Happy Belated Birthday to Compxrock. A piece based off her story based off my own.

Kaya sighed. It had been a long day and she was tired of traveling. Glancing over at her brother, she hoped he would be able to bring her out of her boredom, but he was asleep in the corner of the carriage. She started smirking as she eyed his hair. His warrior’s wolftail was growing longer, but some of the strands were still a little short. Ever so carefully, she reached over and pulled out the small band holding Koda’s hair together. With a grin, she saw it fall forward and when he turned, half of his hair fell in front of his face. Kaya stifled a giggle and glanced around, but there weren’t any adults in the carriage. She sighed again as she heard her parents talking in low tones from the front of the carriage with her aunt, Katara.

It seemed that Katara was anxious to see Toph and Zuko, but Kaya’s dad, Sokka, wasn’t. Kaya just sighed again, bored and not understanding the little bit of conversation she did hear and looked around again. The carriage was small, but comfortable and could fit four adults easily. Two windows were covered by drapes and the seats were cushioned, but instead of adults, the other bench across from Kaya and her brother was filled with traveling gear. She saw the sleeping rolls, tent, and bags of food kept there to keep it away from her father, but with a glance towards her sleeping brother, Kaya didn’t think it was wise to keep the food inside with Koda. As her aunt and mom had put it many times, Koda was his father’s son; from attitude to appetite. Kaya just sighed again and opened her water pouch, drawing out an orb of water with her bending and concentrated on making it form into different shapes. As she played with the water, her mind wandered.

She was twelve now, but her birthday hadn’t really been celebrated like usual. Instead, she was told she was the Avatar and the fate of the world now rested on her shoulders. She was scared about being the Avatar, but she knew how important of a job it was. Her family had helped the last Avatar, Aang, and the young airbender had even talked with her in her dreams. But the world had been at war for over a hundred years and the Phoenix King had decimated the Earth Kingdom in the past twelve years. Kaya could see the devastation as they traveled through the Earth Kingdom, though her parents and aunt tried to protect her from it as much as they could. She had once wondered if all firebenders were bad, but that notion had been shot down by her family, her father especially. He said there were some good firebenders and now she was on her way to meet two of them. Zuko had helped the previous Avatar and his son would be learning firebending with her, though Kuzon had been learning it his whole life.

Kaya’s mind wandered to Kuzon and she wondered what he looked like now. She had a vague memory of him, and his father, but she was still curious. Apparently Zuko and Toph had retreated with Sokka, Katara and Suki to the South Pole after Aang had lost, but the firebender and earthbender hadn’t been able to stand living in a world of ice. They had left and continued to trade letters back and forth with Katara and Sokka. Kaya remembered hearing that Zuko had lost his wife, a dull girl named Mai, when his son was born and he and Toph had continued to run from the Fire Nation. They had visited when Kaya was five, to hide from the Phoenix King and Kaya remembered a little boy, much like Koda, but with golden eyes playing with her. But then winter had come and Zuko had taken his son back to the Earth Kingdom. Kaya had asked her parents why Kuzon had to go, and remembered crying for days after her friend had left, but they had simply said it was too dangerous for Kuzon to stay in the South Pole. He would die.

The waterbender wondered why Kuzon would die if he stayed and now figured it had to do with the Fire Nation looking for him and his dad. She and Kuzon had traded letters back and forth as they grew older, but they were few and far between because of the isolation of the South Pole, and she had never had the nerve to ask why he had left. When it was revealed to her that she was the Avatar, the adults had explained the state of the world as they knew it to her. Zuko was the banished prince, and he and his son were the rightful heirs. Azula, Zuko’s sister, had been established as Fire Lord since her father, Ozai, had taken it upon himself to proclaim himself the king of the world. Zuko and Toph were the leaders of an underground movement in the Earth Kingdom and did whatever they could to protect benders and innocent civilians and thwart the Fire Nation. Now that she was a master waterbender, Kaya was going to meet Toph and Zuko and learn earthbending and firebending while her family tried to find old friends and devise a plan to stop the Phoenix king, once and for all.

