Lianda (Toph + Zuko):

There was no air up here—or there was, but it was filled with dark, black smoke and ash. There was no water up here, no ice, no blue, and every breath was a battle. Aang was keeping them from falling, Katara was healing Sokka, so there were only two left in the center of the volcano: the blind girl and the banished prince.

“Hey!” shouted Zuko has he hurled fire and lava at his small opponent, running behind rock to cover himself from his confusion at having fire and lava thrown right back. “Aren’t you an EARTH bender?! Stop cheating!”

“Cheating??” snarled Toph right back with that classic-Toph lilt in her voice that challenged, ‘dare to out-argue me?!’ “How am I cheating? DO I LOOK LIKE A CHEATER TO YOU?” She snarled and threw a large pile of molten rock right into Zuko’s hide-out. “If anyone’s cheating it’s you!”

“Arrgh!” Zuko cried, coming out from behind his rock and gesturing madly at the environment around him. “How are you fire-bending?”

Toph paused, glaring at the boy in front of her. Well, not exactly glaring. But look at like she was... “Fire-bending?! What are you talking about? You fire nation kids are all wacked out.”

Zuko cried out in frustration. “But you’re manipulating the fire just like I am!”

“Fire? WHAT fire??” Toph pointed at the volcano in which they were standing. “This is rock? Y’know...EARTH?”

“NO,” Zuko said petulantly, pointing at the flowing river of red, “this is FIRE, don’t you know anything? It’s burning, it’s red, it’s fire!”

Toph sighed. “Wow, all those expensive fire nation tutors and they couldn’t even teach the PRINCE that volcanos are made from rock? What HAS the world come too...”

Zuko growled, hurling some more lava. “I will not admit defeat!!”

“FINE!” Toph yelled back. “Hey Avatar,” she cried over her shoulder, “so what is this stuff? Earth or fire?”

“YOU THINK I’M GOING TO LISTEN TO HIM!?” Zuko spat.

“..good point.”

And they hurled some more rock/fire until the day was over.

Riko (Ty Lee + Sokka):

"Wait, what?" said Sokka.

Ty Lee leaned forward a little farther, bracing her arm against the closest wall and smiling broadly. "I thought I was pretty clear the first time? You. Me. Date. Tonight."

Sokka considered this carefully. "Yes," he said. "I thought that's what you said." He crossed his legs and arm and tried to glare at her in an aloof, off-putting way. It was hard, what with the chains and the fact that his elastic had broken sometime during that last battle.

His hair was unwashed and falling around his face in a way that Sokka figured probably came off more as bedraggled puppy dog than stern warrior-man.

"SO?" Ty Lee demanded.

"You don't think it would be at all awkward? I mean," Sokka paused significantly, "GIVEN THAT I AM BEHIND BARS AND ALL."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes and flickered her fingers in front of her face in way that strongly implied that Sokka was being silly. "Oh psssh," she said. "Don't worry about that."

"It's sort of hard not to worry about that," Sokka countered. He stabbed a finger in the air in her direction just to make the point very clear: "You see, I AM BEHIND BARS."

In a split second, Ty Lee pushed off the wall and bounced over to crouch in front of Sokka's cell, so that they were face-to-face. She smiled again in her wide, dizzying way. "That doesn't mean we can't be special friends."

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF --" came the sound of Toph's voice, from somewhere on the other side of the jail where Sokka knew a wooden cage was suspended over a large pit. "COULD SOMEONE GET ME A BAG 'CAUSE I THINK I'M GOING TO PUKE?"

Lianda (Aang + Azula):

ZAP.

Aang looked over his shoulder at the piece of black, charred lump of rubble that used to be a very nicely-decorated fire nation statue, gulped, and muttered, “Uh oh...” Turning back around, he gave grinned sheepishly over in Azula’s direction, saying brightly, “So...that was a very nice chat and all...sortof...but I’ve got to be going now thank you good bye have a very nice life,” before basically running for his life in the opposite direction, screaming, “AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH.”

