3.

By the time we started heading west, I was thoroughly bored with travel. Since being shaken up by Arin's incident in Omashu, I had the feeling of homesickness for the first time since the first night away. To make matters worse, the friendly comfort of the Earth Kingdom shore was now out of sight, so I had nothing to look at but endless, endless ocean. In a strange way, it made me feel claustrophobic and dizzy, not to mention the intense heat was like nothing I had ever experienced. Arin was in a horrible mood also. The fear and anxiety after the episode had rapidly turned into surliness and irritability. She was impossible to be around and her negative aura was utterly contagious.

To cheer me up, Shil Hevat taught me how to play Pai Sho. He set up a small, rickety table on the deck and placed the board out showing me the tiles and strategies.

"Pai Sho," he informed me, "is the oldest game in the world. It's been played for hundreds of years, and I'd bet that it'll be played for hundreds more." We had no money to gambled with, so instead, we wagered with anything on the boat, from our chairs to fish in the sea, to even the crew members. I was not very good at it, but I still managed to beat him every so often, and it took my mind off of Arin's sulking and my homesickness.

We were traveling for little over a week when we first entered Fire Nation waters. It was one of the most touching moments of the entire trip for I realized that Shil Hevat was crying.

"Are you all right?" I asked him as a giant tear dropped onto the Pai Sho board.

"Look," he pointed behind where I was sitting. Though his eyes were filled with tears, he did not sound sad. I turned to see a small island. "We've entered the Fire Nation. I never thought I'd miss it so much; my home, my country. This is the first time I'm really coming home in nearly a year. I guess I just didn't realize how truly homesick I was." I stared out at the barren little island ahead of us. At that time, naturally, I did not understand what it really felt like to come home. I would not understand it until many, many years.

"So…" I turned back to Shil Hevat. "Does that mean we're almost there?"

"Yes." He nodded, wiping his eyes and giving me his usual grin. "Probably only two or three days at most."

"That's good." I muttered, ready to get back to our game. However, my opponent did not appear to be interested. "It's your move." I reminded him. "And the pot is up to the entire city of Ba Sing Se."

"Do you want to see what souvenirs I've picked up around the world for my family?" he asked instead. I shrugged. I wanted to play Pai Sho, but I also did not want to seem rude.

"Okay," I mumbled. He led me back to his room underneath the main deck. Inside there was a small cot and a large trunk in which I had assumed contained his clothes and possessions. He opened it with a loud creak. I peered in at it. There were two stacks of clothes and a small box within it. He removed the box and closed the trunk, sitting on it and resting the box on his lap. I sat next to him on his small cot. First, he took out round multicolored rock.

"This," he explained, "is for my daughter." I stared at it. I did not understand. Of all the amazing things around the world, and he had gotten her a stone? "You see," he continued, "we have a sort of, deal, I suppose. She wants me to get a souvenir for her, but she doesn't want me to have bought it. So this particular rock I got when I went hiking to the bottom of the Great Divide with an earthbending buddy of mine." He placed it in my hands as he rummaged for the next thing in the box. It was smooth and cold. It was kind of neat, I suppose. The next object were a few small yellowish scrolls each with a fish of some sort drawn on it in black and green ink. Different parts of the fish-creatures were all labeled and diagramed.

"This is for my son." He explained. "He loves different animals, and there are so many different species around the world, that I always try to bring him back something animal related. I got these near this little lake high up in the mountains in the eastern Earth Kingdom. According to the man I bought them from, these are rare fish and that lake is the only place in the entire world where you can find them."

"What does he do with them?" I asked.

"He hangs them all up in his room." Answered Shil Hevat as he placed the scrolls in my hands to take out the last two things in the box. The objects he withdrew made my heart skip a beat. They were tiny green dresses, not unlike my own.

"Whose are those for?" I questioned wishing that I was small enough again to wear one.

"My other daughters. Last week was their second birthday." Replied Shil Hevat. My little twins. I felt bad about having missed it so I got them an extra special gift. These little dresses were the most expensive things on my whole trip."

"Yeah, I can imagine." I agreed. "I'm sure they're going to love it."

"Love what?" a voice asked behind us. Arin was standing in the door frame. "What are you two doing?"

"He was just showing me some things he got for his kids." I answered. "What are you doing?"