The carriage stopped suddenly and Kaya heard voices. She heard agitation in her aunt’s voice and elbowed her brother awake as she continued to hold the orb of water, ready for anything.

“Wha…?” Koda said groggily.

“Shh,” Kaya hissed at him, frowning, but almost lost her concentration as Koda’s hair fell everywhere, making it look like he had a mop head on his head. She stifled her laugh and turned towards the door to hide her grin as Koda scowled and put his hair back together. She tried to concentrate on the voices and heard her dad and another male voice that was gravelly start to get lower and more menacing until a woman’s voice entered.

“Sparky, Snoozles, stop it and let’s greet the kids. You two can do your ‘who’s stronger’ crap later. And then I’ll beat you both up,” the woman said to which Kaya heard her mother laugh.

The door opened and Kaya came face to face with a woman with misty green eyes, long black hair and Kaya noticed that she was beautiful. The woman wore simple black pants and a dark red shirt, but she smiled a wry smile into the carriage. Kaya noticed the woman’s eyes never focused, and knew she was facing Toph, the blind earthbender.

“You sure there are kids in here?” Toph asked the adults.

“Hi, I’m Kaya,” Kaya said. “And my brother, Koda is here too.”

Toph nodded and stepped back. “Come on, out. I need to feel you on solid ground.”

Kaya nodded and hurried out, making room for her mumbling brother to come out and she noticed that Toph’s wry smile turned into a huge grin when she stepped foot onto the ground. Looking around, Kaya noticed that it was green everywhere and she had never seen so much green in one place. Her father had his sword on his back and was talking with a taller man about the same age with dark hair and pale skin in clothes similar to Toph. The man turned towards her and Kaya almost caught her breath as she saw a flame shaped and colored scar surrounding the man’s left eye. She looked away quickly and saw her mom and aunt watching the men and putting some input into the conversation occasionally. Trees were everywhere, blocking out just about everything else, but Kaya heard sounds around them, like people waiting in the bushes and trees.

“So, we have Twinkle Toes back,” Toph said, causing Kaya to look at the earthbender again. “But you’re not Twinkle Toes, are you.”

“No, I’m not. He died and he said he’s sorry he failed, but that I’ll be stronger,” Kaya replied and noticed her brother waking up more and looking bored next to her.

“Got some spunk,” Toph said with a smirk. “I like that. Sunshine, come meet the new rookie!”

Kaya glanced around and was surprised when a boy looking a little older than Koda dropped out of the trees and walked to stand next to Toph. Kaya couldn’t help but stare as she saw a lean young man of about thirteen standing next to Toph, nearly the height of the petite earthbender and how handsome he looked with cream colored skin, black hair pulled back into a ponytail and golden eyes that seemed to swallow her alive. He smiled shyly at her and Kaya felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she smiled back.

“It will be a pleasure training with you,” he told her.

“Thank you, Kuzon,” Kaya whispered, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush.

She noticed her brother roll his eyes next to her and she ignored him, focusing on Kuzon. He had grown a lot, but she knew she had too, and it seemed that a lot of strange feelings were overtaking her at that moment.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” Toph said suddenly, pushing Kuzon towards Kaya with a smirk on her face. “Show her around and then I’ll see you both in the arena in thirty minutes. Koda, follow me. If you’re anything like your father, you’ll need to know where the kitchen is and the rules around here.”

Kuzon stumbled after the push and stopped short of toppling into Kaya and the waterbender noticed that he was blushing before he straightened up and held his arm out for Kaya.

“It’ll be fun, don’t worry,” Kuzon said. “And don’t worry about Toph. She’s just rough cause she cares. Mom’s are just like that.”

Kaya nodded and hooked her arm through Kuzon’s and he started leading her into the forest. “I thought your mom died when you were a baby,” Kaya said and immediately felt sorry when she saw Kuzon frown.

