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.

It was quiet again when Syaoran got up the next morning. He recalled vaguely Jin getting up and out before him, but the Avatar had refused to get up. So it was a little bit later when he eventually rolled out, bedhead worse than ever. He walked into the living room, finding it still and relatively empty. The lieutenant was there, going through the motions of her firebending. "Morning, ZanYi…" he yawned.

In return, he got an irritable growl, though she never looked over at him. "Did you and Tiki patch things up?" she asked in lieu of a greeting.

That brought on a whole wave of awkward for Syaoran and it made his cheeks heat up a little, though he fought to keep it down. "Uh, yeah, you could say that," the Avatar answered, not exactly wanting to put the specific details out there.

Thankfully, ZanYi was never one to need more than that admission, and she looked a bit tenser anyway. Syaoran decided not to question it—it was either nothing of importance or she wouldn't tell him anyway. "Tiki is up on the roof meditating," the lieutenant informed him then, "and everyone else is out at breakfast."

Which ZanYi didn't necessarily mind. It meant all of the Jiangs were out of her hair for the time being, Shun included. Today was not a day she wanted his sweet affections and courtesies. Today she just wanted to get by and get the day over with without anything affecting her—something that was already proving harder than she would like.

"What, you miss me?"

ZanYi put even more effort into her forms then, trying to drown out the voice that was reemerging with newfound vigor that morning. Seeing that her focus doubled then, Syaoran took that to mean that their conversation was over. With sleepy steps and a bit of a yawn, the Avatar padded up the stairs to the rooftop. The penthouse became quiet again. Normally such silence was a relief to ZanYi, a comfort when surrounded by noise and hustle. Yet today, it was not either of those things. The room felt like a tomb, a grave. The silence was filled with the echoes of memories that whispered in her ears, haunting her every thought.

"Zaza…"

The voice reverberated through her mind again. ZanYi steadfastly ignored it. Today was just a normal day.

"Just another day at the office?" Zaron's voice asked quietly to her, joking. It made her push herself even harder. She wished the words were true, but it wasn't. Another day at the office would not be like this, not have her in a penthouse in Republic City alone on Zaron's birthday.

But no. She wouldn't let this get to her. ZanYi was going to make it just another day; she would fight through this and no one would know.

"You do have an impressive poker face…" Zaron admitted in her mind, and ZanYi worked to keep that face on, knowing the words that had followed it. "Except in one regard. The waterbender."

Shun wasn't going to find out about this; the lieutenant was determined. She was coping better these days, the nights not as long and not as painful, with less and quieter night terrors. Her mind was becoming her own again, more stable and self-reliant, as Zaron's voice had slipped away. One day was not going to ruin all of that—ZanYi couldn't let it.

So when she heard a clink against the glass door to the balcony, ZanYi looked over quickly, eager for a distraction. Outside the glass, Xie Xie was flapping away to keep flight, trying to capture her attention. It felt good to know the dragon hawk was back. After crossing over and opening the door to slip outside on the balcony, the lieutenant allowed Xie Xie to land on her shoulder, nuzzling up next to her face. "Hey there," she greeted quietly. ZanYi took the message off of him, unfurling the papers there inlaid for her.

First was business: General Chen had received their revised plan and was urgently waiting for her reply as to their departure from Republic City.

The second was good news—something that was a bit of hope to her day. The charges had been dropped against her officially; the lieutenant was finally free of all charges and her record was clean again. ZanYi considered this to be a great distraction indeed. It was excellent news, paired that Lee had been released from custody and was now training with the Agni-Kais again. Things were finally getting back to the way they should be—though there was a note that she was still to remain with Team Avatar.

But the third object sent to her killed all of that and was probably the reason it was at the bottom of the papers for her to read. Not just a paper, but a small pamphlet and a rose: both were from the memorial service held in honor of her brother after she'd left. For once ZanYi was thankful that she had been with Team Avatar; she wouldn't have been able to sit through it. And having this reminder sent to her was not appreciated—though it was probably safe to assume General Chen knew that, but still felt a need to do this anyway.

Folding the papers to slip and hide in her back jean pocket, the lieutenant moved to lean on the railing, looking out onto the city. Xie Xie moved to the railing to face her, letting out a small coo. Even the dragonhawk seemed quieter, sadder. "You know what today is too, don't you?" she asked him, using a hand to stroke his feathers. Comparing to how somber he was now, if one didn't know better, it would be difficult to ascertain that Xie Xie often sported violent behavior towards others.

"I find it to be good behavior."

ZanYi growled, Zaron's voice serving to push her further. With one look at the white rose in her other hand, she tossed it over the edge of the balcony, away from her sight. She didn't want any more reminders of a fact she knew all too well. Turning back to her useful pet, she continued to soothe and stroke the dragonhawk. "It's just going to be you and me today, Xie Xie. Just you and me…"

Or not.

The slam of a door was heard, followed by Jin's obnoxious and cheerful voice, calling out for breakfast. Which meant it wouldn't be long now before…

"Hi there, bird," she heard Shun greet Xie Xie cautiously, and soon he was beside her on the balcony. His eyes went to ZanYi's face. "Breakfast is on the table…" There it was again—that feeling that something was off about ZanYi today. Shun and ZanYi had been awake by the time Jin had come out of his room this morning, grabbing Shun and bursting into Nyla's room, claiming that it was about time they had some family time together. Shun barely had a chance to say goodbye to ZanYi before Jin yanked him and Nyla out of the penthouse in search of breakfast. All the giant waterbender had been able to think was that ZanYi looked off today. And now her expression looked normal enough, but there was something about her that did not bode well. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said in a normal tone of voice, doing her best not to sound exasperated with him. ZanYi continued to pet Xie Xie. The dragonhawk briefly looked up at Shun, letting out a sorrowful sound before hopping back to ZanYi's shoulder to rub its beak against her cheek. Deciding to move the conversation before Shun could push things, the lieutenant decided to fill him in on the other news. "General Chen is waiting to hear back on our departure," ZanYi informed him, her gaze never left Xie Xie as she brushed his feathers with her finger. "And good news: my charges were dropped finally. I'm still on suspension for now, but my record is clean and Lee was finally released."

At ZanYi's good news, Shun was prepared to celebrate with her. Except that ZanYi did not seem happy about her good news at all. Her expression and tone were merely neutral, and it was only Xie Xie that was expressing any emotion at the moment, appearing to want to comfort his master. The giant waterbender began to frown. Something was wrong with this picture.

Reaching out, Shun grasped ZanYi's chin, turning her head to look at him. "What's wrong?" he asked, his anxiousness beginning to show. "Did you have another nightmare last night?" He was only guessing, but it seemed to be the most plausible explanation for why ZanYi was trying to force herself to act natural. Shun was a little insulted—did she think he would not notice that something was wrong? Or was she simply hoping he would not notice? Either way, it was wishful thinking: Shun was now so attuned to ZanYi's emotions that he sometimes felt them as his own. There was no way he believed that she was as 'fine' as she claimed.

ZanYi could already feel her patience starting to ebb. She knew Shun was only being himself, caring and concerned for her as always. But the lieutenant did not want that treatment today. Today she wanted to pretend everything was normal. So, forced to look up to Shun's anxious blue eyes, she lied again. "No. I'm fine, Shun," she asserted again, keeping her tone level. It was not a complete lie; there had been no nightmare the night before. Only dreams of all the times she'd fought with her brother, all the times they'd been at odds. It wasn't a nightmare, but it certainly wasn't pleasant.

