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.

Jin and Nyla, the latter being quite steady on her feet despite going through three glasses of hard liquor—Shun didn't know whether to be impressed or horrified—led Team Avatar to a skyscraper building that was just a couple blocks away from Club Heat. With a nod to the doorman, Jin ushered them all into the grand building, heading straight for the elevator and pushing the penthouse button once they were all inside. Thirty floors later (Shun was regretting not taking the stairs by then), the elevator doors opened, leading to a large suite with two doors branching off on either end of the room. The back wall was made entirely out of glass, presenting a fantastic view of the city, the light of day causing the buildings to glitter and shine. Tiki's eyes bugged out as she walked around, looking at everything.

"Wow. Nice," she commented, moving closer to a vanity set in the corner, recognizing what must be the wig Nyla wore at her performance last night as 'Miss N'.

"Right? The ladies love it up here," Jin joked, not hesitating to sprawl out on the nearest couch. "Take a seat, make yourselves at home. There are some drinks in the fridge behind the mini-bar and—you okay, little brother?"

Tiki turned around to find that Shun was in the entryway to the suite, leaning against the doorframe. His skin looked clammy, and he was taking deep breaths. "I'm… I'm fine…" the giant waterbender mumbled, although he looked and sounded far from it. Tiki sent him a pitying glance.

Nyla, however, did not see what the big deal was. "What's wrong with you? Afraid of heights?"

"Shun's claustrophobic," Tiki answered the singer, since Shun seemed unable to speak. Nyla raised her eyebrows in response, though she supposed it made a little sense: for someone that big, small places like elevators could seem… restricting.

"That's an understatement," Syaoran grumbled, recalling how Shun would rather sleep in a ship's hallway than in the prisoners' quarters with them. Or avoiding a small room by sharing with ZanYi on Southern Air Island—although the Avatar had speculated Shun had other reasons for allowing that, once he'd first found out Shun was in love with the lieutenant. Syaoran brushed past Shun, knowing the large waterbender never did well with small spaces, so that the elevator ride up must have been hard. But it wasn't out of any sort of negative feelings that he passed Shun by. It was rather he knew ZanYi would handle him, like she always handled everything else. And if the two of them were 'together' now, she was probably the best one to talk to him.

The lieutenant was lingering in the hall outside the suite's frame, out of sight of the others. Hidden from view, ZanYi allowed herself to touch Shun's back, pushing her warmth there. "Calm down, Shun. It's okay. You're safe," she reminded him quietly.

Shun took a deep shuddering breath and nodded, sending a grateful glance ZanYi's way before straightening up and walking into the suite. Jin eyed Shun in concern as the giant waterbender took a heavy seat across from him. "You need anything? A drink, maybe?"

"Water," Shun requested, running a hand over his face. Jin quirked a brow.

"Are you sure? Just… water? Because I have harder stuff."

"I don't drink," Shun mumbled. Jin snorted, but nonetheless grabbed a bottle of water for his poor younger brother.

"Jeez, Shun. If I didn't know any better, I would say you were adopted."

Shun downed the water as soon as Jin handed it to him, beginning to feel a little better as a result. Pushing past his weakness, Shun focused his gaze on Jin."Where's Kohaku and our parents?" he asked, getting straight to the questions burning inside him.

Jin's joking demeanor faded, his eyes growing serious. "The North Pole… we think."

Shun stared at his brother. "You 'think'?"

"We hope, actually," Jin corrected himself, folding his hands in front of his face, his elbows resting on his knees. "Nyla and I got separated from them when we got caught trying to illegally board a boat to the North Pole. We were trying to escape the city, at the time. We were supposed to just be passing through… but the Neo-Equalists unexpectedly raided the boat we stowed away on. Nyla and I lost sight of Kohaku and Mom and Dad while we were trying to escape."

Shun frowned at this. "So you stayed in Republic City instead?"

"We had no choice."

Nyla had joined the conversation by then, yet another alcoholic beverage in her hand. She sipped from it as she took a seat next to Jin, shoving his feet out of the way. Her ice blue eyes pierced Shun as she told him, "We're slaves now."

That really alarmed Shun. "You're what?"

"Not slaves, per se," Jin rushed to correct with a frown at his drinking sister, "more like… indebted. Indefinitely, it seems."

"I don't understand."

"Club Heat doesn't belong to us," Jin explained, "and this penthouse suite doesn't belong to us. Both belong to our boss, who gave Nyla and me jobs in exchange for shelter and his silence about our presence in the city. So long as we keep making him money, he won't let slip that we're benders."

"That's awful," Tiki whispered, speaking Shun's mind. "There's nothing you can do?"

Jin gave a shrug, his smile sad. "It could be worse. Right now we're trying to raise enough money to get boat tickets for the North Pole, without Boss Man knowing, of course. If he found out, we'd be finished."

Shun rubbed his chin, frowning at the floor. His siblings were being blackmailed, all because they didn't have enough money to escape. Well, if it was money they needed…

Grabbing his satchel, Shun fished out the envelope full of money, tossing it on the table between him and his siblings. "Take this. Use it to get out of the city as fast as you can." Jin lifted the envelope, the weight of it intriguing him. When he took a look inside, his face blanched, his head jerking up to stare in disbelief at his younger brother.

"Where did you get this much money?!"

"I earned it," Shun said evasively. Nyla took the envelope from Jin to take a peek as well, and she raised suspicious eyes to Shun as well.

"Doing what?" Raising a warning finger, she continued, "If you tell us you're a drug dealer, I'm gonna kick your ass myself."

Shun shook his head. "It's not like that."

"Explain it, then," Nyla challenged.

Shun didn't want to. He had no desire to relive these memories. But it was Nyla who was asking, her eyes avid on his face. He owed her an explanation, whether he wanted to give it or not. Heaving a sigh, the giant waterbender's gaze moved to the floor. He did not want to see how they would react as he told this story.

"…From when I was nine until I was about fourteen, I was… kept in a small room in this anti-bending institution. There was a small team of scientists there, dedicated to finding out what it was in my genes that made me able to bend… and what they could do to take it away." Shun shivered, remembering: the tests, the torture, the screams that fell on deaf ears… "Everyday, they tried a new way to make me lose my bending. They shoved needles into my skin, injecting me with weird chemicals. They tortured me until my body was unable to move. They told me I was evil, a freak… an abomination to nature." Shun swallowed, blocking the hateful faces from his memory. Those faces already haunted him in his nightmares—he did not want to see them in his waking hours as well. "Ironically enough, though they tried everything, they couldn't take my bending. Instead, they made it stronger. I was able to create ten-foot tall waves and freeze a whole pool of water solid by the time I was twelve. And they tortured me all the more for it, thinking I was spiting them…"

There was an intake of breath, but Shun did not look up to see where it had come from. He didn't want to know.

