A/N: I'm gonna post this chapter a bit early cause…..I'm going on vacay starting today (I should have my comp tho) 8U And also cause I got ch 7 done, and ch 8/9 going pretty well now!

I also have up to chapter 13ish planned out…I think. I had event ideas in mind, but I didn't know how they were going to solidify juuuust yet…..until now. Anyway, I think things are finally falling into place! Still not sure how many chapters total tho TT0TT) XD

Rangi hopped off her ostrich horse, and bent down in the nearby grass. She ran her hand through the blades thoroughly, gathering as much of the object as she could, before pulling it out and looking at what she gathered.

Her fingers were laced with fluffy white strands of hair. Bison fur. She scowled, she must've just missed them, because it still felt warm.

She balled her hand into a fist, and then slammed it into the ground with a small combustive force in frustration. Only using enough force to protect her hand from the earth but not hard enough to scare her steed away.

She'd been traveling all night, and she was now on three nights of no sleep. This was usually the maximum limit she would push herself to, not that she was unable to go on for longer. However, the side effects of sleep deprivation tend to hit her hard around the three day mark, and it was usually more beneficial to rest than to keep pushing it.

She inhaled sharply through her nose, and then made her way over to the ostrich horse, after rifling through some rucksacks she pulled out a map.

Youke Village. It was a pit stop village for travelers, it was located not far outside of Ba Sing Se, that would be her next stop. Best case scenario was that she got lucky and ran into Kyoshi. Worst case? Well, at least she'd get some rest.

She put the map back into her main rucksack, and as she did she eyed Jianzhu's seal. Maybe I should upgrade to an eel hound? They're much faster. They were the second fastest animal in the world, only behind a sky bison. The issue was that they were very expensive, but Jianzhu had mentioned money wasn't an issue, and it was why he gave her his seal. Thankfully, it should arrive fairly fast, considering she was near Ba Sing Se which had a local breeder.

I'll need to update him when I get to Youke. Jianzhu was probably anxious for an update, plus it'd be best to notify him of the hit his bank account was about to take.

She mounted her steed and turned it northward towards Youke.

"I'll be honest, I thought you would've caught me by now," a voice whispered teasingly into Rangi's ear.

Rangi felt the hair on her neck stand up, and she whipped around, ready to throw a fireball in Kyoshi's face. But there was nothing. Just her and her ostrich horse in some damned woods.

Rangi gasped a few deep breaths, and bit her swollen lip, fresh blood pooling into her mouth. Idiot! It's just a hallucination! Nothing is here!

"Oh don't say that, I'm always with you," the hallucination purred next to her. Rangi whipped her arm out, sending a minor explosion the voice's way. It spooked her steed, which caused it to gallop a few feet away. It clucked confused by the sudden attack, wondering if it needed to get ready to fight or flee.

Breathing heavily, Rangi looked around, but there was still no one. She kicked her steed's sides, commanding it to race down a northern path.

"Why are you running from me?" It felt like the hallucination was behind her on her ostrich horse, her back leaning against Rangi's. "You were just chasing after me so viciously, now you're running away?"

"You aren't here!" Rangi yelled into the dark forest, trying to disperse the hallucination. Not caring if she looked or sounded crazy. "The real Kyoshi is somewhere else! You aren't real!"

"But I am," it felt like the voice had turned, like it was gripping her shoulders from behind and talking directly into her ear. "I've been with you for nearly two years. You can't get rid of me that easily, Rangi. Your duty be damned."

Rangi clenched her teeth, trying her best to block the voice out. I need to get to the village. I need to get some rest before I lose it.

She kept repeating the same two sentences, trying to drown out the persistent voice that followed her.

Rangi couldn't get through the doors to her room fast enough. To onlookers, it probably looked like she was in a race with a dark spirit with how fast she moved. She might as well have been, the Kyoshi voice had remained persistent, but now it felt like other demeaning voices were joining in slowly but surely, just not as loud as Kyoshi's.

She approached the inn's entrance counter, taking all her willpower not to stumble, and flashed Jianzhu's seal. "I need a room, just for the night."

The hostess was a petite woman dressed in upper middle class Earth Kingdom garb. She fanned herself with a high quality fan as she eyed the seal. After a moment, she folded up her fans and she took the seal from Rangi's hand. "For how long?"

"Just the night," Rangi repeated as evenly as she could. She was trying not to be impatient, but the Kyoshi hallucination was starting to manifest as wispy apparitions in the corner of her eyes. She was becoming more on edge the longer it took to find solace in sleep.

The hostess hummed, and took out a book and began writing down something or other. Very, very slowly. Rangi stood at attention, as stock still as she could manage. Attempting to lock her muscles in place, but they billowed and shuddered begging to relax. Just a little longer I just need to stay awake a little longer.

The woman took the seal and lightly dabbed ink on it, before imprinting the book with it. "Aren't you the same gal that was in Tu Zin the other day?"

Rangi furrowed her eyes, unsure why this woman wanted to know. "Why?"

