Author's Note: Wow, I am so sorry on the delay for this chapter. I hope I made it worth the wait. I am trying real hard to get some work done on Chapter 5 as a thanks for putting up with this delay. As always feel free to comment =3.
Kisa woke up to the sound of an alarm while rubbing her eyes a bit and letting a light grumble escape her throat. Last night was long at Penguin Noodle, but great for tips. Oh well, if Kisa wanted an apartment to herself and some spending money the second job was necessary. Besides, a pro-bending medic was not a year-round job or career so she needed another job for once the season was over. Maybe after she had more experience as a healer she could look at other second-jobs out there besides being a server. After a nice hot shower the healer was feeling much better and more awake for yet another long day. "Well time for my first real shift as a pro-bending medic, eeee!" Kisa beamed while looking herself over in a mirror and took off for the arena. She also added, "and tonight my first pro-bending match and I get to see Bolin in action." Just saying that last comment made her cheeks turn a light pink color and the smile on her face grow.
A light hum was coming off of Kisa's lips as she entered the locker room for the medical staff. Thankfully, today there were fewer people and less angry eyes to stare at her. After she changed into the usual outfit of loosely fitting, unflattering beige scrub-like clothes, Kisa threw her hair up into the usual high ponytail and took off to the medical care room. It was a large room where emergency medical treatment was given during matches and separate smaller rooms for physical therapy to happen before or after a match. Unfortunately most of the pro-benders did not make use of the available physical therapy, so usually most of the action and healing took place during matches when quick emergency work was needed. The main reason pro-bending even offered free physical therapy was to try and prevent injuries because an injured team does not sell tickets.
As soon as Kisa entered the medical care room she saw a familiar face lightly smiling back at her, Tahno. Kisa wanted to sigh and pray he was here for something else, but this sinking feeling in her stomach knew what was probably going on. Quickly, one of Kisa's supervisors tried to get the healers attention and waived the two of them over. The supervisor with a smile beaming on his face explained, "I just received some wonderful feedback on you already, Kisa. Tahno said you were very professional with your expert care and was impressed that you noticed such a small strain that early. He has insisted that you personally help him with some physical therapy before matches to prevent injuries. So you, Kisa, will be doing some physical therapy and prep work for the Wolfbats match this afternoon. Keep up the great work."
Kisa just smiled and lightly bowed to her supervisor and to Tahno. She was flattered, but really did not want to be Tahno's or the Wolfbats personal healer. She already got that nice threat in the locker room yesterday, no need to add more drama onto that. Oh well she could think about that later, her duty right now was to help with physical therapy. "Well Tahno, if you could please go into the room here and we will make sure that everything is good and loose for tonight. I will be there in a second," Kisa said. She then added, "Oh yeah the rest of the Wolfbats can come in too, but I do not see them."
Tahno quickly responded while winking, "it is just your expert, delicate hands and me, Kisa." The healer immediately wanted to roll her eyes or lightly vomit in her mouth, but resisted the urge to do so. After all, it seemed like everyone worshiped this team so to tick them off would not help her keep this job or move up. Once inside the room Kisa asked Tahno if he could lay down on his back on what looked like a typical chiropractor's table while she examined the muscles, tendons and any other soft tissue she could. Kisa's blue eyes focused on his right arm muscles while she lightly massaged the area to check everything that she could. Kisa was so focused on her work she did not notice that Tahno pretty much had his eyes glued on her the entire time and admired her work ethic. Usually if another female pro-bending medic or assistant was doing this he would be flooded with a thousand questions on his personal life. It was almost relaxing a bit, but the silence was getting to him causing the gears in his head to turn as to what exactly he wanted to do with this girl.
When Kisa moved onto Tahno's left arm her face looked a bit concerned. "Tahno, is this the main arm you use in matches? I hope so because there is some strains and knots that need to be taken care of." the water bender just nodded in response, and held back saying something for now. "Oh and this might hurt a little bit, but trust me it will feel better and you will be in top notch condition for your match," Kisa added and was using some medical massage and water bending healing to get the job done. Once again Kisa's eyes remained glues to his arm reflecting the glowing water off of them perfectly, not trying to mess up anything. Once she was done she asked Tahno to move his arm and comment on if everything felt OK or off at all.
