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.
"All right, ladies and gentlemen! It's time for the match you've all been waiting for! In one corner, weighing at about 235 lbs, we have the waterbending giant, Shun Jiang! And in the other corner, weighing—actually, I should not disclose that information or I might have my life threatened with an icicle, ladies and gents! She is the wild child Ice Princess from the North, Princess Ai!"
Ai smirked as the frosted air tickled her ponytail, the sun ripe in the cloudless sky above. "I don't remember hiring a commentator for this sparring match," she giggled, looking at Jin, who was listing random statistics about her and Shun as Nyla shook her head next to him. Shun let out a sigh, but he was smirking as well.
"That's Jin for you—he doesn't need to be asked. He just does."
"To the misfortune of others, it seems."
"That's not how he sees it, unfortunately."
The wind bristled in the northern air, but it did nothing to stall Jin even for a moment, moving emphatically along the side of the wintry courtyard. "Now for the rules," he declared, miming a microphone, "The first one to tap out loses! No hitting below the belt, no cheap tricks, and no aiming to kill! It's an entertainment match, not a pretense for a blood bath, fighters! And now, ladies and gents: the moment you've all been waiting for!" Jin pointed at Tiki, who had been somehow roped into playing a triangle as a bell representative. "Round One: Start!"
The airbender struck the triangle, and at once Ai's guard was up, pulling water from the crystal lake that rested between her and Shun. "I hope you have health insurance, Shunny Bear," she teased, her grin wicked as she transformed the stream of water she was funneling into a storm of icicles, "because things are about to get really painful for you really quickly."
"We'll see about that," Shun replied, summoning his own weapon of choice: his trusted water whip. They stood there for a second, sizing each other up. And then, suddenly, the fight began. Ai flung several of her ready-made ice projectiles at Shun, which he blocked with his water whip. The princess was determined, however, and she summoned more as she threw them, determined to wear Shun down. He realized this, and in the split-second it took Ai to summon more icicles, he had his water whip wrapped around her ankle. He gave the whip a tug. Ai fell flat on her behind, the unexpected move startling her. With that advantage, Shun dispersed his whip to cause a wave to spring up from the lake to overtake Ai. Luckily for her, however, she scrambled backwards out of the way in the nick of time.
With a breath of relief, Ai pushed herself back up to her feet, commenting, "I see you've improved."
"I've picked up a thing or two," Shun allowed with a smirk.
Ai grinned in response. "Good," she enthused, forming a mallet made out of pure ice—something Shun did not expect to happen, "That will just make this more interesting." Pushing off from the near bank of the lake, Ai soared into the air, her ice mallet raised high over her head as she let out a battle cry. Shun jumped back, the mallet slamming into the ground where he was just a second ago.
And their spar continued.
"She's pretty good," Syaoran remarked, watching from the sidelines in the snow next to Tiki and ZanYi. Not that he had expected the princess to be bad at waterbending—of course not, after all that talk. He knew already how lethal royalty could be when they wanted to be. "Still," he persisted, "I think Shun will win." He was also hoping—only a little—that the spar would tire Shun out a bit before training that night. The weather was freezing up in the North Pole. Hanging in Jin and Nyla's pool for a couple hours was one thing; it was something entirely different to be out in this cold for hours. Syaoran wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to take it.
From his side, ZanYi crossed her arms, keeping herself warm. It was using more of her chi to keep her body warmer, but the lieutenant wasn't going to be the one training the Avatar later out here, so she could afford to use it in such a manner. "If Shun pushes himself, he would win this easily," ZanYi agreed. Considering how many times she'd fought alongside the waterbender, in addition to watching the end of his bout with Zaron, she had no doubts. The lieutenant just hoped he did it soon; the longer she sat out there watching, the more irritable she was going to become.
"And it looks like the Ice Princess has the advantage here, folks!" Jin continued to narrate, much to Nyla's—and everyone else's—displeasure. "She's keeping Jiang on the ropes! All he can do is dodge! But it looks like that mallet is getting heavy—could this be a part of Jiang's strategy instead?"
Ai herself recognized that possibility. And it made her angry. "Quit—dodging—like—a—punk!" she growled in between the swings of her mallet, her swings becoming wild as she desperately attempted to hit Shun. And though Shun was big, he was fast too—he weaved his way around the edge of the lake while avoiding Ai's attacks, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. But Ai began to get frustrated—did he plan to tire her out so he could have an easy win? That just wasn't fair!
Well, fine. If he wanted to play dirty, she would play dirty too.
Pretending to see something behind the giant waterbender, Ai's eyes widened and she gasped. "Look out!"
It worked. Shun looked. And it wasn't until he was feeling the power of the mallet slamming into his body that he realized he'd been had. The force of Ai's hit pushed him back over the bank of the lake, and he fell in with a loud splash.
"Oh, wait a minute!" Jin cried out, and even Nyla was booing along with him, "That was against the rules! No cheap tricks! Technical foul!"
"No fair, Ai! You should forfeit! That was just mean!" Tiki protested.
Ai just stuck her tongue out at the rest of them. "Oh, be quiet! All is fair in love and war! And my name is Ai, so everything I do is fair!" the princess asserted, despite being booed. It wasn't like she killed Shun—he even surfaced from the lake a moment later, although he was gasping for air. Whoops. Ai didn't think about how cold he would be, being soaked from head to toe and in freezing weather. "Why don't we call this a tie, Big Boy?" Ai offered him, crouching down to grin at Shun's stunned face. "That way, you save face, and you'll get another shot at me tomorrow. You can't really last that long soaked like that. You'll get hypothermia. So what's it going to be?"
Shun stared at Ai, and he could tell she was not the least bit sorry for pulling such a cheap trick. But then, he knew this from childhood: Ai would do absolutely anything to win, and she made no apologies about it. Back then, Shun would cry about such behavior.
Now, however… it just made him angry.