The lieutenant moved back from Shun. "Since you're back now, you can stay with Tiki and Syaoran. I'm going for a run," ZanYi told him, going back inside. Xie Xie flew up to land on Shun's shoulder, unsure if it was allowed inside. Before any more could be said, she had her boots on and was out the door.

Shun was left to stare after ZanYi, his frown becoming more pronounced. Despite what she said, the lieutenant was certainly not 'fine'. And the worst part was that Shun couldn't comfort her, because he had no idea what was wrong. He was pretty good at reading ZanYi, but he was not a mindreader. "Women are confusing…" Shun sighed, absentmindedly reaching up to stroke Xie Xie's feathers as ZanYi was doing a moment ago, if only to appease the bird and to keep it from pecking his ear off or something. Glancing toward the dragonhawk, Shun said, "I think it'll be okay to bring you inside as long as you don't get your droppings on anything. I already ate, but I bet you're starving after making such a long journey."

Just then, Syaoran thumped his way down the steps, eager to head straight for the food. It smelled so good, and considering his and Tiki's predicament yesterday had derailed both of their appetites at dinner, the Avatar was eager to eat. His spirits were much improved after all—he stubbornly tried not to attribute it to Tiki, but was failing. Upon reaching the penthouse floor, he first found the food. "Excellent…" he muttered, immediately sitting down to start going through the bags of food. Then he saw Shun coming in from the balcony, alone with Xie Xie. "Uh-oh…"

Tiki had seated herself next to Syaoran, noticing the same thing. So when Shun came closer, Tiki decided to ask the man who was an authority on all things ZanYi himself. "Shun, where did ZanYi head off to?"

"She went for a run," Shun answered, selecting a crescent roll from one of the bags. He ripped it into pieces and offered it to Xie Xie. "I'm not really sure what dragonhawks like… can I assume bread is a safe bet?" He got his answer in a happy snap of Xie Xie's beak, taking the bread bite and gobbling it up quick. Syaoran watched, finding it strange how now the dragonhawk seemed to have no qualm or quarrel with Shun. Perhaps it was just due to the waterbender's new relationship with ZanYi.

Just as the Avatar was about to dive into the sausage he'd laid out on his plate next to his eggs, there was a caw in the air and a flitter of feathers. Xie Xie swooped down to snag the meat before landing back on Shun's shoulder, munching on Syaoran's breakfast delightfully. "Seriously?" he protested, looking at the dragonhawk in disdain. Xie Xie gave him an angry screech after that, so Syaoran decided not to push his luck and just keep eating the rest of his breakfast.

Shun did his best to hide his smirk, but Tiki outright giggled at Syaoran's misfortune. "Serves you right for being a meat-eater," she teased, nudging Syaoran and she enjoyed her own breakfast. She turned a curious eye onto Shun, however. "By the way, when did you and ZanYi's bird get so friendly? I thought it hated you."

Shun turned a curious look of his own onto Xie Xie, fishing out more food for the bird to eat. "I think it tolerates me now," he said cautiously. "Just as long as I don't upset ZanYi, it's fine. ZanYi says Zaron must have retrained the bird… before he died."

Tiki's eyes softened. So the late sergeant major had realized that Shun wasn't straying from ZanYi's side anytime soon. That had been nice of him, retraining Xie Xie to keep things smooth… kind of like his last gift to ZanYi. The poor lieutenant.

"Who's Zaron?" Jin cut in, almost flopping down next to Shun before he realized Xie Xie was on the giant waterbender's shoulder—he then chose to keep his distance. "The lieutenant's ex or something?

"He was her brother," Tiki answered softly, lowering her fork to her plate. "He died not too long ago."

Jin blinked. "Oh… I had no idea," he replied, looking guilty for some reason. "I know how that feels…"

Shun reached out and clasped Jin's shoulder, saying nothing else. Tiki, wanting a change of topic, asked Jin, "So, did you find anything out about Syaoran's father?"

"Ah," Jin answered, his ice blue eyes beginning to sparkle. "Actually, I did get a lead. You see—"

"Hang on," Shun requested, holding up a hand to give his brother pause. "Can you wait until ZanYi comes back? She'll want to hear what you have to say."

Jin shrugged, perfectly at ease. "Suit yourself."

Syaoran almost groaned aloud. Why was this morning already going downhill with his bad luck? First the dragonhawk was taking his breakfast, and now they couldn't even hear the news about his father. He hoped ZanYi would be back soon so they could get this over with. "Did she tell you when she would be back?" the Avatar asked Shun, putting more sausage on his plate and eating it quickly. Xie Xie eyed the meat predatorily, but Syaoran was able to stuff it in his mouth too fast. He almost thought about taunting the bird with the success, but considering how many times he'd seen it attack people, Syaoran thought wiser of it.

Tiki cast a sympathetic eye on Syaoran. She knew how he was feeling—she had been so impatient to hear news about her parents that she had almost attacked Shun in her desperation to wake ZanYi and get some answers. That was months ago, but the feeling still lingered, of course. She turned hopeful eyes onto Shun, only to be shot down when the giant waterbender shook his head. "She barely warned me that she was going for a run before she took off," he explained, frowning at this. His eyes went to the two youngest members of Team Avatar, searching for answers. "Speaking of ZanYi… does she seem a bit… strange to you two?" Shun did not want to gossip about the lieutenant behind her back, but if speaking with Tiki and Syaoran could gain the giant waterbender some insight on why ZanYi was behaving so peculiarly (despite her assertions of being fine), he would take it.

Syaoran munched a bit as he thought about the question, trying to weedle out what he could from what limited interaction he'd had with the lieutenant. "Well, I wasn't really sure if it was strange," he started between bites, "but I know she seemed irritable this morning." He'd only greeted her and she was already snippy. It was a little early in the day, even for ZanYi. "She seemed like she was concentrating really hard on something, and she was a little agitated."

Shun nodded, although that wasn't much to go on. It proved that it was not just him who thought she seemed out of sorts. "Tiki?" he asked next.

Tiki shrugged, giving the giant waterbender a helpless look. "I said good morning before I went upstairs to meditate, but that was it." Tiki noticed nothing out of the ordinary about ZanYi… maybe Shun was just more sensitive to the lieutenant's subtle mood shifts than she was? It was plausible. "Do you think you should have gone after her?"

Shun considered this, automatically feeding Xie Xie bits of sausage. "…No," he replied, decided. "If I pushed her far enough to actually intrude upon her private time, I feel like she would have scorched me on principle. With ZanYi, I have to just let some things go."

Nyla emerged back from her room at that point, her motorcycle helmet under her arm. "Where are you going?" Jin asked, not sounding remotely interested, but more like he was asking out of habit.

"None of your business," Nyla replied, letting the door slam shut behind her.

Jin heaved a sigh, giving his brother a look. "It's starting to scare me how much your lieutenant and our sister are seemingly alike." Shun smirked at this. Like he had thought before, it seemed to be his destiny to care for difficult women.

Syaoran was obliged to agree, and kept his mouth shut, opening it only to shove more food in. He could only sit there and hope the lieutenant would hurry up on her run. The sooner they could find out what's going on with his father, the better.

"So, here's the deal," Jin was explaining at last over dinner—sushi. Tiki, who was enjoying her vegetable rolls with a ferocious enthusiasm, paused to give Jin her attention… for the moment. Vegetable rolls were the tiny airbender's favorite, so if Jin didn't hurry up with whatever he wanted to say, he was going to lose Tiki's attention.

Jin got ready in his seat at around the small table in the penthouse living room, as if ready to tell a daring tale. "Last night, when I was taking a break, I got caught up with one of my groupies."

