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.

It had been a mistake to go swimming all night. Shun realized it the moment he left the water the next morning: his body was stiff and frozen from his tireless swimming through cold water, and his head was still swimming, even though his body had left the ocean. Thankful that the sun was not yet up, even though the horizon was turning pink, the giant waterbender staggered back to YinLi's house. His clumsy movements eventually led him back to the room he should have stayed in last night; Shun pulled himself carefully through the window… only to crash to the floor once he was inside. He let out a groan of pain, but did not move. All the strength in his body had suddenly left him, and he was feeling strangely hot and cold at the same time.

If Shun didn't know any better, he could swear that he had caught a fever. But since he never got sick, such a notion was ridiculous. He was probably just tired… yeah, that was it. He had been exercising all night, so his body was protesting. All he needed was some sleep, and he would be good as new…

So the giant waterbender closed his eyes, and sank into unconsciousness.

Now, having woken at her usual hour—and in an unusual pain—ZanYi was already up for the day. Slipping out of Tiki's tiny room, she tried to warm her arms, chilled from sleeping on the floor. ZanYi hated being cold, but this was nothing compared to being in the coolers. Besides, it made the pain in her arms and hand a bit duller.

Still, she needed to change the bandages. The lieutenant knew that. Knowing she was taking a risk but perfectly content to do it anyway, ZanYi slipped into the room she had shared with Shun. After all, that's where she'd left the bandages. But instead of finding the giant either sleeping in bed, awake, or gone, she found him on the floor.

If they had been sharing the room still, this would not have been odd or even a problem. But they weren't, and Shun's face was too flushed for her to consider this normal. "Shun?" she called out, ignoring the bandages calling to her on the nightstand. The lieutenant walked over warily, only to see Shun absolutely soaked, breathing heavily, and clearly flushed. In her experience, that wasn't necessarily a fantastic combination. "Shun," she said more tersely, shaking the waterbender with her good hand, "wake up."

Someone was calling him. Shun struggled for a moment to remember where his eyes were located so he could open them. Once he did, he turned his head slightly to look up at a blurry figure above him. Blinking a few times brought the figure into focus: it was ZanYi. Of course. "Hm?" Shun hummed, unable to form a coherent sentence. He must be more exhausted than he thought. And why was the room still switching between hot and cold? Was the air-conditioning broken? And why was ZanYi bothering him at such an early hour? True, this would be around the time he was usually awake, but not today. Today he wanted to sleep in until the afternoon… he would just have to get rid of ZanYi first. "Whassa matter…?"

"You," she answered him swiftly, frowning now as she took his vitals. Increased heart rate. High temperature. Slurred speech. This wasn't normal Shun, or tired Shun. This looked to be shaping up like sick Shun. "Okay, that's it. Get up," the lieutenant ordered, but she acted as if he was not going to follow them. ZanYi knew he wouldn't be able to in his current state. Pulling him so that Shun was sitting up, she crouched and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders, then rested her other arm around his midsection.

The guy was huge. ZanYi knew that. Of course he was going to be heavy. She also knew that. But with protesting burns and little help from Shun himself, this shaped up to be quite difficult. "Geez, you're like a ton of bricks," she muttered, struggling to stand back up while holding the bulk of Shun's weight. ZanYi was suddenly grateful for boot camp. Half supporting and half lugging Shun, the lieutenant got him over to the bed. "You…" she panted with a shake of her head, "are sick."

That woke Shun up a little. He managed to stagger backwards, pulling away from ZanYi's grasp. "I'm not sick," he protested, blinking rapidly as he tried to focus on her—why was he so dizzy? "I don't get sick. I'm just tired—I've been up all night. I just need… some sleep…"

Shun swayed dangerously. And then, without warning, he collapsed onto the bed, taking ZanYi with him. Luckily, she was only pinned down by the weight of one of his arms; in his weakened state, Shun pulled her closer to him, sighing in content. "You're warm," he mumbled, hugging the lieutenant to him. If Shun were in his right mind, he would not dare to do such a thing. But since he was so tired, he really could not be held reliable for his actions… especially if he was likely not to remember them when he woke up.

ZanYi was not entirely sure how to respond to that. For one thing, she was human. Humans are warm. Two: she was firebender. Self-explanatory. But also Shun was burning up, and he was the one calling her warm. This guy was seriously off-kilter.

"Shun," she said, struggling against his tight embrace. "Let me up." There was no way she was going to be of any help to the sick waterbender if he was holding her close. In fact, ZanYi could barely move. Shun was basically deadweight. "I can't help you if I can't get up."

"Don't need help," the giant waterbender replied stubbornly. "Just tired…"

And she really was warm. It felt good to be able to hold her without feeling any guilt for once: Shun was freezing, and she was basically a ready-made space heater at the moment. Shun closed his eyes tiredly, breathing in the smoky scent ZanYi always exuded. It was very comforting to have her here, despite all the unpleasantness of the day before.

"…Sorry for pushing you away yesterday," Shun mumbled, only semi-aware of the words he was speaking; he was beginning to lose consciousness again. "I only did it because I thought it was the right thing to do… I never wanted you to hate me… I don't ever want you to hate me…"

Shun trailed off, a light snore beginning to sound in his throat. That was the last time he would ever take a full night to dally about in the ocean, if this was the price he was going to have to pay the next morning. It felt like he was hungover, and he didn't like the feeling at all.

ZanYi's frown softening, the residual irritation from the previous day started to melt away. Shun was seriously sick. She had no idea what he could have done to do this to himself, but he was sick. And, she had to admit, a sick Shun was almost endearing. Generally it was Syaoran that walked around like a lost pup-cub, but now it was certainly Shun in his sickened state. ZanYi also got an apology, and despite his inebriation, she knew he meant it.

"I don't hate you, Shun…" she said quietly, knowing he was already gone. The corner of her lip quirked up a little bit. "I actually kind of like you."

ZanYi sighed, knowing that she was going anywhere any time soon. Shun had quite the firm grip on her, and he was knocked out. Hopefully the man could at least sleep off some of his fever. So, the lieutenant supposed, shifting a little in Shun's arms, she might as well get comfortable.

Wrapped in his broad arms, ZanYi closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax a bit. When her head fell against his hot chest, she didn't necessarily mind. She was finally warm too. In the heat that she always preferred, it was quite easy for the lieutenant to slip away, back into sleep herself.

Hours later, awareness began to return to Shun's fevered state. With a muffled groan, the giant waterbender squeezed his eyes shut tight, stretching out his legs, before he allowed his eyelids to open.

