Me: wassupp dudeeess ;DD how you doin'? I think fortunecookie stopped reading this story. LOL, awww but still. Since we havn't heard from her in the longest time. Anyway, the beach scene might be short since this is the second last chapter and I need to wrap some stuff up n everything.
Anyway, onto the chappy
What Was The World Coming To?
Chapter 18
Beach and FUN!
That morning everyone woke up bright and early- even Sokka. Jennine and Christopher were packing, cooking or getting everything prepared for the drive to the beach.
Everyone in the house, Zuko included, was pumped for the trip. Even after only a couple days they all had bonded so much, even if it hadn't shown much on screen. Nadra as well as the twins would be sad to see them leave.
Besides that, perhaps she had to go with them. Nadra shrugged, she would think about it later that night. She headed to the twins room to help them get dressed. She didn't bother knock and entered willy-nilly.
"Hey-O, It's Nadra!" she exclaimed with a smile. Addi giggle and hugged her around her waist, "Help us please?" Aiden quipped form the closet. Nadra nodded, "Anything for my cutie patooties."
Aiden hit her with an article of clothing, "I refuse to be cute." Nadra rolled her eyes, "Whatever. So what color is it today?"
"I want yellow."
"I want blue."
"I want you guys to decide with rock paper scissors." Nadra stated flatly as they went with her command and settled it out.
"But why blue! It's so gloomy! Yellow is bright and stuff!" Addi whined and stomped her feet over to the dresser and pulled out some blue clothes. "Hey," Nadra said firmly and pointed to Addi, "Don't be an Ivy."
Addi cracked a smile and laughed, "Fine, but tomorrow were wearing yellow." She said. Aiden nodded, "Fair enough." He pulled a baby blue vest on. Nadra threw him denim low ride shorts and black flip flops.
"I don't get why you guys always have to be matching." Nadra said and pulled out a grey mini jacket for Addi.
"It's our thing. There aren't lots of twins, you know." Addi replied and took the grey mini.
Nadra chuckled and helped Aiden pull up his pants, "You guys do know if you continue that to highschool, people will make fun of you both."
Aiden nodded, "We'll stop next year. We're not that stupid." Nadra nodded, "I see, that's good."
"So, what about that offer?" Addi asked quietly, pulling up her blue, white and black plaid short-shorts. Nadra raised a brow, "What offer?"
"The one about you going to their world." Aiden finished and slipped his feet into his flip flops. Nadra shrugged, "It's fifty-fifty. 'Cuz like, what if Zuko doesn't come around and stays with Ozai or something? The story line has changed just by them being here, it could all happen differently. Worst case scenario is that they lose…and die and stuff, so I dunno." She finished nonchalantly.
"What's the other fifty?" Addi jumped on her bed and lay on her stomach. Nadra sat Indian style on the carpet and fell back on her back, "Well, that's about you guys. I can't leave you and I can't bring you. I could leave you with a babysitter or with your friends, but like….what if time runs differently there?"
There were a lot of things to take in. The twins needed someone to take care of them because they were not of legal age to live alone. They were responsible enough to buy food and everything but they couldn't reach the high shelves and stuff and school and getting up in the morning, etcetera. She was leaning on giving them to a close friend like Zita- who she hadn't seen in a while, which was strange- but she didn't know how long she'd be gone, how she'd get back when she was done saving the world, and if time ran different. For all she knew she could be living two days in the Avatar-verse and it could be two months in the real world.
Aiden shrugged, "Well….we would be fine if you said yes and left, I mean you'd come back, right?" he fidgeted with his fingers. Nadra cupped their cheeks, "Hey you guys are my responsibility and they can handle themselves. Alright? So, don't talk like that, I'm not even sure what my decision is."
Addi sniffed and nodded, "Alright, sorry." Nadra shrugged and got to her feet, "Get ready brush your teeth and stuff like that, moms preparing breakfast so come done when ya'll are done."
A chorus of 'okay' came and Nadra exited. "So frickin stressful." The girl rubbed her forehead and mumbled under her breath as she wandered over to Zuko's room.
She knocked, "Zuko, may I come in?" she put her ear to the door and listened for any life in his room. There was shuffling and his husky voice answered, "Come in." Nadra's heartbeat quickened for a second, she hadn't heard him talk for the longest time. She forgot how….nice his voice sounded.
Nadra shook her head and turned the knob, "Morning, how's your ego?" she smirked and leaned against the door frame. Zuko sat up on his bed in red trunks and a baggy white tee with a smirk of his own, "I think my ego is dormant."
Nadra chuckled and walked over to the bed, "It's good to see you back to normal." He shrugged and did a Justin Bieber hair flip, "I just needed some time alone, I guess."
Nadra shrugged, "I guess, so dude we goin' to the beach today." She grinned and 'woo!'d. Zuko nodded, "Yah."