“She did, but Toph is pretty much my mom now.” He turned to her and Kaya felt better when his frown changed to a warm smile. “C’mon, I want to show you something.”

He immediately grinned at her and Kaya blushed as he tugged on her arm, moving so that he was pulling her by the hand up a hill. Kaya was surprised when he let her hand go and then jumped easily, grabbing onto a branch and pulling himself up. He looked back towards her and Kaya felt her heart flip as he smiled at her again.

“Come on, it’s not that hard,” he said, holding out his hand to her.

Kaya gave Kuzon a wry grin and jumped up, grabbing onto the branch next to him and then swung up so that she was sitting next to him without his assistance. He just laughed lightly before he started climbing the branches and Kaya followed him, though it was hard at some points as she was unsure if the branch that held him would hold her. Sometimes she wondered how birds even perched on the branches Kuzon was using, but the fact that the older boy used them without even thinking about it gave her the courage to use them as well.

She looked down to make sure she placed her feet right on the next branch and when she looked up, all she saw was the canopy of branches and leaves.

“Kuzon?’ she asked. “Where are you?”

“Up here,” she heard his voice from almost directly above her. She smiled and moved through the canopy and flashed a smile at Kuzon when he took her elbow and helped guide her the rest of the way up. Kaya found he was sitting on an old branch that extended above the living part of the tree and that he was gazing off into the distance. She followed his gaze and caught her breath.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Kuzon asked and Kaya just nodded mutely. Before them was a stretch of green forest, dipping into a valley. To her right she could see a waterfall falling off a cliff into the valley and then the river meandered through the valley, showing up in spots through the foliage. At the far end of the valley rose a mountain, or so she thought until she stared at it. As she stared, she realized it was too uniform, too structured, to be a natural mountain.

“It’s Omashu,” Kuzon said sadly. Kaya glanced at him and saw that he was frowning and a few frown lines creased his forehead as the wind blew his black hair away from his face. “My dad and especially Toph have been working on a way to reclaim it for years. King Bumi told Toph of a secret labyrinth beneath the city before he died, but we just haven’t gone there yet.” He turned to look at her and Kaya started getting lost in his gold eyes as they sparkled with something new she hadn’t seen in his eyes before, but something she had seen in her parents and aunt’s eyes lately. “But once you learn the other elements, Dad says we’ll go in.”

Kaya smiled and Kuzon smiled back. “So,” she said with a smirk. “When do I start?”

Kuzon laughed lightly. “Later. Toph wants to start you, but will test you first. Said something about how bad Aang was at learning earthbending. She thinks you’ll do better.”

Kaya nodded and glanced down at the tree. She didn’t know how far they had climbed, and she wasn’t really looking forward to get back down. Kuzon must have read her face, because he adjusted and stuck one foot below the canopy, looking like he was feeling around before he was satisfied.

“Just take it easy going down, and don’t look,” he said with a smirk. Kaya just returned the gesture and was about to follow him when a horn blew. Kuzon suddenly looked up and around, his face showing fear and that made Kaya more anxious than being high in a tree. “Ah, crap,” he muttered and Kaya turned to see what he was looking at and saw a huge red balloon cresting over the mountain range behind them. “Kaya, we have to get down. Now!”

Kaya nodded and started ducking down below the canopy, stepping down as quickly as she could as she heard Kuzon jumping from branch to branch. She tried to test each branch as she stepped before putting her full weight on it, but she was anxious to get down and the warning Kuzon had in his tone and the one her parents had told her of the war balloons made her hasty. She thought she was halfway down when the branch bearing her weight broke and suddenly she was falling. She heard Kuzon shout her name, and she hit a branch, causing her to turn and look straight at the ground. Kaya put her hands out instinctually and closed her eyes as she braced for an impact. A weird sensation happened as if she was pushing something down and she didn’t hit anything, though she felt herself still falling, just slowly. Peeking her eyes open, she saw a small whirlwind below her, easing her down to the ground gently.