The sun was shining in through the open window—it was probably just past noon. Shun could make out the splashing of the waves in the distance as well as the laughter of the children on the island. Shun was about to stretch his arms out in front of him when he became aware of something solid in them. He looked down, expecting to see a pillow or something. What he did not expect was to find ZanYi wrapped securely in his arms.

Shun's face exploded into a deeper red than it already was, his body tensing and eyes widening at the raven-haired beauty in his grasp. Just how long had she been sleeping in his arms? Why didn't he remember this? Just what was going on?!

He was tempted to remove his arms immediately, but somehow, Shun couldn't bring himself to do it: ZanYi looked so peaceful in her sleep, so he did not want to jostle her by moving—not to mention it was likely she would attack him if he woke her unceremoniously. But the giant waterbender was feeling really hot, and her presence there was not making it any better. Shun swallowed, his eyes moving to the door. He hoped fervently that no one had come in to check on them yet today, or else he was already in a world of trouble.

When Shun stiffened, ZanYi stirred a little, but never awoke. She frowned a little, moved closer to Shun, as if attracted by the heat he exuded. Her face then rested in the crook of his neck, her lips pressed against his collarbone. In her sleep, this shift seemed to please her, because the frown disappeared and there was a mild smile there to replace it.

But this was bad. This was really bad. In fact, it was so bad that Shun felt that there were no adequate words to express just how bad it was.

His whole body was on fire now—the point of origin coming from where ZanYi's lips touched his skin—and he was beginning to wonder if it would be worth the risk of getting burned if he attempted to rouse ZanYi. He was much too comfortable in this position, and it was way too tempting to simply stay this way. Tiki had told him to find the balance between his love for ZanYi and his friendship with Syaoran; this was definitely not it.

"…ZanYi," Shun whispered, wanting to wake her gently to lessen his chances of getting scorched. Carefully disengaging a hand, the giant waterbender let his fingers trail across ZanYi's cheek, hoping the sensation would not cause her alarm. "ZanYi, wake up."

Was she smiling? It was kind of hard to tell, since her face was pressed into his neck, but he thought he could see the slight tilt of her mouth. Was she dreaming about something that pleased her? If so, it bothered Shun that he would have to interrupt such sweet slumber. But if anyone caught them like this, the day would turn into a nightmare for all of them.

ZanYi frowned then, but the soft voice she heard was enough to make her wake up anyway. There was a gentle touch to her cheek, and it confused her. Her golden eyes opened slowly, unsure as to what she was looking at. Flesh. ZanYi stiffened. That was not something she normally woke up to.

She pulled her face away from Shun's shoulder and looked up to see his burning face. That's right. Shun. The early morn's memories came back with ease and she relaxed a little, craning her face away from his. "Finally woke up, huh?" she commented, quirking a brow. He seemed quite feverish still, though, knowing Shun, part of the red probably had to do with waking up like this. "If you're awake, then you can let go of me now."

Shun was only too happy to do so. He released ZanYi at once and sat up quickly—too quickly, in fact. The sudden movement made his head spin, and the giant waterbender lay back down with a groan. "What happened?" he mumbled, a hand over his eyes as his body continued to burn. The last thing he really remembered was getting through the window into his room… and that was it. There was a gaping hole in his memory, and Shun did not like it at all. Especially since ZanYi was inexplicably sleeping in the same bed as him…

A whole new avenue of thought began to occur to Shun, and his eyes widened in horror under his hand. Had something happened between him and ZanYi while he was too exhausted to remember? Was that why she was here now? The last time he checked, the lieutenant had been giving him the cold shoulder over his distant treatment of her. And now they were suddenly bedfellows? What was going on?

"Uh… ZanYi?" Shum moved his hand over his mouth, the heat of his cheeks embarrassing him. "Are we… okay?"

He was almost afraid to ask if anything had happened between them; if he did not know, he could not be held liable, right? There was a reason why they said ignorance was bliss.

ZanYi sat up after he released her, happy to be able to move again. She rolled her shoulders and neck, working out the kinks from sleeping in that position. "Yes, we're okay," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes as she stretched. "What, do you not remember?" The lieutenant turned to look down at the waterbender, reading his expression scrupulously. Her golden eyes widened a bit. "You actually don't," she observed. The surprise left quickly; his fever had been quite high before. It was certainly plausible that he wouldn't remember. But, ZanYi thought, if he didn't remember…

She shifted, leaning on her good hand over Shun, putting on a frown. "How can you not remember? After everything you said to me? After what you did?"

Was it a little cruel to toy with a man who really couldn't remember because he was so sick? Probably. But ZanYi couldn't help just this little bit of fun. He may be forgiven—but Shun didn't know that yet.

Shun gaped up at ZanYi, horror-struck. She said they were okay… but what else had happened? Had he said something he shouldn't have? And what did he do?! Shun's panic dial had just been turned all the way up, and he was about to commence freaking out.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" he stuttered, willing ZanYi to believe him. "I-I can't remember what happened, but if I did anything indecent, I swear I didn't mean it! I was sleep-deprived; I didn't know what I was doing!" Shun sat up and gripped ZanYi's shoulders. It was crucial that he undid any damage he might have done, crucial that she understand—no matter what he said or did, he could not be held liable, especially if he couldn't remember what happened. "I'm so sorry," he apologized once again, feeling feverish—it was probably because his emotions were so high. "Please, disregard whatever I may have said or done. If I offended you, I didn't mean to. Please believe me."

What had he done when he was not in his right state of mind? Things had just gone from bad to worse, the worst part being that he had absolutely no idea what he was apologizing for. It was scaring him, and he hoped fervently that ZanYi would forgive him of whatever trespasses he may have made.

ZanYi could only stare at the waterbender at first, both brows raised in surprise. Perhaps this was payback for teasing him while he was sick, but she had had no idea that his reaction would be so severe. It almost made her wonder if he had a guilty conscience.

"Shun," the lieutenant started, giving him a straight look, "calm down."

Moving out of his grasp again, she stood up at last, looking at Shun with a cocked head. "Nothing like that happened." ZanYi groaned a little, her fun sufficiently stifled by the extreme guilt Shun was expressing. "I came in to get some bandages, found you clocked out on the floor, moved you over to the bed, and you got tipsy and knocked me down with you. After that…"

ZanYi thought for a moment, supposing the next bit could be considered embarrassing. She paused, twisting her lip a little. "Well, then you hugged me and wouldn't let go, started muttering, and fell asleep."

