Summary: While the team packs for their next trip, Kavik has a surprise for Yangchen.
Word Count: 2440
(will be posted to ao3 later)
~~~~
Yangchen finds that packing supplies is a rather cathartic experience.
As an Air Nomad, gathering up her own possessions is relatively simple. After all, she owns almost nothing. All she really needs is her glider and a pack with some clothing.
But she has a team now. A team that travels alongside her wherever she goes. The thing about a team is that they need a lot of resources to go anywhere.
The others are still busy packing up their personal belongings from their Taku safehouse. Yangchen, getting finished early, has opted to keep herself busy by packing up the rest of the supplies they’ll need.
It’s calming, in a way. Even her past lives find it so. Humans still need the same things to survive as they did centuries ago. Bedrolls, food, medicine. Yangchen makes sure to pack extra ginger root; Jujinta gets seasick when out on the open water for long stretches of time. (Not that he’ll ever admit it).
Yangchen and her team are preparing to set sail for Port Tuugaq, and if everything goes well, they’ll be there for the better part of the winter. Former Zongdu Ashoona, on the edge of retirement already, has been by far the most receptive to her plans to reform the shang cities. Hopefully the long winter stay will be enough time to get things in motion, and convince the rest of the shangs and zongdus to follow suit.
Finishing up with the food, Yangchen makes her way to the common area of the safehouse, preparing herself for the most tedious task of all: packing away all of the paperwork.
The table in the middle of the room is littered with maps, records, reports, and more. Stacks of paper are piled haphazardly on small side tables. A bookshelf on the wall sags under the weight of an untold number of logbooks.
It all has to come with them. The other cities don’t stop needing her guidance just because she’s not living in them. Yangchen takes a deep breath, steeling herself.
“You look like you’re having fun,” A voice from the hallway calls out, snorting with laughter. Yangchen glances behind her as Yingsu enters the room, hefting a pack on one of her broad shoulders. The firebender unloads her luggage into the pile of already-gathered supplies, heading further into the kitchen.
“Not particularly,” Yangchen replies with a sigh. She starts gathering up the papers from the table, doing her best to keep them orderly. “But it has to be done.”
Yingsu appears again, leaning against the wall as she bites into an apple she’s produced from seemingly nowhere. “Fair enough, I suppose. Need any help?”
“Thank you, but no. I’ve got it.” The papers are sorted into neat piles, and Yangchen moves to start picking up all the logbooks. It won’t take much longer.
“I don’t mind helping. I’m all finished with my own packing, anyway.”
“It’s alright,” Yangchen assures her again, “I can handle it.” The stack of books in her arms has grown so tall she can barely see over the top of it. From the corner of her eye she spots Yingsu’s doubtful glance, though the woman says nothing.
It turns out that the spirits have a sense of irony. While she was looking at Yingsu, one of her lemurs darted beneath her feet. When she next steps, she trips over the tiny fuzzball with a shriek, heading directly for the floor. She only manages to save herself from face-planting by dropping her stack of books and bending the air beneath her, sending her back in the opposite direction until she’s upright once more.
Hysterical laughter comes from her periphery. Yingsu is doubled over, clutching her stomach. Ignoring her, Yangchen dusts herself off, gathering the dropped books. Pik, the culprit of the tripping, climbs up her robes to cling to her back, chittering as if in apology.
“You’d think you’d have learned by now that we don’t mind helping out around here,” Yingsu chastises. She discards her half-eaten apple on the center table and grabs some books.
Yangchen doesn’t answer.
Standing from the floor with books in her arms, Yingsu wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. “But if you won’t listen to me, I suppose I can just let your pretty waterbender do the convincing. Since it seems like he’s the only one that can ever get through to you.”
“I don’t know if I’d refer to Akuudan as ‘pretty’,” Yangchen replies primly, “I think ‘rugged’ describes him far better.”
“Describes who far better?” Jujinta walks into the common area, brow knitted in concern.
Yingsu grins. “You-know-who.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I want to listen to this conversation.” Jujinta adds his bag to the pile and turns on his heel.
Yangchen shoots a glare at the other woman, face warming. “You’re twisting my words.”
