Figured I'd might as well add chapter two, since it's already written. I'll be posting three and probably four very soon. Let me know what you all think. Red, review and favorite!

Be brave. ~BraveGirl

The Avatar and the White Dragon: Book One, Guidance

Chapter Two

The unmistakable sound of the door opening and closing is what pulled Rai's attention away from the book she was reading, her eyes snapping up to see her roommate standing with her back to her, seemingly staring at the closed door of their room. Usually, Rai would think nothing much of her friend and roommate coming home so late in the morning, but the older girl had been MIA since the weekend following their excursion to the University. It was now three days later, and she hadn't heard a word, not even a note, from the older girl, so Rai simply tossed the book she had been reading to the side before sliding off the bed and walking towards her roommate, who still hadn't moved from when she first entered the room.

"Kayo?"

Even from her position a few feet behind the older girl, Rai could visibly see her shoulders tense, so the firebender kept her distance, the hand that she had held out to touch the other girl stalling before falling back to her side. "What's wrong?"

It was a rarity for the firebender to show any kind of emotion, and Kayo could practically hear the worry dripping from the girl's voice as she stood gripping the door handle to their shared room tightly, wishing that she could have avoided this all together. But she'd been gone for three days, and had already taken over Asha's room to hide out for too long. Loosening her grip on the handle, and taking a deep breath, she turned to face her roommate, waiting for a reaction that she never could predict whenever it came to the firebender.

However, the reaction she received did in fact surprise Kayo, and she watched as the younger girl's jade-green eyes turned a shade darker before she had closed the distance between the two of them, barely brushing by the older girl before slipping past into the hallway, the air in their room where Kayo still stood crackling with heat.

Without missing a beat, Kayo turned and followed after the girl, confused by where the girl was going and why seeing the bruise around her left eye and cheekbone had caused such an angry reaction in the girl. "Rai, wait!"

Rai didn't bother stopping upon hearing her roommate's voice, but instead kept her pace somewhat faster than normal as she rounded the corner of the common room. Sure enough, sitting with his back to the room at the make-shift bar Cam and Kwan had built, was the object of her search. The firebender was vaguely aware that her roommate had now caught up with her, and was attempting to reach the girl through whatever anger induced haze she'd been in since her eyes fell on the bruising on her friend's face. But she ignored the girl, walking up behind Nakio and in one, shift movement, knocked over the glass of alcohol he had been consuming and slammed her hand into the back of the boy's head, forcing his face to connect with the hard surface of the counter before Rai took out the stool he was sitting on, watching as the heap of mass fell to the floor with a loud grunt.

The string of curses, and the sound of the glass shattering pulled all the attention in the room towards the firebender as Nakio let out another groan, pushing himself off the floor with one hand while the other reached up to attempt and stop the blood that was now flowing freely down his chin. "What the hell is your problem?!"

Without a word, the firebender grabbed a handful of the boy's hair, yanking as hard as she dared as she kneeled on the floor in front of him, forcing the boy to keep his attention on her. "You are a pathetic excuse of human life. Let this be your first and only warning. Not a hair on her head is to be touched by you again. Spirits help you should you forget this."

Letting go of the boy's head, Rai stood up, catching the gaze of her roommate from across the room. The older girl was simply staring with her mouth hanging open in shock, to which Rai just raised an eyebrow, walking towards the older girl and turning her around, giving her a gentle push in the direction that had come from. Kayo obliged, her mouth snapping shut as she let the firebender basically lead her back to their room. Once inside, the firebender sat her roommate down on her respective bed, hovering above her for a second before returning to the exact same spot she'd been occupying on her own bed before Kayo had entered.

"Why did you do that?"

The firebender shrugged, seemingly calm after what she'd just done, but Kayo could see the anger still residing in the girl's eyes, could see the tension on the girl's shoulders as she sat against the wall. "He deserved it."