"Jin…"

"Relax, little brother, this story is PG. Anyway, as I was drinking with her, she let slip that she needed a place to stay—trying to go home with me, I think—"

"Jin."

"Chillax, I'm getting to the point. Anyway, when I asked if her place was getting fumigated or something, she simply said that she didn't want to be around when her apartment got raided by Neo-Equalists. Apparently, they've been sending secret signals to nonbenders to warn them when they raid a place, so that the benders hiding have no idea what's going on until it's too late. That's how they've been snatching benders secretly from the city."

"Ugh. Underhanded tricks. What a surprise," Nyla drawled, clicking her chopsticks in distaste.

"What's the signal?" Shun wanted to know. But Jin just shrugged.

"Dunno. The girl got skittish, like she felt she had said too much. I managed to get a possible lead from her before she took off, though: apparently, around the time Old Man Haru went missing, there was a huge bust downtown, around the place where he and a few other benders were squatting." Jin fixed Syaoran with an uncharacteristically serious look. "I'm almost certain that the Neo-Equalists have your father."

Tiki slipped a hand under the table to squeeze Syaoran's hand, silently offering him her support. "What can we do?" she asked.

"That all depends on how much I can learn tonight," Jin replied, setting down his chopsticks and standing up. "If the Neo-Equalists are raiding so many hidden bender havens at once, the place they're holding them all must be nearby. I'll see what I can dig up."

"Be careful," Shun cautioned the both of his siblings, as Nyla stood up to go get ready as well. Nyla gave a curt nod; Jin grinned.

"Don't worry, little brother. We're always careful."

As they returned to their respective rooms to prepare for a night of work, Shun prayed that Jin was not exaggerating—if they showed too much interest in the Neo-Equalists' plans, suspicion could be thrown onto them next… especially since he had found out they had foolishly hired a relative to the Neo-Equalists to work as their bartender. Shoot, Shun had forgotten to warn them. He was so shocked and so angry when ZanYi had told him Kai was at the bar that it took all he and she could do to keep him from storming out of the penthouse and to the club himself to pummel Bartender Boy. He would have to say something to his siblings before they left.

"Things just keep getting more and more complicated," Shun muttered to himself, stroking his fuzzy chin—he would have to shave again soon. Tiki gave a helpless smile.

"At least it's never boring," she tried to encourage Team Avatar. It was a feeble ray of light in their increasingly difficult lives, but it was a light nonetheless.

Syaoran snorted, dropping his fork to rest his elbows on the table and bow his head into his hands. This was just a mess. Chances are the Neo-Equalists had his father. Again. Somehow he'd gotten away before, and now they had him again. His father had already been sick; even if he'd gotten better, he wouldn't last long now. The man could have a relapse and if he did that while the enemy had him…

The Avatar let out an irritable growl.

"If they've taken him, we'll find out where, Syaoran," came ZanYi's voice, and that was a red flag already that he needed to keep his wits about him. The lieutenant had spent most of the day avoiding talking to anyone since she got back. So if she was talking enough to try and to convince him that things would work out, Syaoran had to try too.

ZanYi stood up from the table, finished eating. In order to keep Shun at bay, but at peace, she'd forced herself to eat when she got back earlier, and dinner tonight. The leftovers were given to her dragonhawk. Walking over to the fridge, she pulled out a beer, popping it open with ease. Syaoran was aware enough to give her a funny look, considering he never really knew the woman to drink. But, like everything else about her behavior today, he didn't mention it as she walked past the rest of them to walk out onto the balcony.

When the door closed behind her, the Avatar looked to the rest of the team. "So I guess it's business as usual until we find out more?" he asked everyone.

"Yeah," Shun replied slowly, but his eyes were on ZanYi. He supposed the lieutenant was entitled to a drink; he had just never seen her actively seek out an alcoholic beverage. That one time in the bar had been just for show, to lure Kai in… He shook the thought of that guy away. "I'm ready when you are, Syaoran," Shun announced, getting to his feet, his meal long-since finished. What surprised him was how Jin and Nyla seemed to be able to consume food at the same rate as he could—Jin had explained that Kohaku had been greedy when he went through his teenage years. Jin and Nyla had to learn to eat fast enough so that their elder brother would not swipe their food when they were not looking.

Syaoran shoved the last bite in his mouth, rising to his feet then. "Ready," the Avatar announced, already stripping of his shirt as he walked towards the stairs. By the time he was up there, he had it off and tossed it over to the side. Shorts already on, he started to slowly climb into the water. It was a bit chilly, so Syaoran appreciated being able to acclimate to it first, slowly. Once he was in, he was fine. But getting to that point? That was the hard part. When he eventually went under and came back up, the Avatar's face no longer fell smack into his face. Tiki had surprisingly done a decent job with cutting it shorter when he'd let her cut it earlier—the clean up had been annoying though. He ran a hand through his shorter hair, satisfied with it. It was short enough that it wasn't constantly dripping into his eyes, but it was still messy and thick.

"All right, Syaoran," Shun addressed the Avatar, his body adjusting quickly to the water, "we're going to continue practicing with the push and pull movement. There's a full moon tonight, so that might help you out a bit. If you're able to master this tonight, we can move on to you actually manipulating water outside of its body." To demonstrate, Shun briefly summoned his water whip, making it arc and swirl above them before guiding it back into the pool. "You can start when you're ready."

Syaoran nodded. Full moon. Right. That would make his waterbending at a peak, wouldn't it? He thought that's how it worked, with this whole push and pull thing.

Taking a deep breath and looking very concentrated at the pool, he raised his arms like Shun had shown him, and started trying to move the water to and fro. Again, it was difficult to find the right balance to his movements. Not gentle like airbending. Not rigid like earthbending. Less control than firebending.

Eventually, as he started eliminating all of these options from his head, it started to get a little easier. There was more water actually ebbing and flowing under his movements. It was nowhere near strong, and it was not fluid. But at last the water was finally moving under his command. Syaoran was already starting to be thankful for the full moon.

"That's good!" Shun approved, smiling. "You're doing well. Just remember to roll your wrists. In a physical sense, waterbending is all about what you do with your wrists."

"Jin's coming!" Tiki called from where she was perched on the stairs, and sure enough, he came into view a moment later.

"Woo! Full moon! Doesn't it just wanna make you rear back and howl?" Jin enthused, resting his arms on the ledge of the opening the stairs created in the roof. He grinned as Shun waded over to the edge of the pool to speak with him. "Just lettin' you know that we're taking off, little brother! Wish us luck!"

"Hang on," Shun requested, and the disk jockey paused curiously. "I need to talk to you about that bartender you hired—"

"Oh, Kai? I didn't hire him—Boss Man did. Not my club, remember? Anyway, that dude's got bad luck. He transferred jobs to escape this psycho boyfriend of a hottie he once went out with, and just the other night, that same hottie apparently gave him a shiner! Can you believe it? I would just lie rather than admit a woman gave me a black eye. That's just not cool."

Tiki's gray eyes widened. "Kai? Isn't that the name of the guy ZanYi went out with to get information on Air Temple Island?" she asked, remembering that night well—Shun and Syaoran had been so restless once they saw ZanYi all dolled up, it was almost comical. That admission, coupled with Shun's rather embarrassed look, allowed Jin to put two and two together.

"You were the hottie's psycho boyfriend?!" he exclaimed. When Shun did not bother to deny it, Jin slapped his forehead and sighed. "Man, little brother—you know Kai has nightmares about you, right? Don't come to the club, okay? It'll look bad if a family member ends up killing one of the staff."

"I wasn't going to kill him…" Shun grumbled, but the look on his face suggested otherwise. Jin clucked his tongue.

