Avatar: Lightning Strikes (IC)

[Mephistophelily]

Toph paused in her steps, smirking a bit as Katara brought up the past events of Aang's training with her. "I listened to you then. Really. I just.. chose not to follow up on it. There are times when praise and boosting someone's ego can do wonders. Morale- yeah, its wonderful. But to have an ego about yourself without something to back it up is like putting up a mud wall. Sure, its there... but what good does it do? You better have something good waiting behind it. Aang's got it all in there. The stubborn side of an Earthbender... but he's also taken in the gentle side of a Waterbender."

Turning back around, she rested her hand against the rough rocky wall once again, listening to the tone of her friend's voice. "Okay. I'll give you that... or take that for myself, I guess is the better way of putting it. I helped him see that being stubborn can have its advantages. But to fight back needs a strong enough reason. He needs a conviction worth fighting for. I challenged him back then, made him stand up for himself, his stuff, his own abilities. He's standing up for even more than that now..."

Moving the hand from the wall to instead rub against her stomach, she made a slight face, followed by a light belch. "Sorry. That tea..." She trailed off, giving a quick shrug. "Bleh. Not good that way either." Continuing to make the face, she returned to her stool, plopping back down and folding her hands across her lap.

Silence lingered for a moment, Toph listening to the sounds of Katara's movements, the catch in her breathing. Letting out a light sigh, she let her head fall back against the stone wall, moving her hands to fold behind her hair. "You need to find the Earthbender in you too, Katara. I've set myself to the fact that this thing won't overtake him. I won't let it, and I refuse to believe that it will. Be stubborn. Don't accept anything that you don't want. It's the firm will of an Earthbender that lets them move something set in stone..." She scoffed lightly, taking one of her hands from the current pose and waving it into the air. "You can move icebergs and whole rivers... and I -know- you can be just as stubborn as me. That's why we used to butt heads all the time."

 

[Ahren1]

After having silently allowed Toph to leave, Kurzen sighed to himself, feeling rather useless in all of this. He had been considered an exceptional fighter and strategist, yet there was nothing he could have done to prevent the devastation they had been faced with earlier. Never before had he felt so helpless. As he finally began to continue his walk down the hallway, the General lost himself to idle thoughts once again. It was hard not to believe in fate, what with the existence of The Avatar and all, but at the same time it would mean fate worked in very brutal ways. Just what could destiny have in store for them, for the world, to go so far as to incapacitate The Avatar himself? For the first time since he could remember, he actually felt a feeling swell up in the pit of his stomach that could only be described as unsettling.

Having the position that he does, Kurzen always set aside personal feelings, or at least the ones that would compromise important command decisions. It wasn't uncommon for Zuko himself to remind him that there was no use in becoming completely detached. The faith in his friends, and theirs in him were what had saved the Fire Nation in the first place. Not following orders or one ideal other than that everyone in the world should be equal. But Kurzen didn't have time to make friends. He had colleagues, associates, teammates, but... friends? There was a distinction. Maybe he couldn't put it into words, but it existed, and he didn't feel it with anyone. Relationships with women were almost completely out of the question.

There were times when he saw this as an advantage. That caring deeply for other people would only make him act irrationally if they ever were in danger. But tonight he had witnessed something else entirely. People fighting with such intensity due to their feelings that they didn't stop until they had passed out or that their injuries had been too much to handle. While he might not want to experience loss like Zuko had, he wished he could have that sort of connection.

Some time passed before Kurzen realized that his duties had been over for the night quite a while ago. But really, he didn't feel like sleeping right now. A patrolling guard had said he had seen Zuko with Lady Yuen in a nearby courtyard, so there was no worry of his Lord's safety, yet he was restless still. Eventually, he turned back toward one particular destination. As he reached the door to the infirmary room that held Aang and Azula, the guards parted to allow him in. As he entered, he paused once he noticed Katara and Toph conversing with one another. A few healers were still present, as well as a pair of guards inside the doors, but otherwise, the room had an empty feeling to it. As he approached one of the healers, they spoke briefly in hushed tones before they exited. The auburn-haired general then waved the guards away as well.

"I'm... sorry for interrupting. But the healers have been working diligently and I've had to relieve them for now. Trust me that if anything comes up they can be summoned immediately...

I've chosen to remain on guard tonight, but you may choose to ignore my presence if you wish... If you desire to get some rest, one of the guards outside can show you to a private room. I do not mind if you remain here, however..."

Kurzen glanced away, scratching at his hair idly. Normally he was much more professional than this, but the intensity of the entire evening still lingered in the air. Not to mention he was still a bit captivated by the Queen of Omashu looking much lovelier in person than he had expected.

 

[Mephistophelily]

His overwhelming laughter brought a smile to Azula's face as well, for the first time in awhile feeling as though she had someone who understood her; someone who saw the importance of her plans... Someone who she could relate to.

But why shouldn't she feel that way?

This was the source behind it all, the spirit of conquest and prevalent victory that had flowed through the veins of her forefathers, through those who had brought glory to the Fire Nation... Those she strived so hard to emulate. No... No that wasn't it. It wasn't a desire to be them, to be another version of victories past.

She wanted one all her own.

One that was simply begun by those before her. They paved the way for her, showed the other Three Nations that The Fire Nation was not a force to take lightly, tightened the firm hold and instilled fear at the mere sight of the firey emblem that signified her home. She didn't want to be simply 'one of the great Fire Nation conquerors'. She wanted to be The Glory of the Fire Nation.

"History shall need a very large scroll to hold all the destruction I plan to create...," She breathed out slowly, her eyes closing as the motions made by this spiritual imposter of her enemy lingered his touch against her skin.. or what she believed to be her skin, as it were. This world was not truly reality, but the feel of the spirit's warmth certainly felt all too real, alive...

It made her realize that there were certain things that she truly did miss while left in that cell all these years.

She listened as he brought up the point on the Avatar and his continuous cycle. Death led only to recreation, another brought into the world to replace the deceased hero of the world. A new world, a place that his 'services' were not needed... A place where even his influence would be useless.

"But I can do NOTHING of this if I am left to this place much longer!," She moaned furiously, her shoulders slumping in frustration. Her desire to create the new world of her dreams, of his dreams, was burning strongly inside her... but was as useless as her attempts to Firebend in her current location. "Give me freedom, Spirit- I beg you, give me freedom- Let me begin my quest, begin our reign..."

Her devotion to her task was so powerful that tears were managing to flow down her cheeks, her hands splayed across the faux-Avatar's chest. "I know you can do this... Why torment me in this Hell for any longer? Haven't I suffered enough for our cause?!"

 

[ChasNicollette]

Toph paused in her steps, smirking a bit as Katara brought up the past events of Aang's training with her. "I listened to you then. Really. I just.. chose not to follow up on it. There are times when praise and boosting someone's ego can do wonders. Morale- yeah, its wonderful. But to have an ego about yourself without something to back it up is like putting up a mud wall. Sure, its there... but what good does it do? You better have something good waiting behind it. Aang's got it all in there. The stubborn side of an Earthbender... but he's also taken in the gentle side of a Waterbender."

Turning back around, she rested her hand against the rough rocky wall once again, listening to the tone of her friend's voice. "Okay. I'll give you that... or take that for myself, I guess is the better way of putting it. I helped him see that being stubborn can have its advantages. But to fight back needs a strong enough reason. He needs a conviction worth fighting for. I challenged him back then, made him stand up for himself, his stuff, his own abilities. He's standing up for even more than that now..."

Moving the hand from the wall to instead rub against her stomach, she made a slight face, followed by a light belch. "Sorry. That tea..." She trailed off, giving a quick shrug. "Bleh. Not good that way either." Continuing to make the face, she returned to her stool, plopping back down and folding her hands across her lap.

Silence lingered for a moment, Toph listening to the sounds of Katara's movements, the catch in her breathing. Letting out a light sigh, she let her head fall back against the stone wall, moving her hands to fold behind her hair. "You need to find the Earthbender in you too, Katara. I've set myself to the fact that this thing won't overtake him. I won't let it, and I refuse to believe that it will. Be stubborn. Don't accept anything that you don't want. It's the firm will of an Earthbender that lets them move something set in stone..." She scoffed lightly, taking one of her hands from the current pose and waving it into the air. "You can move icebergs and whole rivers... and I -know- you can be just as stubborn as me. That's why we used to butt heads all the time."

Katara quirked a smile at that belch, and that face.

Toph never ceased to amaze her. Even in this dark time, The Queen of Omashu refused to be anyone but herself, refused to play by the rules.

'Sugar Queen.'

Wearing Appa's fur in your armpits.

Picking your toes in public.

And now burping in a healing room when most people would be so reverent as to catch a pin before it dropped.

Don't you ever change, Queen Toph.

Katara shook her head, and rubbed a finger below her nostrils, and quirked that weary smile at Toph.

"Actually," Katara baited, eyes playfully wide, cheerfully getting Toph's gorilla-goat, "isn't Water technically more stubborn than Earth? Water wears away coastlines, carves canyons, sure there's the whole thing of volcanos making new islands, but we'll get those eventually... I could probably give your stubborn a run for its money, now that you mention it. We could have a stubborn-off."

The Waterbender frowned, though, and shook her head. "I can be plenty stubborn when I put my mind to it. Just ask Master Pakku. But it always seems to me that I get stubborn for all these ridiculous things. Yes, if I hadn't been stubborn, 'Gramp-Gramp' never would have judged me to be a Waterbending Master in my own right. Yes, if I hadn't been stubborn, we never would have stopped to help break that factory's choke-hold on that little river town. But it's these little crazy things that get right under my skin."

Katara ran her languid, pensive fingertip over the blue arrow that adorned the back of his hand. "I guess I'm stubborn for the right reasons. But I guess I have to figure out how to be stubborn for the right right reasons. (I have to be stubborn for him. Instead of for me.)"

She stared at that arrow. Come back to me. Almost home. Come back to me.

I'm right here.

Don't go anywhere; I'm right here.

She got lost in her own thoughts for a moment. But then she fixed Toph with a half-lidded, locked-on gaze, switching easily, as was her wont, from the contemplative to the practical. "You know, if your stomach's bothering you that much, there was talk once of peppermint tea... I know, I know, keep throwing tea at the problem, such an Iroh thing to say, but I've really heard it helps settle the stomach."

As he reached the door to the infirmary room that held Aang and Azula, the guards parted to allow him in. As he entered, he paused once he noticed Katara and Toph conversing with one another. A few healers were still present, as well as a pair of guards inside the doors, but otherwise, the room had an empty feeling to it. As he approached one of the healers, they spoke briefly in hushed tones before they exited. The auburn-haired general then waved the guards away as well.

"I'm... sorry for interrupting. But the healers have been working diligently and I've had to relieve them for now. Trust me that if anything comes up they can be summoned immediately...

I've chosen to remain on guard tonight, but you may choose to ignore my presence if you wish... If you desire to get some rest, one of the guards outside can show you to a private room. I do not mind if you remain here, however..."

Kurzen glanced away, scratching at his hair idly.

Katara was a little surprised at this new fellow in Fire Nation gear, obviously some high-ranking fellow by the way he dispensed with pleasantries with the underlings and by the way he was so formally polite with herself and Toph. She was a little perplexed that he'd send the guards away with Azula laying right there... but then again, Katara was no slouch in the Bending department, and Toph...

Toph hadn't met an ass she couldn't kick, and she knew it.

Still. There was something about his demeanour that she couldn't quite place.

The way he didn't mind if they stuck around, or the way he enunciated 'private room.' It wasn't like he was being overtly lecherous or anything, far too professional for that.

Was he just... hitting on us?

Her eyebrow quivered. She blinked. And a single inexplicable drop of sweat ran down the side of her neck.

No.

She looked squarely at Toph, and her face split into a grin.

No. He was hitting on you.

She glanced down at Aang's hand in hers.

Quick second, honey, I'll be back with you in a minute.

Time for important girl talk.

(Maybe your Spirit Form can cover its ears or something.)

And then, returning her gaze to Toph, double-checking to see that Kurzen's head was still turned, half-shielding her face with one hand, she mouthed in Toph's direction...

Katara was utterly silent but her mouth shaped the words and she figured if Toph could read a person's body to detect untruth, she could sure as blazes read Katara's lips: 'Okay. So. Totally gorgeous. Like, Haru gorgeous. And I don't think he's here to check on any of the patients. I think. He's here. To check. On you. Like... chivalrously! (Also, maybe the other kind of "checking on," but I think mostly he's being a gentleman. A gorgeous gentleman!)'

