Akira Hibiki's Story

Was it too soon to tell her about it? She had told him of her rough childhood, so he had assumed it to be okay to speak of... He got up and moved back to the window. He started thinking about what to say to her... He needed some guidance on the matter, he wasn't good with women, nor was he partial to speaking to people about his past... The first person he had ever spoken to this about seemed to reject him... He felt the hole in his soul widen, as the love he received from Jiang seemed to recede a little... He looked back at her, she seemed asleep at this point, but maybe she just wasn't moving. He got cold again, but realized that maybe she didn't want him beside her. Plus he didn't want to disturb her by moving the sheet which was currently wrapped around her body. Instead he simply grabbed his shirt and put it on. He wanted to say something to her, to say that it wasn't too soon, and that he wanted her to know everything about him... the good and the bad... but he was a coward when it came to her, so instead he simply sat against a wall, huddled close to himself, thinking what he should say...

He sat in the same position as before, his hand over his eyes and the other around his knees. He had such a wonderful day, only to end it badly... as was his curse. He didn't deserve her, he knew it now more than ever, the best thing he could do for this precious goddess would be to leave and never darken her life with his dark presence again... but not only could he not do that to her, but he couldn't do it to himself. Hid entire world now revolved around this woman, he barely knew her, he had just met her, yet she was his everything now. Then, for the first time, a thought crept across his mind, Maybe I can leave the military...

This thought passed in his head at first nothing more than a whisper amongst a maelstrom of other thoughts, but then his mind went silent as he thought about it more and more... Could he put this woman above even his precious Kingdom? Would that even be possible? With this new war, could he even leave legally? These thoughts swam through his head before he finally realized what this woman meant to him... He looked at her shape on the bed, a sense of longing overtook him as he began to think about what it was that he was thinking... was it true? Would he save her life rather than his own King's? He kept thinking about this, never really deciding which it was... He got up, the thoughts continuing to fly through his brain, he moved towards the door and left, not really knowing why. He knew he should have stayed, but her lying on the bed caused to much strife within him. So he simply sat down next to the door outside, and slept there. Not bothering to go to his room or anything...

Jiang heard the door open and then close again. She buried her gace into the pillow and sobbed slightly. She immediately wanted to go after him but maybe it wa for the best if they spent some time alone.

Not being able to fall asleep she tossed anf turned in her bed, all she could think about was Akira and what had happened and how this day could have ended this way. What se it off? Then she remembered, he had sprung out of bed ans he had all of a sudden asked her about him killing the firebenders on the ship. But he had not told her why he wanted to know this all of a sudden. She sat up in her bed and looked out the window. The sun was rising and so she decided since she could not sleep anyway she would go out and train and maybe think of what to say to Akira.

After getting dressed she grabbed her staff before exiting through the door and as she turned to lock the door she noticed Akira on the floor. He didn't even go to his room... He seemed to be asleep and she didn't want to wake him so she got the covers from her room and placed them over him, gently kissing his forehead before heading downstairs and towards the streets.

He was awoken by someone shaking, he looked up dazed, and saw the woman from the counter leaning over him, shaking him. She said, "Get up, your room is just two steps from here, come on!"

Akira rubbed his eyes, then felt a blanket on top of him. It must have been Jiang, he thought. He looked at the woman beside him and said, "Sorry."

He turned from her and knocked on Jiang's door. The woman leaned against the wall and said, "She already left." Akira slowly turned towards the woman and lowered his head, not saying anything. She noted his despondence and grabbed his arm, saying, "You need a drink, come on." She led him down the stairs and sat him down in one of the dining chairs before moving off to the kitchen. Akira had no idea where Jiang would have gone, or even how long ago she left, he just knew that she probably wanted some alone time. The woman returned to the table with two cups and a bottle of alcohol. She sat down and poured into the two glasses.

"A bit early isn't it?" Akira said, grabbing a cup she handed him. He had never drank before, but he felt like it might alleviate some of what he was feeling...

"It's never too early if you're depressed enough. And trust me, it's written all over your face," she giggled a bit after saying this. She seemed to know men quite well, which obviously affected her dress choice(but since she realized Akira had actually strong feelings for Jiang, she was wearing a much less revealing outfit). Akira looked into the glass for awhile before actually taking a drink, savoring the burning feeling in his throat. The woman poured him another drink and said, "So, something happen last night?"

He didn't want to talk about it, let alone to a stranger. He took another drink, a sip this time rather than the whole thing, before saying, "No, it's nothing..."

"I noticed that you hadn't slept on your bed at all, do you like hallways or did you not need the second room?" She smirked at this, obviously a perceptive woman.

