𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑶𝑵, 𝒂: 𝒕𝒍𝒂

➳ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯: 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵

╔➷════════════➷╗

If one thing was different,

Would everything be different?

- Taylor Swift

╚➹════════════➹╝

"OH, SO YOU'RE THE FAMOUS KIDA," Mika says after a beat of silence. Her tone isn't mean or rude, but laced with a certain sadness, like she's longing for something she can't quite reach. Beside her, Suki shifts awkwardly as though she did something wrong. She looks to Kida and bites her lip, almost as though she's waiting to see if everything will fall apart.

"I'd say you're the famous one," Kida replies smoothly. If there's one thing Kida wants to avoid, it's ruining Suki's love life, and she'd do anything to keep that from happening. Kida moves to shake Mika's hand and Suki releases the tension in her shoulders. "It's really nice to meet you. Suki has told me so much about you."

At this, Mika's face practically lights up and a blush paints her cheeks. "Really?"

"Yeah, of course." Kida sees the paint on Mika's clothing, and takes a guess, hoping it works out in her favour. "You're an artist, right? Suki says you're super talented."

"I'm not...I mean, that's, um, really nice of her to say that," Mika stutters. Kida notices how Suki smiles and squeezes Mika's hand, a promise that she'd support her no matter what. "My class ended a bit late, but I thought you might still want to have our picnic, if you have time." Mika raises the basket she's holding, and Suki nods enthusiastically.

"Well, I'm going to leave," Kida announces. She doesn't want to intrude on their date. Besides, Mika doesn't exactly seem comfortable around Kida, for whatever reason. "You guys have fun, though. Suki, it was great running into you, and Mika, it was nice to meet you."

Mika waves goodbye with a smile plastered on her face and sets the basket down on one of the benches. She starts to unpack the picnic.

"Wait, no!" Suki protests, grabbing Kida's hand before she can exit the room. "Stay with us. We'd love it if you'd join us." She looks at Mika expectantly, who is suddenly more flustered than before.

"Oh, oh, yeah! Sure! Join us!" Mika exclaims. She accidentally drops a pair of chopsticks and rushes to pick it up.

Kida looks to Suki and furrows her eyebrows. Are you sure? Suki just rolls her eyes. Of course I am. After all this time, the two can still communicate with a simple look. It's nice to know that some things never change, even when everything seems different.

The reality is though, that a lot of time has passed, and so much has changed. Forget everything that Kida has been through, how about the fact that Suki has a girlfriend. Kida doesn't dwell on why Suki didn't tell her about Mika, because it's not like Kida was particularly upfront with her about all the changes and everything that happened in her own life.

But...was there a particular reason why Suki didn't mention that she had a girlfriend? And what had she told Mika about Kida that made the girl so uncomfortable around her? And if Kida hadn't left back then, what would have happened?

Unfortunately, a picnic with Kida's almost-girlfriend and that almost-girlfriend's girlfriend is as awkward as one would expect. Kida tries to make small talks in hopes of finding a comfortable flow of conversation, and sometimes Suki or Mika jump in with a new topic.

"How did that happen?" Mika asks.

Kida runs her hand through her white strands of hair that Mika is pointing at. The blue string that Sokka once used to braid her hair probably fell out during her journey, which gave Kida a pang of sadness she can't quite explain. "My first girlfriend kissed me before she turned into the moon," she replies, not sure what else to say.

Suki almost chokes on some rice, while Mika freezes up again and starts biting her nails.

"What?" Suki coughs.

"Some spirit stuff. I honestly don't really know because I passed out before all that happened."

"Oh. That's...rough," Mika offers.

"Yeah," Kida sighs. Suki grabs her hand, which Kida squeezes gratefully. They smile sadly at each other, but when they look up to see Mika staring at them, Kida quickly pulls away. "It feels like forever ago, honestly, so it's not a big deal."

"That must have been pretty memorable, though, travelling with the Avatar. Suki always says you had a sense of adventure, " Mika states, her posture stiff. She shifts away from Suki a bit.

"Um, I guess."

An awkward silence falls upon the trio for the rest of the meal. The last thing Kida wants is Mika to feel threatened by her, to think that there are lingering feelings between her and Suki. And, okay, full disclosure: there are some feelings there. Still, the reality of the matter is that they both moved on. Suki has Mika, sweet, creative, thoughtful Mika, whom she loves and loves her. Kida has Sokka; or, she could have had him, but Mika doesn't have to know that. So, when Suki has to leave for her shift and Kida is left alone with Mika, she decides to help ease the tension between them.

"You and Suki are so great together. It makes me miss my own boyfriend," Kida mentions as she hands Mika a plate to put into the basket as they clean up their picnic. Mika looks to her, in part confusion and in the other disbelief.

"You have a boyfriend?" Mika asks.

"Yeah. His name is Sokka." Kida's voice almost cracks when she says his name, but she continues. "Eventually, we went our separate ways, though. I was really lucky that I ran into Suki. It's nice being reunited because we're such good friends."

Mika nods thoughtfully. "Friends?"

"Yep," Kida assures. "We're friends."

"Friends," Mika repeats happily.

"And, as Suki's friend, I'm really glad you two found each other. She seems really happy with you," Kida adds sincerely.

Mika smiles widely and blushes. "Thanks, Kida."

Kida smiles back, feeling as though Mika is starting to warm up to her.

"You know, I think my sister would like you," Mika mentions out of the blue.

"Yeah?"

Mika hums in agreement and the two finish cleaning up. Maybe things would work out, after all.

»»---------------------►

author's note: 

yes! i did use a lyric from folklore again,, that album is one i've been listening to on repeat since it came out, i just love it so much.

anyways! sorry this is a day late :( i think i was too ambitious with my publishing schedule because i am physically and emotionally drained,, but i want to write and keep publishing chapters for  you guys! i just want it to be ~good~, so i prefer taking a bit more time.  so, for now at least, i will update this fic once a week (on tuesday) and then another on friday (or this one, depending on which i have inspiration for).

thank you for reading and being so patient. stay safe <3