"C'mon, show some emotion! You only live once you know." Narda responded to his dull one word answer of 'yah'. Zuko sighed, "Easy for you to say, you live an easy simple life."
Nadra quirked a brow, "Oh, so that's what it's about…..Dude the only reason you're so stressed all the time is because you keep thinking and living the past." She explained.
"Oh, so it's my fault?" Zuko gritted his teeth. Nadra sighed, "You are such a hard head. Yes, it's your fault, but I don't wanna talk about it because today is supposed to be all happy and fun and flowers and unicorns!" Nadra said with such fake enthusiasm it probably wounded Zuko.
Zuko flinched by the sudden change of tone. "Hmph." Nadra groaned and rolled her eyes, "Whatever man, can we not deal with this?" Zuko sighed, "Sorry, I'm kinda stressing."
Nadra almost laughed he sounded like a girl, "You shouldn't, you should be happy or excited right now. You're going home soon." She let out a hallow laugh.
"Yah….home…." he muttered, "Pretty crappy home." He made a side comment. Nadra shrugged, "Depends on how you look at it. You've got Iroh, he's all the family you need." She hinted.
Zuko shrugged, "I guess." There was a slightly awkward silence between them. Zuko sighed, perhaps she was right. Maybe uncle was the only family he needed they could settle down in Ba Sing Se or something and start a quiet little life. No, that wasn't how it was supposed to work; he was still after the Avatar.
Sudden moving of Nadra stopped his thoughts, "Breakfast is probably ready." She said uncomfortably while scratching her wrists'. Zuko stood and nodded, "Let's go."
OoO
"Don't you feel even alittle guilty, Envy?" Ivy asked timidly from her bed on the other side of the room. Envy ignored her question and remained silent for a moment, "No, I did want I needed to- I finally proved that I'm better. Of course I'm not guilty."
Ivy bit her lip to silence herself from speaking anymore. She regretted deeply for making that bet, she didn't see what happened to Nadra when they began walking but it must've been pretty sad. The guilt over whelmed her but she did nothing of it.
"I'm sorry though." Envy quipped quietly from her spot on her bed. Ivy's expression beamed slightly, "For Nadra?"
Envy scoffed, "No, I mean for sucking you into this. I mean, you don't even know Nadra and you only have beef with the twins." Ivy's expression faltered, "Oh, right." Truth be told, she had nothing against the twins. They were nice kids- always helping out and stuff. She was only mean to them because her sister hated Nadra.
"How come we changed our names?" Ivy asked trying to get away from the other subject and her guilt. Envy shrugged, "New life, new people, new home, new name."
Ivy had to agree with that. Envy told her that after Nadra and her spent some time apart they kind of ended up having separate lives. It was only common sense to do that, but Ivy didn't think it was that necessary. Speaking of that topic, Ivy couldn't remember her actual name. Panic shot through her, "Hey Envy, what's my name?"
"Jessica."
Ivy nodded and smiled, "Oh okay, thank you."
Jessica.
OoO
"Let's go, let's go, let's goo!" Spade squealed and continuously jumped up and down in her black and white striped flip flops.
"Cool your jets, we're just going to the beach." Toph yawned and slung her green bag over her shoulder and stuck her finger in her ear.
Spade took a few deep breaths and stopped jumping, "Okay, okay, phew. Okay, I'm good, okay." It was silent between both of them for a split second. Then Spade let out an ear splitting shriek and began jumping again, "But dude! It's like, oh my GOSH! HOT BOYYYSSSS!"
Iroh came galloping down the stairs in a loose button up Hawaiian flower pattern shirt and black shorts with orange flip flops, "You are probably the more enthusiastic female I have seen." He laughed.
Spade grinned and stopped jumping, "Phew! Thank you, now let's get going to Nadra's house!" she struck a pose and unlocked the door and pushed it open for them to exit.
Toph sighed and shuffled her feet out the door with Iroh following happily along. Spade giggled and clapped her hands rapidly and they walked on to the bus stop.
OoO
"Excuse me?" Cindy said with a little more attitude than needed. Did she hear that right? Zita sighed and walked in and took on the cold floor in front of her, "We can start off with your name and I'll begin explaining." Zita explained.
Cindy nodded, "Right, sorry. I'm Cindy. Just Cindy." She was lacking a last name, so it was in fact 'Just Cindy'. Zita held her hand out to shake like she normally did when she met people. Yah, that wasn't the case in Avatar-verse.
Cindy stared at her hand dumbly and Zita let it down to her side slowly, "Right….no shaking hands here." She muttered and chuckled. "Anyway, I'll be your partner in this situation."
"You mean we share this room?" Cindy suggested and looked around. The room was fairly empty so maybe that wasn't the case. Zita shook her head, "No, I mean like as we hunt for the Avatar when he returns."
