Shorts II

Exposed

When Zuko got to the office that day, his daughter was waiting in his desk chair. He held his head sown and waited for the tirade.

"Dad," she started in a chastising tone, "why have you been avoiding me for a week!"

The Fire Lord dragged his hand down his face. "You know why." he mumbled, "Why can't you just handle it?"

"Dad, the wedding is in three months. I need your guest list."

"You've invited everyone I'd want there."

"So there's no one you want to come." she said crossing her arms.

"No."

"Not a single person." she pressed.

"Ursa," he groaned, "I said no."

"You mean to tell me you don't want to invite Ambassador Jin."

Zuko went red. "What are you talking about?"

"Dad please. I'm not a child. You don't have to hide your relationship from me."

"How'd you know?"

"Let me see, all the trips to Ba Sing Se. You insisting on me and Granny going out on the same nights that you decide to give the staff off. And I came back to get something a few months ago and I saw you guys in the garden."

Zuko got panicky "A couple of month ago? What exactly did you see?"

"You guys were eating dinner and holding hands across the table. It was really swe-" then a thought she never wanted to think crossed her mind, "What did you think I saw." she asked her father cautiously. He held his head down and ran his hand through his loose hair, "Dad! In the garden! EW! If I had come back a little later then I would've seen…Ew!"

"Or a little earlier." Zuko admitted, red faced.

Ursa gagged a little "Ugh, that settles it! Kyu and I are living in the villa." she got up and rushed out of the room only pausing in front of her father for a second to regard him with a disgusted look and say "Sick."

~.~.~.~.~.~.

Leaving

"Mother! Stop this. I'm going and you can't stop me."

"Kimi. Listen to reason. What do you really know about him? He's basically a stranger to you."

That plucked a nerve. "And whose fault is that?!" the young woman yelled as she swung around to face her mother. She leveled an accusing finger, "You kept me away. You didn't tell him he had a child. I'm going to live with him for a while and you are not going to convince me otherwise."

"But Kimi," Shima said sadly, "I'm your mother."

"And Sokka is my father." she retorted bitterly. Kim took a deep breath and calmed her tone, "Look, there's nothing else for me here. I need to find where I belong and I think that starts in Republic City. The other half of my family is there. Wouldn't you rather me be surrounded by people who love me?"

"I know. You're right." Shima relented, "It's just…its hard letting you go."

"Mom, is not easy for me to leave, but I need to do this."

"I know…Hakoda's going to miss you."

Kimi smiled, "I'll visit as often as I can."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Changes

Aang sat in his office at city hall, sipping tea and thinking about all the changes over the past two years. Ursa and Kyu were expecting their first child, Bumi had been in the United Forces for almost two years. Kya had married a young nomad named Heng six months earlier and was once again traveling the world. Tenzin was his only child left at home, but now he was sixteen and it would only be a matter of time before he left too. And Katara had become a full White Lotus Master.

Toph sat across from him, also sipping tea. It was her day off and she had been at home, but ever since Ty Lee went back to the Fire Nation, the house had been quiet.

Lin was a teenager now and was hardly ever home. She was either out with friends or training in metal bending. Lin could not wait until she turned sixteen so she could become an official cadet. Toph was in the process of trying to encourage her to go traveling with Tenzin and their friends.

Finally she said, "Aang, has anyone changed since that time?"

"A little." he answered not glancing up from his tea. He knew exactly what she was asking. Toph wanted to know what had changed since she was able to see.

No one expected it to last as long as it did. Instead of a few weeks Toph had been able to see for a full three months. She was disappointed when she woke up one morning with blurry vision, but she knew it was coming. By the end of that wee she was blind once again.

"Well," Aang continued, "you know Lin and Tenzin are taller, he's taller than me now. Their faces have thinned out a bit more. The baby fat is almost all gone. Bumi looks nice with short hair, but I know he's going to let it grow out as soon as they let him. We're all getting a little older; laugh lines, crow's feet. Not a lot, but you know how it is."

"Yeah." she said unconsciously swirling the tea in her cup, "How long is Junior's hair now?" she asked with a laugh. After the hair fiasco at Lin's party Ursa had cut a full two feet of length off of her hair.

Aang laughed, "It's at the small of her back again. Oh, speaking of hair," he looked around and leaned across the desk. Toph felt him doing so and leaned in to hear the secret, "Katara has gray hair and she's trying to hide it." Toph reared back in a laughing fit, "Don't tell anyone I told you that." Aang chuckled.