"Why did you check my room?" Akira asked, questioningly.

"I didn't, I just had a feeling," she laughed a bit before taking her first drink, "You are hardly the most opaque man I've ever met."

"I don't really want to talk about it..." Akira said, taking another drink.

The woman obviously wanted to hear more, but didn't press the issue. She left the table not too long after, leaving Akira alone to think about what to do and to continuing sipping away at his drink... He wanted to talk to Jiang, but she didn't seem to want to talk to him. He wanted to tell her more about himself, he wanted her not to feel like she had last night... but for any of that to happen, he needed to find her and speak to her first, and he had no clue where she might have gone...

Jiang had continued down the street in the direction they had come, passing the restaurant they had visited the day before.

Her eyes landed on a dojo with an outside training ground with dummies in the yard, there were two men practicing martial arts there so she walked up to them. "Would it be alright if I used one of your dummies for training?" The man she had asked looked at her, snarted and then grinned disbelieving. "A woman, practicing with what? That staff? Please." Jiang got slightly annoyed and raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Yeah, would that be alright?" The second man now stepped forward. "Tell you what. If you can beat me in a fight I'll let you train here, deal?" Jiang was not in the mood for this. But she was also not in the mood to find another place to train. "Deal." She turned around and made some distance between herself and the man.

The man had a cocky grin as he stepped out infront of her and got into fighting position. She did not move a muscle. Not drawing her staff, nothing. The other man stood in between them and signaled them to start. Her opponent charged and Jiang immediately pulled out her staff, faster than most and spun it once before whacking it onto the base of the man's neck. She had used enough force to knock him to the ground, but not injure him. She walked over to the man and said plainly. "I win." She turned around and started her training on a dummy, leaving the two men in a daze. But she did not care, all she wanted to do and cared about was letting off some steam and figure out what she would tell Akira when she returned to the inn.

Akira realized that he wasn't being exactly productive, letting his mind constantly contradict itself on how to handle Jiang. Was she mad? Did she not want to know about his past? Was it because of what he said afterwards? He had no idea, all he knew was that he needed to talk to her, to... to talk to her... he had no idea what to say, or why he needed to talk to her, but he simply knew that he needed to see her. The problem was, he had no idea where she was, or how to find her. His best bet would have been to stay at the Inn, the problem with that is that he would continue to wait, allowing the maelstrom of ideas within his mind to swell up and cause him to get even more depressed. His other option was to go to the military base and speak to the General about his redeployment, but he hadn't the stomach for that... so he decided to simply wait for her. He knew he should have gone to the General, after all, he liked Akira so it wouldn't be too hard for him to not redeploy him on the front, but rather in a station somewhere. No... his presence was too much of a boon to the soldiers, plus he was far too young to be in command of a base.

Akira had two more drinks, he rather liked the affect it had on his thoughts, dampening them for awhile. If Jiang stayed away, he would probably make it a habit. After he finished the second drink he returned to his room. He realized that he smelled like ash, fire, and sweat, but he really didn't want to miss Jiang if she came back, so he simply fell onto his bed, much less comfortable than Jiang's, or maybe he didn't notice when he was with her...

The sweat was pouring and she was breathing heavily. She had been going at it four hours and the sun was high in the sky, and she gazed up towards the sky. He's probably awake now... She felt better now, she was in a better mood and she had somewhat decided what she wanted to do and say to him. She hit the dummy a few more times before wiping her forehead from sweat and turned to the two men. "Thans for letting me using this dummy. And I hope I didn't bruise you too bad." The man quickly shook his head and looked away, slightly embarrassed. "N-no, it's okay."

She returned to the inn and greeted the woman behind the counter before walking up to her room. Akira was no longer sleeping in the hallway and she didn't remember seeing him downstairs so she figured he was in his room. I should get washed up before I talk to him... She unlocked her door and walked inside and started getting undressed before stepping into the bathroom.

His mind was in a daze, he was confused and didn't know what to do... Should he go and check if she was back yet? No, he had been in his room for less than an hour... If she was back she would have knocked, right? Akira forced himself up, the alcohol he had drank didn't seem to affect his motor controls, he only drank four over the course of a few hours. He stood up, smelling himself before taking off his clothes. A bathhouse would have been best, but he didn't want to be gone from the Inn for any amount of time, just in case she got back. He got a wash cloth and some water instead, not the cleanest method, but it got the job done. he washed away the scent of ash, fire, and sweat, but the scent of death still remained... It wasn't an actual smell, it was a mindset, he always had it, even though he hadn't killed that many people. Death sticks to things, whether it is an object or a person, death will always be there as long as anyone remembers. He put on his pants again, but didn't bother with his shirt, it was much warmer than the night. He looked at the wall that was shared with Jiang's room, wondering if she was back yet.