"Woah, woah, woah slow down. You want me, a lowly peasant person, to help you to find the Avatar?" Cindy could barely believe it, she rubbed her temples and felt a headache coming on.
"Not to mention Azula, Mei, Ty Lee and the Fire Lord." Zita finished off.
"Princess Azula!" Cindy shrieked, "That's way too much pressure!"
"She's actually not that bad, you just don't get on her bad side. Or she'll literally burn you to a crisp." Zita shrugged it off, "That's the price you've got to pay since you've got something that no one else does. And so do I, that's why we're here." Zita explained, "I know it sounds completely absurd, but you'll see."
Cindy quirked a brow, "See what?"
Zita shrugged, "I dunno, you'll just have to discover your ability. It might have something to do with the earthbending for example since you're from the Earth Kingdom."
"Oh," Cindy said and the room was filled with awkward silence, "What's your ability?" she asked curiously. Zita stepped back and gave herself some room. She clapped her hands together and closed her eyes. Cindy backed up on the bed and eventually ended up on the other side crouching. Zita exhaled and inhaled repeatedly and finally without any warning her eyes shot open and her right hand sprung forward with her pointer and index finger put together- plasma was fired out of the tips of her finger.
"ZOMG!"
The shot of plasma was fired right above her head skimming her hair. Zita laughed nervously, "Sorry, I just discovered my plasmabending a couple days ago. It's not perfect and nor is my aim."
Cindy returned her nervous laugh with one of her own as she slowly got up, her heart racing since she almost had been OBLITERATED, "Yah…hehe, no problem."
Zita gave a half hearty laugh, "Sorry it took so long too. Still learning." Cindy nodded, "No problem." She smiled.
"So," Zita started, "The servants –Ai and Zee- will come for you for dinner. You'll meet Azula and them tonight and the whole situation with be explained to you. I just gave you the basics." Zita put a hand on Cindy's shoulder and half-smiled, "Don't worry too much, alright? It'll stress you out and you'll break out into pimples."
Cindy laughed and nodded, "Alright, alright. Thanks Zita."
Zita let her hand back to her side and she excited then closed the door behind her. Cindy sat back on her bed and contemplated that short and slightly scary visit. Well, atleast she knew why she was here now.
She looked outside her window it was still awhile until dinner. She beamed for a second and jumped off her bed. She slipped her sandels on and rushed for the door. "I've gotta tell Yew-Ta."
OoO
"HERE WE ARE!" Addi and Aiden yelled as they piled out of the car first and instantly ran for the sand. Miraculously, there weren't that many people at the beach.
Jennine and Chistopher came out of the driver seat and the shotgun then everyone else that was crowded and squished in the back literally fell out of the red van.
"I think it's officially that we need a bigger van." Nadra stated from the bottom of the pile, "ZUKO GET OFF ME!" she yelled and pushed the big head of mass muscle off herself.
He grunted as he landed on the concrete, "Sorry! Gee!" he yelled back as Nadra pulled herself up and helped Katara off the ground and off of Sokka.
"Sokka!" Aang whined face down in the hot concrete. Soka scurried off of Aang and hauled him up, "Woah, sorry Aang." He grinned. Aang waved his hand and limped around for a bit, "Oh, it's no problem."
Katara laughed with Nadra as Christopher began taking things out of the trunk. Katara and Nadra grabbed the bags filled with towels and Aang and Sokka reached for the baskets of food and the mini barbeque. Zuko grabbed the volley ball net and a bag full of Frisbees and volleyballs and beachballs stuff like that. Jennine closed the trunk door and ran after the twins who had found a spot.
Nadra thought of Zita. It was strange not to see her in the last couple of days- Zita always visited her house every second day and she missed her dance competition- She waved it off, perhaps her parents just wanted her home. Zita spent way too much time at her house.
"OVER HERE!" Aiden jumped up and down to gather their attention to a shady and sunny spot in the back of the beach. Spade with her bandages and all pushed her hands back and rode the sand towards the twins.
Nadra gaped, "Was I the only one who just saw her sandbend? Or am I really going crazy?"
Iroh chuckled, "Of course not, she really can sandbend. Toph taught her." He stated proudly. Toph chuckled and sighed happily, "Yah, I'm awesome."
Katara smile and rolled her eyes playfully then ran after Spade with Sokka. Zuko strolled along the beach with Nadra at his side, shuffling and digging her toes in the sand with every step.
"So how's your ego?" Nadra flung the topic out there with a smirk. Zuko chuckled, "Needs some exercising."
Nadra let out a low laugh and grinned as they reached the others. "Hey Jerkface, we're having a sand sculpting competition, you wanna join?" Sokka asked with a grin and pointed to a clear area where Toph, the twins, Spade and Aang waited.
Zuko put down the dissembled volleyball net and the bag and nodded, "Get ready to lose." He jogged after Sokka.
