Soooo sorry for the long wait. School started and I kind of drowned after so long of doing nothing. I'm back though, and it's time to start winging up Kyuri! However, as I wind down the last few threads of Kyuri's story, I'll be posting my new story! The idea of Asuni's story is vastly more popular, so that's the story I'll be doing. I've gone ahead and changed my pen name to suit the coming story, so don't freak out if you see it's different. I'm working on a picture of her - I can't draw worth a crap so I'll be using an online dress-up thingy (don't judge) - and it will be my new profile picture until the story goes up! Tell me what you think of her character design, and any suggestions for things you'd like to see more of less of in the story, any OCs from past stories I've done that you may like to see pop up in some capacity, PM me or leave me a review and I'll see what I can do. Review anyway though! I'd really like to try and get this story up to 200 reviews before all is said and done.
I know this one was a bit short, but it was a good place to cut off. And I'll admit, there's a bit of excess fluff in some places, but who doesn't love a little fluff every now and then?
Now, to finish off the longest author's note I think I've ever written and to get on to what you're really here for... The story!
"Pao! Pao! You won't believe this!"
Pao looked up from the tables he was waiting and saw Han rushing through the door. Han was the replacement he'd hired after he lost Kida, Lee, and Mushi in one fell swoop, with no notice. Han was not even close to being a good enough replacement for the three servers, but he was all Pao could find.
"What is it?" Pao demanded. "It better have something to do with why you're late!"
"The Fire Lord's coming down the street with a Dragora!" Han burst out, a wide grin on his face. "People are whispering he's coming here!"
"Oh… Oh… Oh!" Pao gasped. "I bet he heard about Mushi's tea… And Mushi's gone. What are we going to do?" he wailed, dropping his face into his hands.
Han scrambled out of the way as the door banged open and two lines of Fire Nation soldiers filed in, lining the walkway on either side. Two figures walked in arm-in-arm. Pao's jaw hit the floor along with the teapot he as holding.
"Kida? Lee?"
"Actually," Kyuri said with a small smile. "It's Kyuri and Zuko."
"You will address the Fire Lord and his lady with proper respect!" barked one of the guards. "Bow! Go on, on your knees!"
"Kinji, calm down," Zuko sighed. Kinji had been a stickler for protocol no matter where they went. It had been very annoying trying to frolic in the lake like they used to with him standing there harping on about how exposed they were, how dangerous this was, how unsophisticated it was…
"No, no!" Pao said, throwing himself on the ground. "It's fine your… Fire Lord… ness?"
"Pao, stand up," Kyuri said. Pao hastily shot back to his face just as a squeal erupted from the corner of the tea shop.
"Kyuri!"
A green blur shot from one of the tables and nearly impaled itself on Han's hastily aimed spear.
"Han, I'll have to kill you if you gut one of my only friends," Kyuri snapped, thoroughly fed up with the soldier by now.
Han placed the put of his spear on the ground. "You may approach."
"Kyuri!" was shrieked again and Kyuri embraced Sayuri as the girl flung herself into Kyuri's hold. Chang stood behind his wife and placed a friendly hand on Kyuri's shoulder.
"I was hoping to find you two here," Kyuri said.
"You were looking for us?" Chang said curiously.
"Not so much me," Kyuri said, glancing at Zuko.
"Can we talk?" Zuko asked, gesturing to the table the couple had abandoned in the rush to meet their old friend.
"Sure!" Chang said, scrambling to put a few stray napkins in place. "I'm sure it's not what you're used to but…"
"I did work here," Zuko reminded him, taking a seat. There were only two chairs, being a table meant for couples to have a quiet, intimate cup of tea.
"Another chair?" Pao said, rushing over with one.
"That won't be necessary," Zuko said, smirking slightly as he wrapped an arm around Kyuri's waist and pulled her down into his lap.
"You really aren't being very Fire Lordly on this trip," Kyuri said, raising her eyebrows at him.
Sayuri squealed again and dropped into Chang's lap as well. "I knew you liked him! So you to are together now?"
Kyuri nodded, blushing slightly.
