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Yawning loudly, Kai flopped back against the tree.
He had climbed up there a few hours ago, sitting on a large branch before falling asleep. After running a mission, he had some time for himself. So a nap was in order because, since being a child or as long as he could remember, he hated getting up early.
Swinging his feet, he stared up at the tree leaves, wondering what he should do now before he had to leave for home.
“I told you he’s been in a tree.”
“He’s always in a tree.”
Jumping, Kai looked over, blinking in surprise. “Zuko! Han Yi!”
His brothers were both looking up at him, so he tossed his leg over and slipped down, landing. Grinning with his hands on his hips, he approached them.
“I didn’t know you two were around!”
“I had to make a diplomatic appearance,” Zuko smiled a bit.
“And I had to restock my ship,” With a grin, Han Yi shrugged. “We saw your ship and figured you’d be around here somewhere,”
“And as I was right, you were in a tree,”
“It’s the best place to nap!” Laughing, Kai stretched. “I’m leaving in a day, maybe a day and a half.”
“Good, we shall accompany you back then,”
“Wait, what?” Kai blinked. “Uh?”
“My mission is over, restocking before I head home, and Zuko said he was only here for the meeting.”
“I can take a day off.” Besides, Zuko had missed the two. Even though they were adults now, Kai was just hitting his eighteen birthday, and it was harder with everyone trying to piece back the words their time together had been cut. “Besides, I think Mom would like it if we all showed up at the same time,”
“It’ll be a nice surprise,” nodding, Han Yi, the tallest of them, waved. “There is a night market here. If we have some lunch now, we can enjoy the market later.”
“I’m starving!” Unable to stand still for along Kai started to head back to town, like always a sort of hope skip in his step. “I got a room at the inn, I can let my crew know that we’re having the day off,”
“Make sure to tell them just family,” Han Yi shouted after him as the kid took off. “Only family, Kai!”
“I heard ya the first time!” Was the laughing replay. “I’ll meet you at the gates!”
The older two walked along, and Zuko couldn't help the smirk on his face. “Still, mad about catching them in bed two years ago?”
“He’s a child!”
“I’ve done worse at sixteen,”
“I don’t want to hear that!” Han Yi covered his face. “Please don’t bring up these things, I can’t.”
“Come on, you and Fu have been married for six years, and I’ve been married for longer than that,” laughing, he patted Han Yi on the back. “You have to realize that Kai is gonna marry Long Fei one day. I mean, clearly, they are soulmates.”
“What happened to that little kid who liked to hold my hand, wanted a piggyback ride, and would come to my bed when he had a nightmare?” Sighing, Han Yi shook his head. “Or would you want to sneak down to get sweets in the early morning?”
“…What are you talking about?” Zuko frowned. “Three weeks ago, he was dragging you by the hand to get sweets from the kitchen, hurt his ankle, and you had to carry him on your back and take him back to his room! That still happens!”
--
After changing into more comfortable robes, Kai quickly brushed his hair out of its bun. Since he was going to spend time with his brothers, he figured a high ponytail would do.
The hands moved to help him fix it up, the ribbon tied and fixed. Quickly turning around, he threw his arms around his lover, kissing him, and a muffled giggle was barely heard when Long Fei kissed him back.
A small moan left him when he was pulled closer, but he pushed the other Alpha back with his hands, stopping any sparks and coils that might start if they continued.
“Nuh-uh, I’m going to spend time with my family,” he said, leaning in to give a chase kiss. “Besides, I need to go meet them,”
“Not even a little bit?”
“Hmm, tempting, but I'd rather be able to walk at the night market,” Kissing him again, he moved back. “I’ll see you later, love!”
Waving goodbye, Kai rushed out the door.
When he met up with his brothers, they were walking about something. He arrived just in time to hear them discussing what to buy their Mom as a gift.
“There you are,” Smiling Zuko crossed his arms. “Ready?”
“Yep! So, what’s this about gifts?” he fell into step with them as they headed into the busy market. They had a good few hours, and he was starving! He looked around, spotting a place. “Hey, what about that one? I never ate there before.”
“That’s a good place, Sokka and I have been here,” Zuko nodded as they walked through it. The person at the front seemed to recognize them and looked surprised, so they bowed to her in respect. “Three please,”
It was hard over the years to get people to stop fearing them. Han Yi had to work on forgetting that people were used to them going places and respecting the peace, the rules, and so on.
“Oh, yes, this way!” She looked nervous as they followed. “Um, we don’t have any private rooms…”
“That’s okay, we don’t need one.” Zuko smiled, and when they sat down, a waiter who had come to know him and his mate over the years walked over. “Hello, Rolan,”
“Hey, Zuko!” They grinned, looking at them. “Who are you with today?”
“These are my little brothers,” Zuko waved between them. “This is Han Yi, and the youngest, Kai.”
“Hello,” Han Yi nodded.
“Hey!” Kai grinned. “Zuko says this place is really good.”
“Well, he’s not wrong. “So, where’s Sokka?”
“He’s with the Avatar,”
“Awesome, so let me get you some tea, and since your brothers haven’t been here before, I’ll give you a few minutes to look over the menu.” He gave them some paper menus. “I’ll be back.”
“Thank you,” Looking over the menu, Kai hummed. “What do you get?”
“We get the boa tower,” He pointed it out. “It’s really good, Sokka loved it, and they have some of the best ones here.”
“We should get some, but we still want to eat at the night market,” Han Yi reminded, but he was eying the variety of the ones they had. “Or we could get a small tower,”
“I want some of the noodles too,” Looking at the kinds they had, Kai was struggling. “Maybe two small bowls of the pork and chicken ones,”
“I’ll take a beef one,” nodding, Zuko flipped. “The skewers are good too,”
“Hm?” Nodding, Han Yi nodded. “Maybe just a couple,”
--
It had been five hours, as the trio was laughing and chattering on about their missions and trips, funny stories about getting lost in new regions, or funny misunderstandings.
