my Roman Empire is that in every kataang parallel, let it be oma and shu, yangchen and kavik, tu and la. One of them always die before the other and or they can never die together
Summary: When a thunderstorm stirs up bad feelings, Yangchen finds solace in Kavik's bed.
Word Count: 1,786
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The rain had been pelting the side of the house for hours now. It had started off as a drizzle in the early evening, before kicking up into a full blown downpour not too long after. Now, as evidenced by the thunderclap that roused Kavik from sleep, the simple rain shower had turned into a storm some time in the night.
He rolled over with a sigh, lightning flashing behind his closed eyelids. Another boom of thunder followed barely a heartbeat later, the force of it shaking the house to its foundation.Â
Not for the first time, Kavik wondered if the construction in Jonduri was truly up for the weather. With the wind howling in the storm’s wake, rain pelting against the thin wooden walls, it seemed not unlikely that the stilts holding the place aloft would simply blow away, flimsy twigs carried out to sea.Â
More lightning, and the sky heaved alongside it, the crash of thunder ringing in his ears. Kavik burrowed himself further into the blankets of his bed. He wasn’t frightened, or even necessarily that cold, but it felt like the right thing to do regardless. Storms sounded so much more violent without a buffer of snow.Â
Even with the din outside, he was well on his way to falling back asleep when a quiet, timid knock sounded on his bedroom door. Squinting, he lifted himself on one elbow as the door creaked open, lightning illuminating the figure standing outside it.Â
“Yangchen?”
She stood in the doorway, several blankets piled over her shoulders, making her silhouette look small and frail. She held a single fingertip of flame to light her way, the miniature fire casting flickering shadows over her face.Â
Kavik could barely hear her voice over the rain. “Can I come in?”
“Uh — yeah, sure,” he replied, not entirely sure he wasn’t dreaming. Yangchen stepped inside the room, and a skittering of tiny paws followed — Pik and Pak, ever-faithful at her side.Â
Shutting the door behind her, Yangchen kept the tiny flame cradled close to her body as she approached, standing at his bedside like some kind of otherworldly being. The gray of her eyes, the color of the storm clouds surely gathered above their safehouse, were unusually dull as she stared down at him.Â
Kavik scrubbed at his face a bit, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. “Are you alright? I didn’t think you were scared of thunderstorms.”
“I’m not,” Yangchen spoke softly, shifting in place. If Kavik didn’t know better, he might say she was nervous. “Someone else is.”
Realization quickly dawned on him. “Oh. Someone else. As in…“
She nodded quickly, gripping the blankets around her tighter. “Yes, that kind of someone else. I don’t — it’s better if I’m not alone. Would it be alright with you if I… stayed here?”
“Of course it’s alright,” Kavik assured her. He scooted back on the bed, making room for her to crawl in beside him. It wasn’t a small bed, but it wasn’t exactly meant for two people, either. They seemed very close together.Â
Beneath the covers, he could feel Yangchen curling up, legs close to her chest, making herself small. She wrapped herself up in her many blankets and tucked them to her chin, a cocoon of warmth against the raging storm outside. Kavik felt, rather than saw Pik and Pak hopping onto the bed as well, the lemurs becoming two fuzzy lumps in the hollow of Yangchen’s body.Â
They were close enough to share breath now. “Please talk,” Yangchen requested quietly, “I need something to focus on.”
Kavik’s mouth opened, but no words formed. “I — what do you want me to talk about?”
Yangchen scoffed. “The one time I actually want you to keep talking and you forget how to use words. I don’t know, anything. Talk about anything.”
“Are questions allowed?”
Lightning flashed behind them both, letting Kavik see her face for a split second. The dark circles beneath her eyes. The furrow to her brow.Â
“Depends on the question.”
A non-answer, but Kavik chose to take it as a go-ahead. “Which of your past lives is afraid of thunderstorms?”
A shrug lifted the pile of blankets, just slightly. “I don’t know.”
“How can you not know? Aren’t they all… you?”
“They are,” Yangchen explained, voice soft and heavy with exhaustion. “But I don’t always know who they are. Or, were, I suppose. Many of them are lost to history now, and it’s harder to access their memories when I don’t know them as well.”
Kavik quirked a brow up. “But they can access your thoughts and memories with no problem? How is that fair?”
He got a snort in response. “It isn’t. But that’s how it works. I struggle to know who they all are, but I can feel them so very clearly. Especially their fears. It’s hard to ignore.”
At the risk of sounding impertinent, Kavik decided to continue. Although he’d known Yangchen for some time now, the mechanics of how her past lives worked still seemed to elude him. She seemed particularly open tonight, when normally it was a subject she tended to avoid. “What does it feel like? You know, having them all in your head?”
Another shrug. “I don’t know, exactly. I’ve always had them; I wouldn’t know what it feels like to only have one voice in my head. It’s normal to me.”
“You can always hear them? I thought that only happened when… you know, things like this happened. When they had a reason to be there.”
Yangchen shook her head, the sound of it making a wisping noise across the pillow. “It’s constant. Usually it’s not a problem; I’m in control and they mostly feel like background noise. It’s during things like this, as you put it, that they get louder, more present.”
Kavik understood the unspoken part of the sentence. And sometimes they take over completely.Â
He pursed his lips in an exaggerated thinking expression, wondering if she could see it in the darkness. “I wonder if my head voice gets lonely up there, being the only one around.”
A ghost of a laugh came from her mouth. “I think my head voice wishes it was a little bit lonelier.”
“Maybe I can borrow some of yours and we can split the difference,” Kavik joked. He could practically hear Yangchen’s eye-roll in the darkness as she shoved his shoulder in response.
“So,” Kavik continued, quieter. “You really don't know who it is that's afraid of thunderstorms?”
Yangchen shifted a bit beneath the blanket. “I don’t know who, exactly. I just know that someone is.”
This was news to him. “You don’t even know all of their names?”
“I don’t,” Yangchen replied with another shrug. “Many of them are so ancient, even their memories are lost to time. I just… feel them. That’s all.”
Kavik could hardly imagine the sensation. Of having thoughts and feelings that weren’t his own, lives that weren’t his flooding his memories. And yet, despite it all, not truly knowing who it was that felt that way.Â
His next question was barely above a whisper. “Is it ever frightening for you?”
Yangchen didn’t respond for a long, breathless moment.Â
“Sometimes.”
Kavik wasn’t sure what to say to that. He wasn’t even sure why he asked it in the first place. The silence dragged on, punctuated only by the never-ending sounds of thunder and pouring rain outside their window.
After a particularly loud boom, he felt Yangchen tense in place. The next flash of lightning shone across her face, giving him the briefest glimpse of her expression, biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut, frozen in a fear that was not hers to face.Â
Almost on instinct, Kavik reached for her. He found her clammy hand beneath the blanket and squeezed. A lightning bolt lit up the night sky, the gray of her eyes turning to silver with it. She squeezed back.Â
“I wish you didn’t have to hold this fear,” he spoke without thinking, the words spilling from his lips, a waterfall of truth. “It’s not yours; you don’t deserve it.”
Yangchen squeezed his hand back. “And yet I have to anyway. There’s no use in ruminating on wether or not it’s fair, Kavik. It just is.”
“I’m still sorry it has to be you.”
She didn’t laugh, not really, but the sound she made was almost akin to one. “That’s consolation enough, honestly.”
Wiggling beneath the blankets, she moved a bit closer to him, her free hand reaching up. Kavik held still, trapped in the strength of her gaze. Her hand moved to his face, soft fingers delicately tracing his hairline. Kavik wasn’t entirely sure he was breathing.Â
A single finger found a loose strand of hair on his forehead, twisting it around and around itself. “This little hair of yours drives me crazy, you know.”
