Avatar: The Warring Earth

Book Two—Air

By Twins of the Pen

Disclaimer: Avatar in itself belongs to Nickelodeon and Bryan Konietzko/Michael DiMartino. The only things that belong to Twins of the Pen are the original characters.

Syaoran had been right. After a couple hours of trying to meditate on his own in the gazebo, he was nowhere near relaxed. First and foremost, trying to meditate without having any chi to balance was kind of difficult. Second, the Avatar could only manage to think more and more. Clearly that was not the best option, but it was the only one he could manage.

The first thing he'd realized was that he had flown off the handle a bit. Of course ZanYi had defended Shun. She was right—again. He had been the one spewing fire. The lieutenant didn't know what Shun had done, just that he had been attacking the waterbender. ZanYi was a protector. It made sense that she would go to Shun's side.

The second thing he realized, with much discontent, was that Tiki was also right. Just because Shun loves ZanYi, doesn't mean that Syaoran should just throw in the towel. The lieutenant didn't know that. Syaoran just had to prove he was better. This wasn't the end of the world. Just another challenge… right?

Syaoran let out an exasperated growl, scratching at his head incessantly. None of this was going to work in his favor, and it was going to stress him out even more than he already was. Which meant Syaoran would never manage to airbend, at this rate.

He sobered then, growing still. That could be the end of the world. If the Avatar didn't learn airbending, then he would never become a full Avatar. He wouldn't be able to end the war. More people would die. And all of this—meeting ZanYi, Tiki, and Shun—would be for nothing.

Syaoran took a deep breath, resigned. All this time, he'd been worried about ZanYi and Shun, though with good reason, it seemed. Yet, he had bigger problems to attend to, and people depending on him. At the end of the day, his love life would have to take the back seat. When he wasn't training, then he could afford to think on this problem. But Syaoran had to start giving everything his all again. The risks were too high for something so petty.

With this in mind, his meditations slipped deeper, more focused. His breathing slowly evened out and Syaoran grew quite still. But even as his exterior quelled, his mind was still at war, fighting with swirling emotions of anger and betrayal and confusion. It felt like there was nothing he could do about it…

"Yep. Love can kind of suck, huh?"

Syaoran opened his eyes, and then he continued to blink when he thought he was hallucinating.

"No. You're not crazy. Just the Avatar."

"So then you are…?" Syaoran asked, staring at the woman before him. She seemed to be of Water Tribe descent, if her dark complexion like Shun's was any indication. Then again, the fur pellet she wore was also quite indicative. No one from any of the other countries would probably wear that. She seemed to be middle aged, but her eyes sparked and glowed with youth and enthusiasm. In fact, she gave him a cocky smile, like she'd been waiting for the question.

"Avatar Korra, at your service," she declared, setting her hands on her hips, looking down at the earthbender. "Congratulations. You finally managed to talk to a past life. How does that make you feel?"

"Confused," Syaoran muttered, really not sure what was happening now. He'd had no luck with trying to reach his 'spiritual side'—which he was fairly certain he'd been born without—and suddenly it shows up now, when he's completely out of sorts and nowhere near relaxed?

Avatar Korra seemed to find this amusing, because she chuckled at the dumbstruck look on his face. "It's okay. You'll get used to it. It just means you're finally doing something right," she told him.

Raising his hands to halt her, Syaoran frowned. "How am I doing something right? NOTHING is going right. I can't airbend, my teacher refuses to grieve and is hurting bad right now, and my other two teammates are falling for each other. What am I doing right?"

His mentor only seemed to take this as incentive to chuckle again, amused by what seemed to be his pain. Syaoran didn't appreciate it, but before anything could be done about his, Avatar Korra shook her head. "You would be my successor. Your life sucks about as much as mine did at your age," she sighed before focusing her bright blue eyes on him again. "Avatar Syaoran, I'm going to tell you what the Avatar before me, Avatar Aang, said to me when I was down in the dumps. You have to hit your lowest point before you can make the greatest change. Now, when he said that to me, I ended up getting back my bending in a big surge of power and basically my bending was awesome after that."

"Not helping."

"But," Avatar Korra continued, her mouth forming a half grin, "while I don't know if this is your lowest point or not, the idea still works. Your life sucks right now—"

"Not helping!"

"—but this is the point where you've got to do something about it. You have an opportunity here, man. You can sit down on your butt and mope about everything that sucks, or you can get up and do something about it."

Syaoran stilled there, and when he focused on the past life that stood over him, she continued to smile back, confident that she had the best answers to give him. "Go make a difference, Avatar Syaoran," she nodded, crossing her arms definitively, "Learn airbending and get a move on it. Stop this war. You can do it. After all, you're my successor."

"Ego much?" Syaoran grumbled, but despite her age in his sight, the previous Avatar stuck a tongue out at him.

"I'm an Avatar, just like you. Get over it."