Azula’s mouth tilted up in the most evil grin as she followed, zapping various random furniture pieces with her lightning just for effect, because, you know....Azula. She yelled in front of her, “Do you honestly think that I am going to blissfully sit and let the Avatar get away? No! I will capture you, Avatar, bring you back to my father and become the most glorious figure to ever live in the fire nation....!!!”

Aang looked up, eyes wide and eyebrows raised. “Lady...are you supposed to be the new Zuko?” He avoided a lightning bolt. “Not saying that you aren’t,” he quickly continued, “Because you are! Minus the anger and the father complex. Oh wait—”

“...and all the Generals will cower before my might and all the citizens will fear me and even my father will give me his crown...!!!!!”

Still running, Aang muttered, “Uhh...are you sure about that? No offense but your father doesn’t really seem like the crown-relinquishing type if you know what I mean...”

“...and then all the men will flock to me and realize how absolutely beautiful and perfect I am and I will have them all for myself and be queen of all men...!”

Aang paused, unable to keep from cracking up just a bit, “Umm...lady....somehow I don’t think—”

“...and I will live happily forever in a palace of clean perfection and no one will ever be able to usurp the absolute power that I will have over the entire world...!”

“ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?!??!”

ZAP.

Aang’s eyes rolled up to see a bit of singed hair. “I...guess not.” He picked up speed. Because yikes. Azula.

Riko (Aang + Suki):

Aang gave the wooden board a skeptical once over and then he looked over the top of it at the girl holding it in his outstretched arm.

"Are you serious?" he said. "I'm the Avatar."

Suki raised an eyebrow -- or, at least, raised the red arch painted in the approximate location of where her eyebrow ought to be. "Yeah," she said. "I figured that bit out a while ago."

"Okay," Aang said, giving the board another wary look. He was pretty certain it wouldn't bite him, but it didn't hurt to be careful. "Okay. The thing is master of all four elements? Doable. Connection with the spirit world? Got you covered. But I'm not so good at... kicking stuff."

Suki sighed and frowned down her nose at him. She adjusted her grip on the board so that it was held out in front of her with the wide, flat side facing Aang. "Excuses, excuses," she said. "Just kick the damn board, Mr. Avatar."

"Okay," Aang said again. He dug his back heel into the ground, crouched and took a running start, jumping off the ground and stretching out his right leg at the last moment in the same way Suki had showed him a few minutes ago.

There was a load crack, and Suki exhaled in an "Oof" as the board split in two and Aang came barreling into her, knocking them both over onto the ground. Stunned, he didn't move for a second or two but when he finally looked up, his face broke into a grin.

"Wow! I did it!" he laughed, sitting up and pumping a fist in the air.

Suki nodded and smiled and then, politely, told Aang to get the hell off of her

Lianda (Katara + Appa):

Katara liked to brush her hair. I mean, who would blame her, it was very nice hair, but seeing as she brushed her hair a lot, that hair become extremely tidy, untangled, and really...it wasn’t much fun to brush perfect hair.

Katara had long ago given up on trying to brush Sokka’s hair. It was tied up most of the time and when it wasn’t, well—he CLAIMED he was going for stern warrior-man, but some things just aren’t fixable. Even for Katara.

Katara couldn’t brush Toph’s hair either, because Toph wasn’t really that feminine and her idea of brushing hair was basically running her fingers though it and then cramming her cap back on. Whatever. She was cute was messy hair.

Aang was bald.

Katara smiled to herself as she picked up a brush. No matter. She had a new protégé now. She wandered over to where the large bison slept. “Here, Appa...there’s a good Appa...” she said to him in the most alluring bison-attracting voice she could muster. “Would you like me to brush your hair?”

Appa opened on eye and said, “NNNNGGGGGGGGHHHH”, yawned, closed his eye, and rolled over on this other side, burying his face away.

Katara sighed. “I’ll take that as a no.”