Kavik almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the statement. “Everything I do drives you crazy.”
Yangchen hummed in agreement. “That’s true. But this hair drives me especially crazy. Why won’t you just let it grow out with the rest of your hair? It never fits into your wolf-tail.”
This wasn’t the first time she’d commented on it, but it was certainly the oddest. Kavik supposed his earlier questions weren’t exactly the distraction from the storm she’d been hoping for.Â
Because if I let it grow, you wouldn’t touch it like this.Â
He didn’t dare say that, though. Not now. Perhaps not ever. He gently eased her hand from his hair, ignoring her sound of protest, and tucked it back beneath the blankets.Â
“The storm is letting up.”
Yangchen nestled a bit closer, if Kavik could let himself imagine it. One of the lemurs chittered in annoyance at the movement. Her head rested next to his, the warmth of her breath just barely ghosting over his lips.Â
“I think I’ll stay here, if you don’t mind.”
Of course he didn’t. He never could.Â
Yangchen fell asleep quickly after that, breathing becoming deep and heavy. The flashes of lightning were no longer so close together, but Kavik used each and every one to watch her, admire the softness of her sleeping face, until at last sleep claimed him as well.Â
The morning sun was bright, as though the violent storm of the night was nothing more than a figment of his imagination.Â
Yangchen was gone, along with her lemurs and her excessive pile of blankets. Kavik’s arm was reaching for nothing but empty air.Â
There was still an indent on the bed where she’d been sleeping. The shape of her imprinted onto the mattress.Â
And when Kavik reached out to touch the spot, it was still warm.Â
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Honestly what if I tell you that I kind of want to see the live-action just to see how it plays out. SHHH, I know it’s bad. SHHH, I know some crazy things are bieng said and changed. I WILL LITERALLY TAKE ANY CRUMBS I CAN GET BECAUSE THE MOVIE IS GETTING FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY.
Imagine a random new airbender who is really entitled and read like one book on airnomad culture started correcting Kya on everything she says and Kya’s is just like “Why are you treating me like I’m new to the airnomad culture? I’m not, you are.”
Honestly if I was bumi and I was staying in my childhood home and my little brother starts bossing me around like he is the owner of the whole place tenzin would catch some hands.
When the trope is the airnomad avatar and their waterbender companion who they met unexpectedly in a place coverd of ice and to which they technically show the world to because the waterbender has been confined in one single place due to polĂtical reasons and this companion also learns healing during their journey which helps them heal the avatar using water from the spirt oasis, and they end up being the people that understand eachother the best and the closest “companion” to the avatar.
I dont know how I didnt think about this but the water bending companion meets an old water tribe lady who is kinda of evil and teaches them new skills.
Avatar-Studios should have gone into the past, not the future, after “The legend of Korra”
I really think they should have explored the past avatars after “the legend of korra”, not it is not just because I think we all REALLY want to see them.
“Avatar the last airbender” Is ofcourse one of the greatest animated shows in history, I cant think of a single show with less flaws than this one. I however want to shine a light on the fact that Aangs world, or the world were introduced to in the series, is not a normal world in the avatar verse. And by this I dont mean becuase of the war, or becuase of the Fire nations actions. War and political disputes are normal for each avatar. I’m talking about the story and world setting that Aang goes through, being extremly different to the type of life the avatars usually have. By this I mean being frozen for 100 years, mastering all the element by the age of 12, people not really acknowledging the avatar or holding much importance to the title, and ofcourse an entire nation being extinct.
The common avatar goes through the stages of first being discovered as the avatar (at sixteen if they are lucky) and then heading onto training (which could be a part of the plot of their story. The only Avatar we know that doesn’t really train to learn is yangchen, since her discovery as the avatar and training is more so a part of her backstory.) What we know however about most of the past avatars and their teams is that they weren’t child soldiers, unlike the gaang, which is not the first thing we think of when we see them fighting a war against adults. One might say one of the reasons for this is becuase its a children’s show which most of us first watched as kids possibly being younger than Aang and Toph who are the youngest members of the gaang, making them look much older in our eyes. However I don’t think this is the case since so many adults constantly hate on Aang for acting way too childish (he is a child) and katara for talking about her mom too much (again she is child, she is fighting a war, she misses her mom. And she doesn’t even mention it to the extent people say.) If the franchise of Avatar would have begun with any of the avatars before Aang the concept of Alta and its story would have been extremely unique. We would have been in the same collective shock and confusion as when the plot and age of Avatar Pavi was leaked, since we once again we have what seems to be another child soldier, just that in this case instead of just one nation being “different”(and by that I mean extinct) it is all the four nations(and by that I mean the new distribution they now have of the four nations in the atla verse.) And honestly I think it is too soon, becuase I really do believe that they needed to expand more of the past of the avatars and by extension of the world before Aangs era, becuase Aang’s world is unlike what any avatar has lived, and Pavi’s world is even more different. Don’t get me wrong different isn’t bad, but we barley got to see what we had currently ( We dont know anything about the past, if korra is the “destroyer of humanity” I assume we wont get to see any good achievement her era left in Pavi’s era.)
I know my opinion might change but I dont think this concept is the best path avatar studios could have taken, I mean, to me atleast pavi story is somewhat of a mix of every other avatars story, she has a twin like Roku, a dark avatar is inlvolved like in Korra, she is a earth nation avatar who is a poor orphan like Kyoshi, and her story happens when she is still very young in a world so much more “torn” and different that any other avatar’s ike aang. I REALLY believe that if they have given more time to develop movies or series for the past avatars were they could tell their stories and animate their worlds and reality, so the audience who hasn’t read the books (GIVE US KURUKS STORY) can see, even for the audience who has read the books. It would add so much more to the world-building of the four nations, as well as their history. And they would have so much more time to really think through the storyline for the avatar after korra and were they really want to take this world they have build. I mean yes Pavi’s story would be cool but we just had aang, who’s situation with the four nations is not really as bad as Pavi’s, but who already gave us the child soldier avatar with an extremely unique storyline(again unique in the sense that he is a child, was frozen, woke up 100 years later, and you guys know the rest of the story.) Pavi’s story could be so many more things, and I feel like the four nations being completely dissolved and the evil avatar twin sister isn’t really it. I will keep an open mind however becuase Pavi is so cute, and since its avatar studios we can be sure they will do their best even with Nickelodeon breathing right next to them wanting to control everything.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
new yangvik fic!! go check it out!!
originally i was going to post this for yangvik week but since it's late and it doesn't really fit any of the prompts let's just call this a fun coincidence
and, even more exciting, this contains some more @thyinum artwork at the end that she was lovely and generous enough to give me permission to use <3
“So,” Kalyaan leaned back in his chair. He looked completely at ease, giving his brother the same vaguely smug grin he remembered well. “How is the whole Avatar business going?”
Across the room, their parents were occupying a loveseat, with little toddler Kaito giggling between them. The grandparents had been beaming with happiness all day; overjoyed by a rare visit from their prodigal son and his family.
For their sake, the other two couples were making every effort to pretend nothing was wrong.
“Fantastic,” Kavik put on a less convincing smile. He didn’t want his brother to think he was important enough to deserve his best performance. “Just when you think it’s over, another spirits-forsaken corner of the world decides to catch on fire.”
“The Four Nations always seem to think bashing their heads together will accomplish something,” Kalyaan nodded. “They always seem to let the dimmest people be the ones running things.”
His words earned a sincere grimace from his younger brother. “It’s like running a daycare, that caters only to the most spoiled!”
“Perhaps we would have been better off with something new,” Kalyaan’s tone seemed to have lost some of its levity. “A system, a new nation even, where talent was rewarded more than birth.”