Syaoran rolled his eyes, but when they settled back in front of him again, Avatar Korra was gone, just like that. He considered for a moment whether he was crazy, but considering Avatars were supposed to be in touch with previous lives, probably, maybe he really had done something right. And now it was time to do more.

Rising to his feet, he finally went back into the house, ready to try things over. Avatar Korra had told him to get a move on, and that was advice that Syaoran could actually file.

Of course, it would be just as he went upstairs that he met his first challenge to this resolution. There was a small mutter of pain as he passed the cracked door next to his room. Curiously, he peered inside, finding ZanYi seated on the bed, wrapping a roll of bandage around her arms. Despite her work, he could still see the burns that she bore.

"ZanYi?" he said, announcing his presence as he opened the door and entered. The lieutenant looked at him, still clearly irritated. But then she turned back to her work, tightly wrapping the bandages around her arms. The effort not to grimace showed on her face. Syaoran took a deep breath, deciding to man up. He sat next to her and took the bandages from her grasp, gingerly continuing what she had been doing. "Shun didn't patch you up…?" he asked hesitantly, almost afraid to broach the subject.

She glared at him, taking back the gauze to wrap her own injuries. "He wanted some time to himself." And ZanYi was irked by the way Shun had just shrugged her off. But that was fine. She didn't need him to heal her then. He didn't need her; she didn't need him.

Syaoran nodded, taking this in. The fact that Shun hadn't taken advantage of ZanYi's aid to him earlier was of note, albeit the Avatar didn't like that the lieutenant was now licking most of her own wounds. Biting his lip, he watched ZanYi, trying to find the best way to speak without making things worse. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," he eventually said, thinking that was most important, "and I shouldn't have been aiming at Shun either. You're right. You taught me firebending to be the Avatar and protect others, not to lash out like that."

This made ZanYi look to him, pausing in her wrapping. "I don't know what you two were fighting about, but nothing warrants your actions. The four of us have to stick together at this point, and trying to off each other in the morning light is not excusable, Syaoran."

"I understand that now. It won't happen again, ZanYi," Syaoran told her in the most sincerity. His gaze was focused, clear on her. "I'm going to work harder, become a better Avatar. I'm not going to disappoint any of you again."

He watched her with bated breath, waiting for a reaction, anything, suppressing the urge to grimace in anticipation. ZanYi looked at him scrupulously, as if weighing the words for truth. Soon enough, she looked away to finish wrapping her arm. "I'm going to hold you to that, Syaoran."

That was as close to forgiven as he was going to get from the lieutenant, and he was going to take it and run. "Thank-you, ZanYi," he told her. ZanYi seemed done with her arms, and her stomach and cheek were only a little red. Syaoran took that as a good sign that Shun had at least done those. But then his gaze went to a splattering burn on her hand. Had he done that as well?

Instead of watching her try to wrap it on her own, Syaoran took the gauze and wrapped it, tight and quick so that she couldn't fight with him. He did it without a word, and tied it off. Standing, he walked back to the door, not wanting to overstay his welcome. "Lunch will probably be ready soon," Syaoran guessed, trying to give her some information. He'd smelled the food on his way up.

ZanYi nodded to him, and then he left the room to head back downstairs. The lieutenant then turned down to her hand, examining the wrap and working on clenching it and unclenching it. It hurt, and just as bad as the burns she'd gotten from Syaoran, but she could deal.

When it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything more, Syaoran nodded and started to back up uncomfortably. "I'll, uh, see you down there soon then," he waved a little. The lieutenant nodded to him again and Syaoran took his exit, stage left. Slowly closing the door behind him as he padded out to the hallway, he sighed heavily. Well, that was one thing taken care of, at least. And ZanYi hadn't burned him, so he would take that as a good sign.

What dismayed him was that the absence of injury was being considered as a good encounter with ZanYi. Great. And he was up against Shun, who was already in love with her? It was enough to discourage him again, but Syaoran pushed those thoughts away. ZanYi and Shun was one of his personal problems, but he had more issues to contend with—like the fate of the world. Time to try and keep things in their right place.

"Pai, stop fidgeting."

Her younger cousin paused in his efforts to catch a firefly and stared at Tiki, awed. "How do you know I was fidgeting? Your eyes are closed!" he accused. Tiki opened one eye to peer at him calmly.

"Your chi is erratic; that's how I knew. Now focus," she scolded soundly before shutting her eye once more. The children around Pai giggled, and he resumed his meditation position with a cherry red face.

Tiki was teaching the class in the dojo's courtyard today: Ping was around the island, helping to clean up debris and patch up roofs, so Tiki was asked to step in. She'd had Kei sit off to the side while she practiced airbending forms with the children all morning. Now the nonbender sat beside her, watching avidly as she led the children in group meditation. He, too, had let out a soft snort of laughter when Tiki admonished her inattentive cousin; Tiki took this to mean that he was slowly becoming more and more fascinated by the ways of airbending.