Strangely, she thought she also saw how the air below her moved and she twisted her hands around as if she was moving water and the air moved, pushing her to her feet. Once she was fully on the ground, she looked around, looking for Kuzon and saw him staring at her from the bottom branch. She heard people running her way and her parents along with Katara, Toph and the man she knew to be Zuko stopped when they saw her. Everyone was staring, almost as if they had expected her to be hurt, but Toph was merely grinning.

“Well, I guess you are Twinkle Toes,” Toph said and then turned to head back to the camp. She stopped and called out over her shoulder. “Come on, Kaya. We need to think of a new name and you’re starting training right now.”

Kaya glanced back at Kuzon who was looking at his dad in a guilty way and he smiled shyly at her before nodding in Toph’s direction. Kaya smiled back and hurried after Toph, hoping Kuzon wouldn’t get in trouble for taking her to see the valley. She caught up with Toph quickly and started walking alongside the petite earthbender.

“He won’t get in trouble, will he?” Kaya asked and saw Toph smile at her.

“No, his father just gets scared when he’s outside of the camp when a balloon comes. That little stunt you pulled has them all thinking now, but we’ll get to that later. Air is last for you.”

Kaya sighed as they reached the arena and she found out how relentless Toph really was. The day passed quickly as Toph had Kaya perform every waterbending move she knew and then, when Kaya was completely exhausted, Toph called Kuzon into the ring. Kaya had known the moment the young firebender had started watching her, though many people had been watching her throughout the day. Koda had arrived with Kuzon and Kaya had been distracted while Toph hurled boulders at her when the two had arrived and had been reprimanded by Toph. Now, as tired as she was, she was wondering what the mighty earthbender was planning.

“Since this is your distraction,” Toph said, waving her hand in Kuzon’s direction. “He’ll be your first opponent. Learn from him as you go. The Avatar is the master of all four elements, and uses every style based on what is occurring at that precise moment. And Kuzon, no going easy on her.”

“I won’t,” he replied, but Kaya almost sighed in relief when he winked at her.

She sank into her own stance and noticed Kuzon sinking into a stance she had never seen before. His was like hers, but seemed more aggressive, more open. Kuzon punched out and a large fireball erupted from his hands. Kaya used her water to block it as she sidestepped and then turned her water into a whip, trying to strike Kuzon with it. Instead of defending, he simply blasted at the water whip and Kaya frowned as it evaporated a little. She drew the water in the air back into her water as she pulled it back and waited again. Kuzon didn’t let up and went onto the offensive and she started studying his moves as she had studied Toph’s as she blocked and moved around his attacks. She spotted an opening and sank lower into a more stable stance before shooting her hand out, pushing her water towards Kuzon as if it were a rock and it changed into a block of ice just before it hit the boy in the stomach, sending him onto his back, but he quickly rolled back onto his feet and into a fighting stance again.

“Well done,” Toph said, applauding and entering the ring, causing the two to stop their duel and turn to her. “Sunshine, you didn’t pour your all into it, but you didn’t go easy on her. Your father needs you,” Toph said and Kuzon smiled once more at Kaya before bowing to Toph and hurrying away. Toph turned to Kaya with a smile. “And Bubbles, you’re going to be great at earthbending. Now, let’s get started on moving rocks instead of ice.”

Kaya sighed, but nodded and followed the earthbender’s lead for the rest of the day. As they continued to practice, Kaya thought about Kuzon and looked forward to seeing him that night and getting to know him better. Night came quickly, even though it was late spring and left Kaya feeling sore, beaten and exhausted. All she wanted to do was go to bed, but her growling stomach demanded food first. She staggered after Toph as the earthbender led the way to where Kaya heard a large group of people. As Kaya followed Toph, she scowled at the blind earthbender, wondering how Toph seemed to skip occasionally when all the young waterbender could do was stagger haltingly after her because of her exhaustion.