"Didn't know you could be such a brute, little bro… then again, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering it was the lady lieutenant you were all up in arms about."

"Jin!" Nyla's voice called up the stairs in irritation. "Let's go or we'll be late!"

"I'm coming, Ny! Jeez, don't get your panties in a twist… all right, I'm gone. We'll probably be back later tonight, so don't wait up!"

"Jin, wait a minute!" Shun protested, but Jin was already disappearing. Shun let out a heavy sigh at this. "I never got to warn him about Kai being the brother of a Neo-Equalist…"

Shun looked up to find Tiki was looking at him with an expression he did not like. Before he could say anything, however, she asked, "So, what did you do to Kai that has him scared gutless of you?"

"Nevermind, Tiki," Shun answered forcefully, covering his mouth with a hand as his face turned red. Republic City was too small of a city.

Syaoran had to admit that he was curious now too. That was a long time back, just after they'd left Roku's Island. ZanYi hadn't even been showing preference to Shun yet, had she? So her and Shun definitely weren't together…

"What did you do, Shun?" he asked, eyeballing the waterbender as he continued to make the water move, trying to roll his wrists more like Shun said. "And why would ZanYi give him a black eye?"

"Because he's scum," Shun muttered bitterly, unable to help himself. The fact that that… man (Shun used the word loosely) was now working at the same club as his siblings had Shun agitated, though he tried very hard not to show it. He definitely didn't want ZanYi going back there by herself again. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, all right? Let's just say that Bartender Boy overstepped his boundaries and had to be reminded that no means no."

Tiki's mouth came open with a pop. "Does that mean he tried to—"

"Leave it at that, Tiki," Shun cut her off, now sound weary as he rubbed his temple. Honestly, the sooner they were out of Republic City, the happier Shun would be.

Syaoran even stopped his bending for a second. No way. He almost asked Shun if he was making this up, but considering the deep anger that was obviously running through the waterbender, he knew it was the truth. The bartender had really pulled a stunt like that. On ZanYi. It made the Avatar irritable too; back then, he'd had a crush on the lieutenant, but now she was still their teammate, their fearless leader. Someone had the nerve to try that?

"He deserved that black eye she gave him then," he mumbled, going back to his wave-making. Kai deserved more than that, too. Syaoran was thankful it seemed Shun had been there to teach the man a lesson. Looking over at Tiki, he rolled his eyes. "I'm telling you: we always find out last for everything."

Shun let out a huff. "Okay, this conversation is over. Syaoran, bigger waves. Let's see what you can do with the full moon to guide you."

Heeding Shun's words, the Avatar started to push and pull harder, testing himself. It was hard, to keep doing that with increased power—it required increased control. Good thing he'd learned quite a bit of that from the lieutenant.

Bigger and bigger, the wave went. It was nothing like Shun's ginormous waves, but it was enough to rise up over Syaoran in the pool.

And enough to crash down on him when he messed up. Disgruntled, Syaoran spit some water out, completely drenched. "Yep. It's like early firebending training all over again: I'm always soaked."

Shun remembered that. And it made him smile. "All right, good. I'm glad we have a full moon to work with. You seem to be progressing faster. Try to hold on to this progress for the nights we don't have full moons." Shun moved to stand across from the Avatar, the water settling as he strode through it, obeying his will to be still.

"Okay, next: manipulating water outside of its body." Shun held a hand over the surface of the pool, summoning a steady stream of water that grew bigger and smaller as he raised and lowered his hand. "This part is tricky, of course. Like I said the other night, bending water isn't easy because it's liquid instead of a solid, and you have to depend on a source of water in order to waterbend. But the hardest part of all is getting water to bend to your will, because water already has a natural flow about it. To disrupt that flow is to disrupt the very nature of water, so you have to really tap into that flow and manipulate it to suit your uses."

Shun let his stream of water fall back into the surface of the pool with a splash. "Why don't you give it a try? Let's start small: using both hands, try to keep water in the shape of a ball in between your hands. Remember your wrist movement and concentrate, willing the water to shape itself into what you want it to be."

Syaoran grimaced a little. This wasn't going to be good. Nonetheless, the Avatar had to learn eventually, even if it meant he sucked at first. Trying to mimic Shun's movements, Syaoran started to raise some water up, like he did with the wave, only pulling it up instead of towards him. Clearly, the 'flow' of the water didn't like that and it splattered again to the pool with a splash. He tried it again, trying to tap into the movement and flow of the water like Shun said. Water was… wet. Slippery. Wiggly. Syaoran was none of those things, except wet. So when he tried to grasp that flow, his efforts fell short again. The Avatar let out a series of grumbles. He couldn't even raise the water; how was he supposed to make it into a ball?

Waterbending was about to join airbending on his list of types of bending that sucked.

Shun tried not to laugh, but he did grin a little bit. "It's okay! Relax," he urged the Avatar, "It's a difficult concept to grasp, so you wouldn't get it the first time." Still, at least Syaoran had something tangible to work with—how had Tiki gotten him to airbend?

Shun glanced over at the tiny airbender, and she shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, "Don't look at me—this is your area of expertise."

Shun sighed inwardly. How to make Syaoran understand waterbending… hmmm…

"Let's try this first: try grabbing the water and holding it in your hands," Shun suggested. Of course, this exercise would not make sense to the Avatar right away, but hopefully with some coaching from Shun, Syaoran would start to get it.

Syaoran gave Shun an unappreciative look. "Sure, let's make the earthbender try and grab water," he said sarcastically. It probably wasn't a good thing he was already getting frustrated, but water was proving to be a decent foe. Airbending training had been worse though—it took him at least a month and a half to even move a bit of air and that was on accident! But, the Avatar supposed, if he could eventually figure out airbending of all things, then waterbending had to be at least a little bit easier.

With a grieved sigh, Syaoran did as Shun requested, as silly as it sounded. He snatched at the water, only for it to run through his fingers. Then he tried cupping his hands and lifting it up. Pool water filtered slowly out of his hands to stream and drip back down to the remainder of the water.

"Okay, I'm trying. And the point of this is…?"

"The point is," Shun began with a smile, "that water is unmanageable, physically. No one can manhandle water. There always has to be a medium in order to manipulate it—and even then, water can only be manipulated to a certain degree. Think of your bending in the same sense: you can't force the water to do what you want. Rather, you have to adapt to its flow and go along with it. Think of it as an unmanageable partner you have to work with." Shun did not look at Tiki, but he still felt the tiny airbender's accusing gaze on him. His smile broadened.

"You cannot force this partner to go along with your plans—instead, you have to compromise to their whims. So, apply this concept with water. It's a little easier here, since the water in the pool is still, but if this was a river or an ocean, you'd have more of a difficult time. Anyway, try to compromise with the nature of water. Go with its flow in order to manipulate it. An important rule in waterbending: it's all about flow." Shun demonstrated, swaying his body from side to side as he worked a thick, winding stream of water upwards, the tip forming the head of a dragon and weaving through the air towards Syaoran, only to splash down over the Avatar's head.

"You try," Shun encouraged, trying to keep his playful grin under control.

Again, Syaoran spewed the water off of his face, giving Shun a shrewd look. At this point, he felt an urge to make a comment about how the waterbender must know all about unmanageable partners, but he kept his mouth shut. If ZanYi decided to overhear from wherever she was, that would get him in trouble, which seemed like a worse option.

The Avatar stared down at the water, stubborn. The last thing he wanted to do was yield to an element. That was what he liked about earthbending, and what made firebending easier for him than the others: it was all about control. Airbending: nothing was in his control, at all. But the whole purpose of airbending had been about letting go of control and relaxing.