Kavik’s brief feeling of agreement was gone. He’d known his brother still wasn’t over Unanimity’s crash and burn. He was surprised he’d made it this far into the week before he ran his mouth about it.
“A system that would put people’s lives at the mercy of anyone greedy enough to get rich,” Kavik retorted. “A pretty rotten idea, if you ask me.”
“And now that we’re going back to the old ways,” Kalyaan kept talking, and pretended he hadn’t heard his brother. “The shang city’s might end up under the thumb of somebody really merciless,” His smile was designed to cut, and draw blood. “Like Bin-Er is.”
Kavik understood the insult immediately, and almost started seeing red. “Watch your mouth about Yangchen,” he leaned forward to growl in his brother’s face. “I’m not going to hear it from you! Besides,” He gave his older brother a smile that had no goodwill in it. “Even mom and dad won’t forgive you if you insult the Avatar under their roof!”
“Hey, easy now Kavik,” His brother put his hands up in mock protest. “I’m not trying to start anything. I just want my family to have a chance to enjoy a few day when we’re all together again. Why can’t we just joke around like we used to, like brothers?”
“Sure,” Kavik remembered how things used to be between them, and he had never really appreciated the kind of “joking” his older brother seemed to be a fan of. “Just like brothers.”
“So, tell me,” Kalyaan leaned in closer, and gave his brother a sly wink. “One man to another; what’s the Avatar like in the sack?”
In the kitchen, the avatar in question sat at a small table, across from her former nemesis from Jonduri.
Chaisee did not look like a woman who had been living on the run for the better part of two years. Though she now dressed more humbly, and was affecting a more casual air compared to her former authority, her beauty seemed in no way diminished by her new reality. She wore motherhood particularly well.
Her husband had actually cooked breakfast for the entire house, with Chaisee helping so she could make a point to ensure there were enticing vegetarian dishes included. Yangchen took this to be an unspoken gesture of thanks, for the avatar had gone through a lot of trouble to make sure that this little family holiday could happen safely. Whatever their previous disagreements, the former Zongdu wanted her to know that she was very grateful.
Yangchen trusted that as much as she would trust a rattle-cobra.
 “I suppose I should congratulate you, avatar,” the older woman spoke before the silence could become too awkward. “I heard about your handling of the provincial dispute south of the Taihua mountains. A simple but effective solution.”
“Thank you,” Yangchen accepted the compliment with a straight face. “I admit I was surprised the governors of Sheim and Shiam were amenable to coming to a compromise over the silk town as quickly as they did.”
“When the alternative was to have you all but endorse the Earth King taking direct control over all that tax revenue,” Chaisee sipped her tea. “It is good that you and Feishan have such a trusting and respectful relationship, or you would have been in a great deal of trouble if they had called your bluff.”
“Very fortunate indeed,” Yangchen had not been looking forward to a whole week of this verbal sparring. She had been half tempted to let Kavik visit his parents by himself; but it hadn’t seemed very safe to have him stay alone in the same house as his mendacious brother and sister-in-law.
“I suppose you have a similar strategy,” Chaisee continued as if they were discussing the weather. “To bring the other Shang cities back under heel?”
Yangchen made a face over the rim of her cup. The former Zongdu was staying remarkably well informed on events.
The Avatar had only just begun to implement greater control over the other shang cities, when their leaders finally started to consolidate against her. Chaisee’s “retirement” had led to one of her most vicious lieutenants ascending as her replacement; after several other high-ranking operators suddenly disappeared mysteriously. Ashoona was as tepid as ever, but one of his daughters had begun to take a firm hold of his association, and breathe new life into it. Both of these new players were pursuing ambitious agendas of their own; and had decided they had a common enemy in the meddlesome Avatar.
And they were receiving no small amount of help from Iwashi, who never forgot a slight.
“There has been some resistance to the reforms Feishan and I have begun to implement,” Yangchen talked about it as if the Earth King had been an entirely willing recipient of her proposals. “We have a conclave in Jonduri in a months time to smooth over the . . . miscommunications.”
“I suppose you have a team that is already infiltrating the city,” Chaisee asked casually, as if she were only absently curious.
The Avatar’s face gave away nothing. “I’m confident the situation will be resolved through open diplomacy.”
The former Zongdu took a thoughtful sip of her tea. “It would be a great benefit to you,” she said, “If you could find a way to utilize the association already set up in Jonduri.”
“If is a word for the idle, and the discontent.” Yangchen repeated the old maxim with a casual shrug, but her mind was tense.
She thought she knew where the former Zongdu was going to go with this.
“There are operators I still know in the city,” Chaisee abandoned any pretense of coyness. “And I know the right leverage to put on them them.”
The avatar returned her favor with equal bluntness. “I doubt I would be able to afford the price that will cost.” If you think I’m going to trust you . . .
“A refugee will not turn up her nose at a simple meal, if it is nourishing,” Chaisee was staring down at her teacup, as if trying to decipher valuable wisdom from its leaves. “I am tired of living on the run; and it’s not the life I ever meant for my son. To live on borrowed time is to taste a bitterness in every breath you take.”
The older woman’s voice was flat, carefully emotionless; and Yangchen could not tell if her words contained any hint of accusation, or promise of vengeance, towards the Avatar who had put her family in this position.
So that was it; she wanted the Avatar to help take the heat off of her family. Forever.
The offer was a tempting one. But did she dare trust the architect of Unanimity?
When Chaisee looked back up, her carefully crafted smile had returned. “But perhaps talk of business can wait.” She raised her teacup. “This week is for the family, and should not be sullied by disagreements. Past or present.”
“Yes,” Yangchen picked up her own teacup in reply, forcing an almost convincing smile to her lips. “Let us always have harmony in the home-“
Her words were interrupted by a sudden shout from the living room, and the unmistakable sound of a wave of water crashing down on someone.
I made three, I kind of trace for the parallels by choice because I need to. Couldn’t get the pose right for the life of me, hope I won’t too much trouble for these so
[ID copied from alt text: A digital drawing of chibi Yangchen and Kavik sitting at a table having tea, the steam making a heart in between them. End ID]
Yangchen and Kavik had to spend the week in the North Pole. Chief Oyaluk had sent her a message about a disturbed spirit stuck in the Oasis that needed to be attended to immediately. It was a relatively easy fix, calming the spirit took only three of the seven days, they only remained another four to perform cleansing rituals so make sure the spirit wouldn’t return.
Another important bit of information was that it occurred over Kavik’s birthday; he'd said he didn’t care, he hadn’t planned to do anything anyway, but Yangchen wanted to do something for him anyway. You only turn eighteen once.
After one of the spiritual cleansing sessions, Kavik and Yangchen walked the streets of Agna Qel’a. Kavik went to walk down a side street to get to their hotel, but Yangchen took his arm and guided him further along the main road.
“Hey- we should have to go back to the hotel.” Kavik tried to pull away but Yangchen kept her grip. “Genius, it's back that way.” Kavik pointed toward the side road that was now a block back but Yangchen just shrugged and kept walking. “I thought we could maybe take a different route and get some air. As beautiful as the Oasis is, it can get a bit stuffy.”
“Ayunerak is gonna be upset if she hears we’re walking these streets till late at night,” there were most definitely White Lotus agents watching them, Ayunerak always pressed Yangchen about keeping a low profile. Walking the streets of the capitol of the Northern Water tribe with a good looking guy would definitely start rumors… again.
“Why do you have to be so insufferable whenever I try to do something nice?” Yangchen remarked with a groan as she took her hand off Kavik's arm and rubbed her temples. “Just shut up for a few minutes, will you?”
