Chapter 30

The sun was just starting to sink in the sky as the group made their way back to the house. Kyoshi nearly looked like she was going to fall over, but seemed completely oblivious to the matter whereas Rangi looked almost frantic over it, and Jinpa well he was there just hoping he could drop them off without a hitch and no collateral damage. Which was definitely easier said than done.

The house was quiet as they entered, just a single servant greeted them as they walked through the door, taking the basket from Jinpa. As they walked into the next room they were however greeted with a large pile of reports and letters.

“Holy shit, what the fuck happened now?” Kyoshi said maybe a little too loud as she saw the pile.

“Kyoshi language“. A voice called from behind her. It had made her jump, so much so that she wasn’t even recovered enough to move that quickly. Which had landed her in Rangi’s arms as she fell. Kyoshi looked to where the voice had come from, to see Hei Ran kinda smiling. She’s probably mad about the cursing… oops, Kyoshi thought. But when she didn’t greet them at the door Kyoshi had assumed that Hei Ran was out for a bit. Guess I was wrong there.

“Sorry” She mumbled as she recovered back to her feet. “I was just surprised by the amount of letters. The last time it was this bad well…” Kyoshi hesitated. The last time they had gotten this much mail it meant the spirit group was back in action. “Nothing, I should probably address them then.”

“Those can wait til tomorrow I promise” Hei Ran said as she circled around.

“At least let me sort them first, find out where they’re all from. Then I’ll leave them alone, promise” Kyoshi countered. Hei Ran only laughed. “Well I’m glad you’re feeling like yourself.”

Hei Ran had brought them away from the letters and into the dinning room, hoping to get the story of what had happened. Although she definitely wasn’t as prepared as she thought.

By the end of it all they were all well done with their food, dishes sitting empty in front of them. Rangi had been finishing up the last part of their day about the guy on the way back, when it seemed to have suddenly ticked off Kyoshi.

“I swear I’m so done with all of these guys” She proclaimed as she stood from her seat, slamming her hands on the table. Hei ran and Rangi looked at each other for a moment, Hei Ran normally hated outbursts of any sort. Finding them as signs of immaturity, but she kinda got where Kyoshi was coming from, and from the looks of it she had spent the last couple weeks in hell. So she decided the outburst was fair at this point.  

“I swear if I see another one of their faces, I’m going to beat them to a pulp, or sink them through the face of the earth, ” Kyoshi said as she glared at the table in front of her.

“You definitely will not, just sit down.” Rangi asserted herself, realizing that despite the fact that Kyoshi probably couldn’t even make it to the other side of town without help, she knew she would jump if given the opportunity.

“Well you let me deal with that last one”

“That’s because he wasn’t even a threat, there was nothing to worry about” Rangi replied back. I will not admit to her that she simply beat me to the punch.

“Just sit down and stop trying to give me heart attack for like two minutes”

Kyoshi, admitting defeat, slumped once more in her chair, as Hei Ran asked more questions. Knowing the next time she saw them, it would be on sight, Kyoshi didn’t have very much of a plan, but they sure as hell weren’t going to be around to keep causing trouble.

Once Jinpa had headed back, and Hei Ran had nodded them good night, they went back to Rangi’s room, and there it was Kyoshi’s missing fan sitting perfectly on the desk. Kyoshi tried to walk to it as fast as she could, before picking it up and holding it next to the other. Rangi had definitely cleaned it while I was gone. She thought as she looked at the two together.

“I’m pretty sure you looked happier when you saw your other fan than when you saw me,” Rangi commented as she leaned against the door frame. “Well maybe if you brought the other fan I would have been” Kyoshi teased as she set the pair of fans neatly together on the desk.
“You were also bleeding out, I highly doubt you would have noticed.”

“It’s the thought that would have counted.” She laughed.

It made Rangi smile to hear that laugh. The laugh that didn’t have the weight of the four nations on her shoulders, or the duties of the Avatar. The laugh of someone who she knew was bothered when she had only cleaned one of the fans, and had tried to pass time by counting stars. Kyoshi’s laugh, just Kyoshi’s laugh. Rangi loved that laugh.

As Rangi pulled herself from her thoughts she watched Kyoshi flop onto the bed, staying strangely still afterwards. Did she actually just pass out on top of the comforters?

Rangi was about to go ask, and maybe poke her to see if she was still awake, when a long sigh escaped the collapsed body.