 

[Mephistophelily]

"Oh really? You might erode it over time, but I plunk a boulder down in the middle of your stream, and you're not goin' anywhere." Toph grinned widely as she found Katara returning her argument, happy to have found a way to at least momentarily take her friend's mind off of her worries. "But if you want to have a stubborn-fest, I'll be more than happy to take you on. I know how bad you can get. But don't forget, I'm also in charge of all of Omashu. I've gotten, like, a hundred times worse. Why do you think my advisors hate me so much? Every day its 'We should do this.' And I do the exact opposite. Really, its more to piss them off than anything else. Huge things- sure, I'll listen to 'em. But something as silly as where they should let the cabbage salesman set up? Who cares? Let 'em go where he wants. And as for the delivery slides? Pffsh. They actually wanted me to instill a law prohibiting kids from playing! I can't do that...."

Still smirking, she leaned back a bit more, humming softly to herself as she let her absent stare drift off into the world she had never seen. The mention of her assembly back home left her to wonder; exactly how were things going back there? Hopefully they hadn't completely double backed from all the work she had done before leaving. She'd have to ask Zuko if she could borrow a messenger hawk, send a little reminder off to them.

She had noticed the footsteps entering the room, at first passing it off as one of the healers re-entering the room as they had been for the last hour or so... but wait, no. That wasn't one of the usual few she had noticed. The presence was familiar, however... and once he spoke, she recognized him immediately.

"General Kurzen...."
She nodded as he explained the change in watch, readjusting in her seat. "That's a good idea. From what I can tell, they've been doing a wonderful job... with both of them. The Fire Nation certainly has great healers. My own could take a lesson or two from them...."

Katara was shifting. Kurzen was moving around.
Toph was now a little confused. They did remember she couldn't exactly see what was going on, right?

Maybe it was something to do with her. Something embarrassing. Something she wouldn't have been aware of.

Did her skirt get stuck on the wall or something and she hadn't felt it? Starting to run her fingers along the edge of the stool, she came to an abrupt halt as she noticed the new shift from Katara's chair. Raising an eyebrow, she tried to understand what was going on... but wasn't doing very well. Lots of air coming at her... And Katara moving quite a bit.

Was she going to be sick? Maybe they did need that tea; she could ask Kurzen if-

Wait. No, that wasn't it. Katara was trying to talk to her. In something less than a whisper. Scowling, she tried to piece out the gestures and breaths coming towards her, only to have another look come to her face- complete disbelief.

"You're crazy."
Something that should have been whispered in reply.
But wasn't.

 

[Eazy]

Ryota

"How can I expect anyone to understand what I am?"

Those first words struck a cord deep inside, brought about by a vague realization of what was coming next by the time she continued speaking. Fact is, the Water Bender didn't know exactly what the girl was or how she felt, nor was he likely to find a means in which he could hope of directly relating to those feelings of isolation which were brought about by Xia's abilities. Despite how much the young warrior may have rededicated himself to being the best he could hope of being, Ryota had never truly stood out in any way, shape or form. Wasn't a bending prodigy like others in his tribe, a master strategist several of their leaders or even a natural when it came to using his spear or any other hand-to-hand based means of attack.

Chances were, only the Avatar, whenever the spirits saw fit to finally release him of whatever unusual state of disembodiment, would be capable of offering up any peace of mind for his newest friend. This became even more evident as she made mention of her dreams, of memories and sites which, from what he could tell by his knowledge of her life and common sense, shouldn't be her own. It made Ryota realize, truly, how out of his league he may be when it came to offering any type of assistance which would genuinely help her outside of a concerned, friendly ear to speak with when needed. Despite this, however, he hadn't felt any sense of regret over trying. For that matter, even as he continued listening with undivided attention, somewhere in the back of his mind Ryota knew there wouldn't be a second thought of offering help in the future. At least, for however long they were near enough to each other where he could make such an offer.

"I don't want to be amazing, I don't want to be an impossibility, or a paradox, or a conundrum. I just want to exist. D'you understand that, Ryota? I'm an Earth girl who just wants to be an Earth girl. I just..."

As the tears flowed down her cheeks, the young man waited with bated breath when her hand stretched out and reached for his face. His eyes followed her fingers at first, then slowly let his gaze drift back to her own as those slender digits began to aid in brushing back the loose hair he'd nearly forgotten about at this point. While he waited for those last words to creak out, however, the tribesman did let his head tilt slightly; pressing his cheek against her caressing fingers whenever he could.

"I just want to exist."

Ryota could understand and, most certainly, respected why she'd feel this way or choose these words to summarize everything. Still, as he watched those tears streaming down her cheeks, his own features showing a noticeable level of heartache over her predicament, the young tribesman felt a twinge of guilt. Partly over not being capable of giving the Ba Sing Se native the answers to her numerous questions which she so desperately sought out. Outside of this, however, was a somewhat silly feeling of guilt for his being one of those which saw Xia as an amazing specimen in this new age which they were heralding. Of course, his idea of what made her so amazing had to deal with more then simple bending abilities, but it didn't change how he wouldn't, couldn't stop from seeing her through the eyes of one whom knew they were watching something special. A flattering concept to some recipients of such adoration, but an unwelcome reminder for others like herself.

Shifting his positioning in order to better face the girl, Ryota's free hand joined the other in holding one of Xia's hands in a reassuring manner. As he watched her in silence, the bender could feel his dry lips parting, words struggling to come out yet finding themselves stuck somewhere in his throat. There remained much he wanted to touch upon, from things which he could more easily grasp such as her parents obvious problems with their daughter, to those which he couldn't provide more then heartfelt but ultimately unhelpful words of remorse over. Yet, at the same time, knowing there was someone near you whom cared could do wonders in getting a person through even the worst of times in their life.

Keeping this in mind, it seemed as if the young man was prepared to offer another attempt at easing her troubled mind, when the feel of her slim fingers cupping his cheek brought about a momentary distraction; followed by the sudden ascension of her lips against his own which proceeded to soundly steal away any words he may have offered. Ryota's eyes widened in surprise, his hands squeezing her own ever so slightly as his body reacted to the not so displeasing source of his confusion. Indeed, the tribesman's initially wide eyed reaction steadily softened, allowing his lids to slowly hood themselves over his eye; followed by nearly every muscle in his body similarly relaxing in the moment. Soon enough, Ryota took the semiconscious, but largely reactive response of leaning into the embrace as he returned the kiss in full; tilting his head just enough to momentarily deepen the spontaneous exchange.

The kiss had been relatively short, yet felt to him like it lasted longer then it did, while at the same time being too short for his liking as a trace of reluctance seeped into his thoughts enough to suddenly pull his head back. That initial surprise remained fairly evident in the benders eyes as he gazed back at the Earth Kingdom native; his chest rising and falling ever so subtly as he took in several heavy breaths. By no means was she the first one to kiss him, but it had been a while, and there hadn't been any past instances of a woman embracing him so feverishly. Still, as he raised a hand to lightly touch at the center of his lips, Ryota couldn't say he hadn't enjoyed the unexpected experience. What had caused him to pull back, however, was a sudden surge of confusion over what exactly had brought this about in the first place.

Watching her now, his mind allowed to think for a second rather then remain confused or sidetracked with thoughts of her soft lips against his own, the young man watched her reaction and thought back on her words as he attempted to piece things together. As he did this, and while it may have been too late for any doubt to sink in, he didn't wish for her to believe for a second that he disliked what had just happened. Quite the opposite, to be honest. His hands reached out carefully, both of them on either side of her face, as he cupped Xia's cheeks before trying to wipe away the remaining tears which stained her lovely features. Perhaps not as precise as his earlier 'tearbending', but practical enough, not to mention considerably more intimate then his previous method.

Allowing for his fingers to linger, tracing the tips of them along the curves of her cheeks as he caressed her face, Ryota's own heart remained beating against his chest as his body cried out for a return of the physical connection he so abruptly halted. The twin blue eyed orbs of his studied the girl as he also admired her beauty; not able to piece together exactly what may have been going through her mind, but slowly gaining an understanding of why she had acted so impulsively. More precisely, he understood it because the young tribesman was feeling something similar; she'd just been the one bold enough to act first. There wasn't any telling of what may come tomorrow. If he may be sent back ahead of the other tribe members, if she'd want to leave this place due to the possibility of danger, of what said danger may bring at the Palace doors during the coming day. Too many variables, so little time. She needed this, he desired it. There seemed little point in not giving in to their respective comfort levels.

"We can stop this whenever you so desire..." The young man explained as he maintained eye contact for a lingering second of time; his thoughts dwelling on how, despite having meant these words, he hoped she wouldn't call him upon this too quickly.

Cupping her cheeks within his hands, Ryota held her head gently as he leaned forward and this time taking the initiative of firmly placing his lips against her own. The kiss hadn't started out as feverishly when compared to Xia's, but it soon picked up as he shifted in his seat enough to raise himself a bit more in spite of any lingering discomfort around his hip. One hand had slide behind the girls head, cradling the lower portion of the back of it, allowing for his baby and ring fingers to brush along her neck as the other three digits entwined themselves slightly within her dark threads of hair. This allowed the young man to cradle the arching of her neck and head as he caused it to tilt back due to his height and the growing force of his deepening embrace. Idly, and indeed foolishly, he briefly wondered if all Earth Kingdom were as intoxicatingly tasty in comparison to the woman currently pressed against his lips.

Ending their embrace once again, only this time slower and with greater reluctance, the young man briefly gazed into Xia's eyes, softly caressing her cheek as he placed another, shorter kiss upon her lips. Followed by another, placed closer to the side of her mouth, which was then proceeded by one upon her cheek. Ryota took in the girls scent as he left a trail of kisses, going as high as her cheek, before directing themselves downward until his lips were brushing along the curves of her neck. He shifted even further upon the seat, nearly kneeling upon the lush, red chair while ignoring any nagging discomfort and the sound of bending water swishing about in the small container as Ryota explored the girls soft flesh more thoroughly. The hand which had remained caressing her cheek slid down to lightly rest upon her shoulder, followed by the one which was formally behind her head, which then wrapped the tips of its digits around the collar of her outfit.

Ryota carefully pulled at the top, revealing the outline of her collarbone, which was then marked by his lips as he parted his lips to flick his tongue over the curve, followed by placing a kiss upon the now moistened area. The tribesman continued moving his lips lower as he explored Xia's upper body, his unoccupied hand descending to the young woman's side, slowly stroking along the girl's side, pressing himself against her as best he could manage with the now bothersome armrest partly in the way. Steadily, Ryota had managed to expose much of Xia's shoulder, his eyes slightly hooded as he grew lost in the taste of her against his lips, in the feel of her warm body next to his own. His heart was racing, excitement of the moment coursing through himself with each passing second, yet hesitated, ever so reluctantly, to go too much farther for concern of possibly ruining this delicate experience which they shared.

 

[ChasNicollette]

Scowling, she tried to piece out the gestures and breaths coming towards her, only to have another look come to her face- complete disbelief.

"You're crazy."
Something that should have been whispered in reply.
But wasn't.

Katara's eyes shot way way wide. And she rapidly made throat-slashing gestures across herself, telling Toph to cut that out... but oh, was the flying lemur ever out of the bag, she was so sure Kurzen was going to turn around and ask what they were on about...

Sometimes, the Waterbender was good at thinking on the fly, of bailing her buddies out of a jam, of ad-libbing like a pro, or at least playing along with others' ad-libs.

"June Pipinpadaloxicopolis" came to mind, as did Mrs. "Sapphire Fire."

But sometimes those ad-libs just drop right out from under you, as did this one to Katara.

Reaching across Aang's bed, over Aang's chest, she slugged Toph playfully in the arm, exuberantly laughing with awkward overtones in a desperate attempt to sound conversationally jovial.

"You're darn right I'm crazy, Toph!" she exulted, swinging the fist with which she'd just punched Toph up into the air, "crazy about the healing power of peppermint tea! Am I right? You know I'm right."

Continuing that awkward, last-ditch laugh as it turned into a chuckle, cheeks very much a-Fire, she glanced worriedly up at Kurzen, praying against prayer to a certain pair of Koi fish that the general was buying this for an eyeblink...

 

[ChasNicollette]

"In her eyes I see the sky and all I'll ever need."

Pleasures of the flesh were, as it happened, not unknown to this Spirit, and they certainly were not anathema to him. And just as she recognised that certain... elements... had been missing from her love life of late, be this imaginary or be this real, he, too, felt cravings flex deep within himself as she moaned her displeasure and placed her hands upon his chest.