"Sugar Queen is shallow. I knew it." she said then she leaned forward, "But you know what? She's not fooling anyone. Sokka told me he noticed last month."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Destiny

The young couple walked across the school courtyard hand in hand to the bench where they usually spent their lunch breaks. The young man carried his books slung across his back in his bag while he carried his girlfriend's books cradled in his arms.

He looked at her. He loved looking at her. He watched her dark hair bounce as they walked and then a light wind blew through it. She looked up at him and smiled knowing full well that he had bent the air around them. When she squeezed his fingers, he looked down at their hands. He liked seeing the way her dark skin wrapped around his light skin. Then he looked at her sparkling amber eyes. She looked like something was wrong, like she was deep in thought.

As they reached the privacy of their bench and sat down, he noticed that she sat her lunch bag by her side and folded her hands in her lap.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Tenzin asked.

"No." Kuji said back not looking at him, "I don't really feel like eating. My stomach's a little upset."

"Oh." he said, "Well, I have an apple, maybe that'll make you feel better."

He reached over into his bag and she placed her hand on his forearm, "No Tenzin. I'm fine." she pulled on his arm slightly so that he would face her, "Tenzin, I have to tell you something."

The teenager's brows furrowed upward and his eyes stretched in worry, "Kuji, are you-"

"Tenzin, no." she laughed as she realized what he was asking, "You worry too much."

He released the breath he was holding and slumped in relief. "Good. You said your stomach was upset then you said you had something to tell me." he straightened his back and gave her a stern look "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

She laughed again and nudged him with her shoulder "You're cute when you panic," she grabbed one of his hands with both of hers, "and when you're being an old man."

He was not amused "I don't find that the least bit funny." he chided, but the smile on her face broke his resolve to be angry, "So, what do you want to tell me?"

Kuji face straightened again "When we go traveling, I…well I won't be finishing the journey with you guys." he looked at her with confusion, "I'm going home Tenny. When we reach the Fire Nation I'm going back to the Sun Warriors."

"But why?" the air bender asked.

"I've been trying to decide trying to decide what to do with my life, and last night I had a dream, about us. It was more of a vision than a dream. We were leading our people, but we weren't together. I was leading the Sun Warriors and you were here."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I got a glimpse into the people we are meant to be, but we weren't together."

"So you're breaking up with me?" he asked, trying to pull his hand from beneath hers, but she gripped him tighter.

"No Tenny. I'm just telling you what I've seen. I want to be with you for as long as possible, but the fact is that we have paths to follow and ours diverge."

He placed his free hand over both of hers "We've…shared so much."

"I know." she smiled, "I'll never forget you."

"I thought I was supposed to be the serious spiritual one in this relationship."

"You are," the little fire bender answered, "I guess you're rubbing off on me."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Home Again

Zuko stood at the entrance to the Sun Warrior's ancient city with his grandson in his arms and the Chief by his side. The two men looked on as Tenzin and Kuji said their goodbyes. "Thank you for allowing Tenzin to see her home. It means a lot to him."

"He's a good young man." the Chief said to the Fire Lord, "I'm happy that my young cousin has returned, but it grieves me that it is causing the two of them heartache."

Zuko smiled as Kazuki patted he tiny hand against his grandfather's scar. The six month old was fascinated with the change in textures on the man's face. The Chief smiled at how much the Fire Lord had lightened up over the years, "He's going to be an amazing bender."

Zuko looked at him "Do you really think so?"

"Yes." he answered, "The only other baby I've ever seen Ran and Shaw react to like that was that young lady there." he pointed to where Kuji was, wrapped in Tenzin's arms, her face buried in the boy's shoulder. "She mastered fire bending by the time she was eleven."

"I'm glad she agreed to train my grandson when the time comes. Are you sure you'll be able to spare her?"

"She'll be near if we need her. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon, but she will take my place when I pass into the next life. I'm not a young man you know."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Girl Talk

Ursa sat at her vanity. She studied the look on Lin's face as the younger woman ran the brush through the princess's long hair. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Lin quickly perked to attention "Wha-oh. Yeah. I'm fine."

"You're worried about Tenzin, aren't you?" the new mother asked.

"Why would I be worried about him? Zuko's with him, and it's not like he can't take care of himself."

Ursa smiled at Lin's thinly veiled nonchalance. "I suppose you're right. Poor Tenzin. He's probably kissing Kuji goodbye right now-ow!" she yelled out when Lin snatched down on her hair, "What was that about?"

"Sorry, I found a knot." Lin lied as she put the brush down and separated Ursa's hair into three sections and started the task of braiding her long, thick hair. About half way down the braid, she asked "How did you know you wanted to be with Kyu?"