Kayo frowned, tearing her eyes away from her roommate and friend to stare down at her own hands. "How did you even figure it out?"

"Who else would have been stupid enough to hit you?"

Kayo knew the firebender had a point. After their conversation on the roof, she'd found herself a one-woman protection detail. If anyone so much had dared to lay a hand on the taller girl, they'd been knocked down by the firebender before anyone could blink. Her first sparring match had been the start of it. Cam had been teaching that day, which meant that the rules they usually had in place weren't enforced, such as aiming punches and kicks below chin level, and the girl she'd been paired with had towered over her easily. As inexperienced as she was, Kayo liked to think she at least held her own for a little while against the older girl, but before long, she had been knocked down to her knees with a blow to the jaw. How Rai had managed to intercept so fast, she still didn't know to this day, (the girl had been across the room silently observing for the entire match) but she had intervened before the older girl could even reposition herself on the mat. Kayo remembered that somewhere through the fog of the pain, thinking that she had never been more thankful for meeting the firebender, who had stood over her with flames in her eyes and in her hands, daring anyone, but mainly Cam, to say anything to her about what she'd just done, Kayo's sparring partner lying unconscious on the mat off to their right. Since, no one has bothered any of Rai's team members, because they'd seen first hand just exactly what a bad idea that would be.

Much like then, Kayo had seen the same rage reeling in the girl's eyes tonight, and as she glanced back up at her roommate, who was staring off into the distance, she smiled despite the slight throb is caused the left side of her face and willed herself to keep the stinging in her eyes at bay. She'd told herself the night it happened, after Nakio had drunkenly wanted to move further into their relationship than she had and her face had paid the price of saying no, that she wouldn't cry about it. And maybe it wasn't the situation that was now the cause of the tears flowing down her cheeks, but simply the fact that for someone so cold and distant, she'd been lucky enough to break through some of the armor her roommate had piled on and gained access to something Kayo thought she'd never have. Someone who loved her.

Hearing a sniffle from the other side of the room pulled Rai from her thoughts, where she had also been thinking about her roommate's first sparring match as well, although she was imagining Nakio as the one who was knocked unconscious, if not something more. She'd glanced over at her roommate, watching as the girl turned halfway in her bed, wiping at the tears that were streaming down her face. All the anger that Rai had felt disappeared upon seeing someone she cared about, which if she didn't want to lie to herself any longer, was more than just friendship, so upset and in this type of situation.

The firebender stood from her bed, saving her thoughts on maiming the boy who'd bruised her roommate's face for later as she silently slid onto the bed behind Kayo, wrapping her arms around the girl's form.

Hours later, Rai found herself staring at the door of her room, her thoughts reeling from the past couple of days. She'd completely forgotten about the file that was still sitting under the dresser when she'd been wondering where her roommate had disappeared. And then she'd shown up early this morning with a bruised face, which prompted the firebender to send a message out to the boy to never make that mistake again. Things had quietened down since then, after Kayo's breakdown, she'd thanked the firebender for always being there for her, and made her promise not to do anything else to the boy, which had made Rai roll her eyes but promise anyway. Although she fully intended to make the boy squirm whenever she could. What Kayo didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

The occupant of said thoughts and distractions was currently sleeping, her arm draped over her roommates stomach and her head resting on the shorter girl's shoulder, cheek against the firebender's collarbone. They'd stayed up longer after Kayo's tears subsided and simply talked, about everything. Rai had been wanting to mention what she found in the file folder from the CEO's office to her friend for a while now, but between the girl going through some obvious troubles, she'd have to keep waiting. And she fully intended to bring it up somewhere along the conversation the two had been sharing over the past few hours, but when she started to, she noticed her roommate had fallen asleep and decided to leave that conversation for later.