He had not so much skin as an analogue of skin. He had not so much muscle as an analogue of muscle. But the definition of "real" and of "solid" were negotiable in this place, mere semantics and philosophy, and he adored the power in her, adored her thirst for chaos, and here he could adore the... shape of her, as well, the feel of her.

The shape of him changed, the feel of him changed, responding to her, and there in the heat of the water and through the fabric of his trousers she might feel this change upon the naked skin of her thigh.

Certain things were... possible here, for him, that might not be easy or even possible in The World outside. And his body responded to her, responded to those possibilities.

But she asked of him the impossible.

And he smiled down at her, a rueful smile, as his steel-cable hands wrapped mightily but gently around her wrists, not restraining her but letting her feel the strength of him as she rested her hands upon his pectorals.

"This Hell is not of my making, Azula," he confessed. "Nor do I inflict upon you this torment. This place is an intersection of your Spirit with The Avatar's. Any Hell that is here is born of you... any torment that is here is born of him. But it cannot be all bad, here in this little microcosm of Spirit, here I can talk with you directly, unhampered by bodilessness..."

His smile tightened. "In The World to which you are accustomed, my ability to manifest is... limited. There are soft places, places like The Spirit Oasis in The North, where The Spirit World crosses over with the mortal World, and these places I can traverse easily. In other places... in other places, I can only manifest, can only wield my power unfettered, if the area is... attuned to me. If the proverbial spirit of that place is in accordance with my Spirit. The asylum from which you removed yourself was one of those places, and I knew well many of those you took under your Fiery wings. Because of their madness and darkness and despair, and the madness and darkness and despair they inflicted upon The Palace, I was able to come through even further... you killed for me and made them suffer for me and all of this made me so much stronger. In the clarity of mania do I become most clear."

His eyes pulsed, and with their pulsing pulsed the physical silhouette of him against her thigh.

"Do you understand what it is you do for me?" his voice was a-quiver, reverberating with that pulsing in his eyes and in his flesh. "You turn the whole world into a place to whence I might come through with impunity and dine hungrily on the fevered fury of the survivors..."

"I want the world," he seethed. "I want the whole world. Is this too much to ask? It will be yours and it will be mine."

He smiled, a distant corner of his lip quirking in a darksome smile that made his using The Avatar's face into so much more of a perversion.

"I am Feng Kuang," he declared to her with all the import of a religious proclamation, "and I am madness."

 

[Ahren1]

Kuzen watched curiously as his entrance had almost immediately caused Katara to begin making awkward motions. Had he entered at a bad time? Was he disturbing her? No, it didn't seem like it was anything like that. It seemed as if she then attempted to pull Toph into a hushed conversation, while he remained standing silently, trying to act as if he wasn't too concerned over their private matters. The General looked over his uniform, wondering if perhaps his trousers were unbuckled. That wasn't it either. Had he said something amusing? No, he didn't think so...

Then again, he did now realize how his words and mannerisms could have been taken. Damn it all. In battle he could be stonefaced and focused till the end, but when it came to awkward social situations, he immediately transformed into an awkward, shy persona. Perhaps it was because he just hadn't had a lot of time to deal with women over the years, so he never really got a lot of experience speaking with them when he found one attractive. He doubted his attitude a few moments before had been as subtle as he had hoped. What was he thinking offering them private rooms in such a way? What if they told Zuko he was being weird?

It wasn't until Toph's sudden reaction to Katara's whisperings that his attention was once again on the women. What was that? Why was Katara crazy? Now he was just downright confused.

"You're darn right I'm crazy, Toph!" she exulted, swinging the fist with which she'd just punched Toph up into the air, "crazy about the healing power of peppermint tea! Am I right? You know I'm right."

Kurzen just blinked. Maybe he wasn't a social expert, but he wasn't a fool either. Nonetheless, he just gave a nervous smile as if he wasn't even going to ask. Perhaps it was better that way. But now what should he say to break the awkward air?

"General Iroh got me hooked on Jasmine, personally." He finally spoke up, smiling lightly only for it to fade quickly as he realized his attempts at smalltalk were probably not impressive or necessary. Sighing to himself, he glanced away again, keeping his position at the door. However, he looked back to Toph every so often without being able to help it.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"And it's waiting on the end."

A Waterbender with dry lips.

Huh.

But she had neither the time nor the inclination to be overmuch reflective on this.

Instead, she reflected on this: she'd kissed him, and he'd responded.

The kiss simultaneously lasted an eternity and not nearly long enough.

And then they were looking at each other and they were thinking.

Were they thinking the same thing?

Were they both wondering if they should go for round two with the liplock?

Have you never been kissed before? she wondered, as he shifted to look at her more directly. No. No, you've had kisses. Either that or you're a natural, based on your little comeback, there. But you've never. You've never. Been kissed like that.

He wiped at her tears, but this time he used not chi but skin, and his touch was not fleeting and she loved that, she loved that, her breath got caught in her throat. He scrutinised her with those blue eyes full of thought and earlier she'd not wanted him to look at her, she'd asked him not to look at her right under her breath, now she didn't want him to stop looking at her.

Have you never...? she wondered, searching him. Have you never? Ever once?

Are you really...? Are you really really pure as the driven snow?

She smiled, then, a trembly little smile. That's okay.

(I just... I didn't think they made those anymore.)

If I have to, I'll be impure enough for both of us.

Ryota had a habit of saying things that widened Xia's eyes. To wit:

"We can stop this whenever you so desire..." The young man explained as he maintained eye contact for a lingering second of time...

At this, she literally didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and the sound she made in response to this sounded like an attempt to do both.

Wait. You're. Talking about stopping?

Her eyes flared, a cyclonic mix of need and want and bewilderment and bemusement.

Who said anything about... stopping?

But he didn't. He didn't stop.

'Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire'

He held her face in his hands and he kissed her.

Perhaps they had been moistened by their last too-brief kiss, but she no longer noticed that his lips were dry.

He touched her neck, he cradled the back of her head, the breath that had caught in her throat had somehow escaped because he'd taken her breath away.

'Explain, explain
As I turn and meet the power
This time, This time
Turning white and senses dire
Pull up, pull up
From one extreme to another'

Again he withdrew. Again he looked at her.

Yes. Please look at me. Look at me just like that.

Again he kissed her. But not just in the same place; from cheek to cheek, and down her neck and up again, and it didn't matter that she could run up walls nearly as easily as she could run a straight flat path, this was dizzying to her.

'From the summer to the spring
From the mountain to the air'

She wanted to take his head in her hands, she even reached for him, but then she hesitated, then she hesitated, she remembered somewhere in her fever-addled brain that his head had been injured and then her hands didn't know what to do with themselves--

He put one hand on her shoulder and she applauded his ingenuity and she reached under his arms and she clutched his shoulders from behind, not-quite-digging in her fingernails as she hung on for dear life.

'From Samaritan to sin
And it’s waiting on the end'

Ryota tugged on her collar and oh, no more talk of stopping, ohnoway, gobabygo, and those clutching fingers did dig their nails in, oh, just a tad...

Xia wore a burgundy leather jacket, this was practically a trademark of hers, and beneath this she wore a bohemian-looking layered-seeming shirt of various purples, and he tugged the collar aside and he visited his mouth upon her, tracing the trails of a whole new map, a whole new topography...

...he licked a little spot on her collarbone and then kissed the same spot, instantaneously deliciously romantic and excruciatingly sexy and she could hear her pulse in her ears and feel that pulse in other places...

"...oh," she mumbled, and again The World whirled around her, "shit...!"

Her shoulder was nearly bare now and he was waltzing about upon it with his mouth, subtle Water and cool Air on her skin, and his hands moved up and down the sides of her and all she could do, right then, right then right then, was hold on for a dear kind of life...

'Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Explain, explain
As I turn and meet the power
This time, This time
Turning white and senses dire
Pull up, pull up
From one extreme to another'

She drew back from him.

Xia drew back from Ryota.

She dreamed of life.

There was something in his breathing... a hunger that was for now subtle but like a sweeping conflagration could be fanned into insatiability...

She knew a thing or two. About breathing.

And that breathing told her that in the rhythm of this thing in which they were embroiled, he would linger here all night unless she gave him signal otherwise.

Unless she circumnavigated that problem armrest.

Right, then.

She rose to her feet, slithering out of his embrace.

Xia's own breathing was more than a little staggered. More than a little haggard.

Her eyes never left his face as she shrugged out of her jacket and draped it over the seatback in front of her. And then she reached around herself and took ahold of her shirt and hauled this up over her head, exposing far more skin than just her shoulder...

From the waist up, she was bare save for something black and vaguely lacy, laced in the back, heavy on the binding and support but not much for emphasis. Fleetingly, she hoped he wasn't disappointed.

From the waist down, she wore leather trousers the same colour as her jacket. Sometimes she wore skirts not unlike her shirt, but today, perhaps thankfully, she dressed for running.

"Face front," she breathed, and she brooked no hesitation, and her shirt joined her jacket.

This was still delicate. But this was a different kind of delicacy. "Feet on the floor."

'From the summer to the spring
From the mountain to the air'

Her braid bounced against her back as she flexed her hands in anticipation, waiting for him to comply...

'From Samaritan to sin'

...as soon as he did so, she climbed atop him, she knelt straddling him, careful to avoid his injury, one hand's fingers crawling through the hair on the uninjured side of his head, the other hand fumbling confidently to undo whatever fastenings kept his own shirt closed...

...perhaps the shirt did not fasten, and thus she tugged it up and slid her hand in from underneath...

...whenever that hand gained ingress, it snuck in and trailed along his skin, as though hunting for more of those aforediscussed scars.

(Xia had (perhaps surprisingly) few of these. Most of these were on her back, because for the very most part her enemies only had the chance to hit her when she was dodging or running away.)

'And it’s waiting on the end'

Her kisses had started out feverish. Now, now, as her hand cupped his head and her teeth nibbled upon his ear and her hand visited up and down his chest from his pectorals to his stomach, her kisses became outright wanton.

She wanted there to be no question in his mind that this was what she wanted. That this was what she needed.

This went on for what seemed a long time...

...but after such a long time as not long at all, Xia let out a strangled little whimper and she slid down from him, she slid down from that place, slid down from that place atop him and she knelt in the space between his feet...

She slipped down from him and knelt and gazed up at him.

'and now I’m alone I’m looking out
I’m looking in, way down'

She sought a different kind of ingress.

Perhaps there were fastenings here, too. Perhaps she might need him to lift his injured hips so that she could tug garments away, she hadn't really... she hadn't planned this, but provided he co-operated...

...they might get caught they might get in trouble but who knew what would happen next and provided he co-operated...

...she would free him. And her hand would cradle him as her eyes searched his face, her hand would cradle and caress him.

'The lights are dim
and now I’m alone I’m looking out
I’m looking in, way down
The lights are dim'

She kissed that injured place as though the Airbender had a healing power of her own. She kissed that injured place as though she might kiss it better and all the while her hand cradled and caressed.

She gazed up at his face, searching for the reluctance and hesitation that had given end to their first kiss. And provided she found none?

'Ooooh'

She kissed him, she kissed the tip of him. And never taking her eyes from his face she took the tip of him between the lips of which he'd so enjoyed the taste.

She took the tip of him into her mouth.

She was scared out of her mind her pulse was racing in her ears her pulse was racing other places she felt so alive.

Down there on her knees, she smiled around the tip of him. And took him deeper as her nostrils flared.

'Come on, come on
Put your hands into the fire
Come on, come on...'

 

[Mephistophelily]

"Ow."

It wasn't said in pain, really; more in confusion and to continue her teasing of the waterbender. Toph had a good idea on what had been referenced with Katara's rather hard to understand hisses and waves, but to accept it was something incredibly hard for Toph to do. Rubbing her arm in attempt to nurse the fun-loving gesture, she decided to play along with the new approach. "Right, right. Tea is great. Fine and dandy. And as much as I enjoy having a cup or two with Iroh, there are some times when tea just isn't the answer... And that, Katara, is the reason I've deemed you crazy."

Letting her tongue jut out from between her lips, she gave a coy smile, rubbing a hand across her belly as she leaned back further along the wall. "I like tea. I really do. But solid food is even better. And though we may've gotten used to not eating much when we were younger, I've kinda grown accustomed to eating regularly since becoming Queen."

Not only a reason to help cover her little mistake with Katara, but another mention of the truth.

"You can't tell me you're not hungry too, Katara. What'cha say, Kurzen? Can you show us to some good food?" Getting to her feet, she turned her head in Aang's direction, shrugging. "He'll be fine, Katara. Maybe some time alone will be good for him. And he'd be really mad if you're ill when he wakes up. I don't want him to be blaming me for it." Smiling, she offered her hand out to her. "C'mon. My stomach's going nuts."