Yeah. That was kind of embarrassing, now that she'd said it aloud. ZanYi looked away, her cheeks a little flushed.

Shun frowned now. That was it? Why did she make him panic, then? Probably to get a laugh. "Ah. I should have known you were making fun of me…" he grumbled, rubbing his sore temple. Of course she would take advantage of the situation like that—he should have expected it by now.

The pause in her explanation bothered him a little bit, however. And was she blushing? Shun felt his panic meter beginning to rise again, noticing that ZanYi had not said specifically what it was he was muttering…

"What did I say?" he asked as casually as he could, his eyes searching her expression. Please, please don't tell him that he had confessed everything he shouldn't have to ZanYi. Please tell him that he had muttered something insignificant, and that he had not done irreparable damage to his friendship with ZanYi. If the giant waterbender had said anything he shouldn't have in his altered state, he was going to go drown himself the first chance he got.

ZanYi didn't say anything at first, trying to decide whether to give him the rundown or the verbatim. Then she realized it was simple enough that she really couldn't paraphrase it. So she sighed. "Well, among the commentary about how warm I am, you apologized for yesterday, something about thinking it was the right thing to do," ZanYi relayed to him. Then, for the moment, her frown softened a little. "You also said you didn't want me to hate you," the lieutenant finished, looking at Shun as if he should've known better. "I don't hate you, Shun. You drive me nuts, but I don't hate you."

Shun's face continued to turn redder than it already was. Okay, so he hadn't said anything too damaging… but it was still embarrassing. What was with the comments on ZanYi's body heat?

Shun ducked his head over the other things he'd most-likely said: the words sounded like him, so he believed he could take ZanYi's word for it this time. He was thinking that pushing her away was the right thing to do… but last night, he had just been downright irritable. He had regretted it soon after, however, along with all the other distancing tactics he had been using against her the day before. It hurt him worse than it might have hurt her, but he was only doing it so Syaoran wouldn't have further reason to hate him.

The giant waterbender was glad beyond words that ZanYi didn't hate him as well, though. That was the last thing he ever wanted to happen. He was so relieved that he was even able to chuckle a little over her comment of driving her nuts. They seemed to have that effect on each other, both for different and similar reasons.

"I'm glad," he responded, looking up to show ZanYi how grateful he was. "I really am sorry for the way I've been behaving. Things have been… confusing. But I'm working it out, I promise."

Shun's throat was dry. He looked around for his canteen, but it wasn't within his line of sight—maybe he left it downstairs? With a shrug, the giant waterbender stood up, intending to get some water from the kitchen. But, once again, his head swam uncomfortably, and he ended up falling heavily back onto the bed, his head in his hands.

"Ugh… I feel weird…" he admitted, gritting his teeth against the pounding in his head. And the room was entirely too hot—had YinLi turned off the air-conditioning? Whatever it was, it was making Shun feel… off.

"You're sick, Shun," ZanYi told him, as if she'd already said it a thousand times, "Of course you feel weird."

She crossed over the door and rested her hand on the knob. "I'm going to go downstairs and get you a drink, see if Li's got any soup leftover from dinner," the lieutenant informed him. Then she fixed with him a sharp look. "Don't try moving and stay in bed. You've got a fever." ZanYi opened the door and was about to walk out when she glanced back at Shun, a slight tilt to her mouth. "And for the record, apology accepted." And then she went downstairs to set out on her mission, hearing the clang and clutter of everyone eating lunch.

Shun stared after the lieutenant, his expression incredulous.

What did she mean he was sick? Shun didn't get sick: he was as healthy as an ostrich horse. He was just tired, that's why his head hurt… and why the room was spinning… and why he felt hot one minute and cold the next…

Aw man. He really was sick. With a huff, Shun fell back on the bed, feeling disgruntled. He did this to himself, and had no one else to blame for it. But how was he supposed to know that swimming in the ocean all night was going to give him a fever? The situation really sucked.

…Well, maybe not. ZanYi had forgiven him for his behavior the day before, and she seemed in a better mood today. The way he had woken up was strange, but it was still pleasant. And now ZanYi was going to be taking care of him until his fever went away.

Shun felt a smile creeping up on his face. Maybe this whole 'sick' thing wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Tiki sat at the dining table with everyone else, smiling at a joke Kei was telling her and YinLi. Tiki's aunt had been wary of the nonbender stranger in her home, but Tiki could tell that she was warming up to Kei. Who wouldn't? Kei was charming, funny, and nice. Tiki certainly enjoyed his company a lot.

"So by the time the cabbage merchant turns around," Kei was saying with a grin, "and sees that all his cabbages have been eaten, he sinks to his knees and yells, 'MY CABBAGES!'"

Tiki giggled heartily along with her aunt.

"Oh, that joke never gets old," YinLi said once she could breathe again, wiping the tears from her eyes. When ZanYi entered the room, the airbending woman turned to address her. "Oh, hello there ZanYi! Slept in today, didn't you? And have you seen Shun? I haven't heard from him all morning."

Tiki turned to look at ZanYi quizzically. It wasn't like Shun to sleep in so late either… had something happened?

Syaoran turned as the woman entered the room, relieved to see her. It had been highly unusual when the firebender hadn't joined them for breakfast; ZanYi hardly ever slept in. Though when she did, Syaoran had reminded himself constantly, it was always late into the day.

However, she didn't look at him. Instead, she was looking at YinLi, torn between amusement and exasperation. "Yeah, I've seen Shun. He's sick in bed," she answered her, crossing her arms.

"Sick?" Syaoran repeated, frowning. It was certainly odd timing for the man to fall sick, especially after everything that happened yesterday. "Are you sure?" he asked the lieutenant, almost suspicious of the timing.

But to his surprise and regret, ZanYi nodded. "Yeah. He's been running a high fever all morning," she answered, quite certain. Syaoran wanted to know how she knew that; perhaps she hadn't been sleeping in all day as he'd hoped. But if Shun was actually sick, he couldn't fault the woman for trying to look out for him. ZanYi turned back to YinLi then. "Do you have any leftover soup from last night that I could heat up for him?"

As YinLi nodded and bustled into the kitchen, Tiki frowned at ZanYi. "Shun has a fever? How did that happen?" she wanted to know. Shun was usually very healthy, being a healer and all… had his emotions run so high that they made him physically sick as well?

"…You know…" Kei began slowly; Tiki turned to him expectantly, "as I was falling asleep last night, I thought I saw a dark shadow pass over the front of the house. When I got up to check, I thought I saw someone heading to the beach. It could've been the big fellow."

