A Trip to the Market

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      I wake up.  I quickly get dressed then I go into the rest of the main house.  Ikki and Meelo have already started breakfast.  I grab some of the rice they fixed. 

      I sit down.  They look at me.  "So, uh you feeling better Jinora?"  I nod.  "Yeah.  I don't know why I wasn't feeling well last night.  Well, other than Meelo kidnapping a governor."  Mello chuckles. 

       He shrugs.  "Force of habit?"  Ikki rolls her eyes.  "Ready for another day of rogue airbender tracking?  Or should I say, Kai tracking?"  I laugh.  "Oh be quiet.  Where's Rohan?"  "Outside feeding Pepper."  "Oh jeez."  I head outside. 

        I go to the stables.  Rohan is laying hay near my bison.  I approach them.  "She'll only eat if I feed her."  He nods.  "I know.  I'm just making it easier for you.  I'm putting it near her. Are you feeling better? Ikki said you had a headache last night." I nod. "I'm fine." I pet my bison. 

      Ikki comes to the stables with us.  "Okay, we have Opal and Bolin coming later today along with Asami and some other airbenders.  That means that I need two to go to the market for some food.  The list is in the kitchen on the counter top."  Rohan quickly grabs my arm and he thrusts it into the air.  "You can count on us!"  I laugh.  Ikki goes inside. 

       He starts for the house.  "Race you!"  I laugh again and I follow him.  We run inside.  I grab the list.

      He looks at it with me.  "Okay, so, Ikki needs melons, corn, wheat, bread, strawberries, blueberries, kale, and some eggplants."  We run to the car.  We get in.  I drive to the marketplace. 

         I drive around the city.  I look at Rohan.  "Uh, do you know where the market is?"  He shrugs.  "I don't know.  Ask someone maybe?"  I pull off.  I roll down the window. 

     I look at some woman with her kids.  "Hi, uh do you know where I can find a farmer's market?"  She nods.  She points down the road.  "Down the road to the right."  I nod.  "Thank you."  I roll up the window and I continue down the road. 

      I spot the farmers market quickly.  It's a long strip of just small vendors down an alley.  It's pretty packed too. 

      I pull off into a parking lot near the market.  We get out of the car.  We walk to the farmers market. 

    Someone grabs my arm before I enter.  "Excuse me."  "Hey!  Who do you think you are?!"  I turn around to see the person who grabbed my arm. 

    Shen quickly lets go.  He has another man standing beside him along with several other people near them.  He looks at Rohan then to me.  Neither of them start the conversation. 

     I sigh.  "Hi, Shen."  He nods.  "I'm sorry I startled you.  I knew it was you."  "Yeah, I have to pick up some stuff for Ikki."  He nods.  "I see.  What do you need?  I can have my aides get your stuff and to the car."  Rohan looks at me.  I take him off to the side.  "Uh, excuse me Shen."  I he nods. 

     I look at Rohan.  "Should we?"  He nods.  "Yeah!  It's so hot out right now!"  "Take off your jacket."  "No!"  I sigh.  "Look should we let him send his aides into the market?"  He nods.  "Yeah!"  I sigh.  "Okay."  I turn back to Shen and his group. 

       He looks at his aides then to me.  "Yes thank you for your offer."  I hand him the list.  He hands Ikki's list to a lady beside him and his aides quickly go into the market.  Only one guy stays with him. 

This guy is so pale compared to Shen and the other aides. He's dressed similarly to Shen unlike Shen's aides.

      Shen looks at him.  "Oh, uh Jinora, this is my good friend, Li." Li holds out his hand. I shake his hand.

He looks at me. "Jinora huh? Shen talks about you a lot." Shen chokes up.

He looks at me. "Uh I don't. Li's my top Dai Li agent." I cross my arms and I look at the two men. "I thought you said that the Dai Li aren't allowed to be in the city?" Shen laughs. "I did say that, but Li is my best friend. We were actually visiting his mother. She has a booth here." I look at them. "Oh, uh sorry." Li nods. "It's fine. I'm currently off duty. So no dark robe or creepy hands!"  He laughs. 

         Rohan looks at the two.  "So, what can we do to pass time?  I'm sure the aides will take a lot of time especially since Ikki wanted so much stuff."  Shen kneels down to Rohan and rubs his head.  "We can go play pai sho in the park little guy."  Rohan moves Shen's hand.  "I'm not a little guy, and that's okay with me.  What about you Jinora?"  I nod.  "It's fine by me."  He jumps up and then runs ahead of us. 

        Shen nods to Li.  "Follow him and make sure he doesn't accidentally blow something up."  Li nods and runs to follow Rohan. 

       I walk a steady pace with Shen.  "Rohan isn't an air bender."  He nods.  "Okay, it's just that your other brother has had some problems here."  I laugh.  "Other than kidnapping you?"  He chuckles.  "Yeah, other than that.  He tried to fight a thief before and he ended up throwing a large conveniently placed  barrel of gunpowder into a store wall.  It wasn't a pretty sight."  I laugh.  "That's funny."  He nods. 

     He looks at me.  "Li's a good guy."  I nod.  "I can tell."  "And I can tell that you've had bad experiences with Dai Li agents."  "Yeah, they brainwashed Kai and your other airbenders.  So you could say that I have had bad experiences with them."  "Sorry."  I rub the bridge of my nose.  "Don't be."  We finally get to the park. 

     We look to see Rohan and Li playing some weird form of tag or hide and seek with some other kids.  Shen laughs at the sight. 

    I watch them.  "Pai Sho?"  I motion to one of the game tables.  Shen nods.  "Of course."  We both sit down and we start our game. 

    After an hour or so Shen and I finish up.  We both look for my brother and Li.  The two had gotten tired and they bought cotton candy to share.  They sit on a bench close to Shen and I eating the cotton candy.  We walk over to them. 

    Shen puts his hands on his hips.  "You two done?"  Li nods.  "Yep!  Come on Ro you can ride on my back."  Li gets up and he lets Rohan ride on his back.  We walk back to the parking lot where the market is. 

     We finally get there.  Shen's aides stood there loading up the bags from the market.  "Here you are Master Jinora!"  One shouts to me. 

     His aides shut the car's trunk.  Li lets Rohan off of his back. "Okay Ro, I'll see you whenever Shen and your sister start dating."  Shen and I both blush.  Shen crosses his arms.  "Li, don't tell him stuff like that!"  Li holds his hands up.  "Got it, Governor Fussybritches."  Rohan laughs. 

     I look at Rohan.  "Get in the car Rohan."  He nods and gets in the car.  I look at Shen.  "Our Pai Sho game was good."  He nods.  "I have an one of a kind collectors edition white lotus set if you'd like to see it sometime."  I nod.  "It'd be my pleasure.  I will see you sometime later."  He nods.  "Alright then."  I get in the car. 

     I drive back to Ikki's mansion.  I quickly park the car.  Rohan and I get the food and we take it inside. 

      Ikki comes inside from the back door.  "Geez, it took you two long enough!"  "Well, we ran into some friends."  Rohan nods.  "Yeah, and you had a lot on the list.  Also, we got lost on the way there."  Ikki nods.  "Yeah, that was my bad."  She chuckles. "Oops."  She shrugs.

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