Many on the island were wary of Kei when Tiki first introduced him; the whisperings about her from the refugees increased ten-fold. But Tiki would not be bothered by them today. She had to be a good hostess, because if she could prove to one nonbender that not all benders were bad, who was to say that she could not convince more?

About a half-hour later, Tiki dismissed the class, satisfied. It was nice to know, even when she had not been there, that Ping was a perfectly capable teacher. The children were learning fast, and they soaked up new airbending forms like sponges. Perhaps Tiki would have to elevate Ping to 'Sifu' one of these days.

"So, this is airbending?" Kei asked as the last of the children, including Pai and Sho, made their way to their homes. "Meditation and dancing?"

Tiki spared Kei an indulgent glance. "It's a lot more than that. You just can't see it; a lot of it is more spiritual than physical… And airbending forms are not dancing."

Kei's lips twitched, as if he was fighting a smile. "It looks like dancing to me."

"That's because you don't know any better," Tiki chided with a small smile of her own. "I know what dancing is, though. If you're lucky, maybe I'll show you sometime."

"You dance?" Kei inquired.

"Not where anyone can see," Tiki qualified. Kei opened his mouth to presumably ask more questions, but a tall shadow fell over Tiki in that moment, and the sailor scuttled away, his eyes becoming wide. Turning, Tiki found the giant form of Shun to be the source of the shadow—she had expected as much. "Hi, Shun," she greeted, taking in his dripping form; someone had just come back from a long swim. His expression caught her attention soon enough, however, and she frowned at the tortured look on his face. "What—?"

"Can we talk?" he asked, the words sounding almost desperate. Tiki stared up at him, taken aback. Shun wanted to talk to her now? Would there be more bad news following this ominous query?

"Sure," Tiki replied, though she sounded uncertain. It was not like she could just leave Kei alone… Glancing around, Tiki was grateful for Ping's timing—he was headed towards them now, looking as if he had just been put through a lot of labor. "Ping, would you mind walking Kei back to the house? It should be lunch time soon, right?"

Her cousin paused, assessing the nonbender in their midst before his eyes returned to Tiki's pleading look. "Of course," he answered, earning a small smile from Tiki. With a nod, Ping turned and headed towards his mother's house, with an uncertain Kei in tow, though he glanced back at Tiki and Shun every now and then. Once they were out of sight, Tiki turned to look at Shun, her arms crossing as she sized him up.

"…So," she began, "when did you realize you were in love with ZanYi?"

"So Syaoran talked to you," Shun acknowledged, looking defeated.

"Of course he did," Tiki replied, "I'm the only one he could talk to, at the moment. …How are you feeling?"

Shun closed his eyes and shook his head at the question. Tiki took the gesture to mean that she did not want to know how the giant waterbender was feeling right now. After a moment of tense silence, Shun opened his eyes again, peering down at Tiki hopelessly.

"…What do I do?" he asked, his voice weary, "How can I fix this?"

Tiki stared up at the giant waterbender. He was asking her for advice? That's when Tiki knew things had hit rock bottom for Shun. She sighed, the weight of her answer making the sound heavy. She knew what she had to say, but she did not like it, and was fairly certain that Shun would not like it either. But either way, it had to be said.

"…I don't think this is something you can just fix, Shun," Tiki told him. Judging from his expression, those were exactly the wrong words he needed to hear. But there was more. "It's a messy situation, I know, but there's no way it can simply go away. Syaoran likes ZanYi, but you're in love with her. It's not something that can be solved with a few apologies, nor should it be—it's no one's fault."

"But—!" Shun tried to interrupt, only to falter when Tiki fixed him with an uncharacteristically severe look.

"It is no one's fault," she repeated, deliberately enunciating each word and reminding Shun irresistibly of ZanYi's words from that morning. "No one can help who they fall in love with. The fact remains that both you and Syaoran have feelings for the same woman. Tragic, but it happens. The only thing you can do, Shun, is to keep living your life."

This was not helping Shun at all. He sank down onto the ground, his head in his hands. "Tiki, I can't stay here," he mumbled. "All I'm doing is hurting the people I care about. Maybe it would be better if I just—"

"If you say that you're leaving, I'm going to hit you," Tiki warned the giant waterbender darkly. Shun stopped speaking, but he refused to look at Tiki, which irritated her. With a huff, she seated herself in front of the giant waterbender, impatiently wrenching his hands away from his face. "You cannot leave things the way they are now, Shun," she told him, feeling ridiculous for having to scold a man older than her, "This is your mess. It won't disappear overnight, and no one else is going to take care of it for you. So man up and take care of it yourself."

Shun looked at the tiny airbender helplessly. She made it sound so easy… "But what should I do?" he asked again, seeking guidance. Tiki rolled her eyes, and Shun almost smiled at the nostalgic gesture.

"Do what you've been doing all along: what your heart tells you," Tiki directed, as if this were the most obvious thing in the world. "You love ZanYi, but you don't want to lose Syaoran's friendship, right? Then find the balance between these two desires. It may be tough, but I know you can handle it, Shun. You're a big boy."

