to answer, grinning at Syaoran briefly before pulling him deeper into the crowd, onto the dance floor. "You do know how to dance, right? If not, you'll have to learn fast!" Releasing Syaoran from her grasp, Tiki stood still a moment, feeling the music through the vibrations from the floor. Little by little, she could feel her muscles loosening, the beat enticing her, her blood pumping, her soul wanting to be freed. So she let the melody carry her away, the rhythm flowing through her as she moved. This, in the tiny airbender's opinion, was bliss.

Syaoran, however, stood highly awkwardly in front of Tiki, unsure of what to do. Tiki could dance; that was a fact. Could he? No. Not really. "Hate to break it to you, Tiki, but they don't exactly let us listen to music or dance where I come from," he told her, trying to avoid saying 'concentration camps' in the midst of a crowd of nonbenders. But seriously, what was he supposed to do? He looked around him to see all of the bodies moving and swaying, some of them writhing and grinding, then back to Tiki, who seemed completely enveloped in what she was doing. It was definitely nice to see her starting to look a bit more free, a little less conflicted. Syaoran was going to take that as a positive.

That didn't mean he knew what he was doing though.

Tiki paused in her movements, sighing and giving the Avatar a pitying look. "All right… looks like I'm going to have to teach you a lot more than—well, you know," she speculated, cutting herself off before she said something damaging. Taking his hands, Tiki pulled him closer to her so that their bodies were almost touching.

"It's really easy," she promised him with an encouraging smile. "You don't have to do anything fancy, if you don't want to. Just feel the vibrations of the music through the floor and just… move." Tiki stepped from side to side, her body twisting to groove to the music. "See? You can do this all night, and it'll still count as dancing."

Syaoran frowned and mimicked her movements. Step left. Step right. Step left. Step right. "This cannot count as dancing," he groaned, giving Tiki an irritated look. He looked like an utter moron. Just why had he let Tiki drag him off? He could've just stayed on the sidelines with Shun and ZanYi…

On second thought, as embarrassing as this was, being with Tiki was the better option.

"Am I dancing now?" he asked, starting to bob his head an exaggerated fashion. The Avatar knew it wasn't, but hey! Her fault for taking him of all people out to dance with her.

Tiki couldn't help but giggle at him. He was so cute, even if he was making fun of her. "Not quite, but you're getting there," she tried to encourage, but said under her breath, "then again, some people have rhythm, and some people don't… you might be the latter."

The music died down a decibel, and the disk jockey up on the platform above all of them grabbed the microphone next to him. "Yo, party people! How're you feelin'?!"

An appreciative roar followed this greeting, one Tiki joined in enthusiastically. The disk jockey grinned, his reflective sunglasses gleaming in the multicolored lights. "I'm DJ JJ, and this is Club Heat! No matter what time it is, somethin' hot is ALWAYS goin' down! Just thought I'd let the newcomers know that I do take requests, so ladies, don't be shy! DJ JJ is always eager to please!"

A bunch of cat calls sounded at this, and DJ JJ turned the music back up, switching to a song with a faster tempo. Unable to help herself, Tiki used Syaoran's arm to spin herself around before jamming to the next song, leaving the Avatar to his own devices. It wasn't long before a guy danced up to her, grinning in a 'friendly' fashion. "You've got some hot moves, girl!" he complimented, keeping up with her effortlessly. "Want to go to a dark corner and get to know each other better?"

Tiki gave the guy an odd look. What did dark corners have to do with her moves? Sensing that this was probably one conversation she didn't want to get mixed up in, she began to edge away from the guy. "Oh… thanks, but no, I'm good."

"Aw, come on, don't be like that! I'm just trying to get to know you!"

"We can talk here," Tiki pointed out. The guy's grin grew.

"Nah. I was thinking somewhere more… intimate."

He was reaching for her. Tiki's first instinct was to airbend this guy into the ceiling, but a move like that would not only get her kicked out—it would get her hunted. And she didn't want to start a fight either, but this guy just wasn't taking the hint. How was she supposed to get rid of him?