Taking a few, deliberate steps back in the water, Shun kept Ai's gaze as he crouched over, raising his arms slowly. Water began to surround his body, like a shield, and when he extended his arms, three tentacle-like appendages formed on both sides: the octopus form in waterbending. Ai felt herself pale.
"I haven't even perfected that move yet…" she realized, her eyes widening. And judging from the look on Shun's face, she was in trouble now. Turning tail, Ai tried to run out of harm's way, but too late—Shun had her, his water appendages wrapping around her wrists and ankles, hoisting her up into the air. Ai wanted to scream, but she willed herself to not show weakness, to not make a sound—which went out the window as soon as Shun began to use his free water appendages to deal blows to her stomach. She grunted with each blow, and her breath was stolen from her when Shun swung her around by the arms for a bit before letting her fall back to the bank of the lake, in front of everyone. Dazed, Ai tried to sit up, but Shun had jumped on her by then, making icy shackles to keep her pinned to the ground. A hand cocked back and surrounded by water, Shun froze the water to turn it into an ice fist. Ai's eyes widened. Wait—he wouldn't really hit her… would he?
As his fist approached her face, Ai's fear spiked, and she cried out, "I give, I give! You win, I give!"
Shun's fist stopped a millimeter away from Ai's nose, her eyes scrunched in fear. When she realized he was not about to hit her after all, she opened her eyes carefully to see him peering down at her, his expression the epitome of seriousness. "And?" he prompted, quirking an eyebrow.
"…And I'm sorry I tricked you like that," Ai apologized humbly, now that she realized she had actually made the giant waterbender mad. She hadn't meant for it to go that far… Shun seemed convinced of her sincerity, because he then melted the ice shackles and stood up. He contemplated her for a moment, as if deciding her fate. And then he reached down to help her up. Ai let out a sigh of relief, taking this to mean that he would not stay mad for long. "Good match. Sorry again for pushing you into the lake."
"Yeah. Me too."
Now that his burning anger had fizzled out, Shun shivered, his teeth chattering. It was way too cold out here for him to be standing in sopping wet clothes, but he felt too numb at the moment to move inside. He huffed on his hands, trying to regain some of the feelings back in his fingers. At least he had been able to teach Ai a lesson—she would definitely think twice before pulling stunts like that again.
Over to the side, Syaoran let out a low whistle. "Shun's kind of a boss—even more than I'd thought," he marveled a bit, never having seen him fight so aggressively before. If the Avatar had had any doubts about choosing Shun as his waterbending teacher, they were gone. He was going to comment more, but was startled by ZanYi rising quickly next to him.
The lieutenant made long strides over to where Shun stood. Shrugging out of her coat—leaving her to shiver a little in her tank-top—ZanYi put it over Shun's head to dry his hair a bit. The coat was so small compared to him, it wouldn't have been able to wrap around his shoulders at all. Then she took Shun's hands to blow gently between them. A very controlled stream of fire came out, and it continued as she exhaled slowly, also channeling her chi to her hands to warm his hands in that way too. "We need to get you inside, find some dry clothes and blankets," the lieutenant insisted. It was going to be pertinent to get Shun warm again—but not too warm too fast. If the blood rushed to his heart too quickly, it could stop it. After he got dried off, ZanYi had no problem being his space heater.
She, however, did look over to Ai, and Syaoran gulped at the expression on her face. When the lieutenant wore that expression, she was generally resisting the urge to burn someone to the ground. No one messed with Team Avatar on her watch; she'd made that clear a long time ago. "If you can't win without dirty, underhanded tricks, then you have no business sparring anyone," ZanYi began to scold with narrowed eyes and a scowl. "You were not fighting an enemy; Shun is your friend. Demonstrate a certain level of self-control and consideration next time before someone gets hurt. If you could be proud of a victory under such circumstances, then you need to re-evaluate just where your priorities lie, because it would certainly not be in having any self-dignity."
Her head was held high, her stare direct. This was The Lieutenant speaking, and Ai had just made a big mistake messing with her. This was supposed to be a friendly spar, but her actions could have had dire consequences, and still could if they didn't get Shun warm soon. The lack of self-restraint from a fellow leader was maddening.
Ai paled at the telling-off she was receiving. "S-sorry…" she apologized, bowing her head in shame. The lieutenant was right—Shun was her friend, not her enemy. The fact that she had used such a cheap tactic to win was wrong, and it was disrespectful to Shun. If there was ever a time the spoiled, wild princess regretted her actions, it was now.
From Syaoran's side, Tiki sighed a breath of relief. At least Ai hadn't gotten all up in arms about being told what to do. The whole situation would be worse if she actually argued with ZanYi. "Remind me again to never get on Shun's bad side," she whispered to Syaoran as she eyed the giant waterbender. She knew he had been going easy on her—they had never sparred together like that before. Still, Tiki could not bring herself to be resentful: Shun going easy on her was way better than what he just did to Ai.
Shun, no longer angry, took pity on his old friend. "It's okay, Ai," he forgave her, reaching out and ruffling the princess' hair. "Just learn not to do it again, all right?"
Ai raised her eyes to Shun's, her expression anxious. "Okay… but please go inside, Shun. I'll have someone find some clothes for you to wear, and there should be towels and blankets in the wardrobe in your room."
"Thanks."
Placing a hand on the small of ZanYi's back, Shun steered her inside with him. He was afraid to leave her alone with Ai, certain that a fight might break out if he did. He was just glad that Ai was willing to admit to her wrongdoing…but if ZanYi pushed the issue, as she was known to do… "It's really not a big deal, ZanYi," he muttered to her, "Ai was just messing around. She took it too far, but she didn't mean to hurt me."
A nearby maid caught sight of Shun's dripping wet form and hurriedly escorted them up the stairs to Ai's wing of the palace. She led him and ZanYi into the room closest to Ai's, the room richly decorated in sapphire and crème. The bed was made up with four large pillows and a fluffy duvet, and it was big enough to accommodate even Shun's large size. Best of all was the stone fireplace built in right across from the bed, which the maid took care to light before leaving Shun and ZanYi to their own devices.