"…When I was fourteen, something happened. I think a riot of some kind occurred. Either way, all I knew was that the door to my cell was busted open. I ran." Shun remembered that day with perfect clarity: his feet pattering on the linoleum floor, him gazing fearfully over his shoulder, because he could be caught at any minute… and caught he was. "I ran into one of the scientists. I didn't know her very well, but I could remember that she was the one who always told the other scientists to stop when they would get carried away when torturing me. I didn't like her, but her pity counted towards something. When I ran into her that day, though, I was ready to fight this time. It was only her; I figured if I could get past her, I would be home free."

This time, Shun gathered the courage to look up at his siblings. Jin seemed to be enraptured by his tale, looking like a kid that was being told a bedtime story, his mouth slightly open. Nyla's expression had hardened—what this meant, Shun didn't know. Nonetheless, he continued, "She made no move to try and restrain me. She didn't even touch me. All she did was slide an envelope on the ground towards me. I didn't trust her at first, but I was starting to panic, just standing there waiting for her to do something. So I picked up the envelope. Inside was more money than I could count. When I looked up at her for an explanation, she just said one word: go. So I went. I ran as far as I could as fast as I could until I couldn't run anymore. I don't know what happened to everyone else in that place, but soon after, I heard the institution was shut down. And that's all I know."

A great sniffle to Shun's left distracted him; he turned and was surprised to find Tiki in tears, her gaze one of pain. "Don't cry, Teeks," Shun urged her, alarmed. He beckoned to her, and she sat down next to him and allowed him to pat her head. "I'm sorry. I never would have told the story if I knew it was going to make you cry."

"I—I don't get it," Tiki blubbered, using her sleeve to wipe away the tears. "You went through so much… how can you still smile?"

At this, a corner of Shun's mouth quirked up into yet another smile. "Because I'm alive, Teeks," he answered simply. "Yes, I went through a lot, and yes, it'll probably haunt me for the rest of my life. But I'm alive. And that's all that matters." Tiki cried even harder at this, and he sent a look to Syaoran, pleading for his help. Shun would comfort the tiny airbender normally, but the giant waterbender was beginning to believe that that role was no longer his to play. He would let Syaoran handle it.

Syaoran almost grumbled, but moved of his own free will, even before Shun had sent him that desperate look. Sitting down on the other side of Tiki, the Avatar turned the airbender around to face into his chest, letting her cry there. He patted her head gently. "Hey, c'mon… It's okay," he told Tiki. "Shun's alive and fine and with us. Nothing's changing that. He's still Shun."

It all made him the Shun they knew and cared about, and ZanYi especially never forgot that. All of the nights she woke up from night terrors, the question the next day was how many times had he had to wake himself up from his own? How many times had Shun just had to endure the whole night long as he remembered his nights in captivity? His sufferings made him the compassionate, caring healer he was.

"Don't worry, Tiki," even ZanYi piped up for a moment, looking at the airbender briefly. "Shun made it through and he's alive still. No one is ever getting a hold of him again."

Not if the lieutenant had anything to say about it.

As Shun turned back to his siblings, another surprise awaited: Nyla fled the room, heading for the door behind the couch Shun was sitting on. As she slammed the door closed, Shun turned back to stare at Jin. "What was—?"

"She didn't want us to see her crying," Jin explained, looking as if he was steeling himself as well. "I think it finally hit home, just how much you did for her."

ZanYi watched the door slam from where she leaned her hands forward on the back of the couch, standing behind her seated teammates as a bit of contentment settled in her. Perhaps now Nyla would finally get it. Shun deserved none of her anger and her spite; he'd given up everything for Nyla without a second thought as a child and will pay for it probably the rest of his life. Nyla needed to see that—or ZanYi would be tempted to beat it into her.

Jin observed all of the rest of the scene though—the crying girl being supported by the rather gruff-looking guy who didn't speak too much, and the sexy-yet-stern woman leaning on the couch behind his younger brother. These people… just how long had Shun been with them? No matter how long it was, it seemed to do him good. Jin smiled. "Looks like you have quite the support group, little brother," he commented. Gazing down at the envelope, the disk jockey placed a hand on it to slide it back towards Shun. "But… I can't take this from you."

"Yes, you can," Shun affirmed, sliding it back towards Jin. "You and Nyla can use it to get back to the North Pole, to get back to our family."

"We could," Jin agreed, but his smile was knowing, "but the way you phrase it makes it sound like you don't plan on coming with us."

Shun frowned. He would have liked to search for their parents and their elder brother with Jin and Nyla—in fact, there wasn't anything he wanted more at the moment—and yet…

"There's something I need to do," Shun answered, doing his best not to glance at Syaoran. "I have a commitment to fulfill."

Jin searched the look on his brother's face curiously, but that seemed to be the only thing he was going to get out of Shun. With a shrug, Jin responded, "Fair enough. But, as it turns out, we can't leave the city yet either."

This intrigued Shun. "Why not?" he asked.

"Despite what the NEs may think, there are still benders in the city, living right under their noses. We've formed an underground community, you could say. A support system for those of us hiding in plain sight. I was keeping an eye out for an older gentleman—an earthbender by the name of Haruto. He came to the city a month or so ago, evading capture from the NEs. Nyla and I have been helping him when we can, but we've suddenly lost touch with him. He's one of many cases we've had of benders going missing lately—and quietly, too. Usually the NEs make a big deal about capturing runaway benders, but it hasn't been happening lately. People are scared, you know? So I want to stick around and find out what I can dig up. Haruto has a wife and kids, so if I ever ended up running into them, I'd want them to have some sort of peace of mind."

Shun raised his eyebrows. "And here I thought you were just some party boy disk jockeying at clubs and picking up women without a care in the world. You surprise me, Jin."

Jin grinned at this. "That's just my cover… though the picking up chicks part isn't such a bad perk…" Here Jin winked at ZanYi, and Shun had to work to make himself behave. Jin knew nothing yet about Shun and ZanYi, so it wasn't his fault. Shun couldn't fault his older brother for flirting with the lieutenant… much.

ZanYi frowned at Jin, but when she looked away from him to graze her eyes over her teammates, she found that Syaoran had gone completely still and looked like a mixture of horrified and hopeful. "What's wrong, Syaoran?" she asked with a quirked brow.

Syaoran looked at her for a brief second before returning his eyes to Jin. "Did you say 'Haruto'? And he was an earthbender?" he wanted to verify, as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"That's what he said. What is important about that bit?" the lieutenant asked, suddenly all-business as she gauged Syaoran's reaction.

"That's my father's name." Syaoran put Tiki absentmindedly to the side and rose to his feet, his face clouding up. "The earthbender: was his full name Haruto Wong?"

Jin blinked in surprise. "Yeah," he affirmed, giving Syaoran a once-over. "So you're Haruto's kid? Come to think of it, you do look a lot like him…"

Tiki had stopped crying long enough to display her shock at the events unfolding. "You know Syaoran's dad?"

"I sure do. He came to the club once or twice before demanding that I meet him at a 'proper establishment' as he called it—he hated the music, I guess. Older generation, you know."