But another hand reached out and stopped the offender's, holding it away from Tiki. "Seriously, man: back off," Syaoran warned the stranger. But before the dirty male could say anything else, Syaoran was turning Tiki by the shoulders and pushing her through the crowd to get away from the creep. All the while, he was shaking his head. How was it that Tiki was managing to get guys? The airbender was clueless, naive, too trusting. She also had the temper of a small child when she got mad. But then again, that guy didn't know any of that. All he knew was Tiki's dancing.

"Don't stray too far again," Syaoran warned her, turning her back to face him. "Guys in places like this aren't exactly wholesome a lot of the time."

Tiki let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness for Syaoran. "So I'm learning," she replied, shooting suspicious gazes all around her at the guys in the club. Suddenly feeling vulnerable, the tiny airbender scooted closer to Syaoran, glancing up at him with her gray eyes masquerading as blue. "Thank you, by the way," she said, sending a hesitant smile his way. "I know this isn't exactly your thing, but it means a lot that you agreed to come anyway." In fact, Tiki had been expecting the rest of Team Avatar to shut down her idea… it was a pleasant surprise that the Avatar stood up to ZanYi on her behalf, and it made the tiny airbender's heart swell at such a thought.

Syaoran sighed and gave Tiki a resigned eye. "Well, you seemed like you needed it. I figured you could use it since you were being a good sport about all of this," he told her honestly with a hand on her head as he ruffled her hair a little. "Just don't make me go against ZanYi again. Doesn't matter who I am, I feel like she might kill me." The last thing he wanted was the world to lose their last hope because he was stupid enough to make an enemy of one of the Resistance's most dangerous soldiers. Remembering the look on ZanYi's face, he shuddered. Enough of that train of thought.

"C'mon, let's try this again," Syaoran urged Tiki, ready to move on. "I'm going to need as much time as you've got to get this right." Taking Tiki's hand, he spun her around, just like his father used to when Sora was younger. "Let's see what you've got."

Tiki grinned, allowing herself to twirl by Syaoran's guidance. She had to be mindful not to do that too much, lest her bangs fly up and her arrow be exposed. But for now, it was all right. It was dark, and the only person paying attention to her, as far as she knew, was Syaoran.

"Syaoran, if I showed you everything I had, you'd never be able to keep up," she told him with a smirk. But she decided to help him out a little more. Grasping his wrists, the tiny airbender guided Syaoran's hands to her hips, only blushing a little as her hands wandered up to his shoulders. She stepped from side to side, going at a slightly slower rhythm as the music. "But usually dancing is all in the leading. Just follow me and you'll be okay."

Syaoran blushed at the contact with Tiki's hips. She had hips! This was already bizarre to conceive, and now he was touching the proof. Wait. That thought came out weird…

"I don't know a lot, but isn't the guy usually supposed to lead in dance?" the Avatar asked, pushing away the awkward thoughts going through his mind. Growing a bit bolder, he started to move a little faster, keeping pace with the rhythm. His grasp also pulled her closer, chest to chest. It embarrassed him, certainly, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. "Kind of like this, right?" he double-checked, making sure he was taking point correctly.

Whoa there. Tiki's face warmed at the contact, her body pressing up against Syaoran's unexpectedly. Sure, he had held her plenty of times before, but mostly when she was crying. Not like… this. It felt different, somehow. More intimate.

"Uh, yeah," she began, before she pushed back, putting space between them again. "But usually people only dance that close when slow music is playing—"

As if DJ JJ heard her, the jamming music was interrupted, to be replaced with a slow, lullaby-like melody. "All right, party people, it's time to slow things down for all the couples out there. Here to entertain us tonight, one of my favorite ladies, the lovely Miss N!"