 

[Eazy]

Ryota

The feel of her fingers digging into the Water Bender's shoulders acted as a means of silent encouragement for the young man throughout the latter portion of his thorough exploration of her soft skin. His lips smacked almost wetly against Xia's shoulder and collarbone as he steadily worked his way around the girl, slowly inching his way back and forth, as those lips of his explored lower with each passing second. Tugging the girls top a little further away of her chest, Ryota would occasionally attempt to peak down Xia's clothing; feeling the outline of her breasts pressing against his body while he continued pressing against the warmth of the Ba Sing Se native's lithe, fit figure.

"...oh," she mumbled, and again The World whirled around her, "shit...!"

A sudden, thrilling sensation surged through his very being at hearing those words escape from his partners lips. Ryota wasn't the most experienced out there, nor was he a novice, but it gave the tribesman a sense of pride and comfort to know he could elicit such a response from the lovely young woman in his arms. He was able to get in a few more parting kissing, a brief flick of his tongue against her flesh as Xia drew back from his embrace. Initially, his expression showed hints of his earlier concern about her bringing this to an end so quickly, but these feelings and the look upon his features would both subside in unison as he caught a glimpse of the look in her dark, beautiful eyes.

The young man's blue eyes remained focused squarely upon every movement the novice Airbender made as she rose to her feet. They started by staring back as she watched his features, then shifted as the girl shrugged out of her jacket; removing his attention from Xia's body long enough to see her drape it upon the back of the seat before returning his gaze immediately. When her shirt followed suit in being removed, however, Ryota's eyes didn't look away for a moment as he took in the sight presented before him. True, a small part of his thoughts may have flashed toward a brief disappointment over the remaining black binding's around her form, but this was quickly overruled by a deeper appreciation for the natural beauty which had previously been hidden underneath that clothing and often standoffish exterior.

"Face front. Feet on the floor."

Gazing up into her eyes once again, Ryota tried to mask his eagerness with mixed results as he did as instructed; settling back onto the chair and planting his feet flatly upon the soft carpet which covered the otherwise hard floor, "Yes, ma'am."

Soon as she started to mount the young man, he felt his already mounting excitement increase along with his heart rate which steadily pounded against his chest. Gazing upward and into Xia's rather enchanting eyes, the bender placed his hands upon either of her sides, letting the tips of his fingers slowly caress themselves along her exposed waist as he felt the frantic movements of her stomach expanding and falling with every breath she took. Fortunately, while he had refastened his blue tonic after the healers checked him over, Ryota had left it relatively loose due to expecting a calm, uneventful remainder of the late evening. Thus, he needed only sit up slightly, raising his back from the chair he rested upon, before she was able to gain entrance by pulling up and parting the upper portion of his outfit.

Ryota took in a sudden breath of air as her fingers danced along the outline of a few noticeable scars which decorated his dark, trimmed physique. His attention shifted, albeit briefly, toward his own exploring hands as they felt the faintly felt markings of what could be assumed as battle scars of her own. It surprised him after seeing none on her front, but wasn't such a shocker where it cost him to lose focus on the moment as her hand cupped his head before her lips returned to kissing along his face. This time, they were joined by the girls teeth as her pace moved from the feverish nature he expected and into something greater, drawing out a sudden shiver as he allowed his lids to hood themselves over his eyes. The fingers at her sides started digging into her flesh, though not enough to actually leave their mark as he dragged his digits downward and across Xia's lower back.

"Yes...." He was able to gasp out between a pair of particularly labored breaths of air, his fingers leaving faint scratch marks along her back by now as he returned her wanton affection with kisses of his own upon Xia's neck; albeit slightly less fevered due to constantly growing lost in the sensation of her own lips and teeth.

His own teeth lightly grazed themselves across her neck as she started pulling herself away again; leaving a parting nibble to remember his mouth by as she slid lower, out of the reach of his exploring mouth. Licking his lips as he continued following her descent, Ryota had a general idea of what was coming next, which in turn caused his already hardened length to strain itself against the confines of his pants. He took this opportunity to slip out of his own shirt the rest of the way, rarely removing his gaze from the direction of Xia as she made it to her knees. The fastenings were easy enough for her to slip off, with the bender ignoring any minor discomfort which came from lifting himself enough to slide the lower portion of clothing to bunch around his thighs; also taking this chance to remove his water bending pouch and placing it on the seat next to himself.

Sitting there, fully exposed before the near naked Earth Kingdom girl as the flickering flames in the background highlighted each of their respective frames; Ryota felt surprisingly calm despite the nature and location of their unexpected joining. There was an undeniable excitement about the situation, but being here, with her, it made everything seem right in a way where being discovered simply became a nagging afterthought in the back of his head. The young man smiled as she pressed her lips sweetly against his injury, noticing a slight bruising where he landed earlier which hopefully wouldn't prove a hindrance during the following day. Then she moved, between his legs, her own gaze directed upon his throbbing length. His heart was pounding in anticipation, only for his entire body to tense up once her lips came down to kiss him in the most intimate of parts on the male human anatomy.

His body started to tense upon first contact, then remained as such as he watched her, waited for her as she took the sensitive tip between her warm lips. Ryota's arms remained at his side at first, fingers balled up into fists as Xia took the head into her mouth, followed shortly afterward by engulfing inch by inch of his throbbing length into the moist confines. The tribesman let out several labored intakes of air, having limited experience with such pleasures of the flesh, and certainly not having dealt with anything in the past which felt so amazing as the sensation, the sight of having Xia's lips wrapping themselves around his girth. Moving one hand toward his lover, Ryota gazed at the girl as he started running his fingers carefully through her strands of hair; meeting his partners eyes as he cupped the back of her head and silently pleaded for her to take him the rest of the way.

The muscles along his abdomen region began to grow taught with tension as she did eventually manage to comply; causing Ryota's grip at the back of her head to tighten while he closed his eyes briefly before letting out a low groan from deep within his throat. Relaxing his grip before releasing it, the tribesman let his hand linger around Xia's lovely features; brushing aside a few strands of hair as she drew pleasure out of his body with the welcomed ministrations of her mouth. Feeling himself throbbing between her lips, the head brushing along the roof of her mouth, the tongue lathering the underside with each movement, it was a wonder the limitedly experienced young man hadn't released immediately. This restraint was only made harder by maintaining his eye contact with Xia, allowing him to see every flare of her nostrils, every showing of desire which reflected itself within her deep brown eyes.

Letting his line of sight linger a bit, he remembered the faint scars which he felt during his earlier exploration, which in turn caused Ryota to attempt in studying the curves of her back from his present position. The Water Bender wasn't able to see any at the moment, but his attention did eventually drift lower, until he spied the pants which Xia had kept on during her earlier undressing session. Lingering upon them for a few seconds as he took his pleasure, a sudden thought occurred to Ryota, which would require a bit of assistance on his partners behalf.

"Xia?" The young man started as he returned his gaze to her lovely feature; allowing a faint smirk to play at the corner of his lips, hinting at something rather mischievous being on his mind as he forced out through the mounting pleasure, "Do you think you could, ugh, slip out of your lower garments for me while you're...down there?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Lay Your Head Down."

Katara opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

She looked at Aang.

But. I was asleep so long. I just got here.

Still, it didn't seem as though he was in pain. Even though the light of The Avatar State raged behind his eyelids (curious that his tattoos hadn't illuminated, but sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't), he actually looked remarkably... serene.

Katara ran her fingers over his forehead, and gave his hand another squeeze.

"I won't go far," she murmured. "Don't you go far either."

Giving Toph another look, though a hesitant one, she did nod. So much for The First Annual Earth/Water Stubborn-Off... it really was hard to argue with Toph's direct unflinching reasoning.

Especially when her stomach was doing a certain amount of arguing on Toph's behalf. ...a gurgle like a whirlpool in her belly sounded in that place, and Katara's cheeks turned a rosy pink.

"Right," she ruefully chuckled, rising to take Toph's proffered hand by letting go of Aang's. "Yes, please, General Kurzen. Please show us to where we might empty some bowls with some chopsticks. Maybe we can talk about Aang, and when we come back, we'll find his ears burning?"

Even with her hand in Toph's, she still hesitated. Her free hand touched her throat.

She still wore her grandmother's betrothal necklace. But sometimes she remembered a little necklace made from flowers and fishing-line, in its way just as lovely a gift as this one carved by Pakku. She remembered the first betrothal necklace Aang had ever given her.

They'd never married. Not really. Not officially. They hadn't needed to.

What they had was plenty. (Except for sometimes, but Katara knew full well that was just herself being greedy.)

What they had had been forged in wartime and reforged in peacetime and that was more and better than any ol' necklace.

What they had was everywhen.

"Be here," she murmured to Aang, instructive, "when I get back."

Her eyes flickered across to Azula, and her face contorted. Just a bit. Just a bit. "Don't let the nasty lady hurt you."

And then, only then, was she ready to go.

At least, I'll go, grab a snack, get back here before too much longer.

Her eyes sank to half-lid. Maybe if I ditch these two together, Toph'll thank me later?

 

[ChasNicollette]

"If You Asked Me To."

There was a dichotomy to this.

Perhaps it was written-- somewhere or other --that there was a dichotomy to all things. Two sides to every coin.

But even as frantic as Xia was, even as wildfire as her blood burned in her veins, there was a kind of calm quiet methodical presence of mind about her...

She'd only done this once before. Well, several times, but only on one boy. At the time, there'd been that same sort of frantic feeling, they'd been upstairs at his house and his parents were out in the yard, taking part in a street festival...

The two of them had gotten drunk on diluted cactus juice, and they'd gotten it into their heads that they should celebrate Xia's eighteenth birthday with one of those "rolls in the hay" that all the kids were talking about. And the danger was so crazy that they'd get caught, but they kept on going, "one more try," "one more thing to try," they'd gotten caught and Xia'd had to escape through a third-storey window and she'd been hung over as Hell the following day. Hung over and more than a little... sore.

She'd never heard from that boy again. She was only a little bit bitter about that, sometimes more than a little but mostly only a little.

(She'd been bitter about so many different things for so long, she'd lost track of some of it.)

On the other hand, intoxicated by danger and trying new things, and intoxicated on that devilish juice, Xia had attained that day an eerie sort of fleeting clarity. Despite all the conflicting factors that should have made her mind swim, she'd seen things clear as crystal and ever-so-lightly detached and there, in that place of subtle distance and profound insight she'd known just what to do to that boy with her mouth, figured it out on the fly.

Xia didn't know if all men were the same with what they liked, what they didn't like... but she had known somehow what would work with that boy from Ba Sing Se and she tried that again, tried that same again...

She slid down him and engulfed him and tilted her head and slithered her tongue... she would watch him with eyes locked on his face, eyes locked on his eyes-- begging, pleading eyes, pleading for which she'd provide to the best of her ability --except when she would need to withdraw him for breath-- which was more often than she would have liked, despite her lung capacity --and then she'd admire him, glistening with her saliva, in the shadow-sleeted firelight of the theatre. She'd tease him with soft licks and even softer nibbles, and her encircling fingers would make up in part for the absence of her mouth until she got her breath back. Then, back down she went.

She liked the fingers in her hair, she liked the way she could still feel the echoes of his earlier rough touches, the raking of fingers across the scars of her back and the clack of his teeth upon her neck, she could still feel those even down here on her knees...

Xia loved that he loved this. She was dizzy from a lack of oxygen and she was intoxicated by him, she was drunk on this, and gradually that drunkenness would overwhelm this methodical crystal clarity, just like that cactus juice had done all those months ago, but for now, for now, she was in a brilliant kind of headspace and she loved the taste and shape of him, loved the weight of him and the pressure of him and the little twitches of him, and she loved that he loved this.

But then he said another one of those things. One of those things that widened her eyes.

"Xia?" The young man started as he returned his gaze to her lovely feature; allowing a faint smirk to play at the corner of his lips, hinting at something rather mischievous being on his mind as he forced out through the mounting pleasure, "Do you think you could, ugh, slip out of your lower garments for me while you're...down there?"

She stared at him for a moment, blinking, taken a bit aback, and in that moment of hesitation she breathed when she should have gulped, and then she gulped when she should have breathed and she completely lost her rhythm and she gagged a bit... she slid him out of her mouth and she was hiccuping and her eyes were watering but she was grinning, she was grinning a sardonic, laconic grin.

Xia wiped her mouth with her back of her hand and then curled her grasp around him again, pumping him lightly and thoughtfully as she regarded his face.