Shun shook his head slowly, trying to process. First, they found his siblings unexpectedly. And now it turns out that his siblings know Syaoran's dad? "How many coincidences can happen to us in one day, I wonder?" he mumbled under his breath. It was starting to get a bit ridiculous, in fact. What was next? Returning his attention to his brother, Shun asked, "When was the last time you heard from Haruto?"

Jin screwed up his face in concentration. "About a couple weeks ago… I think? He seemed nervous the last time I saw him, saying something about how they were 'coming for him' and that he was the 'perfect test subject' because of who he was related to… does this make any sense at all?"

Test subject? That phrase was uncomfortably familiar… but no, they had shut that institution down. It was closed. They were no longer kidnapping benders in order perform tests on them. That was all over, a nightmare from Shun's past. The same fate couldn't have befallen Syaoran's father… could it?

Syaoran didn't know what to do or think. Injustice swelled in him. So did fear. First his mother and sister were supposed to have been interrogated by WeiTai. Now his father…

Shun may have said the institution that held him was closed down. But what if there were others? Or it reopened? Or what if they had just gone into hiding but continued? Syaoran didn't like the answers to any of these questions. Because they all resulted in the possibility and probability of his father ending up in one of them—as a test subject.

"It's because of me," he mumbled, looking at his hands in distaste. Not again. How long would his family have to suffer? They already saved two of them—and at the expense of ZanYi's brother. Now the last one was probably somewhere that mirrored Shun's past?

He paced away, using every ounce of self-control he had been taught not to blow up anything… or cause any earthquakes. Or possibly a tornado. There really was a lot of ways he could screw things up if he didn't use self-control, so he held onto it—barely. "They're after him because of me!" he said louder, the anger crawling across his throat.

ZanYi frowned. This was not a good development. Not at all. She cursed under her breath as she pushed away from the couch to put her hands on her waist and think about this. "Syaoran, calm down," the lieutenant told him evenly. "If they have him, then he'll still be alive because of the tests they'll want to run in association to you." The lieutenant refrained from looking at Shun, knowing that being alive there by his standards meant being barely alive. And at the moment, that's all that mattered; Syaoran needed that hope.

Jin was frowning in confusion. "But you're just a kid," he said, looking Syaoran up and down once again and still not finding anything special about him—though, to be fair, if it wasn't female, Jin usually wasn't interested. "Why would your father be taken because of you?"

Shun met his brother's perplexed gaze. Normally Shun would hesitate to divulge this information, but Jin was his brother. They could trust him. "Syaoran… is the Avatar."

Jin was silent for a full five seconds. And then, abruptly, he burst into laughter. "Ahahahaha! Good one, little brother! You had me going there, for a minute or two! Okay, now seriously, tell me what this is about." Shun said nothing more; he just stared at his brother. Finally, the smile slid from Jin's face. "Whoa… you mean… you're serious?" Jin again stared at Syaoran. "He's the Avatar?"

Tiki was personally affronted by Jin's tone, and she got up to stand at Syaoran's side. "Syaoran is a great Avatar. Don't judge him by his looks—if you could see what he can do, he'd knock that disbelief right out of you." Turning to said Avatar, Tiki placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you're going through," she assured him, thinking of her own parents' situation when she found out they were being blackmailed to keep her safe. "But ZanYi's right: now's not the time to lose it. Just breathe, and we'll figure this out."

Syaoran took a look at Tiki—which required him to remove his angry eyes from Jin—and then listened, taking a deep breath. The last thing they needed was for him to kirk out like he did last time. It got him his way, sure, but the cost of the last mission was too high. He couldn't risk it again, with any of them. Once the air had gone through him and forcibly relaxed him a bit, he turned to ZanYi, frowning. "Okay, so what's the plan here, ZanYi?" he asked.

The lieutenant growled. This was not going to be good. "Syaoran, we don't know anything right now about what's going on. We would need more information, a better idea of what's going on. As of this moment, we cannot even verify that your father was taken, just that he's dropped out of contact, which is just as possible. We did it for a couple months and look where that landed us."

While Syaoran saw her point, but it didn't make him happy. And ZanYi saw that and knew it; Syaoran also saw that the firebender was not pleased with the prospect of a stalemate with Syaoran again.

"Well, we have to do something!"

"Yes, because doing something when we know nothing is an excellent course of action," ZanYi quipped back, crossing her arms. "Syaoran, we're not doing or going anywhere until you calm down. Jin said he wants to stay here in Republic City for now. We can have him on the lookout and dig up some information. Right now, your priority is waterbending."

"Waterbending?" Jin interjected. "But, if he's the Avatar, shouldn't he—?"

"Being the Avatar is a process," Tiki scolded, sending another glare Jin's way. "All Syaoran has to do is master waterbending, and then he'll be the greatest Avatar in history."

Jin raised his eyebrows at the confidence that tiny girl afforded to the Avatar. Briefly, he wondered if there was something was between them. But then he decided it wasn't important at the moment. "So if he still has to learn waterbending…" his gaze turned to his younger brother, "I'm assuming you're going to be teaching him?"

"Yeah. Why, did you want to volunteer?" Shun asked curiously. At this, Jin snorted.

"I can't make ten-foot tall waves, little brother. Heck, the most I can do is make water slosh around in a bottle. My waterbending is there, but just barely."

This intrigued Shun. As kids, they were always discouraged from using their waterbending, since that would draw unwanted attention to them. Now that he thought about it, Shun really couldn't remember his brothers or his sister ever bending. "Really? What about Kohaku and Nyla?"

"Nyla can bend a little, but Kohaku can't. He spent years trying before Dad finally told him that he probably wasn't born a bender. Man, you should've seen the look on his face—it was like Dad had told him he was adopted." Jin shook his head. "But I'm getting off track. If you need a place to practice, I want to show you something." The disk jockey got to his feet, moving to a panel on the wall, where a series of unlabeled buttons were attached. He pressed one and, quite suddenly, the ceiling over the living room of the suite began to move, revealing a 3x5 foot rectangle. A set of stairs mechanically descended, and Jin led the way up. Shun was startled to find himself on the roof of the sky scraper—if he hadn't ridden on a sky bison before, the giant waterbender would have been impressed. Next to the opening in the ceiling, a large pool was imbedded, the crystal blue water sparkling in the sunlight. Shun's nose wrinkled, the harsh chemicals invading his nostrils. He preferred the saltiness of the sea, most days… but he would take what he could get.

"You can use the pool for practice," Jin was saying, grinning at the awed look Tiki was casting around. "It doesn't see a lot of use except when I throw parties—in which case, it has to be cleaned the next morning." Shun gave his brother a look, feeling as if he could have done without that last bit of information.

"It's… great. Thanks, Jin."

"No problem. Besides," Jin leaned forward, offering ZanYi a sly grin, "it gives me an excuse to see you in a bathing suit… or not, if you're into that."