Shun snorted. Had he really sunk so low that he needed a pep talk from Tiki? But, even as he found it ridiculous, he found her words giving him strength. She was right: couldn't he just carry on as he had been, just with a little more restraint when it came to ZanYi? Was it really okay to love her, but to also want to keep his friendship with Syaoran? Was he allowed to want these two things? The answer was 'no' in his mind, but even so, Shun found himself unwilling to give up one in favor of the other. He wondered if this made him greedy.

Tiki could tell that Shun needed some time to think about things on his own, so she got to her feet. "Auntie should have lunch ready soon, so I'm going to head back. You should come eat something too."

Shun looked up at this, his martyr expression in place. "Ah… I don't know, Tiki. Syaoran's probably still mad, and ZanYi—"

"You have to clean up your mess, Shun," Tiki reminded the giant waterbender, giving him a stern eye. With a moment's hesitation, he stood up as well with a resigned sigh. Satisfied, Tiki set off with Shun in tow, heading towards YinLi's house.

"Cheer up, Shun. Things won't be this bad forever," she promised. Of course, she had no actual say in how long things would last like this, but she was pretty sure that it would not be forever. That was too long to be mad about things beyond one's control.

Tense. That was just about the only word that could describe the rest of the day. Lunch? Tense. Dinner? Tense. And, contrary to what they'd thought only a day before, it was not because of their new guest.

ZanYi had been giving Shun a relatively cold shoulder. Syaoran was doing the best he could to control himself, though he made sure he didn't stray far from ZanYi's side when they were all together. Shun was beside himself with what to do. And Tiki had the company of Kei—in fact, she probably was the least messed up during the day. That said a lot.

So when night fell, that opened the possibility for more tension and another can of worms. "He's still here," Syaoran muttered to ZanYi, frowning a little as he came up on her side in the living room. The lieutenant looked to Syaoran with a deadpan.

"No, really?" she asked him, her intention in the question quite clear. Syaoran wanted to frown at her sarcasm, but decided against it, looking to Tiki and Kei in the living room.

"So," Syaoran said aloud, looking to Tiki for answers, "is Kei staying another night then?"

Kei looked up from the tile game he was playing with Tiki when his name was mentioned; a slight frown adorned his handsome features.

"…Should I leave?" he inquired of Tiki, who had turned to give Syaoran a look.

"No, of course not," Tiki answered kindly, "You can stay as long as you need to… and anyone who has a problem with that should speak to me privately."

Shun, who was sitting by the bookshelf in the living room, attempting—and failing—to lose himself in a novel, shut said book with a sigh and got to his feet. "Tiki," he addressed the tiny airbender, disregarding her warning, "do you care if I sleep in your room?"

Tiki looked up at him, startled. Was he seriously avoiding ZanYi? "No, but… are you sure?" she felt she had to ask. Shun leveled her a serious gaze.

"I'm sure," he answered. And though she was frowning, Tiki nodded, which Shun took to mean he was allowed to borrow her room for a while. Not needing to be told twice, the giant waterbender squeezed past ZanYi and Syaoran to head upstairs. He was not looking forward to spending a night cramped in a small room… but at least if he had a mental breakdown like the night before, he could do so privately—there would be no ZanYi around to witness him at his worst.

Tiki only stopped thinking about Shun when she looked down at the board and realized she was one tile piece short of what she had her last turn. She looked up just in time to see a mischievous glint in Kei's eyes.

"Hey, you're cheating!" she accused, tossing a pillow at Kei. He allowed the pillow to hit him in the face, moving it when it lost momentum to grin at the tiny airbender.

"Not my fault you're not paying enough attention," he chided. Tiki scowled at him, but it was playful in nature.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now: no one cheats me in a game of Pai Sho and gets away with it!"

"Bring it, airbender."

Tiki was surprised to say that she was actually having fun—it felt like it had been so long since she had even laughed that she had almost forgotten what it felt like. She found that she was glad that, of all the islands to wash up on, Kei had washed up onto hers. For a nonbender, he really was not that bad, once she had gotten him to open up. Maybe there was hope for the future of benders and nonbenders after all.

And it didn't go unnoticed how much fun Tiki was having. "It's almost like she's back to her usual self," Syaoran noted, mixed feelings. So far Kei had not been a threat at all; the team would have found out by then, since him and Tiki had been spending so much time together. But there was still something off about the way they were together, something Syaoran didn't like.

But he had to admit, it was almost a relief to see Tiki happy, even if the rest of them were in turmoil. "Do you think it'll last?" he asked ZanYi, only to find her glancing up at the stairs, frowning. It made Syaoran's heart sink a little. "Hey, ZanYi?"

The lieutenant looked to Syaoran for a moment, but then to Tiki and Kei in the living room. "I don't know," she answered honestly, having heard his question before, just ignoring it. "But even if it's for a little while, she deserves that much." ZanYi then patted Syaoran's shoulder before heading to the stairs. "Don't do anything to screw it up," she told him as she walked away and up the stairs.