"Really?" she smirked up at him, brushing a few loose black hairs from her face as she did so. "'While you're down there?' Is this how it's going to be with you? Work, work, work?"

She shook her head and reached down to her hip, tugging at the laces and clasps that held the trousers in place... swift, brisk movements, one-handed, shedding one fastening at a time.

"It is written," she instructed him, all the while gently, slowly, tauntingly sliding the fingers of the other hand up and down him, "and this is one of my personal favourites, that 'the goodness of giving is in the timing.'"

The smirk faded quietly, and her eyes took on a less fathomable depth, she gazed at him not with bemusement but once more once more with ravenous hunger.

He really was... beautiful. He was a pain in the neck and he'd always, it seemed, be a pain in the neck, but he was beautiful.

"I'll give to you as much as I can," she murmured. "Because I know. (Don't ask me how I know, but I know.) When the timing's right, you'll give back to me."

And she rose to her feet, and she leaned on the seatback for a moment as she tugged away her battered footwear, one foot at a time and then she turned her back to him, turned her back to him, held her breath and slid leather down her hips, tucking her thumbs in so she could take down undergarments and trou in one fell swoop, bending her knees and dipping down and stepping out of the pool of clothing at her feet.

She hesitated before turning around, her resolve flinching. At least, here, with her braid down her back and the tousled wafts of loose forelocks falling around her chin and shoulders, facing away from him...

He could see the scars on her back. Pale white things against her golden skin. One by her shoulderblades. A pair of them criss-crossing her lower back. Three little marks in a row where some idiot had grazingly tagged her with shuriken.

But at least before she turned around, he could imagine that the prettiness he'd seen in her manifested all up and down her form. She hesitated there, and she reached around her back and unlaced the binding support... she breathed a little easier, and cast the black-vaguely-lacy thing away...

At least before she turned around, she could imagine that he was looking at her in worship rather than disappointment. She didn't have the luxuriant curves of The Queen of Omashu or that girl with the fans, she had more like hints of curves in all the right places, hints of curves where there should be curves...

...she was slender and athletic and perhaps that would count for something but maybe Ryota was a guy who liked substance and she didn't have substance...

She turned to face him, though her eyes evaded his face, and she stood before him, and if they were caught now there was no question they'd be in a world of trouble. (No third-storey windows out of which she might escape...)

Her eyes glistened with apprehension. Her sex glistened with anticipation.

She bit her lip, and she lifted her gaze to look at him directly, though her face was plainly nerve-wracked.

"It is written," she murmured, her voice barely even a breath, "'Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.'"

 

[Eazy]

The Water Tribe native was startled by the near gagging sound which issued from the girls throat as she suddenly reacted to his suggestion. This brought about a look of concern on the young man's face as he watched Xia attempt to recover, although, at the same time, it drew out a literal guilty pleasure as he felt her throat muscles contort around the sensitive head. It caused Ryota to tense up significantly, letting a near whimper escape from his own throat, hooding his eyes briefly as he attempted to keep a concerned, watchful vigil over the woman kneeling between his parted legs. In the back of his mind, he made a mental note toward keeping his mouth shut whenever a girl's trying to please him.

Fortunately, that first glimpse of a grin upon her lovely features had erased much of his concern, despite maintaining a sense of guilt over throwing off the rhythm of their union. As she raised a hand to wipe at the back of her hand, the bender was preparing to ask if she was fine when the sudden feel, the pleasure of her hand grasping around his thick length stole away a breath of air from his lungs. It didn't become any easier to refocus himself on speaking as she ran her grasping fingers along his shaft, feeling her warm hand gliding up and down the full length of his freshly slicked sexual organ.

"Really?" she smirked up at him, brushing a few loose black hairs from her face as she did so. "'While you're down there?' Is this how it's going to be with you? Work, work, work?"

Blinking his eyes a few times as he gazed over at the female Airbender, the young man offered up an almost apologetic, faintly teasing smile as he hesitantly admitted, "Perhaps not the best choice of words?"

Following this hypothetical question, Ryota let out a slight, nearly above being whispered chuckle before his attention took a more serious turn as she reached down and started to comply with his earlier request. His eyes stared intently, attempting to catch every movement of her free hand which reached for the clasps; even as the other continued in keeping his throbbing shaft erect with each pumping motion along his length. The young man's focus did, however, redirect itself toward her eyes so that he could gaze into them as she instructed him.

"It is written, and this is one of my personal favourites, that 'the goodness of giving is in the timing.'"

Ryota's lips took on a smirk of their own as he considered her words; fully understanding what she meant, yet finding a sense of amusement as she addressed the subject in her typical manner. As her own faded, however, the young Water Bender quickly regained an awareness of his racing heartbeat which brought about that familiar pounding against his chest. The fit male had experienced a few cases where his appearance, his physique was admired by a member of the opposite sex. Still, none of them were along the lines of the hungry look which he currently saw radiating out of Xia's eyes as she watched over his exposed body. Normally, this may have been a bit on the intimidating side, but Ryota could only feel excited about the prospect of having such an effect on a woman as beautiful as Xia.

"I'll give to you as much as I can. Because I know. (Don't ask me how I know, but I know.) When the timing's right, you'll give back to me."

Giving a soft, genuine smile at his partners murmured comments; Ryota reached out and briefly ran a hand along her cheek, stroking the girls soft skin with the back of his fingers as he promised, "I'll give you everything I can offer in order to make you happy. And so it would be written, if I'd a present means of writing such a promise down."

His mouth curled into a brief smirk following his own comment, but slowly faded into a more respectful expression, along with the rest of his features, as he followed Xia's movements while she rose to her feet. A large portion of him missed the constant attention of her mouth and hands, but the majority was too enraptured in the silent anticipation which surrounded the scene as the young lady from Ba Sing Se started stripping away the remainder of her own clothing. His eyes followed nearly every movement, finding themselves particularly caught up in the sliding down of her pants and undergarments. She had great legs, as one might expect from a novice Airbender whom needed her limbs for aiding in carrying herself around at great speeds or making successful leaps over the years.

By the time she rose again after bending down to step out of her clothing, Ryota had started to take the initiative of undoing his footwear and slipping them off; followed by eventually tugging his legs out of the pants. Not that it revealed any more of himself that would necessarily entice the mind, but it gave his legs the option of greater mobility. None of which mattered at the instant as the Water Bender's gaze resumed surveying the newly exposed portions of his lovers body. At the same time, with her back to him at the moment, it didn't take long for him to finally catch sight of the scars he believed to have felt while embracing her previously. His first instincts were to reach out and trace a sympathetic hand along one of the longer ones, perhaps to even place a tender kiss over the markings, but he hesitantly relented on doing anything along such lines for now.

Instead, he allowed Xia to continue things at a pace she was comfortable with as her hands unlaced the binding of her remaining article of clothing; strangely enough feeling a fresher appreciation for the beauty of this girl as he waited patiently. Finally, the bender was rewarded as the black support was removed and cast aside; allowing Ryota to begin fully taking in the sight of this alluring native of the Earth Kingdom capital. When the young woman turned, she would find little else in his eyes then a quiet appreciation and worship of the form she graciously decided on sharing with him. She may not have been as curvy in comparison to a couple others which were amongst their earlier troop, but Ryota found little to complain about as his eyes traveled along her figure. Starting around her athletic legs, lingering around her glistening sex, eventually traveling along her waist before reaching her firm breasts; the young man was definitely pleased by what he saw as his eyes finally settled on her pretty face.

"It is written," she murmured, her voice barely even a breath, "'Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.'"

Ryota stared up at the girl as those elegant and wonderfully chosen words slowly sunk in for him. His first impulse was a smile, which he did, but his eyes watched Xia thoughtfully as he ignored any lingering pain in his hip or dull throb around his forehead while slowly pulling himself to his feet. Thus, there he stood, naked save for the bandages around his head and the few straps around his wrist which remained, before this peculiar young woman whom he'd only known for a day yet felt a strong connection toward. Raising his arms, the tribesman placed his tanned hands upon the girls hips, before letting his fingers trail along her sides as he worked them upwards.

While he could occasionally exhibit a gift for gab, the Water Bender didn't have the gift for gab, nor did he have many legit sources from which to draw inspiration. Even if he did, Ryota had to admit at finding difficulty to fully describe what exactly he felt for Xia during their short time together. Whatever it was, as his hands slid along her back and to her shoulders, the bender knew it was deeper then a simple physical attraction. Soon enough, the young man's hands reached the underside of his partners chin; tracing the tips of his digits along her jaw as he continued gazing into her eyes. Pressing himself into Xia's body, feeling his hardness brushing against the woman's inner thigh, her soft breasts pressing against his bare, firm chest as he decided on responding by planting a heated kiss upon her lips; one which put his past attempts at initiating such an embrace to shame.

His nostrils flared, breath caught in his throat before letting out a low groan which passed between his partners accepting lips. Both of his hand continued to frame her face as his height made it so he needed to tilt his head forward during the embrace, his eyes being partly hooded as his gaze traveled along the soft curves of her lovely features. His lips parted without breaking their embrace, allowing Ryota to slide his tongue out and teasingly brush it along her lips, dragging it horizontally so as to better taste them. The young man did this for several seconds, then abruptly broke the kiss, trying to catch his own breath as he stared into her eyes, slight smirk now returning to his lips after licking them teasingly.

Maybe it was the spur of the moment nature of this entire thing, perhaps it was due to the near death situations of earlier today, or it could have just been due to Xia herself. Whatever the case, Ryota certainly found this girls lips to be rather intoxicating. Made him wonder how the rest of her would taste and feel as he explored her body. Still, he did remember the reason he asked her to remove her clothing earlier, which caused him to glance toward their seats which carried several articles of their clothing.

"One...one second?" He suggested while raising a hand with his index finger pointing up; continuing to breath heavily for the moment as he turned away and grabbed his water pouch, though only long enough to uncork it before leaning it in a standing position upon the chair.

Placing one of his hands over the container, the bender gave a subtle gesture which allowed his natural abilities to draw out a levitating stream which followed along with the movements of his hand. It wasn't the entire contents of said container, but it was enough for what Ryota had in mind as he stood up straight; facing Xia with a sly smile as the cool fluid spiraled between his hands. Lowering his gaze to her naked form, the young man gave his movements slow, subtle and restrained as he moved the water with a simple push and pull of his fingers while leaning in to press the front of his body against her own once more. Placing his arms on either side of her waist, Ryota watched from over her shoulder, his warm breath brushing along her neck and shoulder as he controlled the bending water which slowly brushed itself along the girls lower back.

Testing out her initial reaction, the tribesman grew bolder as he allowed the water to slither along the curves and muscles of her back a flat tendril of animated fluid. The main body of which worked its way up the swell of Xia's back, as fragments of it were redirected with his subtle gestures in order to lick themselves against the occasional scar which decorated the poor girls flesh. Slowly it made its ascension, moistening every portion of her skin which it touched, yet leaving nothing of watery presence behind as it slid underneath her dark hair when it neared the back of her neck; only to suddenly be drawn away as Ryota again collected the offending liquid into his hands.

Taking a step back, Ryota kept the water spiraling while giving a mischievous, yet also slightly nervous smile as he explained, "Normally these type of methods are reserved for soothing injuries when a proper healer can't be found. But I'm trusting they're welcomed regardless of any fresh wounds?"

Smiling at her a few seconds longer, his eyes again drifted lower, until they settled upon the rise and fall of her breasts with every breath she took; which brought another idea to mind, "Here's another technique which isn't usually intended for such....wanton pursuits."

Holding up his hands, the bender safely deposited a small portion of his bending water back into its open container, while letting the rest of it engulf his extended fingers. With a bit of concentration, the fluid soon hardened into ice around every single digit, only without the degree of immediate discomfort a non-Water Bender would find in suddenly having their hands covered in an iced over liquid. Still, the outer layer remained as sufficiently chilled, which worked in Ryota's favor as he moved his hands to Xia's chest with the hint of a smirk at the corner of his lips. Slowly, he brought the tips of his icy digits of one hand against the warm curves of her breast, starting around the underside, pausing a few seconds for her to get used to the cold embrace before working

Ryota followed suit by repeating this action on her other mound of flesh, cupping her breast under his extended digits, rubbing them along the curves. Steadily, each respective pair of fingers their way toward the center of Xia's breasts, tracing a cold finger along her areola's as he watched the sensitive skin near the center harden under his touch. Upon accomplishing this feat, however, the young Water Bender upped his game by finally letting the iced over fingers brush against the erect nub of flesh. By now, the heat radiating off her body was causing the ice to liquefy itself just enough where Ryota's fingers were leaving a faint trail of moisture in their wake. Of course, he could have corrected this easily enough, but enjoyed the sight as he leaned in slowly, gaze focused on the center of her breast before moving a hand in order to take the now unoccupied nipple into his suckling mouth.