“My whole body hurts” She mumbled.

“Why don’t you take a bath, probably do some good” Rangi tried to suggest. “That seems too hard, I just want to lay in bed-“

“No like that you aren’t” Rangi said suddenly, maybe a little bit more abrasive than intended. But it needed to be said. “Why not, can’t it wait til morning”

“Kyoshi I love you, you know I do, but when was the last time you were even able to wash your face?” Rangi tried to counter as politely as she could muster.

Suddenly realization spread across Kyoshi’s features as she tried, she really tried to rush to the bathroom gasping in horror as she looked in the mirror.

“I look like I was run over by a herd of hog monkeys” She whined.

“Well you looked better than yesterday” Rangi shrugged, trying not to make it into a big deal. “I don’t even know the last time I took a bath, I smell awful. And you’ve been dealing with me this whole time like this. Why didn’t you throw me a pond on the way back?”

“You probably would have drown in your current state”

“Maybe you should have let me drown,” Kyoshi whined as she buried her face in her hands. She felt so embarrassed, all the people that have helped her, and she looked like this.

“If it bothered me so much, I wouldn’t have stuck around,” Rangi said resting a hand on Kyoshi’s shoulder. “Plus you know I don’t just put up with anyone.”

Kyoshi seemed to relax at the statement. “I guess I’ll just be glad I made the cut then” Rangi smiled once more, as she went to turn on the water.

“You are not allowed to drown in the tub either for the record” Rangi commented as she felt the water.

As Kyoshi slid into the tub with the help of the firebender she felt her muscles relax at the first sensation of the hot water. It would be easy to fall asleep like this. Kyoshi thought.

She looked over through cracked eyelids to see that Rangi had taken off her armor and had gotten into a much softer robe of sorts as she walked back over to her.

“You definitely look like a potential drowning hazard.” She commented as she pulled a stool beside her. “Could definitely sleep, that’s for sure.”

Rangi watched as Kyoshi tried to unbraid her hair, before it almost became painful to watch. It looked painful, the way she winced when she tried to twist her body.

“Mind if I help?” Rangi offered, even though she wasn’t really going to take no for an answer. With the nod of approval Kyoshi had let Rangi take charge.

For someone as seemingly harsh, and intense as Rangi acted for the most part Kyoshi noticed the way that always seemed to immediately fall when it was just the two of them. She felt special knowing that she had this part of Rangi all to herself. No one else deserves her anyways.

“Kyoshi” She heard her name get called all of the sudden. “Yeah?” She said, refocusing on the world around her.

“I was just going to ask if you could tip your head back a sec”

For a second as the warm water poured over head Kyoshi forgot all about the spirit group, about the portal, about Naruklok. Why did he have to go fuck everything up even more anyways, the world has enough problems without power hungry people trying to create their own new nations.

Laying down on the comforters felt even better than before, even though she knew she was tired there was still something that dwelled on her mind. She took a strand of hair and began to twist it around her finger. Before she knew it her fingers were being untwined from the strand, being replaced by Rangi’s hand, as she settled down beside her. “Are you doing alright?” Rangi asked softly as she closed her eyes for a second.

Kyoshi turned her head to look at her, her face lit up just enough from the lamp beside the bed. But she still couldn’t find the words. “I know that was a loaded question, you just seem fidgety is all” Rangi replied to herself when Kyoshi didn’t answer.

She took a breath, turning to look back up at the ceiling. “I just need to fix this”

“I know we don’t know how yet but it’s okay we’ll figure something out later I promise” Rangi replied, kissing the top of Kyoshi’s hand. But she continued to fidget, shifting around in her spot.

“Are you sure there’s nothing less bothering you?”

I know how to fix the problem, I am part of the problem. Kyoshi thought to herself, and here Rangi thinks it’s because I don’t know what to do.

“Can we just talk about it in the morning?” Kyoshi said finally, she would tell her about the portal’s weakness later. But for now she would try to pretend that it all didn’t exist.

Rangi just leaned over to kiss Kyoshi’s forehead. “Of course”

More fluffy fillers, god I love them so much. Anyways this spirit groups is really gonna know the meaning of fuck around and find out real soon. But for now I hoped you enjoyed, and thank you to everyone who has been supporting this book along with leaving the sweet and thoughtful comments. They mean the world to me knowing you are enjoying the book this much <3