She was content with just watching her friend sleep, and listening to the even breathing that came with it, her own arms eventually coming up to wrap around the older girl sometime over the past few hours. Rai would have joined her in dreamland had she not been still somewhat fuming over what that bastard had done to her friend. So she sat where she was, her back against the wall on Kayo's bed while her friend kept her warm by being so close. When she'd first moved here, and taken Kwan up on his deal, she would have laughed if someone told her four years later she'd be sitting here with someone she considered her best friend and a part of her family, for once not feeling alone.

Glancing over at the clock she knew Kayo kept on her bedside table, she noticed the time and remembered that she needed to check up on Kwan's office in a few hours since he had left sometime yesterday, but was finding it hard to wake the girl in her arms.

"You may not say much, but you think too loudly."

Rai tensed for a second, not expecting to hear her friend's voice, but immediately relaxed afterwards. "Sorry."

"You have to go, don't you?"

Nodding, the firebender slackened her arms from around her friend, feeling her cheeks heat up slightly at having been caught acting like something other than the emotionless, cold rock people thought she was. Which, in a way, she was. "I just have to check on Kwan's office."

Kayo sat up off her friend, feeling tense from the way she'd been sleeping, wincing slightly when her cheek and eye shot a series of painful seconds. If anything, Kayo had to hand it to Nakio. He had a pretty mean left hook, but Rai's was much better. "Okay. I have to go see Tuyen in the infirmary, see if he can do anything for my face."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

Kayo knew that she probably couldn't get Rai to leave her side for a few days. She wouldn't be complaining about it, though. If she was honest, she was scared to even be without anyone she trusted while Nakio was running around. She'd managed to avoid him all weekend, but now that Rai had, publicly, defender her, the boy will be looking for her eventually. If she could keep that from happening for a little bit longer she would. "Please. We can stop by Kwan's office on the way."

With a nod, the firebender was off her roommates bed and standing over her, holding her hand out to the older girl. Kayo simply took the offered hand, letting her friend pull her out of their room and down the hall. One of the perks of being teamed up with Rai was that their room was close to Kwan's and Cam's offices, so neither had to worry about running into someone since the other members tended to steer clear of this part of the living quarters.

Kayo herself had never been inside their boss' office, and when Rai had let go of her hand to venture inside and make sure everything was okay, her eyes scanned the room. There were posters of pro-bending teams all over the walls, and articles about some of the politicians of Republic City pinned to a board directly behind Kwan's desk. She watched as Rai moved through the room as if she practically knew where everything was, and it she knew she basically did. The only other person who spent as much as Kwan did in here was the firebender. It wasn't a secret that Kwan had a soft spot for the girl, why, no one understood, but never questioned it.

"Is where Kwan keeps all of the information he gathered about us when we joined?"

The firebender nodded, looking up from behind the desk to point at a row of filing cabinets that lined one wall, each marked with a specific letter. "They're in alphabetical order."

Walking towards the cabinets, Kayo raised an eyebrow, her eyes landing on the one she was sure housed her own information, gently pulling on the drawer until it popped open. There were hundreds of members of the R.F., all stationed around the city wherever Kwan had set up a settlement. Their home was the main branch, and as Kayo's eyes raked over people she knew and didn't know, she finally found her name, pulling the file folder out and flipping it open. On top of the pile of paper work was a simply photo, a photo that showed a young Kayo with her parents on either side, all three laughing in the direction of the camera.

The older girl quickly snapped the folder shut, placing it back into it's rightful place before scanning over the other names. "Doesn't it seem kind of unsafe to just leave all this information about each other out in the open like this?"

"The cabinets lock, but Kwan left them unlocked in case I'd need to look into someone while he was gone. And the only people who have access to them are him and Cam."

Nodding, Kayo glanced from the rows of files to watch her friend read something on the piece of paper Kwan had left taped to the inside of his door, knowing the firebender would find it upon entering. "Have you ever read my file?"

The question had the firebender's head snapping up, her eyes widening as if she was a two-year-old that had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. While the girl was usually hard to read at time, when caught off guard, she let that wall down and some emotions shine through. "What?"