"Just wondering, my sister sends me frequent letters via messenger hawk. She told me a pretty, but skittish, Fire Nation girl went to her stables to swap ostrich horses." She unfolded her fan and fanned herself, but didn't give Rangi the seal back. "And now here you are fitting that description. You've gone on quite the journey, it seems like you're very far from home. Why's that?"

Great, another nuisance to deal with. The woman just had to be talkative, she couldn't just give Rangi the key to her room and let her sleep. But the woman still had the seal, she couldn't blow up.

Rangi pondered how to approach the situation. She'd already given Jianzhu's seal, so the woman would know she's connected to Jianzhu. Possibly even the Avatar. Even though Jianzhu had set up a cover of her going on vacation, her appearance and behavior would certainly not match that description. She'd need to lie, and make sure the lie was good enough to not incriminate nor interfere with Jianzhu.

With how nosy this woman was, she could be linked to one of Jianzhu's rivals. Or she could just be a chatty Auntie. Regardless, Rangi needed to be careful.

"My brother-in-law's sister ran away from home, I'm attempting to fetch her. It's a family emergency, you see." The excuse she gave the drunk would work just fine. Jianzhu lied because he wanted to save face for his friend and her daughter's family issues. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Aw, you could've just said you were trying to find your lost lover," Kyoshi's voice whispered into her ear teasingly, a phantom's embrace spreading behind Rangi's back and across her shoulders as the apparition hugged her from behind. "If you're going to pretend, at least enjoy it a little."

Rangi went ramrod straight, and kept her face as neutral as possible. It's just your muscles spasming. It's just your mind playing tricks on you. No one is there.

"Maybe it's because she thought she didn't have a chance with you?" a new, slightly deeper voice spoke. It sounded like it was coming from behind the hostess. The apparition hadn't appeared yet, but it sounded like Yun. Rangi locked her jaw, ignoring how harsh the apparition's words cut her, and tried her best to focus on the woman in front of her.

The woman, however, cocked an eyebrow. "Your brother-in-law's sister ran away?" She repeated.

"Yes," Rangi forced out. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no it's just…." The woman trailed off and then fanned herself dramatically, causing Rangi's eyebrow to twitch in annoyance. "Is that all?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, it's just that, I was hoping for more! You Fire Nation lot are so quick and to the point, no embellishment! You don't make great story tellers I tell you!"

Rangi could feel a vein in her head pulse as she clenched her jaw. Really? This woman was keeping Rangi from the sanctuary of a bed because she wanted gossip?! "My family business is none of your concern." She said through gritted teeth.

Rangi folded her arms over the counter, both for support, and to see where the woman put the seal. She really couldn't care less if she had to swipe her seal back and flee to Ba Sing Se for minor assault. At this rate, she figured she may be justified.

The woman fanned herself again, "Oh dear me! You are mistaken! I was just trying to see how I could help!"

Rangi's irritation lessened just a little bit, the woman could be lying but if she was speaking the truth well….. There was no way for her to help a situation that didn't exist.

The woman pouted, "You see, I once had a brother-in-law who ran away once-"

Rangi's forehead hit the counter as the woman droned on and on. It was official, Rangi was never going to escape the clutches of the gossiping Auntie from hell.

It was another grueling twenty minutes before the woman finally gave Rangi her seal back as well as a room key. Rangi booked it to the stables to finish unpacking her ostrich horse. Thankfully, she unpacked it in record time, wrote two letters (one in code to Jianzhu, and the other to a merchant), and sent the messenger hawks to the appropriate people.

She put in a request for the inn attendants to wake her up at a certain time. She needed to check the town for signs of Kyoshi, and then head out as soon as possible to the next location if she had no leads.

When she got to her designated room, she practically ripped open the door and threw her belongings into the room haphazardly. Very unbecoming from someone in the Fire Nation military.

She shut the door tight, then proceeded to quickly, but carefully, strip off her heirloom armor and placed it on a wall near her. She ignored the futon, it'd take too long to set up. She just settled herself down on the hard ground, not bothering to undo her hair.

She looked over at the open window as she put one arm under her head. I should close tha-

She was unable to finish her thought before sleep took her.

Rangi felt like a cat, basking in the warm sunlight coming through the open doors to her room. The doors lead out to a garden, and she could hear the creek rushing and animals making various sounds. She lazily rolled her head to the side then opened her eyes. Ah, I'm late. It looked like it was midday, but here she was still asleep. She would be reprimanded for that later.

But uncharacteristically, she found she didn't care. She was sleepy, warm, and in her comfy shift dress she liked to wear to bed. Plus she had a really nice pillow under her head. She nuzzled her cheek into the pillow and hummed contently.

"Did I wake you?" a voice whispered, followed by a soft, cool hand touching Rangi's temple.

Rangi froze for a moment, her heart quickening and throat drying. After a few beats, she gathered the courage to look up. She was met with Kyoshi's warm and tender gaze that was slightly creased with worry. She was dressed in her maid uniform, but her hair was undone and cascaded down and around her shoulders.

