Chapter 9

The day of Korra's birthday was the day that Howl was finally able to return to duty. His side was stitched to near perfection and though his head thudded every time he tried to do physical activity, he was ready to return to his shift. It had been too long, too incredibly long. After the first day, Korra hadn't even visited him. They hadn't seen each other since the 'kiss'. And Howl had regretted it from the moment he had.

His dreams and nightmares were invaded by her though. The light touch of her frozen lips on his chapped ones. The feel of her hair in between his fingers, softer than feathers. The tender skin of her cheek that his fingertips had barely grazed. Howl shot up and groaned, his head inches away from the table. His stomach flared angrily as he stood and glanced out of the window across the room. The sun was setting, sending unusual reds and oranges and yellows throughout the sky. He stood, shaking his head. Already half of the guards were setting up a game of Pai Sho, their heads lowered in hushed conversations. He slid on his tunic and long pants, shaking his head.

After making sure they were busy in their conversation, Howl ducked to his locker and slid out the animal carvings he'd gotten a week or so ago. His eyes scanned over them individually, smiling when he touched the polar bear-dog piece. Sadly, he placed the box of them on his bed and walked to the kitchen. He searched through the cupboards of the rackity alcohol cabinets, searching for something appropriate. All he found was a small green bag that had been used to smuggle the drinks into camp. He wished the lady who'd given him the animals had at least put them in a better wrapping.

Howl wandered back to the bed and started loading up the little animals. His face lit up as he recognized those from Korra's stories. When he finished setting them down in the bag, he pulled out a pen and another piece of parchment paper. One of the guards let out a hoot of laughter, causing Howl to flinch unexpectedly. His gaze flickered to the table to see them popping a cork off of a slender bottle, pink liquid spilling into their glasses. He nearly gagged; alcohol was fire and he never wanted to taste it ever again. He pushed the memory away as he turned back to his note.

When he was finished, he tied the paper with a red ribbon and set it gently in the bag. His eyes darted across the bad in humiliation; Korra most likely would get all lavish gifts and this was nothing in comparison to his own. Still, he wanted to ask his apologies for what had happened that night, and he knew no better way than to give her the gift.

He exited the barracks with his helmet in tow. After Korra had dropped half of his uniform to the bottom of the ocean to save his life, Howl had to get looser and less comfortable wear until the next shipment returned. His helmet fit, but his breastplate was nearly a size to small, and his cloak nearly dragged on the ground. He felt like the boy he had been when he'd first joined the White Lotus; lanky, shy, and scared of blood and pain.

People were flooding the gates on their special reindeer. Obviously, the Avatar's sixteenth birthday was a special one; in the old days, it was when he or she was informed of their powers if they hadn't already figured it out. But Korra and Aang had been special. Korra, especially. Howl spotted the guards piling very few presents as they came in and hurried over, dropping his in the very back. "Hey, Sitch." He patted his comrade's shoulder. "I'll take over."

Sitch's eyes were basically drooping as he gave a warm smile, before walking off towards the barracks. Howl sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. He hoped Korra was having fun. That was all that mattered.

"Mom!" Korra shouted, throwing her arms around Senna tightly. Her mother's tiny arms gratefully hugged her back, rubbing the small of her back like she used to do as a child. Her parents had just come in from the cold weather, the training bench having been transformed into a fabulous looking party room. Sixteenth birthdays were supposedly important to the people in Republic City. She'd heard people talking about it all night, their gossip intriguing. Who had the fanciest clothes, what the latest taste was, and even who the cutest man in the city was.

That one had struck Korra too close to her heart. Howl. She hadn't seen or talked to him since they had… kissed. Or maybe it was more like Howl placed his lips on her to shut her up. But it had been something there. She dreamed about him every night, regretted massively that she didn't kiss him back. But she was scared, because she didn't know how to kiss. How did he? Had he been a romancer in the Fire Nation?

Korra's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Katara and a middle aged man glancing at her. She smiled and ruffled her dress (Katara had picked it out) before walking over to the two. The first thing familiar was the blue arrow tattoo that covered his bald head. The second, his oddly shaped beard. He was a skinny man with unusual red and yellow garments on. He also wore a circle pennant around his neck that hung low on his chest, with the symbol of air on it. She grinned. "Tenzin!"

"Korra?" His deep voice was oddly accented. He was definitely from up North, because here they didn't exactly enunciate the 'a'. Still, she dipped her head to him and smiled. "You've grown since I last saw you."

"Oh, Tenzin." Katara's elder voice made caused her to stiffen. She'd nearly forgotten that her soon to be airbending trainer was her waterbending master's son. "You last saw her when she was six."

"Oh." He shook his head. "It's an honor to meet you again, Avatar Korra. I look forward to training with you." Before he could say another thing, her father's booming voice echoed across the group of special guests. Korra took her place next to her mother and Katara, glancing around each of the guard's faces. A small part of her hoped that her best friend would be among them, but she caught not a sight of the amber eyed boy. Crestfallen, she put on her best smile and glanced at her father.

After speeches given by her loyal parents and the leaders of the White Lotus, the party turned to the Water Tribe style. Her parents had begged them to let her have some worldly possessions, just for her sixteenth birthday. The White Lotus had dejected them, but Katara had…forced them to agree. The political guests had left by the time they'd heard of her progress and she couldn't blame them. Though she loved her family and tradition, she didn't care much for showers of love. She could do fine by herself.

There were only about twenty gift givers, she noticed immediately. A wave of relief passed through her. At least this wouldn't take long, and then the men could have their drinking games while the women talked about the fishing seasons. She wondered where she would fit in to that when the time came; she saw no true interest in fishing and the men wouldn't let the Avatar drink.