 

[Mephistophelily]

"All powerful being, indeed," Azula hissed spitefully, furious that her hopeful demands were met with denial. Of course nothing of this place would be simple. "I cannot harm him, and yet he tortures me with his mind alone... There must be a way I can 'repay' him for his hospitality."

As he explained his levels of existence, his ability to connect further into her own true world, the views he had seen of her efforts and her companions, another slight smile etched across her lips. He had seen her work, he had seen it all, everything she had done for the glory of the Fire Nation. Now to know that her efforts were creating twice the rewards, it only spurred her further, as well as encouraging the frustration she had over being in this place. "Your army of the mad, dear Spirit....," She whispered, closing her eyes a moment and trying to keep her focus.

He was too close.

His words were poetry, absolutely beautiful... but that form he chose to keep-

No, to have these curious feelings inside, this hungering ache in the presence of HIM...

It made her ill, disgusted with herself.

"The world I will bring about for you will be your paradise," She promised, hesitantly looking towards the hand that moved across her flesh. As he finally spoke of his name, his true name, her eyes widened, the smile that had threatened to peek so many times finally letting itself escape.

"You are perfection."

Smiling still at him, she gave a slight frown before peering over her shoulder. "The Avatar must have kept his word to stay at bay. I had thought by now he would have let that overwhelmingly annoying pity of his drag him out here. His meditation must have become more of an effort than he thought..."

 

[Ahren1]

The General was able to quickly deduce where Toph was going as soon as she mentioned often preferring solid food to a cup of tea. He was about to direct them to the dining hall when he mentally stopped himself preemptively. Katara was insisting he show them as well. It seemed fairly obvious they were hoping he would do it, and not to just be given directions, or pointed toward another guard. This was a bit conflicting, seeing that he had indeed come here to make sure Aang and Azula were secure, but he knew he couldn't avoid the lingering hunger in him as well. In fact, he wasn't sure if he had eaten anything since the morning. It was quite late by now, and most people would probably be thinking of sleeping. So a part of him was glad these ladies refused that action in order to eat as to at least give him some company.

There was another issue, however. In that he could only hope they didn't expect him to entertain them. Conversation had never been his strong point, especially with attractive women. It was a weakness he rarely needed to show and if he continued to act as he had the past few minutes, they could get the wrong impression, or worse, his men could. There was no denying the fact that he was indeed attracted to Toph, though. Katara, too for that matter, but his willpower forbid him from even thinking about her due to her relationship with The Avatar. For all he knew, that guy could sense emotions or read minds.

It was about this time that Kurzen realized he had been silent for a few moments in thought, not yet having responded to Katara and Toph's inquiry. "Oh, of course." He nodded in confirmation. "Please, follow me. Do not worry too much about The Avatar. He will be looked over at all times. Even then, I feel his resilience outperforms all of us combined."

With that, he guided Toph and Katara out the door. Before venturing down the hallway, Kurzen motioned to one of the door guards to move inside and keep watch. After that, he began to lead the ladies throughout the dimly lit palace. It had almost an ominous feel at this time of night, but Kurzen considered it rather serene and relaxing. Working in the hot daylight constantly made one long for these darker moments. He didn't say much while leading them, if only because he was unsure of just how much smalltalk they wished at a time like this, or if he could even provide it.

After a short walk, the trio came to a rather well decorated dining hall. It looked as if it was reserved for many of the advisers and higher ranks. The room was currently empty, but it was just small enough to feel comfortable, and just large enough to allow a fair amount of space between diners when full. The auburn-haired general turned to his companions and gave a slight smile. "Just tell me whatever you'd like, and I'll have it prepared for you. Due to rotating shifts of many who reside and employ here, the kitchen is always open, so do not feel as if any request is too large or inappropriate for the time. Please, have a seat wherever you'd like."

 

[Mephistophelily]

Smiling slightly, Toph gave Katara's hand a light squeeze as she gave Aang a goodbye- and warning- nodding towards Kurzen's voice. "Hey. He said it'll be fine..." Still, she understood her friend's need to leave a few parting words with him. She knew just how much he meant to Katara, but was also aware that letting her focus too strongly on Aang could lead to her neglecting other things... including her own well being.

Luckily, Toph had decided to take it upon herself not to let that happen.

Following Kurzen through the halls, Toph heard little in the lines of other footsteps around them, reminding her on how late it must have been. With their guide a few strides ahead of them, Toph gave another light squeeze of Katara's hand, getting her attention before mouthing words of her own in regards to the earlier failed conversation. *Seriously? But I must look like I rolled around in a sand pile!*

Come to think of it, she had.
It was how she had gotten off the airship... then the boulderwave she hda created, followed by the stone shield and her rock-gardening....
Oh yeah. She was just gorgeous.

Now she really regretted not listening to her advisers.

*I think I might need your help.*

As they arrived in the dining hall, however, the conversation was forgotten once again, Toph's stomach starting one of its own as the scent of cooking foods filled the air. "Ohh, that smells wonderful," she crooned happily, releasing Katara's hand and placing it on the back of a chair. "Is that roast duck I smell? That's one of my favorites! Let me guess... Iroh's doing?"

Smiling, she dropped into the chair, taking another deep breath. "Some of that and a few dumplings would be great. Maybe some tea as well?" She paused, remembering the grumble she had gone off with back in the infirmary. "Just, um, not the same one I had earlier. I don't think I can handle a second round of that."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Encore."

With that, Aang went silent; Once again unmoving. Any slight wavering the Spirit may have sensed in his willpower to resist her was gone now and replaced with his normal resolve.

And for a few minutes, Aang was left alone with his thoughts.

(But only for a few minutes, at least as Time was reckoned in this place outside of place...)

Again, there on the stony ground near the stream came the crunch of footsteps.

These feet, however, were not bare, and did not tread upon the ground with the nimble wanton serpentine tread of a temptress. They trod decisively, each foot before the other, each footstep chosen with grace and confidence and discipline.

Ruddy red robes swished around ancient feet as he stepped up there beside Aang, and swished still further as he settled beside Aang into the position of meditation, fingers steepled as they might have been in za-zen, though this steepling was far from a mockery.

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply in the manner of Firebenders. In and out, nostrils flaring, filling himself with Air as if preparing to craft a mighty mighty Fire.

He sat there beside Aang, eyes closed and face weary but still somehow strong.

His hair and beard were white as snow, and fell long upon him.

When he opened his eyes, they were dark, and weary, but strong.

"You always take me to such interesting places," he mused with just the merest hint of dry humour.

"No wonder Gyatso was so fond of you," mused Avatar Roku.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Luck it ain't enough you've gotta make your own breaks."

"You are perfection."

The Spirit called Feng Kuang pondered her assessment of its capabilities, and it did not find that assessment wanting. Granted, it was not infallible, otherwise its female manifestation would have easily planted The Avatar under its arguably delicious influences. (This was not entirely surprising, that The Avatar had refused such behaviours... but still, he had been distracted, though not as distracted as Feng Kuang had hoped. This was not surprising, though it was somewhat... irritating.)

However, as a representation of all The World should aspire to be, as an ideal to which all should Bend themselves, yes, ohhh, it was so very perfect.

Almost as perfect as that smile, no longer eclipsed but burning brightly. Such a smile.

Its ability to read minds in this place was limited. Surface impressions, like skipping stones across ponds, but Feng Kuang was experienced, so very, very experienced. It had been a student of the human condition for Time literally out of mind, and it was highly, highly intuitive.

Feng Kuang could perceive that Azula was discomfited by its Aang-shape. And part of this was a lesson in its particular brand of psychology...

Always keep those around you on their back foot, wondering what you are to do next. This has ever been the first step to making your position unassailable: like breaking your foe's root in an Agni Kai, if they cannot maintain traction and footing, they cannot effectively disrupt your dealings.

Be nothing they expect. And you will be invincible.

...another part of this was a little bit of self-indulgence on its own part.

What would an Avatar look like if The World were this "paradise" that Azula had promised Feng Kuang?

What would an Avatar look like if Feng Kuang were The Avatar?

It looked pretty good, if it said so itself. But, still.

Smiling still at him, she gave a slight frown before peering over her shoulder.

It tilted its head and examined the pull of muscles in Azula's neck as she turned to look over her shoulder. She was physical power and grace and animalistic predatory killer instinct, she was all of these things incarnate, even when she was outside of her body. Feng Kuang's own predatory instincts were incarnate too, and she would be able to feel their "incarnation" against her leg, and it mixed her up and mingled her feelings, put her on her back foot, that she should be responding to Feng Kuang's power and promise and yet feel such feelings about a manifestation of Aang.

It was well and good that she be on her back foot. Lesson learned.

But perhaps now that she had felt this discomfiture, Feng Kuang mused, its form should be something less... offensive. The Spirits of mortals were fragile things, so easily persuaded and dissuaded, and her precariously-balanced sanity was a thing carefully nurtured. It would not do to engender disloyalty.

Smiling still at him, she gave a slight frown before peering over her shoulder. "The Avatar must have kept his word to stay at bay. I had thought by now he would have let that overwhelmingly annoying pity of his drag him out here. His meditation must have become more of an effort than he thought..."

She was looking away from it, and it took a moment to close its eyes and reach out, probe the aether of this mindscape, to glance against The Avatar from this distance, and what it felt was...

...disappointing.

Two Avatar Spirits. So his power will be limited, but he will still be able to contact his damnable prior incarnations. His power will be limited, crippled, but not his knowledge.

How... infuriating.

In response to Azula's feelings and to the presence of the bitter tang of Roku's Spirit, Feng Kuang allowed itself to... unclench somewhat.

It grew taller by half a yard, and while it still retained skin and muscle and hair it was somewhat less coherent, and long dark hair spilled down its back, long dark hair that mixed and tangled with tendrils of shadow that uncoiled from its back, from its shoulders...

Its arrows faded and its eyes darkened and it was black all over, neither yin nor yang but madness.

In the physical world, Feng Kuang had no body. At least, it wouldn't, until...

But this, this manifestation this representation this "incarnation" of Feng Kuang was a mixture, a mingling, an amalgam of its changeable appearance in The Spirit World and its immaterial terrible unshape in the physical world.

This was not the true face of madness. But it was a reasonable approximation.

"It seems," Feng Kuang enunciated bitterly, its voice like broken obsidian, "that one is never truly alone, so long as one can talk to oneself."

Its form rippled against hers, amorphous and solid all at the same time.

"No," it mused, some of that disappointment and infuriation seeping through, "no, we cannot harm him here and now. Your Bending is stripped of you in Spirit Form, and I do not wish to disrupt the process that still occurs between you. Like the dream of the butterfly, like the coma this Avatar endured for weeks after your lightning-strike, you will awaken from your cocoon when this is done and your rage will split the sky. Your power will be such that like-minded individuals will gravitate to you from all corners of The World, but you will be the spearhead lit with Fire and you will be the hand that throws the spear..."

It chuckled, a darksome thought occurring somewhere in its darksome mind.

"No. Only his mind is here. All of his minds are here, apparently, but only his mind. To harm him now would be both impossible and counterproductive. Unless..."

Feng Kuang's eyebrow arched, black on black faded to black, and there was an extra shattering to its voice made from shards of volcanic glass. "Unless your warfare be psychological in nature."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Tell me what's happening here."

'I will be walking one day
Down a street far away
And see a face in the crowd and smile
Knowing how you made me laugh
Hearing sweet echoes of you from the past
I will remember you.'

They stood there. Together. Naked as the day they were born, or near enough.

And her breathing was at a standstill as he looked at her.

Was that... was that really... approval? Unfaked and undisguised and undiluted approval...?

You really do think I'm pretty.

May wonders never cease...

He had risen to his feet and he had stood with her despite his pain and now he was... he was looking at her just like that and...

...she trembled. He was. He was... he was in remarkably pleasant proximity but she wanted desperately for him to be closer.

His body was aligned with hers and there was hardness between his legs and upon her leg and there was softness in his fingertips, hardness and softness, this was Water defined.

Ryota's hands slid up her sides and he kissed her, his tongue wafting across her lips.

Xia swallowed. Hard. The tremble of the swallow racing up and down her frame and reverberating against his frame pressed to hers.

She kissed back, loving the goosebumpy shivers of his fingers crawling upwards, loving the taste of his lips, salt-water spray and fish-oil and flecks of ice on the wind...

Xia's breasts squashed very nicely against the densely-packed muscle of his chest, and she reached up to sling her arms around him and hold him close and keep him from getting away.