Nadra smiled and sat down beside Katara. Christopher set up some umbrellas to shade them from the blistering sun. Jennine tugged him away from them and they took a small stroll.
Katara sat with her legs bent at the side of her with her arm propping her up as she watched her friends plus Zuko work with sand. Nadra lay on her back with her hands behind her head and her sunglasses on with her knees bent up. "So, you like Zuko right?"
Nadra shot upright and looked at her with the most shocked expression she had ever used, "What! Pft, no, Katara, of course not." She laughed trying to cover her nervousness and awkwardness about the question, "What're you talking about?"
Katara raised a sceptical eyebrow, "It's so obvious you like him. Even Aang see it." Nadra cringed, Aang didn't see anything romantic even remotely- he is the innocent one and if he saw something that Nadra didn't sense like her liking Zuko -which was completely absurd- she was in trouble.
"Pffttt," Nadra waved it off like nothing, "I don't like him Katara, I'm not even his friend I'm like his….acquaintance or something." She muttered. She couldn't like Zuko I mean…that's so weird.
It's not like he liked her, in the series he has Mei- the daughter of a governor or something. Nadra is Nadra. A girl in highschool with problems much bigger than she could handle, she's a great dancer and lives with her sibling in a big-ass house with great friends. When Nadra checked, that was nothing compared to a governors daughter. Then again, why did she care!
Katara rolled her eyes, "Seriously? Yah right, you guys totally love eachother!" Nadra slapped her arm, "Shhh! They are right over there!" she pointed continuously, "He could hear you!" she whispered harshly.
Kataras eyes sparkled, "So you do like him!" Nadra blanked out and thought back of what she said. A light pink color came over her cheeks, "No! Oh my gosh, Katara! That's not what I meant!"
Katara laughed as Nadra pushed her down on the towels beneath her. Nadra laid on her stomach with her face buried in towels while her face heated up thinking about Zuko and that conversation. She didn't like him, she knew that. But now….she was kind of questioning it.
OoO
"Do you accept?" Ozai asked his plate pushed in front of him with his hands folded over the linens on the table top.
Cindy pushed her plate forward and chewed on the inside of her mouth as she thought about her options. If she didn't accept then she would probably be on the street or shipped out onto sea and returned to her family- she couldn't be sure. If she did accept then she'd be treated like royalty and she'd find her own special ability, which would be pretty cool – but if the Avatar did return after randomly disappearing again, then she'd be on the hunt with Azula and her elite team to try and capture him. Then she'd feel guilty about trying to capture the world's only hope of freedom. But after the Fire Lords reign then she would be able to return to her family and friends…so I guess that wouldn't be that bad.
Cindy hesitantly nodded, "I accept your offer." Zita broke out in a grin and highfived her. Azula and Mei nodded approvingly while Ty Lee jumped out fo her seat and engulfed her in a hug. Zita laughed then stood from her seat and pushed her chair in behind her, "If you'll excuse me, I need to visit someone." Ozai nodded to her and Zita bowed her head and showed herself out of the room.
The Firebender trio a.k.a. Azula, Ty Lee and Mei bowed and excused themselves and Cindy followed suit and retreated back to her quarters.
Earlier in the day she looked around and ran into Yew-Ta and explained her situation. Sadly, right after they had gotten tea and some pastries he had to be shipped off again in Zhao's ship. Cindy felt awfully lonely and kinda strange when she entered her room. It was clad in red just like Yew-Ta's room on the ship, but there was no one to talk to and Zita was off visiting people. She had made a relationship with Ty Lee but not so much Mei and Azula. They didn't talk much- they weren't exactly 'people persons'.
Cindy crawled into bed for a nap and shoved her face into the cold pillow. She hoped Yew-Ta would be okay out at sea without her, she chuckled at that statement. Of course he would be okay, duh, what was she thinking? The two of them had a brother sister kind of relationship and it was kinda weird for him not to be around to give her onigiri and tease her about random things that just so randomly have to pop up.
She sighed into her pillow and decided she really needed to rest. Zita told her that Azula needed all of them in the courtyard to train and discuss things. And Ty Lee and Zita offered to help her with her unknown ability.
Maybe this isn't so bad.
OoO
Zita walked down the dirt path bustling with people, even at late afternoon. She took the same path that she memorized because of the constant travelling between Will's house and the palace. Tonight, she planned on sleeping there just for one last time, pack up in the morning then begin living at the palace. She obviously would have to spend hella a lot of time at the palace, so why couldn't she just move in? She talked it over with Ozai and Azula and they didn't seem to mind, so all was well.
She rounded the corner and the first house was Will's. She pushed past the other people and jumped two steps at a time. Zita was supposed to be back at home yesterday at dinner but she got side tracked. She pulled out a copy of the house key and pushed it into the lock then turned hard and the door swung open.