Shun had to try very hard not to shove his own brother into the pool.

It was very difficult for ZanYi too, since she normally would have had no qualms about doing such a thing. However, as she had to constantly remind herself, this was Shun's brother and he had just been reunited with them. So for right now, the lieutenant would endure. She did still use a hand to push Jin back a little, out of her personal space, but otherwise she paid him no heed. "You would have to be careful with what you do up here, in case planes go by," ZanYi warned Shun and Syaoran, hands on her hips, "but for the beginning of training, you'll probably be starting off small anyway."

"Most likely. I'm not going to be making any ten-foot waves anytime soon," Syaoran agreed, giving a friendly pointed look to Shun. Turning back to ZanYi, the Avatar's face went back to serious. "So, does this mean we're staying to figure this out?" Syaoran tried not to sound hopeful, but he couldn't help it. Knowing the Resistance was taking care of his mother and Sora was comforting, but if he could find his father too…

Pulling a small tin whistle from her pocket, the lieutenant sounded it, the sound nearly imperceptible. Then ZanYi let out a disgruntled noise, but nodded. "For now. Shun and I will have to work out the details of how this is going to work from now on though." It wasn't the best course of action, security-wise, but ZanYi would be lying if she said she had wanted to go to the South Pole. And this would give Shun some time to work things out with his siblings. Looking then at Shun, the lieutenant quirked a brow. "We'll probably have to get our rooms back at the hotel if we plan on staying longer in Republic City, or perhaps find a closer one. We'll have to go check on Bumi and grab our bags since we'll have an extended stay."

There was a screech in the air, and soon there was a blip of darkness soaring against the clear skies. Xie Xie circled around the skyscraper first, then dove down to land on the lieutenant's up-stretched arm. "And I'll have to let the general know that there's been a change in plans," she also added, allowing Xie Xie to claw up to her shoulder so she could put her arm down.

Shun was about to ask if that was a good idea, since the danger of ZanYi's message being intercepted was still possible—though Shun would like to see the poor person who was assigned to intercept Xie Xie—when Jin interrupted once more. "'General'?" he questioned as he eyed ZanYi, his gaze turning suspicious. "That's right, earlier you asked me where Nyla's fiancé was stationed… who exactly are you people?" Jin folded his arms, his ice blue gaze resting on the matching eyes of his brother. "What have you been up to the last fourteen years, little brother?"

This information, Shun was hesitant to divulge, not because he did not trust his brother, but because ZanYi and Tiki's faces were still around the city. Shun was not afraid of Jin turning them in for ransom money… It was just something he felt was not his place to tell.

Tiki let out a gusty sigh, her bangs catching the breeze to reveal the arrow on her forehead. Jin gawked, but she did not care. "He was going to find out eventually," she said and, with some difficultly, removed the blue contacts from her eyes, storing them in the case she carried in her pocket. "You know those wanted posters around the city for that airbending child?" Tiki gathered her hair into two bunches, simulating the twin tails she used to sport. "Look familiar?"

Jin's eyes widened. "You're Tiki Chouko?"

"Shhh," Shun urged him, looking around in a paranoid fashion, although they were on a roof of a skyscraper, high and far from any prying ears.

"That's me," Tiki affirmed, letting her hair fall.

"There's a lot of money on your head right now," Jin said, as if that was supposed to be news. "I can't tell if you're brave or stupid for coming into the city."

"Trust me, this is the last place I want to be," Tiki deadpanned, causing Shun to grimace in apology. Seeing this, she waved his concerns away with a slight smile. "But I'm learning how to deal."

"So… you've been traveling with the Avatar, a fugitive airbender and…" Jin turned, an almost excited gleam in his eye, to ZanYi. "So who are you, really? Ex-cop that doesn't play by the rules? Mild-mannered working girl by day, sexy superhero by night? Please let it be the last one."

"Jin," Shun did speak up this time, frowning, "knock it off. You're being disrespectful."

Jin looked up at his little brother in surprise. "What's disrespectful about asking if she's a superhero? Oh, are you worried about her secret identity? Don't worry, her secret's safe with me!"

Shun sighed, running hand over his face. He was beginning to see why Nyla never seemed to take Jin seriously. ZanYi could only roll her eyes as well. She could only sense that the time they spent there was going to be full of mild headaches for her and Shun concerning Jin if the brother kept this up. And considering the look in his blue eyes—so different from Shun's—she wasn't sure if her identity would ward him off… or encourage his fantasies.

Doing the same as Tiki, she took out the brown contacts and slipped the case back in her pocket. With her own eyes of gold, she turned back to Jin with a flat expression. "Lieutenant ZanYi Tsong of Agni-Kai Special Forces," she introduced herself.

Jin took this in silence, his eyes intent upon ZanYi's, taking in the real color of her eyes. Finally, he opened his mouth, and Shun braced himself for whatever he was about to say.

"Marry me."

Splash!

Jin suddenly disappeared from view, and judging from the churning of the pool and Shun's outstretched hand, the giant waterbender could guess where his brother had gone. Shun stared down at his hand in alarm—he did not make the conscious decision to do that. What was wrong with him?

"Hey!" Jin sputtered, breaking the surface soon enough, spitting out pool water and glaring at Shun. "Dude, give me a warning next time! My phone could have been in my pocket!"

"I'm sorry…" Shun apologized, kneeling over to reach out a hand to his brother. "I didn't mean to—!"

Shun saw the mischievous glint in Jin's eyes too late—as soon as he was close enough, Jin braced his feet on the side of the pool, grabbed Shun's hand, and gave an almighty tug, forcing the giant waterbender into the water with him. Shun surfaced soon after, expelling a stream of water from his mouth as Jin laughed. "You should've seen the look on your face!" Jin exclaimed with a grin. Playfully, Shun sent a wave of water at his brother, overtaking him. Sputtering once more, the disk jockey sent his brother a challenging look. "Oh, that's it, you asked for it! Get ready for JJ's fury!"

Jin moved his arms in an extravagant fashion, but the most that happened was a small splash of an even smaller wave that died before it could even reach Shun. Jin's face darkened in a blush. "Well, that's embarrassing…"

Shun cracked up at this, unable to help himself. Jin wasn't kidding when he said he could barely bend—which was sad—but the expression on his face was just too funny. It felt good for him to laugh like this again, to be able to joke around with his brother. He had missed this so much.

But, looking up at the rest of Team Avatar had the giant waterbender sobering abruptly. This could not last, of course. ZanYi was right: they needed to plan out their next move. "You're right, we should probably get hotel rooms again for the night. The day got away from us," he realized regretfully, pulling himself out of the pool with ease. Jin did the same, standing next to his dripping wet brother.

"You're leaving?"

"We should," Shun replied, giving his brother a helpless smile. "I'll come visit, though."

"If you need a place to stay, here's fine!" Jin insisted. "I won't even charge you!"