The first gift was from Katara. Her elder Master placed an ancient scroll in her hands that she unraveled, immediately gasping at the intricate poses drawn on the papyrus paper. Her fingers trailed over traditional moves, her head immediately wanting to study that simple scroll for hours. "It was my first teacher." Katara said, breaking Korra's focus. "And it will be yours when you need it most."

The next gifts where from her parents. Senna gave her a hand woven arm band with what seemed to be icicles imprinted in the pattern. She promised her mother that she would wear it wherever she went. Tonraq gave her a tiger seal waist cover. "To protect you when you fall." He had said. Korra threw her arms around her sentimental father, thankful to have him with her.

More gifts passed and she had pretended to be interested. It was difficult to receive an awkward looking pennant from Tenzin and ideas of romance from the chief's son. He had given her a really weird look when she thanked him, scummy almost. She begged for the presents to be done with; there was hardly any use for some of these gifts. Finally, it seemed over. The men called for their alcohol while the women gathered around a group of small pelts in the corner. She struggled to find her place, standing awkwardly in between.

Then a guard stepped from the back with a small green bag. Her brow rose in confusion. "This was left unattended, Avatar." He handed her the bag. Her brows narrowed and she returned to her seat at the table. It was a poorly wrapped thing, unlike the other extravagant gift colors she had seen. She peeked in and gasped, pulling out animal carvings of the different nations. Her heart stopped when she ran her hands over the intricate and colorful moose-lion and her breath caught when she saw a polar bear-dog. There were so many unusual colors on the animals; a hand painted air bison that looked like Aang's Appa, a red dragon, a platypus-bear, otter-penguins, cat-gators… there must have been twenty different breeds of the carvings in that little bad and each one changed her view on the outer world. Never before had she wanted so badly to travel the world.

Her hand grazed a curled piece of paper which she gingerly pulled out. It was wrapped in a red ribbon and when she opened it, she noticed the same scraggly handwriting. She should have guessed he would pull something like that. Her heart fluttered as she read his note, her stomach flopping, breathing picking up.

I'm sorry I couldn't come to your party. Night shift and all, right? But I still wanted to wish you happy birthday. Even though this probably isn't the prettiest gift or the coolest, I just wanted to find a way to say thank you. Thank you for being my best friend.

-Howl

She had to find him. She shoved the animals back into the bag and left them beside the others, pulling her parka from the ground and pulling it around her arms. The cold air whipped around her as soon as she exited; she just couldn't wait to make an air shield and be able to stop wind from chilling her to the bone. Korra pushed the thought away and focused on the main task. Howl. Howl.

What would she say? She hadn't pulled together even the slightest of reactions when she spotted him on the wall, head lowered, in the same old sentry he'd been stationed at for a year. Korra pulled her parka on tighter and climbed onto the wall, pushing up the hatch and seeing him in the moonlight. Though the new moon was close and her powers were waning, she could still see him in the darkness. His eyes were shut, a book sprawled open on his chest. She tried to speak, opened her mouth to do so, but no words came. The awkward crackling of her voice caught in her throat.

So Korra reacted out of instinct. She coughed. "Howl?"

Howl blinked awake, jumping up and starting to draw his sword when he saw her. Her hair was down for once, lingering just past her shoulders. Her blue eyes caught the moonlight just barely, reflecting for one moment. And she was in that same dress that she had worn to the chief's son's party. Where they had danced. His head kicked him for remembering that but his heart smiled in pride. "Korra." He said bluntly.

She resisted the urge to hug him. She knew that he was already feeling awkward if the only thing he had come up with was her name. "Thank you for my present." She said softly.

Howl bit his lip. "You got it."

Korra nodded. The urge to hug him was growing hard to resist. If she let herself do it, it could lead to assumptions. Bad ones. He might think it was okay to kiss her again. She knew she wouldn't mind it, but she didn't know how exactly it would work or what she should do. Maybe, if she had time, she could read those horrific romance books Yora had given her.

She glanced up at Howl and noticed how much healthier he looked since the last time she had seen him. His face was fuller and he actually had color in his face, which lightly glowed in the lantern light. "Howl, you don't know how much that gift meant to me. It was beautiful. It was the best gift I've ever been given."

Screw the assumptions. She just wanted a hug. Korra threw her arms around his neck without a second thought and felt his body stiffen. His helmet went tumbling to the ground. Howl's heartbeat matched her own; racing and out of control. She never wanted to let him go. He'd sacrificed so much for her and she was so, so thankful. But there were so many questions that she needed to be answered, and her only female friend was Katara.

So she untangled her arms from him and gave him a warm smile. "It was the best present ever." She whispered.

Howl's straight face slowly peeled into a smile as he gave a small nod, trying to hide his lopsided grin. He wondered how red his face would be after she had been the one to hug him. His shoved his hands into his pockets and avoided her gaze, even though it might have been the prettiest thing he'd ever seen. "Go back to your party, Korra."

"I don't fit in there. I want to stay with you."

The chance of getting caught was higher with all of the observing eyes searching, but he couldn't resist her request. Not on her birthday, at least. So, he reached down and grabbed his helmet, sat down and took his book back in hand. When Korra didn't respond, he glanced at her with confused eyes. "Well? Do you want to stay or not?"

Immediately, her sad smile turned to a joyous one and she ran to him, climbing onto his lap. With a swift glance, he noticed that the other sentry posts had been abandoned. It was his luck that the Pai Sho game was more important than guard duty as he wrapped his long arms around Korra and scanned the page in his book for where he left off.

"It was right before Kyoshi's sixteenth birthday when the king of Omashu came to her with a request…."