Tahno's eyes grew just a little bit as he moved his arm, it was like his arm felt like moving water, it was almost amazing in a way. It never felt this effortless to move it before. He chimed in while lightly smiling, "perfect, just like you, Kisa, your work is just simply amazing. This is the first time I feel like physical therapy was worth my time."
Kisa without thinking responded, "well, Tahno, you might be better off having real pro-bending medics take care of you instead of just fangirls." She then covered her mouth quickly and blushed from her embarrassing comment. The back of her mind was already wanting to go hide for a little bit because if word got around she said that, her coworkers would gain up on her for sure.
Tahno just lightly smirked and decided for now it would be better to get on her trusting side. "You are absolutely correct, Kisa, but it is just so hard to say no to them. I feel like I am letting my fans down in someway."
Kisa added, "but in a way you are letting your fans down because if one of these strains became an injury you would possibly miss a match or two."
Tahno then knew it was time to say his next line, "good point, Kisa. So please help us with physical therapy whenever you are available that way I know I am getting expert care." Kisa was honestly bewildered with the complement so she nodded and lightly smiled. As much as this might hurt her down the road, she honestly could not think of a situation where she could say no to Tahno's request.
"Sure, just talk to a person in charge of schedules," she said and started to work on Tahno's legs, but they really did not need any work done on them. The rest of the session was fairly quiet with a few complements and minor small talk. When the session was done Tahno shook Kisa's hand and took off informing her that this will probably not be her last session with him and next time he will make the other Wolfbats arrive as well. However, Tahno made a mental note to make sure that his sessions would remain private.
Once done Kisa stepped outside of the room and stretched a bit herself in the main medical room. Her eyes were glued a bit to the clock, anxious for it to read time to clock out so she could see Bolin's match. She was almost happily bouncing by herself just thinking about it so giddy to see him in action. She snapped back into attention just in time to hear someone announce, "OK healers first match of the season is the Wolfbats versus the Rabberoos so please be on standby for treatment. If you are assigned to being on the deck please head out now." Kisa just nodded in agreement and got serious as she cleared out her mind of other thoughts and focused on her job.
Kisa could overhear murmurs of cheering coming from the arena as the match started. The pro-bending medics stood ready on standby, but no emergency healing was needed for this match, thankfully. Once the Wolfbats claimed victory for their opening match, the lightly injured Raberoos came in to get some healing done and assurance that they only had minor injuries.. Kisa was healing an injured Rabberoos' shoulder from a nasty earth disc hit when the victorious team waltzed in. The healer's ears could hear nothing but a shower of congratulations coming from a flock of pro-bending medical assistants around the Wolfbats. She wanted to once again roll her eyes at the spectacle, but kept on reminding herself now was not the time. The injured Raberoo chimed in, "thanks, it feels great now," and left leaving Kisa a bit on her own. She mainly found some organizing and cleaning of materials that she could do to occupy her time for now, trying to avoid any of the Wolfbat victory ruckus.
A little bit later, the supervisor then chimed in, "Thanks everyone for making the opening match a success. Those who are scheduled for tonight's match as well please take a break, those who are not scheduled to works tonight's match are free to go." Upon completion of that announcement, Kisa was a puff of smoke as she bolted for the locker room to change into her normal attire. It was the same outfit that Bolin help her get on their first night together, hoping that the earth bender would be able to find her in a crowd with it on. She was leaning against a wall smiling and scanning the area constantly for the earth bender. Soon a figure came into view, that looked like Bolin so she made her way toward him.
Soon Bolin picked up his pace while exclaiming, "Kisa! Glad you can make it, now be ready to be amazed." Kisa just nodded and let the blush on her face creep up a little more. Bolin offered her his arm so he could guide her through the arena over to where the pro-benders got ready for the matches. The healer once again enjoyed every second she was able to hold onto his arm and wished they could just keep walking around the arena. Once in front of a door Bolin knocked and said, "hey I am coming in with Kisa," There was only a muffled response from his brother, Mako, so Bolin opened the door for Kisa and waived her in. Before Kisa's eyes was an incredible view of the arena almost eye level with main stage, it was rather impressive to the healer to have such a view and for her first game too. Bolin then bragged, "soooo … don't you agree best seats in the house, huh Kisa. Oh and officially Kisa this is my brother Mako, and Mako this is the lovely healer Kisa. Oh and Hasook this is Kisa and Kisa this is the official water bender for the Fireferrets Hasook." Hasook gave a friendly wave to and smile to Kisa in response to the introductions.