He decided that there was no harm in checking, so he slowly let his own room and stood outside of hers for a time. he knocked and said, "Are you back yet?" he could have checked with the woman downstairs, but she would have just given him another drink, something he didn't need, but would more than happily accept.

The water felt great against her body. After barely any sleep and a rough training session the water was soothing and she missed the feeling of the water. She stepped out from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body and she used another to dry her hair. When she was done drying herself she would go straight to find Akira. After these few hours they had been apart she missed him immensely.

She was just about to start getting dfessed when she heard a knock on the door and the voice that made her heart race."Are you back yet?" She put the towel back around her body before answering. "Yeah, come on in." Maybe she should have askdd him to wait until she had gotten dressed, but she really wanted to see him.

He was worried about her, not knowing exactly where she was and ending the night before on such a low note after the bliss from the rest of the day, he was afraid to speak with her again, but he had to. He heard her soothing voice from within, "Yeah come on in."

He almost immediately went in, hardly expecting her to be in nothing but a towel, his mind wandered from what he was going to say as he looked at her, her eyes, her legs, everything that was not being guarded by the towel. After of few seconds of awe, he shut the door behind him and walked up to her and kissed her on the lips, he still didn't remember exactly what he was going to say, he just wanted to savor the kiss for as long as he could. He remembered what he wanted to say a few seconds later and pulled away from her. He took a step away from her and said, looking away, "Um... about last night... I wanted to say that I wanted to tell you about the Dai Li, you told me about your family and some of your childhood, I felt it right that you knew mine... I want to tell you more, if you're willing...?"

Jiang smiled as Akira looked her up and down and her body and mind rejoiced as he kissed her. How she had missed him. As he pulled away she staggered forward slightly not wanting it to end. He asked her if she was willing to hear about his childhood and she smiled as she turned his face to look at him by gently placing her hand on his cheek and gently turned his face towards him. "I would love to, and I'm sorry for how I reacted last night. I was just shocked that is all. But how about wd talk about that later tonight?" She grabbed the towel a bit tighter and smiled. "I quite liked the idea of a hot spring, if it's alright with you?" She walked over to her bed. "Now either close your eyes or turn around. I have to get dressed."

"If there something I didn't see last night?" Akira said jokingly, turning away from Jiang. He sighed a bit before continuing to speak, "You don't need to apologize, it was a lot to take in after an already immensely long day..." He realized that there must have been a lot to process that day, from a war starting, to receiving her first kiss, to their night together, it was understandable that she was overwhelmed. Akira felt it too, being in the same position and all. He wanted to be with her all day, he wanted to be with her up until he had to be deployed... Then his mind wandered back into what he was thinking about the night before, the thought had been buried by the alcohol, but it seemed to be digging its way back up. Would he be willing to leave the military, the defenders of his nation, for her? He hardly knew her, yet deep down in the recesses of his soul, he knew he would... He realized he had just met her, and that a war just started, but he wanted to be with her, whether that feeling was powerful enough to make him abandon his station and rank, was something to be seen. He felt a need in the back of his mind to turn around, but fought the feeling, taking his mind off of her body and to what they would do during the day, "I think that the Inn owner would probably know where a hot spring is... What else would you want to do today?"

Jiang smirked at his remark. "That's true, but that doesn't mean I'll let you see whenever there is an opportuninty you know." She chuckled and started picking up her clothes and putting them on, they still had that new clothes smell. She smiled and as she put on her shirt Akira sked if there was anything besides the hot springs she would like to do today. She thought for a while as she straightened out her shirt and then walked over to him, wrapping embracing him from behind. "Well, breakfast would be nice. I'm starving. I've been training for a couple of hours without anything to eat." She walked around so she could face him. "And I would like to find Lan. Tell her about the ceremony and everything. I feel like she should know. Aand I have this feeling she's already looking for us." She smiled sweetly and grabbed his hand.

Jiang mentioned finding Lan before grabbing Akira's hand. Funny enough, Akira had almost completely forgotten about Lan, she seemed insignificant in the day before when compared with Jiang, whom he had spent all this time with. Then his mind wandered to the ceremony and what would follow it... Then he realized that he wasn't walking with his crutch, and hadn't been since before they went to dinner the night before... Which meant that he was already relatively healed... He felt his stomach sink as he began to think about it more and more, but he stopped himself. He squashed the thought and began to think about finding Lan instead. he kept his composure through the thoughts, so it might not have been evident what he was thinking. He moved to her and kissed her on the forehead and said, "Okay, the problem is I have no idea where she would be, except for the herbalists, but she probably already delivered the stuff she had... So would you like to search for her before breakfast and a hot spring or after?"

