#featuring: rangi my pathetic little mew mew

[swiftsaltsweet]

Thief in the Avatar’s Estate: Chapter 6- A Condition

Characters: Rangi and Kyoshi and Yun (plus whoever appears in Rok)

Pairing: Rangshi

Summary:   Yun decides to head off to bed after his travels from fighting with the Fifth Nation. But as he does, he and his bodyguard, Rangi, hear strange noises coming from Kelsang’s room. When they go to investigate, they are surprised by what they find.

(Canon divergent AU-What if Kyoshi was raised by her parents?)

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Other Sites: AO3 and Fanfic.net

A/N: Just a heads up ch 7 was where I stopped because I got my attention taken away by Hunt For Kyoshi. So uhhhhh yes slower updates on this one. Sorry. u_u

Oh! I know this is an AU of Rise of Kyoshi, but….expect maybe some spoilers for Shadow of Kyoshi…..esp in regards to Kuruk here. (and maybe Yangchen too, but that’s for next chapter)

Also enjoy the art edits :'D May have gone to town on this chapter....jfdkslafja (miiiiight update one of them, I dunno if y'all get notifications for changes but.....if you do it's cause I updated a pic)

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It had been several days since the trio had entered the Spirit World. It was unknown how long time in the real world had passed. They could only hope it hadn’t been too long. 

The group had gotten into a rhythm. They’d travel in silence, dodge some spirits, all three would have a few arguments, Rangi and Lee would fight, and Yun would tease Rangi every so often. Rinse and repeat. 

It was on the fifth day, Yun’s attempts to pry deeper into Lee’s life started becoming successful. 

���Why did you steal from me?” Yun finally broke one of the hours-long silence between the trio.

Lee, however, didn’t seem phased by the question. “I have my reasons.”

Deflecting again, huh? Yun frowned. 

“Well, did you get what you wanted?” he goaded some more.

“Hmmm, I suppose.”

“Which was?” 

Lee didn’t respond. She didn’t respond for so long, it took Yun and Rangi by surprise when the silence was broken again.

“I wanted something with the Avatar’s seal on it.”

Yun and Rangi blinked in surprise. “Just, anything with the seal on it? Not those documents in particular?” 

So she wasn’t trying to gain intel on what the Avatar’s next move was? Then what was she doing?

“I mean, I did try to find some Earth Kingdom related documents, I mean that’s where I usually reside. But no, it didn’t really matter what it was. These seemed like some non-important Air Nation related documents, so I figured no one would notice nor care if they went missing.”

“And the toy?” Yun asked. Even if she was telling the truth here, it was the one thing that didn’t line up.

Lee bit her lip, a very bad habit of hers that Yun realized, “That one’s…more complicated.” 

“Please, enlighten us,” Rangi sighed, rolling her eyes.

Lee was silent for a while, and then spoke again when she finally found whatever courage she needed. “It’s mine.” There was an intense possessiveness that took over her voice. 

“No, it’s the Avatars’.” Rangi corrected her. “It’s been in their lives for generations.”

Lee looked at her confused and then downcast. “Oh, I had no idea. It was just the toy I wanted to get back then.”

Yun cocked his head to the side in confusion.

“Years ago, some weird officials came into a town we were passing through. They were asking for kids to come up and choose toys from a pile.” She moved her hand instinctively to a place in her tunic. Possibly where the turtle was being held. “I happened to see the turtle and thought it was up for grabs. But my father pulled me away and told me not to ever approach them.”

Yun furrowed his brow. He had heard of Jianzhu’s attempts at finding him by using the Air Nomads' way of finding the Avatar; they were desperate. He had been unlucky to be too sick to move when Jianzhu came to his city to perform the toy test, otherwise he would’ve been found sooner. 

But why that toy? Why an Avatar’s toy? He didn’t like it, it set him on edge. Even though he heard about how they almost crowned Suzu as the Avatar cause she happened to pick out three of the four relics one time. He still didn't like the idea of people touching his things.

