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Valentine’s Day. The most wretched and stressful holiday in Rangi’s opinion.
The holiday was a testament to frivolities. It was rarely celebrated in the Fire Nation, and couples preferred to be direct with each other rather than play into the stupidly expensive game of love. Or, get their heart broken on what was supposed to be a holiday of love because of rejection.
So, no. Rangi didn’t “do” Valentine’s. Much less so that she didn’t have someone to ask out. That was, until she ran away with Kyoshi.
Living on the edges of the law was totally new territory for Rangi. And as much as she hated to say it, she missed structure. Predictability. She missed being able to know exactly what event they needed to prepare for. So, when Valentine’s Day rolled around while Rangi was on the run with the Flying Opera Company, she longed to celebrate. Just for once.
Where the Fire Nation preferred to be direct and efficient, the Earth Kingdom was full of redundancies and frivolity. That didn’t stop going into their love lives. Valentine’s Day originated in the Earth Kingdom, after all. And everyone celebrated, even if it was just taking a day off of work for self-love.
It was easy to convince the Flying Opera Company to stop for a day to celebrate the holiday. But when they touched down, Rangi didn’t know what to do. Did she.. ask Kyoshi to dinner? Or get her flowers first? No, she would surely prefer to be given a sentimental gift that didn’t rot.
Rangi knew all about Kyoshi’s need for tidiness and traveling light. Especially now. So, when Peng Peng stopped at the edges of a town, Rangi declared herself the one to go in and buy rice. The rest were more than happy to pass the chore onto her instead. With that, Rangi marched into town with two objects on her mind.
The town— Lou Gau— despite being small and hindering on the edges of the Earth Kingdom authority, still had plenty of garnering towards couples. Flower stalls, stuffed animals, and small desserts that mimicked the expensive chocolates and pastries of the Earth Kingdom royal family.
Of course, Rangi passed all those stalls by. She needed something small, easily transported, and accessible. It wasn’t until she spotted a merchant engraving letters did she get an idea.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rangi came back with a bag of rice to cook. Wong quietly thanked her, and started on dinner. Then, she looked up and around for Kyoshi. With a jab of her finger, Kyoshi was dragged along to start her fire training.
Today, it was the balance beam again. Rangi wanted to break that neutral jing crap out of her, and she would need to advance or be left behind. Like weeds growing higher and higher to compete for sun.
“So…” Kyoshi drawled lazily as she carefully constructed the balance beam with her fans. It was about twenty feet across, just enough room to fight but not enough to evade properly. “Do you have any plans for today?”
Rangi shook her head, doing some stretches and running through forms to prepare. Although, she barely needed to. The sharp snaps of her cuffs and perfect posture said enough. Let alone her control over her fire production.
“Of course not,” Rangi dismissed. “Valentine’s Day is just made for lonely people to feel worse about themselves. I’d much rather tell the person I love on my own terms.”
While it didn’t completely extinguish the hope in Kyoshi’s chest, it didn’t do anything to raise it. She nodded, and stood on the balance beam to begin.
“I just… really wanted someone to ask me to be their Valentine,” Kyoshi mumbled. Rangi’s features softened, and she didn’t begin right away.
“Kyoshi, if anyone is going to get a Valentine, it’s you,” Rangi said with a smile. Then, she swept her leg around, creating a ring of fire to jump over. “Now get to it! You’d be dead three times over by now!”
Although Kyoshi still felt down, training got her mind off of things. Fire, then more earth training with Lek and Wong, and working through the forms of water up until dinner.
By the time the sun had set, Kyoshi had almost completely forgotten about Valentine’s Day. Sure, she was down that nobody asked her out— especially Rangi— but the soldier was way out of her league. Maybe next year.
As she mused, Kyoshi cleaned up dinner and was preparing to head back to her sleeping bag. But, Rangi pulled Kyoshi aside.
“Midnight exam,” Rangi barked as she led Kyoshi to the woods. “You don’t know when you’ll need to go into battle. And tonight, you’re going against me.”
Kyoshi groaned on the inside, but didn’t show it. Instead, she followed Rangi towards a clearing. There was a faint glow, and Rangi even lost her footing slightly.
Odd…
By the time they reached the middle of the woods, Rangi had run ahead to grab the gift for Kyoshi. It was sitting on a stump, in a neat cotton box. The clearing was full of candles, flickering and smelling like sweet fruits.
“Kyoshi, I..” Rangi seemed at a loss for words. Along with the box, there was a bouquet of lilies in the other hand. She couldn’t help herself— it was the symbol for the holiday, after all.
“I really like you. I have for a long time. Every day, traveling with you, makes my heart ache. You deserve the best of everything that the world has to offer. And I can only bring you so much. Not because you’re the Avatar, but because you’re Kyoshi.”
Rangi took a few steps forward. Kyoshi was thankful for the dim lighting, so Rangi couldn’t see the bright pink flush in her cheeks.
“This is only a small drop of what I want to do for you. I’m afraid that… you don’t know how much the people around you love you. Or cherish your presence. Especially me. So, that’s why I wanted to ask you, if… you’d do me the honor of being my Valentine?”
The silence between them stretched. Rangi shifted on her feet, nervous. She had done this all wrong, hadn’t she? Oh- right! The gift!
Rangi got down on one knee, and opened up the gift box. It was two pendants- one with a topaz stone in the center, and the other with a dark green emerald that Rangi held onto in case they needed a backup fund.
The topaz pendant had Rangi’s name engraved on the back, along with the words “I love you.” The same was for the emerald. Rangi handed the topaz pendant to Kyoshi, and donned the emerald on herself.
“So we have a piece of each other everywhere we go,” Rangi declared. The words were clipped, much more like her uptight military self. She had nothing left to lose now, right?
Kyoshi stared at the flowers, the pendant, and Rangi down on one knee. Nervous, but confident that this is what she wanted. She wanted Kyoshi.
Never before had Kyoshi been asked out, much less by someone she pined after for years and years. Rangi was a burning supernova, a powerful vortex that Kyoshi was all too happy to let herself be sucked into.
And now, her hopeless romance seemed less hopeless than she remembered. Kyoshi took the pendant, and laced it around her neck. She lifted Rangi off the ground, and wrapped her arms around her waist.
“I will,” Kyoshi whispered. She couldn’t take her eyes away from Rangi’s, and without even realizing it, their lips embraced. Whole, and complete.
Rangi sighed against Kyoshi’s lips, her shoulders relaxing as she took the taller woman in. Finally, she understood the hype of Valentine’s Day.