The small tower they originally ordered was now a large one. Kai dipped one of them into the last of his soup broth before eating it. Sticks on a plate where they had ordered a variety of meats to taste, and they would order things as the hours passed.
“You got chased by a donkey?” Zuko asked. “How?!”
“I was trying to get it out of the way because the Earth Benders were making a new road, ya know, easier to get to the next town and such, and when he wouldn’t move, I tried using an apple, and it worked, but I dropped it, and it pissed off the animals!”
Waving his hand around, Kai laughed.
“It chased me for two blocks before someone stopped him.” Picking up another drink, he sipped and downed it. “At least I never got tossed into the seas by an eelhound.”
“That happened once, and the beast was frightened,” Han Yi defended. “I was fine if you wanted to know.”
“You spun into the sea like a paper fan,” Laughing, Kai looked out the window. “Uh oh… it’s evening,”
The two others looked out the window as well. Unknownly, they had let time pass them by, and now, being well-fed and still nibbling on the food, they realized they might not be able to eat much at the night market.
“I didn’t even notice,” Blinking Zuko looked at the food. “And we leave tomorrow…”
“We could delay it,” Kai suggested. “I mean, is there a rush to get home?”
“Not really, but I don’t want to delay the crew in getting home,”
“We can always come back,” Han Yi suggested. “Or we can still go and take a few things back with us,”
“Sounds good,” Standing Kai stretched then left to ask for bags so they could take what was left, when he returned they packed up their food, paid, and waved goodbye to the waiter and owner. Once they walked out, heading into the night, he paused. “Hey, so, I was thinking…”
Zuko raised an eyebrow while Han Yi spoke.
“What is it?”
“Uh, well, you know how Mom always goes to the burial Mounds?”
“Yes?”
“Well, last time I talked to Mom, he said that he was going to go up there in a week for the Week of the Past to clean up the graves, what if we got some new robes and feast bowls?”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Humming Zuko thought about it. “Some new incent burners as well,”
In agreement, they headed out to the market to find everything they needed, and aside from being distracted a few times, most of them managed to get everything before buying gifts for the family.
--
“Mommy!”
Ruei almost fell over when Kai came out of nowhere, jumping into his arms. If he hadn’t been so used to this since his youngest was a small child, they would have fallen.
“Kai!” Smiling Ruei nuzzled him, before looking up. “Zuko, Han Yi!”
“We’re back,” Zuko waited for Kai to move back before getting a hug and nuzzling back, and then let Han Yi have his turn. “We got you some gifts.”
“Oh, thank you,” Purring Ruei tried to hug all of them at once. “You didn’t have to.”
“We wanted to,” Han Yi insisted. “Did the ceremony start yet?”
“Not until this evening,” Smiling Ruei walked with them into the palace. “I am so glad you made it back safely,”
“Is anyone else here?” Zuko asked curiously.
“Your pack arrived tomorrow morning, and Azula and Tani are here, but they went into the inner city.”
Smiling Zuko couldn’t wait to see his sister. She had often been away with Tani, so it would be nice to catch up. As they walked into their family section, he could see that Ruei had already been preparing for their arrival, with the table full of food, and there at the head was his Uncle.
“Uncle!” Zuko hurried to hug him, smiling. “It’s good to see you,”
“You too, Nephew,” Iroh hugged him a little longer, and when he moved back. “And my other nephews! I heard things are going well for both of you.”
“Indeed, our efforts are going strong,” Han Yi nodded. “I hope you are well?”
“I am,”
“I got rock candy,” Holding out one Kai grinned. “Want one?”
“Oh, gladly!”
Ruei served the tea, while the rest of his children helped pass the food around. Before they got done, they had a surprise. Azula and Tani had gotten back earlier with Fu joining them, so Han Yi got to see his mate a few hours earlier.
Less than an hour later, Sokka and the others showed up. Pulling some perks of Aang being the Avatar, they pushed their meetings back a week and made it less than an hour before they started.
“Why don’t you invite, Long Fei?” Ruei whispered to Kai. “Everyone else has their mate here; you should have him come over.”
“We’re not married yet,” Kai laughed, then paused, sadness overtaking his features. “You don’t have your mate either…”
“My beloved is in the spirit world,” Ruei pressed his head to Kai’s. “I would never want you to put any of you to put your love life on hold for me or anyone,”
“I bet Han Yi would,” Kai snickered. “he’s not fond of Long Fei.”
“Your brother isn’t going to be fond of anyone who dates you,” Trying not to laugh too loudly, he whispered. “Go invite him, Fu and I will keep him from making too much of a fuss,”
Grinning Kai hugged him tightly. “I love you,”
“I love you too,” Ruei said as Kai took off. It only took him a good twenty minutes to return with his lover, who looked a bit nervous to be there. “Welcome, Long Fei, please join us?”
“He might be busy-” Han Yi started before he got slapped on the back of his head. “Azula!”
“Sit down and eat, we've got to get going soon,” She smirked. “And besides, the fact you're annoying Han Yi is my new favorite thing,”
Han Yi grumbled but had to let them be. He glared at the other, who did his best to look anywhere but him.
Once dinner, they all went up to the Burial Mound to clean and wash Lu Ten’s, Lady Bea's, and Admiral Fahei’s graves, setting up new items, clothes, insects, and feast bowls.
Little offerings for them, before bowing and saying small prayers. The rest of the time was spent going over memories and stories, as the sunset into the moon, with laughter from so many families, echoed throughout the land.