“But, why?” Rangi asked, pulling them back to the original question of the papers. She didn’t seem interested in Lee’s parents and their version of stranger danger. “Why would you risk your life and livelihood to break into the most important place on the planet? And for something so….meaningless?”

“L-like I said, I have my reasons,” Lee stuttered as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. 

Something about this didn’t add up to Yun. If she wanted something benign and to not get caught, then why the explosion? “But why would you go so far as to set a trap for such meaningless documents?” Yun asked. 

Lee stopped and blinked at them, “Trap? I didn’t set a trap. Why would I when I thought no one was going to be there and I was trying to be sneaky?!”

Rangi and Yun looked at each other, “Then if it wasn’t you, what was that explosion back at the mansion?” 

“I dunno, it wasn’t me.” Lee scratched her head, equally confused. But she decided to steer the conversation back to the original track. “Listen, I can let you look at the documents, to show you it’s nothing. So will you let me keep them without a fuss?”

Yun gave her a long look, measuring her reaction, before responding. “Fine.”

Rangi turned towards Yun with widened eyes, “Yun-!”

But Yun put his hand up to silence her. “One condition. If, and again, only if, they are just bland governmental documents that are but a footnote in my life, and hold no real meaning. You can have them.”

Lee gave him the brightest smile, her cut threatening to open up again with how wide she was grinning. As if he had made her day, no, life. If he was being honest, it made his heart thump a bit. 

“But-” Yun continued, Lee’s face falling slightly. “In exchange you can’t tell anyone you encountered us. We didn’t give chase, you didn’t save us, this whole journey never happened.”

The wide grin came back full force on Lee’s cheeks, “That? Of course, fine by me!”

Lee continued marching forward, with a new skip in her step. He’d need to figure out how to deal with the turtle toy some other time.

“Yun, what are you thinking?” Rangi whispered to him.

“Better to have people, especially criminals, think they can steal from me when I’m away than to have the hope in people’s eyes tarnished because we were in figurative bed with an outlaw.”

Upon hearing that, Rangi could only nod in agreement. All they would need to do was increase security at the estate. It’d be annoying, but it was a better trade off than his public image being ruined.

“Hey you two slowpokes!” Lee yelled, apparently she had gotten farther ahead than they’d realized. “Get over here and let’s take a break!”

Lee was waving for them, she was in a field surrounded by…..very bright and very large mushrooms. 

“Check it out! I found some spirit mushrooms!” Lee laughed as she poked the giant fungi.

Yun marveled at the spirit mushroom, it was large and squishy…. And glowy. It was out of this world, nothing could tear his eyes away from it. Except something more surprising and extraordinary.

He noticed an odd motion coming from his bodyguard. Rangi was….wiping away drool coming from her mouth. Not only that, her eyes were sparkling. 

Yun was stunned, it wasn’t often, no ever, that Rangi showed an active liking towards something. Anything, really. 

“Ah I wouldn’t eat that one!” Lee yelled to them as she scoped out some other mushrooms in the area. Only Yun had the pleasure of seeing Rangi’s face look so crestfallen. “Not if you want to lose your sense of self! …..or is it that you’ll leave your body for good?” She wandered off, muttering to herself, apparently trying to remember which were safe to eat. Not that eating really mattered here… but it didn’t not matter. 

“So you like mushrooms?” Yun whispered to Rangi.

Judging by how straight Rangi’s back became, it seemed like she’d come to her senses and returned to her usual self. “N-no. It’s just food. I like it as much as any other food.”

Yangchen forbid she admit she likes something. Yun sighed before realizing he had a new opportunity to press the firebenders buttons.

“So…” he took a step closer, nudging her shoulder, careful to avoid the spikes. “Mushrooms or Lee, which do you like more?”

She turned to him, face blazed and eyes bewildered, but she wasn’t able to give a coherent answer. Yun gave her a shit eating grin. Maybe she’s attracted to Lee more than I thought. Or maybe she’s reading into the question more than I planned. 

Before Rangi could form an answer, Lee popped out from behind another mushroom. “Did someone say my name?”

“No one is talking about you!” Rangi spit out, stray sparks leaving her mouth.