...she wasn’t discouraged though. That’s now how Katara rolls. She went to go look for Momo.

Riko (Katara + Toph):

"JUST GO DIE," screamed Katara. She was red in the face now, almost redder than her dress, and thin line of sweat was forming on her top lip.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you?" Toph shouted back. "What's wrong, Katara? Can't stand the competition?"

"Competition? COMPETITION?" Katara's voice jumped an octave and nearly cracked. "What competition?" She cupped a hand to her brow and mimed looking around her. "I don't see any competition here!"

"Of course not! BECAUSE YOU AREN'T ANY," barked Toph, getting into the swing of things and bounding off the rock she'd been perched on. When her feet connected with the ground, there was a load rumble and a trail of rocks came sliding down the cliffside, almost taking out Momo, Aang and Sokka who were watching in increasing horror as the "discussion" went from "out of hand" to "OH GOD EVERYBODY RUN."

"Guys," Aang said quietly, but neither Katara nor Toph seemed to hear him.

"OH. YOU THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT, DO YOU?" roared Katara.

"YEAH," shouted Toph. "I DO. And guess what? I AM."

"GUYS," Aang said, this time loudly.

Katara whirled around and glared at him. Toph cocked her head in his direction and frowned deeply. "WHAT?" they both demanded.

"Uh." Aang looked from one to the other and then elbowed Sokka, hissing out the side of his mouth, "Little help?"

Sokka looked at Katara. Then he looked at Toph. Then he leaned over towards Aang and muttered, "You throw Momo at them and while they're distracted, we run."

Lianda (Sokka + Mai):

“You’re kind of boring. I don’t know what Ty Lee sees in you. What’s your name again?”

Sokka glared, desperate to call for help or basically just run away, but they were in a public square and children were playing by the fountain in the center, and he didn’t want any unnecessary trouble. Especially since the girl in front of him wasn’t attacking first.

“My name’s Sokka.”

The girl sighed. “What a boring name.” She looked over with bored eyes at the various wares for sale that day, picking up a knife here, a piece of cloth there... “Anything else?

Sokka scratched his head, eyeing for exits while he tried to verbally distract the Azula-fangirl that wasn’t in love with him. “Well uh...I have a sister and I’m from the watertribe and I’m a master swordsman!”

“How boring.”

Sokka clenched his teeth. Not to be thwarted, he pulled out his boomerang from his pack. “I have this!!! It’s the master weapon of all weapons!”

The girl yawned.

“I come up with awesome names like COMBUSTIONMAN...by the way have you seen him around?”

“Who?” The girl rolled her eyes. “I should just kill you...save Azula some trouble...but you’re too boring to kill...”

“HEY!” Sokka’s face flushed with anger as he leaned in, trying with all his might to get some kind of reaction from this pale, colourless girl. “I DATED TWO GIRLS IN THE LAST TWO SEASONS AND YOUR FRIEND WANTS IN MY PANTS!”

“...you spat on me.”

“Oh...sorry.”

Riko (Aang + Mai):

"Soooooooooooooo," says Aang, drawing out the syllable as long as he possibly can. The hope was that by the time he finished, his brain would have caught up and found something clever to say but as things turn out, today just really isn't his lucky day, and he's forced to follow this up by blinking at the girl across from him.

"Azula will be back soon," she says, not bothering to look up from her fingernails.

Aang scratches his neck and shifts about uncomfortably. The table between them is ornately carved and painted a deep gold around the edges. Aang tries to picture Zuko sitting down for dinner at this table, but the two parts of that equation just don't seem to fit together as much as he tries, so he gives up.

"That's really, uh, comforting?" he says, trying to be polite. He's supposed to be polite, he reminds himself. This girl and her friends have tried to kill him a hundred times but now he needs them so he's got to be polite. Polite polite polite, he thinks to himself.

The girl sighs and looks up at him. "You don't need to talk to me. Actually, I'd prefer it." Her tone is bored with the slightest trace of irritated. It makes the hairs on Aang's neck quiver angrily.