Shivering violently, Shun made his way over to the wardrobe Ai had mentioned. Sure enough, there were plenty of towels and blankets folded neatly at the top. Shun grabbed a towel and clumsily dried his hair before stripping himself of his jacket and shirt. Since ZanYi was there, though, he kept his jeans on, choosing to kick free of his boots as well. He grabbed one of the lush blankets at the top and pulled it over himself, sitting in front of his lit fireplace. He was still shuddering quite violently, and he scooted a little closer to the fire, wanting to get warm quickly. Shun didn't mind the cold… but he hated to freeze.
ZanYi was still frowning by that point, very aware of how Ai's actions could get Shun sick now. The first thing she did was lay out the wet clothes he'd stripped off, giving them a chance to dry out, her coat included. She was going to need that dry if she ever had to go back outside again. The fire was raging and warm in the room, yet Shun was still shivering. They had to get him warmed up, and soon. Grabbing another blanket, ZanYi moved in front of Shun to sit down, inching herself back so she was pressed against his bare chest. She laid out the second blanket over both of their legs and pulled Shun's arms around her. "We need to get you warm again," she explained, snuggling back into him. The lieutenant started to focus the warmth of her chi to rise up to her skin, the heat then able to warm Shun. The waterbender was icy to the touch, and that made this a bit harder, since ZanYi was shivering at the contact. But even if she felt cold, ZanYi knew that her body temperature was warm enough, so she stayed where she was against him. With a slow, controlled breath of fire, she added a bit more kick to the flames, even warmer then.
Had Shun been a little less cold at that moment, he would have insisted that he would be fine—ZanYi did not need to suffer along with him. But since she was very, very warm, Shun could not help himself. He pulled her further into him, his hold tight on her. The fire in front of them was nice, but ZanYi's contribution was even better. "So this is the benefit of being a firebender," Shun acknowledged, closing his eyes and sighing in relief. His shivering was lessening, thank goodness… but it still took everything he had not to inch so close to the fire that his eyebrows would burn off. "Thank you, ZanYi."
ZanYi would have shrugged, but Shun's grasp was tight on her, so it didn't really work. "Don't worry about it," she told him, completely content and comfortable to help him. This way, she was able to spread her warmth all throughout his torso, which would make sure the blood rush wouldn't give his heart a shock. Freezing water—or conditions—were no joke. Everybody firebender knew that especially. "Think of this as your benefit to being with a firebender," she said. The lieutenant turned her head a bit to be able to look back up at Shun out of the corner of her eye. "A firebender that knows better than to do this to you," ZanYi added with no little bitterness. "And yet, you insist on sparring with others with less restraint."
Seriously, Shun knows she'd never pull something like this, where consequences would be more dire. Yet, he'll spar with Tiki and Ai—the latter being one that would try such underhanded tactics just to win in a friendly match. It irked ZanYi all over again.
Shun sighed since they were back to this again. He should have known ZanYi would start up as soon as they were alone. Tilting his head to look down at her, Shun asked, "Why are you so offended that I won't spar with you? Don't you know anything about me by now?" Shun moved one of his hands to cup ZanYi's face, his thumb stroking her cheek. "I hate it when you get hurt—do you know what that would do to my sanity if I was the one who ended up injuring you? I won't spar you because I love you, ZanYi. So yes, I am discriminating, but it's because I care."
Shun placed a tender kiss on ZanYi's other cheek, resting his face there for a moment. "I don't want anything to happen to you, ever. What makes you think I'd be okay with sparring with you on a regular basis? It's like you don't know me at all."
ZanYi knew perfectly well what Shun was like. That didn't mean she always liked it. His answer was a classic one from him, and while it placated her as an answer, that didn't mean she liked the answer. "I didn't ask to be discriminated against," she informed him, doing her best not to flinch under his icy touch. Shun, who was normally warm in his touch, felt like cold death. It caused her no regret in her current actions at all—though it did irked her that he would allow Ai to get away with this while he refused to even fight her. "I trust you and because you are my partner, there's no one else I'd rather spar," the lieutenant revealed, looking right up into his eyes. "There's no one else I'd rather fight to help me sharpen my skills, to challenge me and push me. You wouldn't hurt me, Shun. You'd be helping me."
Shun sighed again. ZanYi was obviously not about to let this matter drop. This was one of those moments where he had to ask himself which was more important right now: ZanYi's happiness? Or ZanYi's safety?
Shun sighed again. His resolve was cracking, simply because it was ZanYi who was asking—or demanding, really. It drove him crazy to know she had that much effortless power over him. And Shun supposed ZanYi would not get much out of sparring Tiki and Syaoran—they were excellent in their own respects, but most likely would be too afraid to give ZanYi their all. Shun was not afraid of such a thing; he just didn't want to go all out against her. If there was anything the giant waterbender feared, it was hurting ZanYi. That was the last thing he ever wanted to do. But, if she was so determined to spar with him…
"…Do you really feel so strongly about this?" he wanted to make sure. "Is sparring with me that important to you?"
"Yes, Shun. It is," ZanYi answered him clearly. "I've been keeping up as much as I can with my training and firebending, but it's not the same as on base where I have an entire unit of firebenders to keep me on my toes." Being a child prodigy gave her a significant boost and edge over just about everyone her age, but ZanYi wasn't going to let that be the end of it. She'd worked hard to be where she was and she wasn't about to let it slip away from her now. Sparring together would keep her moving, keep exerting herself, make sure she never fell flat. Plus it would force them to read each other's movements, get used to each other's fighting. At this point, her and Shun had plenty of that, but the better they could fight against each other, the better they could fight together—and that meant something to the lieutenant.
But even though ZanYi could only find the positives to sparring with Shun, she knew the waterbender wouldn't see it that way. He just didn't want to hurt her; he loved her. She supposed it was better than the alternatives, like completely dismissing her abilities or being completely terrified of her. Still, it was holding him back.