“Oh I thought I heard my name?” Lee smiled, oblivious to….everything apparently. This was good for Yun, it meant he could be more risky with his teasing. 

“Oh but we were! Rangi was just telling me how she liked you more than mushrooms!” Yun gave Lee the best political smile he could muster, all while Rangi gave him a look as if he had just stabbed her in the back. The fresh red in her face drained instantly, along with all other color. 

Lee just blinked, “Cool. I guess?” And then promptly walked away. 

As soon as she was around the corner, Rangi dropped to her knees, exhausted by the interaction. “Avatar Yun, do you hate me?”

Yun tried not to laugh at the helplessness in her voice. “No. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re attracted to my enemy. Just want to know if she’s going to steal you away from me.”

“I’m not atr-I mean… I’m not going anywhere,” Rangi said weakly. Yun noticed the slip up. Can’t even lie about it anymore, huh?

“Well I think you should go for it,” he laughed, half-jokingly and half-serious.

Rangi looked at him incredulously.

“What? Do they not have flings in the Fire Nation?” the incredulous-ness of her look intensified, but she did gnaw on her lower lip. Thinking about something.

Yun imagined himself on Rangi’s shoulders, one acting as a righteous spirit, the other as a dark spirit. Then he merged them together, he was going to be both. He did owe her one, for using his Avatar status to command her to steal the documents back, it was time he paid her back.

He knelt down next to Rangi, and gave her a one armed hug around the shoulders while avoiding her armor’s spikes.

“C’mon, we aren’t going to see her again after we leave! What’s a little handle holding? A stolen kiss?” He jostled her a bit, and she looked at him, eyes wide. Sweat pooled from her face, and her ears were redder than a white dragon bush flower. He started walking two fingers up her arm. “A little….” Then he booped a finger on one of her spikes. “Tryst?” 

The flush had spread throughout the rest of her face, she was redder than the Fire Nation’s hottest volcanic lava. And about as warm too. He was definitely putting her into a spiral again, but this one seemed to be less devastating. Maybe just one more push?

“C’mon, live a little! Who’s going to know?” He gave her a smug grin. “As your Avatar, I command you to seduce the beautiful daofei and to have some fun!”

Yun watched as the bronze left Rangi’s eyes. Actually her entire body lost its color, and she felt rigid, like her spirit left her body. Maybe I went too far? He thought. He didn’t have time to right his wrongs, as he felt footsteps making their way back to them, unbeknownst to Rangi. He decided to just double down. 

Yun slapped Rangi’s back encouragingly, “Go get her tigerdillo!”

“Whatcha doin’?” Lee appeared before them, head cocked to the side. Yun could feel Rangi' under his hand practically jump out of her skin and flee into the woods. Well at least it seemed her spirit re-entered her body… “Did you eat the mushroom I said not to?”

“No….” Rangi muttered, not bothering to look up.

“The air’s just a little thin here, don’t you think?” Yun said coming to her rescue, he waved his hand to punctuate the issue of the seemingly bad air.

“No? It’s not like we’re not on the mountain yet.” Lee said pointedly. But then she shrugged and made her way to Rangi’s side. “Well good news, I found some edible mushrooms! They’re over here!” She scooped down, picked Rangi up around her waist, and proceeded to carry her like a very docile cat mouse…or a sack of flour. Regardless, Rangi hung there limply, not bothering to protest.

Lee plopped Rangi down on a mushroom that was stool level, and then handed her what appeared to be an edible mushroom. Lee took a mushroom seat on the opposite end, while Yun took a mushroom seat next to Rangi.

Rangi stared at the mushroom sullenly, but then brightened up after she took the first bite. Life and light shone back into her being in an instant, it was almost as if Yun’s earlier conversation never happened. 

“Oh so you do like mushrooms,” Lee said as she happily bit into one of her own. Her comment caused both Rangi and Yun to choke on their bounty, and slowly drained the life right back out of Rangi once again. Maybe Lee wasn’t as dense as she let on? “And here I thought you were being sarcastic.”