“Only because you’re trying to play games with yours.” Yingsu finishes placing the logbooks on the table and goes to grab more.
Yangchen doesn’t get a chance to reply, because Tayagum and Akuudan choose that moment to trundle into the room, laden with more bags.
Seriously, how do people manage to accumulate so much stuff?
“I think that’s the last of it,” Tayagum says, wiping his forehead.
“Don’t put it down yet; we need to start bringing everything to the boat,” Akuudan reminds his husband.
“We’ll be finished with this soon,” Yingsu adds, “Then I’ll help haul stuff out.”
Yangchen pauses, glancing around the room. “I don’t think Kavik is done yet. He hasn’t brought his things out.”
The three others share a glance between them. For some reason, it makes Yangchen feel oddly flustered.
“He was still in his room, last I checked,” Akuudan offers.
“Maybe you should go check on him. See if he needs any help.” Yingsu’s voice is too even.
Yangchen pins the others with a glare. “Why do I feel like you all know something I don’t?”
Tayagum and Akuudan start grabbing bags and heading for the door. Yingsu has found the sudden need to make sure all the papers are evenly stacked.
Unfortunately, Yangchen’s interest is piqued. Besides, as team leader, it’s her responsibility to check up on everyone and make sure things are running smoothly. She can’t have Kavik delaying their departure, can she?
Ignoring the looks of the rest of her team, she heads down the hallway and makes for Kavik’s room.
He doesn’t answer her first knock. Or her second. For a moment, she wonders if he’s actually in his room, as she raises her hand for a third knock.
The door opens before her fist can land, just wide enough for Kavik to stick himself halfway out of the room. “Oh! Yangchen. Hello.”
His greeting is oddly formal. It makes something in her chest feel weird.
“Are you almost finished packing? We need to leave soon.”
“Yes, I’m almost finished.”
He doesn’t say anything else. He just stands there, as if waiting for her to leave, blocking the entrance to his room.
Kavik has never minded her seeing his room before.
“Why are you acting so weird?” Yangchen asks bluntly. “Are you hiding something?”
“I’m not acting weird!”
“You are,” She insists. She attempts to peek over his shoulder, but only catches a glimpse of something… orange? Before Kavik steps fully out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
Why in the spirits’ name would he have something that shade of orange?
Yangchen crosses her arms with a huff. To box her out of his room, Kavik has stepped closer, the sudden lack of distance enunciating their height difference. He isn’t much taller than her, but this close, she has to tilt her head up to look him in the eye.
She swallows, her mouth feeling oddly dry. “I thought we agreed to stop keeping secrets from each other.”
Kavik’s lips curl into a pout, and she can’t help the way her eyes dart to look at them, just for a second. “It’s not a secret, it’s a surprise. There’s a difference.”
“A surprise? What for?”
Some kind of internal battle seems to wage behind his eyes for a moment, as if weighing his options and deciding the best move forward. Wordlessly, he opens the door again, stepping into the room to let Yangchen see what he’s been guarding from her view.
“It was meant to be a surprise for you.”
Laid out on his bed is a garment in the same shade of orange as her usual robes. Brown and white fur trims the hood and sleeves, with delicate beading decorating the front pocket. She recognizes what it is - she sees him wear something similar often enough.
A kuspuk. In her colors.
The room suddenly feels too hot. “Kavik…”
“I noticed that you don’t have a lot of warm clothing,” He starts to explain, quickly, nervously, red coloring his cheeks. “And since we’re going to be in the South Pole during the winter, I just thought, you know, you might want something a bit warmer -”
“In my colors? You must have gotten it custom made.”
“Handmade, actually.”
Her jaw falls open. “Kavik, you made this?” She draws a hand over the kuspuk, feeling the soft fabric beneath her fingers. The tiny beads on the pocket are forming swirling patterns, mimicking the design of her wooden prayer beads. And the fur…
“Where did you get bison wool?”
Kavik gives an awkward chuckle. “Remember when I went to visit my parents?”
She does. Some time after their plans to stay in Port Tuugaq were finalized, Kavik had asked for some time to visit his parents, saying that he wanted to see them before they spent several months on the other side of the world. Yangchen had of course granted him leave, though she spent the few weeks he was gone missing him terribly.