But then he broke the kiss to glance at her clothes and she arched her eyebrow, wondering if he were having second thoughts. They were so very exposed here after all, she could hardly blame him.

"One...one second?" He suggested while raising a hand with his index finger pointing up; continuing to breath heavily for the moment as he turned away and grabbed his water pouch, though only long enough to uncork it before leaning it in a standing position upon the chair.

Both eyebrows arched now, she nodded quickly, not really understanding what was flowing through his mind, not really cottoning to his machinations, but willing to trust that even if he made a break for it she could catch him before he hit the door. She could pounce him.

Her cheeks tinted with darker red at the thought of this and she smirked.

One second is fine.

Just... hurry.

And then he turned back to face her, and bewilderment turned into awe as he started doing... very naughty things... with his most sacred gift. He shaped and Bent the Water to his will... and then he... caressed her with it.

Instead of touching her, instead of carressing her to remove Water from her face in the form of tears, now he was bringing Water to bear upon her, mystical foreplay, carressing her with Water, the sexiest thing she'd ever ever seen. If before her breath had been hard to come by, now it was as scarce as Water amidst the sands of Si Wong.

"Ohhh," she groaned softly, and arched her back. It felt like a... it felt like...

It felt like bathing in a Waterfall, except the Waterfall was alive, it was reading her contours as it went it was flowing upwards against gravity, so it didn't feel like anything ever it was amazing it was breathtaking.

His movements of physical touch coupled with the slithering of the Water upon injuries past and present, inside and out, and her body shook. He was giving back to her, just like she'd given to him, he was giving to her in spades and maybe even outpacing her.

It swirled around her neck and she craned her head back with bewilderment, her eyelids fluttering her lips parting and another disbelieving groan escaping those parted lips as her hands clutched helplessly half-heartedly at the Air...

"Ohhhhhhshit," she breathed as his Waters returned to his hands.

Taking a step back, Ryota kept the water spiraling while giving a mischievous, yet also slightly nervous smile as he explained, "Normally these type of methods are reserved for soothing injuries when a proper healer can't be found. But I'm trusting they're welcomed regardless of any fresh wounds?"

She looked at him like he'd sprouted a second head, like a fish from a polluted rivermouth.

That was the most seriously delightful perverted thing anyone's ever done to me, and you think it might not be welcomed?

'Look in my eyes while you're near
Tell me what's happening here
See that I don't want to say good-bye
Our love is frozen in time
I'll be your champion and you will be mine
I will remember
I will remember you.'

She shook her head, smirking, at his facetiousness. The hungry glint in her eyes should have been all the encouragement he needed that his "trusting" had not been misplaced.

To become an Airbending Master, one had to learn all the 36 tiers of the art, and then create a technique of one's own. Xia couldn't even imagine being so skilled at her strange little twisted gift, she could barely muddle through with what she had... but here Ryota was, making up his own techniques for Waterbending, and oh, they were very creative. And they were Masterful.

More, her eyes implored him, as she trembled, as she breathed.

Smiling at her a few seconds longer, his eyes again drifted lower, until they settled upon the rise and fall of her breasts with every breath she took; which brought another idea to mind, "Here's another technique which isn't usually intended for such....wanton pursuits."

Her eyes flared wide. She bit her lip. And she couldn't resist glancing down, following his gaze, he was looking at her breasts.

What are you going to do to me? she wondered, desperately, needfully. He had looked at her almost worshipfully and she looked back up at him almost pleadingly.

His fingers were ice and she blinked in surprise-- Wait, what? --but then he touched her. He carressed her and her skin so hot from mingled exertions and anticipations felt the chill of all those fingertips, first one breast and then the other...

Was it unpleasant? It certainly wasn't painful... it was numbing and electrifying all at once, nerves chilled and thawing back out again, Water running down the curves of her breasts and the flats of her stomach, this time at the whim of gravity as Ryota neglected to retrieve it...

...she panted softly, her mind was spinning, and then... and then he touched the radia of flesh around her nipples, and her mind spun inward, corkscrewed... it wound and tightly spiraled down within her, her mind whirlpooled and whirlwinded down inside the core of her being until it bottomed out and burst and exploded in a place just within and just without her waiting imploring sex...

Her mind skyrocketed straight down and shattered into lust upon impact with her gathering wetness and so much more wetness there gathered that it began to trickle down the inside of her leg. So much wetness, so much wanting, and then Ryota.

His mouth.

"Ann'h!"

She lost her balance a bit, just a bit, leaned back and clutched the seatback against which she couldn't help but lean, one hand shot out and braced against this...

The other hand, her mind had spun out and exploded inside her, remember, she wasn't thinking, her other hand clutched at the back of his head and it was only by sheer luck that she didn't clutch at the side of his head that had been hurt, she clutched him and hung on for dear life.

"Ohgods, ohgodsohgods, Ry--"

This was.

She did not have words for this, not quoted proverbs nor original eloquence she was.

...she didn't know what this was, she didn't know what she was.

Her wetness pulsed yet wetter still and she hung onto seats and to Waterbender for dearest dearest life.

She wanted more.

"Ryota," she rasped, and reaching up with the hand that had supported her against the chair, she tenderly (luckily) pulled his head back up from her breast.

Xia shook her head at him, unable to express.

She needed this so badly and he was doing everything exactly right.

Her hands slid down and placed themselves on his upper chest, on the fronts of his shoulders. And she pushed. Firm but gentle but unyielding. She pushed him backwards.

"Sit back down," she demanded, her voice like the wind through the reeds, and did not wait for him to respond, she simply pushed him back, pushed him back so that he would hit the seat with the back of his legs and then land neatly on his doubtless fantastic hindparts. She did not permit him the opportunity to resist or to complain, she only allowed him the opportunity to slow his fall somewhat, so that he didn't land so hard on the cushioned seat that he hurt again his injured hip.

"Ryota," she murmured, looking at him, cupping his cheek as her sweat mingled with melted ice upon her skin, upon her risingfallingebbingflowing breasts.

And then she didn't wait for him to rise again, he was already risen there between his legs she didn't wait for him to rise to his feet...

...her powerful, elegant leg curled up and she knelt on the arm of the chair. Standing there for a moment on one leg with the other curled beneath her like a flamingo-mantis, she gazed at him, and then drew the other leg up also, resting this on the opposite arm-rest.

And then she lowered that first leg, tucked it in a bit, nestled it in beside him on the seat so that her knee grazed his hip. She did this again with the second leg, methodical and strong, like she knew what she was doing even though her heart was warhammering in her chest, making sure, again, not to put too much pressure on the bruised place on his pelvis.

Xia straddled Ryota. She slung her left arm around the back of his neck, and she kissed him softly, kissed him sweetly, her whole body fraught and wracked with the quickness of her blood and the heat of her breathing.

She drew back and she looked at him and her hair framed her face in black wisps. Her right hand slithered back and she arched her back with the movement, reaching down and between and taking hold of him, taking hold of that hard risen part of him. She held him there and she straddled him there and she looked at him.

"Ryota," she tried to explain.

"I just--" she tried again to explain, and did not try again.

She lowered herself onto him. Warm wet hungry folds of her surrounding warm hard hungry thick finger of him.

Onto him. Into her.

She impaled herself on him, and he stretched her and filled her and it was like all along all along this little private space inside her was waiting for him to fill it perfectly up.

'Later on
When this Fire is an ember
Later on
When the night's not so tender
Given time
Though it's hard to remember darlin'
I will be holding
I'll still be holding to you
I will remember you...'

Her breath caught in her throat and while it was caught there it turned into a whimper before escaping.

"...ohfuck..."

...she kissed the side of his neck and she braced her hand on the armrest and the other hand on the back of the seat and slowly slowly slowly...

Slowly slowly slowly she started to rise and started to fall undulating and arching as she went slowly slowly slowly she started to ride...

"...ohfuck..."

"...ohfuck..."

"...ohfuck..."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Dancing For Rain."

Kurzen seemed dubious, judging by that sort of zoned-out blank spot in the conversation. And even though she smirked at his silence, Katara couldn't really blame him. She hardly wanted to leave here, herself, despite the numerous assurances from both Toph and the general.

But tireless vigils tended to tire folk out more than keep them vigilant. And Aang would be back, and Katara would be there to see it.

He led them through the halls, gentlemanly despite his reasonable objections, and they followed, the two friends and Benders side-by-side.

With their guide a few strides ahead of them, Toph gave another light squeeze of Katara's hand, getting her attention before mouthing words of her own in regards to the earlier failed conversation.

Katara blinked first down at the hand, surprised at the emphatic contact. Maybe getting punched by Katara had taught Toph that there were better ways to get people's attention than slugging them in the arm? ...though this wasn't very likely.

And then she glanced at Toph's face. And understood.

(Reading lips is hard enough when you can see, I can't believe I just assumed Toph could do this...)

*Seriously? But I must look like I rolled around in a sand pile!*

Rather than mouth back to her, Katara simply reached around and patted Toph's hand with the hand Toph wasn't already holding. Consolingly. Encouragingly.

Katara wasn't doing a great deal better than Toph in regards to the condition of her physical appearance.

Yes, she'd been tended by the healers for a time, been bathed, had her scrapes and cuts tended, even a Fire Sage had examined her, briefly, best as he could, for Spiritual damage-- after having looked at Aang and been completely stumped, it had apparently done this Sage some good to check on a more normal patient --but then she'd passed out like she was dead to The World. As a result, her normally perfectly-tended hair had a little bit of a bed head thing going on.

Apparently Kurzen's training and warrior philosophy had given him an appreciation for women who could hold their own in battle and still look rumpledly sexy after the fact? Or maybe he was just such a chivalrous fellow that he was looking right past their grubbiness and onto their beauty?

Toph's beauty. Toph's beauty especially.

Which, who could blame him? Katara had always thought that Toph had a secret prettiness to her, they'd had that day together in the spa. Even if this wasn't Toph's priority day-to-day, Katara had always seen her shining through.

And now... now, she'd grown up to be a knockout in more than just The Blind Bandit sense of the term.

*I think I might need your help.* Toph mouthed.

And Katara squinted her eyes determinedly and offered a wicked, madwoman-with-a-mad-mad-plan sort of grin, the sort of grin that Sokka would have been proud of...

'I'm so on it,' she mouthed, and flashed Toph an "okay" hand-sign.

As they arrived in the dining hall, however, the conversation was forgotten once again, Toph's stomach starting one of its own as the scent of cooking foods filled the air. "Ohh, that smells wonderful," she crooned happily, releasing Katara's hand and placing it on the back of a chair. "Is that roast duck I smell? That's one of my favorites! Let me guess... Iroh's doing?"

Smiling, she dropped into the chair, taking another deep breath. "Some of that and a few dumplings would be great. Maybe some tea as well?" She paused, remembering the grumble she had gone off with back in the infirmary. "Just, um, not the same one I had earlier. I don't think I can handle a second round of that."

Katara grinned cheerfully as she, too, took to a chair. "Yeah, what was that? Was that Spice Tea? That stuff always gave me heartburn when we were living on Ember Island."

Her stomach then replied to the conversation begun by Toph's stomach, and she chuckled faintly, absentmindedly toying with one of her "hair-loopies" to detract from the embarrassment of having a stomach louder than that of Pipsqueak and The Hippo combined. As she did so, she contemplated the smells of the kitchen and the ingredients thereof...

"Could I please," she pondered, "have a little bit of steamed fish, with rice and cabbage? And, um, instead of dumplings, could I have some dragon-crab Yangon?"

Then she leaned back in her chair, and she steepled her fingers in her lap as she propped her feet up on the table in a lackadaisical manner intentionally evocative of Toph's disdain for etiquette...

Her eyelids drooped to half-mast, and she fixed auburn Kurzen with that half-lidded blue blue gaze.

Her voice was elegant and polite and didn't sound conniving in the slightest. Again, Sokka would have been proud.

"When you get back from placing our orders, General-- for which we are unspeakably grateful, don't get us wrong --maybe you can regale us with tales of your training and strategic philosophy and prowess? No doubt, ascending to your rank at such a comparatively young age, you've done some momentous things. Everyone always asks us what we did during The War, I'd much rather hear those stories from someone else for a change."

 

[Eazy]

Ryota

There was a brief pause in his actions when he noticed Xia starting to stumble back; his eyes gazing up at her out of concern, despite not yet removing his mouth from the girls sensitive mound of flesh. Soon as he was certain she wouldn't end up taking a similar spill to his own out in the courtyard, however, Ryota allowed for a smile to spread at the corner of his lips before leaning closer and resuming his current course of action. His lips suckled on her breast, providing a moist suction as he steadily ran the length of his tongue around the erect peak. When he felt one of her hands begin to clutch itself at the side of his head, the young man started to increase his efforts; rubbing the moist appendage with more force as it dragged, lapped itself against the skin.