Yun tried coming to Rangi’s rescue again, but could he really say it was a rescue when he got her into these situations in the first place? “Of course we were being sincere! You could say we’ve grown fond of you these past few days!”

Lee blinked at him, surprised. “Really?”

Yun nodded, “Yup! I feel a kinship! Almost like a friendship!”

Lee’s eyes sparkled, “Friendship?!”

Yun was a bit taken aback by the utter happiness that was radiating off the criminal. “Y-yes?”

“So, we’re kinda like…friends?” Lee had dropped her mushroom and stood up, excitedly.

“Yes? R-right, Rangi?” Yun looked at Rangi, who was in the middle of chewing another bite of spirit mushroom. 

Why are you dragging me into this?! You brought it up! Is what her look communicated to him.

“I’ve never had friends my age before!” The sparkle in Lee’s eyes was getting dangerously happy. “So if we’re friends, that means we can do each other favors right?!” 

“S-sure?” Yun couldn’t stop agreeing to the girl’s questions. Her enthusiasm was magnetic.

“Then…” She turned to Rangi, expectantly. “Can you show me some of your Firebending moves?!” 

______________________

Rangi started choking on her mushroom. “What?! Why?”

Some skittishness seemed to seep into Lee’s demeanor. “Um, well, uh…..”

“No, really, why? What use could an earthbender have learning firebending moves?” Sure there were some stances that overlapped, but it made more sense for an earthbender to learn from another earthbender!

Lee bit her bottom lip, wincing a little when she bit her cut. “I…I’m not really all that great with my earthbending.” She looked down, fiddling with her hands. “I’ve gotten some help, drawing off of other bending forms, like waterbending. You know what they say! ‘Wisdom can be gleaned from any nation!’”

Rangi thought back to when Yun questioned her about her odd earthbending movements days ago.

“So I thought, maybe firebending could help……fix my issue? Or at least improve it?”

Rangi blinked at the taller girl, still dumbfounded. She supposed it could work, but it was still a waste of energy. It’d be more beneficial for Lee to learn from an earthbending master. Rangi was about to say no, when Lee cut her off.

“I’ll tell you all I know about Kuruk!” she blurted out. “Whatever you wanna know!”

Rangi and Yun shared a look, “You want to give up your leverage for….this?”

Lee nodded, relieved. “Yeah! I mean, you said I could keep the documents if they were bunk, right? And we can easily part ways after. So besides those two things, this is really the only other thing I need.” 

Rangi raised her eyebrows at the girl. She really wanted something this useless in exchange for something that could be otherworldly useful? It almost hurt her honor taking advantage of someone in such a lopsided bargain, but if it helped Avatar Yun…..

“Fine, but you tell us what you know first. And then I’ll hotsquat you to Koh and back.”

Lee beamed. “Ok ok! So um, where do I start? Oh! He tried to teach me Pai Sho a few times, but I really hated it.”

Rangi glanced a look at Yun, sure enough, it looked like he’d been gutted. “How about something a little more useful. You mentioned something about his hunting earlier? Something about what he really hunted, if I recall correctly?”

Lee smacked her forehead. “Oh right! His hunting! You’re, like, Avatar Kuruk’s reincarnation correct? And remember when I said it’d be best if we just avoid spirits in general?”

“Yes and yes,” Yun nodded in recollection.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly the whole truth.” She grinned sheepishly. Rangi could only wonder what else the girl had lied about, but didn’t press. This information was more important. “There’s another reason we need to avoid spirits than the ones I explained a few days ago. That reason is because the spirits really dislike Kuruk. They have a big grudge against him.”

Rangi blinked. That didn’t make sense, nothing they knew about Kuruk would indicate spirits would hate him. Did he even interact with spirits? Outside of Koh stealing his wife? If anyone would have a grudge against him, it’d seem more likely to be the human world. Considering he neglected it and all.

“Why?” Yun asked. 

“Because he killed them,” Lee shrugged. She said something so heavy, oh so easily. As if handing a 100 pound weight to a scrawny child, unaware of how it would cause them to fold. 

Yun’s eyes widened in shock, “W-why?!” 