She kicked her shoes off and dropped her cloak on the floor then kicked the door closed, "Fredward! You home?" she yelled. Zita heard a thump form upstairs then feet running down the stairs.
Will stood at the foot of the stairs with a grin. Zita grinned back and walked towards him. He abruptly pointed in the direction of the kitchen, "You, ma'am, are late for dinner."
Zita laughed and punched him hard in his upper arm then headed to the couch, "Trust me, I'd love to have dinner with you and tease you about how noisily you eat, but I already had dinner at the palace."
Will took a seat on the other side of the sofa, "I see, so what's going on? You find the other person?"
Over the days, Zita kept him up to date about what happened in the palace while he was either at home or at work with his buddies, guarding the palace or walking around keeping everything at peace. That's actually how he met her- he was walking around the outskirts of the village for any suspicious people and he came across Zita.
The older girl nodded, "Yah, her name's Cindy, she's form the Earth Kingdom. Zhao took her on his ship then dropped her off here." Will nodded, "Ahh."
There was a silence. This was when Zita wished they had television, she could block out the silences with the MTV or something. Zita decided it was time to retreat to bed, "Well, it's been a long day. I'll head up to bed."
Will's face fell, "O-h, so soon?" he frowned, she had just gotten home. Zita nodded, "Yah sorry, but tomorrow I'll be out of your hair. I'm packing up and living at the palace."
Will did a double take. Sure, at first she was just a nuisance but over time, they actually ended up having somewhat of a friendship or a brother sister kinda thing. Now, because of some retarded business because of the Avatar she had to leave. Will would never admit it to her face, but it was so boring at his house since he didn't have much of a family and she was gone.
"Woah, woah, woah, you're going to live at the palace?"
Zita nodded, "Yah, why? It only makes sense if you've been listening to what I've been telling you the last couple of days."
Will nodded, "Right, so….after you move I guess you won't be visiting here anymore, right?" he let out the most pathetic laugh ever. Zita ruffled his hair, "Well, duh of course. And besides you work at the palace you'll see me around."
Will nodded and fixed his hair, "Yah, you're right. G'night Zorro." Zita punched him.
"Ow! Why'd you punch me?"
Zita shrugged, "Dude, I didn't punch you."
"Yes, you did!" he sighed exasperated and lifted his sleeve up to show her the becoming bruise, "See!"
She blinked a couple times, "Oh sorry, I just heard 'Zorro' and my arm just moved automatically." She chuckled and jumped over the side of the couch and took a couple steps up the stairs, "If it makes you feel any better, you're that annoying little brother I've always wanted."
Will laughed, "Wonderful and you're that degrading older sister that just loves to call me names and char the side of the house in my backyard."
Zita rolled her eyes playfully, "I'll explain in the morning when you cook me up some bacon and eggs."
He nodded and craned his neck so he could see her descend up the stairs. He turned back to the fireplace in front of him, it was unlit. It sucked not to be a firebender, he couldn't just spark up a flame randomly and lite that fireplace.
He grinned to himself as he pulled a blanket out of thin air and laid it over his lap. His life wasn't as boring as he perceived.
OoO
Sokka horribly lost the sand sculpting competition to Toph, second was Spade then Aang then Zuko. The twins began putting vegetable and barbeque kabobs for their parents to put on the grill. Eventually Katara and Nadra put up the volleyball net up and began serving back and forth.
Nadra dived from Kataras spike and missed by an inch. She got up with sand sticking to her body because of the sunscreen. Her mom forced the stupid weird smelling lotion on her, when she didn't even need it. She didn't burn or tan- which was really weird being pale in California.
"Well, I'mma go wash off in the water, since I'm covered in sand because of Katara!" she pouted and threw some sand at her which she cleverly dodged with a grin, she brushed the gritty material off her legs but that only made it worse.
"Oh! I can bend it off of you, I think." Spade volunteered happily and poised her hand. Nadra shook her head quickly, "No! I-I'll just you know, wash off in the water." She thought back of the story Toph told her when Spade 'accidentally' ripped Iroh's shirt off while trying to bend sand off of him. Apparently the bus ride home was really awkward.
She jogged over to the salty water and jumped in with a baggy white t-shirt and her purple bikini bottom on. The cold water engulfed her from all around- it made her twitch. She shot up and spit out the water she had so happened to swallow, she wiped the excess water off and shook around in the water trying to get used to the temperature change and to get rid of the sand. Nadra brushed her hair back with her fingers then wringed it out at the side while walking to the shore.
Now came her least favourite part of swimming. The dry sand getting stuck to the soles of her feet because their wet. It was so irritating- gimmi a WHAT WHAT, fi you understand how annoying it is- then you've got to go let your feet dry off or use a towel to dry your feet off and get rid of the sand as well- but then you're dirtying a perfectly good towel! What has the towel ever done to you?