Oh, it's a dream. Of course she'd be aware of what was going on, she couldn't even escape into the sanctuary of her own dreams. Reality didn't want to give her any sort of break it seemed.

"No," Rangi found herself rasping out, a lump forming in her throat. She only now realized the pillow her head was on was actually Kyoshi's lap.

A small smile formed on Kyoshi's lips as she traced the back of her right hand down Rangi's temple, to her throat, and back up. Rangi couldn't stop herself from leaning into the touch.

"Don't lie," she chuckled softly. "You wanted me to sneak in here, but then here you are, already passed out. I thought there were things you wanted to do." She bore a teasing smile as she said the last part.

OH. Rangi felt her heart quicken and eyes widened, and suddenly became very self-conscious how much leg her night dress might've been showing. It was one of those dreams.

The ones Rangi craved and prayed for every night, only to wake up guilt ridden the next day. It was a pain she was happy to repeat and subject herself to, given if the fates or spirits allowed it.

But this was different from the ones of the past two years, this was…..excruciating. It was evident from earlier her own brain was torturing her, but this was too far. This was down right malicious.

Because, even though Rangi knew it was wrong on so many levels now… Even though she knew it went against her honor and duty. Even though it would be akin to spitting on Yun's grave and memory.

Rangi knew deep down she didn't have the strength to refuse.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Rangi. Your duty be damned," the hallucination's words from earlier echoed deep in Rangi's skull.

I know. She knew all too well, but the war raged inside her all the same.

She reached her left hand up and brushed a finger across Kyoshi's cheek. "I'm sorry," she murmured softly, tears welling up in her eyes. She meant it too, to so many people, real and fake. Alive and dead. Each transgression she made shattered her a little more inside, but her heart just wouldn't stop making them.

Kyoshi took Rangi's hand, entwined their fingers together, and cupped it to her cheek. Her worried look returned, "Wha-why are you sorry? Why are you crying?" She looked like she wanted to take Rangi's pain away. Back then, that would've been true. She probably could've done it, before all this happened.

Rangi closed her eyes, letting the tears stream down her cheeks. She could only respond with familiar sharp breaths, breaths she only made when she cried.

Because I want this to be real! I don't want to leave!

Kyoshi shifted Rangi's hand, moving her face into it, and kissed her palm. Then responded as if she read Rangi's mind, "Rangi, I won't ever leave you."

Still sobbing, Rangi opened her eyes and looked at Kyoshi's beautifully freckled face.

I know, and that's what scares me the most.

Rangi put weight onto her free forearm, and lifted her face up closer to Kyoshi. As she did, she stole her other hand back from Kyoshi, and then awkwardly grabbed the lapel of Kyoshi's servant kimono and pulled her down. Kyoshi instantly responded by bending forward, tenderly cupping Rangi's face with her hands.

Rangi closed her eyes in anticipation, ready to damn herself.

"Kyoshi," she whispered just as she felt Kyoshi's lips graze hers, and then fully encompassed them in an upside down kiss. Rangi let herself dip her toes into temptation and bliss, until she felt a painful blunt object skewer her in the left side. Kyoshi's lips now muffling Rangi's scream.

Rangi gasped for air as she rolled onto her right side, clutching at her left side to feel at the wound. No moisture. So she hadn't been stabbed. She quickly scrambled to her knees, trying to get her barring on her surroundings.

She was at the inn, in her room, it was dark out. The window was open. Damnit, I should've closed it! Moonlight was peaking through, and illuminated a good portion of the room.

A shuffling sound came from behind, and she whipped her head around her room. A leg pulled itself back into the shadow, away from where the moonlight was. Got you!

She quickly formed a torch in her hand to see who the intruder was before she determined how to strike.

They wore black, and were holding onto armfuls of scrolls. So many scrolls, they even had them stuffed into parts of their clothing, breaking some of the fancier scroll's wooden holdings. She moved the torch upward, to see the face. They had their head covered with a hood, and a black mask over their mouth. But their wide, storm-gray eyes were very familiar to Rangi.

Oh! Was all Rangi could form in her mind. It was Kyoshi, she had snuck into Rangi's room. And it wasn't a dream.

A/N: Well hey Rangi! Look at that! Your dream came true! ….kinda…. She may have short circuited tbh. u_u

I wonder what's going to drive Rangi more insane first, the sleep deprived hallucinations, or chatty people. I'm thinking the latter.

Anyway, Youke is apparently Chinese for "traveler," yeah I know I was really digging deep for that name. 8U

I decided to also post a chapter of my other Rangshi Canon Divergent AU fic while I was at it, it's also technically enemies to lovers kljsdfajf but more comedical/light hearted (thanks to Kyoshi's personality change). Just know that it won't be updating as often as this one, since this is top priority (it's just I wrote a good number of chapters for that one so…..TT0TT Feels weird to be sitting on them)