Lee took a step back, surprised by the reaction, “Um, for some reason the spirits were angry. They were threatening to destroy the world, so he had to take them out.”

Rangi blinked at the other girl, this was the first she heard of this information. It was never in any of her mother’s stories. 

“Why were the spirits angry?” Rangi asked. 

Lee shook her head, “I dunno. He never wanted to tell me the why. He said I’d have to ask someone else, since it wasn’t his story to tell.” 

Rangi scrunched up her face. It was so hard to believe, maybe Lee was making this up?

“That’s why he died so young!” Lee blurted out, seeing the apprehension on Yun and Rangi’s faces. “The spirits he killed, they took a piece of him with them each time. He told me that’s why he drank and partied, to numb the pain.”

The two stood shell shocked by the revelation, and Lee kept going. “That’s why Koh stole his wife's face! Why else would a spirit just do that, you know? He obviously hated Kuruk and what he did to the spirits!”

Lee looked at the other two teens expectantly, but they only returned with stunned silence. “He also taught me a poem.” Was the last little ‘fun fact’ she could come up with for her earth shattering bombshells.

Rangi and Yun could only stare at Lee, mouths agape.

Lee waved her arms a little impatiently, “So….are you going to teach me firebending- I-I mean firebender forms, or what?”

Rangi nodded, but asked if they could have a moment to collect themselves.

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A few hours, and a very long conversation with Yun later over the revelations. Rangi was finally in a headspace to teach Lee. 

They weren’t exactly sure of the implications of Lee knowing vital knowledge about Kuruk, nor why he would tell a random daofei of all people. But they decided to run it by Jianzhu when they got back. 

There wasn’t much they could do now, so instead Rangi set out to be the first firebending sifu for an earthbender. It didn’t make any sense to the girl, but she was damn sure going to do it as right as she could.

“I told you to mirror me! It’s already hard enough I have to do this form in reverse for you, can’t you just copy?! Mirror! Shadow! Anything!” Rangi yelled, like the drill sergeant that she was. “Your elbow is too low! Your legs aren’t low enough! You call that flexible?!”

“I’m sorry Sifu Firecracker!” Lee pleaded, some fear showing in her voice. Sweat dripped from her forehead and other exposed parts of her skin. She’d kept her entire attire on despite the layers, opting to only roll up her sleeves and pant legs for ventilation.

Not enough to drop that ridiculous nickname apparently. Rangi frowned. 

Yun was off to the side of the meadow, watching them like he was at one of those fancy theater plays. He lounged back, laying down on his arms, and hollered at the girls. “Rangi, why don’t you just physically guide Lee? Cause shadowing is obviously not working!” He then gave a wink when only Rangi was paying attention.

That jerk! Rangi scowled. He knew exactly what he was doing, and he could tell Rangi was trying her best to keep a safe distance between her and the daofei. Rangi still hadn’t forgotten the last time she invaded the daofei’s personal space. She didn’t think her heart could take a repeated offense. 

“Um,” Lee’s squeak pulled Rangi’s scowl away from Yun and onto Lee. Lee flinched and looked away. “He’s right, if it’s not too much trouble.”

Lee looked back at Rangi with the eyes that would put a deer puppy to shame. 

Damnit! Why does she have to have such pretty eyes? Rangi bit the inside of her cheek, willing it to not heat up, as her heart thudded hard against her armor. Then mentally kicked herself, realizing too late her thoughts were starting to get a little too honest. 

Rangi grimaced, and made a move towards the earthbending girl, “Fine.” 

It’s fine, I’ll just make it quick. Rangi thought as she stomped over. Just don’t look at her face and you’ll be fine.

She kept her eyes to the ground and saw Lee’s foot placement. Perfect. She put her foot on Lee’s thigh and lightly pushed. “Lower.”

Lee yelped as she dropped into the position Rangi was pushing her towards. Rangi made a mistake by looking out of the corner of her eye and saw Yun wiggling his eyebrows at her as he mouthed ‘You've got this!’

She snapped her attention back to Lee, absolute focus on her face. 