She cringed as every step she took more bits of sand got stuck to her feet. Nadra sat down on the towel with her feet out, "Ugh, hate sand." Spade gasped, "How can you hate sand? It's awesome! It feels great between your toes, and you can build kick ass castles with it!" she motioned to Toph's winning sand castle.
Nadra shrugged, "Well, you're a sandbender obviously you're going to like sand. And I like sand, but not when I'm wet and it can get stuck all over me." Spade scrunched her nose, "Oh, oh my god, I know right. I hate sand."
She earned various 'WTF' stares from everyone. She shrugged sheepishly, "What?"
Sokka shook his head with a smile. Spade was a little loopy but she was a good girl. Of course, he liked Suki so he couldn't like Spade. But if there wasn't a Suki OR Yue then he'd go for her. Oh dude, now he sounds like a player.
Spade giggled when she finally got it, "OOoohhhh…" Zuko snorted, "Yeah."
"So, about getting back home….." Aang started quietly which caused a very awkward silence. "You guys need a date on which Iroh will be doing the ritual." Nadra told.
"I'll miss you guys when you're kicking ass somewhere in the Avatar-Verse." Aiden stopped making kabobs with a frown. Addi nodded sadly, "Yah…."
"Tomorrow." Nadra said, "You guys can leave tomorrow."
"Why so soon? Don't want us here?" Katara quipped sadly from her spot on her towel. Nadra shook her head, "I want you guys to stay as long as you can, but you can't. Your world is getting worse by the day, and you guys need to restore peace to it. You've got to get back as soon as possible."
They all remained silent since it was true. Nobody really wanted to leave, but they all had to. They didn't have a choice.
"Nadra, what about you? I know about your options, what're you going to choose?" Jennine asked behind the grill. If she was going to go with Aaang and them she and Christopher didn't mind taking the twins with them on their travels which she was away. The problem was, neither knew how long she would be gone.
It was all up to her now. "Well…." She chewed on her lip, "Can I choose tomorrow? I don't wanna think about it right now." She admitted. Aang nodded, "No pressure."
Oh yah, no pressure my ass.
"Well, is tomorrow official?" Iroh asked, "I do miss my tea, even though Minya's brew is splendid." He chuckled. Spade grinned.
All of them exchanged looks and nodded, "Tomorrow it is." Aiden said. "Oh! You guys can sleep over to save the trip and everything!" Addi exclaimed, "It'll be a really big sleepover!"
Aiden nodded and began kabobbing again, "Yeah! It'll be our last night together!" There were murmurs around them and they all agreed. "We'll move the furniture around and you guys can all sleep in the living room." Christopher flipped over a hot dog.
"Cool, we can play games and go stuff and crap like that." Nadra commented.
OoO
After it got cold and dark outside the group packed up and piled in the car. The dropped by Spade's so Iroh and Toph could gather their things for the ritual and so Spade herself could get her clothes for the night.
Everyone took a short shower and changed into their pajamas and gathered in the living room. The couch had been moved farther back and the classic black coffee had been moved into Jennines and Christophers room and the TV was moved up close to the wall behind it.
"I'm bored!" Spade whined from the chouch as she lazily sat upside down and flipped channels.
"I've got a game we can all play." Nadra picked her nails with a mischievous grin played on her lips. "With that look on your face I'm not exactly sure I want to play." Katara said.
Sokka laughed, "I agree with Katara here, but my instincts say I should play." Aang chuckled, "You're instincts stinks."
The group roared in laughter while Sokka pouted in the corner. "Anyway," Nadra began was everyone formed a circle in the living room, the TV being forgotten, "Alright this game is called 'Avatar'."
Aang grinned, "I like this game already!"
Spade giggled and Nadra continued, "We'll have a cup and inside the cup with be wooden stick, or in this case cleaned popsicle sticks- on each of the sticks will be either 'Earth 1', 'Earth 2', 'Water 1', 'Water 2', 'Fire 1', 'Fire 2' and 'Avatar'. Reason because there is no 'Air' is because Aang is the only airbender." She explained.
"Whoever gets 'Avatar' gets to order two people around of their choice. So say I'm the Avatar and I'll say….. 'Fire 1' and 'Water 2' have to share a bed tonight. Those two people HAVE to share a bed." She finished.
"What if you really don't want to do the dare?" Aang asked. "Then, you have to drink black coffee." Nadra answered. Zuko cringed he remembered trying black coffee just because he was bored.
"Alright, since some dares can be pretty intense the twins can sit out and watch and Iroh…." Spade started. Iroh shook his head, "I'll be in the kitchen talking with Mister and ." he stood and walked to the kitchen leaving the group of teens plus two kids in the living in a disfigured circle on the floor.