Tiki was distracted by a beautiful dark-skinned woman who strode onto the stage in a form-fitting dress, a mask over her face to match, with dark hair cascading down her back and over her shoulders. Every man in the place stopped and stared, entranced by the vision of beauty on the platform. The DJ handed the microphone over to her, and then she began to sing a song so beautiful and heartbreaking that it nearly brought tears to Tiki's eyes. Hesitating at first, she stepped closer to Syaoran once again, sliding her hands to rest behind his neck.

"…Like this," she finished her thought from earlier, daring to rest her head on Syaoran's shoulder as she swayed side to side. The atmosphere had become so sultry, and Tiki found herself relaxing in Syaoran's arms, as if nothing in the world could harm her while she was there, listening to that song, dancing with the Avatar on that dance floor. It was a feeling she could not describe easily… but if she had to, the closest word to it would be 'bliss'.

Syaoran almost didn't know what he was doing there. Not the dancing part—this slow dancing was so much easier than what Tiki was trying to teach him before. No, he meant how on earth he had ended up slow-dancing with Tiki in his arms. This really wasn't a normal night for Team Avatar at all; it wasn't even normal for him outside of this team. It was like there wasn't a war going on. Like he wasn't the Avatar, and he didn't have to save the world somehow. He was just Syaoran, and he was just another teenaged guy who got a fake ID to go to a club to have some fun. And now he happened to have a pretty little lady in his arms.

Okay, maybe he did like Tiki. It was a weird concept, but that was the only real answer he could come up with. Sure it was Tiki. But it was also… Tiki. It was a conundrum even to him. But he didn't exactly want to think about the conundrum at the moment. For once, may be he could just enjoy the moment. Right?

"Like this, huh?" he repeated after Tiki, his voice far away.

"Mmm…" Tiki hummed, her mind equally as far as they swayed on the spot. She had never felt so peaceful, not even while she mediated. This… she could definitely get used to this.

Vaguely, the tiny airbender recognized that she was getting greedy once again, that she was craving more than Syaoran's friendship. But Tiki suppressed the urge to pull away from Syaoran, wanting to enjoy this chance, for she was fairly certain she would never get another one. She and Syaoran could go back to being just friends tomorrow. Tonight, all Tiki wanted to do was dance with the boy she liked. That was all that mattered to her in this moment.

A/N from DJ: Here! Some fluff and lightness to outweigh the darkness as of late! xD I'm sorry the updating has been weekly, yet irregular xP My schedule has drastically changed from the last year or so, and now I'm still figuring out when I can fit in the editing each week into it. We've got the chappies! We just... don't know the days they'll come out xD Now, onward to acknowledgements!

ANewButOldGuest: Now you know! Shun has quite a bit of work ahead of him once they get started xD Tiki and Syaoran definitely characterize that cute, grade-school crush that you don't know where it's going xD They're sweet to write, whereas Shun and ZanYi are more of our spicy, go with the flow couple.

Masseffect321: I loved that farewell, man. That made me actually laugh out loud XD

Ozai37: Like any group of people stuck together a long time and through life, Team Avatar definitely has its moments of change. It'll ebb and flow as the series goes on! And I'm glad you like some good ol' cute TiRan~ They'll figure things out... one way or another xD

Puttekara: Well, in light of your last review, I hope you enjoyed this chappie! xD We like the differences between our duos in this story because it's a little something for everyone then~ And you're right about the male-female bonding in this story. Personally we really love the relationships Shun and Tiki have and that ZanYi and Syaoran have; with how drastically different these women are, they just more naturally gravitate towards different types of people than to each other xP As for an animal for Syaoran... I don't want to say anything either way, but just remember that Syaoran really is as plain as plain can be xD He's not like the previous Avatars in a lot of ways, so never expect routine with him.

Japaneserockergirl: I will say nothing on the matter of Shun's family, as in this series, all things are answered in due time xD However, clearly this trip to the city is already much different from the previous one xD We'll just have to see how it goes!

And that's all for now! Until whenever the next time in the coming seven days that we get a chappie up, see ya!