Jiang kissed Akira on the lips. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea." She smiled and led him out of her room, locked the door and started going downstairs. As they exited inn and entered the streets she said. "Maybe we should go to the military and ask them if they've seen her? I mean, I would have goon there first thing after I was done with anything in the city." She walked a bit closer to him, wanting to feel his warmth and she was so happy that they were on good terms again. "Let's make this day even better that yesterday, and not have it end like yesterday." She grinned as she started walking towards the military base.

She stood close to him, feeding off of his warmth and feelings. He loved the feeling that swept throughout his body as her lips touched his own, as her body pressed up against his, it was angelic, it was bliss... She moved away towards the Military Base after saying, "Let's make this day even better that yesterday, and not have it end like yesterday."

"I hope you're talking about the talk we had in the middle of the night," He said, scoffing at the stupidity of the remark. He didn't want to sound boastful or over-eager, but the alcohol was affecting his mind a bit more than he would have thought, plus his hormones didn't really help him be low-key about it.

Wasn't it obvious what she was talking about? Of course she meant the talk they had. "Uhm, yeah. That's what I meant...wasn't that obvious?" She guessed he was tired. She knew she was so maybe she weren't that clear about it after all. Not only was she physically exhausted, but mentally too. No sleep, training and all she had done during the night was think. Nothing but think about their relationship and how things had turned out like this. Everything from the kiss to the wonderful day thay had spent together. But also the war. All of a sudden she was in the middle of a war. She had been trained for battle her entire life. Both with bending and regular weapons but her father never taught her anything about tactics or how to think. She rubbed her head and yawned and as she did she smelled somehing. She sniffed the air and then she smelled a bit closer to Akira. "Have you been drinking?" She looked into his eyes.

He had thought he was now able to think in front of women, he hadn't realized that it was the alcohol, so he began to worry a bit. Was there something wrong? After the bliss of the day before was he reverting back to his old self? She sighed, probably not getting much sleep, unlike Akira who continued to sleep after she had left. It was then that she smelled the alcohol, she turned to him and gazed into his eyes, saying, "Have you been drinking?"

Akira looked a bit confused, saying, "Yeah, the Inn owner gave me some cheap sake for free, I think she saw that we had a bit of a... I can't think of the right word to describe it... I've never actually had alcohol before, but it's pretty nice, taste is not bad and it makes you think while at the same time making you not think... if that makes any sense..." He wasn't drunk or anything, far from it in fact, but he definitely wasn't sober either. he learned later in his life that he could never hold alcohol very well, which is why he drank to forget things, it happened quickly.

"Sure...I guess that makes sense...somewhat. I just thought it was a bit early for drinking that's all." She kissed his cheek before returning her attention to finding the military base. Jiang had never had any alcohol herself because she knew what it could to to people and how dreadful effects it can have. So she personally stayed away from it.

It took longer than expected to reach the military. She guessed they had drifter quite far from it in their search for food and a place to sleep. She pushed aside the thoughts and focused on why they were here. She looked around, looking for a guard and she soon found one and walked up to him. "Excuse me, have you seen the woman who came here with us? About this tall, wears a hood. Very cute. Ring any bells?" The guard scratched his chin and thought for a while before answering. "Yes, now that you mention it. She was here a few minutes ago. If you keep looking I'm sure you'll find her." Jiang smiled at the guard. "Thank you." She then started walking around in search for Lan.

The streets were staring to get packed once more, the morning had passed and people were walking around on errands and such. it was much busier than the day before, but Akira hadn't arrived until later in the day, so maybe this was normal. One would think that the war would make people move to a less viable target than Taku, but most people seemed to remain. Jiang seemed to be focusing on getting to the military base, seeing as she didn't speak as they pushed through the crowds. When they got to the base she asked a random solider where they might find Lan, and apparently she was at the base. Akira thought this was odd, he thought she would have returned home after her delivery. What reason did she have to stay? Akira decided not to bother thinking about it, and decided to focus on Jiang, his love. She was intent on finding Lan for some reason, Akira figured that if they went around the base, eventually she would find one of them.

It was then that Akira realized something, if the General or the Doctor saw him moving around with the ease he felt now, then maybe they would send him off sooner. He wrapped his arm around Jiang's neck and whispered, "Pretend like you're helping me walk okay?"