Author's Note: Gah! I am soooo sorry I am a horrible author who ran into a severe writer's block and life got really complicated. Sorry =( I hope this chapter kinda makes up for it.
The next morning's practice was grueling; Mako was pushing everyone to their limits both physically and mentally way too early the morning. Bolin already twice had to stop an escalating battle between Hasook and his brother, both of them teetering on snapping. The mixture of a stubborn, passionate fire bender with free-spirited but also stubborn water bender was like oil and water. The earth bender just wanted practice to be done so that maybe some of this tension could stop and he could focus on other things, like the small kiss Kisa gave him last night. Oh how he tossed and turned trying to decode the kiss, but he finally had to give up in exchange for rest. It took almost all of his strength to not get distracted by it in practice. Maybe once this practice was done he could use a little brotherly advice and get a second opinion on it all.
Just when a possible third fight between Hasook and Mako was going to start a timer went off and Bolin let a long sigh escape his lips. Hasook commented, "finally, it is done, I am out of here. No offense Bolin, you must have some patience to deal with Mako here. See you around." He was gone almost as quickly as someone could leave the gym, thankfully there was no match for them tonight so Bolin made a note to try and smooth things over before the next match or practice even.
Mako's golden eyes were narrowed preparing to loudly present his rebuttal to Hasook when the will timed Bolin blurted, "Whew, well now that is done, Mako, when a girl kisses you does it always means that she likes you?" Mako's face quickly spun to look at his brother, bewildered that he would ask such a random thing. The fire bender was just about to open his mouth, but then closed it and crossed his arms over his chest.
"It is Kisa isn't it?" Mako questioned his little brother while standing there. He was still worried that his sweet brother might be getting played by one of the medical staff for their 15 minutes of fame.
Bolin nodded and responded back while picking up their equipment so they could leave the gym before the next team arrived. He wanted out of there before the Wolfbats arrived; he heard enough rumors to not get on their bad side. "Yeah, Kisa kissed me on the cheek last night in front of her apartment thanking me for walking her home. I think she likes me, but I also dunno if this is some sort of water tribe customer either. I mean every time I hang out with her it is so refreshing and nice, plus she's cute and one very talented healer. I just needed a second opinion you know." Mako was listening and letting it all sink in before saying much. What the two brothers' did not know is that a certain team was already waiting to use the gym and overheard most of their conversation just outside the main gym doors.
Tahno lightly smirked while overhearing that and made a gesture for the other two to keep quiet. They then entered the gym and pretending to not notice the two brothers. Tahno then spoke, "come on guys lets get this over with. The sooner this is done the sooner I get to have another physical therapy session with the lovely Kisa. That talented healer vixen can't keep her sparkling blue eyes and hands off of me, and who can blame her she has an infatuation with winners afterall." Tahno then turned around to see a slightly slumped Bolin and an angered Mako looking back at him. The leader of the Wolfbats gave them a little bit of a wave and then went on to talk about last night's match. He knew that the brother's overheard him and counted on it. This could be an interesting day afterall, maybe even season, with his new plaything.
Bolin wanted to turn around and confront Tahno, but now was not the time. Letting a small sigh escape his lips he softly commented to just Mako, "maybe it was not what I thought it meant."
Hating to see his brother down like that Mako lightly hung his around his brother and said, "come on lets go get clean and we can go catch a bite at your favorite noodle place. We can talk about it then." He wanted to keep his brother's spirits up, but was not in the mood to lie to do it either. If what Tahno said was true, then she was just a typical medical healer chasing using this job to just get close to the top teams and willing to crawl over anyone to get there. Mako was not about to let his brother get used in one of those schemes, even if he would have to step in. Mako hoped that a nice meal of his brother's favorite noodles might be just enough to make him forget about what they just overheard. However, he did make a mental note to talk to a certain healer when he had the chance.