ZanYi had headed for the bedroom, only to turn and pause as she looked at the door across the hall. She was aggravated with Shun, and completely willing to be let him be alone. But ZanYi knew how small Tiki's room was—only big enough for a girl of such small size. And when the lieutenant was bogged with memories of Shun's reaction to the small quarters on the way to Roku's Island, and to the man's outburst last night, she could only sigh grievously.

Against her better judgment, ZanYi crossed the hall and rapped on the door a couple times, leaning into the doorframe.

Shun barely registered the knocks at the door at first; he was too busy trying not to lose his cool. The room was indeed as small as Tiki had said it was, and the giant waterbender was already sweating profusely. He had to make a conscious effort to move to the door, such a feat seeming difficult in this tiny space. But there was more space outside the door, something that quickened Shun's movements, as well as wanting to be able to breathe normally again…

Shun wrenched open the door to reveal the second to last person he wanted to see at the moment: ZanYi. She just couldn't leave him alone, could she?

"What?" he croaked, raising a hand to wipe the sweat away from his upper lip. This was not working out as well as he had hoped… maybe he would be better off sleeping in a more conventional place, like the hallway… or the bathroom. At this point, Shun was so desperate that he would take what he could get, just so long as it did not mean a very small room.

ZanYi frowned further at his tone with her, crossing her arms. She had half a mind to march back across the hall and forget about Shun. But the lieutenant took a good look at him through her narrowed eyes, and found that she couldn't.

The man had just come upstairs for the night and he was already breaking into a nervous sweat. If this was just any normal fear, ZanYi would have left it be, left him to his own devices. But now she knew the severity of his fear, his nightmares, his anger. And ZanYi knew she couldn't just leave him be like that, mad at him or not.

Taking her injured hand, she grabbed his shirt—doing her best not to cringe at the resulting jolts of pain—and pulled Shun into the hall roughly. "You take the spare bedroom," she said simply, moving past him to go into Tiki's pint-sized quarters. The lieutenant knew she would be fine on the floor; it was better that way then Shun avoiding another night of sleep just because he refused to share the bigger room with her right now.

Shun's arm shut out, barring ZanYi's entrance to Tiki's room. The events of the day had put him in a bad mood, and the fact that ZanYi was attempting to boss him around irked him more than usual, even if he knew that, in the back of his mind, she was just trying to be nice.

"I don't need you to pity me," the giant waterbender grumbled, frowning down at the floor, "I'm fine in here."

He was telling a bold-faced lie, of course, but at this point he didn't care. Shun just wanted to go to sleep so this day would end faster, and he didn't need ZanYi doing him any favors. He was uncomfortable in such a small room, but he would just have to tough it out until the couch became available again.

ZanYi grit her teeth, about as unhappy as Shun was. "It's not pity," she growled, looking up at the waterbender as the anger started to rise back up. She was trying to be helpful and he was behaving even worse than earlier.

Fire started to spark at her tips and she winced, the flames retreating as the pain encroached. She was going to have to keep herself under wraps and under tighter control until these wounds healed.

"You're not fine in there," ZanYi told him, reiterating the fact he already knew. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Take the bedroom. You'll still be alone then." She tried not to sound bitter, but she was. It was like now he couldn't even lean on her, completely tossing aside everything that happened the night before in the storm. And it was starting to make her angrier by the minute. She shoved his arm out of the way, moving inside the doorframe of Tiki's room.

Why was she so stubborn? It was enough to make Shun want to tear his own hair out!

"ZanYi—" he growled, catching her by the hand… a hand that was, for some reason unbeknownst to him, bandaged. Shun frowned as he thought back to the morning, when he took all the burns ZanYi sported into inventory. There was no memory there about her hand getting scorched.

"What did you do to your hand?" he wanted to know, distracted from his irritation for a moment. He moved his grip on her injured hand to hold her firmly by the wrist instead, using his other hand to tear the bandages off. Once he saw the ugly wound displayed there, Shun sucked in a breath.

"What did you do?" he asked again, his voice rising in alarm. He had never seen a burn mark like this, splattering and spidering across her skin—what in the world caused such wounds?

ZanYi cursed under her breath. Now suddenly he wanted to act normal? Well, the lieutenant wasn't interested. She ripped her hand away from him, scowling. "It's nothing, Shun," she told him. With her other hand, ZanYi yanked back the bandages.

As quickly and tightly as she could, the woman tried to re-wrap it. Sadly, that was a struggle for her with one hand. Suddenly she was a little thankful that Syaoran had done it earlier.

Since she was struggling, ZanYi turned away from Shun to wrap it, gritting her teeth to buck through the pain that seared through her hand.

Shun opened his mouth to argue further with the bane of his existence when he finally realized that it would just be pointless: ZanYi was not willing to listen to anything he had to say tonight, and he was just frustrating them both by trying. Letting out a short huff, Shun turned his back on her.

