Chapter 2 - The Carnival

UPDATE: TO MY READERS WHO HAVE READ BEFORE: I CHANGED THE PART WHERE KYA AND KARIANA MEET THOSE BOYS.

On the way to school was Kya's cousin's house. If she took a right, she'd be at the school, but if she took a left she'd be in her cousin's neighborhood. Her cousin is younger than her by 4 months. Suki and Katara were both pregnant around the same time with Kya and Kariana. Kariana was Suki's youngest, their oldest was a year ahead Bumi. His name was Koda, but he was away for his studies to become a mechanist.

Kya normally walked to school after picking up Kariana, but she had other plans in mind. She knocked on Kariana's door, and when she opened it, Kariana looked as if she'd just rolled out of bed. She was about to apologize when Kya smiled, and shook her head.

"Take your time," Kya ordered. "We're not going to school today."

"I like the sound of that!" Kariana exclaimed. "Oh, you're welcome to come in and wait while I come in."

Kariana held the door open for her. Kya stepped into the house, realizing that it was empty. She asked where Suki and Sokka were, and Kariana explained that they were already at work. They both worked on the council together, and were always held up with "political squabbles."

"That's cool then," Kya said, "We can just ditch with no worries."

"What about your parents?" Kariana asked. "They're going to be worried when they get a call from the school."

Kya avoided the question by redirecting it.

"My parents won't care," Kariana said. "It's about to be spring break, they know I how much I hate school."

"Mine do too," Kya started, "Yet they still send me and Bumi, and spoil Tenzin by keeping him home and letting him learn the fun way."

Kariana frowned. She was always Kya's soundboard whenever Kya had to rant about anything. She'd say that 90% of the time it'd be about how Aang favored Tenzin. Kya never openly ranted to anyone else besides Bumi. Suki and Sokka didn't know how excluded Bumi and Kya constantly felt; it was only something the kids knew about. Kariana could never empathize, as she was treated equally with Koda, her older brother.

"I'm sorry they treat you that way," Kariana said.

Kya shrugged. She didn't want to get too upset about it. She just wanted to have a fun day off from school, on her own terms.

"Wanna go to the carnival?" Kya asked.

"Dude, it'd take weeks to get there," Kariana said, thinking of the annual carnival down in the South Pole.

"No, the one here in Republic City," Kya said with a laugh. "I know a few people are ditching today, a lot of the hot popular kids, might I add."

"Hell yeah I wanna go!" Kariana said, jumping with excitement. "You gotta help me pick out something cute then!"

Katara ran around the house, frantically searching for any evidence of where Kya could possibly be. She was also looking for Aang, to see if he had any speculation. When she searched her bedroom, she found Kya's diary laying under her desk. Being nosy, and panicked, she opened it and started flipping through the pages.

May 2, (2 years ago)

I just found out that Dad took Tenzin to Kyoshi Island behind all of our backs! Tenzin accidentally slipped when we were out in the courtyard practicing our bending. I was so mad, I just left. Apparently they got to ride the giant koi fish, and learn all about the past Avatar Kyoshi. I heard she made the island herself, breaking it away from everything else in a fight. I wish I had those kind of powers so I didn't have to feel left out. I could just be alone and do my own thing.

Katara sighed. This had been going on for a lot longer than she thought. She'd assumed that Kya had ran away at this point, and rushed to the phone in Aang's office. She dialed Suki, intending to ask if she had any idea where Kya was.

"Hello?"

"Suki, it's me," Katara said when she picked up. "Kya's gone. She skipped school today after a heated conversation during breakfast this morning. Did she happen to run to your house this morning?"

"I was gone before 6 this morning; Sokka and I were called in. Kariana skipped school today too. I'm sure they're together somewhere. I wouldn't be too worried." Suki answered.

"You don't care that she skipped school?" Katara asked, sounded taken aback.

"Not really," Suki said. "I know how much she hates going. Spring break starts this weekend. They probably took off to have an extra day. It's not that big of a deal Katara, they could be doing worse things than that."

Katara sighed, "I suppose you're right. I just feel so bad after what happened this morning."

"What happened this morning?"

Katara said that she would explain at lunch. She would stop by for their lunch break, as it was apparently a longer story than Katara first thought. After that, they said their goodbye's and hung up.

Katara slammed the phone down, and flopped into Aang's office chair. She glanced out the window, and saw Appa land in the courtyard. Following that, Aang made an over-exaggerated landing off Appa, and airbended Tenzin up into the air, causing him to break out into laughter. Katara barely ever saw that childish smile on Tenzin's face, as he was always so serious around everyone else.

Maybe Kya was right... She thought.

The carnival was a lot more crowded than the two teenagers expected it would be. Half of the population of their school had to have been there. Once they got in, all they saw were people running around, and long lines that wrapped around the perimeter.

"We should have left sooner," Kariana said, looking disappointed at how crowded it was.

"Good thing we've got flash passes!" Kya exclaimed, running over to one of the roller coasters.

Aang and Katara would always bring them to the carnivals as kids, so they would always have annual season passes. They also bought the package deal where they got flash passes, which let them get to the front of any line in the duration that they were there for.

But today, even the flash pass lane had a bit of a line. Not nearly as bad as the regular line, though.

In front of them, was a group of boys from their grade. Kya internally groaned, as some of them were popular. They immediately recognized Kya and Kariana, and they exchanged a series of strange looks. Amongst the group of boys, Kya and Kariana saw a new face. The boys huddled up and began whispering frantically.

"Who are they?" They heard the new boy asked.

"Their names are Kya and Kariana," One boy answered. "They're pretty cool, and hot."

"I see that," the new boy said with a grin. "What's the one in the blue shirt? The one with the gray tank top underneath."

Kariana was wearing a blue plaid cardigan with a gray tank top underneath. She wore dark blue denim shorts, and black shoes. Half of her hair was tied up into a bun in the back. She did look very pretty, for someone who had gotten ready in just under 10 minutes.

"Her name's Kariana," The boy answered. "You should go over there and talk to her!"

The group of boys shoved him over to the two girls, and he stood there for a second, awkwardly stuttering.

"Sorry about them," He said. "I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ryuu, and I'm new."

"Hi Ryuu," Kariana said. "This is Kya, and my name is Kariana. It's nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

"I'm from the fire nation," Ryuu said.

"Wow, that's quite a distance," Kariana commented. "We have family out there, that's pretty cool, though."

"Wait, you two are related?" He asked.

Kya couldn't help but giggle, as she knew that Kariana was talking about Zuko. This part of the conversation always got interesting whenever she introduced herself to new people.

"We're cousins," Kya commented.

I guess we're not going to bring up Zuko, Kya thought, That'll probably be a good conversation starter for later, though.

"That's so cool!" Ryuu exclaimed. "Two pretty ladies in one family, huh?"

Kya and Kariana both blushed. Kariana was smiling sheepishly. Ryuu smiled back at her, and Kya swore she saw hearts in his eyes. Kya thanked him for the compliment. He responded kindly, and kept flirting with both girls. Though, a lot of his pick-up lines were directed to Kariana. Kariana was giggly, and would flirt back. But there wasn't too much time, as the line was moving, and they were almost next.

"So after we get off this ride, why don't we all hang out and get to know each other a little more?" Kariana suggested.

"I would definitely like that," Ryuu said with a smile.

Love is in the air? Find out next chapter.