"I know you love me, Shun, and I know you don't want to hurt me. I don't want to hurt you either. But avoiding sparring with me isn't the answer."
She reached over to touch her dogtags that still hung around his neck, playing with the metal. He wore them so proudly, just as happy to have them as he was happy she wore his fanged necklace. Everything they did was about give and take, being equals. So if he was going to relent, she was going to have to as well.
Turning her gaze back up to Shun, ZanYi petitioned, "It wouldn't have to be all the time, unless you got comfortable with it. And… I won't take the risks I normally would if we were in a real fight." Meaning she wouldn't take the blows if she could avoid it. Such avoidance maneuvers would probably drive her nuts, but if Shun's main concern was hurting her, she could at the very least give that up.
Shun smiled at this. So it really was that important to ZanYi—she had been willing to compromise for it.
"…Okay, okay," he relented, resisting the urge to sigh. "But you'll have to bear with me. I'm going to hold back at first, even if I don't mean to." Shun paused, and added seriously, "But that does not give you permission to try and make me angry. I didn't hurt Ai too much… but I could have." And that thought worried the giant waterbender. He would have to apologize to the princess properly later on. Shun shivered again, putting his other arm back around ZanYi. "So warm," he mumbled. ZanYi was right: being with a firebender did have extra perks, perks he did not even consider until now. Being able to save someone from hypothermia was an excellent perk.
ZanYi turned to face the fire again, satisfied for the time being with their arrangement. Apparently her concession had been enough to sway him. It would certainly be a nuisance to avoid every single attack—sometimes it was better to take the hit and get closer than have to dodge. But if Shun was going to be willing to spar with her, then she had to give up something of hers for what he wanted, and what he wanted was her safety.
When she heard his musings, ZanYi smirked as she leaned back into him. "I've heard that one before," she remarked, thinking back to another situation somewhat similar to this one. "When you were sick, you said basically said the same thing. You know, when you pinned me to the bed and fell asleep on me." She was teasing him a bit now, and it felt good, honestly. Shun was getting warmer, which meant she was feeling less chilled by his body. The less cold she was, the less irritable she was. It worked for everyone. Besides, being with Shun like this wasn't so bad. It wasn't much different from the nights they spent together, but Shun's grip on her was as familiar to her as the flames that danced in front of them, casting shadows around the room as the northern sun was already fading behind the ornate curtains.
Shun's face warmed, but he knew it was from blood rushing to his face rather than the flames heating it. "I still don't remember that," he mumbled, looking away in embarrassment. The fact that he could not remember bothered him a little—was that usually a symptom of people who got sick? Shun had never heard of it being such. The fact that he was even speaking unconsciously in his stupor was enough to make him worry. "I don't talk in my sleep, do I?" He was pretty sure he didn't—ZanYi had never mentioned it before if he did, and they had spent plenty of their nights together. Or did ZanYi scream too loudly in her sleep to hear him mumbling in his? Shun shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. Him talking to her and not remembering it was probably only a one-time thing. He was fussing over nothing.
ZanYi snickered, shaking her head. "No, Shun, you don't," she assured him. If Shun regularly talked in his sleep, the lieutenant was fairly certain she would have realized it by now. She did suppose that most of the nights they were together it was because of night terrors, but nonetheless, Shun probably didn't regularly talk in his sleep.
"That was probably a one-time thing," ZanYi affirmed his guesses. "You weren't really sleeping when you said it, just half out of it. Though," she paused for a moment to tip her head back and smirk at him, "if we stay together tonight, I could give you a definite answer whether you sleep-talk or not." They finally had their own rooms again, ones with locks. And they generally woke up before everyone else did, shey could stay together if they wanted and no one would be the wiser.
Shun smiled at the mischief in ZanYi's eyes. "I see no reason why we shouldn't. We finally have privacy again." Shun just hoped that the servants of the palace did not possess keys to every single door in the place—that would be awkward.
Slowly, reluctantly, the giant waterbender released his hold on ZanYi. "I'm gonna go shower," he announced, pulling himself up, the blanket still wrapped tight around his shoulders. "I smell like lake water, so I want to be able to clean up a bit before dinner time rolls around." Shun glanced at the door. "Though, Ai said she would send someone to give me some dry clothes… maybe I should wait?" The giant waterbender paused, teetering on the decision. On the one hand, a nice, hot shower would be greatly appreciated at the moment. But, on the other hand, taking a shower was pointless if he had no clothes to put on afterwards. He couldn't very well walk around the palace in a towel, could he?
"Go ahead and shower, Shun," she urged him. "If they bring some clothes for you, I can get the door and make sure you get them. And if they don't, I'll try to have your own clothes dry by then. Your boots will be a bit harder, but it's doable." A hot shower would do Shun some good; hopefully by the end of it, he'll have some warm, dry clothes to put on. At least, by this point, the lieutenant was certain Shun wasn't going to catch hypothermia or the like. "So go. I don't want you to smell like lake water if I have to sleep with you."
Shun chuckled. He was tempted to point out that she didn't have to share a bed with him—but then, if he said that, she would probably decide to sleep separately just to spite him. And Shun did not want that. So he chose to take the jibe in stride, gathering his courage to drop the blanket before heading into the bathroom.
The bathroom was as beautifully decorated as the rest of the palace, made up completely of white marble, so that when Shun cut the light on, it felt like he was squinting over the frozen tundra of the north. There was a large bathtub in the middle, one that looked like a jacuzzi. Curious, Shun turned a faucet on to let the hot water run, and then pressed a button. A dozen jets started operating, shooting streams of bubbles into the water. Stripping himself of remainder of his clothes, Shun stepped into the bubbly bathtub. The hot water was a shock to his clammy skin, but the giant waterbender quickly acclimated to it, and he found himself letting out a deep sigh in content as he sunk low into the water. He hoped ZanYi was comfy in his room, because Shun was not coming out for a long time.