Unknown to her what had just happened at the practice gym, Kisa was running her butt off at Penguin Noodles during the typical lunch rush. Today was her only day off from her pro-bending medical duties so she decided to try and work a double shift at the noodle place to try and get some extra spending money. The healer was hoping to maybe be able to do something nicer than street food with the earth bender next time they hung out. In fact the poor girl's face would blush just about anytime she thought of Bolin or that kiss she gave him last night. She worried that maybe it was a little too much too fast, but this might have been the first time the healer actually did something slightly impromptu. Her light blue eyes looked around the place, making sure her customer's were taken care of when a very familiar figure walked in, well him and his brother. Kisa not really thinking, quickly hid in the background and tried to sneak a glance of the two off in the distance. The healer seemed worried because something seemed off in the earth bender, but sadly she had some tables to clear first before she could get a small visit in with the Fire Ferret brothers.
Bolin slumped his body into the seat at Penguin Noodle and sighed while Pabu slid off of his shoulders and made his own seat on the table. The earth bender appreciated his brother trying to cheer him up with food, but maybe noodles could not solve everything. Mako's golden eyes looked over his brother in worry and hoped that his brother could cheer up soon. The fire bending brother honestly did not know what to say to comfort a man with girl issues, crushes or anything that involved well love. He was always so serious about his life and making sure the two of them had a roof over their heads that love took a backseat in his priorities. Sure, Mako had been on some dates, but they never went anywhere, typically the girl was interested in just his looks and that was about it. Maybe his anger toward Kisa right rooted from the bitter feelings he had toward most females from his experiences. Just when Mako was going to attempt some encouraging words, the girl behind it all showed up to take their order, Kisa. "Hmph, what do you want? Shouldn't you be clinging onto the Wolfbats right now?" Mako spat at Kisa. Bolin for now just turned his head away from her, letting his brother do the talking.
The healer literally stood there dumbfounded and very confused as to where that comment came from. Her face twisted between concern for the slumped Bolin and wanting to punch Mako in the face. "What are you talking about Mako? And I am here to take your order, this is my second job and because I am off from medical duties today I am working a double shift," Kisa barely got out still bewildered at the situation.
After hearing Kisa's response the fire bender had to replay Tahno's comments in his mind. He was pretty sure that Bolin and himself overheard that Kisa was going to be doing physical therapy with the leader of the Wolfbats today. In his still firm voice he responded back, "Are you sure you don't have an intimate physical therapy session with Tahno? We overheard him talking about your infatuation with winners."
Kisa's eye quickly twitched at Mako saying that arrogant man's name, Tahno. Her fist tightly clenched and one could very easily her the low growl starting at the back of her throat as she pounded it down onto the table. "Me and Tahno? Seriously, you think I would want anything to do with that arrogant jerk? He is the reason that my pro-bending medical life is at times horrid! He already has most of the female staff against me and if he has you guys against me too ….." Kisa spoke with her voice trying to hold back tears on the last sentence. Bolin finally turned his head around to see her struggling to hold back tears, mumble about sending someone else to get their order, and then bolt away from their table. Now the earth bender felt even worse than before, and sighed as he put all the pieces together.
"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, bro. Looks like Tahno was just trying to get under our skin," Bolin softly said and stood up. Mako's golden eyes looked toward his brother a grew a bit wide from the scene that just happened. The fire bender felt quite the fool right now for his irrational outburst and hoped that Bolin could smooth things over with Kisa. A simple "sorry" was lightly said while Bolin took off toward the healer.
The earth benders feet moved as quickly as they would let him as he rushed and even slightly pushed his way toward the employee areas. His lips lightly pouted thinking about how awful he and his brother just made Kisa feel. Upon opening an exit to the back alley a sigh escaped his lips while his green eyes soaked in the curled up Kisa trying her best to hold back the tears. Her long dark born hair cascaded over her shoulders and face while she slumped to the ground and hugged her knees tightly. She was mumbling herself some slightly encouraging words and about maybe returning back to the South Pole. Bolin just stood off to the side and waited a bit before wrapping his muscular arms around the healer. "I'm sorry, Kisa," he softly got out and winced preparing for the onslaught of screams and possible punches. However, much to the healers surprise Kisa's arms lightly wrapped around his and just trembled as she tried to calm herself down. "Seriously, I am so sorry, Kisa, we got played hard by Tahno. We jumped to some horrible conclusions without even talking to you and I know that was unfair and wrong of us. Sorry, we just have been so used in the past that sometimes we forget that there are some great people out there. I hope you can forgive me," he sincerely apologized.