"What did you want to discuss?" Chang asked Zuko. He glanced at Sayuri fondly. "We'd better get that out of the way before she gets going, or we'll be here for hours."
Zuko cleared his throat, looking slightly awkward at getting down to brass tacks. Kyuri had quickly discovered that he wasn't a 'brass tacks' kind of person.
"We've been doing some… spring cleaning in the palace workers since Zuko took the throne," Kyuri said delicately. Zuko gave her a grateful look for taking over and began absently rubbing her back. "We have a lot of positions to fill and few really trustworthy people to fill them with. Just the other day, we lost a scribe and a blacksmith. Then I thought of you two."
"You're offering us jobs," Chang realized in shock. "But… I'm not fully trained and neither is Sayuri!"
"Not a problem," Zuko said, more comfortable now that the ball was rolling. "You can finish your training on the job working under our employees, and you'll be paid while you do it."
Sayuri glanced down somewhat hesitantly and placed a protective hand on her stomach. "There are other things to consider," she said shyly. Kyuri's eyes widened.
"You're pregnant!"
Sayuri nodded and exchanged a loving look with her husband. "We just found out for sure last week. So you see, I'd need maternity leave, and someone would have to stay with the child…"
"We have a child care service for the palace workers," Zuko assured her. "There are several families that have both parents employed at the palace. Several trained nannies are kept on staff to look after employee's children."
"We'd have to talk about it," Chang said slowly.
"Of course," Kyuri jumped in. "our boat sails at the end of the week, if you've made a decision by then you're welcome to join us, but we'll be making a brief stopover in the South Pole. Beyond that you'd have to book your own passage, but you'll be reimbursed for the cost of the trip."
"This is so nice of you," Sayuri said, her eyes watering slightly. She reached across the table and took Kyuri's hand. "You've done so much for us. You helped us get together… You gave up these rings…" She held up her hand. "And now you're giving us our dream careers. How will we ever make all this up to you?"
"You already have," Kyuri reminded her. "I told you, you taught me a lesson."
"What did they teach you about?" Zuko asked, looking up at her curiously.
"Love," she said simply. Zuko smiled at her and tugged her chin down for a brief peck on the lips.
"Is that why you came in that one day looking like you'd gotten a half hour of sleep?" he recalled.
"Yes," Kyuri admitted. "I had gotten a half hour of sleep."
"Like she said, talk it over, and when you're sure, let us know. If you say no, send us a letter so we know not to expect you. If you say yes, tell us when your boat gets in and we'll have someone meet you at the docks to escort you to the palace."
With business out of the way, Kyuri and Zuko stayed and shared a cup of tea with the couple before returning to their rooms in the Earth King's palace for the night. Their rooms were right next to each other. Actually, it was a suite of rooms each, defended by both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers, not that anyone would have had an easy time attacking the two occupants anyway.
Kyuri and Zuko were taking their dinner in Zuko's room, kneeling on either side of the table and eating quietly.
"Do you ever think about the future?" Kyuri said suddenly. Zuko looked up at her in surprise.
"Of course I do. I'm the Fire Lord. I have to think about my country's future with every decision I make," he said wearily.
"Yes, but… What I really meant was our future," Kyuri said shyly. This was a topic she wanted to discuss frankly, but she felt presumptuous bringing it up. She wanted no pressure put on Zuko beyond what he already felt trying to straighten out a country just coming out of a century-long war.
"What do you mean?" Zuko asked, taking a sip of his soup. "What brought this on?"
"Seeing Chang and Sayuri today, happily married. Suki and Sokka are getting married at the end of the year, it's only a matter of time before Katara and Aang start picking out drapes, and apparently Toph's having Earth noblemen suitors hurled at her by her father. He's trying to calm her down I think. I was just wondering… Is it possible that we would get married one day and settle down?" Kyuri finally said. Zuko flushed slightly.
"Well… heh… It's something I'd considered," he admitted. "I mean… Do you remember that conference I went to with the advisors?"
"The one you came back from furious?" Kyuri said drily.