It was just after Shun stepped into his bath, though, a knock on the bedroom door sounded. "Hey, Shun, open up! I hope you're decent, because I have some old clothes of my dad's that might fit you!" Ai called through the door. When she did not receive an initial response, the princess frowned. "Hey, you alive in there? If this door doesn't open in five seconds, I'm coming in anyway! Four, three, two…"
Before she could get to one, ZanYi opened the door. She'd been expecting one of the maids to bring the clothes by, but when she heard Ai's voice through the door, she was unsurprised. "Shun's fine," the lieutenant told Ai, "He's just taking a hot bath." Taking a look at the clothes the princess had in hand, ZanYi guessed they would be a bit snug on Shun, but they would fit him fine until the rest of his clothes dried off. "I can take those," she told Ai, holding out a hand to receive the clothes under the woman's arm.
"Oh, hi," Ai greeted in surprise. "I didn't expect you to be in here—I thought my maid had directed me to the wrong room for a second." Seeing ZanYi's outstretched hand, Ai obliged and handed the lieutenant the clothes, giving her a curious once-over all the while. "Did he make sure to grab the towels and the soap at the top of the wardrobe? Because there's no soap or towels in the bathroom itself, save maybe for a hand towel to use after washing his hands."
Ai stepped past ZanYi to look in the top of the wardrobe. Sure enough, the soaps and towels were still up there. Ai smirked. "I'm almost tempted to let him sit in there until he has to come out… Nah, I've teased him enough for today," she decided, stretching up to grab the soap and a towel. "That's what he gets for not keeping in touch with me all these years, though. Okay, I'm gonna go take these to him. He'll be in the bathroom forever if I don't." Ai moved over to the bathroom, picking her way over the wet blanket on the floor. Did Shun use that to dry off instead of an actual towel? Ai shook her head as she reached for the door knob. She would have to get some maids in here to take Shun's clothes to get washed anyway—might as well add the blanket to the list.
ZanYi had closed the door behind Ai, but as soon as she realized what the princess was doing, the lieutenant was moving. The clean clothes were dropped on Shun's bed and just before Ai could get to the door knob, ZanYi was there and intercepting. Old friends or not, the lieutenant was not about to let Ai bust in on Shun naked in the tub. That wasn't going to fly.
"Stop," she said firmly, unyielding. This time, ZanYi took the items out of Ai's hands. "You don't need to go in there and you shouldn't be barging in on him. He's a grown man, not a five-year old boy." And he was hers. Things were too complicated right now to add too much spice to their relationship, but that did not mean ZanYi was going to let someone else—another woman—waltz her way in on Shun while he was naked. They may be old friends, and there wouldn't be any problems in the regard of anything sexual, but ZanYi still wasn't going to have any of that.
"Ah, you're right," Ai realized, knocking herself in the head with her fist. "He'd turn so red if I did that… Well, how about if I close my eyes then? I can still give him the soap and towel just as long as I don't look at him, right? He wouldn't be upset about that, right?" If need be, Ai would blindfold herself—anything to keep the situation from becoming awkward. She liked Shun, but she didn't like him that much. And while the concept of seeing him naked didn't bother her in the slightest, she had to consider his feelings too: if the situation were reversed, Ai would hate him forever for walking in on her like that.
…Well, maybe not forever. But for a significant time period, definitely.
"Just you walking in at all would upset Shun," ZanYi countered with a roll of her eyes. The princess seemed to at least get the basic message: do not walk in on a naked Shun. ZanYi was appreciative of that much. However, even if Ai had her eyes closed or didn't look at him, she still didn't like that. Not one bit. And besides, this was Shun they were talking about. "He's very… modest."
That was a bit of an understatement. Thankfully the waterbender seemed to have gotten over some of it as their intimacy grew, but Shun was still Shun. When it came to nudity or the human body, he turned bright red.
"I'll do it," ZanYi volunteered, "so you don't have to worry about Shun. I'll make sure he gets the clothes too."
Ai blinked, her eyes widening. "Hold on there, Lieutenant: what's the difference between you walking in on him and me walking in on him? No offense, but I've known Shun longer than you have—I would have grown up with him, had he stuck around. Isn't it just as bad for you to walk in on him naked as it would be for me to do it?"
Ai was getting that weird feeling about Shun and this woman again. Though she swore that Jin had had his arm around the lieutenant, ZanYi was behaving as if… as if…
Ai looked around, as if she was afraid someone else was around to hear her. And then she leaned in to the lieutenant, pitching her voice low. "Look, I'm not judging you or anything, but don't you think it's inappropriate to have both brothers under your thumb? I was wondering why Nyla seems to dislike you, but don't you think this could be it?" Ai frowned a little. This situation had bad written all over it. "I don't know what you're after, but it isn't right to mess around with Shun behind his brother's back—especially if you're just keeping him on the side. He's a good guy; he doesn't deserve his heart to be broken like that."
And with that insinuation, ZanYi dropped the towels and soap, a look of incredulity on her face. Was Ai really suggesting what the lieutenant thought she was? It was enough to make her sick. Just as much showed on her next expression: a look of complete and utter disgust and revulsion. "Don't ever suggest that again," she warned the princess, struggling to keep the sparks at her fingertips. "I don't know how you got the notion that Jin and I are together, but lose it now. I just met him a couple days ago and can hardly stand him. He's a perverted playboy that's lucky I haven't crisped him by now."
ZanYi had to resist the urge to gag, though she finally did get the fire to dissipate from her hands. Not only was the mere thought of being involved with Jin disgusting, but so was Ai's implication she was the kind of woman who would do such a thing. There was disgust and there was personal offense.