Not that he needs he know that part.
"I might have made a slight detour on the way back and stopped at the Northern Air Temple for a night.”
“You’ve been working on this for that long?”
“Well, it’s a bit of a long process to make one.”
“No, I mean - you’ve been keeping this a secret for all this time? So you could surprise me with it?” She doesn’t know why the idea is so hard for her to fathom. Or why it’s making her heart beat in such a quick rhythm.
Kavik blinks at her slowly. “You deserve something nice. You work hard enough for it.”
The force of his gaze makes her face warm. She has to look away.
“Can I… try it on? Or is it not ready yet?”
Kavik nods. “Yeah, you can try it on. Make sure it fits; I had to eyeball all of your measurements.”
A heartbeat later, his face flushes even redder as he realizes the implication he’s just made. “I mean - I had to, uh, guess all the measurements. I wasn’t…”
Yangchen hides her giggle behind her hand, amused with how flustered he looks, even as her own face heats up. Leaving him to stumble over his words, she slides the garment over the top of her robes, admiring the craftsmanship.
“I didn’t know you could sew.” It fits her well, though the hem goes a bit far past her waist.
Kavik takes a step closer, eyes roaming over her form. Yangchen takes a deep breath, reminding herself that he has to look at her in order to make sure it fits properly.
“I’m still not the best at it,” He says quietly. “I had my mother give me a crash course while I visited. We did nothing but practice stitches the entire time I was there. And Akuudan had to teach me how to do the beads; he’s surprisingly good at detail work.”
Ah. So the others knew about this. Yangchen absent-mindedly strokes the fur of one of the sleeves. “And which Air Nomad did you wrangle into giving you some of their bison’s wool?”
“It’s from Mingyur’s bison. He was happy to donate it.”
Yangchen’s chest seizes, hand freezing where it touches the wool. Fengbao’s wool. Wool from Nujian’s older sister. Her eyes fill with tears before she even realizes it, breathing coming in sharp gasps.
Kavik’s face falls. He reaches for her hands. “What’s the matter? Was that not okay - oof!”
Yangchen bypasses his hands to throw her arms over his shoulders, dragging him in for a tight hug before her tears can start to fall. He flails for a second, surprised, before his hands come to rest gently on her waist, returning the hug.
They hold each other close for a long moment until Yangchen is able to reign in her sniffles. Even after she calms, a small part of her wants to stay there forever, held in the little bubble of Kavik’s embrace, safe from the needs of the world.
Alas, her wish is futile. Kavik breaks the hug first, though he doesn’t go far. He brings his hands to her shoulders, smoothing them down the orange sleeves of the kuspuk. “Are you okay with the length of the sleeves? I can tell it’s a bit long; I’ll go ahead and bring the waist up a little.”
“It’s perfect, Kavik. I love it.”
His smile sends a wash of warmth over her, a balm to soothe away her sadness. “I’m glad.”
Yangchen reaches for his hand. She twines their fingers together, squeezing. Words don’t seem like enough to express her gratitude for him. She hopes he can see it in her eyes.
Kavik looks like he wants to say something more. He swallows, squeezing her fingers back. His eyes meet hers, pupils so dark they could swallow her whole. Yangchen’s breath catches in her chest.
He’s so close to her. If she reached up, just a bit, she could…
“Are you two nearly finished? We need to leave.”
Jujinta’s monotone cuts between them, startling them apart. Kavik steps away, glaring at the young marksman standing in his doorway. “Jujinta, do you mind?”
Juji looks decidedly unimpressed. “The Avatar has a schedule to keep, you know.”
Yangchen shakes her head, attempting to clear her head from… whatever that was. “Quite right. Come on, we need to head for the docks.”
Kavik gestures to the kuspuk she’s still wearing. “Do you want me to hem that?”
She supposes he may as well. Though she hates to part with it so soon; it really is warm and cozy.
Still, she slips it off over her head and passes it back to Kavik with a wink. “Give it to me again when we get there. I promise I’ll pretend to be surprised.”