Nadra popped the sticks and a cup out of God-knows-where and shook it, "So, are we playin' or not?"
Everyone nodded eagerly and reached for the sticks and picked them up and read them. The twins yawned and left the party without a word, it was getting late and they needed to wake early for their friend's departure.
Kataras eyes widened, "Alright, I'm the Avatar." She grinned. "Wow, I'd never thought I'd hear that." Sokka rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Anyway I want 'Earth 2' and 'Fire 1' to both chug a huge mug of black coffee."
"Alright, hand over the coffee." Toph got to her feet, "I've always had black coffee at Spade's house when she's not looking." Aang gulped, "Isn't it really bitter?"
Toph nodded, "Ohhhhh yeuhhh." She hauled him to his feet then came back with two mugs of black coffee.
"Alright, on the count of three." Zuko said, enjoying the apprehensive expression Aang held.
"One, two….THREE!" Sokka and Zuko yelled as Toph downed the coffee and Aang just spit it out on Sokka.
"Awwww! Seriously, Aang!"
Toph finished her coffee and laughed at Sokka, "Dude! I bet you like attract liquid or something!"
Katara laughed as well and bended the backwash coffee back into Aang's mug, "Sorry Sokka, hehehe." Aang laughed sheepishly.
The pair took their seats back and the sticks went back in the cup the and out right back again. Nadra grinned madly, "WOO! Okay, uhm…. 'Water2' and 'Earth1' to share a sleeping space or sleeping bag or whatever tonight."
Spades face turned a very dark red color, "Uhm….well I'm 'Earth1' who's 'Water2'?" she hadn't slept with someone since her parents passed away.
Sokka hesitantly raised his hand. A chorus of cute undeveloped voices from the level above cooed 'OOHHHHH'. The group minus Sokka and Spade laughed hysterically. Even Zuko let loose a bit.
"Or will you break out the black coffee?" Zuko teased. "You two will be the only ones who havn't done a dare."
Sokka nodded, "Fine then. I'll share a bed with Spade."
"You make it sound like a bad thing." Spade pouted. Sokka shook his head, "N-no! I meant-"
Spade giggled, "I know, I'm joking."
"Good, and you guys can't fake it either since we're all sleeping here on like blankets and stuff." Nadra announced, "Alright sticks back in the cup!"
Everyone did so then they shuffled 'em around then picked up another stick again. "Okay, I want 'Fire2' and 'Water1' to kiss. For atleast five seconds."
Zuko glared at the words 'Fire2' on the popsicle stick hoping they would just randomly grow legs, come off the wooden sticks then run away then replaced by another element and number.
"Okay….I hope I didn't get Aang 'cause I'm not a pedophile." Nadra said to herself as she held the stick up. Aang crossed his arms over his chest with a pouty face on.
Zuko's face began to heat up as he stared desperately at the dreaded words. It's not like he wanted to kiss Nadra. Not like her lips looked bad or anything, they looked…..soft and kinda appealing. NO! Bad Zuko….
Spade leaned over Zukos shoulder and saw he had the pair, "Oh! Zuko's 'Fire2'!" Katara bit her lip to stop her from squealing. Nadra looked at him with wide eyes, "You're frickin' joking me." She whispered to herself.
"Hand over the black coffee." Nadra sighed. She was not going to kiss Zuko. That was where she drew the line. It's not like he wasn't attractive or like he didn't have nice lips or anything. And she totally didn't like him! That adorable crooked smile of his had nothing on her. Absolutely nothing. Right?
"Oh come on! You said you didn't like Zuko, one kiss wouldn't hurt right?" Katara smirked and nudged Nadra. Sokka nodded, "Yah, and Zuko, you said you didn't have any feelings for Nadra, so one kiss wouldn't matter."
Without them knowing it, they both felt a little rejected and hurt inside. Nadra did say that and so did Zuko. So they supposed it couldn't hurt.
"Now to seal the deal of you two not liking eachother this kiss is perfect. If you guys feel absolutely nothing when that kiss is over you guys can honestly say you don't have feelings for eachother." Toph said with a shrug.
Nadra shrugged nonchalantly, "I guess so." She crawled over in front of him and folded her hands on her lap. Spade and Katara had dreamy expressions on their faces while they tightly linked hands.
Zuko inched himself closer with his legs spread out and Nadra in between. "C'mon! Hurry it up! We don't have all night, you know." Toph yelled from the sidelines.
Zuko's breath got hitched in his throat as Nadra cleared her throat and looked at him. They hadn't been that close since that one morning when Zuko carried her into the kitchen after burning her feet.
It was so cliché- his breath was hitched and her heart was pounding so heavily it felt like it would totally just come out of her chest. But if that happened in the real world where there wasn't always a cliché coupling and having a happily ever after, she would die and there would be a large puddle of blood on the floor and Zuko.