As Tiki thought over it, she nodded, realizing that such a scenario made sense: Shun often went for swims on Roku's Island when he wanted to de-stress. That was easily something that could have happened last night, what with all the drama that was happening. The giant waterbender had probably overdone it, which is why he had a fever now. Tiki sighed and shook her head. And Shun was supposed to be the one looking out for everyone else's safety…

"Here, ZanYi," YinLi addressed the lieutenant, handing her a large bowl of warm soup that had just come out of the microwave. "There should also be some cold compresses in the upstairs bathroom cabinet, if you want to give Shun those to bring his fever down."

"Tell him I said get well soon, please," Tiki requested of ZanYi. She would go up to tell her himself, but she didn't want to catch whatever it was he had, just in case he was contagious.

ZanYi nodded to Tiki, reaching out to take the bowl from YinLi. "I'll pass it along. I'm just going to get him a drink first," she told the airbender. But when the bowl touched her hands, the lieutenant quickly had to drop her burnt hand, the heat hurting it. Syaoran noticed the movement and quickly got up.

"ZanYi, here," the Avatar said, taking the bowl from her grasp. "I'll carry the bowl for you. I can wrap your hand again after." Not knowing any better, Syaoran assumed the burn was his fault, and was eager to do what he could to make the injuries up to her. "I can help you change the ones on your arms too, if you'd like."

But the lieutenant rolled her eyes. "Syaoran, I am fine. Don't worry about it."

She took the bowl back with her good hand and disappeared into the kitchen, presumably to get a drink for Shun. Syaoran grumbled, exasperated. His jade eyes went from the kitchen doorway to Tiki. "What is it with the women on this team?" he complained, but instead of leaving it be, he followed ZanYi into the kitchen.

A few more minutes of arguing could be heard, but eventually they re-emerged with ZanYi holding a glass of water in one hand and the soup in the other, Syaoran looking helpless and irritated. Turning to YinLi, the lieutenant expressed, "Thank-you," and then headed for the stairs. Shooting the woman one last look, Syaoran sat back down at the table, finishing his meal.

"We'll start training after lunch, right, Tiki?" he asked, trying to let go of the frustration he had with the lieutenant. Meditation had been hard enough that morning. Syaoran, as the Avatar, couldn't let it get any worse.

Tiki nodded, a little affronted by the rather sexist comment Syaoran had just made. After all, it wasn't her fault he had issues with ZanYi. "Yes, but as you already know, Syaoran, training is useless if you don't have a clear mind," she reminded the Avatar. If he was going to improve, he was going to have to learn to stop focusing on ZanYi so much.

"Mind if I watch again?" Kei wanted to know, looking hopeful. Tiki regarded him with amusement.

"You can watch me teach at the dojo again, yes," she agreed before pausing, "but as for my training with Syaoran… I'm sorry, but that's private. He'll need as little distraction as possible."

"Oh," Kei replied, looking crestfallen, "okay. I hope you get enough material to write a good book then, Syaoran."

YinLi looked up at this, appearing confused, but Tiki shook her head at her aunt and mouthed the words, "I'll explain later." Kei, luckily, had not noticed the exchange.

Syaoran nodded. "Um, thanks, Kei," he replied as casually as possible. Everyone was growing so used to having the nonbender around, and when things were so somber lately, he could see why Kei was like a breath of fresh air. The guy didn't know any better. He didn't carry the weights and burdens that the rest of them did. "I really am bad about… distractions." He supposed that was the most mild way of putting the issue with ZanYi and Shun. And even though Syaoran wanted to be a better Avatar, to start kicking himself in gear, it was difficult to let the issue go. After all, there was so much uncertainty involved with the situation. And when training is what held him back from being able to be with the lieutenant, unlike Shun…

Shaking his head, Syaoran tried to push away the thoughts. He could not do this right before training. Later afterwards, maybe he could. But right now? No.

"I'm working on clearing my head," he promised Tiki.

Tiki nodded in approval. "Good. We can start whenever you're ready," the tiny airbender promised, moving her chair back to stand up from the table. Before she could get far, however, YinLi called her back.

"Hold on, Tiki. You said you'd help me with the dishes today, remember?"

Tiki did remember: in an attempt to repay her aunt's kindness, she had volunteered to be on dish duty any night that it was not Ping's turn. But she distinctly remembered telling her aunt that she would help any time it did not conflict with Syaoran's training schedule…

But YinLi was giving the tiny airbender a very pointed look; she obviously wanted to discuss something with Tiki, out of earshot of the others. Taking the hint, Tiki nodded obediently.

"Of course, Auntie. Syaoran, wait for me out in the courtyard. I'll be with you shortly." After assisting YinLi in her endeavor to gather all the dishes from the table, Tiki followed her aunt into the kitchen. For a good few minutes, YinLi said nothing: they worked in silence, with Tiki washing and YinLi rinsing and drying. Tiki could sense that her aunt was working up to whatever she wanted to discuss, however, and waited patiently. Whatever it was, Tiki hoped it was important enough to pull her away from her duties to Syaoran…

"…So," YinLi began conversationally, "the nonbender you've taken in...Kei, right? He seems like a nice young man."

Tiki blinked. She had not anticipated the conversation going down this avenue. Why did YinLi want to discuss Kei all of a sudden?

"I guess," she agreed slowly, as if it were a trick question.

"He's rather handsome, too," YinLi continued brightly, "with those dark curls and those pretty eyes… I wonder if he's single."

"Auntie," Tiki deadpanned, "you're married."

YinLi flushed a deep red, scowling at her niece. "Now you know that's not what I meant! All I was suggesting was that, when you finally search for a suitable husband, Kei might not be a bad candidate."

Tiki nearly dropped the plate she was supposed to be washing. "Kei?" she shrilled incredulously—YinLi made flapping noises at her to remind her to keep her voice down. "Aunt Li, are you nuts? I just met the guy a couple days ago!"

"And you've seemed to hit it off very well," YinLi pointed out. "I've seen you smile more in the past two days than you have ever since you got here. Say what you will about him, but you have to admit, that young man is good for you."

Tiki frowned. Ever since she had turned ten, her aunt had taken it upon herself to be Tiki's unwelcome matchmaker. Any boy Tiki so much as looked at became a candidate in YinLi's eyes… perhaps this was the reason Tiki actively tried not to pay too much attention to boys. And here her aunt was, doing it again with whom Tiki considered an acquaintance at best. Seriously, what was the rush, anyway?