Leaning against the cabinet that she didn't currently have open, Kayo watched with amusement as the firebender took a step backwards, her feet catching on something, the metal chair from the way it rocked, before almost falling backwards, her hands flying out to center herself before she could. Those few seconds had Kayo laughing as she went back to her snooping. She was no fool. She knew that Rai looked at her differently than she did their other friends, and she knew that when the girl had taken to being her own personal guard it wasn't out of just friendship. She was quite aware of her friend's feelings towards her. And she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel the same kind of affection towards the girl. But her father's words, if you could call the drunken bastard a father, had always haunted her when it came to what was expected of her. "You'll marry a man of good breeding, someone with power. You'll bare as many children as he could want. I won't have you screwing up like your mother did. I'll make sure you fall in line."

"Relax, hotshot, I'm messing with you. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if you had read it. It would explain how you knew so much about me before I ever even told you anything."

From across the room, Kayo could hear the huff that came from the firebender as she closed the drawer she'd been looking through, instead opting for another under a different letter. "I…have no response to that."

The firebender watched as she friend faltered slightly in her teasing, her hands stalling in pulling out another file as she raised an eyebrow at stared at her. "So you have read it!"

Rai shrugged, going over the list Kwan left her one last time before moving from around his desk, stopping as she reached the filing cabinets where Kayo stood, reading through some poor soul's life story. "I'm done, so whenever you're done snooping through people's lives we can go."

The older girl waved her away, continuing to read whoever's file she'd pulled out. "I'm almost done. Why isn't your file in there?"

Frowning, Rai's eyes traveled from her friend to the open drawer. Sure enough, Kayo had opened the drawer where her file was supposed to have been sitting. The firebender had seen it before, when Kwan had told her to unfortunate news that her parents had indeed been killed not longer after her first birthday. It was one of the smallest in the cabinet, since the firebender had bounced around from home to home until Kwan took her in. "It's not?"

Kayo shook her head, placing the file that she'd been reading back into it's spot before ushering to the drawer. "No. Take a look for yourself."

Rai's frown deepened as she searched through the drawer, coming up empty. "What the hell? It's supposed to be here."

"You've never looked at it before?"

Shaking her head, Rai's fingers stilled in their movements of looking through the number of names. "Only once. I don't exactly like to relive the past."

As the firebender's words faltered as she remembered something Kwan had told her as he closed the file after revealing the news of her parents death to her, when she'd asked him if there was any information on them. "Don't go looking too far into your past, kid. You might not like what you find."

Slamming the drawer closed, and startling her roommate, Rai moved back around to Kwan's desk, trying every drawer in it until she came across one that wouldn't budge. Kwan never kept anything locked while he was gone, just in case she needed access to it. There was obviously something there that he didn't want anyone to see, Rai herself included.

"Do you have a pin?"

Kayo nodded, reaching into her pocket for the pile of pins she kept to put her hair up on missions and during matches, handing one over to her roommate. "What are you doing?"

Rai glanced up from her spot crouched on the floor, the pin in one hand as she stared up at her friend. "If I tell you something, you have to swear that it stays between us."

The older girl nodded, leaning over the edge of the desk and watching as Rai used the pin on the lock of the drawer. "When we were back at the University, in Asami Sato's office, I took another file that had nothing to do with the plans for the prototypes Kwan wanted."

"What was the file about?"

Chewing on her bottom lip out of concentration, Rai adjusted her hand slightly before trying to find the right spot in the lock with the pin. "Nothing in particular, just a bunch of newspaper clips about her mother's death and her father's arrest. But there was also one that talked about a hit and run accident that she was involved in. She was apparently in a coma for a few days afterwards."

"Okay…what does that have to do with all of this? Why are you so keen on finding your information anyway? You just said that you didn't like looking at it, why do you want it now?"

