The Avatar's Xīn

Welcome to Kyoshi Island

        Caishen lies on his back, hands behind his head looking up at the clouds above as they pass. He was currently nestled towards the back of the saddle strapped to Appa. Caishen hadn't been quite sure what to make of the large beast when Aang had first introduced him. Appa however, had quickly decided that he was fond of the young Fire Nation boy, knocking the boy over and covering him in a thick coat of saliva as he licked the young boy. 

        That had been two days ago, and now Aang was taking them to visit someplace he promised would 'blow their minds'. Caishen let his eyes drift to his new companions, studying them carefully. 

        Katara sat comfortably, her eyes completely focused on her task as she worked on fixing the large hole her brother had managed to get in his pants. Her hair loopies waving in the wind as she worked. Already in the past day, Katara had done her best to try and engage with Caishen and learn about him and his past. Cai had felt overwhelmed by her unending questions at first, but eventually, as they learned more about each other he felt more and more at ease. 

        His eyes drifted to the next person, Sokka, who lazily sat with his back against the saddle, picking at his teeth with his boomerang. Without a doubt the person he has yet to have any kind of connection with, not that Cai can blame him. Katara had spent the past few days filling him in on the war. The crimes his Nation had committed against the rest of the world. How they had come and attacked their village, hunting waterbenders...and taking their mom. Sokka had shown no interest in getting to know Cai, and honestly, he couldn't find any reason in his heart to try and change his mind. 

        Finally, his eyes rested on the back of the most complicated of the bunch. Aang...The Avatar...Caishen felt conflicted around the air nomad. He felt drawn to him, seemingly always locking eyes with each other while at camp or riding the sky bison. Aang would always somehow end up by his side, starting up some new kind of conversation. Yet every time Cai would find some reason to cut the conversation short. It wasn't that he didn't like him, it was the opposite.

        Caishen felt like he could trust him from the moment he had woken up in that temple. And that terrified him. He had never felt that way before. Not with any of his friends, not with Avatar Roku, and definitely not with Bao. So what about this boy made his stomach twist up every time they talked or met each other eyes? 

        "You have no idea where you're going, do you?" Sokka asks, making Caishen turn to him, seeing he now has the map in his hands as he looks towards Aang accusingly. 

        "Well...I know it's near water?" Aang replies, looking over his shoulder, a sheepish grin on his face.

        Cai can't help but let a small smirk tug on his lips as Sokka rolls his eyes, looking over the side of the saddle at the vast ocean below them, "I guess we must be getting close, then."

        A few moments pass until Cai hears Aang speak again, "Momo, marbles please!" Cai watches lazily as the lemur disappears under Aang's shirt for a heartbeat before popping back out and dropping something into his hand. 

        "Hey Katara! Check out this airbending trick!" He calls as he starts to airbend the marbles so they spin in the air between his hands.