"That one," Zuko said with a small self-depricating smile. "They told me… Well, did you know you're actually more popular now in the Fire Nation that I am?"
Kyuri choked on her fish. "I'm sorry… what?"
"It's true," Zuko admitted. "There are a lot of noblemen still loyal to my father, and a lot of peasants too, mostly those who didn't have to send men off to the war. Those that did, a lot of them hate my father, and my family in general. But apparently a lot of little commoner girls play 'Dragora Kyuri' in the streets and make their brothers play 'Sangilak.'"
"Are you… Are you serious?" Kyuri demanded. Zuko nodded helplessly.
"And they suggested… More like demanded… That we make our relationship more official, to try and draw more support for me with ties to you. In other words…"
"An engagement," Kyuri realized. "But… oh. So they've been trying to convince you to propose to me?"
Zuko nodded again. "I told them it was too soon, that we were too young, you aren't really ready for that-"
"Who said that?" Kyuri asked, raising an eyebrow.
"- and of course there's other things to think about, like… Huh?" Zuko blinked as he realized what she'd said. He stared at her. Her eyebrow was going higher, her lips quirking slightly. "Did you just say…?"
"I did. Zuko, you made me feel something I was confident I never would, something I never really wanted to feel until I met you. I hate to say it, but if you left me… I might have to kill you."
"So… hypothetically…," Zuko began slowly. "If I asked you to marry me…?"
"Well then I suppose… hypothetically… I'd say yes." Kyuri smiled. "I would prefer to wait for a while though, if you don't mind."
"I don't," Zuko said, looking immensely relieved. "I was so worried I wasn't going to be able to hold those scheming old men off any longer. They were acting like they might just propose for me! Now I can tell them that you've agreed."
"So long as you don't do something awful between now and then, I think you're safe," Kyuri smiled.
"They're also talking about strengthening my position with an heir…"
"I may love you, but I will hit you."
Kyuri and Zuko were half-way to the South Pole when they received a messenger hawk from Chang and Sayuri saying they'd take the positions. They celebrated for the night, but by that point they were both getting tired of being cooped up on the boat and tempers were running high.
"So I can't help out around the ship?" Kyuri shouted. "I just did some mending and helped the chef for spirit's sake!"
"It's not your place!" Zuko shouted right back.
"Not my place?" she hissed.
"You're going to be Fire Lady! Act like it! You're not a serving girl, you're my girlfriend!"
"Am I? because I was fairly sure I was smart enough not to date someone who would be this controlling?"
"Don't try and turn this around on me!"
"Oh, but it's just so easy. You're the one in the wrong here!"
"You've been spending so much time among the crew… Am I the one really in the wrong here?"
"Just what are you implying?" Kyuri demanded, eyes narrowing.
"Oh, I think you know!"
"No, I really don't. Enlighten me, Zuko dear."
"What am I supposed to think?" he shouted. "You only talk to me at meals and the rest of the time you spend with a room full of men down below. Where they sleep… Where there are beds…"
"How dare you?" Kyuri growled low. "Are you implying that I'm sleeping around?" She laughed harshly. "I won't let you sleep with me, what makes you think I'm opening up to the entire crew?"
"I don't know, maybe you're just that type of girl!"
"Well that type of girl shouldn't be seen with the Fire Lord. Maybe I'll just stay in the South Pole when we get there. Wince I'm such a little whore I don't belong in the palace!"
Kyuri stormed off back to her room. The problem was, it was right next door to his, and she would have quite liked to storm for a little longer. As it was, she was stuck letting her anger out by screaming into her sheets and punching a pillow, like she was some sort of… well, some sort of angry teenage girl.
She felt absolutely ridiculous as she glared at the opposite wall, sitting on the edge of her bed with her arms and legs crossed tightly and her back ramrod straight. Then she felt angry at Zuko for making react so childishly, and then she was angry at him for what he'd said all over again.
"Ooh, that man!" she snapped to the wall. "He's so horrible sometimes!"