Shun blinked at this, surprised. "Oh… that's nice of you, Jin, but… I don't want to inconvenience anyone…"

Jin heard the unspoken name in that excuse. "If you're worried about Nyla, she'll come around. You just have to give her time. Besides, I live here too, so if I say it's okay, then it's okay!" When Shun continued to look hesitant, Jin sobered up. "Don't go, Shun," he pleaded, placing a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. "You say you'll come visit, but benders are disappearing from the city. What if I never see you again after today? We just found each other again."

Those worries were going through Shun's mind as well. But, though he wanted with all his heart to remain with his brother and sister, he had a team to think about. "We won't be far away," he promised his brother, but by the way Jin's face fell, Shun knew that was not enough. But what could he do? He could not ask Team Avatar if they could stay here with Jin and Nyla—that would be too selfish of him.

"It's okay, Shun. We can stay here if they're offering," Syaoran spoke up, trying to help Shun out. It was clear on Shun's face he didn't want to leave his family, and the Avatar knew the only reason he would refuse the offer would be for the team's sake. It was also clear that Jin was just as unwilling to lose Shun as the vice-versa. "We can stay tonight and plan out where to go from here. You shouldn't have to separate from your family on our account. Besides, we can save money for the shopping if we stay here tonight." Syaoran turned then to the lieutenant, a hopeful look on his face. "Right, ZanYi?"

ZanYi didn't look at Syaoran at all, but rather focused on Jin's pleading and the conflicted emotions on Shun's face. This was getting trickier by the minute. It was supposed to be an in-and-out into the city, but now it had involved a club, Shun's family, and Syaoran's father. Why was Team Avatar's lives so erratic? Nothing could ever go according to the original plan. But like any other mission, and especially after leading this team for so long, ZanYi knew when she had to roll with it. As far as arrangements go, this wouldn't be the worst place to be—though the lieutenant admittedly wasn't looking forward to spending so much time with Shun's brother, who was constantly hitting on her, or his sister, who seemed to dislike her on principle at the moment.

With a grunt, ZanYi nodded, looking their giant waterbender in the eye. "We can stay here, Shun."

"Whoo-hoo!" Jin cheered, doing a victory dance that had Tiki questioning if he was really four years older than Shun. But Shun had turned anxious eyes onto his team, searching all of their faces.

"Is this really okay?" he wanted to make sure.

"It's fine, Shun," Tiki chirped with a smile. "We'll be safe here, right?"

"Of course!" Jin butted in, slinging an arm around Shun's neck and putting him in a loose headlock. "You guys'll be perfectly safe! C'mon, since you're staying, I'll give you the tour!" As Jin led his brother back inside, he pitched his voice low so the others wouldn't hear him. "By the way, that sexy lieutenant you've been traveling with: is she, you know, taken?"

Shun resisted the urge to groan. He knew where this was going, and he was unhappy about the answer he was going to give him for now. "No…"

Jin's face lit up. "Sweet! So she's available?"

"No," Shun answered more forcefully, breaking free of Jin's grasp. His brother gave the giant waterbender a perplexed look.

"Now you're just confusing me. Is she on the market or not?"

Before Shun could reply, he was spared by Tiki approaching them, her stomach rumbling. "Can we go grab something to eat after the tour?" she requested of the giant waterbender. "I'm starving."

"Oh, I can take care of that!" Jin assured her, eager to please. After grabbing a towel to dry off and tossing one to Shun, he approached a telephone hanging on a nearby wall. "I hope you guys like Earth Kingdom cuisine."

"Nothing with meat in my food!" Tiki requested, joining the disk jockey as he placed an order. Shun rubbed the towel over his head with a sigh. It looked as if Team Avatar's life once again took a turn for the unexpected. But he couldn't bring himself to mind. Even if it was only in part, Shun had a piece of his family back. Despite the changes to their plans, he could never regret that.

Night had fallen, the moon low over the horizon, just beginning its slow arc in the night. Shun kept his eyes on it, trying to figure out if it was waxing or waning as his hands swished around in the chlorinated water. He was in the pool once again, properly prepared this time, with a pair of swim trunks Jin had consented to let him borrow. He was waiting for the Avatar to finish his dinner so they could begin waterbending training. From what Shun could gauge, Syaoran was going to have a little trouble with this, if the amount of time he took to learn airbending was any indication. Shun didn't exactly have a plan yet, but depending on how Syaoran picked up on waterbending, the giant waterbender would be flexible and plan accordingly.

There was a series of footsteps echoing up the stairs, and a slender shadow soon overtook Shun. "Syaoran should be up in a couple minutes," ZanYi told him, standing at the edge of the pool as she looked down at him. "Jin got him and Tiki started about their opinions on meat, so they're still wrapping up eating." Which meant the lieutenant had taken the opportunity to slip away once she'd finished. She wasn't entirely sure if her self-restraint could hold out for any more flirtatious commentary for the night. Which meant she was probably going to be joining the rest of the team outside for Syaoran's first waterbending lesson.

Slipping out of her jeans so she was clad in only her compression shorts, ZanYi sat down and dangled her feet in the cool waters, sitting in her shorts. "Are you ready for this?" she asked Shun.

That was a good question: was Shun ready for this? He hardly had a choice, since Syaoran picked him as his waterbending teacher without hesitation, but was he equipped to teach Syaoran to the best of his ability? He had never had to do this before, and ZanYi and Tiki both had teaching experience. Was he really the right choice after all?

"I'll do my best," he promised, turning away from the moon to look at ZanYi. It came to his attention that this was the first time they were alone together since the night before. Shun took a deep breath to remain calm. "But… do you think you can give me a couple pointers? I know Syaoran works well under pressure, but I don't think splashing water at him is the same thing as hurling fireballs." Indeed, waterbending was completely opposite of firebending, something Syaoran had taken to nearly at once. How could Shun teach waterbending in a way that was conducive to Syaoran's way of learning?

"Syaoran can't do something unless he understands it first," ZanYi started. He started being able to firebend when he understood its basis: his passion, his inner fire. From what ZanYi had been filled in by the Avatar and Tiki, the same stood true for airbending. Syaoran wasn't able to do it until he truly understood what it meant to be an airbender, to be part of the air.

"So, start from the basics," she advised. "Teach him what the source of waterbending is, what waterbending itself is." The lieutenant smirked a little, looking at Shun with a quirked brow. "You're a waterbender. So show him what that means. The water is your life; show him that, and why."

Shun absorbed this advice, considering it. What it meant to be a waterbender, huh…

"Hm. This would be easier if we had the ocean to work with," he mumbled to himself, rubbing his chin as he thought. "But I suppose I can make waves too… it might work." Simulating the rocking of ocean waves was not something Shun had tried to do before, but it seemed easy enough. He had to do it accurately enough in order to get his point across. "Thanks, ZanYi," he thanked the lieutenant, moving to lean on his elbows next to her. As he gazed up at her, Shun was struck once again by how attractive the lieutenant was in the moonlight. He swallowed. "I… apologize for Jin's behavior so far. I'll try and get him to calm down."