"Aunt Li, I've told you over and over again: I'll get married when I'm good and ready, and right now, I'm not ready."

"But you aren't getting any younger, Tiki," YinLi reminded her niece, as if Tiki had already reached middle age. "It's best to bear children young because you can have more of them—and you have a responsibility to your nation. We need all the airbending children we can get. Just think about it, all right?" YinLi requested when Tiki showed every sign of interrupting. She bumped a hip at the tiny airbender, nudging her away from the sink. "Now go on and mentor Syaoran. I can handle the rest of this."

Tiki scowled at the back of her aunt's head. It had been just as she expected: her aunt wanted to give her more unwanted advice about how to live her life. It was so infuriating, and yet, Tiki couldn't even be mad, because she knew YinLi had her best interests at heart. It was an impasse.

Sighing in aggravation, Tiki left the kitchen and proceeded out the front door. She had never thought of Kei like that, and did not want to: he probably wouldn't be with them for very much longer, and Tiki did not want such ridiculous notions taking root in her head. Darn YinLi and her busybody ways…

When ZanYi got back to the bedroom, she was pleased to find Shun still in bed, like she had asked of him. "I got you soup and some water," she said, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed. "You need to keep the fluids in you if you want the fever to die down, and you need to eat something too." Holding them both up, she lifted a brow. "Which one do you want first?"

Shun propped himself up by his elbows, peering at the items ZanYi was offering him. He was definitely hungry, but at the moment, he was too hot to want any soup. "Water, please," he decided, reaching for the glass. As he did so, his eyes traveled once again to the unusual burn mark on ZanYi's hand, the cause still unknown. Shun took the glass from ZanYi, but his other hand wrapped around her wrist, bringing her palm closer for him to inspect. "Are you ever going to tell me what caused this?" he wondered out loud, his eyes sliding to ZanYi's. They had both been in terrible tempers the night before, but now that all was calm, Shun was hoping to find out why such an ugly wound was on ZanYi's hand.

A heavy groan came from ZanYi, almost wishing she had let Syaoran wrap it again just so it would be out of sight. She reached over to the nightstand to put the bowl of soup there until Shun was ready for it. "I'll tell you, but I don't want you trying to heal anything until you're better," ZanYi warned him, serious. The man needed to conserve his chi if he was going to get well.

Gently pulling her wrist away from Shun's grasp, the lieutenant situated herself fully on the bed. ZanYi sat cross-legged, looking at the scar again for herself. It was just as bad as the day before. Not much had changed overnight. As to be expected for the severity, but it still reminded her why she needed to be more careful.

"I was trying some more… experimental techniques with lightning yesterday," the lieutenant finally answered him. She looked to Shun, putting her arms outward to her sides. "For generation and redirection, it's important to move the lightning so it does not touch the heart. It requires inner peace," ZanYi began to explain, drawing the route from her fingertips, through her arms, down to her stomach, and back up to the other arm and hand, just as she had for so many training days. Dropping her hands, the woman wiggled her fingers, wincing a little as the movement caused her some pain. "I've been working for years now on trying to actually manipulate lightning as another form of bending. Just… yesterday wasn't the best time to really work on it, I suppose."

Instantly, Shun felt a wave of guilt crash over him. He was willing to bet that ZanYi could not focus on such a difficult task because she had been irked with his behavior yesterday. Suddenly, the nasty scar on her hand had taken on a whole new meaning.

Setting his glass of water down on the nightstand to accompany the bowl of soup, Shun reached out and grasped ZanYi's wrist again, bringing her injured hand close to him. How he wished he could take the events of yesterday back—maybe he could have prevented ZanYi from injuring herself. It sucked that he was sick; he couldn't do anything about the rest of the burns on her body right now, and it killed him.

Another thing that sucked about being sick: Shun's inhibitions were lowered, which was a bad thing, considering it was ZanYi that was taking care of him. Shun therefore blamed his actions on the fever messing with his head as he placed a gentle kiss upon ZanYi's hand. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, his lips brushing her scarred skin. And then, as if realizing what he was doing, Shun hastily dropped ZanYi's hand, reaching around her for the glass of water. It had become too hot in the room again. He had just finished downing the glass—in one gulp, as usual—when a peculiar urge to sneeze suddenly invaded his senses.

And sneeze he did: turning quickly from ZanYi's direction, the giant waterbender let out a roar before the sneeze left him, lurching his body forward with the violence of the action. "Oh no…" Shun groaned, running a finger under his nose as he sniffed. Did he seriously catch a cold as well? This day was just getting worse and worse for him. It was a sad day when a healer managed to get himself sick.

Shun's explosive sneeze managed to jar ZanYi from the peculiar look she was giving him. It's not like it was his fault; she was the one who should have known better. Why did he take every injury so personally? The lieutenant didn't understand, but it certainly made the waterbender very gentle with her…

And she wasn't sure if she minded that.

"Looks like your fever is turning into a cold," she observed, frowning. Perhaps what they were saying downstairs about his swimming really did happen. A long night-swim would certainly cause this. ZanYi knew that one from experience.

She rose to her feet and walked over to the door. "Hold on," she told him, walking out into the hall. A minute later, after rummaging through the bathroom, ZanYi came back with those cold compresses YinLi had told her about, plus some medicine. "This stuff is for colds, so it should be able to help. If you take it now, you can probably prevent this from getting worse."

"No."

Normally Shun was a passive fellow, one that went with the flow. As long as everyone was safe, he was down for whatever. The whole medicine thing? Not so much.

"I don't like medicine," the giant waterbender explained, eyeing the offending narcotics in ZanYi's grasp as if they were going to attack him. "So thanks, but no thanks."

Honestly, Shun would rather suffer through the cold. So he would sneeze a few dozen times a day, so what? It wasn't the end of the world. He could deal with it… it was a better option than taking medicine. Ugh.

"Did I make it sound like you had an option?" ZanYi questioned, phrasing it like if she had, it was a grave mistake. She put the compresses down on the nightstand and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Because it's not."

The lieutenant uncapped the bottle, reading through the instructions carefully. The guy was big; she was certain he was going to need a slightly larger dosage. "We can't afford you getting everyone else in the house sick, so you're going to take this and you're going to rest so that way you'll be fine in no time." She poured out some of the medication, the viscous liquid coming out a fiery red. Turning to Shun, she quirked an eyebrow. "Now," ZanYi challenged, "are you going to take this yourself or am I going to have to force it down your throat?"