"Fine," he said, though it was anything but; he was tired of arguing with her anyway. Striding across the hall, he entered the room he usually shared with ZanYi, slamming the door closed behind him. But the giant waterbender was entirely too worked up to go to sleep now. Instead of heading for the bed awaiting him in the corner, he went to the window, pushing it open as wide as it could go.

There was no way he was settled enough to go to sleep, so Shun was about to go work off his frustration the best way he knew how: with a nice, long swim in the ocean. It usually got colder at night, but Shun was sure he would be fine—he had gone swimming at night plenty of times before without consequence. Tonight shouldn't be any different.

Across, the hall, unperturbed by Shun's huffy attitude, ZanYi slipped herself into Tiki's room. She had been right. It was far too small for Shun; the lieutenant did not regret her decision at all.

Soon she gave up on trying to re-wrap her hand, throwing her bandages in the waste bin. Sniffing out a blanket in the room, ZanYi moved to the floor. It was cold, and it was hard. The space was limited. But it was better than Shun getting claustrophobic in the night.

Even if he was completely willing to disregard her after she'd opened up, ZanYi was not going to do the same to him.

So with a sense of pride and accomplishment, she went to sleep, huddled in what warmth she could get.

Should he stay or should he go?

Syaoran frowned as he looked into the living room, trying to decide. After a few minutes more of watching Kei and Tiki's game, he decided to stay. Moving to the floor, he sat next to the tile game, between the two. "My money's on the airbender," Syaoran told Kei, "Once Tiki sets her mind to something, she's impossible to stop."

Tiki frowned slightly at Syaoran, wondering if he meant that as a compliment or an insult. Considering their past experiences together, she was thinking it was probably the latter.

"I'm not that bad…" she tried to defend herself, but the words tasted false before they even left her mouth. Tiki actually had been that bad… she just didn't need Kei knowing it. As far as she could tell, he had a relatively good impression of her, and that's the way she wanted it to stay.

"I won," Kei announced suddenly. Tiki gaped down at the board, unable to help herself. He had indeed won, though it had been a close shave, and Tiki thought she had him cornered… how the heck had he pulled off a come-from-behind win?

"No fair, Syaoran distracted me!" Tiki claimed, wanting to push the blame onto the Avatar. Kei chuckled indulgently.

"Wanna play again?" he offered. Tiki opened her mouth to reply that, yes, she did want to play again and this time she would kick his butt—when the grandfather clock in the corner of the room chimed eleven o' clock. Tiki took note of the time and sighed.

"It's getting pretty late. We should go to bed," she answered instead, reaching for the tile pieces to put the game away. Just as her hand rested on a pile of tiles, a bigger, calloused hand rested over hers. Tiki glanced up to find Kei looking at her, a slight smile on his face.

"I'll clean up," he offered, "as a thank you gesture. You know, for being so nice to me, even though I'm… well, you know. Not like you."

Tiki could only stare up at Kei, her face turning pink. He was the nice one, really. Tiki had never met a boy like him… She slid her hand out from under his, allowing him to take hold of the tiles she had been touching. Clearing her throat slightly, Tiki turned and found that Syaoran was still seated on the floor, to her surprise.

"You should go get some sleep too, Syaoran," she encouraged the Avatar as she moved over to a corner of the living room to retrieve her futon, "your training will re-start bright and early tomorrow morning."

Kei looked up at these words, curious. "Training?" he echoed, his hazel gaze moving from Syaoran to Tiki.

"Syaoran's researching the ways of airbending for a book he's writing," Tiki invented on the spot, realizing that it might be bad if Kei were to learn who Syaoran really was. "I'm taking him through the normal training of an airbender so he has enough material for his book."

"Oh. That's interesting," Kei noted. He paused a moment before adding, "I might like to try it too, sometime."

Tiki paused in her act of lugging her futon to the middle of the room to give Kei an awed look. To think that he was already open to the thought of trying airbending… it wasn't something he could just learn, of course, but the offer was still a huge step.

"Maybe," she decided, smiling as she laid her futon out. Kei attempting to airbend… the mental image was kind of funny to her, and she giggled as she lay down on her futon. That would be an interesting sight indeed.

Syaoran looked at Tiki with a brief glance that could only show confusion. 'I'm a writer now?' he thought to himself, trying to resist the urge to scoff. Somehow, that seemed very far-fetched. Thankfully Kei didn't know Syaoran well at all.

But his disbelief then went to Kei. After all, nonbenders couldn't bend. That was just the way it was. It's what caused this war to begin with. Though, the Avatar supposed, technically the forms for airbending would be allegedly relaxing for just about anyone.

Syaoran just didn't like it. Too… flowy.

"Well, I probably should get going then," he agreed reluctantly, rising to his feet. "Some progress would be good right about now." Syaoran gave Tiki a distinct look, as if trying to convey how hard he was going to start trying. "I need to get myself together if I'm going to get any work done."