Seriously, every other comment out of Jin's mouth the rest of the day had been a flirtation aimed at ZanYi, with a couple tossed to Tiki as well. The tiny airbender had rolled her eyes at every single one, but Shun himself was finding it hard to withstand the comments towards ZanYi. He had to constantly remind himself that he had no reason to be jealous: as long as ZanYi wore his necklace, she was his. It was a fact Jin had yet to pick up on, apparently.

Then again, it wasn't like they were telling him different. ZanYi did acknowledge that much. Then again, would Jin stop if he knew she was with Shun? The lieutenant couldn't honestly say. But for the time being, it was better to keep their secret. The waterbender had just found his family again, with one member being overly flirtatious, the other with a clear distaste for her. Earlier had not been the right time to divulge in the detail that was the nature of their relationship.

"I'll deal," the lieutenant shrugged. "He's your brother. I can put up with it. After all, you did deal with Zaron…"

ZanYi grew still, and the smirk left her mouth. Indeed, how lucky it was for Shun to have found his family after all these years, to have that second chance…

"The least I can do is extend the same courtesy back," she pressed on, pushing the thoughts of her brother away. "That's how this works: it's a partnership and a two-way street."

A corner of Shun's mouth lifted. Ever logical, ZanYi was. But they had come a long way: in the beginning, it used to always be about her giving orders and him following them. But after he worked tirelessly to prove that he was her equal, that she could trust him, she now called him partner. It was a really good feeling for the giant waterbender.

"Aren't you sweet?" he teased, sneaking in a peck on ZanYi's forehead, since no one else was around. Smiling down at her, Shun said, "Thank you. But I'm still going to have a talk with Jin… and Nyla, if I can swing that." His gaze traveling down to the wolf's fang, Shun touched it delicately with an index finger, remembering Nyla's reaction when she saw that ZanYi was wearing it. "She, at least, has to understand why I gave it to you… what you mean to me."

That explanation would probably not happen anytime soon—Shun would wait until he and his sister patched things up before crossing that bridge. But until then, he would make no apologies about letting the woman he loved wear something equally as important to him.

At the reminder of Shun's feelings for her, ZanYi looked away from the waterbender up to the moon above. He was in love with her, and to the point of enduring the wrath of the sister he loved with his life, protected with his life. It was bittersweet. Sweet because she knew he was genuine, that he would never give up on her. Bitter because despite that, he was with her under no such guarantee of reciprocation.

"I'm sorry I can't answer you right now, Shun," the lieutenant eventually said, turning her serious amber eyes back to his beautiful blues. "I'm not going to leave you, Shun. You're mine and I don't take that lightly. We're a team, you and I. But… I just can't answer right now. Not until I know I'm okay."

Not until Zaron's voice was really gone. Not until she stopped having night terrors every other night. Not until she was completely herself again. Whole.

"I don't like leaving you waiting on an answer, but I don't want to make the decision right now."

"You don't have to," Shun assured her for what seemed like too many times. He rested a hand on her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin. "I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm pushing you to make a decision, because I'm not." Shun leaned forward, his lips almost touching hers. "I just don't ever want you to forget: come what may, I'll always—"

"Don't you two look cozy?"

Shun jumped away from ZanYi, looking around in alarm… but it was only Tiki, her arms resting on the rooftop as she peered over at them, her body still on the stairs and hidden from view. How long had she been there? "Tiki," Shun sighed, a hand over his chest to calm his racing heart. Tiki smirked at this.

"Relax, I'm just here as your lookout. Syaoran and Jin are coming up soon, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up, just in case you two were up here making out or something."

Shun groaned and turned his back on Tiki and ZanYi, a hand guarding his blushing cheeks. Would the mockery never cease? He appreciated that Tiki seemed to be looking out for them, but he could do without the constant teasing it brought.

ZanYi was appreciative either way. She conveyed that with a nod towards Tiki, albeit not enjoying the constant teasing. It didn't embarrass her, as it seemed to with Shun, but rather just preferred their private life to be just that: private.

When she heard more footsteps on the stairs, the lieutenant pulled herself out of the pool. "That's my cue," she muttered, moving quickly over to Shun's towel to dry her legs off and pull her jeans back on. Last thing she wanted was any encouragement to Jin's advances. Then again, she had another plan for holding that at bay.

"Ready to go up here?" Syaoran asked, coming up the steps with Jin in tow. Zipping her boots back up, ZanYi nodded to the Avatar.

"Should be," she answered as her back-up flew over and landed on her shoulder. Shun may be otherwise engaged during Syaoran's training, but Xie Xie would take care of things for him on the Jin front. Looking to the waterbender in the pool, she quirked a brow. "You ready now?" she asked as Syaoran walked over, donning a pair of shorts he'd thought to snag at Dud's the other night. He was originally going to sleep in them, but he supposed this worked too.

"Ah… yeah," Shun replied, splashing water on his face in an attempt to get a hold of himself—it helped a little.

"Let's see what you can do, then, little brother!" Jin cheered, crouching near the edge of the pool, his expression expectant and excited. Shun gave a self-conscious cough.

"It's not going to be that big of a deal, since we're just starting out… and anyway, don't you have to work tonight, Jin?"

"Nah, Nyla and I have tonight off, which is probably why she isn't back yet—she'll probably stumble in late tonight."

Shun frowned at this. They had discovered that Nyla was missing after coming back downstairs earlier, and Jin had merely brushed it off—clearly this wasn't Nyla's first time slipping away unnoticed. And Shun wasn't sure which he disliked more: Nyla's tendency to go off by herself, or Jin's blasé attitude towards that tendency. Forcing himself to focus, the giant waterbender beckoned to Syaoran. "Here, come sit at the shallow end. I want to try something."

Trying to ignore the fact that the others were watching him, Shun began to fluidly move his arms back and forth. The water in the pool instantly responded, moving back and forth with the movements of his arms. It was not exactly like the motion of the ocean, but it was as close as he could get it, so it would have to do.

Meanwhile, seeing that Shun indeed was not about to do anything spectacular, Jin sidled up to ZanYi instead, oblivious to Xie Xie. "Beautiful tonight, huh? They say moonlight does wonders for romance," the disk jockey flirted, sliding an arm around ZanYi. Tiki saw that his hand was going to land on the shoulder Xie Xie was occupying, and wondered if she should warn him. After a split-second of debate, the tiny airbender decided not to. He would figure it out on his own, soon enough…

Syaoran was in the process of climbing into the shallow end of the pool when he heard a loud screech across the night. Looking over in a flash, he found Xie Xie cawing and clawing at Jin's hand. The Avatar almost sighed; the guy must've tried to touch the lieutenant. Not that he had known any better, but somehow he thought ZanYi had orchestrated the dragonhawk's appearance just for this purpose.