"Well, there was just some rough water ahead and the men didn't want me out there. They said it might be unsafe so I came looking for you guys." She strode into the room sitting down on my other side. "Those dresses look just like your old dress, Rika."

"I know." I said.

"Except these are a bit nicer, don't you think?" she commented. I blushed but the lights were too dim in the room for Arin to notice.

"I guess." I mumbled even though I completely disagreed.

"I'm sure that yours was just as nice." Said Shil Hevat, the mediator as always. Arin shrugged. He stood up. "Did you say it was raining, Arin?" he asked. She shrugged again. "Then I'm going to clean up the Pai Sho board. You two stay down here." He left the box with us and I watched him leave the tiny room. I felt the soft fabric of one of the dresses in my hands nostalgically.

"What is this?" Arin unrolled the scrolls.

"A rare fish." I answered. "For Shil Hevat's son."

"He has a son? How old is he?"

I glanced at her, taken aback. "I think he's younger than us I think. Why?"

"No reason." Answered Arin and I dropped the subject ignoring my curiosity.

"Look in the sky." Pointed Shil Hevat, two days later. "It means we're close." I squinted up into the bright sunlight.

"Are they birds?" I asked. There were a couple of them, too small for me to see. They did not look like birds, but I could not think of anything else they could be.

"No. Look harder." I strained to see but the tiny figures in the sky were growing smaller and smaller.

"Are they…" I looked harder and made a random guess, "dragons?"

"Correct!" exclaimed Shil Hevat. "There are a whole group of them who live on my island."

"Really?" I asked, still surprised that I had guessed correctly. "Are they dangerous?"

He shrugged. "They mostly keep to themselves. During the summer, you can sometimes find their eggs if you hunt around the northern end of the island but we leave them alone, and they leave us alone."

"That makes sense." I agreed.

"However, they are very fascinating creatures." He said. The dragons flew out of our range of vision. "I'm sure we'll see more as we approach our destination."

"Wow…" I said. I still stared though they were long gone.

We reached the island in the middle of the night. I hadn't been sleeping very deeply and the sound of the boat docking woke me. I opened my eyes slowly in the darkness with the hidden knowledge that we were finally here. I lay on top of my small blanket for it was much too warm to be bundled like I usually was and listened to the sounds outside. There were feet scraping above me and I could hear men's voices commanding how the boat should be docked so it wouldn't float away. It was strange not sharing a room with Arin. After this time on the boat I should have gotten used to it, but sometimes I'd lie awake at night and not be able to sleep because I couldn't hear Arin's slow, relaxed breathing near me. I never confided this to her, though. She would tell me I was being childish, even though I suspected she often felt the same way.

I couldn't fall asleep after that, so when Shil Hevat knocked on my door only a few hours later, I felt drowsy and sluggish. Nonetheless, I was incredibly excited. I splashed water on my face to wake myself up and dressed nicely. I met with Arin and Shil Hevat on the deck of the boat as our luggage was taken out and carried inland.

"We're walking, girls." He told us. "Don't worry, it's not a very long walk and luckily today it's not very hot." As always, I begged to differ.

We walked along the docks and passed several fishermen who, though it was still very early, looked like they had been fishing there for a long time. Some waved to us, but most seemed unaffected by the foreign arrival. The dock lead off to a small path which Shil Hevat explained went into the small town area. The luggage was sent ahead on ostrich-horse by the crew of the ship who would be staying in the village. It took less than five minutes to walk through the it. There were some small clusters of houses but none were Shil Hevat's. On the other side of the village was a heavily wooded, almost jungle-like, area which Shil Hevat lead us into. Following a small footpath we wove in and out of tall trees in the quiet woods. I was hot in sweaty but I didn't complain nor was I tempted to ask how far we were from the destination.

"Do you hear that?" he asked suddenly. So far, all I had heard were the sounds of birds chirping high up in the trees, and out feet on the path but as soon as he mentioned it I realized what it was.

"Running water." Said Arin, beating me to it. "Does that mean we're close?"

"Yup." He answered. The water grew louder and louder until the trees parted to reveal a moderately sized house on the banks of a small stream. In the distance I could see the tip of a large volcano and wondered if I was only imagining the dragons circling around it as faraway tiny, dark specks in the cloudless sky.

"Dad!" I noticed a small boy—well, not that small, he appeared to be my age—lift his head from where he had been swimming in the stream. Soaking wet, he sprinted out towards us. He gave his father a hug, leaving a giant wet spot on Shil Hevat's clothes. I felt a little homesick. Would I be that happy when I saw my father again? I doubted it.