Kisa just lightly clung onto his arms as Bolin spoke and let the few lone tears stop falling and fade away. She could tell that Bolin was sorry for their assumptions and that maybe in their shoes she would have made the same mistake. All she knew now was that next time she saw Tahno she was going to make his physical therapy a torturous session. Evil ideas reeled through her mind plotting what to do, but stopped when she realized there was that all so familiar awkward silence between the two of them. "It is alright, Bolin, I forgive you. Just know that I am not a fame chaser and that I would never do anything that would make me loose you as a friend. … Alsooooo I want to punch Tahno in the face for this." she softly responded. Her blue eyes looked over his strong arms and her face turned beet red, a small 'eep!' escaped her throat when it dawned on the healer that her crush was basically hugging her. Her fingertips lightly fidgeted while trying to not say much and maybe make this moment last just a few more minutes longer.
Bolin, ever so slightly clueless to the opposite sex, had no clue that Kisa went from crying to now wanting to skip down the alleyway in just a matter of minutes. He continued to hold onto her letting her lightly girly fragrance tickle the tip of his nose. Bolin too was getting a bit fidigty about what to do and thankfully then a coworker interrupted by opening the back door and spoke, "Oh, Kisa, thank goodness you are here. The owner was worried when he saw you take off without saying anything."
Kisa then popped right out of Bolin's arms and started to lightly flail about explaining that everything was OK now. She tried to explain that it was all just a misunderstanding at a stressful and wrong time. She bowed in forgiveness to her coworker and said that she would be right back and that she would apologize to the owner in a minute. Her light blue eyes then looked over the slightly blushing Bolin and said, "sorry I have to go back to work, but I am off after the dinner rush. Soooo …. can we hang out then?" The earth bender quickly nodded and Kisa took off for inside to get back to work. Bolin took his time, let his smile linger while he watched Kisa head back inside and exhaled a sigh of relief.
The earth bender headed back to his table to see a slightly slumped Mako staring at the bowl of steaming noodles that just got delivered to their table. Bolin smiled and reached over to pat the Fire bender's shoulder and said, "hey cheer up, Mako, we got noodles. Also things are fine, it was all a giant misunderstanding and Kisa thankfully understood. You know she is not like typical girls, I like that." The last part was said a little softer so that hopefully only his brother would overhear. Mako's golden eyes instantly grew wider and softened while the rest of his body relaxed thanks to things going back to normal again.
"Yeah, if she understood then I would say she is defiantly one of a kind," Mako replied before taking a slurp of some noodles. The brother also started to consume the hot meal, savoring it because eating out was not something they got to do often.
"Oh yeah that reminds me, I will have to work on my forms tomorrow morning. Kisa wants me to see her after work tonight," Bolin sheepishly said taking slight advantage of the situation. Mako just lightly shook his head and let a small smile on his face grow.
"Sure see you tomorrow morning, bro," Mako responded and enjoyed the rest of their meal together. His mind was then reeling about what to do about Tahno and the Wolfbats, if they were pulling stuff like this already then who knows what else they might do. It was a well known fact to try and not get on the Wolfbats radar or even worse be hated by them. Hopefully, this recent act was just for their amusement and just to test the waters.