"Oh," says Aang. Polite polite polite, says his mind.

A minute passes in silence. Then another. The girl continues to inspect her nails. Azula doesn't return.

Finally, Aang clears his throat. "Sooooooooooooooo," he says. "...How's Zuko?"

Lianda (Iroh + Suki):

Iroh inhaled and sighed happily, letting the rich aroma of fine tea leaves and water waft up into his awaiting nostrils. The Island of Kyoshi really did have the best golden tea, and Iroh was here to savour it. After all, what else would some one who just escaped the confining walls of the Fire Nation do?

He drank until his cup was empty and then accepted a refill from one of the warriors. “Thank you,” he said happily, “to refill one’s tea is much like refilling one’s heart. You are very gracious.”

Suki smiled back. “Well, it’s not very often we get such an appreciative guest!”

Iroh nodded at the girl, but upon closer inspection, she seemed to be limping slightly and recovering from multiple bruises around her eyes. It was almost imperceptible with all the Kyoshi make-up, but Iroh’s gaze was trained, and he could detect the slight residual swelling. “So what makes a strong Kyoshi warrior such as yourself become a one who serves tea to old men?” he winked kindly.

Suki sighed, taking a seat opposite the old man. “It’s been hard,” she said quietly, “my group barely escaped an attack from the fire nation...it look us months to get back here, and even more time to recover.”

Her gaze fell. “...the ones that survived, that is. And we still have so many friends out there fighting…” Her grasp on her teapot tightened. “Sometimes...you can feel how afraid everyone is...” Looking up, she smiled crookedly, sniffing and wiping away a quick tear from her eye before brightening up once again. “I’m sorry! I don’t know what made me share my troubles with a stranger who doesn’t have any choice but to listen…!”

Iroh merely shook his head and raised a palm in negation. Holding up his teacup, he smiled wisely and simply replied, “It is never a burden to share tea with a friend, since it is a way to let all the world’s ugliness wash away with a scent of light jasmine.”

Riko (Jet + Zuko):

Jet doesn't much like tea, okay? He's spent enough time in forests that he doesn't really need an extra dose of leaves in his diet, thanks.

But leaders make sacrifices. That's what makes them leaders. They stand around and make speeches and inspire and plot and plan but at the end of the day, they make sacrifices. That's the point.

So Jet drinks tea. Like, a metric tonne of the stuff. He swishes it around his mouth and pretends to enjoy it. His little pottery cup smells kinda like wet earth and if he closes his eyes, he can almost imagine that he's back in the forest. Which is nice but sort of distraction, so he avoids doing that after the first time or two.

He watches Lee instead, which is better as that's ostensibly why he's here anyway. To watch Lee, get close, and catch him when he slips up.

Lee's not really a moron, though (gotta say that much about the fire nation bastards -- they're not stupid), and he figures it out pretty quickly. The watching, that is. Not the rest of it. He stomps over one night, close to closing time, and slams the black clay teapot down on the table in front of Jet. In the back, Jet can see Lee's uncle wince.

"What do you want?" demands Lee, making an angry face that seems to drain all the colour out of the right half and pump it into the left. Makes that scar stand out bright and red.

Jet takes a big gulp of tea and swallows it in a rush. It burns something fierce going down and leaves his tongue feeling like a swatch of sandpaper. He slams it back down on the table next to the teapot and looks at Lee coolly.

"I want you to join my --" he begins before Lee interrupts.

"If you say 'freedom fighters' one more time, I will hit you," he says.

Jet thinks about this (thinks, He'll actually do it, won't he?) and tips back in his chair. "Not a very nice thing to do to a paying customer," he muses.

Lee's fingers curl into fists but then he shakes his head and spins around, snapping up the teapot as he goes.

"Fine," he says. "Do what you want."

And Jet tips forward, watching Lee's retreating back, and he narrows his eyes. "Oh," he whispers to his tea cup, "I intend to."

-end-