"This is my son Tzeo." Said Shil Hevat. I examined him. He was tall and had a large build like his father, with the same pale skin and messy dark hair.

"Hi." He said.

Shil Hevat introduced Arin and me. "These girls are Arin and Rika from the South Pole."

"Whoa." Exclaimed Tzeo. "You were in the South Pole? Was it cold?"

Shil Hevat laughed. "Let's go inside. Has the luggage arrived?"

"Yeah, I think so." Answered Tzeo.

"Where's your mother?" asked Shil Hevat.

"She's inside." We followed the boy into the house.

Within a few minutes, we were all introduced. Shil Hevat's wife, Indah, was very pretty, and looked a lot like her daughter, Kiri, who was Arin's age. Naturally, they made friends almost immediately. The two twins were very adorable. I was reminded of Bansi and Bae, yet the two girls were such the opposite of them. Almost identical, they sat quietly and calmly with their mother, as Shil Hevat presented them with their dresses. Their black hair was neatly tied out of their faces and they were remarkable clean for two toddlers.

"How long will you be staying?" asked Indah once the gifts and introductions were finished.

Shil Hevat shrugged. "No more than a week at the most. I've still got to take them all the way to the North Pole, and I promised them we'd stop at the Western Air Temple."

"Oh," she frowned. I blushed embarrassedly. I tried to remember when my dad had had to travel once. I don't think my mom had been that sad when he had gone. I had never questioned my parents' relationship with themselves, and with me, but now, seeing how tight this Fire Nation family was, I wondered how much my family really meant.

"Well, why don't we show them where they'll be staying?" suggested Shil Hevat. Indah nodded and we walked to the back of the house. "You two will both be staying in Kiri's room, and Kiri will be sharing with the twins." Kiri gave a dramatic pout.

"Do I have to?" she whined.

"Yes." Said Indah firmly. "Now why don't you show Arin and…"

"Rika." I reminded her.

"Yes, Rika. The grounds around the house. Your father and I want to talk." Reluctantly, Kiri and Tzeo lead us out of the house.

At first, I tried to stay with Arin and Kiri. Kiri was nice to me, too, but it soon became apparent that I was too young to stay with them. So, before long, I found myself joining Tzeo at the stream while Kiri showed Arin how to climb the trees behind the house to sneak back into her room.

"Do you want to swim?" he asked me. Almost immediately he had dove back into the streams. I removed my boots and dipped my feet in tentatively.

"I don't really know how." I admitted. "We don't really need to know at home because it's mostly ice."

Except for the fountain, I thought with an internal shiver, but nearly freezing and managing to kick to the edge didn't really count as swimming.

"Oh. I thought all waterbenders could swim."

"No." I said, then added sourly, "I'm not a waterbender."

"But—"

"I'm from the Water Tribe but I'm not a waterbender." I clarified. He nodded and clambered out of the stream to sit next to me. I watched the water drip off of his sleek, black hair.

"Wanna see something?" he suddenly asked me eagerly. He stood up and as he did so, sprinkled me with drops of water.

"Sure." I said. I started to put my shoes back on, but he grabbed my hand.

"You won't need them." He said. I shrugged and followed after him.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." We followed the stream as it went up. I could almost feel the climb. We passed through a deep patch of trees and my feet began to hurt. All of the sudden, I felt the ground under my feet change. I realized I was no longer on dirt, but on solid white rock. The trees became sparser and soon we were no longer standing in the middle of a forest, but instead we were on a flat rock ledge. We were at the top of a waterfall.

"Look down," he advised. I did and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were dragons everywhere, in all different colors, snaking around on the ground with smoke coming from their nostrils.

"Whoa…" I muttered. I took another step towards the edge, but he quickly grabbed me back.

"Don't get too close." He warned. I took a few steps back and we both sat down. "I found this all by myself last summer." He said proudly as he shouted over the waterfall. "No one lives on this side of the island and I always wondered why so I found this which pretty much answered my question."

"Yeah." I agreed.

"I wish I could live here though." He commented. "Really great firebenders can tame dragons and they make good companions according to legend but I've never gotten any closer than this."

"You're a firebender?"

