Everyone was surprised the next day when Haru appeared with a freshly shaven face. Everyone except Ty Lee, that was.

"Oh, Haru! Why'd you do it?" Hasoka asked. She didn't seem upset about the change. Just curious.

He shrugged. "It was itchy."

Oh, that was such a bad lie and Ty Lee knew it. The sudden need to shave his moustache was definitely because of her comment last night — as if his constant looking at her didn't prove that. He was looking for her approval, no doubt. She just smiled warmly, giving an almost imperceptible nod. Yes. He looked so much better with clean features. It wouldn't scratch her own skin so much when she kissed him either…

She stopped and shook herself, remembering that she wasn't supposed to be thinking about him like that. Not yet. And especially not now.

Hasoka giggled and turned to Ty Lee. "See? Toldja I could get more than two words out of him."

"I never said that you couldn't," Ty Lee replied.

She noticed that everyone seemed overly enamored with Haru's stoic nature. She had seen the twins whisper excitedly to themselves too after Haru had spoken. Small flecks of blush had appeared on both of their cheeks. What was it with silent men that made them so attractive? Sokka had the same effect on the two of them, but he was almost the complete opposite. He was confident and outgoing, while Haru was shy and sensitive. Maybe the twins were boy-crazy too.

Ty Lee stretched out on her bed and sighed. This had been their first day off since she had been on the island. It felt good just to relax, not to constantly be thinking about what task she had to do and how fast she could get it done so that she could be finished early. And sleeping in was always a good thing. How long had she been waking up at the crack of dawn? That full night of rest had really reenergized her. Not that she needed anymore energy.

Turned out the only time they had breaks like this was during festivals and holidays. Tonight was the celebration of Avatar Kyoshi's birthday. There was going to be a big feast and dancing and stuff. Takumi had even said that some of the villagers were going to reenact the story of Kyoshi during the dinner. It sounded like a lot of fun. Ty Lee had never seen what parties were like in the Earth Kingdom before. Fire Nation ones were okay, but you weren't allowed to dance there.

Until then, all the warriors were allowed to do whatever they wanted. All of the shops were closed, so they couldn't do any work. That was fine with Ty Lee. But now with all that freedom, she had no idea what to do. She began to absently braid her hair, considering all of the possibilities of making this day the best day ever. Everyone else was just hanging at the dojo, including Haru and Sokka, since they were all fully dressed.

"Agni… it's hot…" Takumi waved her hand under her chin. "When will the stupid weather cool down again? It's fall now! Summer needs to go away…"

Ty Lee hadn't paid attention to the heat until that moment. Takumi was right, it was abnormally warm today. In fact, it had been rather hot lately. It was a weird kind of hot, too. Like the heat was coming up from the earth. Though, today was the hottest day so far. And they were still inside. What would it be like with the sun beating down on them? The temperature would definitely increase dramatically then.

"I got it!" Ying Ying exclaimed.

"We should go to the beach!" Ling Ling explained for her sister, when it seemed that the entire dojo was giving them confused looks.

Katara, who had been sitting quietly in a chair by the door, was instantly on her feet. "Swimming!?"

"Or we could just stand there and look at the water," Hasoka teased playfully. Katara grew red at the outburst, but her enthusiasm didn't die.

"Swimming sounds great! Doesn't it?" she asked, looking for support.

Ty Lee nodded. Today had to be the perfect day to spend in the water or lying on the sand. She needed to work on her tan. Her skin was already naturally pale, being from the Fire Nation, but with the colder months coming, the tint would become whiter. If she got really dark today, she should be set for the rest of the year. Being pale wasn't bad, but she tended to get sickly and pasty without enough sun. And the makeup they wore seemed to block the rays when she worked outside.

"Can we? Can we?" Hasoka asked Suki imploringly.

"What are you doing asking me? I can't tell you what you can or can't do," Suki replied with a frown. Katara looked like she was going to cheer, but she held it in pretty well.

Hasoka quickly went up to Haru and Sokka, pushing both of them towards the door. "Out! We need to change, and so do you!"

"I don't really feel like swimming today," Sokka said as he was forced out of dojo. Haru didn't object, though, which Ty Lee was thankful for.

"…I think I'll stay here with Sokka," Suki informed them.

Typical. She had become very clingy to her boyfriend lately. Probably because she didn't want to lose him again, but it seemed kinda childish. Even her big hazel eyes recently gained a lost puppy-like quality to them. On the bright side, she had become a whole lot nicer to Ty Lee since they hooked back up. Not that she was ever really mean to her, but she had definitely ignored and used a gruff tone with her after the kiss.

"And I'm just gonna read," Takumi said.

Nikumu was sitting on her bed, but she didn't say anything to affirm or deny her will to come along. She didn't even appear to be slightly interested in anything they were saying. This meant she wasn't coming. But it also aroused Ty Lee's suspicions. If she wasn't going to go to the beach, what would she be doing? Helping Azula, perhaps? Ty Lee hadn't gotten many opportunities to investigate anything about her suspect, but this was a good start. If something happened while they were out, Nikumu better have a good alibi.

"Oh, boo. You guys are all party-poopers," Hasoka said sticking out her tongue. "Do you really want to sit and bore yourself until the festival tonight?"