Apparently waterbending was about going with the flow, pun intended.

This time, Syaoran took a deep breath and when he tried to raise up the water, he mirrored Shun's actions, giving into sway as he sought the origins of the water's flow. Sure enough, the water started to rise a bit more easily, a bit more eagerly. It was progress, and it made Syaoran's lip quirk in satisfaction. It was as he tried molding the water into a ball like he was originally supposed to that it all fell apart and tumbled down on him again.

"I'm with Tiki: water sucks."

"I never said that," Tiki rebuked idly, tying tiny braids into her hair again. "I just don't like to be in a body of vicious liquid that could drown me without a second thought."

Shun sighed. This negativity was getting them nowhere. Syaoran got too easily discouraged when he could not do something on the first try. Shun wanted to tell him to calm down and that it was not as hard as the Avatar was making it out to be, but coming from a natural waterbender, the words would only sound mocking. "Maybe we should take a break," he decided, pulling himself out of the pool. "I'm thirsty, anyway—being surrounded by water is making me dehydrated. The irony gets me every time."

Hastily drying himself off, Shun draped the towel he used around his waist, stepping over Tiki as he headed downstairs to the fridge. As he chugged a bottle of water and reached for another—he really was thirsty—his eyes went to the stationary lieutenant out on the balcony. He had left her alone for most of the day, wanting to respect her need for privacy. But now he was becoming concerned for her all over again. What was eating at her so much that it was driving her to drink?

"Hey," Shun greeted, announcing his presence as he stepped out onto the balcony. He leaned against the railing next to ZanYi, sipping from his water bottle and saying nothing. It was a long shot that ZanYi would be willing to talk to him now, but Shun still wanted to be here, next to her. He would only stay until he finished his water bottle, and then he would go back upstairs and try again with Syaoran. His break wouldn't take too long… unless he chose to make it long…

ZanYi was unperturbed when Shun came out to join her, albeit it did make her look over at him. He was supposed to be training Syaoran, and from the look of him, he had been. Shun was soaked from head to toe, his hair dripping as it was slicked back from his face. The lieutenant nodded to him, acknowledging his greeting. She took a sip of her beer, toying with the bottle in one hand. It was not often she could afford to drink, so it had certainly been a while. And as much as she wanted everything to slip away, one drink was all she was going to have for the night. Getting drunk was never the answer.

"Syaoran being difficult with training?" she asked, keeping pose. Shun wouldn't be there long, and he'd been a good sport about leaving her be. The least she could do was entertain brief conversation with him.

A slight smile alighted Shun's features. "You could say that." With another swig from his bottle, Shun eyed the lieutenant. She looked normal enough, despite the bottle being half done. "He gets discouraged easily," Shun admitted with a sigh. "Since this teaching thing isn't exactly natural to me, I'm wondering how I can get him to not take it to heart when he fails. It's hard learning a form of bending that isn't natural to you, after all."

Was Syaoran simply feeling pressured, since this was the last element he had to master? Shun hoped that the Avatar was not ready to give up just yet, but from the way he spoke, it seemed like he did not care for waterbending at all. Shun loved waterbending; it made up most of his identity. So to have someone else trash it cut deep. Shun let out a deeper sigh, lowering his head to stare at his crossed forearms. "I'm not really sure how to help him."

ZanYi let a faint smirk cross her lips. Syaoran may be the one to have difficulty in feeling confident in his bending, but Shun seemed to be just as much out of his element with teaching him. The two of them were quite a pair.

"First way you can help him is by making sure that you do not get down on yourself," she told him, keeping her gaze on the stars above. The night was busy below, the skies were peaceful, and the moon was bright. "If a teacher does not feel confident, then it shows and the students will feed off of that negativity. You have to stay confident, even if you have no idea what you're doing, and be ready to think on your feet. Your job is simplified: you have one student and it's one you know well."

Thinking back to when she taught Syaoran, the lieutenant looked thoughtful. "Syaoran gets frustrated easily, but generally he just needs to be pushed into things. He doesn't know what he's capable of until he's doing it. But he likes structure, likes order. Teach him forms, show him there's a proper way to do things, and then make him apply it. He's very systematic."

ZanYi took another sip of her drink, the taste only making her reminisce of all the times Zaron had gotten mad at her for drinking underage. At least she knew how to hold her liquor—the same could not have been said of her brother, comparing the ages when they began drinking.

"Forms…" Shun muttered, dubious. Forms were boring. Shun much preferred to play around in the water than have to structure his bending. Then again, not everyone was like him—Syaoran the stalwart earthbender especially. Shun could try forms. He just hoped he would be able to teach them sufficiently. It had been Ransik who had taught him the forms of waterbenders, and while Shun learned a lot, he still preferred his style of waterbending… or healing, rather. Still, it was worth a shot for the Avatar.

"Thanks, ZanYi," Shun said, turning a smile on the lieutenant. He may not know what was bothering her today, but apparently it wasn't enough to impede her ability to give good advice. Was Shun's worry unwarranted after all?

Shun looked around. Maybe it was the city setting that had the lieutenant on edge. She was used to seclusion, having grown up on an island. Being smack dab in the middle of enemy territory was bound to be stressful for anyone. "I wonder when we'll be able to leave," Shun mumbled, mostly to himself, his eyes going skyward as well. It was a miracle that he could see any stars, what with all the city lights… maybe it was because they were so high up that the dimming effects of the street lights could not touch the stars up here.

ZanYi didn't look at Shun, just watched the sky above. Generally she wouldn't have even been able to see the night sky; she was always busy on base every year. But, occasionally, when her and Zaron were actually able to spend their birthdays together, they'd manage to get off base for a while, just sit outside under the moon and talk, or play cards. It was the same stuff they would do back on the island, hardly any light to guide them but the moon and their own fire.

Pushing away such memories, she answered Shun's mumblings, "Hopefully soon. We've been here long enough as it is. We need to get going—"

"Yeah, I've got to go. But it's not going to be like Mom and Dad, you hear me?"

ZanYi cut off and got a little straighter, the lies of her brother echoing at the slightest memory. She tried to gather her wits about her; she was in mid-conversation. Now was not the time. Zaron could haunt her another time, in secret. But not now. Not when she was with someone who would be able to tell something was wrong. She just wanted the voice to go away…

"I'm going to go away for long periods of time, but I'll always come back for you."

ZanYi grit her teeth, trying to keep from replying aloud. She knew he wasn't there. She wouldn't make this mistake again. Zaron was not there. Zaron was dead. And aside from Shun, she was alone.

"I'll never leave you alone."

Still his promises rang throughout her mind. The grip she had on the bottle got tighter and tighter. Why wouldn't he go away? Why did he have to haunt her? She was talking with Shun; she was trying to be normal. And yet, in the span of their silence, memories were flooding through her, quick and rapid.

Days on the island. Birthdays together and apart. Teaching her to play poker. Fighting alongside each other.

"Let's do this."

That day. On the mission. WeiTai.

"GET DOWN!"

His bellow rocked her and ZanYi dropped the bottle on the balcony, leaving it to shatter as she gripped her head, covering her ears like that would keep her from hearing his pained cry, the sound of the explosion. The splattering was enough to draw the attention of Xie Xie, who woke in an instant and swooped to the railing to caw to her.