Indeed, ZanYi had not sent Xie Xie away yet to keep him around for Syaoran's training tonight. And for this exact reason. She had to struggle not to smirk. "Xie Xie," she called the bird back over to her, for once Jin's hand had retreated, the bird had followed to keep it at bay. The dragonhawk obediently landed back on her shoulder with a coo and a sharp raptor gaze at Jin. "He doesn't really like people," the lieutenant put simply, though reaching up to stroke the feathers under Xie Xie's chin instead of admonishing him with a smack to his beak. Syaoran wanted to say that was an understatement, but he was trying not to smirk at Jin's atrocious luck. The Avatar had had to deal with her brother; it seemed the bird was doing the work of both Zaron and Shun right about then.

"Owowowowowowowowww!" Jin protested, clutching his abused hand and shooting wary gazes at the dragonhawk. "Man, that thing is vicious!"

While still working his arms, Shun glanced over at the damage that had been done—nothing too bad. Jin's hand was just bleeding from several spots. Shun let out a quiet sigh. "I can heal your hand for you after Syaoran and I are done," Shun told his brother, his eyes returning to his task. "Just don't provoke the bird anymore."

Tiki heard the translation: "Don't attempt to touch ZanYi anymore." The question remained, however, on whether or not Jin would heed the warning.

"Can't you send the bird away?" Jin asked, giving ZanYi a pleading look. "He's kind of being a killjoy…"

Tiki stuffed her fist into her mouth to keep from laughing. As if ZanYi would do that. Jin really did not want to get mixed up with her—he just didn't know it yet.

ZanYi shook her head, continuing to stroke Xie Xie. "He stays," the lieutenant said. And she left it at that. Jin may find her dragonhawk to be a 'kill-joy', but ZanYi found him to be the perfect way to ward off the brother without having to dismantle him herself. At Shun, however, ZanYi felt herself smirk a bit. She'd caught the translation and found herself amused. For one thing, Shun knew for a fact just how bad Xie Xie could get—they certainly had quite the relationship, him and 'the bird'. But for another, it seemed that Shun had other priorities other than his brother's injuries—like keeping said brother away from her.

Shaking his head at the whole affair, Syaoran finished climbing into the pool, feeling a bit chilly. He supposed he should get used to it, since it was going to be all water, all the time now. Still, it did not make him look forward to the going the North or South Poles.

"Okay, I'm in the water," the Avatar said, bringing the focus back. "Now what?"

"Close your eyes and focus," Shun replied, continuing his back and forward motion, the memory of the ocean fresh in his mind. "Now, tell me: what do you feel?"

Tiki leaned forward, intrigued, before she remembered that she did not like water and sat back again. But she continued to wonder what Shun was trying to accomplish here. If Syaoran closed his eyes, all he would feel was the water lapping at him, nothing special… unless that was the point? Where was Shun going with this?

Syaoran wasn't sure what Shun was getting at either, but nonetheless did as he was told. Closing his eyes, the Avatar tried to decipher what he could feel. The simple answer: water. But considering that answer would probably not get him anywhere, he tried again. "Um... cold?" he started to try and describe, grasping for anything. "I don't know. I just feel the water splashing me and you pushing and pulling it." Syaoran opened his eyes. "What am I supposed to be getting?"

"There it is," Shun said, nodding and smiling. Like Syaoran, Tiki merely stared at him, confused.

"There what is?" she could not help but ask aloud.

"Push and pull," Shun quoted, his eyes never leaving Syaoran. "You know the story, don't you? Of the ocean and moon spirits, Tui and La? They work as the principle of yin and yang: one cannot exist without the other." Shun pointed to the sky, where the moon floated overhead. "Without the moon's push, there is no ocean's pull, and vice versa. In order to waterbend, you must keep that principle in mind, and behave as the moon, while reacting as the ocean. Push, and pull."

Syaoran's brow furrowed, trying to understand it. "Push and pull…" he repeated, mulling it over. He knew how the moon affected the ocean tides, though he supposed he'd never really thought about it. The moon's push and pull affected the ocean waves. And it operated like yin and yang?

Firebending was about giving it his all. Airbending had been about completely relaxing. And earthbending was about negative jing and positive jing: knowing when to attack, when to hold back, when to wait. So waterbending was kind of like earthbending in that way: all about balance.

"Okay… I think I got it," Syaoran told Shun, meeting his eyes as he ingested the information. "Push and pull. Balance."

"Exactly," Shun commended with another nod. "Now, waterbending is all about learning to achieve and maintain that balance. It isn't easy either, since you're working with liquid instead of a solid. But since you've had to master airbending before waterbending, I think you'll have an easier time with it."

Shun raised his hand, pulling a stream of water from the surface. As he worked his hands to shape it into a ball, he continued, "Waterbending has the same limitations as earthbending: just as you need earth to earthbend, you need water to waterbend. It's all about learning how to use your material." Shun juggled the ball of water, adding two others for a moment, before letting them fall back into the pool. "But, I'm getting ahead of myself: you need to learn the basics first. You already have the concept. Now all you need to do is apply it to your bending." Shun moved his arms in the backward-forward motion again, only slower and more exaggerated this time. "First, you should try and master this movement. Once you can push and pull water, you'll be able to further bend it to your will. Go ahead and start. I'll correct your hand and arm movements, if need be."

"Dang… maybe I should get in there and have you teach me too, little brother," Jin said, and though his lips were quirked up in a smirk, Shun could sense that, on some level, Jin was serious.

"Maybe some other time, Jin," Shun offered with an apologetic smile, "this lesson is for Avatars only right now."

"Awww."

Syaoran certainly appreciated how Shun was trying to parallel this to earthbending. The association made it so much easier for him to grasp. He almost wondered if this would have helped him with airbending, but then again, there was nothing alike between those two. Shun already had the easier element to relate to him of the two.

He took a deep breath—though he finally had an element where that wasn't the first thing being taught to him!—and looked at the material he would be working with. It was wet. And slippery. And he couldn't grasp it. Liquid, not solid.

Focusing as much as he could, Syaoran tried mimicking Shun's actions. His arms and hands went back and forth. But his arm movements were rough, stiff. The water was moving, but minimally. It was more like small ripples than even a small wave.

"That's good," Shun encouraged nonetheless, moving closer to the Avatar. "But don't make your arms so stiff. Your movements have to be fluid, like airbending."

"Think of waterbending like a woman," Jin supplied 'helpfully', "women like a more gentle touch, as opposed to a rough, course touch. You have to treat the ladies nicely if you want any sort of response from them… although, some do like it rough. For example, the other night—"

"Thank you, Jin," Shun cut his brother off dryly as Tiki stared at Jin in embarrassed surprise. Honestly, was everything vulgar when it came to his brother? Shun hoped not—he would get harder and harder to deal with, if that was the case. Turning back to the Avatar, Shun regretfully admitted, "Though, Jin does have a point… there's a gentleness that is required of waterbending, but only a little—the sea can be as friendly as it is unforgiving."