"There was also a death certificate with my birth date on it. I have the file back in our room, under my dresser and I didn't think much of it. But I do find it weird that it's my birth date on that certificate and that the only time I've seen my file is when I first came here."

Kayo blinked a few times before leaning against the edge of the desk. "You do know what you're insinuating, don't you? That Kwan has been withholding information about you and has also been lying about you for the past four years?"

Finally there was click, and Rai handed the hair pin back to her friend before pulling the drawer out. "I'm not saying that what's happening. I just…I have this feeling that Kwan doesn't want me to see my file and that I was not meant to find that certificate in Asami's office."

"And that would mean what? That the CEO of Future Industries and the Avatar's wife could have the answers to everything you've been looking for?"

The firebender shrugged, her name written on the side of a file that looked like it occupied most of the desk drawer. Rai made quick work of pulling it out, sitting it down on the desk top before taking a seat in the metal chair that Kwan usually occupied. "I'm not expecting anything from anyone, but I do want to know why my information has been locked away in Kwan's desk. Information that appears to have grown since the last time I saw it."

Kayo couldn't fathom how calm and collected the firebender was, not after the two had sat down at Kwan's desk, knowing that at any time someone could come in and find the both of them reading through the pile of paperwork that turned out to be letters. Letters that had been exchanged between Kwan and Hiroshi Sato sixteen years ago, the latter stating that the monetary compensation the R.F. leader was getting would be forwarded for his services after the "event" had happened. Whatever "event" that was supposed to happen clearly didn't end up the way Hiroshi had wanted, and one letter in particular had the businessman threatening to pull the plug on the payment following Kwan's "rash and unnecessary behavior." Of course, Kwan being the ever sweet-talker that he was stated that he'd done his part and more, but wasn't planning on asking the man for more money than he had been promised, and when the money was handed over, everything would go back to normal. But the firebender had been reading the papers quietly, while one hand gripped the death certificates of her parents that Kwan had presented to her three years ago, certificates that somehow didn't tie into whatever purpose these letters had.

"Okay, what is this event thing? Were they selling him drugs? Or illegal goods that Future Industries was using in their merch?"

Letting out a sigh, the firebender placed the letter she'd been reading down on the desk, confusion written all over her face. "I don't know, and I don't know why these are all in my file. None of this is making sense. Not these letters, not the certificate that I found in Asami's office, not the other two of my parents, nothing."

"You could always just ask Kwan?"

"Are you joking? He'd have me hung up and punished for a week if he found out I broke into his drawer and found these."

The two girls sat in silence for a few moments before Kayo kicked herself off the edge of the desk, where she'd made herself a seat for the better part of the time they'd been looking in the firebender's file. "Whatever is going on, it's not adding up. There's no way Kwan would have sent us to the University if he'd known about that death certificate you found in Sato's office. He had to have known that if you found it, it would spark some kind of interest in finding out more about your past, even if he advised that you didn't. He obviously didn't want anyone to find these letters either, and all we're doing is drawing a bunch of blanks. Let's just…think about this for a while. There's got to be something here that connects all of this somehow."

Rai glanced up from the papers, frowning up at the taller girl. "Why are you so interested in this? Whatever went down between the two of them, it obviously has something to do with me, but I don't understand why you're even still here. If I'd brought anyone else with me, and broke into our boss' office, they would have already ran off out of fear of punishment from Kwan. Actually, now that I think about it, you need to leave. I can't have you risking your neck for something that-."

"Doesn't involve me? Rai, if this involves you, then I'm automatically going to be a part of it. You're my best friend and whatever is going on, I want to help you figure it out. Besides, I know you. You'll get aggravated at not being able to figure it out by yourself and try and forget you ever broke into Sato's office until it eats away at you and you do something reckless. I am not going through another rooftop conversation with you, so suck it up and let me help you."

The firebender raised an eyebrow, eyeing her roommate before shrugging and returning her attention back to the stack of papers on the desk below her. "Okay."