"I'm actually readin' up on the history of Avatar Kyoshi. I wanna see if the play's gonna be accurate or not," Takumi explained. "It's the first year they're doin' it… so I have no idea what to expect."

"Why wouldn't it be accurate?" Ty Lee asked.

Katara answered with a dark look. "Performers like to over exaggerate," the waterbender grimaced.

Suki nodded in agreement, and Ty Lee wondered what horrible experience the two of them had had with actors. Ty Lee loved plays, and the ones put on in the Fire Nation had always been superb. She had missed the most recent production, though, on account of her being on the run with Azula and Mai after the Avatar. Actually, now that she thought about it, the play would've been showing while she was in prison. She wished she had known what it had been about.

"Everyone else coming, then?" Hasoka asked.

"Of course—"

"—we love the beach!" the twins exclaimed.

"And I've never actually played on this one before," Ty Lee added.

"Played?" Nikumu sneered. It was the first sign of interest she had shown in the whole conversation.

"Yeah, you know… making sandcastles… pretending you're a fish… that kinda thing," Ty Lee clarified.

Nikumu smirked, then shifted her position, lying down on her bed with her eyes closed. "'That kinda thing' is for kids. You need to learn to grow out of stuff like that."

Ty Lee glared, almost ready to slap the girl, but holding herself back the best she could. Why did Nikumu have to be so mean? Hasoka gave her a look, as if telling her to wait. Put up with Nikumu's actions for now. They would get her eventually. The acrobat fumed as she pulled out her swimsuit. Who would be smirking then?

They all seemed to change in what seemed to be record time. Ty Lee knew it had to be faster than she had ever gotten in a swimsuit before. Though this wouldn't have been her choice of swimwear back at the Fire Nation. It covered a lot more skin that her old bikini did, but she had to admit she still looked great in it. Though the skin-coverage was a good thing and she knew it. Even though the beach was not likely to have any guys on it like Ember Island had, there was still the chance of a boy – or a man – coming by and seeing her. This kind of outfit would let them know the kind of girl she was. Or… wanted to be.

"Let's go!" Katara cried, leading the group out of the dojo and down the path to the water. Ty Lee hadn't seen her this happy during her stay on the island.

On the way to the beach, Haru caught up with them. Ty Lee did everything she could not to stare at his bare chest. She had already seen it before. It wasn't like it was anything new. The twins, however, showed no sign of any self-restraint. Their faces were redder than tomatoes, and they giggled like little schoolgirls.

Ty Lee had to remind herself that that was exactly what they were. With Ying Ying's intelligence and maturity, it was hard to remember that they were the youngest members of the warriors. This kind of behavior was normal.

Finally they reached the bay. Everyone dropped their bags and towels on the sand. Katara immediately raced to the water, her hair flying behind her as she embraced the incoming wave. This was her natural element. Even if Ty Lee hadn't known she was a waterbender, it was pretty obvious.

Ty Lee and Hasoka hit the water next. It felt so good to be wet and refreshed. Like there were absolutely no cares in the world. They were all just normal girls again, having fun. There was no danger on the island anymore. Everything was peaceful and calm. Something about being in the bay did feel strange though, and Ty Lee couldn't quite place it.

Ling Ling splashed over to them, a frown plastered on her face. It almost looked fake, like she was wearing a mask. Ling Ling rarely was angry.

"Hey guys, can I play with you?" she asked. It made Ty Lee think about her first day of school during recess when someone didn't know any of the other kids.

"Sure," Ty Lee replied. "Where's Ying Ying?"

Maybe she shouldn't have asked that. Ling Ling looked like she was on the verge of tears or a scream of rage.

"She's… on the beach," the girl glowered.

Ty Lee turned to look. Sure enough, there was Ying Ying, and she saw exactly why Ling Ling was so angry at her. She was sitting next to Haru, seemingly deep in conversation. Ty Lee was almost inclined to be jealous too, but knew that was the last thing to be now.

"Just ignore her," Hasoka said. "Here, I know a game we can play! One of us says something underwater, and everyone else has to guess what their saying!"

Ty Lee volunteered to go first. They all dived under the waves, and Ty Lee opened her mouth to say something. She had decided on the phrase, "Happy Birthday Avatar Kyoshi!", but stopped mid-sentence. She finally realized what felt so funny about the water. She quickly returned to the surface, taking a big gasp of air as she did.

"What was that? It sounded like you didn't finish," Ling Ling said after both her and Hasoka broke the top.

"The water. It's warm," Ty Lee said.

"Hm… not really…" Hasoka replied.

"Yes, it is. Usually it's absolutely freezing and it takes me a whole minute to get used to it, but now it's really warm. Almost hot!"

"I guess it's kinda warm…" Ling Ling admitted.

"I think you two are imagining things," Hasoka announced. "Or else the heat's gotten to your heads. Now, c'mon! Let's try to actually…"

She trailed off, looking at something on the beach. Ty Lee followed her gaze and saw Takumi standing on the sand, looking at them. This wouldn't usually be so uncommon, until she noticed the look on her face.

Grave.

Ty Lee sighed and sank down under the water. Another bearer of bad news.