Tiki recognized the determination in Syaoran's eyes, and she gave him a nod of approval.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow—same time, same place," she promised. It was good that Syaoran was going to get serious—so far his progress with airbending had been minimal, and though Tiki remained patient, Syaoran was getting frustrated with every passing day. If he kept having a negative set of mind, he was never going to get anywhere, so he had to work even harder to get his mind in the place it needed to be.

"Is learning airbending difficult?" Kei ventured to ask, settling down on the couch. Tiki shrugged from her position on her futon.

"For some it is. It all depends on the person."

"What about you?" Kei wanted to know. "You told me airbending children learn to airbend at a young age… how old were you when you first learned to airbend?"

Tiki blew out a puff of air, making her bangs flutter. "I don't know… three, maybe? I don't remember."

Kei's dark brows shot up into his hairline. "Three? Is that normal?" Again, Tiki shrugged.

"Like I said, it depends on the person."

"How did your parents react the first time you showed them your airbending?"

The question made Tiki freeze. Spending the day with Kei had enabled her to keep her thoughts away from the two gaping holes in her chest left behind by the loss of her parents. But now her distraction was bringing them up, forcing the wounds open once again. The tiny airbender turned on her side, facing away from Kei. "…They were really proud of me…" she answered after a moment, her hand grasping the amulet around her neck. They were proud that day, when she had bounded up to them under their favorite tree, eager to show them what she could do. They had smiled so brightly that day, patting her head and praising her…

Tears welled up in Tiki's eyes, and she bit her lip. No, she did not want to cry in front of this stranger about something he knew nothing about. She did not want to cry at all: no amount of tears she shed would ever bring them back, and that was the brutal truth.

Kei peered strangely at Tiki's back before turning his hazel gaze onto Syaoran. "Did I say something wrong?" he mouthed to the Avatar, looking concerned. It was the first time he had seen Tiki behave in such a way, and he was baffled as to what the reason could be.

Syaoran looked at Kei, a twist to his lips. He flittered his hand from side to side, as if saying that the words were sort of wrong. But he didn't linger on the stranger. Instead he looked at Tiki, uncertain of what to do.

Certainly, Tiki seemed quite adamant not to break down—and Syaoran could understand not wanting to in front of a stranger. So as much as he wanted to let her cry, make her get it all out of her system for the night, such an action would only make things worse.

What to do…?

"Hey, Tiki," Syaoran called out to the small airbender, nonchalant. "I'm really thirsty. You mind helping me find some tea?" The Avatar started for the kitchen, hoping she would follow. If he could at least let her get herself composed for a moment, no one would know the wiser.

Tiki glanced at him incredulously. Syaoran wanted tea right now? Why couldn't he get it himself? He should know where the kitchen was by now…

'…Oh,' Tiki thought to herself, realizing that Syaoran didn't actually want tea; he just wanted her to follow him into the kitchen. Sniffling a little, the tiny airbender sat up and did as Syaoran asked, using her hair to keep her face hidden from Kei's view. Only when she and Syaoran were safely in the kitchen did Tiki allow herself to breathe easier, scrubbing away at the tears threatening to fall from her stormy eyes.

"…Thanks," she mumbled, her gaze on the floor as she fidgeted with her amulet. How embarrassing, to have to rely on Syaoran to get her out of such an awkward situation. Kei must be so confused right now; Tiki felt bad for being so rude as to leave without a word. But she had to get out of there: Tiki would much rather apologize for being rude than to apologize for bursting into tears without warning.

"Don't mention it," Syaoran shrugged, moving around the kitchen to start putting some tea together. Finding the closest kettle, he filled it up with some water and set it on the stove. Waiting for it to heat up, the Avatar leaned against the counter, looking at Tiki with mild concern. "You think you'll be okay when you go back in there?"

Kei didn't know that he'd pushed the wrong button. It had been a perfectly normal question to ask, but the nonbender had no way of knowing that Tiki's parents were recently deceased. And when she went back in there, he still wouldn't know.

Syaoran weighed his eyes on her, frowning a little. "Take as much time as you need, Tiki."

Tiki took a deep, shuddering breath. While she appreciated Syaoran's concern for her, a part of her also resented it. She was now older than him; he couldn't keep babying her forever.

"I'm fine, Syaoran," she insisted, looking up to meet the Avatar's eyes as she willed her words to be true. "If I stopped to cry every time I thought about my parents, I'd never get anything done. There are more important things that need my attention right now. Like Kei… and you." Kei needed her protection from the not-as-tolerant refugees who would do him harm, but Syaoran also needed her to help to learn airbender. As she had told herself so many times before, she did not have time to cry.