It was Kayo's turn to raise an eyebrow as the firebender stood up, gathering both stacks of papers and letters before walking towards the office door. "We should start looking into whatever "event" that Hiroshi and Kwan were talking about. I think if we can figure out what that was, then we might be able to start connecting the dots."

"Which is why we're going to the University."

Kayo followed the firebender out of the office, hoping that they wouldn't bring too much attention to themselves with the pile of paperwork Rai was carrying. "Why would we go there?"

"Because whatever "event" they were talking about, I doubt it went unnoticed."

"And you're thinking that the University's public records will give us a clue?"

Rai, who'd been walking a few paces in front of her roommate turned, a small smile gracing her features. "Exactly."

"Okay, so the date on these letters date back to around…sixteen years ago. We're looking for something that involves Hiroshi from...168 AG."

Rai nodded, standing on the balls of her feet to reach the section of public records, pulling out a few parchments and what looked like picture albums that were twice the size of a normal album. "I've got police records, hospital records and something labeled 'clan activity.' What the hell is clan activity?"

"Groups like the triad, the equalist movement and so on."

The firebender chuckled, taking a seat across from her roommate and friend, who was busying herself with the letters and papers they'd taken from Kwan's office. "I never would have pegged you for a history buff."

The older girl glanced up, the smile on her face not quite living up to it's usual standards, which Rai thought might have something to do with the black eye the girl was sporting. Since leaving Kwan's office, and after visiting their resident healer, Rai thought the bruising looked better than it had last night upon first seeing it. The owner of the bruise also seemed less distressed than before, and whether or not it was because of the girl's time being healed with spirit water, Rai couldn't say. But it was good to see her friend's smile look less forced and more like the smiles she was accustomed to receiving. "My father was a historian. He used to keep books and everything of the city's history in his office, and I would sit and read through them in my spare time. Those were some of the best memories I have before…everything happened. But, uh, yeah, I know a few things."

Kayo's smile was one of the few things that the firebender had grown to love. Despite seeming cold and distant to most people, she had a soft spot for her team mates. Kayo just happened to hold the larger portion of that soft spot. Why, Rai thought, was mostly thanks to those first few weeks the older girl had bothered her to the point that Rai couldn't take it anymore and finally let her in. It also hadn't helped that the firebender couldn't get the girl out of her head after their first meeting when Kwan had introduced them, and asked if the firebender could show the new girl the ropes and everything inside the compound. From her brown hair that flowed around her shoulder is soft waves and always smelled like cherries, or the grey/blue color of her eyes, everything about the girl managed to settle in the forefront of Rai's mind. Much like she was doing now, as the firebender realized she'd been staring at her friend for far much longer and need be. With a slight blush to her cheeks, which the older girl across from her happened to catch, the firebender cleared her throat, attempting to focus on the task at hand. Try and solve whatever puzzle that had fallen into her lap.

The two girls had managed to look through dozens of records by the time Rai felt like her head was going to explode. She'd read through more history of Republic City than she had any other form of information. And she'd memorized the entire history of the Hundred Year War. "Alright, this is proving to be impossible. Nothing here is going to help us figure this out."

Across the table, Kayo suddenly sat up, slapping the laminated parchment in her hands onto the table top as she pointed to something printed on the paper. "Do you think whatever event Kwan and Hiroshi were talking about occurred in the last month of winter sixteen years ago? That's when the last letter sent from Hiroshi is dated."

"I wouldn't know, considering that's when I was born. But's better than going through the whole year."

Kayo's eyes snapped up from the parchment, widening slightly. "You were born in the last month of winter in 168 AG?"

The firebender nodded, sitting up straighter in her chair from where she'd been slouching following finding absolutely nothing of importance. "Yes. Just a few days before the winter solstice, on the 21st of the last month. Why? What did you find?"