“You’re the boss,” Kavik threw his arms up in mock surrender. Before continuing to follow.
The torches that lit the street at night reflected beautifully off the water ways. The stars were pretty nice from an open area too. There was still quite a bit of noise from street vendors, pedestrians, and the boats passing by, but at least the city was pretty.
Yangchen led them down a few side roads before reaching a quieter part of the capitol. Most of the shops there were closed aside from a handful of restaurants and tea houses. Kavik had a strange wave of deja vu come over him, like he’d been here before.
When the pair rounded a couple and a particularly small, warm looking tea house came into view with a sign saying Blue Leaf, Kavik recognized the place. Kavik didn’t visit Agna Qel’a much as a kid, but he went a handful of times with his family to meet up with friends and more distant relatives. Each time they visited his mother insisted on going to that particular tea shop, and an old friend of hers had owned the place and according to her it had the best tea in the city. The friend died years ago, but as far as Kavik could remember the tea was in fact pretty good.
“I don’t think they have the kind of tea you like.” Kavik immediately teased the avatar before being met with an elbow to the ribs, momentarily knocking the wind out of him. Once he regained his breath he spoke once more, “seriously though, how did you know about this place?”
“The last time we were in Bin-Er I asked your mother about it,” Yangchen shrugged calmly. After a moment of silence and Kavik just staring at her, Yangchen rolled her eyes and pulled Kavik along towards the tea shop.
—----------------
The inside of the shop was similar to the outside: small and warm. There was a young man at the front counter, he looked to be half asleep until Yangchen and Kavik came in.
“Er-Uh- what can I help you two with today?” The boy straightened up. He wasn’t expecting customers this late at night, typically people went to larger tea houses and restaurants at this time, he especially wasn’t expecting an air nomad.
Kavik glanced up at the faded menu above, “see I told you they don’t have the tea you- ow- may I please get a cup of Oolong tea.” Kavik stopped his teasing after Yangchen started to pinch his arm.
“I’ll just have a cup of mint tea, please.” Yangchen smiled politely.
The boy nodded and went to the back where other people must’ve been working.
Yangchen and Kavik went to take a seat at one of the tables outside. It wasn't too cold out so it wouldn’t be a huge bother.
Kavik took in the area around him, it was all familiar in a strange way, he remembered but he didn’t. His family had gone to this place so long ago it was nothing but a feeling.
“Your drinks,” the waiter boy from earlier came outside and placed the cups of tea in front of them. “Can I get you two anything else?”
Kavik glanced over at Yangchen to see if she wanted anything else first before turning back to the waiter, “I’m actually a bit hungry, I saw egg custards on the menu.”
“Right away sir,” the boy customer-servicely smiled before going back inside.
The boy rushed back inside leaving Kavik and Yangchen alone again, only the occasional passer by joining them on the street, stopping for a moment to double check if an air nomad was in fact there before returning to minding their own business.
“Are you sure you didn’t find this place by stalking me?” Kavik playfully raised an eyebrow at Yangchen.
Yangchen scowled at him while taking a sip from her tea before replying, “I am capable of having a civil conversation, and how would stalking you lead me here? There’s no record of you ever coming here aside from your parents.”
Kavik grinned before taking a sip of his own tea.
The pair sat in comfortable silence for a while until the waiter boy brought out the food, Yangchen paid him for the tea and egg custard tarts, and he went back inside.
The tea warmed the cold, arctic air around them. Kavik hadn’t really given any thought to his birthday in years, he didn’t even know Yangchen knew when it was until she wished him a quick happy birthday that morning when leaving the hotel to go to the spirit oasis. He would’ve never expected anything such as being taken to an old memory.
Yangchen and Kavik didn’t say anything to each other, they enjoyed each other's presence but just wanted to relax after a day of spirit healing.
Once they were done they neatly stacked the empty cups on the plate where the tarts had been before getting up and walking back towards the hotel.
“So,” Kavik nudged Yangchen in the shoulder a bit. “What did you think?”
“The tea was,” Yangchen tried to find the words to be respectful, “the tea has a very distinguishable taste.”
“It was awful wasn’t it?”
“I swear I didn’t know about that, your mother just told me how she and your father would take you and your brother there while visiting family. At no point was I told the tea tasted like wood.”
Kavik let out a bark of a laugh, “she’s not one to be rude, you should’ve asked my father about it.”
Yangchen scoffed and rolled her eyes, but grinned back at the water tribe boy as they walked along.
—----------------
The two quietly made their way to their hotel room, it was on the top floor in a suite. Yangchen had told Oyaluk a regular room was fine, but he insisted that special guests should have the hoor of a nice room.
Yangchen told Kavik to look through the notes he’d taken on the spiritual cleansing methods and take inventory of their supplies for further rituals the next day. He grumbled a bit, it was late and the two had had such a nice evening, but he complied.
-
“Yeah, everything's here.” Kavik said over his shoulder as he was crouched on the floor, taking note of the burning incense and other commodities for the ritual.
“Good.” Yangchen replied, walking over to Kavik. She stood above him for a moment before lightly kicking him in the back.
“What now?” He looked up to see Yangchen holding two cups of tea and holding out one of the cups for him.
“Oolong again, nothing fancy.” Yangchen explained as Kavik reached up and took the cup. The room was still cold so she must’ve heated the water for this with her own bending.
Kavik took a sip, simple oolong tea like the Avatar said, nothing but leaves and water. But it was probably the sweetest cup of tea he’d ever had.
Kavik stood up to properly thank Yangchen, and before he could say anything Yangchen beat him to it: “Get some rest. That spirit was very upset, and the reinforcement ritual tomorrow will take a lot of time and energy.”
Kavik nodded in understanding and went to walk towards his separate room, but before he could move Yangchen again stopped him.
“Happy birthday,” she said sincerely before pecking him on the cheek. Yangchen calmly walked to her own separate room, leaving Kavik standing alone in the main area, only coming out of his shock when the tea began to scold his hands.
Written for Yangvik Week day 3: trust (and a tiny bit of jealousy)
Summary: After accidentally aquiring a pair of orphaned owl-wolf cubs and becoming embroiled in an illegal smuggling ring, Yangchen is forced to face her feelings about moving on and letting new love in.
Will also be posted to ao3! Enjoy!
Word Count: 6408
----
Yangchen can’t sleep.Â
Despite her best efforts – reading, meditation, even counting flying lemurs – sleep still eludes her. After tossing and turning for the last few hours, she at last gave up, slipping quietly from her bed, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders and making her way downstairs. Kavik is still snoring away, and for that she’s thankful. At least one of them should get a good night’s rest.
She hasn’t been sleeping very well for a while now, if she’s being honest with herself. The motions to find a cup and fix herself some tea in the darkened kitchen are becoming second nature.
If she can’t sleep, she may as well make herself useful. Lighting only a single candle, she settles at the kitchen table with her tea and a stack of half-finished paperwork left to one side.Â
Even all these years later, the paperwork is still never-ending. Though, Yangchen has to admit, the load has been significantly lightened. About a year ago she finally managed to transition one of the Shang cities into a normal Earth Kingdom city, complete with free trade and a functioning leadership that seems, at least from what she can tell so far, to not have fallen into corruption just yet.Â
Port Tuugaq has been a success. And if things go the way they should, Bin-Er should be following suit within the next couple of years. Chief Oyaluk has been by far the most receptive to Yangchen’s work at transitioning the cities and repairing relations, and as such he gets to be the first leader to once again reap the benefits of free trade with the Earth Kingdom.Â
Yangchen taps the end of her pencil against her cheek, frowning. Bin-Er is headed in the right direction, certainly, but there’s still plenty of work for her to do before it can reach that goal. These reports of recently-seized inventory certainly tell a sorry tale.Â
If she could just… figure out…
Staring down at the paper, Yangchen doesn’t even notice that she’s nodding off – not until she comes to again.