Shun frowned, his lips tightening. He didn't like medicine for more than one reason: first of all, it never tasted the way it was advertised. And second of all, he hated anything medical unless it was absolutely necessary. To him, medicine was not necessary. He wouldn't infect everyone else in the house if they just stayed away from him. It was as simple as that. Shun wasn't going to play along quietly this time. Instead, he did the only thing he felt he could do under the circumstances: he yanked the blanket over his head and curled himself into a tight ball. ZanYi couldn't force-feed him any medicine if she couldn't get to his mouth. That was his plan of defense, and he was going to stick to it.

It was certainly enough to make the lieutenant roll her eyes. "You've got to be kidding me," ZanYi mumbled, shaking her head as she frown at his curled form. Apparently even Shun could act like a child—it was just irritable timing.

"Fine," she said. "You want to do this hard way? Okay."

ZanYi then ripped the blanket off of his head and tugged away at his curled up form. Shun was quite resistant. Frustrated, but unwilling to take no for answer, the woman moved to straddle Shun, eyes furrowed down at him. She pulled away at his arms to uncover his face, but his lips were tight. There was no way to force him to drink it unless she was completely willing to spill it all over the bed.

And then she recalled the weakness he had for the physical. Considering the need for the man to get well, ZanYi had little issue with using that. Pouring the medicine into her own mouth—and almost not blaming the man, since it was not the best flavor—the lieutenant then took hold of his face in both of her hands and jammed her mouth down on his to give him the medicine orally. Slowly, ZanYi worked her lips over Shun's, coaxing and inviting them to open.

Shun's entire body froze and locked down, his brain short-circuiting. The only thing that mattered at that moment was that ZanYi was kissing him. On the lips.

Everything inside Shun screamed at him to just swallow the freaking medicine so she could get off him. Any more of this, and his self-restraint would explode and vanish. ZanYi had no idea of the danger she had just put herself in.

Reluctant for more reasons than one, Shun finally loosened his lips, allowing ZanYi to give him the medicine. It tasted horrible, and Shun gulped it down as quick as he could, gagging from the effort. He took a deep, shuddering breath afterwards, willing himself to calm down. His heart was racing in his chest, and his skin felt like it was on fire. It was so unfair—how come he was the only one who had to feel this way?

"ZanYi," Shun mumbled, his lips moving towards hers again. Oh no, this was bad: now that he knew what kissing her felt like, he immediately wanted more. He knew that ZanYi had only kissed him to force-feed him the medicine, but he didn't care. He wanted to know the sensation of her lips on his again, just once more…

'NO!' the shred of rationality he had left cried out. Forcefully, Shun snapped out of the stupor ZanYi had put him in and hurriedly clamped both hands over his mouth, as if to restrain himself. He was not allowed to kiss her! He would be betraying Syaoran even more if he even dared to kiss ZanYi! What was wrong with him?!

At his limit, Shun threw an arm over his eyes, as if removing from himself the privilege of looking at ZanYi. Her straddling him was a problem as well. "ZanYi, please move," Shun requested, his voice rough. The sense of déjà vu he was feeling at the moment was not appreciated. He had narrowly avoided a disaster that almost occurred by his own hand, but ZanYi had to move before he lost his self-control once more and ruined everything.

Remaining where she was, the lieutenant simply looked at him, puzzled. True, the tactic had worked and Shun took the medicine. That was the goal and she succeeded. But what ZanYi didn't expect was the inkling hope that the kiss would last. She'd kissed before. She'd been kissed before. Mostly for work, but sometimes for pleasure. But it was a rare moment for ZanYi to realize the latter. Shun fell in that category. Part of her wanted to kiss him again.

The corner of her lip curled up, her golden eyes surveying him. Perhaps this was just part of figuring out how important Shun was to her—and what kind of important.

"Fine," ZanYi eventually told him, climbing off of the giant and slipping her feet down to the floor. Standing and looking away from Shun, she allowed herself to have a half-grin for a moment, shaking her head. Truly, this was not what she had expected, but maybe the lieutenant wouldn't push this away this time. Like she'd been thinking about quite a bit the past few weeks, maybe it was time for her to be happy and do what she wanted for herself.

Composing herself, she started to talk to him again, resuming her usual gait. "You should've just taken the medicine instead of acting like a five-year-old," she reminded him, reaching for the gauze on the nightstand. "I'm going to go shower and bandage up these burns. I'll come in and check on you afterwards, see how you're doing." ZanYi moved to leave the room. "I'll be back in a bit. Lay down and rest a while," she ordered, finally going to the door. The lieutenant paused and looked back at the waterbender, her lips tilting for a moment. But then she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Once ZanYi had exited the room, Shun rolled over onto his stomach, grabbing the pillow and pulling it over his head as he let out a long growl of frustration.

ZanYi was right, of course—if he had just swallowed the dang medicine willingly, he would not have put himself into such a position. But he was so glad that she had left him be for a few moments; if she had stayed any longer, Shun was not sure what would have happened. At least now he had a few minutes to calm down before she came back.

Shun reached blindly on the bedside table, searching for a cold compress. His hand bumped into the bowl of soup ZanYi had left there, which reminded the giant waterbender that he was hungry. Sitting up, Shun downed the soup in a few gulps before returning to the cold compresses. He attached one to his forehead and sighed; the sensation was soothing on his burning skin, and he had to resist placing more on his neck and chest. With another sneeze—this one not as explosive—the giant waterbender laid back down and closed his eyes. He didn't feel tired, but he had to close his eyes to focus on not thinking about how ZanYi's lips had felt against his, so soft and warm—

Dang it, he was doing it again. Shun groaned as his face heated up from the memory. He hoped ZanYi's shower lasted a while—he was going to need more time to calm down than he thought.

When Tiki stormed out of her house and down towards him, the Avatar winced. Whatever had happened during dish duty had suddenly put the airbender in an irritable mood. It was akin to having ZanYi teaching when her and Shun were fighting: not a good idea. And it certainly wasn't going to help him relax.

"Okay, Syaoran," Tiki huffed once she had reached the Avatar, "let's start with the basic airbending forms I've taught you."

Tiki needed a couple moments to reign herself in; if she could get Syaoran to focus on menial tasks for the moment, she would be okay when it came to teaching him more advanced airbending forms and correcting any mistakes he made.

Syaoran just kind of looked at Tiki for a moment. "Um, okay…" he agreed slowly, eyes never really leaving Tiki at first. But then the Avatar looked away and took a deep breath. He tried to relax, use deep breathing like Tiki had him practice during meditations each morning. He was able to do at least that much—usually. Though it still seemed he never got as much out of it as Tiki.