"Okay, did you find anything else in that file you took from Sato's office? Anything at all about a car accident with Hiroshi's daughter?"

Rai nodded, letting her arms rest on the table before leaning forward to let her weight rest on them. "Yeah, something about a hit-and-run accident that left her unconscious for a day or two. What does that have to do with anything?"

Kayo picked up another piece of parchment, sliding it across the table and turning it slightly so the firebender could see the printed words. "Apparently Hiroshi's daughter was pregnant around that time. Or at least that's what this article says. The rest says it was pulled before completion because of legal action, which I assume would be Hiroshi's doing. It's the only piece that I've found that mentions it. He must not have wanted that to get out."

The older girl watched as the firebender read over the article before she glanced up, her face graced with that unreadable expression. "The date of the death certificate. It's dated the day after the accident."

Kayo stood up from the table, walking over to the police report section off to their right, her fingers brushing along the dates until she found the one she was looking for, pulling it off the shelf and flipping it open. Eventually, the girl found the report she was looking for, her heart dropping as she read over the written lines before looking up to find her roommate staring at her questioningly. "The kid that Hiroshi's daughter was pregnant with. It didn't survive the accident. The death certificate you found has to belong to the baby."

"Does it specify-?"

"It was a girl. Born and died on the 21st day of the last month of winter."

"The same day I was born. And my parent's death certificates, the ones that Kwan had in with these letters, they're dated for the day of the accident."

An awkward silence washed over the two as the information they uncovered set in. Kayo couldn't bring herself to move from her spot standing next to shelves of police reports, while the firebender was simply staring off into space, gripping one of the letters they'd uncovered from Kwan's office tightly.

Suddenly the firebender stood up, gathering whatever paperwork they'd brought before hurrying out of the library, leaving the other girl to sigh before placing the report in her hands back on the shelf. She followed after the firebender, weaving through the group of students that had begun to multiply like magic. Eventually, the older girl managed to catch up with her roommate, the smaller girl's stature allowing her to move through the crowd better than her friend. "Rai, I don't know what we just found out, but please, the last time you walked out like that you beat the crap out of my ex-boyfriend. And as much as I appreciated your knight-in-shining-armor moment last night, I really don't think beating anyone up is going to help."

When the older girl received no form of a reply she let out a sigh, pacing herself alongside her roommate. "Will you at least tell me where we're going?"

Again, no reply came from the firebender, so Kayo simply tried to keep up with her, muttering apologizes to anyone she bumped into. Eventually the firebender stopped, forcing Kayo to walk into her back with a grunt. They'd managed to make it back to their home, but much like the other night when they'd broken into the CEO's office, the firebender halted a few feet away from the door. "What am I supposed to do if all of this turns out to be true?"

"You survive. Just like you have before. Only this time, you won't be alone. I promise."

The firebender turned to her roommate, her face neutral but her jade-green eyes screaming so many different emotions that it almost knocked Kayo off her feet. "I can't stay here if it is true."

"I know."

"And I can't ask you to come with me."

Kayo shrugged, taking a step forward and reaching out to grab both of the firebender's hands. "Because you're not going to ask me. Wherever you go, I go. It's always been that way, and it always will. You're my family, and we're a team. How many times do I have to keep telling you this before you get it through that thick head of yours?"

Dropping her roommates hands, the firebender closed the distance between them, wrapping her arms around her friend tightly. "Probably a lot more."

The older girl chuckled, resting her chin on top of the firebender's shoulder. "Okay."

After a few seconds, Rai stepped back, with a faint blush that matched the one she was wearing earlier at the library. "We should probably head inside."

Kayo held her hand out, waiting until feeling the firebender's hand in her own before interlocking their fingers and pulling her towards the entrance to the bar. Both girls were silent on the way down back to their room, both of them letting their thoughts consume them, their hands never leaving each other's. And the last thought that both girls shared when they'd finally let go inside their shared room was how perfect their hands fit together.