Once the kettle began to whistle, Tiki took over the tea-making. She was very lucky that her aunt had been so accommodating through all of this. Most benders, Tiki knew, would not have a nonbender in their homes unless it was family. And most family members would be thoroughly putout with the prolonged stay of so many guests. But YinLi was a trooper, and she took whatever Tiki managed to throw at her in stride. One of these days, Tiki was going to have to show her aunt just how grateful she was for her.

Syaoran rolled his eyes, feeling déjà vu sweeping over him. The last time she'd almost cracked, she'd run off and pushed herself to finish her tattoos. This girl, despite every responsibility she had, needed at least some time to grieve. Otherwise, sooner or later, she was going to crack.

Moving to stand behind Tiki, the Avatar put one hand on either side of her, leaning over the short airbender. "We all have responsibilities right now, Tiki," he said quietly, trying to will her to understand. "But if you keep this up, something's gonna give and break. And frankly, I don't want it to be you."

She used to drive him nuts with her antics. Now she drove him nuts because she refused to give herself even a few minutes. Between all of his teammates, it was no wonder that Syaoran could never relax.

"Just make sure, no matter who or what needs your attention, that you at least make sure you keep a couple minutes to yourself. Sometimes you gotta let it go. I thought you, as an airbender, would know that."

Tiki sighed, repressing the strange shudder that went through her as the Avatar's breath tickled her ear. Syaoran's words were sweet, but he was underestimating her: Tiki was much stronger than anyone—even Tiki herself—thought.

"Syaoran, I told you," she began patiently, turning to hand him a cup of tea, "I'm—"

He was closer to her than she had expected, his face lower as he leaned over her. So when Tiki turned to address him, she found herself almost nose to nose with the Avatar. Tiki's mind went strangely blank as she stared up at him, the words she was speaking dying in her throat. She had never seen Syaoran's face this close before—well, maybe once, but she had been viewing him from the side because he was carrying her on his back. Now, however, she had a perfect view of his eyes, the jade hue of them deep and inviting, like the leaves of forests on a summer's day. A slow warmth worked its way into Tiki's face, the reaction something she did not quite understand. What was happening to her?

"…Fine," she finally managed to finish; when she dropped her gaze, she found that her train of thought returned easily. "I'm… I'm fine."

Wordlessly, the tiny airbender handed Syaoran his mug, staring down at it as her mind whirled over what had just happened. What in the world would make her react to Syaoran that way? She had no idea what it was about him that had suddenly rendered her speechless, or why her face had warmed, or why her heart beat had suddenly increased… was she feeling sick? If that was the case, it was certainly not any kind of sickness she had ever felt before.

The Avatar stared at her a little funny, finding her reaction a bit odd. But nonetheless, he shook his head, frowning a little. "Yeah, you may be fine right now," he started, almost sounding like he was agreeing with her. He wasn't. "But as strong as you are or not, from what I can tell, nobody just brushes off death. And sooner or later, this new mask of yours is going to start cracking."

Syaoran took the mug from Tiki. Though he hadn't actually wanted tea—it had been more to put validity into his diversion than anything—he gulped it down quickly and set it back down on the counter. He considered for a moment that maybe he should tell Tiki about his encounter with Avatar Korra, but that could wait. Right now, Tiki needed some time to herself and some rest.

"I'm going up to bed," he announced to her, "so you better head off soon too." Syaoran reached out and ruffled Tiki's hair a bit, her blue arrows peeking from behind her bangs. "See you in the morning, Tiki."

Leaving the living room, he walked upstairs to go to bed. At first, he paused, feeling the need to check the two rooms, make sure the occupants were where they should be. But, Syaoran realized, it was continuous thinking like this that was going to send him over the edge. If he was going to get serious about airbending, he was going to have to let some things go.

And for tonight, that was going to be a start.

A/N from DJ: Hooray, Syaoran! Lots of personal successes here today. I know it's a lot of drama, and even more to come - this is one of the drama books xP - but it's for the development. Everything that happens amounts to something, now or later on or much later on. Tonight, a day late [SORRY!], we see a bit of it. Now, to the acknowledgements!

Guest: Hooray! It is the same person! Happy to see you back more! :D But yes, things have finally come out, and Syaoran is going to deal with it. They all will, and that's what's going to happen in this book. Yay, Character Building! xP Hopefully we won't disappoint you this week either!

Writingbrick: You're always welcome to come up with your own adjectives! I make up my own all the time... which sometimes I end up writing and don't even realize it. If you come across words that aren't words, then it was probably on me! xP Also, we couldn't watch the links! We'd love to know what you're listening to through the story. Eva and I both have our own songs that got us through the writing of this beast. xD Practically our own OSTs for each book!

The-new-avatar: Excellent summery! A lot tends to happen per chapter! I'm glad that means you enjoy it though! This was a bit shorter than some of our others, but beware! The next couple weeks are going to be long ones, me thinks! Hope you continue to enjoy!

Thanks, everyone, for the love we've been getting! It truly makes Eva and I feel like we've written something that more than just us can enjoy. See you guys again next week, and we'll see if I get the editing done on time! Peace out!