Kisa, after waving back to Hasook then went up to Mako and offered her hand while responding with, "nice to meet you, Mako, good luck tonight in your first match."
Mako just shrugged, lightly shook her hand, took off and responded with, "OK team quick huddle and meeting before our first match." Kisa stood there a bit shocked about no response, but then again Mako seemed to be pretty serious so maybe it was just what he did before a match. Kisa tried to get as far away from the huddle as possible not wanting to bother the mood before the match. Instead her eyes just scanned the area and just soaked everything in.
Upon hearing the conclusion of the huddle, Bolin headed toward her and while putting on his helmet said, "just find a nice place to watch, cheer for us and wish us luck, not like we are going to be needing any." The earth bender then winked at Kisa as a they walked on a now moving platform toward the main arena. Kisa was able to hear the announcer introduce them and the other team the Buzzard Wasps and soon the match began.
Kisa kept her eyes on the field and trying to gather as much information about pro-bending as possible. There were some parts that rules-wise Kisa was clueless, but at the end of the match she seemed to gather enough information to know the basics. She also took this opportunity to study some of the main movements of pro-benders to figure out where she should focus for healing treatments and physical therapy. Although the water bender kept on getting distracted watching Bolin's strong body dodging, moving and bending. Near the end of the match Kisa was mesmerized by Bolin's earth bending and being able to fight with it. Kisa could water bend to heal someone, but when it came to actual attacks, she could barely do a water-whip. No one in her village knew why she was able to have such high healing abilities, but could barely attack with any water bending moves. They noticed she had a few almost natural water bending defensive moves, but it was almost on a cellular structure level that was naturally happening inside her body without even thinking about it. Honestly, all that mattered to Kisa was that she could water bend and use that to heal others.
Soon the match was over and the Fireferrets won, igniting a roar from the crowd for the newest team to join the pro-bending circuit. Hasook and Bolin were waiving wildly and cheering back to most of the crowd while Mako lightly waived and smiled thankful that the won their opening match, barely. The brother knew that some issues needed to be addressed before moving onto the next match, the sooner the better. Once the team got off the platform, Kisa gave Bolin a small hug while saying, "congratulations, Bolin, that was amazing! I never knew that moves could be that intricate or that hard to pull off. I learned so much tonight and I can't wait to use that information on basic pro-bending moves in physical therapy tomorrow." In the middle of the hug she added in a more serious tone, "in fact, Bolin, I think you should go get some, the muscles in your shoulder have a few knots in them and feel a bit almost torn. I can even do it for you …. tonight … if you want to that is." Bolin nodded to Kisa's suggestion, which made the healer delighted. Mako lightly smiled at her comment and attempt to spend more time with his brother, happy to see that she might be in this job for the actual healing part.
He then got closer to the two while saying, "not to get between you two but we have a few things we should go over now, before we let our egos grow any more."
Bolin lightly whined, "oh come on, Mako, can't it wait until tomorrow morning's practice? Please, pretty please." His light green eyes grew wide and watery begging his brother to change his mind, he wanted to spend time with Kisa not go over what was wrong with them tonight.
Mako just stared at his brother for a second before rolling his eyes responding, "OK just a quick meeting, but expect tomorrow morning's practice to not be easy. That includes you Hasook." The water bender quickly rolled his eyes and let a sigh escape his lips, resisting the urge to flip off Mako. Hasook then slumped his body and headed toward the practice gym where the group usually had their team meetings as long as it was not occupied.
Bolin looked back at Kisa and motioned her to follow them, after all once this meeting was done he would get to spend some time with her. There was also this offer to take care of the knots in his shoulder, which sounded very pleasing to the earth bender. Once inside the practice gym, Bolin pointed out a nice bench for the healer to sit and take a rest on. The last thing Bolin wanted was for her to overhear his brother ripping apart his moves and bending, and possibly avoiding any careless remarks his heated brother can sometimes spit out.
Mako's golden eyes noticed that Kisa took a seat off in the distance and motioned for the group to join the huddle. "Alright, so tonight we won, but we really need to get better on team moves. Hasook, you were pretty much on your own and Bolin and I were the only ones producing a back to back combo. I need you to focus more on helping the team then helping yourself, OK. And Bolin, we need to work on your dodging some more, you almost got hit too many times. So tomorrow we are going to be doing just team combinations with us attacking Bolin so he can work on his dodging OK," he lectured. He noticed that Hasook was already checked out mentally and wanted to smack the water bender to focus. However, he did not want to push him too much because without a water bender they would be useless.