Ok, now arm placements. “You need to bend it more here.” Lee bent her arm as she was told. “No! That’s too far! Go back!” Lee bent it back but past the original position. “No that’s wrong-argh-just-”

Rangi gave up, and grabbed Lee’s arm, both girls visibly flinched at each other’s touch. Rangi cursed to herself, as caressed the other girl’s much cooler arm. Rangi wasn’t regulating her body temperature well, how was she going to explain this? 

She shook her head, deciding ignoring the problem was better than addressing it. Let your opponent make the first move. But Lee kept quiet, perhaps she assumed that firebenders ran hotter than others? That wouldn’t be incorrect, but the temperature Rangi was running wasn’t exactly a normal firebender temperature at the moment. 

She put Lee’s arm into position, “Like this, now thrust it outward as a palm strike, and bring it back to this position. Then do the same but with a closed fist.” Lee obeyed fairly well. “Good, now stand up, and do the same thrusting motion, but bring your leg down to that bent position at the same time.”

Lee complied, after attempting the form a handful of times, Rangi stopped her. “Ok now watch me.” Rangi performed the same attack, but this time twisting her shoulders and hips to give the thrust more impact. “Do that.”

Lee attempted the action, but didn’t get the twisting movement down right. “No! Not like that! Just-here!” Rangi got behind Lee, before her brain caught up to her. 

When she placed her hands on Lee’s shoulders, she realized her mistake. Lee’s shoulders were broad and firm, there was definitely muscle underneath her tunic. It wasn’t the first time she was getting acquainted with them, but she also didn’t get a chance to really appreciate it the first time. Due to their lives being in danger and all. She briefly wondered if they were as chiseled and defined as the abs she happened to catch a glimpse of the night they met. 

Rangi tried not to be distracted by how nice Lee’s back felt, choosing to look away from it to save her from the distraction.

She made yet another fatal error by choosing to look up rather than down, because she could see Lee’s fully exposed nape. Lee’s long hair was tied up into a messy bun for this exercise, and Rangi could see everything in all its glory.

Strands of loose hair stuck to Lee’s neck, caressing it in a fashion that Rangi could only view as a taunt aimed directly at her. She watched as a stray bead of sweat fell down, tracing every muscle along its path, before disappearing into the tunic below. 

The action caused Ragni’s breath to hitch, which led her into suppressing a cough. She realized she was drying the air out as well. She needed to move soon or she’d be caught. 

She gripped Lee’s shoulders. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands. Ignore your hands! She chanted in her mind as she twisted Lee’s shoulders into the correct movement. 

“There like that,” Rangi forced out, clearing her throat. 

“Don’t forget the hips!” Yun jeered. “That’s where all the power comes from!” Rangi briefly considered if it’d be a crime if she burned the Avatar’s eyebrows off, before she found her distracted by Lee’s body again.

Rangi could feel a white hot flush forming throughout her body. Just make it fast!

She put her hands on Lee’s hips, and turned them, Lee easily complying with every motion. “Just rotate it at the same time as your shoulders,” she forced out breathily. It, or the steam that came out of her mouth, caused Lee to flinch, which caused Rangi’s heart to quicken even more. Damnit, control! Control yourself!

Rangi took a step back, “Now, show me the form again.”

If Lee had noticed something was up with Rangi, she didn’t let it show on her face. Rangi prayed to Yanchen and every Avatar she could think of for that minor blessing.

It was short lived when she noticed Lee’s hand placements, how could she have not noticed sooner?!

“No! No! No! You’re going to hurt your wrist with that palm strike! And spirits of the islands! What are you doing with your fist?! Are you trying to break your fingers?!” 

She grabbed Lee’s hands in annoyance, with the intent to put them in the correct position. Another mistake. Just mistake after mistake today, or really since she met Lee. 

Lee’s hands were much softer than Rangi thought they’d be, and smoother too. They were so pleasant to touch that Rangi’s heart stopped for a moment before it spluttered back to life. Rangi was mesmerized by how her thumb dented into Lee’s hand as she pressed into it. 