"Yeah." He answered. "My dad teaches me sometimes, but mostly I've had to teach myself, because, you know…" he trailed off and I nodded. "According to another legend, firebenders first learned their art from watching and studying dragons, so that's what I've been trying to do." He shrugged modestly. "I'm not that good though."

"I'm sure you are." I contradicted. He grinned sheepishly then stood up. I watched him. He closed his eyes and went through the proper breathing. He demonstrated his moves. I didn't quite understand them, but I was hypnotized by the bright blasts. After a few minutes he finished and, with a bow, he resumed his seat.

"Well?"

"Looked good to me." I said.

The days passed too quickly. All in all, we had decided to stay for a week. It was the quickest week I could ever remember most of it was spent in exploring the parts of the island and teaching me to swim. We followed the stream where it emptied out into the ocean and swam in the salty water. Then, when we grew bored of that, he taught me how to build castles out of the sand. We climbed tall trees and sat perched in them making bird calls and spying on Arin and Kiri down below. If we listened very hard, the sound of their voices drifted straight up into the trees and we heard their confession of how they snuck into the village to meet with the boys there. Tzeo and I went into the village for one of the days, not to meet boys of course. Instead, he taught me how to play a ball game with some of his school friends in a small field. I wasn't very good at it, but Tzeo chose me for his team anyway. After, we stole apples from a tree in a very well groomed garden which he explained belonged to a grouchy old lady, and ate the apples for a snack and fished with the men from Arin's and my boat off the docks for lunch. We crept through the forest and set traps for the little lizards who lived in the dirt. I could never catch any, but Tzeo caught one. It was a small, spiky thing, the color of tree bark with bright orange eyes that watched us from its little wooden cage. He named it Rika, after me, and we let it go, laughing as it desperately scampered away from us to disappear back into the forest where it belonged.

We went back to the ledge and the waterfall on my last night. It was dark already and I brought boots this time. It was after one of Indah's large and well cooked dinners which I enjoyed thoroughly. There were a million stars out and the moon shone high and bright above us. Below us, we could see the fire of the dragons, a spurt of orangey brightness that illuminated the whole valley every few minutes. I didn't want to leave. Ever. I tried to get excited about meeting Yangchen again, but I realized that I would miss Tzeo so much. I didn't suggest writing though, Shil Hevat was done traveling, and apparently Air Nomads did not pass through here very often. I didn't think Tzeo could write very well anyway.

"This was the greatest week ever." I told him.

"Yeah." He agreed. "I wish you didn't have to leave."

"Me too. Will you wake up early in the morning to see me off?"

"Yes, of course." He promised. "Will you visit when you leave the North Pole again?"

"Yes, of course." I repeated him and we both giggled. Then, I was serious again. "I don't know when that will be." I confessed. "Arin and I are due to stay there for an indefinite amount of time."

"That's okay." He replied. "I don't think I'll be going anyway." Awkwardly, he put his arm around my shoulders and sat closer to me. I said nothing of this for I was quite undecided about it. It wasn't that I didn't like it, but I wasn't sure that I exactly liked it either. "Rika?"

"Yeah?" I turned my head slightly so we were face to face.

"Is this okay?" he asked. I shrugged and my shoulder nearly hit him in the chin.

"I guess so." I finally answered. We were both twelve years old. I hadn't ever really talked to many boys at home. I hadn't had very many playmates at home, but my mom had always made sure that they were girls. I didn't know about Arin. During the week I wondered why my parents sheltered me so much. I had had a great time with Tzeo…

"Okay." He whispered. Then, slowly, his face came closer to mine until his lips touched mine so softly. It lasted a moment, then he turned away, embarrassed. It was so short, yet my heart was pounding so fast. When it calmed down, I rested my head on his shoulder. I felt very tired.

He was the first of a grand total of three boys that I would kiss in my entire lifetime. An okay number, I think. All were very special to me, at one point or another, and this little nothing was very remarkable to me at the time. It still is, and I can still remember how my heart fluttered and my lips tingled. I still remember how young and immature we were, one moment laughing at Arin and Kiri for being ridiculously romantic, gagging as we overheard their juicy details, and the next moment trying briefly and timidly for ourselves. Sometimes I wonder what might have happened if I had been able to stay longer. Would we have gone back to being kids? Or continued this…relationship—for lack of a better word?

I'll never know.

The next morning we left at dawn, and there he waved at me as our boat cast off. I never saw him again.