Her arm is wet. In her half-asleep mind, she reaches a hand out, expecting to feel a giant, furry face beneath her palm. When she was younger, she used to fall asleep in the bison paddocks. They were easier to talk to than people, sometimes. She’d wake up to find that Nujian had drooled on her all night, lovingly licking her as though she were his own precious calf.
A heartbeat later, she wakes up for real, neck and shoulders stiff from laying asleep at the wooden table. Her eyes are crusty and blurry, and when she opens them she discovers why her arm is so wet: she’s been drooling on herself all night long.
Why did she think it was Nujian’s doing? She stretches a bit, hearing her back audibly pop. The early morning light is making her squint. Nujian is gone. He’s been gone for years now.Â
Actually, why did she wake up? It’s very early, and the house is still silent. Her papers and her half-full cup of tea are still in the same place she left them. The candle has long since burned itself out.Â
Still exhausted, Yangchen is starting to consider heading back upstairs, attempting to get just a couple more hours of sleep. Lost in thought, she nearly misses the sounds outside.
Nearly being the operative word.Â
A soft clank startles her, drawing her attention. It’s followed by some rustling, a bit of scratching. And then… a chirp?
The rustling noise gets louder. Wondering if perhaps she’s still dreaming, Yangchen slowly creeps towards the back door, shifting into a more balanced stance as she does so.Â
Something scratches at the door, followed by another soft chirping sound. Yangchen reaches the door, grabbing onto the knob and turning it silently. Her free hand balls into a fist, the barest hint of warmth surging beneath the skin of her knuckles. She can never be too careful.
That chirp… it’s so odd. She can’t place it. Taking a deep breath, she swings the door open, whipping her head around as she searches for the threat.
Instead, a completely different sight greets her. Rummaging around in the trash in the alleyway behind the house, two white, feathery shapes appear. Two little heads pop up, two pairs of piercing yellow eyes meet her own.Â
Two owl-wolf cubs are eating her garbage.Â
For another few moments they stare at each other, nobody quite sure how to react. What are these animals even doing here? Yangchen could have sworn they were native to the South Pole only. How did they get to the other side of the world?
One of the cubs chirps at her curiously, taking a couple steps forward. The other cub, with a wad of… something in its beak, seems a bit more cautious.Â
Not wanting to startle them, Yangchen slowly inches her way into a crouch, extending her hand slightly. The cub further away fluffs up its feathers, giving a half-hearted growl, but doesn’t run. The closer cub creeps even closer, close enough to sniff at her hand.
“What are you two doing out here?” Yangchen asks them softly, keeping her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re very young. Are you old enough to be away from your mother?”
Though the two cubs look nearly identical, up this close she can start to see some differences. Both have their chests and bellies covered in white fur, turning into silvery-gray feathers further up their backs. The cub closest to her has a patch of pale gray fur on its chest, almost in a triangular shape. It reminds her a little bit of the tip of an arrow.
“You must be starving,” Yangchen whispers again. Carefully pulling herself away, she steps backwards into the house, opening the wooden door up wider. “Do you want to come in? I’ll get you something to eat and drink.”
Her teammates often tease her for the way she speaks to animals, as though they can understand her. But for all of her life, Yangchen has sworn that they can. Pik and Pak listen to her – when they want to, of course. And with Nujian, she didn’t even need reins to direct him. He always knew just where she needed to go.Â
Perhaps animals simply always know she has no intention of hurting them, and that’s why they listen. Animals are much better judges of character than people are. As though they can sense she’s telling the truth, the two owl-wolf cubs cautiously pad through the door, heads scanning from side to side.Â
Keen to make good on her word, Yangchen wastes no time in finding a wide dish and filling it with water. The two cubs pounce on it immediately, little pink tongues flicking out to lap it up as quickly as they can. It takes her a bit longer to find suitable food for them to eat, but at last she happens upon some raw komodo-chicken cooling in the icebox. Probably intended to be someone’s dinner, but right now it’s owl-wolf breakfast.
The two cubs even let her gently stroke their backs as they gobble their food. The shyer cub seems to merely tolerate her touch, but the one with the arrow-patch leans into it, chirping merrily. Yangchen pets it again, brows furrowing as she feels just how skinny the young animal is.Â
A heavy step sounds on the stairs, and all three heads look up. The two cubs abandon their meals, anxiously backing towards Yangchen’s legs. Their feathers are ruffled, and both raise their wings slightly, as though they mean to make themselves look bigger.Â
“Akuudan,” Yangchen calls, recognizing the footfalls. “Keep your voice low. We have some guests.”
The large Water Tribe man peers around the corner, confusion written on his face. “When did we – Yangchen, get away from there!”
At his shout, the two cubs growl and hiss back, puffing up even further. Yangchen holds her hands out, trying to calm the situation. “I’m fine, Akuudan.”
“Don’t you know how dangerous those things are?!”
“They’re not dangerous,” Yangchen protests, “They’re just babies. I found them outside, eating our trash.”
He doesn’t seem quite convinced, but he takes a couple steps back regardless. Yangchen appreciates his trust. The cubs stop growling, though they still stare with undisguised suspicion.Â
“They’re small now,” Akuudan says quietly, “But they’ll be big before you know it. I’ve seen the kind of damage they can do with my own eyes.”
“I’m not keeping them,” Yangchen assures. “I was just feeding them. Once.”
Akuudan lets out a heavy sigh. “If you say so.”
Yangchen laughs. “I do say so. There isn’t room for anyone else on this team, animal or otherwise.”
~~~~
“So what, you’ll just turn them back out onto the street?”
Sitting at the kitchen table, Yangchen watches in confused awe as the owl-wolf cubs snuggle Kavik. The shy cub that barely tolerated Yangchen’s touch is asleep in his lap. Sure, animals usually like him well enough, but she’s never seen it happen to this extent.
“No, I’m not going to toss them back out,” Yangchen sighs. “But we can’t keep them. Surely there’s someone in this entire city who can.”
“But they’re so cute and sweet,” Kavik laments, scratching the arrow-patch cub under its chin. “And this little guy really likes you.”
Yangchen snorts. “I think he really likes you.”
“He likes me, but he likes you better. I can tell.”
How he can tell, Yangchen has no idea. But that doesn’t matter. “No, Kavik, we’re not keeping them.” Not even his very good polar bear puppy eyes will convince her otherwise. Â
“I wonder where their mother is,” Kavik questions, thankfully moving on from the subject.Â
“Maybe they’re old enough to be on their own,” Yangchen shrugs. “They both ate solids just fine. Though I will say, they seem rather thin.”
“They are,” Kavik confirms. He scratches gently at the scruff of the cub sleeping in his lap. “Especially her. But I’m really wondering how they even got here. Owl-wolves are from the South Pole, not the North Pole.”
“It really is odd,” Yangchen agrees, “But regardless of how they got here, they’re here now. We need to find someone who can take them in.”
At Kavik’s pointed, hopeful look, she shakes her head. “No, not us.”
He pouts, scratching both cubs on top of their heads. “You’re no fun.”