Nadra straightened her back and reach Zuko's height and she leaned in with her eyes closed. Zuko gulped and slowly leaned in with his eyes closed as well. Nadra tilted her head left and Zuko tilted his right.
Then their lips met.
It was just a peck, a very nice one though. Nadra felt like nothing mattered anymore, her heart fluttered and she felt like she didn't need to choose between her friends and her family the next day. Zuko felt similar- he didn't need to worry about his father or his sister or his duties to capture the Avatar. Kissing Nadra wasn't like kissing Mei. Mei was boring and henseforth there wasn't much oomph to it. Nadra? Oh, it was the complete opposite.
But they didn't like eachother. That was a no-no.
Nadra hand let go of the popsicle stick and her hands reached up to his chest, she inched closer and her hands gripped the fabric of his shirt as she pulled him closer. Zuko hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her so her body was against his.
"Okay! Time's up!" Toph yelled.
Nadras eyes shot open and she reeled back Zuko coughed awkwardly into his fist as Nadra crawled back to his seat.
'Why did I do that! It looked like I liked him! And even worse I enjoyed it and it looked like he liked me back! If that's even possible!' Nadra yelled at herself in her head as she tried to calm her heart beat and get that stupid pink wiped off of her cheeks.
"So," Katara leaned in with a silly grin, "You feel anything?" Spade finished for her as she leaned in from the other side. Nadra tried laughing it off but it came out as a hiccup, "Of course not, you guys. Pfft, I told you I didn't like him." Zuko didn't feel anything either right?" she scoffed.
Lies.
Nadra felt like she was the only one there with Zuko, everyone black out except him. She didn't care about Envy nor did she care about the decision making tomorrow or about not being able to dance because of a stupid bet her easily provoked siblings made.
Zuko didn't want to admit it, but now he had to. It was inevitably obvious to him and probably everyone else. He liked her. No- he frickin' loved her. He inwardly wanted to lie down and be angsty about the fact that she totally didn't feel anything. He nodded and let out a dry chuckle, "Of course not. You guys are crazy."
Katara and Spades' face fell as they both wouldn't admit they liked eachother after that display of affection. Toph rolled her eyes with a frown, her planned totally failed.
"Well," Aang fake yawned, "It's getting late; don't you think we should be heading to bed now? I mean, we do have to go home tomorrow."
Everyone nodded and set up everything in silence. Spade and Sokka reluctantly shared a sleeping space together at the far end of the living room, back to back. That night, Katara had gone easy on; she didn't get to do anything because of the awkwardness of the night. Oh well….
Jennine and Christopher turned the lights off in the living room and led Iroh to his room for the night as the teens lay on the ground with multiple blankets and pillows around all of them.
Nadra sighed into her pillow. She was stupid, like probably the biggest idiot ever. Now she was thinking about that kiss. After she had totally blown him off, then again he totally blew her off. 'Atleast I know the feelings are mutual….'
The raven haired girl fell asleep with a frown and complete regret of not admitting that she did feel something for the firebender. Unknowingly, Zuko felt the same way.
Zuko spelt curled in a ball facing the side. Not like he could do anything now, she didn't like him- he always had Mei, so who cares about her? 'I do..' He sneered and shook his head, nothing he could do now. He was leaving tomorrow to his world and to continue hunting the Avatar with uncle.
'Why was I so stupid?'
OoO
"So, are the preparations ready? You've gathered them?" violet eyes pierced the night sky. The female across from her nodded, "Of course, why would we be late?"
Violet eyes closed and opened and a light airy laugh filled the night sky, "Right, I know Azula. I'll be coming over in the morning, so get a good night rest. I have a feeling the Avatars coming home soon." She chuckled darkly.
Azula nodded, "Yes, so you feel it too? That's good." She grinned under the flame she produced, "I will. I hope you have a goods nights rest as well, Charolette."
Charolette nodded and both ladies went on their way. The violet eyes girl brushed a piece of dirt blonde hair behind her hair and smirked. She held the candle in front of her to see then abruptly stopped. The wind played with her hair and swayed it all around her neck and face. Charolette turned around with an evil little smirk.
"You'll need it Azula."
TBC
Me: ZOMG GUYS GUESS FRICKIN WHAT! This is the second last chapter to this story. The next one I upload will be the last. AWWWWW ); im actually going to miss this story a lot! But don't worry, I've got a sequel planned out! And you see Charolette? Yah that's my best friend! She made a account just to read my stories AND review. LOVE YOU ISABEL ;D Yes, I said your name and now people know it. If you guys wanna talk to her in my 'Review and Chatroom Space' go right ahead! Her name's 'Hobohunter14'. :)) SORRY SPADEY NO KAREOKE FOR YOUUUUU! ;DD I love you though, but I really needed to upload this.
anyway, that's all I got, SOOO until next time folks!