"Sorry," Ai apologized, raising her hands in surrender. But she was giving ZanYi an incredulous look of her own at that point. "But, if you detest him so much, why was his arm around you when I came to bring you all into the city?" Seriously, if ZanYi could not stand Jin as much as she claimed, why would she allow the 'perverted playboy' to sling an arm around her? What was going on here? Ai just kept getting more and more confused. What exactly was happening between her childhood friend and this firebending lieutenant?
Getting another idea, the princess lowered her voice again. "Oh… did Jin, maybe, break your heart? So you went running to Shun for comfort? If so, that's even meaner: Shun doesn't deserve to be a rebound guy, you know?"
This was getting to be completely asinine. ZanYi looked away from Ai for a moment to take a deep breath and shake her head. When her eyes averted back to the princess, it was one that quite irritated. If the lieutenant hadn't dealt with Tiki for so long, such absurd questions would have sent her over the edge.
"No one is breaking anybody's heart," ZanYi growled, as if that was the only time she was going to assert that. As if she would fall for Jin—her stomach churned again. "Look," she tried again, striving for self-control, "Jin had his arm around me because our first plan to get into the city was to pose as a visiting family. I don't look like any of the Jiangs for obvious reasons, so Shun had me pose as Jin's wife so that they wouldn't question my presence among them. If you haven't noticed, the idiot has loose lips. I was the enforcer to make sure he didn't give us away."
Ai took this in, fiddling with the dangling earrings of one ear as she thought about it. From what she gathered of Jin's current personality, it made sense—the guy had no idea how to keep his mouth shut. And ZanYi was a tough girl—that had already been established. Putting those facts together, it made sense for the lieutenant to pretend to be Jin's wife. Ai was sufficiently impressed with this reasoning.
"Okay… then if you aren't with Jin, spell this out for me: what are you to Shun?" Ai crossed her arms, surveying ZanYi as she awaited an answer. Honestly, if ZanYi was implying what Ai thought she was implying, then the princess was amply confused: whoever heard of a waterbender and a firebender being together and it working out? There was a reason their elements did not mix, though bi-bender relationships weren't exactly uncommon. True, Avatar Korra was said to have a firebender companion she had been close to… but Avatar Korra was famous for doing what she wanted and telling other people to just deal with it. Shun was very different: he was a gentle soul and pretty much the embodiment of waterbending—steady and calm, but fierce and unforgiving when angered. Seriously, if they were something, how did their relationship even work? And how did Shun snag someone like ZanYi? Maybe it was because she had known him since childhood, but Ai really couldn't understand how Shun managed to snag someone so clearly out of his league. It was an anomaly to her.
Meanwhile, Shun had finally realized something crucial—there was no soap in the bathroom. Not anywhere. Cursing under his breath, the giant waterbender reluctantly tugged his wet jeans back on to leave the bathroom to grab a towel and get ZanYi to request some soap for him. But when he made to leave the bathroom, he found his childhood friend and his lady love right in front of the bathroom door, having what appeared to be a heated discussion, if ZanYi's expression was any indication.
"…What are you two doing…?"
Ai looked up, a tad startled by Shun's presence. And then, without meaning to, she noticed that he was shirtless. And, despite herself, she was not displeased by what she saw. "Wow. Shun, when did you get hot?" she asked bluntly. Shun's face flushed.
"Uh…" was all he could say, suddenly uncomfortable. Was Ai coming on to him? The giant waterbender didn't think he could handle something like that. His questioning gaze shifted to ZanYi, and Ai became aware of the fact that she might be in the way. So she bent over, scooping up the items ZanYi had dropped, and handed them to Shun. "There you go. For future reference, the soap is in the wardrobe. Also, I got you some clothes that might fit…" Ai's eyes dropped to Shun's bare torso once more. "…Or not."
Shun pressed the towel she had given him to his chest, feeling very self-conscious. With a giggle, Ai decided to show herself out. "We'll finish this girl-talk later, Lieutenant," she promised before shutting the door behind herself. Shun stared at the closed door for a full five seconds before turning his gaze onto ZanYi once more.
"What was that about?"
ZanYi continued to scowl a bit at the door for another couple seconds before looking up to Shun. "Well, your friend was about to bust in there to give you the soap and towels. I stopped her, told her I would do it, and she went through several reasons why I would do that." ZanYi had a deadpanned expression on her face, not in the slightest amused. "First she thought I was cheating on Jin with you, and then she thought Jin broke my heart and you're my rebound," she filled him in agitatedly. Both insinuations irked her: they were revolting because Jin was involved, and insulting because it went against her character. It was pure defamation.
Shun could only stare down at her. Surely she couldn't be serious. Why would Ai—?
Shun thought back to how they were paired off when the princess came to greet them at the city gates, remembering that Jin had his arm around ZanYi's waist at the time, giving the impression that they were happily together. And Shun also remembered that he never took any steps to dispelling that ruse, so Ai probably thought that ZanYi was dating Jin this whole time…
The giant waterbender burst into a fit of laughter, unable to help himself. He pressed a hand over his mouth, but the laughter would not subside until much later, leaving him gasping for air. The situation wasn't that funny—it was kind of horrible, in fact—but ZanYi just looked so disgruntled about being labeled Jin's girl that Shun could not help but find the misunderstanding a tad hilarious.
"…I'm sorry," he apologized once he had regained his breath, trying to keep his grin contained. "It was my fault that she misunderstood. I'll re-introduce you properly at dinner, okay?" He could tell ZanYi was vexed by the whole situation, and despite that, Shun found her a little endearing. He liked to think that she found the idea of being with any other man than him stupid, not just the idea of being with Jin. It gave him hope.
ZanYi was not pleased at all by his fit of laughter, and it was again a struggle to keep the flames down at her fingertips. She saw nothing humorous about any of this. Shun hated the idea of her even pretending to be Jin's wife, but he found this hysterical?
"You know, the people in your life are nosy," she snipped, clearly irritated by the whole thing. "They make having a low-key relationship with you very difficult. Now we get to add Ai to the list. If I wanted the world to know about my business, I'd put it out there myself." ZanYi took a couple frustrated strides away, pacing a bit before she scowled back at Shun. "But you know what? If it gets any notion out of her head that I would possibly ever be even attracted to your brother, then tell her." Again, her stomach recoiled.