~~~~
They mystery origin of the owl-wolf cubs is revealed a few days later. In the absolute worst way possible.Â
After weeks of work, Yangchen and her team have managed to root out yet another seed of corruption in the city. A few months back, Jujinta began spotting some suspicious activity at the house of Shang Hailung. More staff. A new roof styled in the latest trend of Ba Sing Se’s upper ring. He and his wife started showing up in fancier clothes – as did his new mistress.Â
All things pointing to a new, heavy influx of money. Yet nothing extra was reported, and from Kavik’s detailed calculations, Hailung’s share of the earnings from the shipping routes weren’t nearly enough to cover all his new lifestyle changes.Â
Yangchen tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. She really did. While a shrewd businessman, Shang Hailung was always one of the kinder ones, and she admittedly grew somewhat fond of him. Perhaps he or his wife had come into a sudden inheritance, or some other equally lucky but ultimately harmless source of money.
So she sent her team to spy. On Hailung, on his family, on their relatives. As far as they could tell, not a single one possessed the kind of money the Shang was working with these days. All they really learned was that Hailung truly did seem to be a good man; a fair employer, a present father, even a caring and doting husband despite his badly-hidden philandering.Â
Part of Yangchen wishes now she’d never let her team waste their time spying like that. It only makes things worse. She really should know better by now, shouldn’t she?
Because for all the ways he seemed so good, Shang Hailung still took an opportunity to gain a leg up when it was presented – no matter who else suffered in the process.Â
Animal smuggling. The Shang’s secret, prolific money-making scheme. His ships went all around the world, trading underneath what was supposed to be Yangchen’s watchful eye. On their journeys home, each would pick up a few extra passengers, snatched up from whatever port town they docked at. Then they’d sit in cages in the underbelly of Bin-Er, waiting to be sold to the highest bidder while Hailung reaped the profits.
“How could we have missed this?” Yangchen demands, slamming her hands on the table. How could I have missed this?
“We didn’t miss it,” Yingsu replies steadily. “When Kavik talked to Shang Hailung he confirmed the operation has only been going for a few months. Not even a year.”
“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place!” She sits heavily into her seat, holding her face in her hands. Her head is pounding. She knows she shouldn’t be taking this out on her team, but her frustration has nowhere else to go.Â
They only made this bust so quickly because of a lucky break. With the two orphaned owl-wolves still in the house, the whole team has been on high alert for animals that don’t belong. Yesterday, Jujinta spotted someone carrying a cage of baby fire-ferrets near the docks and followed them. He was led to a warehouse that was supposed to be empty. Instead, he found the missing piece of their puzzle.
Yangchen, Yingsu, and Jujinta seized the warehouse that same night, a scuffle brought to a quick end the moment the Avatar showed her face. At the same time, Tayagum, Akuudan, and Kavik went to the Shang’s house and arrested him.Â
Needless to say, she’s running on very little sleep.
Something soft nudges against her leg. Yangchen glances down to see one of the cubs nuzzling his feathery face against her, looking up at her with imploring yellow eyes.Â
She turns away. The cubs’ mother was nowhere to be found. There wasn’t any mention of an owl-wolf in the records they found either, though they’re about as patchy as can be expected for an illegal smuggling ring. Their mother might have never been there in the first place. They could have been snatched from her side, orphaned on purpose just to line Shang Hailung’s pockets.
What a mess.
The owl-wolf paws at her, but she pays him no mind. She looks back up at her team, awaiting her orders. “We need to get as much information as possible from everyone involved. Hailung’s smuggling may be over now, but I doubt he came up with the idea on his own. There could be other operations in the city.”
They each choose a small chunk of interviews to work through. If they encounter tight lips, Yangchen gives them full permission to call her in. People usually tell her the truth; if not, she can at least help to catch them in a lie.Â
A plan of action made, it’s time to get to work. Yangchen gently pushes the cub at her feet away, heading for her room. She has to fix this.
~~~~
“I can’t believe I let this happen.” In the pitch-dark of her bedroom, her voice sounds so much louder.Â
Kavik is laying behind her, a heavy, warm arm wrapped around her waist. “You didn’t let this happen, Yangchen,” he whispers, head resting against her shoulder.
“I could have stopped it sooner,” she argues quietly. “I wasted our time by looking into the Shang’s family. I let my feelings about him cloud my judgement.”
“If it helps, I wanted him to be an honest man too.”
Her throat feels tight all of a sudden. “You trust my judgement too much, Kavik.”
He pulls her closer in the dark. She can feel his breath where he kisses her shoulder. “Your judgement wasn’t entirely wrong, you know.”
“In what way?”
“Hailung is a kind man. When I was talking to him, he told me that he only started this whole thing because his youngest daughter begged him for a koala-otter for her birthday.”
A family man, through and through. “So he smuggled one into the city for her?”
She feels Kavik’s soft nod next to her head. “Yeah. And then built it an entire habitat on his property. He employs a waterbender full-time just to make sure its pond is clean and it has enough sea ice to play with.”
She didn’t know that. Yet another clue she missed. “If he cares so much, then why was he having people keep the other animals in such abominable conditions?”
Kavik’s voice is gentle in her ears. “I don’t think he knew how bad the conditions were. Honestly. He seemed shocked when I described them to him.”
Yangchen does know that Hailung isn’t the best at hiding his emotions or reactions. Or… does she, really?
“So I suppose that excuses all his criminal activity?”
“Of course it doesn’t,” Kavik whispers. “He’s going to face the consequences of his actions, as he should. I just don’t think you were that far off in thinking he was a decent person.”
She doesn’t want to talk about this anymore. “I miss Pik and Pak.” Her beloved flying lemurs are starting to get up there in age, so she leaves them at the Air Temples more often these days. Every time she sees them she swears they’re getting more gray, even if their personalities haven’t been toned down one bit.
It takes a second before she realizes she’s crying, hot tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. I miss Nujian.
Kavik pulls her even closer, soothing her with soft touches and sweet nothings, letting her be hurt and disappointed and weak until at last her sniffles cease and she falls into a restless sleep.
~~~~
Sluuuurp. Slurp. Sluuuuuuuuurp.Â
Yangchen, eyes still closed, scrunches her face in confusion. Is that… licking?
Cracking her eyes open, a moon-white feathered face fills up her entire vision. Yelping in surprise, she jolts upwards, dragging her blankets with her.
A disgruntled squawk draws her attention to the foot of the bed, where the female owl-wolf cub is sitting. Evidently, she’s the source of the licking noises, as she goes back to grooming herself the moment she realizes Yangchen isn’t a threat.
The male cub, on the other hand, seems to have taken her surprise as an invitation to play. Grabbing the edge of the blanket in his beak, he tugs it backwards, shaking his head back and forth.
“Hey!” Yangchen tries to grab the blanket back, but to no avail. Despite his small size, he’s quite strong already.Â
“Oh, you’re awake!” Kavik’s head pops into the doorway, all smiles.Â
“Kavik, why are the owl-wolves in my room?”
His expression transforms into a guilty smile. “I let them in. I thought they might cheer you up, since, you know…”
Yangchen sighs. She can’t be mad at that. The female cub, catching sight of Kavik, gives a joyous bark and launches herself from the bed, scrambling over to jump on Kavik’s legs, feathered tail shaking delightedly.
Kavik indulges her, scooping the cub into his arms. She nuzzles into his chest with a series of happy-sounding chirps.
Yangchen rolls her eyes. “Suck-up.”
“I could say the same about him,” Kavik laughs, glancing back at her. Yangchen, realizing the cub has stopped tugging at her blanket, looks down to see him sitting in front of her, wiggling in place with barely-contained excitement.
For all of Akuudan’s concerns, these two have adjusted rather well to being pets. They’ll make someone quite happy soon enough.
They are rather cute as well, Yangchen has to admit. She can’t resist that face. She scratches under the cub’s chin and he preens.Â
Yes, they’ll make someone else very happy to have them.
~~~~
Though finding a suitable home for the owl-wolves is important, it can’t be their priority. There were dozens of animals in that smuggling ring, and they need to be put in better conditions as soon as possible. That’s their focus for now.