She slowly made her way up from the wrist to the fingertips, making sure her own fingers gently scraped over Lee’s tendons, as well as a bulging vein that’d become more prominent since they started the training exercise. 

Her hands are so big. Lee had a wide palm and long fingers, even longer than Rangi’s. Rangi wondered how big they really were. Twice as big? They could definitely engulf Rangi’s if they were ever intertwined. 

It took all of Rangi’s strength to return to her sense, and readjust Lee’s fingers and hand into the correct position. “You want to strike with your palm,” she whispered, her hand still over Lee’s. 

She could hear Lee gulp dryly. She really needed to get her heat under control, she was drying them both out.

“Now show me your fist.” 

Lee compiled again, curing her fingers. Her fingernails catching the tips of Rangi’s fingertips, and accidentally curling Rangi’s hand over hers. 

Rangi stopped breathing, and her heart pounded so hard in her chest, she could’ve sworn it was at risk of bursting through her armor and running off into the wilderness. 

Very big. Was the only thought that could come to mind, when she noticed the size difference.

She bit her lip, trying to ground herself.

“Sorry,” she heard Lee mutter from what felt like a very far distance. Rangi was torn between forgiveness and ire. 

With the strength one would require to move a mountain, Rangi detangled her fingers from Lee’s, and quickly readjusted them into a proper fist. 

As she was in the process of turning her head and body, so she could get away, she caught the side of Lee’s neck. 

A collarbone teased Rangi from just under the tunic’s collar. It gleefully pointed her to the divet in the throat. From there she followed a line from Lee’s very sharp muscle up to her jaw line, and stopped at Lee’s lips. 

The bite mark she’d given Lee when she performed CPR on her was still prominent. It seemed to have healed a lot faster than Rangi had anticipated, even with Lee reopening it from her bad habit. 

Something in her didn’t like that it was disappearing. It made her want to do it again, albeit, more tenderly this time.

Her eyes went up from Lee’s lips, to her cheeks, and marveled at the freckles that dusted her face. It was the first thing Rangi noticed when Lee took her makeup off, and it was something she couldn’t help but steal glances at since. 

Lastly was Lee’s eyes, gray like storm clouds, but there was a light that danced in them. There was a sparkle that drew Rangi in, especially as they bored into her like they were now. Wait. 

Rangi’s eyes widened. Lee was looking at her. She could see Rangi was ogling her. 

Without thinking, Rangi grabbed Lee’s face by her cheeks and forced it forward, “What are you doing looking at me? Focus on your form! Look straight!” 

She tried to make her words sound like a strong instructor. Did it work? She wasn’t sure. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore. How long was she in that stupor? A second? A million seconds? 

“Yefsh Sifuuu” Lee slurred out between her puckered lips and pinched cheeks. 

Rangi released Lee from her grip, her thumb accidentally sliding over Lee’s bite mark. Rangi was surprised by the heat in her thumb it left after she pulled away, surprised she hadn’t spontaneously combusted against her will just yet. 

“We’re going to run that form again! Mirror me properly this time!” she commanded her student.

She turned away from Lee, planning to get back to her position, and caught Yun’s eye. He’d transfer to laying on his stomach, his face in his palms. He was kicking his feet lightly, like a schoolgirl. When their eyes met, he gave her the smuggest grin she’d ever seen. She almost set the whole meadow on fire right then and there, her honor and all, but somehow kept it restrained. 

“I won’t let out any flame at the end of the set, so feel free to relax.” It was easier said than done, her entire body wanted to let loose the flame building up inside of her. But maybe her focusing would help keep her mind off things. Such as Lee, and how she seemed completely unperturbed by the whole situation that just happened!

Not a single blush was in sight. Rangi chewed the inside of her cheek and let out a string of curses in her mind. Why was she the only one that felt this way? Why was she the only one who had to suffer? 

She inhaled sharply, and got ready to start the set. No, maybe I covered my tracks better than I thought. She doubted it, but now she had to focus regardless. 

They started in sync, only five feet apart. Lee was mimicking her perfectly this time. Guess she was a fast learner. 