Oh. And the fact that he had yet to produce a puff of air. That too.

He began to follow the motions, a bit stiff. The motions she asked for were foreign to him, slow and curving. At least firebending forms had some of the rigidity of earthbending. Airbending? No. No such luck for him.

"So…" he ventured to speak, going through the motions, "…everything okay?"

"Your follow-through needs to be smoother, Syaoran," Tiki pointed out, approaching him. She slid a hand under one of his arms, guiding it to the proper position. "Your movements are still a little jerky. We'll work on that."

As she stepped back to allow him to continue, the tiny airbender let herself consider his question, her brow furrowing. "I'm fine," she replied automatically. But then, feeling as if this was a lie, she qualified, "Just… Auntie said some things that bother me because she's sticking her nose into my business again. I wish she'd give it a rest. I'm only twenty, for goodness sake…"

In a way, Tiki could understand her aunt's concerns: nowadays, airbending women were married off almost as soon as they were of age… and Tiki was already two years past that due date. YinLi had assured her that she had some suitors lined up, but considering all of them would be related to Tiki in some way, she was not interested in the slightest. It was a different time now: there was no hurry for Tiki to get married and have babies. She would do it on her own time, and when she was good and ready.

Syaoran grumbled a little, but nonetheless did as Tiki asked, moving his arms more smoothly. It wasn't perfect, he knew that much, but it was progress. The first time she'd introduced him to these forms was a nightmare that he never cared to repeat.

Focused on making his transitions better, the Avatar continually trained his breathing, deep and thorough. The more relaxed he was, the more flowy the movements. With airbending, this seemed to be a good thing. "What, was she bugging you about marrying up again?" Syaoran queried, once he felt he had a better grip on his motions.

Tiki breathed deeply and let her breath out slowly. Despite her efforts, however, the end of her sigh still came out as a growl. "Yes," she ground out, rolling her eyes. "This time it's Kei she's trying to get me interested in."

Tiki ruffled her bangs, her arrow blinking in and out of view due to this motion. Okay, so she enjoyed Kei's company, so what? The same could be said about Syaoran or Shun, and YinLi wasn't trying to marry her off to either of them… though, if Tiki knew her aunt, she was certain that if Syaoran and Shun were either air or nonbenders, YinLi would already be creating the wedding invitations. It was madness. Tiki suspected that YinLi was just anxious to plan her own daughter's wedding, but since Sho was only six at the moment, Tiki would have to do.

Syaoran had been doing well. He almost felt like he was getting the hang of things. Then Tiki mentioned Kei, and the jerky movements returned for a moment in his surprise. "Kei?" he verified, startled. "Is your aunt nuts?" Realizing what he had just blurted out, Syaoran quickly backtracked. "Not that I have anything against your aunt," he said quickly, as if trying to cover his blunder. He'd had far too many of those lately; Syaoran didn't need his foot in his mouth any more than it usually was. "But you just met the guy. I mean, he's not a bad guy or anything, I guess. Just… he's a stranger." Syaoran tried to smooth out his motions again, gaining focus back. "He doesn't know you like the rest of us, like your family does. Shouldn't you try to be with someone that knows all of you?"

Tiki shook her head with a sigh. "Honestly, I think the less my future husband knows about me, the better." A small hand wove through her hair, fiddling with the ends of a clump of strands. "No one in their right mind would want to marry someone who's as messed up as me…" Tiki sighed again. She was getting down on herself for no reason. That really needed to stop.

"Besides," she continued, automatically moving to correct Syaoran's hand position. "I think Aunt Li is just desperate for me. It kills her that I'm not married and pregnant by now." Tiki understood that she had a certain role to play in repopulating the airbending nation, but seriously, wasn't it dangerous for someone of her small stature to just start popping out infants? These things took time, and she wanted to marry for the right reasons… like love. As Tiki stepped back to allow Syaoran to continue, her thoughts strayed to Kei. The nonbender was nice enough, yes, and was certainly handsome as YinLi pointed out… but he didn't know Tiki, and she didn't know him. Considering him to be a potential husband was madness… and yet…

"…If I did have to marry a nonbender, though," Tiki speculated quietly, "I wouldn't mind someone like Kei."

Syaoran immediately froze and dropped his arms mid-form. His jade eyes could only look at her as if she had grown a second head—it was a similar look to what he used to give her all the time. But not for something like this. He would've preferred the other madness to what he was hearing right now.

"Are you kidding?" he asked, as if he was still uncomprehending. "Head or councilwoman of the Airbenders or whatever you are, you're still just twenty. That makes you practically a kid. Don't let whatever your aunt says about marriage and babies and Kei make up your mind." Syaoran shook his head, brow furrowed as he looked down to Tiki's gaze. "If you're going to spend the rest of your life with somebody, that's your decision, no one else's. And if whoever he is can't take all of you, he doesn't deserve the best of you."

Those were words he'd always saved for his younger sister, presuming that they would get out of the camps and get to live a normal life again. Syaoran knew his sister only deserved the best. Tiki may be nuts, but she was his friend. She deserved that as well.

Tiki looked up at Syaoran, startled. She had no idea he felt so strongly about this. Perhaps it was time to change the subject, since the topic they were discussing seemed to be distracting them both. "Calm down, I was just thinking out loud," Tiki brushed him off. "In any case, we're getting off-topic. Return to your first position and run through the forms again."

If Tiki was being realistic about Syaoran's training, she would have to admit that he was getting nowhere. He'd learned how to meditate satisfactorily, but he still lacked the spiritual peace he required in order to airbend successfully. There was too much going on in Syaoran's life in order for him to relax, and Tiki was not quite sure how to help him. What exactly could one say to a man whose thoughts constantly revolved around a woman who did not see him as a man, and who may or may not prefer one of his friends over him?

Tiki positioned herself next to Syaoran, deciding to run through the forms with him. If he was able to watch her as he did the forms, maybe that would help him see what he was doing wrong, and correct it before she had to. If he saw what the forms were supposed to look like, accompanied with Tiki's airbending, maybe he would at last be able to airbend on his own.

Syaoran almost didn't want to let the topic go, considering he wasn't sure how much credibility Tiki was giving her aunt's words. He honestly couldn't figure out what was going through the elder woman's mind. Yeah, airbenders were still in need of repopulating—the Hundred Year War had done a very good job of wiping them out. But that didn't mean Tiki should have to give up her freedom for it. That didn't sit right with him.