That doesn’t mean they’re keeping them, though. She has to remind Kavik of this daily. Despite her insistence, he’s fallen utterly in love with the female cub.Â
They’re quickly outgrowing the label of cub, however. At this point, both are far too large to pick up anymore, and they eat more meat each day than the rest of her team combined.
Yangchen sighs, massaging her temples. Just another logistic to work out. Her team gets most of their food for free on account of their connection to her, and so far they’ve been given food for the owl-wolves for free as well. But with the amount they’re going through, she isn’t sure she can justify not paying for it – nor is sure she can afford it, either.
She takes a deep breath, recentering herself. That’s a bridge she’ll cross when she needs to. Right now, she has to decide the rotation schedule for the watch force she’s set up. She has suspicions of a few other likely smuggling rings, some animal related, some not. This watch force is meant to monitor the docks for cargo going where it’s not supposed to.
It’s just that the timing is giving her trouble. Too much activity and people will get suspicious. Illegal activity will go to ground for as long as it takes for her focus to shift, then start all over again. Too little activity and she runs the risk of overworking those on patrol, making them more likely to miss things.
Don’t even get her started on the timing itself; she has to work around the shipping schedules and the rush hours and the –
The door creaks open. The male owl-wolf pads inside quietly.Â
Yangchen raises an eyebrow at him. “Do you need something?”
He woofs softly, as if in response. Then he walks over to her desk, turns in a circle three times, and curls up by her chair.
She reaches down to stroke his head. His feathers are soft and glossy, healthy again after weeks of solid meals and safety. “You want to lay with me while I work?”
He doesn’t lift his head, but his tail feathers wag. That’s answer enough, Yangchen supposes.
~~~~
“Kavik, she cannot sleep on the bed with us!”Â
“She can fit! She’ll curl up small, watch!”
Yangchen narrows her eyes, unamused. The female owl-wolf – who is nearly the same size as Kavik now – is fast asleep in her spot on the bed.Â
“Come on, girl,” Kavik urges gently, softly pushing against the owl-wolf’s feathered back. “Move down so Yangchen can sleep here.”
“Move down? Move off, more like,” Yangchen snaps.
“Don’t be rude, she doesn’t like that,” Kavik instructs.Â
Yangchen shoots him another glare. Taking matters into her own hands, she moves in, pushing at the animal until she sees her eyes open.
“Phyi la thon,” she insists, “Get out.”
Slowly, almost purposefully, the owl-wolf rolls over, yawning widely. She stands up on the bed, stretches each leg in turn, then finally steps off.
Then – and Yangchen swears she looks right at her as she does – she turns back, yanks a blanket from the bed, and darts out of the room.
Kavik laughs so hard he nearly chokes.
Refusing to be put out by an animal, Yangchen climbs into bed with a huff, crossing her arms.
“I’m sorry,” Kavik apologizes, wiping tears from his eyes, “But you have to admit that’s hilarious.”
If she were in a better mood, maybe it would be. As it is, she settles beneath the blankets, still scowling. Kavik stops laughing eventually. His kisses are a pretty good apology. His fingers even more so.
Some time in the night, Yangchen wakes up. A feathery face bumps into her hand. Looking over the side of the bed, she sees the arrow-patched owl-wolf standing before her. The stolen blanket is clutched in his beak.
He places it in her hand and walks back out.
~~~~
“We should name them,” Kavik says one evening. “They’ve been with us for months, it’s sad they don’t have names.”Â
“Names lead to attachment,” Yangchen replies. “And we can’t get attached. Their new owners will name them.”
Kavik hums, scratching the feathery neck of the female owl-wolf. She’s perched in his lap, certainly making it harder to work, but Kavik seems to have no interest in making her move.Â
It’s stupid to feel jealous of an animal, but Yangchen does anyway. This mass of feathers and fur has claimed her favorite working spot. She knows it, too. That look in her sharp yellow eyes… she’s definitely gloating.
This is why she prefers Pik and Pak. They get protective of her, sure, but they’ll fly off if she or Kavik ask them to. Even the male owl-wolf is preferable. He’s curled up at her feet, not in the way whatsoever.
Nujian wouldn’t act like that, either. Sure, he was far too big to be a lap thief, but at least he wouldn’t sit there and brag about stealing someone’s affection from her.Â
“She only acts like this because she can tell you don’t like her,” Kavik comments, as though he can read her mind.Â
“She only acts like that because she knows she’s your favorite.”
“I’ve never had a pet before,” Kavik comments thoughtfully. “Unless you count that croco-cat I fed sometimes.”
“You’ve got Pik and Pak,” Yangchen refutes.
“Those are your pets,” he insists, “And they are very sure about that. I swear they’re still waiting for me to slip up somehow so they can rat me out and get rid of me for good.”
Yangchen rolls her eyes. “They wouldn’t get rid of you for good. Just for a while. They’d miss all the treats you sneak them and regret their choices.”
Kavik’s eyes get shifty. “...What treats?”
She fixes him with a stare. “Please. Nothing gets by me. You should know this by now.”
Her mind quiets as soon as she says it. Nothing should get by you, but here we are.
~~~~
The owl-wolves have their flight feathers in. They’re making this known by jumping out of any open window they can find and gliding to the ground. When the windows are locked, they slip out the doors to climb onto the roof and jump from there.Â
One day, Yangchen lets the male fly to the town hall with her to stretch his legs. Spring is approaching, and the weather is finally warming up. It’s a good day to fly.
She takes her glider, and he follows on his wings, sailing through the air on her wake. She looks behind her occasionally, making sure he’s still following, and sure enough he’s there each time, powerful wings keeping him effortlessly aloft.Â
They land at the town hall, and Yangchen expects him to wander off, hunting or just exploring. He’s large enough now that she doesn’t worry much about him getting snatched up, and despite his intimidating size (and claws and beak and eyes), she’s never seen him so much as nip at someone.
Instead, he keeps surprising her. He follows her inside.
Boma is waiting to announce her, and his eyes widen at the sight. Still, he takes it in his stride as always, opening the big doors to let her walk through. “The Avatar! Master of all four elements!”
A series of gasps ripple through the crowded hall, every eye in the room trained on her. On them.
Perhaps this could be helpful.
Yangchen takes a seat at the raised dias. She usually sits on the same level as the Shangs and other merchants, hoping to feel a bit equal. However, sometimes being the most important person in any room has its benefits.Â
She sits down, and nods to the space next to her. The owl-wolf plods over and takes his own seat, staring out into the crowd.
“Enough playing around.” Yangchen lets her voice echo when she speaks. “I’ve done my part. It’s time for you all to fix the leaks in your own affairs.”
Murmurs. She glances over at the owl-wolf beside her. He meets her eyes, a wisdom far beyond him shining through.
“When my people come,” she speaks again, “They’ll expect the full cooperation of every single person in this room.”
She smiles, dazzling and knowing. “After all… everyone in Bin-Er is in someone else’s pocket.”
The owl-wolf at her side clicks his beak, wings fluttering. Yangchen smiles again. “I don’t think you want to face who’s in mine.”
She had intended to say far more when she arrived, but she’s tired of chasing the wind. Time to let others do the work. She stands from her chair and whisks away, the owl-wolf following in her footsteps.
Outside the doors, Boma gives her a knowing look. “If that doesn’t work, I don’t know what will.”
Yangchen grabs his hand and squeezes. “Pray to the spirits that it does.”
Back to the house she goes. As though he knows what he just achieved, the owl-wolf swoops and dives alongside her, hooting and barking excitedly. When they land again, he races in circles around her until at last she starts laughing.
