"Just a little more…" I pulled myself up, and reached down to help my partner. We had been climbing all day to reach the Western Air Temple, and finally, we were here. With a hoist, I pulled her up, and we staggered for a minute trying to catch our breath. I finally laid down on the ledge and stared up at the micro-city before me.
Tower after tower hung upside-down, with each one with a symmetrical foundation, flaring to a point, almost like stalactites in a cave. The buildings hung under and alongside a cliff whose true size can only be appreciated by scaling it, even though I could have easily cheated and summoned the acolytes to send an air bison at the base. The air acolytes were bustling about, obviously busy, and didn't seem to notice their two new unexpected guests.
I looked up at the large stone statue of Yangchen standing over me, and sighed. This is what we came for. The day had been brutal, between the hot sun shining down on us and the thin air from being at such a high altitude, it took a lot out of me, and even with the shape I was in, I struggled. But I was glad at least to be done.
"Good climb?" She looked over at me, with my hair matted to my forehead and my clothes covered in dirt and sweat, and she still made me feel like the prettiest girl alive. Then again, she looked flawless, as usual. She had joined me on the ground, but still her hair was still in a neat braid, and her clothes only had little more than dust on them than usual. Even her makeup still was intact, I'll never understand how she does it.
"Sure, let's call it that." I stared off, and she started to laugh.
"You know this place better than me," she stood and held out her arm, mocking the way some of the air acolytes would speak, "I believe the Avatar and I shall retire to our quarters, if that is okay with you?"
I staggered to a standing position, before quickly recovering by grabbing waiting arm and buffing out my chest, "And we're off!"
The bedrooms were simple enough, but weren't made for two people. They held a small bed, a dresser, and a mirror. I dropped down my bag, and went to lay on the bed, but not before my partner in crime decided to pull me up from the sitting position I had already found myself in.
"Oh no, no- you are not putting your dirty face all over our clean pillow!" She scolded, "Get in the shower, I'll join you soon." My face flushed at the possibility, and she winked. She knew the power she held over me. The only true person alive who could defeat the Avatar was a non-bending engineer with a sweet smile and a very large heart.
It's a little scary when you put it that way… I'll have to tell her that later, she'd get a kick out of that.
She didn't end up joining, but I was met with a smile and a bottle of wine in our room. The acolytes had quickly found out we were here and were fast to accommodate our every whim. She had apparently been trying to shoo them off, but they were enamoured by the fact she was the "lucky girl" who traveled with me.
"Only an honor for the select special few," they echoed.
She was already changed and took a shower elsewhere. I sat on the bed as she picked up the bottle and asked, "ready to dive in?"
I really needed it, and she understood.
Uncorking the wine was easy, but finding glasses was another challenge. Soon we gave up, choosing to snuggle on the balcony and drink straight from the bottle.
The air acolytes were getting ready to celebrate a warding off spirits ceremony, and began to set off fireworks, illuminating the sky in a myriad of colors and shapes.
I looked down at her and brushed some stray strands from her face. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the way the light reflected off of her face, maybe it was my exhaustion or the smell of sweat mixed with her perfume. But in that moment everything was perfect and my heart leapt; I knew finally what it meant to be in love. I knew I had been in love with her for a while, but the urge was getting too strong to hold those three words back. We were together but were we really ready to say that to each other? I looked down at her and sighed, and she looked back at me.
I choked out, "I think I love you," and held my breath.
She looked back at me and smiled, "About time." She leaned up to kiss me, which I hungrily returned. She sat back and pushed my hair behind my ear, leaning up to kiss my neck. Her breath tickled my ear and she whispered, "I love you too."