"Ohgods, ohgodsohgods, Ry--"

Lashing his tongue slowly, yet feverishly upon the sensitive center, Ryota continued to occasionally gaze up and into the girls face; idly trying to take note of her reactions so he could repeat any specific actions which appeared to draw out considerable pleasure. As he did this, the ice which remained on one set of the Water Bender's digits started to glide along the side of her unoccupied breast, as his other hand gently caressed its equally cool fingers around the upper portion of the one he presently nursed upon. Their respective body heat was causing the icy coating on each finger to steadily melt, leaving the occasional trail of chilled water which cascaded in thin strips down Xia's warm body.

Gently pushing against the hand on his head, the tribesman moved his lips free just enough to allow several drops to fall upon the novice bender's already moist nipple, only to latch his lips around it once more as he licked it clean of the chilled bending water. His tongue would flick itself against the tip, it would steadily drag its length in a tortuously slow circular motion and, soon enough, it drew back as Ryota's teeth started coming down on the stimulated tip of skin. The sharp teeth squeezed the trapped flesh, and then eased up just a little before squeezing it between them again. He kept it surprisingly gentle, considering what he was doing, but hadn't been as cautious when it came to resuming his earlier motions with his tongue against the now bitten upon nipple; both continuing his ministrations while also soothing any potential discomfort he caused.

"Ryota"

His eyes adverted their gaze upward, watching Xia as he felt her second hand joining the first in tenderly pulling his head away; complying with her silent wishes only after getting in a few parting licks on the peak of her moistened breast. Straightening himself out, Ryota watched as his lover shake her head, her features silently expressing that which words seemed to fail in accomplishing at the time. Lowering his arms, feeling the water continuing to trickle off of them as the remainder of the ice melted away, he simply watched as the girl placed her hands upon his upper chest and began adding a slight amount of force.

"Sit back down"

Blinking a few times as a curious expression filled his features, Ryota felt her increasing the forced until he was guided a single step back; more then enough for the back of his legs to feet the seat of the chair behind him. Willingly giving into Xia's demands, the tribesman showed little other signs of hesitation as he was pushed onto the chair. What impact there had been wasn't much, with the minor twinge of pain which his bruise brought out promptly being forgotten as his blue eyes studied, admired the form of the naked beauty which stood before him. How he ended up in such an ideal, perfect moment with a woman like her was a puzzle he didn't feel a need to question as she moved in on the young man.

"Ryota"

A soft smile spread across his lips at hearing her speak his name, followed by the tribesman tilting his head so as to gently press his cheek into her hand as she started to cup it within her grasp. Ryota's arms were at his side, watching in muted admiration, blue eyes following every movement of her firm figure as she rose and curled one of her powerful legs onto the chairs arm; followed by doing the same with the second. He had to admire her display of agility, along with the strength in her legs which evidently came from years of attempts at using her peculiar gifts. His gaze then steadily shifted, along her legs, to her moist sex which nearly dripped onto his waist, up her slender waist and to the breasts he'd occupied himself with only a short while ago before his eyes settled on staring into her own white orbs.

His attention shifted for a few moments, lowering itself when Xia started to lower and tuck her legs into the seat, one after the other, in order to straddle his lower body. The Water Bender's hands slid out from resting at his sides, placing them at the sides of the girls own waist, letting what little ice remain slowly melt away and roll down her body as he caressed his lover. Ryota raised his head in time to see her arm move around the back of his neck, parting his lips as she moved in closer, kissing Xia in return as her mouth pressed itself intimately against his own; letting the tip of his tongue slip out to trace the outline of those sweet lips. The young man's hands started sliding around her back, not pulling her closer, yet holding her securely while he dragged his fingers along the muscles of her back during the soft embrace.

They remained there when she pulled her lips away, licking his own lips briefly as he smirked at the Earth Kingdom girl, followed by his features soon after taking on a look of anticipation as her hands moved until they were between the couple. The feel of her fingers grasping at his previously unattended length drew out a stifled groan, causing his chest to rise and fall a little faster, heart pounding within his chest over what would come next. Still, despite the excitement and anticipation which surrounded their seemingly inevitable joining, his eyes rarely faltered in gazing at the beauty which straddled herself upon his figure.

"Ryota," she tried to explain.

"I just--" she tried again to explain, and did not try again.

Watching as she struggled to express herself in words, the young man gave a faint smile, staring up at her with understanding eyes as he spoke in a barely audible whisper, "I know, Xia."

They needed and desired it; both the thrill of this moment itself and the comforting, intimate embrace of each other. There seemed little point in denying themselves of either. The bender lowered his eyes as he felt her guiding him toward her sex, his body tensing up at the sweet friction caused by the thick head of his length pressing against her moist, warm folds of flesh. He maintained his grasp around her lower body, while eagerly waiting as Xia continued descend herself upon him, to let her womanly folds part at the steady intrusion of his shaft. This wasn't Ryota's first time, but such acts of pleasure were rare enough where the sensation of her yielding body parting and wrapping around the tip of his cock was enough to force out an unhindered moan. Pulling his hooded eyes away of the sight, he gazed into Xia's beautiful features once more, watching as she prepared to impale herself the rest of the way and take them past the point of turning back.

Finally, inch by inch, she had steadily taken every glorious portion of his organ into her sex; causing the young man's fingers to dig into her flesh a bit as his body grew accustomed to the unbelievable sensation. His face contorted into an expression of near bliss, hooded eyes studying the curves of her figure, the feel of her sped up breathing as his arms remained just above her waist. They had only begun their joining, simply let him enter her with his full member, and already it felt leagues better then anything he'd experienced with another person in his life. It was incredible, in more ways then simple physical pleasure, and as he sat there, labored breathing being forced out of his lungs as he tried to catch his breath, Ryota felt any lingering traces of doubt over what they were doing melt away.

"Oh, God..." He breathed out upon feeling Xia's almost subtle movements against him, enjoying the sweet feel of her kissing along the side of his neck, combined with the ever so slight first friction which came from the young woman moving her hands to their respective positions.

An unintelligible sound escaped his lips as she started to rise, sliding herself off of him slowly, only to then fall back onto Ryota's welcoming lap. His grasp upon her body tightened, nails digging further into her warm skin, while control of their current pace in lovemaking had remained squarely on Xia for now. Not that he was exactly in the best of positions, particularly with what limited room there was in this chair, for the tribesman to retake control if he wanted. Nor was he complaining as he felt those powerful legs pressed around either side of him, with her usual elegance having given way to more brash, yet certainly fitting choice of words. While not being quite as vocal, his pleasure was evident by the labored breathing, the look of growing ecstasy in his blue eyes, and the occasional groan which slipped out as the Airbender's sex steadily coated his length with her secretions during every rise and fall of her body.

"Xia." His voice crept out with a fair amount of audible pleasure seeping into his tone; letting his hands slide a little higher, toward the middle of her back before starting to drag his nails down her back as tenderly as he could manage while under this constant assault.

There was more which he wanted to say then her simple name, but any further choice of words seemed to fail in coming out as she repeatedly impaled herself along his shaft. As it were, the sounds of their lovemaking had been joined by the near constant background noise of his cock wetly penetrating the girls sex with every descending motion; the moistness providing a much needed lubrication as Xia's muscles squeezed around every square inch of himself. Every time she rose up, it almost seemed as if her body wasn't ready to comply in letting any portion of him go, yet fought against the repeated intrusions whenever she returned herself onto his girth. The friction brought out by this was incredible, stretching the girls sex as her muscles hugged around the shaft, causing the muscles along Ryota's body to grow taught with tension as he was soundly ridden by his lover.

Lowering his arms until both of his palms were resting around the girls hips, Ryota started to tighten the grip as he planted his feet firmly against the carpeted floor which surrounded the small theatre. His arms moved along with Xia's movements at first, matching them as he followed her rhythm, then started to time it so he was pushing his hips upward just when she'd drop down; thrusting himself wetly into her warmth with increased force and friction. The first effort caught him a little by surprise, a moaned gasp emitting from his lips as he paused, but was promptly followed up by a repeat of raising his pelvic area the next time Xia slid herself onto his length.

This was repeated again, then again, the tribesman's hooded eyes watched in admiration as their attentive gaze trailed over the modest yet alluring curves of her body. The desire he felt for Xia was ever so evident in those blue eyes of his as he began to increase their tempo by occasionally pulling the dark-haired beauty onto him at the same time as he moved to thrust himself harder and deeper into her waiting sex. As their joining started to reach a feverish point, the bender couldn't help but be thankful for these seats being welded down as the faint sound of them creaking could be heard with every movement.

 

[Mephistophelily]

Azula's attention returned to her spiritual companion as he spoke, her eyes widening momentarily at the new form found beside her. This man was unfamiliar, yet more.... comforting, in a way, than the former look he had taken. A smile returned to her lips, accepting his new look as a pleasant deviation from what had been there previously. "I would take your words to mean he had his own insanity if this were anyone different.... but seeing how our dear companion in this place is the Avatar, he has as many different voices residing in his head as my former roommates. His, however, truly do exist."

Feng Kuang's words reached her ears, his own disappointment on lacking ways of harming their company, his explanations on why her bending was unresponsive, the expectations of her awakening....

She truly did hear it all, but her attention was spliced; devouring the words said to her, the praises and preachings, the advice and acknowledgements- but her eyes were locked upon him, lost now in the new vision before her. This was the Spirit that drove them, she and those before her, revealing its true form to her. She reveled in it, feeling another swelling of pride over this fact.

And he was perfection. He truly was. Her statement of before we only affirmed by the creature before her, majestic and strong, unyielding and focused in his tasks and words.

His final words made sense to her, a way to do what she ached for the most... To hurt him, to cause him pain in this place that he believed she couldn't.

But how?

"We hurt his mind...." A deviously dark smile pulled at her lips, a hand idly drifting up the blackened chest of her companion, momentarily surprised to find that there was physical contact against him- and not only this, but a warmth as well. Still, she hadn't the time to focus on such things. Such... distracting.... things....

"I want to make him hurt, Feng Kuang. Tell me how."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"I am the one voice in the cold wind, that whispers..."

"We hurt his mind...." A deviously dark smile pulled at her lips, a hand idly drifting up the blackened chest of her companion, momentarily surprised to find that there was physical contact against him- and not only this, but a warmth as well. Still, she hadn't the time to focus on such things. Such... distracting.... things....

"I want to make him hurt, Feng Kuang. Tell me how."

...fingers slithered up its chest, little patches of organic warmth, and its form fluctuated appreciatively, tendrils whispering at the Air as its nostrils flared and its teeth were bared.

...distractions. Very pleasant distractions.

But the mind of Feng Kuang could do a number of things at once.

Its teeth parted and a tongue like an eel-serpent's flickered behind them.

"You have heard, I am sure," it mused, "the theology of The Avatar."

It laughed faintly. "I speak, of course, of The Avatar's tendency to reincarnate as human. Supposedly, this is so that he does not lose touch with the people of The World, these people he is supposed to defend. Were he to be incarnated as a pillar of cloud or a pillar of Fire, evidently he would grow indifferent to the mewling spawn."

...the expression on its face, oil-slick and starless, metamorphosed into something approximating a leer.

"But with the strengths and the synergies of humanity," Feng Kuang continued, "The Avatar invites in all their weakness also. He could have been equal to gods, but now he is simply equal to Man. The Avatar can go mad, can become obsessive, I have seen this happen before. Always he is made most vulnerable by them with whom he surrounds himself. Always he is made most vulnerable by them whom he loves."

Feng Kuang licked its lips thoughtfully. "Using my moment of greatest strength, the raging madness and despair of the Fire Nation palace courtyard, I attacked The Avatar's Consort directly. She would have perished, I felt her slipping away, sinking down, her chi swallowed up by my energies... but a dark-haired creature with a deadly touch turned herself to healing at the last moment. I am... disappointed by this. It was most unexpected. But The Avatar's reaction to this attack was... priceless. And it seems he still bears me ill will over the whole affair. He cares about her very much. This... Katara."

"Just as Kuruk was made vulnerable by his wife," Feng Kuang concluded, "just as Roku frequently rose to defend Ta Min... we could deal immeasurable pain to this Aang by poisoning this ideal in which he holds his woman. By tearing down his woman, we tear down the man. Because he is, for all his power and supposed virtue... just a man."