“You’re back early!” Kavik calls from the front door. The other owl-wolf shoves past him to greet her brother, the two animals nuzzling faces and chipping affectionately.Â
Yangchen grabs his hand and leads them all back inside, still smiling. “I think the end is in sight.” She scratches the top of the owl-wolf’s head until his back leg begins to thump. “You were a great help, yes you were!”
Kavik joins in on the pats, his own smile growing. “You’re like a member of the team already, aren’t you boy?”
Yangchen stops dead in her tracks. “What?”
Kavik looks up at her curiously. “Wait, I thought you meant… Yangchen, seriously? You’re still determined to not keep them?”
“What ever gave you the impression I wasn’t?”
He stands up, frowning. “Come on, you clearly like them.”
“We’ve been over this,” Yangchen reminds him, “Just because I like them doesn’t mean we’re keeping them.”
“They’re getting big, though.”
“Too big,” Yangchen agrees.
“No, big enough that we’ll be able to ride them soon.”
She takes a step back. The room suddenly feels too small. “And why would we need that? We’ve been getting along just fine –”
Kavik interrupts her. “Sure, but being able to fly would be so helpful for traveling, just like when we had Nujian –”
Her heart drops. Her voice comes out loud, harsh. “I’m not replacing Nujian!”
Kavik’s eyes widen. He looks taken aback. “Yangchen, no, that’s not what I meant.”
“I’m not replacing him,” she repeats, voice tight with sudden tears. “He can’t be replaced. Not ever.”
He steps closer, taking both of her hands gently in his. “I would never ask you to.”
A realization seems to dawn on him. “Oh. All my asking about keeping them…”
Yangchen sniffles, nodding, wiping at her face. “I’m not ready for another animal companion. Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
His arms wrap around her in a warm embrace, one she sinks into gratefully. He strokes her hair while she cries, pressing his nose to the top of her head.Â
“I’m sorry,” he murmurs against her hairline. “I got too excited. I didn’t think about how you would feel.”
She shakes her head against his chest. “It’s not your fault. I should be okay about it by now, but it’s just –”
“All this stuff with the animals in the city,” Kavik finishes her sentence. “Drawing up bad memories?”
He knows her so well. For some reason that just makes her cry harder. Kavik holds her again, carefully scooping her into his arms and bringing her over to the couch. She curls tighter against him, trying to stem the flow of tears.
“I’m thinking about him all the time,” she croaks out. “Losing sleep. Getting angry. I think about all those people hurting all those animals and my mind always turns to him.”
Kavik kisses the crown of her head. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t tell me.”
“It’s not that,” Yangchen promises. “I know I can tell you. I think part of me just hoped that this would all be over soon and I’d stop missing him so much.”
Another kiss to her head. “It’s okay to never stop missing him, you know.” He pauses, lowering his voice. “I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing my brother, despite everything.”
“I wish I could stop missing him,” Yangchen admits. “That I could think about him without feeling like crying. But it feels like if I stop missing him, that means I’ve stopped loving him.”
“No, no, love, that’s not true at all,” Kavik rubs her shoulders as they shake with a fresh wave of tears. “Nothing could ever make you stop loving him. I know that for sure.”
Yangchen lifts her eyes a bit. One of the owl-wolves, the one with the arrow patch on his chest, pads over, licking softly at her hand.Â
She looks up at Kavik. “How can I do it again? I couldn’t keep Nujian safe. I can’t keep anyone safe.” Her heart feels like it’s breaking in advance as she looks at the two animals before her. So trusting, so loyal. “What if something happens to them?”
“Listen to me,” Kavik says gently, holding her face so their eyes meet. “You keep so many people safe every single day, Yangchen. I know you’d do your best for them, too.”
His free hand moves to lay face-up on the couch, a silent offer for the other owl-wolf to come over for scratches. He looks at her, then back at Yangchen. “It’s true that you can’t guarantee they’ll be safe forever. I guess… you just have to trust yourself. That you’ll do your best, and that your best will be enough, and that it will be worth it no matter what.”
Trust yourself. That’s a tall order.
But looking into the owl-wolves’ yellow eyes, she’s starting to feel like it might be worth a try.
~~~~
“Kavik, there’s something I need to do.”Â
Those had been Yangchen’s words last week. Words spoken after her team at last got the smuggling in Bin-Er under control, and Yangchen slept peacefully through the night for the first time in quite a while.Â
The words that brought them here. To her home.
They aren’t at the temple itself; this isn’t an official visit. As far as anyone else is concerned, the Avatar and her waterbending companion are in Ba Sing Se, reporting all the goings-on to the Earth King.Â
King Feishan is already well apprised of the recent events, via coded letter. Yangchen prefers not to deal with him in person if she can help it.
Even the Air Nomads aren’t aware that they’re here. If they’re seen from above they’ll just look like any other couple, come to see the sights.
Well, a couple with some very unique pets. Kavik was right; the owl-wolves are strong enough now to carry them through the air. It was rather nice to reach their destination in only a few days as opposed to a few weeks.
Now, their feather-soft bodies make the perfect pillows for them to lay against, eyes trained on the sky. It should be starting any minute now.
“Remind me again what this festival is all about?” Kavik asks. Yangchen has been a bit tight-lipped with the details.
“Every few years, the Air Temples host this festival to celebrate our flying bison. They’re so deeply ingrained in our culture; they deserve a celebration all about them.”
“Were you and Nujian ever a part of this festival?”
She shakes her head. “Only once. I got too busy after that. Avatar training, Avatar duties.”
Kavik knows the rest of the story. And I haven’t attended another one since he died.Â
Before her tears can begin to fall, gasps from the other nearby sight-seers draw their attention back to the sky. The first bison appear from below, flying upwards from the upside-down Western temple.Â
Each one is cloaked in a magnificent, multicolored saddle pad, no two the same. Every saddle pad is personally handmade, representing the bond between bison and airbender. Other decorations adorn their fur, face, and horns, but the saddle pads are the true stars of the show.
Yangchen can feel her heart lifting, soaring in time with each and every animal. More and more appear, until it seems the whole sky is awash with the colors of the rainbow.
She hears Kavik’s quiet gasp beside her. He grabs her hand and squeezes, voice awestruck. “It’s beautiful.”
She can almost picture Nujian up there, proud to be her bison. He’d toss his wooly curls around and roar and dive and swoop and –
And she’d love him. Just as she loves him now.
Before she can start crying again, something crashes into her head from behind, chittering loudly. Another tiny ball of fur does the same to Kavik, shrieking in time with him.
Yangchen just laughs, deliriously happy, as Pak clings to her head and squeaks indignantly. Kavik manages to wrestle Pik from his face and then he’s laughing too. The flying lemurs run up and down their arms, chittering back and forth as though they’re asking what took you so long?
The curious, slightly startled chirps of the owl-wolves remind Yangchen she has one last thing to do.
“Pik, Pak,” she says, and the two lemurs freeze in place, staring up at her. She gestures to the two massive creatures beside her. “Meet my new animal companions.”
She reaches out to the female first, letting her sniff at the lemurs on her shoulders. “This is Chime. She might like Kavik even more than you do, Pik.”
Finally, she turns to the male. Her owl-wolf. “And this here is Dache.”
All the animals sniff each other some more. Pik and Pak seem to decide they’re worthy enough to join them, as neither owl-wolf snaps at them when they crawl along their backs, tugging a bit on their feathers.Â
Kavik grabs her hand again. “I think this is going to work out.”
Yangchen leans in and kisses him beneath the rainbow sky.Â
[ID copied from alt text: A digital illustration of Yangchen and Kavik bending their respective elements, air and water, around one another to form a heart. End ID]
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