Hasook look un-amused by this lecture and while rotating his shoulder a bit stated, "so are we done now? I want to get some rest before you rip my abilities apart again." Mako just nodded and waived him away from the group. Hasook waived his goodbyes and stormed off lightly from the practice gym. Kisa, while observing the post-match huddle, could tell Hasook was not thrilled as he exited the gym which confused the healer because they did win.
Bolin just looked a little pouty for being called out like that. He honestly thought that he was doing great tonight and they won. "You know, Mako, I know I need work but you don't have to call it out after we winning our opening match. I will smooth things over with Hasook tomorrow, we can't be having team issues this early in the season. And on that note I will see you in the apartment later, I have a lovely lady who wants to spend some time with me," Bolin chimed in while quickly dashing toward Kisa, still fully clothed in his team outfit. Mako just lightly smiled and nodded while heading toward the apartment to get things ready for tomorrow morning's practice.
"Sorry about that, my brother is just really focused. Thanks for waiting for me, Kisa. Sooooo … about these knots you were talking about?" Bolin kindly spoke giving all of his attention just to the charming, cute girl in front of himself.
Kisa lightly chuckled and stood up next to Bolin, almost fidgeting a bit her her hands. Thankfully, Bolin started to talk about something she was very familiar with to cause her brain to focus on that. "Oh yeah, if you remove your outer armor I can do it right here, if you don't mind. It is just some light medical massage and some water healing to ease your muscles back into place and to heal the minor damage form those small tears. I promise it will not hurt too much and it will feel great once it is done," she spoke while making sure her blue eyes were making contact with his.
Bolin responded by removing his outer layers of armor on the uniform, and was now down to just his usual white tightly fitting white tanktop, his uniform pants and shoes. Kisa had to lightly swallow the lump in her throat upon looking over the now seated Bolin. Sure, he was larger than most guys, but in a very eye appeasing way, his body structure screamed bulky protection and perfect for hugs. Bolin could only slightly grin and not open his mouth seeing the female's reaction to his appearance. Kisa was able to end her distraction by getting a bucket with some cool water in it to be used for this session. Once back with the water, she first started to lightly touch and massage the area over trying to pinpoint where the healing needed to be concentrated in. She could feel Bolin's muscles loosening and his shoulders slumping as she continued her work. When it was time to start the water healing she chimed in, "this might feel odd, and cold at first, sorry."
Bolin warmly responded back, "I trust ya, Kisa, besides it might feel nice to cool down a bit." He then let out a quick gasp of air as the water was certainly cold and then added a, "ooooh that feels nice," as Kisa continued her work. A little bit later, Kisa was done and Boin's shoulder felt like new again. He wiggled and rotated it and blinked a few times, amazed how easily and painlessly it moved.
"Kisa! This is amazing! You do some fabulous work, no wonder they hired you. Hmmmm …. you know do you think you can do this to Mako, maybe it will calm him down a bit." Bolin beamed and joked a bit. Kisa warmly smiled, blushed all over and fidgeted a bit from his boasting complement. It felt completely different from when Tahno did that earlier today, which was a nice warning sign to keep in the back of her head for later.
"It was nothing really, in fact I love doing it, so feel free to bug me anytime for a touch-up, Bolin," she shyly got out. She looked back at Bolin who was now standing, slightly towering over the female. "So, ahhhh, anything else you want to do? I mean besides fixing you up," she said in a joke and a needed curiosity. Kisa knew it was getting late, but any time she could spend with him was very welcomed and helped keep her in a cheerful spirits.
Bolin looked at the charming healer and then toward a window to see how late it was indeed. He lightly sighed knowing that what he was about to say was not what he wanted to happen. "As much as I would enjoy taking you somewhere I am honestly wiped our from the match and practice is way too early tomorrow morning," he spoke and could see the healer look slightly disappointed. He wanted to at least cheer her up just a little bit and an idea hit her that might at least end her night well. "However, it would be very rude of myself to let a lady walk herself home after a long night's work. So lets take the long path back to your place and get some fresh air in our lungs. If that is alright with you, Kisa,"
Kisa nodded and perked right back into a happier mood. She really did appreciate the small, cute gestures the earth bender was offering. "Yes, I would very much like your company on the walk home tonight, Bolin," she answered. The healer watched Bolin dash back to the locker room to put on more normal looking and dry clothes for the lightly chilly walk back. Just like in the arena Bolin offered Kisa his arm and they started to walk back to her place.
