What do you get a nun for her birthday? That was the question Kavik had been thinking about for a while in the Bin-Er hideout. Yangchen's 19th birthday was tomorrow but he couldn't think of anything that would be practical for her to take on their travels.
He had made the mistake of asking Yangchen what she would want and she had told him that in her culture there isn't a big deal made for birthdays so just a nice meal was all that she needed. Which was all well and good but he wasn't a great cook so the process of making her a birthday dinner fell to Akuudan and Tayagum who are way better cooks than him. Nevertheless, he wanted to get her something thoughtful.
He could get her a cleaning kit for her glider but he wasn't sure if air nomads typically cleaned their gliders or if they preferred it to feel more natural. Asking his dad if he knew about that from reading about air nomads could have worked but there wasn't enough time for a message to get back to him. He was opting to go with something else although he had it as a backup.
There was always the possibility he could get something for her that she could use with her new bison Thaven. The only issue with this was any potential grooming supplies would have to be ordered and wouldn't arrive in time. Getting something for Pik and Pak was out of the question as Yangchen made no effort to groom them when they could do it themselves.
He mulled over the options while laying in bed when it finally hit him. Yangchen has a couple of great disguises for time spent in the earth kingdom and fire nation. However, she doesn't have any water tribe wear. Normally when they had visited the north, she always wore her air nomad robes but getting her a proper disguise was something she could use in the future.
He would have to go out early in the morning to shop without interference from anyone but that shouldn't be any problem for him. In his time dating his ex-girlfriend Meihua she had dragged him to go shopping at the water tribe fur traders in Bin-Er so he felt comfortable getting something for Yangchen there. He had even bought his mother wears from them in the past. So, with that his plan was settled.
He awoke early next morning. After getting dressed he ran into Tayagum and Akuudan in the sitting room of their hideout having morning coffee. They immediately saw he was dressed to go out and knew he would have to answer questions. Akuudan put down his drink while giving Kavik and knowing look and said "Off to go get a gift for Yangchen I see."
How was he so perceptive. Those two had always been able to read him like a book. "Yes. I wanted to get out before things got to busy so I have plenty of time to looks around."
Tayagum had told him a couple of days ago just to listen to Yangchen when she said she didn't want anything. "I hope you have something planned. Just winging a gift for her is probably not going to be the easiest thing to do."
"I do have a plan. Last night I decided to buy her a new disguise that she can wear when we visit either of the water tribes. Typically, she wears her normal robes there but I thought it could be useful for her to have some so she could use it if infiltration is ever needed."
The two men seemed surprised at how much thought he had put into this and each nodded. Akuudan still looked more supportive and added "Well you should be on your way then. You should try to be back around five past midday at the latest so we can begin the dinner for her."
"Of course I don't think I'll be gone all that long anyway. I'll see you both later." With that he was on his way.
He knew exactly where he was going and knew the short cuts to get to the water tribe quarter in a good amount of time. The fur trader he was visiting was an older lady that he had done business with back before he had met Yangchen. He knew it said a lot that he was willing to come back and shop at a place he had once done running business for.
Upon arrival he greeted the nice woman and began searching for the perfect gift for Yangchen. He had thought mostly about what shade of blue he would be buying. He was partial to lighter blues almost like a turquoise for some of his light weight clothers but he also had plenty of more traditional dark blue as well. Ultimately a neutral blue made the most sense as Yangchen wouldn't want something flashy when in disguise.
After deciding on a neutral color, he had to decide on warm or cold wear. This was pretty easy as the thought of presenting the Avatar with her own fur coat was laughable. If Yangchen ever needed extra warmth while in disguise, she could borrow one of his. So warm weather wear it is.
He started to zero in on the women's light weight tunics and picked each and everyone of them up. Yangchen was on the taller side and actually the same height as himself. This made it easy enough for him to check the length on himself and decide if it was long enough.
After what felt like a couple of hours at least of going through the traders' clothes he found what he was looking for. A light weight female tunic in a neutral blue and white lacing as an accent color. He had actually found what wanted about thirty minutes prior but it had been too short for Yangchen and the sweet shopkeeper had to help him find the correct length he was looking for.
While paying the shopkeeper asked "Dear I offer and gift-wrapping service for slightly extra payment. Am I right in guessing that this is for someone important to you."
"Yes, she is very important to me. Today is her birthday and I would love to have it wrapped for her."
After paying the shopkeeper worked on wrapping for him. The end result was a box wrapped in blue paper with a bow made from ribbon on top. He bowed deeply to the kind woman and was on his way back to the hideout.
When he got back Akuudan and Tayagun were full swing into making Yangchen's birthday dinner and only briefly glanced at the parcel he carried in with him. Akuudan gave him a thumbs up and Tayagum gave him a nod and with that he went to his bed room. Yangchen would still be working for another hour so he sat down to work on some paper work of his own.
After some tedious reading of merchandise coming into and out of Jonduri Kavik stamped Yangchen's seal to it. The Avatar would have to glance at it tomorrow before it could be filled away for safe keeping. It was finally time to go and knock on her door.
He grabbed his present and walked across the hallway where he knocked. "Enter" was her response. She had clearly been working all day. Managing the Shang cities was not easy work and she had some days where she wasn't able to really even see Thaven all that much.
"I think I'm done with this today. My eyes are starting to go cross" alluding to the large pile of paper work behind her.
In the past he would have been really nervous about something like this but he knew how she felt about him and vice versa. He had confessed to her on the same day she met Thaven. What could be more stressful than that. "I know you said you didn't want anything for your birthday but I decided to get you a present anyway."
She tilted he head sideways and gave him one of her bright smiles. "I had a feeling you would get something anyway. It's just the type of person you are. Always looking out for me no matter what."
He felt his face warm some and handed over the gift to her. It wasn't as pretty as something that his mom would have wrapped but Yangchen didn't seem think the box looked anything less than perfect. She tore into it. "Oh, Kavik, you got me A Water Tribe Tunic. It's beautiful. I would never have thought to get something like this for myself."
"Well, I thought for the future you need a water tribe disguise just like how you have a Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom one. I wanted it to be something practical that you would actually get use out of."
Before he knew it, she was in his arms giving him a tight hug. "You put so much thought into this. I can't wait until your birthday so I can give you, my gift."
His 19th birthday was still 100 days away. She loves teasing him about how he was born 100 days into the era of Yangchen "How do you already have what you're giving me for my birthday?"
"Of that was easy. If I'm being honest, it's also a gift for me too. Would you like an idea of what it is?" The burning look she was giving him already gave him a pretty good idea of what was coming. He nodded and she closed the distance between them and they shared a kiss where neither one of them could stop smiling.