“You’ll get used to it, Bubbles,” Toph said suddenly before she stopped and turned to Kaya. Kaya was surprised by the earthbender’s words and sudden stop and almost ran into Toph, her face falling in shock. Toph just smiled kindly at her. “You’ll be fine. There’s a good seat over there and some food waiting for you. Then to bed and we’ll start again tomorrow.”

Kaya groaned, to which Toph smirked, but her groan stopped when she looked to where Toph was pointing. She abruptly stood straighter when she saw Kuzon talking with Koda at a table off to the side and walked over that way, not seeing Toph smirking in a knowing way before the earthbender walked over to sit next to Zuko.

“Hi,” Kuzon said, smiling up at Kaya when she approached the two boys.

“Hi,” Kaya replied, blushing. She saw her brother roll his eyes, to which she scowled at him, but saw Kuzon stifle a laugh at her look and she abruptly stopped and smiled at Kuzon before sinking onto a bench in front of a plate of food.

“You know,” Kuzon said as she started eating. “It took all my abilities to keep that away from your brother.”

“Thank you,” Kaya said after she swallowed.

“Yeah, I’m going for thirds,” Koda sighed and got up, taking his plate with him. Kaya continued to eat, and noticed Kuzon watching her and as she started filling up, she noticed how Kuzon kept glancing at her and how his golden eyes shown in the lamp light.

“You ok?” she asked once she had finished.

“Um…yeah,” Kuzon said and turned to her, blushing. He reached down and Kaya noticed his hand disappear into a pocket before he smiled at her and rose. “You look exhausted. Here, I’ll show you to your tent.” He held out his hand to her and Kaya smiled at him before she took his hand.

“Thank you,” she said shyly as she rose from the bench. He just smiled back and started leading her away from the group. They passed the adults on their way to her tent, and as tired as Kaya was, she still managed to notice Toph smiling wryly as the earthbender sat very close to Zuko and the scarred firebender frowned at her and Kuzon. Kaya noticed Zuko was mostly frowning at his son, but after Toph leaned in to whisper something in Zuko’s ear, Kaya saw Zuko sigh and roll his eyes before he turned back to Sokka and Suki to speak with them. Kuzon pulled on her arm and Kaya’s attention was brought back to the young firebender.

“You know, you look really tired,” Kuzon said with a smile and Kaya smiled tiredly back.

“Yeah, Toph really knows how to work you to your limits,” Kaya replied. “Does it get any better?”

Kuzon just chuckled. “No, you just get used to it. Here we are,” he said and Kaya was stopped by the firebender. His other hand disappeared into his pocket again and Kaya looked at him, questioning him as he seemed to get hesitant.

“You know, it’s going to be great having you around. I didn’t realize how much you had grown,” he said as he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to her. Kaya stared as she found him holding out a small white rose. “Happy belated birthday, Kaya.”

She stared at the white rose and felt tears come to her eyes as she smiled and she reached out, taking the rose from him. No one had really said ‘happy birthday’ to her. They had all been to busy debating on whether to tell her of her destiny and then proceeding with the plan to meet up with Toph and Zuko. Only her old friend, who she like a whole lot more now, remembered. Even though it was late, he still remembered and gave her the best gift she had ever received. She noticed Kuzon was looking at her oddly and she jumped at him, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she felt him hug her back, a little unsure at first, but then his hug was genuine. She turned and kissed him on the cheek and felt him tense. She took a step back and saw him smiling a goofy smile. “Thank you so much. Goodnight Kuzon. I’ll see you at training tomorrow.”

“Yeah, night,” Kuzon muttered, his hand going to his cheek in wonder as Kaya smiled and ducked into her tent. She saw her bed and smiled, but first, she looked at the rose and waved her hand around it, drawing the water in the flower out of it and crystallizing part of it so that when she was done, the rose looked the same as it did before, but she knew this one would never wilt. Kaya knew she would treasure the small gift always and set it down carefully before she fell onto her simple bed and promptly fell asleep.

Happy Belated Birthday Compxrock. Sorry this was so late, couldn’t end it for the longest time.