She glared at the wall, her thoughts an angry whirl, for a full hour. She was just starting to get tired of being angry when a soft knock came at the door, accompanied by a familiar voice calling her name and she got mad all over again.
"Can I come in?" Zuko asked softly.
"It's not locked, I'm open for business!" Kyuri shouted furiously, before adding lewdly, "Would you like a blowjob, or the whole thing? I'll do anything you like, since I'm such a little slut!"
On the other side of the door, Zuko winced. "Kyuri, I was wrong. Can we talk?"
"Piss off Zuko!"
He winced again. Kyuri never cursed. She was livid. Slowly, he opened the door and poked his head inside cautiously, only for a dagger to come whizzing at his face. He ducked back behind the door and then called, "I'm coming in."
"I know," she said snidely.
"Please don't throw anything dangerous," Zuko begged as he edged inside. She was sitting on the bed with her arms and legs crossed, glaring at the wall to his right. Her face a shade of red that, in another situation, might have been slightly appealing. Now it made him fear for his personal safety.
"Kyuri," he said hesitantly.
"What?" she barked.
"I was wrong," he said, sitting down on the bed next to her, but far enough away that he was out of arm's reach should things go badly.
"I know that," Kyuri grumbled.
"It's just… I feel like you've been pulling away from me lately, and… well, I heard some soldiers talking about how much time you spend helping them… one of them made some lewd comments… I got jealous… I started thinking about what he said even though I knew there was no way it was true… you're too good for that…" Zuko paused in his apologetic spiel to look up at her. Her limbs weren't knotted quite so tightly and her eyes were a bit softer. She was caving, and Zuko continued to wheedle. "But it just sort of burrowed into my head and I couldn't get the thought to go away. You know I have a temper… Like I said, I was really jealous and I reacted badly. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve any of that."
"No, I didn't."
"You're just so wonderful, and sometimes I feel insecure," Zuko admitted. It was true, even though he knew he was laying it on pretty thick. "Am I forgiven?"
Kyuri's mouth twitched slightly. "Not quite yet."
Zuko smiled slightly, knowing that he was. He leaned forwards, brushing back her hair over her shoulder and placing small kisses up her throat. He honed in on one spot he knew made her react and nibbled gently. He heard her restrain a small sound of pleasure.
"How about now?" he whispered.
"… I'm feeling less inclined to kill yo- Oh!" Kyuri gasped as he bit down on that certain spot on her throat.
"What was that?" he taunted.
"You're forgiven," she admitted grudgingly. "But for the record, next time I hear a comment about you feeling insecure with me, I will slap you and then kindly direct you to the nearest mirror. I have to listen to all the maids at the palace talk about the 'handsome Fire Lord they wish would sweep them away.' You can handle a few soldiers shooting their mouths off."
"Handsome, huh? Who's this guy trying to take my position?"
Kyuri glanced sideways at him darkly, finally giving in and looking at him. Her face softened at his apologetic expression. "They're talking about you, fool," she said softly, brushing his bangs out of his eyes. He cupped her cheek and leaned forwards, placing his lips on her forehead.
Kyuri blinked in surprise. He'd never done that before. It was a sort of kiss she'd always sort of associated with parents giving their children. When they kissed, it was usually a brief peck on the cheek or lip if they were rushed or feeling affectionate, or the longer, hotter kisses that didn't occur very often but made her toes curl when it did.
This gesture though, was sweet, affectionate. It made her feel innocent and vulnerable in a delightful way, and she felt the light tingling in her cheeks that accompanied a blush.
Zuko stretched out an arm for her and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her close. He scooped them both back against the wall the bed rested against and tucked her against his chest Kyuri curled against his side, resting her hand on his stomach, idly tracing patterns, and nuzzling against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and Kyuri smiled softly, feeling very at peace, and snuggled closer.
Scratch Asuni being my profile pic guys, don't know how to shrink the pic enough to make it work. Sorry. :(
Oh, almost forgot! I found a really awesome AMV on youtube of Avatar. You should all go check it out, it's very well done!
www. youtube watch?v= gVSJ 668 VcN Y
Update! I got the pic to work, so go look!