After the meal was done and the bill was paid, the brothers parted ways. Mako was going to look for possibly a part-time job that he could work more once the pro-bending season was over. Bolin was looking for something small to give to Kisa over what happened today. The kind earth bender searched high and low for something that she might possibly like. The few items he found were way out of his price range, until a familiar scent crossed his nose, flowers. He smiled while looking them over and a nice, simple, small blue flower with purple tints caught his eye. The lady running the stand smiled and spoke, "those are hard to get, they come all the way from the south pole." Bolin knew he found what he needed and ordered one and waited outside Penguin Noodles for Kisa to be done for the night.
After her shift was done, Kisa changed into her normal clothes and headed outside. Her mind was thinking how she was going to get a hold of Bolin when her blue eyes caught a glance of the well toned earth bender whose hands were behind his back. The smile grew on her face while greeting, "Bolin, I hope you were not waiting here the entire time."
Bolin extended his one arm forward exposing the delicate flower to Kisa's sight while saying, "nah I walked around town a bit …. and … I …. I got this for you." Kisa's bright blue orbs grew wide and her mouth lightly parted in awe to see such a flower in this place. Before the healer could say anything Bolin added, "as a you know apology for what happened earlier. I am still really sorry for everything."
Kisa gently grabbed the flower after giving Bolin a thankful embrace and responded, "that was very kind of you, Bolin. Also don't worry I forgive you and your brother." Her face then went really serious, "I just can't believe that Tahno would stoop that low. I mean why did he do that?"
Boling lightly sighed and said, "I am sorry, Kisa. He probably did that to get under my skin and Mako's. I heard that the Wolfbats will do pretty much anything to get under the skin of other teams they think could possibly be a threat."
Kisa just smiled and responded, "well I guess that is kinda a good thing for you guys. However, I am going to make sure that Tahno pays. I just haven't figured out how yet. Maybe a taste of his own medicine, I mean I am supposed to be crazy over him maybe I should give him all the crazy he can handle." Bolin lightly chuckled and was starting to fear a bit as what future was in store for Tahno.
"Well Kisa, if you need anything you know I will do what I can because I think you are," Bolin said and then stopped himself. "I mean I don't think you deserved to be played like that." A light tint of blush was on the earthbenders face, thankfully it was getting dim outside so it wasn't noticeable.
Kisa nodded in response and took the flower and actually placed it in her hair. She thought that way she would not have to carry it around and would leave her hands free for tonight. Plus it matched her eyes well and was a nice contrast and accent to her simple updo and clothes. Bolin made a mental note to maybe buy another flower for her in the future it looked very pretty on her. "Well shall we get going then? I am ready to have some fun," Kisa spoke and started to walk forward a bit waiting for Bolin to follow. Just as Kisa and Bolin hoped it was another enjoyable night for them both.
Even thought it was just a simple walk around town taking breaks to just talk and eat some street food, Kisa could not stop smiling. Everytime her blue eyes scanned over Bolin, a little pink hue would creep up her face. She had no idea what to do about it all, maybe just enjoy spending time with him. Bolin was enjoying himself too but his mind could not help but wonder what that kiss was about last night. However, he didn't know what to do and it was making his head spin too much when he did think about it. Maybe another time they could talk about it, no point in making a nice evening end on a weird note.
It was once again time to call it a night and neither of them wanted it to end. However, Bolin had early morning practice and Kisa had a medical shift about the same time as well. Bolin sighed as they stood in front of her apartment complex and did not know what to say. Just when Kisa was about to say something and was lightly fidgeting, he knew what he should do. Bolin stood close to Kisa, and lightly towered over her and leaned his head down. Kisa felt it as his lips lightly touched her forehead making her entire body turn into jelly. "Thanks for everything, Kisa, nice to find an understanding, beautiful girl in this town. I thought I should return the favor from last night," he genuinely spoke with a light flirtation mixed in his voice. Before he messed up and ruined the moment, Bolin waived and dashed off. He did take a quick look at the healer curious on her reaction and smiled. Kisa stood there with her mouth lightly agape and her face and arms were bright red. Plotting against Tahno would be put on hold so she could hold onto that moment as long as she could.