Oh, she was upset. Shun worked to sober himself, knowing that his laughter had not helped matters. "Sorry," he apologized again; he would have hugged her, but he was wet, and she was a few feet away, so he could not reach her anyway. He took in her frustrated gait, studying her for a moment. The people in his life were nosy, huh? Actually, they just cared about him a lot—talking with Jin and Nyla had proven that to Shun, but apparently, ZanYi saw it differently.
"Is this going to continue to be a problem?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom and crossing his arms, the towel and soap tucked under his arm. "If so, I'm warning you now: I'm going to want to introduce you to my parents, when we find them. And not just as my teammate."
There was no point in hiding something like this from his parents, of all people. Jin and Nyla knew, and they would probably tell their eldest brother, Kohaku, as well… there was no way such news would not reach their parents' ears. And they would be hurt that Shun did not tell them first. Would ZanYi take issue to Shun introducing her to his parents as… whatever they were?
ZanYi got quiet and just stared at Shun, brow furrowed as she tried to think things through before she spoke. Knowing Shun, it would only seem natural that he would want to tell people about them, be up front—especially with his family. That's who Shun was, after all.
It was also who ZanYi wasn't.
What the two of them had was something private, something that was personal to her and she wanted to keep that way. For the world to know about one of the most private parts of her life felt like a security breach. If this had happened months ago when she was still more active on base, it could have come up with a loss of respect, like she was a sold-out, love-sick girl.
That was another thing ZanYi wasn't.
Being with Shun, she had to play by a whole new set of rules, most of them forcing her to give up that privacy, that solitude. ZanYi just had to remind herself that it was her and Shun that wrote these rules still, no one else.
Taking a deep breath, but still frowning, she repeated his earlier words, "Is this that important to you? Is being open about our relationship that important?"
Shun recognized that she was mimicking him, and took that to mean that she wanted to verify whether she should give in or not. So Shun was willing to level with her as she had leveled with him. "Yes. Telling my parents about us is important to me. I'm not going to shout it to the world, if that's what you're afraid of. But I want my parents to know, at least." A corner of Shun's mouth quirked up. "My mother would never forgive me if she learned from Jin or Nyla that I'm in love with the wonderful woman I only introduced to them as a teammate."
As another avenue of thought began to occur to the giant waterbender, his smirk faded. "Tell me something, though," he requested, crossing the room to stand in front of ZanYi. He gripped her chin, tilting her head up so she wouldn't be able to look away from him. "Why don't you want people to know about us? I understand that you want your privacy…" Shun's brow furrowed, "…but, you're not ashamed of me, right?" That was his insecurity talking—Shun didn't really think ZanYi was ashamed of him. If she didn't want to be with him, she wouldn't be with him. Still, the giant waterbender couldn't help but wonder if there was something more to her wanting to keep their relationship behind closed doors all the time.
ZanYi almost looked a little offended, but remained just as irked. "I'm not ashamed of you, Shun," she put firmly. It was hard to believe he had just asked her that, but the look on his face clearly said that he was considering it. "I want us to stay quiet mostly because I like my privacy," ZanYi asserted, agreeing with his original claim. "No one else needs to know the personal parts of me because they are mine. You are one of those things. Therefore it is no one else's business whether I have someone in my life or not."
However, that wasn't the only reason, and it seemed Shun might be picking up on that. She crossed her arms with a deep breath, frowning up at the waterbender. "The more people that know, that means the more people that want to put their two-cents in," she tried to explain further. "What happens between us is between us. I can ignore what everyone else says…" ZanYi's voice trailed, and her brow furrowed deeper, "…but you can't. You care too much about everyone in your life to ignore what they say. Can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that if your parents take to me like Nyla did, that you wouldn't be bothered and reconsider everything?"
Oh.
Shun hadn't even considered that kind of possibility. But only after a moment's deliberation did he have his answer. "Even if my parents don't love you as much as I do, I'd like to think that they'd just want me to be happy," Shun spoke, remembering that, as a child, his parents were kind, loving people. "I don't know what the years may have done to them, but I remember them fondly. I think they would be ecstatic to learn that I had found someone, regardless of whether they like her or not."
Shun paused, deliberating again before telling ZanYi, "Besides, Nyla probably only acts that way because she's jealous. I talked to her and Jin about this one morning—you threaten them simply because you've known the present me longer than they have." Shun began to smirk. "You're an evil person who's taking their brother away from them all over again, only you don't wear a Neo-Equalist uniform."
Why did he have to belong solely to either his family or to ZanYi? It didn't make sense. He should be able to have both in his life. Or was that too selfish of him to want something like that? Was the only solution one or the other? Shun hoped not, because the only loophole he could see in that… was to ask ZanYi to join his family.
The mere thought of popping such a question sometime in the future, even if distant at best, had Shun gulping nervously.
ZanYi, however, wasn't even thinking about such things, and was rolling her eyes. "Well, I hope for your sake that you're right," she warned him, regarding him seriously. "Because eventually, being portrayed as the bad guy by everyone else in your life is going to start wearing. This is one fire I don't want to add fuel to, but I'm not going to stand here forever and take it like a doormat."
Right now, it was mostly just Nyla—easy enough to ignore the jibes and quips normally. But Shun was part of a horde now, it seemed, and with a horde came several voices. If they all started to shout against her, the lieutenant was not going to take that quietly.
"You're the only one that knows me well enough to know if I'm the bad guy or not," she started again. "They don't all have to like me. But if you plan on continuing this despite objections, I at least need some respect."
"And you'll get it, trust me," Shun assured her with a nod. "You're not asking for much, and I expect at least that from my parents. Nyla I'll have to talk to again, but Jin has promised to behave himself from now on, and I'm holding him to that." Shun pecked ZanYi's lips, pulling back to smile affectionately at her. "Family or not, you're as much a part of my life as they are, so they will have to give you some respect. It's not like you're asking for much—it's a common courtesy."