Ursa smiled again. "I don't know, I just knew. If he didn't ask me out when he did I think I would've asked him."

"When did you know you loved him?"

"I don't know when exactly it happened. It just did. Why?" she turned as Lin tied the red ribbon to around the end of the braid "Do you love someone?"

"I don't know." Lin said, "I don't know if I really like him or if it's just because he was the first guy to kiss me of what, but I can't got him out of my head."

"That must have been one hell of a kiss." Ursa said noticing the dreamy expression in Lin's eyes.

"The first one wasn't at the best moment, but the second one was great."

Ursa was shocked "You kissed Tenzin twice?"

"Yeah." Lin said dreamily, then she came back to herself and jerked to attention, "No. I didn't say I was talking about Tenzin. Why would you even say that?" Ursa crossed her arms and legs and regarded Lin with a 'do I look stupid to you' look. "Bumi and his big damn mouth. That boy can't hold water."

"So, at your grandparents house, was that the first kiss or the second?"

Lin blushed "The second."

"So when was the first?"

"Before he went to the South Pole. He kind of caught me off guard."

"Wow, I didn't know Ten was a ladies man. Who would of thunk." the princess said, truly impressed.

"What's that mean?"

"I mean Ten's a cute kid and all, but he's kind of…let's just say he's an old soul. You and Kuji are beautiful, smart and powerful young women. You have your pick of the boys and you both fell for Tenzin. I have to say, I don't get it."

"I guess it's what isn't really obvious. He's kind and generous and really sweet when he wants to be. Tenzin's not as stiff as he always seems. There's just…there's something about him that I can't explain."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Fun

Kya sat on a hill and lay back into Heng as they watched a twenty year old Tenzin air scooter their children back and forth across the yard. Adama and Ama sat in their uncle's lap while Keahi hung from his neck and the four of them laughed wildly as they rolled across one hill after another. She smiled thinking about how her father used to ride them across the yard in the same manner.

"Uncle Ten," Keahi said over Tenzin's shoulder "could you do it, please?"

"Yeah Uncle Ten, peeeeease." the twins sang from his lap.

"I don't know." the young man said, "Kya doesn't really like it when I do that."

"Momma won't mind." the three year old said.

"Peeeease." the two year olds sang again

"Okay, okay. But if I get in trouble for this I'm never doing it again." he said and he scooted then down the hill out of Kya's sight.

When the water bender noticed that Tenzin and the children went down the hill and didn't come back up, she jumped to her feet. "No he didn't. I told Tenzin not to do that anymore."

"Honey, relax. Tenzin wouldn't do anything to hurt them. You worry too much."

Kya regarded Heng with a nasty look before stomping off to find her brother and children. She crossed a hill and there they were, doing exactly what she had told them never to do again. Tenzin stood on the ground looking to the sky rotating his hands above his head as her children spun on a tunnel of air a good twenty feet up. She cleared her throat to announce her presence without scaring her brother.

"Oh no." Tenzin muttered under his breath and turned to his sister, still rotating his hands, "Hello Kya. Nice day, isn't it?"

"Bring my babies down now Tenzin."

"Okay, I will." the young air bender said and he lessened the spiral little by little holding his arms out expecting his nieces and nephew to land there.

"I said now Tenzin!" Kya demanded.

Tenzin looked up "I stopped bending. They should be down by now."

Kya looked up "How are they still up there?" she looked at her brother, "You don't think-"

A chuckling laugh from the top of the meditation pavilion got their attention. There stood Aang, manipulating the disc of air his grandchildren were floating on. He pulled the three children to him to cheers of "Grandpa! Grandpa!" and he wrapped the three of them in his arms.

The Avatar floated down to the ground to find his very angry daughter standing with her hands on her hips and one foot tapping furiously. "Dad! That wasn't funny at all! For a minute I thought Keahi was air bending!"

"I know," the man laughed, "that's why I did it."

Just a little fluffiness

Heng is a Chinese name that means "permanent/constant"

Kazuki is a Japanese name that means "Harmony hope" I swear I found it on a baby name site and did not make it up. The "Zuki thing is a coincidence.

Keahi is a Hawaiian name that means the "fire"

Adama is a Hebrew name that means "man/earth" it's also a African name that means "magnificent child"

Ama is a Cherokee name that means "water." it is also a Yoruba name meaning "difficult birth" and an Ewe name meaning "born on a Saturday."

Most characters by bryke

other stuff by me.