"Kind of like you and ZanYi," Syaoran muttered, but lowly so Jin would not overhear. If the fact that Jin was still hitting on the lieutenant was any indication, the two weren't telling anyone else about their relationship at this time. He risked a glance over there to find ZanYi smirking quite openly, and Syaoran could only remember the hickeys she bore courtesy of his new teacher.

Syaoran choked a little at the thought. He had to get his mind off of this.

Trying to loosen up a little bit, Syaoran used the fluid movements he'd used with airbending. The water did move, but it didn't go back and forth like he wanted it to, but rather just jiggled everywhere. There was no control over it.

"Well, water is a woman who doesn't like gentle or rough," he grumbled, getting a little frustrated.

Shun, who had turned red at Syaoran's insinuations, chuckled at his last comment. "Don't be discouraged," he advised the Avatar, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Waterbending is a process; not everyone gets it right away. Just look at Jin, for example."

"Hey!" Jin protested. Shun shot a playful grin Jin's way before returning his attention to Syaoran.

"The important thing is to keep practicing. You have to learn to move it before you can bend it."

"And look on the bright side, Syaoran," Tiki piped up, ever the cheerleader, "You no longer have to get up early in the morning for practice, since you need the moon to help you waterbend."

"Technically I could have practice early in the morning while the moon's still out," Shun speculated, rubbing his stubbly chin. "But, I see little to no point in that, since the sun would rise within a couple hours. Having waterbending training at night is a better idea."

Tiki giggled to herself. Shun was a merciful teacher indeed. Syaoran made the right choice in choosing him.

That's exactly what Syaoran was thinking at that moment and he sighed in relief. "Finally: a chance to sleep in," he breathed, the mere idea sounding fantastic right about then. Then he heard a snicker he hadn't heard in a very long time.

As if he wasn't sure he'd heard it, he looked up to ZanYi and saw that it was her. "Perhaps," the lieutenant suggested, "or you could just have waterbending practice at night, meditation with Tiki at dawn, and then firebending all morning."

Any hope the Avatar just had of rest and sleep jumped out of the window of his mind. "Your goal really is to kill me, isn't it?" he asked, unsure of whether ZanYi was just trying to scare him or was serious.

"Well, then you might want to work hard on your waterbending so you can master it faster than airbending. Don't need everything else getting rusty just because you're not practicing."

Syaoran hung his head. He just could not win. Finally, a merciful teacher… and then reality smacks him with the opposite.

Shun gave the Avatar a pitying look, patting his shoulder once again. "If she's actually serious, I'll see what I can do to talk her out of it," he promised Syaoran, pitching his voice low so no one else would hear him. It wasn't often that Shun could go against ZanYi, but there were a few times he had achieved victory. He honestly felt bad for the rigor Syaoran was often forced through, Avatar or not. ZanYi often held everyone else to her own standards, which was why she pushed so hard. It was a good thing Shun was so patient, or their fights would be even more explosive then they already were.

Stepping back from Syaoran, Shun urged him to continue the back and forward motion. He knew repetition was not something the Avatar was particularly fond of, but it was the only way for him to start nailing down the basics.

"You're saucy, huh?" Jin asked, leaning towards ZanYi once again with a smirk. "That's hot."

"I'd be careful, Jin," Tiki felt she needed to warn him, glancing up to fix him with a serious gaze, "If you annoy ZanYi too much, she'll set you on fire."

"Kinky," Jin purred, his eyes never straying from ZanYi. Shun and Tiki sighed as one. The guy was relentless.

"Trust me when I say you will never get a chance to find out what I'm like," the lieutenant vowed. ZanYi had a mild look of disgust on her face as she frowned at Jin. It was these types that always drove her nuts—and not in a good way. If he didn't share a gene pool with Shun, he would have already been torched and in great pain by now.

Thankfully, just as she was tempted to show him what happens when messing with fire, Xie Xie decided to shift to the shoulder closer to Jin, screeching into his face as he had leaned closer to ZanYi. The dragonhawk's bad manners were quite a great skill set tonight.

Syaoran watched this all go down as he continued to try to move the water in front of him, finding it to be a challenging task. "I think you've got your own problems to worry about right now, Shun, not me," he noted quietly.

Shun sighed as well. Yes, it certainly seemed as if he had a lot more to worry about than Syaoran did. But the giant waterbender would not let it get to him. He and ZanYi were together, even if Jin knew nothing about it, so while his advances towards the woman Shun loved were annoying, he would deal. There was no way ZanYi would want to be with someone like Jin. And at least, just this once, the bird was in Shun's corner as well. Which was a good thing, because Shun couldn't afford to worry about his brother and ZanYi right now. He had made a promise to Syaoran, a promise to teach him waterbending.

And Shun refused to break any more promises to the Avatar.

A/N from DJ: Oh, the joys of family, am I right? xD The team is family, but family is also family, so we've got to include those relationships too! And now Syaoran will finally start his journey into waterbending! Let us hope he gets through this one better than airbending xD Also, can we just stop and appreciate that the first book, Fire, has 41 reviews for its 20 chappies... With Water at 8 chappies, we already have 48 reviews! Like... you guys: that's just crazy to us. We had such a hard time getting this story off the ground, and now... wow. You guys make us feel so loved with your support, and we wouldn't have gotten to posting this much without it. Thank-you. Now, on to the individual acknowledgments:

Masseffect321: ALL the things are developing! xD Hope you're enjoying the continuing relations between Shun and his family; I promise you, there is so much more to come in this book, let alone the coming chappies! I believe you had the right reaction: Oh Snap.

No. XIII: SO MUCH is going to be revealed about Shun and his backstory, as you can already tell from this chappie. Trust me when I say this: the wait is totally worth it :3

ANewButOldGuest: Greece was definitely fabulous! I did Italy a couple years ago for a similar trip, and I love both countries differently~ And I'm glad that we continue to surprise you! We like to be predictably unpredictable~ You had a lot of good general ideas about this chappie, though we still always have more to share!

Azula48: Thank-you so much for the favorite on Water, the favorite on us, AND the alert for this book. WOW! All the love is awesome and we hope we get to hear from you soon! Thanks so much!

RevolutionbutCivilization: Bahaha, all those reviews while you're catching up, I can't possibly respond to them all on here! [Then again, you always know where to find me elsewhere on the interwebs~]. I'm so glad you're enjoying Water, even if it's invoking your inner Shun FanGirl xD I'm so glad you enjoy the writing, because we like to hope it got better as it went along - for development and progress' sake. Good luck staying current now! Brace yourself. The Jiangs have arrived xD

Ozai37: I'm glad you're looking forward to Shun's story, because you're going to get a lot of it in this book! There's a lot to unpack and unravel there. And we're very happy that we're keeping you on your toes - we like being full of surprises! And I'm happy you enjoy the art as well; I wish I had more time to put more out!

And that's all for now folks! We'll see you again next week! Peace out, y'all!