Beta-read by the ever-patient and ever-vigilant Scribbles I

Healed and Hunted

An Innocent Laugh

Chapter Eight

Outside of Bus Number Nine

Kat

She kept her eyes forward, bag over her shoulder, trying very hard not to look to her side. He was standing there as he always was, but now there was an awkward pressure for her to talk to him. She had brought this on herself. She should've just kept her mouth shut last month on the bus. Perhaps then she would not be in this predicament. He would have never noticed.

Toph's hand was reaching for the bus, quickly followed by a paler hand. Kat shook her head at the rhythm of the two of them. They worked so perfectly together. Like two sides of a coin or scissors. Not the same, but one.

"How long have they been together?" a voice asked.

Kat answered without looking, "Nearly ten years. Not if you ask them, of course."

"Long time," the voice said. Kat realized it was Lee, and sighed. Why couldn't she keep her mouth shut?

The girl pressed her lips together, not wanting to be rude. She wished she wasn't such an inherently nice person. She wanted to be more like Toph, who could shove the most persistent away with just the tone of her voice. Toph had had more practice.

"So, how does one become sisters with the Ava?" Lee asked.

Kat, not being able to stop herself, answered, "If you're interested in becoming his sister, there are a few surgeries I would suggest first."

He gave her a dry, sarcastic laugh, "I meant you."

They were a few sets of kids away from getting on the bus. Kat chanced a look at him. He seemed uncomfortable, which was different from the previous days. He had come to drink coffee with her every day this week, only having a few words to say. He hadn't grilled her so much since that first day.

"Well, you find him. Or he finds you. Whatever you want to believe-divine providence or chance. You spend fifteen years or so. About year two, you start feeling like family. And that's that."

"What, was he just wandering around?" Lee wondered.

Kat signed her name on the clip board, next to her initials. She handed Lee the pen, and climbed on. Lee could be last today. She hurried on to the bus.

Her haste rewarded her by resulting in a short trip to the floor. She was caught at the last moment by a firm hand. An embarrassed turn showed her the reason she had been running. Lee was smiling at her and she was sure he was thinking of something witty to say.

Instead he said, "Careful. Bet it would hurt."

"Probably." Kat accepted his help, noticing a few snickers from the front of the bus. She hid her face with a hand and went back to walking. Carefully. She didn't need to be indebted to him twice.

She slid into her seat, her bag slipping to the floor, and took to staring out the window. She couldn't even begin to speak. Couldn't look to see his smug face. The bus took off, screeching loudly.

"Gravity happens, you know," he said so that she was the only one to hear. He seemed at ease in his seat, leaning closer to her than she liked.

Kat blinked. "Yes, it does. Frequently, actually."

"It shouldn't surprise you, then."

"You didn't see it. The ground jumped up and tried to hit me," she said, trying to ease her anger. It was easy to blame gravity and the floor.

"Well, I guess you're lucky I was there to catch you before that happened." He sounded very pleased with that.

"I suppose." She shrugged.

Lee rolled his eyes. Kat knew she was grating his nerves. She was waiting for him to slip his music in so they could stop talking. Why was it taking so long? She hadn't said but a few words last time. And she had actually wanted to talk to him then. And now that she didn't want to speak, he wouldn't stop.

"You never did tell me how you met him."

"No. It's not something I want to tell you," she said curtly.

Lee sighed, "So what do you want to tell me?"

She looked down for a moment and laughed. She tried her best to contain the laughter, but it only took a few seconds for her whole frame to shake with her.

"What?" he asked, nearly laughing himself.

She snickered, "Your fly's down."

Kat felt that made up for her embarrassing fall.

"Why were you looking?"

And then he went and made a comeback like that.

They were quiet for the rest of the way.

Waiting. Impatiently.

Kyoshi

Her dad pulled on her pigtail. Kyoshi swatted his hand away, trying to concentrate. This camera mommy had gotten her had a lot of buttons. It was fun to play with. Daddy was messing her up.

"She's almost here," Kyoshi said, suddenly remembering. She pulled on her father's wrist to check the time. The bus would be close now. She should be able to see the yellow thing any second now.

"I know, baby. Try and smile a little bit, okay? And, remember don't tell-"

Yoshi said in the exasperated tone of a child, "Uncle Aang about me getting in trouble at school."

Daddy brushed her hair. "Good girl."

"Look!" she shouted, pointing. Bus number nine was here!

When the bus stopped, Uncle Aang and Auntie Toph were the first ones off, as they usually were. Kyoshi ran and embraced them, leaving her father behind her. Aang lifted her, Toph stayed by his side. Yoshi was mesmerized for a moment. The eyes of her aunt were a mystery to her. They were clouded, and the young girl knew that her aunt could not see. Yet at the same time, she always knew her aunt was watching. It felt like she could see. Kyoshi was too afraid to ask, too afraid that she would hurt her aunt's feelings.

"What are you staring at?" her uncle asked.

Kyoshi shook her head. "Nothing, just thinkin' is all."

"Ah, I see. Thinking is good." He set her back on the ground.

The young girl looked back to the bus, waiting for her Aunt Tara. Kyoshi counted in her head the number of windows on the bus, top and bottom. Eighteen on this side. Nineteen if you counted the driver's window, twenty if the back window counted.

"Ah, there she is," Uncle Aang said, pointing to the exit of the bus. Indeed, her aunt was coming out. There was usually a man in front of her, but Yoshi could not find him. She didn't care, anyways. She ran and waited outside the yellow line. She hated that yellow line- it was a rule the bus drivers set. You can't go past it, they said. Sometimes Yoshi put her toes over the line.

Aunt Tara smiled and knelt to pick the little girl up.

"Haha! Welcome home!" Kyoshi laughed. Her aunt tickled her and they laughed together.

"You know, I'm glad to be here. C'mon, let's go see your-"

A tap on her shoulder stopped the older woman. Kyoshi saw a scarred face behind her aunt's head.

"You, ah, forgot your bag," the man said. Kyoshi found herself on the ground, watching the adults.

Her aunt grabbed the bag gently and said, "Thank you, Lee."

The man nodded and turned to leave. Kyoshi watched her aunt very carefully before asking, "Why was that man wearing girl pants?"

Her aunt laughed, and Kyoshi realized it was probably something rude to ask. She could think of no way to apologize. The man threw a disgruntled glance to the little girl. Kyoshi dropped her face in shame. Her aunt, after walking the other direction, answered.

"They aren't girl pants. Well, I suppose they are. He likes showing his legs off, I think. Maybe his skin is too pale to wear shorts."

"Like uncle Aang?" the little girl asked, remembering a weekend water-trip. Uncle Aang was very, very pale. He didn't have dark skin like her aunt or daddy.

Her aunt laughed again, "Just like that."

The girls smiled at each other, and Kyoshi started telling her aunt all the plans that they had for this weekend. It was going to be so much fun! Daddy had lots of things to do.

The circus was in town, and Yoshi had finally convinced him to take them.