The prolonged silence had been worrying enough, but once the beer bottle shattered on the ground, Shun knew immediately that something was terribly wrong. "ZanYi!" he cried out, grabbing the lieutenant by the shoulders. He thought better of it a second later and pulled ZanYi into his arms so she would have a harder time accidentally injuring him. He had seen her like this so many times, and still, he was unable to get used to it. Seeing her hurt so much, being haunted by what must be her brother's voice… it killed him to know he could only hold her. There was nothing he could do to stop the voices in her head… but it didn't mean he didn't try every time.

"ZanYi, it's okay. Listen to me, listen to my voice. Everything's all right. You're not going crazy. You're fine." Funny how the lies she tried to slip past him earlier were now being spoken by him in an attempt to soothe the troubled lieutenant. But Shun believed in these words this time around. He would not let ZanYi be defeated by her demons, just as she would not let him be defeated by his. ZanYi was stronger than this, and she would overcome this hurdle, even if she needed a little help from him. He was all-too-willing to give it.

"ZanYi!"

"ZanYi, let me look at it!"

"ZanYi—!"

The lieutenant was trying so hard to listen for Shun's voice, but all she kept hearing was Zaron. It was her brother's voice she heard: his deep-set tones, his desperate cries to her, his chuckles and cocky taunts. ZanYi was rooted in reality, knew she was hearing the echoes of the past, of something that wasn't actually happening.

But it was hard to remember that.

It just felt so real, but even when she covered her ears, it didn't dim the sound. If anything, it made it louder, reverberating harder, forcing her mind off balance. ZanYi needed a rock, something to ground her.

"ZanYi, it's okay. Listen to me, listen to my voice. Everything's all right. You're not going crazy. You're fine."

That one was Shun. It was Shun's voice calling her back. He kept repeating these words over and over, trying with desperation to get through to her. And even as Zaron's words beckoned to her as well, ZanYi knew which way she had to go, which one to reach for.

"Shun…" she grit through her teeth. He had no shirt on from being in the pool, so the lieutenant grabbed his upper arms as she stood locked inside them, gripping them hard. This was Shun. Shun was there. Shun was real. "I… I can hear you."

"Good," Shun replied, a bit of relief to his tone. He had been growing more and more alarmed the longer she remained silent, fighting ghosts that the giant waterbender could not see. He pulled her tighter into his embrace, a hand going up to stroke her hair. "I'm here, ZanYi. I'm right here, and you're right here with me. Everything's going to be okay."

A bit bold of him to make such promises, but he was determined to keep them. ZanYi was in pain, the kind that Shun could not heal with his bending. Something like this could not be fixed so easily, but that was okay: no matter how difficult things became, Shun would not leave ZanYi's side. She would never admit so out loud, but she needed him, and he needed her. And they were going to work through this, together.

ZanYi just focused on the sound of Shun's voice, feeling with her face the way the words vibrated in his chest. She could feel his hand on her head, his arms tight around her, his biceps under her hands. The lieutenant held onto all of those things, pushing Zaron away from her mind.

Slowly, the voice grew softer and softer, and for the first time all day, it shut-up. It made her breathing grow more even, less haphazard. Things grew quiet, and ZanYi could feel herself loosening up in the silence.

He rested his cheek on her head, still stroking her hair. The tremors in her body had stopped, and she felt like she was coming back to herself. All of those were very good signs. Shun pulled back a bit, tilting the lieutenant's head up with a hand on her neck, meeting her golden eyes with his blue. "Are you all right now?"

Was she? ZanYi wasn't quite sure, and after that little episode, it was impossible to lie and immediately say she was fine. But Zaron's voice had been forced back, silent for the moment. The lieutenant was going to take what she could, breathing carefully with closed eyes and relishing the quiet. She could hear her own thoughts, the traffic below, Shun's voice.

"I'm all right now," ZanYi answered him, opening her eyes to see those worried, but steady blues directed down at her. It only served to make her feel more ashamed of the display. It was bad enough to have these bouts in her mind with the deceased; it was even worse when it manifested outward and others had to see. The only comfort she could take in this was that it was only Shun, and true to his words, he'd been her rock. He was concerned and he had been almost desperate to get through to her. But the waterbender had. He was there and ZanYi had been able to use that to pull herself back to reality, to steady herself. The lieutenant was uncertain whether that made her feel better or worse for having to do that.

"You should get back up to Syaoran," she said then, pulling away from Shun. As ZanYi reached down to pick up the shards of glass on the ground, she continued, "You can't get too lax with him. We need to pound waterbending into his head."

As she cleaned up the balcony from her mess, Xie Xie came to land on her shoulder, cooing softly and nuzzling up to her cheek. Even the presence of her dragonhawk did not assure her, however. ZanYi could only hope at this point that this would be the worst of it all, that this relapse would end when Zaron's birthday was over.

Shun nodded, though he knew ZanYi was not looking at him, and therefore could not see him. "Sure," he replied verbally, crouching down so that he was on eye-level with the lieutenant once more. The giant waterbender was almost afraid to ask this question, but considering this was a serious relapse in ZanYi's state of mental health, he felt he needed to ask it. "But… ZanYi? What happened? I thought you were… doing better."

Shun was not judging ZanYi in any way. He was just worried; what had caused this relapse? There was nothing the giant waterbender knew of that would cause Zaron's voice to haunt ZanYi once again. What was going on in her head, exactly?

At Shun's question, her movements slowed a little. Now he decided to pry. ZanYi should have expected it, but that didn't mean she liked it. Of course he wanted an explanation for that episode. The lieutenant knew even without looking at him that he was worried again. "I was," she told him matter-of-factly. ZanYi had been doing better. Sure, she still heard Zaron from time to time, but it wasn't often, and nothing like the way it had been today. This was worse than ever, and now Shun could tell that.

It was with a quiet voice that the lieutenant said evenly, "Today is Zaron's birthday." And to make matters worse, she'd gotten that memorial pamphlet in the mail. A reminder of his birth and death in one day—and on one piece of paper. ZanYi pulled it out of her back pocket to toss it over to him before continuing to pick up the glass. Xie Xie, seeing Zaron's face on the cover, hopped over to the pamphlet on the floor, moving his beak across it, as if the sergeant major was still there.

Shun picked up the pamphlet, stroking the bird's feathers to appease it. So today was the late sergeant major's birthday… No wonder ZanYi was so out of sorts today. Who wouldn't be?

"I'm sorry," Shun said, a little frustrated that all he could offer was his sympathy. Guilt rose up again, and he cursed himself for what seemed like the billionth time for not being there when ZanYi needed him the most. No matter what blame ZanYi wanted to take on for her brother's death, Shun would always own the fact that he had gotten there too late to even attempt to help. Reaching out, the giant waterbender lifted ZanYi's chin so she would look at him once more. "Do you want me to stay with you for a little while?" he offered. He was expecting her to say no and to go do his job, but Shun asked anyway because he felt he could not leave the lieutenant alone unless she actively turned him away. But if she needed him, then he would stay. Syaoran's training could wait if it needed to. Shun was sure the Avatar wouldn't mind.

True to form, the lieutenant gave him a look before turning back away from him, finishing up gathering the glass together. "No, Shun," she told him forcefully, getting back up to walk inside the penthouse and throw out the glass. ZanYi came back with two bottles of water, one of which she passed off to Shun; with how well they'd known each other, she knew how thirsty he was going to be by the end of training tonight. "You need to get back to Syaoran," ZanYi informed him, opening up the other water for herself.

After taking a couple gulps, she reached out and took the pamphlet back from him, allowing her gaze to trail over her brother's face, staring back at her. The photo was his formal military portrait—probably the only time he'd won that suit. Zaron had always been out in the field, in combat. Xie Xie perched on the rail by her hand again, looking between the picture of the elder Tsong and the lieutenant. It let out a mournful sound. "I just want to be left alone, Shun," she said roughly, shoving the pamphlet back in her pocket and reaching out to stroke the dragonhawk's feathers. "I won't go anywhere, so just go on finish up with Syaoran."