There was a twist here, a stomp there, a palm strike here. 

The last move was the punch she’d just helped Lee with, Rangi inhaled on the twist, making sure to repress her firebending. 

Right as the duo followed through on their punch, a giant ball of fire appeared before them. Rangi grabbed Lee by the shoulder and threw her behind her as she jumped back. Rangi was just barely able to escape the licks of the fire as she maneuvered it upward, and Lee ended up flying to the ground.

“Woah are you alright?!” Yun yelled at the girls as he ran over. 

“H-hey, Firecracker! I thought you said you weren’t going to bend!” Lee asked, nerves clear in her voice as she shakily stood up. She tried to laugh “You scared me!”

Rangi just stared dumbly where the fire appeared. Yun grabbed her shoulder. “Rangi are you ok?”

A distant part of Rangi, one too far to occupy her body at the moment, knew he was probably concerned about her lack of control she had been experiencing. That part of Rangi wanted to reply, but she couldn’t. 

Rangi shook Yun’s hand off and warily approached Lee, she could feel her look of shock and horror still on her face.

“Hey if you’re going to be the Avatar’s bodyguard, you should really learn to control yourself,” Lee laughed, trying to make light of what just happened.

Rangi grabbed Lee’s hands, unperturbed by her earlier feelings. She gripped them tightly for one second, then dropped them instantly as if she’d been shocked, and took a step back.

Rangi’s ears were ringing. She was finding it hard to breathe, it was a struggle to talk but she gasped each word out as she gained what little air she could. “That- it wasn’t- That wasn’t me.”

Rangi couldn’t see Yun’s face, she couldn’t see anything now. Anything but Lee. Her whole world was crashing down, and Lee was ground zero. 

Lee’s smiling demeanor started to melt away, into a more horrified expression. She attempted to speak, but nothing came out. It looked like a scream was caught in her throat. 

“What do you mean it wasn’t you?” She heard Yun ask from a million miles away.

Rangi took a couple gulps of air before forcing out the words, “It. Was. Her.”

The hands Rangi had held, which were ice cold to her before, were now scorching hot. A flame out of control. 

“N-No it wasn’t! It wasn’t me!” Lee took a step back, terrified.

“Why?!” Rangi screamed, her voice cracking in sync with the tears welling up in her eyes. Hope and what she thought was the truth, hanging onto the bitter end before it all blew up. “How is it that you earthbend and firebend?!”

Rangi’s eyes widened in realization. The dark spirit. When her fire had lost control, there was wind. The wind had fed into her flame. “And airbend?” 

The edges of Rangi’s vision started blackening, everything was being consumed by the blackness. Everything but Lee. Who’s face looked as decimated as Rangi felt. Fury coursed through Rangi, and she ran up and grabbed the girl by the front of her tunic and started shaking her.

“HOW?! Tell me!” The campsite. How she got it all set up in such a short time. Even the way her fire dagger had gone out! How she was able to talk to Kuruk! It was all adding up!

Rangi finally met Lee’s eyes, the storm clouds inside threatened rainfalls.  

WHY?! Don’t make that face! Not when it’s me who-

“Answer me!” Rangi screamed. “Answer me, you- you-!” Every word that came out felt like a sob, as she shook the other girl. She couldn't say the word. It would be final if she did. 

Lee pushed Rangi away and fell backwards onto the ground. 

“Th-this isn’t- It’s not-. This isn’t what it looks like!” Lee scrambled to her knees, arms outstretched pleading, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Pleading. As if she was afraid for her life.  “I have a condition!” 

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A/N: Heh….stool level……mushroom……heh…… (I meant stool the chair level btw TT0TT in case that was confusing, but the pun was so enticing I had to keep it, confusion be damned)

Neck and hand fetish….how does one write a neck and hand fetish???? TT0TT Gdi Rangi and your canon fetishes! That itself made the chapter longer than I’d meant to dkfljaskfja;k This was just supposed to be a tiny fanfic with small chapters at at time TT0TT 

Anyway ummmmm that was a rollercoaster, huh? :’D We’re not off this ride just yet buddy-bois!