If his family could not respect ZanYi, they all were going to have a serious problem. Shun did not want this to turn into a big issue—Nyla was already trying to make it one—so if the rest of his family had issues with ZanYi, they were not to say anything to her. They would have to take it up with him, and he would continue to insist that she be given the respect she deserves. ZanYi was the one Shun chose, and unless she decided to leave him, that was not about to change. Ever.
"Let me finish my bath," Shun requested, turning with a guilty look to the sound of jets still running in his bathroom. His gaze fell back on ZanYi a moment. "I got my soaking out of the way, so I won't take long." Shun began to head back into the bathroom, but when he remembered the clothes on the bed, he doubled back and took those with him. No need to change in the bedroom if ZanYi was still going to be there when he got out. That would be too embarrassing for the giant waterbender.
Placated at last, ZanYi nodded and watched Shun go back into the bathroom. Finally able to sit back down, she wrapped the drier blanket back around her, reveling in the warmth. Hopefully her coat would dry soon enough; going back outside without it sounded like a horrific idea.
But as ZanYi focused on the flames before her, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Shun. No matter what was going to be thrown at them, he seemed quite determined to see it through and make sure they stayed together. ZanYi could not help but wonder if he could really back it up. After all these years, he could finally have his family back, his friends, his life. He could make steps to regaining the lost time.
But then he was trying to incorporate the lieutenant into that, and so far, it has only proven to come up with opposition or difficulty. It was going to wear on Shun eventually. ZanYi would not leave his side, and she was not going to make him choose; she knew all too well everything she would give up to get back what she'd lost. Even if she didn't know her feelings for Shun, she cared enough not to ever take this chance from him.
And even if it wasn't logical, ZanYi let herself hope that he was going to be right. Otherwise, she did not foresee this getting any easier on him.
A/N from Eva: Hoo boy. Ai's quite a handful, isn't she? XP But when she's wrong, she'll admit it, which makes her not as obnoxious, ha ha. I'm looking forward to the explanation Shun will have to provide her, though. XD Anyway, thanks for reading! Sorry for the longer than usual wait, but you know how it is: real life just gets in the way sometimes. :P
ANewbutOldGuest: Ah, thanks! DJ and I are always concerned about flow, so it's nice to hear that all of our editing pays off! :3 Yes, Shun's bike was named after his wild and crazy friend, who is also coincidentally the princess of the Northern Water Tribe. XD She's a bit hard to handle, but Shun's happy to see that some things don't change, ha ha. As for our thoughts on the LoK finale, we don't dive into it, since some people reading might not have caught up yet. But as for the LoK storyline affecting ours, we're not sweating it. The way we see it, our own canon is already established. We can edit things in, sure, but as for the big stuff, we're probably not going to bother with it. Otherwise, we'll never manage to post the entire series up here. :P Thanks for reading and reviewing as always, and we hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Doenerpate: Thanks for adding us to your Author Alert and Favorite Author lists as well as adding Water to your Story Alert list! DJ and I are always thrilled to have support in any shape or form, so thank you! We hope to hear your thoughts on the story soon!
scrawlx1012: Thanks for adding us and Water to your Favorite Author list! It's a huge compliment to us, so thank you so much! We hope you continue to enjoy the story!
Avatar Nation: Okay, because we take the criticisms of our readers seriously, DJ and I revisited the chapter before the previous one and read through the scene again. And honestly, we have no idea how you came to your conclusion. There's nothing there about ZanYi not trusting Syaoran to keep watch. In fact, right before that, she praised Syaoran for helping Shun find the blocks in her body so Shun could heal them. The only reason ZanYi didn't feel comfortable sleeping was because she was charged with the Avatar's safety, and it would be a poor look-out for something to happen to him while she was asleep. Avatar or not, ZanYi takes her duty very seriously; she doesn't even let her own weakness of the body stand in her way when performing her duty. And Syaoran and ZanYi's relationship is not as volatile as you're perceiving it to be. Yes, ZanYi harasses Syaoran and picks on him when he does something dumb, but she does the same for Shun and Tiki. Being snarky is a part of her personality, and the rest of Team Avatar takes it in stride. So, forgive us for saying so, but you're very much misinterpreting the character. Try reading through the series again and really take a look at how ZanYi responds to situations, and then see if you feel the same way. Despite this misunderstanding, we hope you'll continue to enjoy the story!
Masseffect321: Oh dear, it sounds like you have some issues of your own to take care of. XD Yeah, being friends with the Northern Water Tribe princess isn't a detail you can really work into normal conversation, ha ha. Her name was a last resort for Shun, so when they couldn't get into the city themselves, he used his connection. And she hasn't changed a bit. XD Anyway, thanks for reading as always, and we hope you enjoyed this chapter!
boasamishipper: Wow! Jackpot! Thanks for favoriting Fire, Air, Water, and us, as well as following Water and following us! DJ and I are thrilled that you love the story so much that you now consider it canon! Your review made us grin so hard that my cheeks hurt, ha ha. Never be self-conscious about long reviews, we love them! Also, not to burst your bubble or anything, but the whole series is actually already written out. XD It just takes us a while to get a chapter out sometimes because we have to edit things to make them FanFiction presentable. XD So we hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully we'll be updating for you guys again next week! Once again, thank you so very much! :D
Aaaaaand another chapter done! We hope you enjoyed it, because more royal shenanigans are coming! (Especially since Ai thinks ZanYi's some sort of temptress, ha ha.) Anyway, we hope to see you guys next week! 'Til then, later!
Oh! And P.S.: If you want to chat with us about anything, be it about Legend of Korra or about War, feel free to PM us here, or drop us a message on the dA group, The-Warring-Earth. (The link is in our profile.) We'd love to hear from you! Eva out!