"All right," Shun conceded, "I'll see you in a bit, then. Thanks for the water." He leaned in to kiss the lieutenant's cheek, and even gave Xie Xie a little pat before leaving the balcony. He would heed ZanYi's wish to be left alone… for now. But if she started struggling, he could only hope that the lieutenant would actively seek him out. She knew where to find him, after all.

After Shun had vacated the roof, Tiki moved from her position on the stairs to inch a bit closer to the pool, choosing to sit on one of the lounge chairs that was laid out around the rooftop. "If you come over here, I'll rub your shoulders for you," Tiki offered the Avatar with a slight smile. That would please him, she knew. And maybe it would relax him enough to give waterbending another shot, once Shun returned.

Syaoran looked at Tiki, more enthusiastic about the prospect of that than more waterbending. Tiki had the best massages, and if anything, waterbending was going to make him more tense than he had been the past couple days. "I will take you up on that," he agreed, climbing out of the pool with ease. The Avatar was dripping wet, but he didn't care. Considering she was sitting on the edge of the pool chair, Syaoran plopped down on the ground in front of her and shook out his hair, the water dripping in his eyes.

"Hey!" Tiki protested, the discarded water droplets hitting her. But she giggled and ruffled Syaoran's hair, the water causing it to stick up. "It does look better now, doesn't it? Thank goodness—I've never cut anyone's hair before, so I was afraid I was going to mess it up."

Tiki's hands moved down to Syaoran's shoulders, finding them to be quite tense. This caused her to frown. "I see I'm going to have to keep this up, or all my hard work goes down the drain as soon as there's conflict." Rubbing the familiar circles into the Avatar's shoulders, Tiki peered at the back of his head. Never would she have dared to believe that Syaoran had feelings for her. If he hadn't worked so hard to convince her last night, she still wouldn't believe it. And yet, not much had really changed between them. Sure, they knew now that their feelings were mutual, but that was pretty much it. And Tiki was actually okay with this—if their relationship had progressed to the level Shun and ZanYi's seemed to be, the tiny airbender was certain that she would freak out over such a matter.

"So, you're off to a good start with your waterbending," Tiki chattered in an attempt to distract herself, although her face was already starting to turn pink. "You're able to move the water, at least. When it was airbending, you had trouble just breathing correctly." Not to rub salt in the wound, of course; it was just an observation.

Syaoran wanted to roll his eyes, but as he had thought the first time she'd given him a shoulder massage: Tiki had magic hands. So when she was working her magic, it basically made him like putty in her hands. It was regrettable, certainly, but the way it made his shoulders feel afterwards made up for it.

"I guess if you compare it to airbending, it is progress," he conjectured, closing his eyes as he let the girl rub away at his tense muscles. "But it makes about as much sense to me as airbending did." Letting himself enjoy the moment, Syaoran let the corner of his lip come up. Tiki really did have such soft hands—that much he wasn't ashamed of himself for admitting. Having them rub the sores and anxieties away… it was a good feeling.

And it made him feel a little awkward, so his cheeks got a little rosy.

"At least Shun's a little more lenient," Tiki pointed out as well, counting Syaoran's blessings for him as her hands moved to knead his damp back. "If you had asked ZanYi for a break, she would have scorched you on principle." Of course, Tiki had been a little ruthless in her own respect, forcing the Avatar to practice the forms over and over, as desperate as he was for some puff of air to come out (though she did not show it). Syaoran would probably be a very happy Avatar if he never had to hear the word 'forms' again.

Syaoran groaned at the mere thought. "ZanYi was brutal," he admitted, just the memory making his skin tingle from all of his burns and scars, "but what's scary was how effective it was."

The lieutenant may not always be patient, but she was smart, and she knew her trade. She'd made him think like a firebender, made him feel like a firebender. Somehow Syaoran wasn't sure if he would ever feel like a waterbender. It was all so confusing.

"This is going to be painful in its own way," he groaned.

"It will be if you keep up that defeatist attitude," Tiki said pointedly, leaning over as her hands moved to the Avatar's lower back. She moved her hair over to one shoulder so it would not tickle the Avatar's back. "It's too early to be so negative, Syaoran. You just started, so you're not going to be able to do everything perfectly right away. Just give yourself some time." Finished with the massage, Tiki rested her hands on Syaoran's shoulders, leaning forward so he could see she was smiling at him. "I believe in you, Syaoran. Isn't it time you start believing in yourself too?"

Syaoran turned his head to get a better look at her, putting their faces extremely close. He wasn't sure whether it was her words or the proximity of their faces, but either way, the Avatar got embarrassed. Looking away determinedly, fighting the pink on his face, he grumbled, "Fine, fine. You win. I'll try harder." Reflexively, he went up to ruffle his hair, still a surprise every time to find it shorter. Still, there was plenty there to scratch at, to distract him from the airbender behind him. The airbender behind him that had a crush on him.

"Good. Keep trying," Tiki encouraged the Avatar. He looked embarrassed for some odd reason, and Tiki's old mischievous tendencies were beginning to crop up at the sight of his blushing face. Leaning in, she pecked Syaoran on the cheek. "If you do a good enough job with your waterbending training, I'll reward you with a kiss at the end of the month," she teased, her gray eyes alight with mischief. "So work hard, okay?"

Yeah, right. Like Syaoran needed that kind of motivation. Still, Tiki giggled. This was much more fun than it should be

The peck on his check made the pink turn red and Syaoran grew stiff. Was she crazy? Well, of course she was—he certainly knew that—but this wasn't funny!

The Avatar jumped to his feet then, both hands scratching at his head and hair. Why? Why did hormones dictate him like this? This was even worse than ZanYi—was it because Tiki actually reciprocated his sentiments? Syaoran didn't know and he didn't want to. "A kiss? You make that sound like some kind of prize," he grumbled, focusing his eyes elsewhere. A kiss? Did she mean a real kiss? The airbender had started giving him little ones on the cheek, so that's what she had to mean. Did he want to kiss her? Come to think of it, that wasn't a bad idea…

No! Stop! Syaoran didn't know what to do with any of this and it made him a bit sour.

Normally such grumbles would hurt Tiki's feelings. But the Avatar's face was so comical just then that she had to slap a hand over her mouth to smother her giggles. Oh goodness, he was so cute…

"I was just kidding," she said to appease him, giggling more at the red in his cheeks. The Avatar really looked disgruntled. Maybe she should dial it down a bit. Clearing her throat, Tiki sobered a bit. "Sorry. I won't tease you like that again."

Was he really that put-off at the thought of kissing her? Tiki's brows puckered as she thought on that. Syaoran wasn't really one for affection of course, but she never thought he would want to outright refuse her. Technically they had kissed before—just, Syaoran had been near-death when it happened, and she had had to give him CPR. Did that count? Probably not. Still, in Tiki's book, the thought of kissing Syaoran was certainly embarrassing, but not at all unpleasant. Maybe he was just being difficult at the moment.

Syaoran gave her an unappreciative look. Seriously, why did she think this was so funny? There was nothing funny at all about this, and yet she was so giggly. But, the Avatar conceded, if she was giggling, that meant she was in good spirits. That was a lot better in his book compared to the alternatives for her. Tiki had been through enough the past couple months and she was starting to feel more comfortable with things—which was obvious even to him.