They continued to have small talk on their stroll back in the moonlight through Republic City. Kisa even bought a small snack for them to have from one of the street vendors, mainly because the girl was actually hungry and Bolin accepted because he was a growing boy. Bolin mainly talked about how uptight Mako can be, but that he was a sweet guy, and how pumped he was to be in this pro-bending gig and off the streets. He even shared a bit about some of the hardships he and his brother went through and happy that things were finally looking up for the brothers. Kisa mainly talked about healing, asking about some pro-bending moves, and getting clarification on some pro-bending basics. She really did not want to talk about Tahno or him slowly working on her last nerve, that conversation could be saved for another time. Just when they were on the last block, she then remembered something she wanted to ask. Kisa pulled out the poster that was given to her earlier, from the Equalist and showed it to Bolin.
"So someone gave this to me on my way to work last night, they said I looked like I could use this. Do you know what this is for, Bolin?" Kisa asked while handing the poster to Bolin.
Bolin's green eyes scanned it over, front and back and he nodded a bit. He handed it back to her because if left in his hands he would probably just rip it up or throw it into the trash. "Yeah that looks like a poster from the Equalists. Since you are new here you probably do not know anything about them. They are a group of people, almost a gang, that think that bending is the source of all of the world's problems. They want to gather like-minded non-benders and do something about equalizing the world, which I think means shunning benders. Amon is their leader, and they specialize in Chi-blocking and using electricity as their weapon. I honestly do not think they are a good group," Bolin basically lectured.
Kisa looked down at the cryptic poster, sad that something that looked well done was behind an idea like that. "Ah, I see. I just don't get how a group can be so anti-bending. Bending is not just about fighting it is about healing and strengthening oneself as well. In fact honestly, I can't attack with my bending, I can only heal and defend. So if they got rid of all bending they would only be hurting themselves by getting rid of healers too," she responded back and realized just how comfortable she was speaking to Bolin. That little fact of her not being able to attack with her bending was something people usually had to pry out of her a slight internal scar in a way. It was her motivation to get so great at healing because if she can't attack, she better be strong enough to defend and heal anything that headed her way.
Bolin just smiled and listened to her response, liking her answer. He was on the same boat with her and not just because he was a bender. The earth bender just never understood why people needed to bully on others for no reason. As Kisa mentioned that she could not attack, he made a note to ask more about that later, he picked up on that it was a slightly sensitive subject for the female. "I don't get it either this Equalist thing and I agree the getting rid of bending would only get rid of healers too. However, I don't think they have realized that," Bolin responded back.
It was then they were just outside the door to her apartment. A small sad sigh escaped Bolin's lips while looking over the lit entrance to the building. Kisa lightly frowned a bit too because it was the end to another great walk with Bolin. The healer quickly gave Bolin a tight hug and while she was embracing him made a bold move giving a light kiss to the earth benders cheek. She could feel Bolin's startled reaction to her small token of thanks for walking her home and hoped that she did not push things too fast. When she loosed her grip, her light blue eyes could catch a small tint of blush on Bolin's face which made her internally smile. Bolin was caught very much off guard by her light kiss, never really expecting it. Sure she was cute, they were having a great time, but he had no idea that she might have liked him that much. The boy had a bit to process tonight, not that it was a bad thing. He just beamed the usual smile not wanting to worry the healer at all. "I ah just wanted to thank you for walking me home tonight and for the invitation earlier to watch your match. In fact I am very grateful to have met you, Bolin, life has gotten a lot more pleasant in Republic City since I have been hanging out with you," Kisa kindly thanked and even lightly bowed.
Bolin responded back with a hug of his own and joyfully responded, "you are very welcome, Kisa. In fact I am glad that I saw you rock bending that day and met you because I would like to continue spending time with you as well." He then stood there as Kisa headed up the stairs and let out a happy exhale of air. His mind would probably be thinking of other things besides pro-bending tonight. Maybe a small chat was needed with his brother to figure everything out, after morning practice that is. The last thing Bolin wanted was another lecture on how he did not focus on the appropriate things.