With a sigh, though, he heeded her actions, stepping back into his stance. The two of them continued through the forms, slow moving. Syaoran kept looking over, finding a stark difference in their movements. It was all he could do just to do the motions; he felt incredibly ridiculous and completely unrelaxed.

Tiki was in her own calm state of mind, completely focused on her task, almost as if Syaoran wasn't even there. The beginning airbender forms could be considered child's play to her, but Tiki knew better than that: it was very easy to mess up if she did not take this seriously and remain focused.

Leading up to the final form, Tiki breathed deep. And then, with all her might, she pushed out a gust of air from between her palms. The force of the gust was enough to blast a few leaves off the branches of a nearby tree. As they rained to the ground, Tiki smiled. It was nice to know her airbending was not negatively affected by the muted pain she was constantly feeling nowadays. Without her ability to bend, Tiki would be completely useless to Syaoran.

Turning back to him, Tiki noticed that the Avatar's shoulders were tense once more. He was getting frustrated again. With a mild sigh, Tiki approached him. "Sit," she instructed, pressing her hands into his chest to encourage him to do so. After he had, Tiki knelt down behind him to rub his shoulders—this had become the routine every time she noticed him getting tense.

"You need to let go of whatever is bothering you," Tiki reminded him softly. "All it's doing is distracting you. Would you feel better if you talked about it?"

Tiki was not going to force Syaoran to speak on whatever was holding him back—even though she already had a pretty good idea what was bothering him—because it was his decision whether or not he wanted to have this conversation with her. All Tiki wanted to do was help him gain some sort of inner peace. If this did not happen, Syaoran would never be able to airbend. And that, needless to say, would be a huge problem for the Avatar.

Syaoran was more than happy to let Tiki have a go at his shoulders. The airbender was fantastic at massages, and it was probably one of the only things that helped him relax anymore. He could already feel the knots starting to loosen, unraveling.

"I want to do better," he sighed, as if grieved by this. His shoulders slumped in disappointment then, not from Tiki's magic touch. "I want to focus on being the Avatar. I want to get this right. The war may depend on it…"

But airbending was the hardest thing he had ever tried. It was as far from earthbending as anything could get. And if that wasn't hard enough, it was so spiritual, required so much peace. Two things that Syaoran was not was spiritual and at peace. It seemed as if this was an impossible challenge.

Syaoran knew the solution. He had to let things go. But…

"I need to let ZanYi go," he mumbled, as if it pained him to say it. "But I just don't know how. I really like her, but she never lets me in. Even when I'm not her student, there's still a wall there. Why couldn't it be as easy as being with you?"

Tiki paused in her actions, confused by the parallel Syaoran was drawing between her and ZanYi. Didn't he realize by now that the only thing in common Tiki shared with ZanYi was their gender?

"ZanYi and I are nothing alike, Syaoran," she felt she had to remind the Avatar, resuming his massage as she spoke. "She's a very private woman, who very rarely ever lets anyone in. I'm a lot more trusting, almost to the point of naivety. So of course the way we relate to you is different."

Was it time for the airbender to be a little brutal with her honesty? If Syaoran was serious on giving ZanYi up, then the answer was yes. "I think ZanYi sees you more as the little brother she never had," Tiki admitted sadly, "she's always looking out for your safety, but at the same time, she behaves as if you shouldn't be involved in adult problems. She cares about you… but I think she cares more about the fact that you're the Avatar."

To take the sting out of her words, Tiki embraced Syaoran from behind, resting her chin on his shoulder. "But you're more than the Avatar to me, Syaoran. You're also my friend. I see you as the man you are, so I'm able to relate better to you. ZanYi doesn't see you that way, so you have a harder time relating to her."

Tiki hoped Syaoran could follow her logic. They did seem to get along better nowadays, ever since she decided she needed to grow up. And though she knew Syaoran did like ZanYi a lot, the tiny airbender just could not see them together. She was not sure how she knew this, but she did: Syaoran and ZanYi were just not right for each other.

Syaoran only groaned, hanging his head a little. It was not that he disagreed with Tiki; worse, it was because he did. That was exactly how ZanYi treated him, and this was after months of his trying otherwise. And with the strain the anxiety was putting on him, the frustration was putting on him, and now Shun suddenly in love with her… everything was pointing him away from the lieutenant.

And he didn't like that.

"I'll figure out something," he muttered, disgruntled as usual. The topic of ZanYi always seemed to put him a bad mood these days. Syaoran knew that wasn't a good thing. Looking back at Tiki, he shot her a half-smile with a small huff. "Well, at least someone here's got my back," he remarked. Syaoran moved his arm out her grasp to reach back and pull her down into his side. "Come here," the Avatar said, not giving her another option, holding her in a one-armed hug as she hugged him.

Tiki felt her face go hot. This was the first time Syaoran actually reciprocated any display of affection Tiki may have forced on him, and the fact that he actually was willing to hug her back made her feel… really happy.

Sadly, however, the moment was ruined in the form of Kei.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt…" Tiki heard Kei's voice, and she glanced up to find him standing a couple feet away from her and Syaoran, his expression awkward.

"Oh, hi Kei," Tiki greeted casually, removing herself from Syaoran's grasp and taking a more modest seat next to her friend. "What's up?"

"Actually, I'm not sure," Kei replied, running a hand through his dark locks. "I was reading a book in the living room when your aunt suddenly burst in, insisted I get some fresh air, and then sent me off to find you. I think she locked the door behind me as well."

Tiki frowned. YinLi was meddling again. "I'm sorry about that," she sighed, getting to her feet. "Here, I'll let you back into the house, I know where the spare key is hidden. And I have a few choice words for my dear aunt as well—"

Suddenly, a shrill sound pierced the air around the island. It made Tiki's hair stand on end and her eyes widen. No, not now…

"Get inside!" Tiki shouted at some children who had frozen in their play nearby, looking frightened. When she looked back over at Syaoran, he froze, chilled by her next words. "It's a raid!"

A/N from Eva: Cue dramatic music here! Seems like the lull of the island is being shaken up a bit. Just not by Syaoran this time. XD What does the raid entail? You'll have to wait until next week to find out! For now, though, acknowledgements!

writingbrick: Gorgeous music, thank you for sharing it with us! :3 This chapter's a day late too (shh!) but that was my fault. University is currently kicking my butt. XP Anyway, glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Nerdman3000: Wow, jackpot! Thanks so much for favoriting us and Fire! We hope you'll enjoy Air as much as you enjoyed Fire! Thank you for reading!

And so another week comes to a close. We hope you guys continue to support us, it means a lot. Thank you very much, and we'll see you next week!