With that in mind, he reserved the rest of his groanings. Syaoran put his hands on his sides and looked down at Tiki with lifted brows. "Nope, too late," he told her, completely prepared to get payback on her for her mischief. "I suppose a deal is a deal; you can't take what you said back." That meant if he did better with his waterbending, at the end of the month, Tiki would kiss him. Even now, Syaoran wasn't sure how to feel about that. But if he held that deal up, maybe it would fluster her back. At least, he hoped it would. That was his prime motivation right about now.

Tiki had not been expecting this. And it made her flush cherry red. "Huh?!" She squawked reflexively, coughing in self-consciousness right after. She had not expected the Avatar to challenge her on her parody promise—was he serious or was he just trying to teach her a lesson? "I mean…" Tiki shyly peered through her lashes up at Syaoran. "Do you… want to kiss me?" Suddenly, the tiny airbender was not sure if she wanted the answer to that question. She ducked her head, her cheeks flaming. Really, she was behaving like a child—couples kissed. It was a fact of life. And since she and Syaoran were a couple, it would be only natural for him to want to kiss her, right?

…Okay, this reasoning wasn't helping at all. It was only serving to embarrass Tiki further.

The interjection was enough to make the Avatar satisfied with his role reversal of the teasing. However, did she really have to tack on the extra question. Sure, it made her turn valentine red, but it also made his blush flare back up to.

"Kiss? You?"

They were both questions, as if he wasn't even sure it was being asked. But it was. His instinct was still to yell in denial and turn away, but his mouth wouldn't let him.

"No… well, I don't know… Maybe? Yes? You think I know?!"

Tiki's face lit up even brighter, but a tiny smile began to form in the face of Syaoran's verbal flailing. So he kind of, sort of, maybe wanted to kiss her. Did Tiki feel the same way?

"Um… at least you have a month to figure it out, then," she told Syaoran, attempting a joke in order to steady the rapid beating of her heart. Tiki glanced towards the stairs, disgruntled that Shun had not returned yet. What was he doing? Now would be an excellent time for him to return and save the two youngest members of Team Avatar from their own awkwardness.

"Uh, yeah… guess so…"

Seriously, this was all incredibly awkward, and even harder to figure out. How did Shun and ZanYi manage to pull this off so easily? It was clear they had no problem with intimacy. And where was he anyway? "Shun better hurry it up or I'm calling training done for the night," Syaoran grumbled to steer the conversation away from him and Tiki.

Tiki sighed a little in relief. The subject change was welcome. "I thought you said you were going to try harder?" Tiki reminded him. But when she thought about it, she relented, "although, it is kinda hard for you to learn waterbending without your teacher…"

As if the words had summoned him, Shun appeared, climbing the steps and sipping a little from the water bottle ZanYi had given him. "Sorry for the wait," he apologized with a sheepish grin. Casting his towel and the water bottle aside, Shun jumped back into the pool. This action resulted in the water splashing everywhere-Tiki jumped back, nearly falling over in her chair. "Ready to restart, Syaoran?"

Tiki turned a smile on the Avatar. "Show him what you're made of."

Syaoran had mixed feelings upon Shun's return. A part of him had still hoped that the waterbender wouldn't come back and he could just stop with the water for the night. But the part that actively knew he was the Avatar denied that part of him and urged him to try once more. There was plenty of moonlight; better get to it before it got harder without the moon. "Commence round two," he conceded, leaving the area near Tiki to slip back into the pool. It was cool again to his touch, but better than it had been the first time around; Syaoran was already wet this time. "Alright, what now?"

"Forms."

The word made Tiki gape. "Forms?" she questioned, despite herself.

"Forms," Shun confirmed, and the tiny airbender had to hold back her sigh. Already she felt bad for Syaoran—she didn't envy him needing to learn all four elements.

She decided to leave the boys be for the night—if Syaoran was going to have to suffer through more forms, she didn't want to witness it. Besides, things had gotten embarrassing quickly between them over her little 'joke', so it was decided by the tiny airbender that some space was needed.

After she climbed down the stairs, abruptly, the phone rang. "I got it," Tiki volunteered needlessly, since no one else was around to hear it ring. The tiny airbender bounded over to phone, picking it up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Aku?"

Tiki blinked. Aku? Was that supposed to be some weird alias Jin or Nyla went by? Somehow, the tiny airbender doubted it. "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number." There was a pause on the other end, and suddenly, a click and the dial tone. Tiki frowned. How rude. She hung up just as the door unexpectedly burst open, and in came the very disgruntled-looking Jiang siblings.

"I can't believe it," Jin huffed, striding over to a couch and flopping down, despite his clothes being mysteriously wet. "Who in their right might would think it would be a good idea to literally set the roof on fire?! It's just an expression!"

"Well, it brings a whole new level to the name 'Club Heat'," Nyla pointed out, her tone lacking amusement as she emerged from behind the bar with two beer bottles. She was gracious enough to hand Jin one as Shun made his way down from the roof at the sound of his siblings' return.

"So you guys are back," he noted, surprised. "I thought I heard—whoa, you guys are soaked! What happened?"

"An idiot who thinks a little too literally set the club on fire," Jin announced with a huff. "Boss Man's gonna blame us for this one somehow, I just know it…" As he took a swig from his beer bottle, the DJ noticed Tiki leaning on the wall by the phone. That reminded him…

"Hey. While we're gone, no one answer the phone, okay?"

Tiki stiffened, her eyes traveling to Jin. "Why not…?"

"That signal between Neo-Equalists and nonbenders? I found out what it is: it's a phone call. The person on the other line asks to speak to someone named 'Aku', so you have to reply 'He's not in right now, but I'll tell him you called'. But I don't want to put that pressure on any of you, so just don't answer. Nyla or I will take care of it."

Blood was beginning to roar in Tiki's ears. Shun became alarmed when her face went deathly pale. "Tiki, what's wrong?"

"I—I didn't know. I—"

Before Tiki had a chance to finish her explanation, she, Shun, Nyla and Jin jumped as the door to the penthouse was knocked off its hinges. Suddenly, a swarm of Neo-Equalists stormed in.

It was too late for Jin's warning—they were already marked for a raid.

A/N from DJ: WOOOOOOOW. It's been a while. And I know you guys realize that too, if the reviews you guys have been leaving us are any indication xP To make this note shorter, I'm just going to collectively address everyone [we really have too many notifications since last update to singularly answer them all].

We're so sorry for the absence. First, it was a just plain crazy time for Eva back in May. Second, we understood where some of the discontent was coming from, because it wasn't until we were divvying up the chappies that we realized how long it would take to get through it all, despite how quickly we had written it all. So after the crazy time, we took a break to refresh, reanalyze, and start sifting through the story again. We wanted to better organize what we had to keep the pace of the story going [which was becoming increasingly difficult to do - we had a lot of filler from when we weren't sure when we were writing], and we also were grappling with how to adapt to the big bombs dropped at the end of LoK's second season. Right now, we are largely working on that, now that we can actually sit down together and talk it out.

So we are not going back to regular weekly updates yet - it's going to take us time and all of LoK season three for us to get a better understanding of how the new world order works and thus how we need to apply it to the modern aging of that world. It's tricky, but it's what we've got to do, because Eva and I both strive to make this as canonical as possible.

We're so sorry we left you guys hanging! I hope you all are still out there. We just want to make this as great for you now as we know it is in completion. Nothing you guys said made us stop writing or updating! FRET NOT! We just really want to fix it up a bit, so we'll be updating slower until we figure that out.

Thank you so much for your love and support, and for all of you new readers who have joined in since the last update! Hopefully we'll be back soon enough with more for you! Big things are coming this way! Till next time!