Aang could hardly look away from Tapeesa. She was supposed to train the aspiring police officers today in case they ever needed to fight and although no one would wrong him for watching the demonstrator, he doubted they wouldn't frown upon him if they had known for how much time he had been looking at her or if they knew he hadn't been paying attention to her moves at all. With how awfully not discreet he was being, he could only hope the students hadn't caught on to where his attention was because Suki beside him certainly had.
For the first time since Tapeesa had arrived to Republic City, he allowed himself to look. The lines of her body could be understood with some imagination through her clothes, and Aang had seen her without them when she had broken down at the beach the other day so he had a good enough image of how she looked, and although she now had less muscle than she did two years ago when she had been part of the Fire Nation navy, she was still rather muscular. Her hair was back into being braided in intricate patterns the way it had been when he had first met her, the only indicator to her origins she would ever showcase.
He thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen but that hadn't changed. The only difference now was that he didn't have to feel guilt for looking her way because now she was his.
Lost in his thoughts as Aang was, he didn't realize Tapeesa had finished her lesson and was walking over to where he was standing with Toph and Suki close by. She got near, a small knowing smile in her lips he didn't register until it was too late.
"I sensed you were rather focused on my lesson," she told him the moment she saw him as she came to a stop in between Suki and Aang. "Did you like it?"
Toph scoffed under her breath, "He certainly liked what he saw, yeah."
Suki giggled. Aang, even though he didn't hear Toph, blushed as he realised he had been caught. Sheepishly, he admitted, "I wasn't paying attention."
"I knew that," Tapeesa admitted, her smile widening in response as Suki laughed. "It pleases me to know you were honest about it, though."
Aang's blush intensified. "Shall we go home then?"
"Off you go," Toph decided for them with a smirk. "I can do some paperwork on my own."
"You must let me help you one of these days, Toph," Tapeesa insisted, but Toph only shook her head, stubborn.
"I'm not hindered so far. If you want to help wait until a few months later when my belly will bump everywhere."
"We need to tell Katara when you will be close to giving birth, she would love to be here," Suki piped in.
"More like she would love to help me give birth, you mean," Toph pointed out.
"She is good at it, she could help you," Tapeesa told her. "She helps every woman in the Southern Water Tribe give birth."
"We'll tell her when the time comes," Toph waved her off. "You leave now. Twinkletoes is waiting for you."
"I can wait for longer," Aang protested sheepishly, "you don't have to cut your conversation short."
"I'll go," Tapeesa smiled over at him briefly. "Suki, Toph, I will see you tomorrow."
"Don't feel obligated to come tomorrow," Suki said with a teasing smile. "I will be the one teaching. Aang, Tapeesa, you can stay in Air Temple Island for a while longer."
"We will be here," Tapeesa told her with a pointed look as she headed to the exit, ignoring Toph's laugh in return.
"It's not like that, Suki," Aang weakly defended.
"Why not?" Suki's and Toph's laughter followed them outside as Tapeesa shook her head at their antics.
"They are great," Aang murmured, "they like teasing me but they are otherwise pretty good."
"I like them," Tapeesa assured him, "I wish I knew them better."
"They like you, though," he told her as he turned to face her. "They wouldn't hesitate to let you know if they hadn't liked you."
"I knew they liked me. I am glad they are honest."
Aang hummed his agreement as he looked over Tapeesa's head at something. "Do you not want to head to the hospital today?"
"The healers yesterday told me to not stop by," she admitted, "I protested but they said I have helped enough in the last few days so they have no need of me for a while."
"The hospital of Republic City isn't big but the people of the city aren't many either so they usually manage to handle things well on their own," Aang shared, wincing as his thoughts ran ahead before his words. "What you saw the other day rarely happens."
"They were in need of another pair of hands and I offered them that," she murmured, and Aang sensed a bit of finality in her tone. "I will come in the next few days. They won't turn me away."
"In the meantime, while you don't have to head to the hospital, after training I could show you around Republic City," he suggested with a small smile, paying no heed to Tapeesa's almost instantaneous raise of an eyebrow. "Perhaps we could take the time off Suki offered us for that reason."
"We told her we would be there to watch them practice," she reminded him, "who knows what she will tell Toph or what the officers will overhear if we are absent."
"I don't particularly care," he admitted softly as they reached the dock. "I would just like to spend time with you."
Aang knew Tapeesa wasn't going to deny him the pleasure of showing her around town anyway, she was only voicing her concerns out loud, but that was the last stroke. She looked away with a brief nod.
"Excellent," he beamed as he reached for his whistle to call out Appa. Then he turned back to Tapeesa. "There are a couple of parks around I haven't shown you because I lead you straight to the Police Station when you first arrived. There is also a river passing through the city. Some parts of it have yet to be constructed but they are nice to look at and imagine, I guess."
"It appears you like the city," she pointed out absentmindely, her gaze on Appa's form in the sky that was getting closer and closer.
"Of course," Aang easily agreed, "I helped build it."
Tapeesa didn't say a word as Appa landed in front of them. She climbed on the saddle on his back as Aang took the reins, and with a soft command from him the sky bison was rising in the air. They started flying towards Air Temple Island. Aang was just about to share with Tapeesa what he had thought they could do with the rest of their day when he was sidetracked by a small, dark shape in the horizon. Instantly, he called for her.
"Tapeesa?"
She hummed in response and over the wind he couldn't hear her move by his side, but he certainly was able to sense her presence as her breath came to hit the side of his neck. He attempted to act like he wasn't affected by it.
"What is this in the horizon?"
Tapeesa leaned closer, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the area where the sea met the land to find the dark spot Aang had seen that shouldn't be there. It took her a few moments to decide what it was.
"A ship," she said confidently. "It will be here in a few hours, if we are its final destination."
"I've been waiting for Zuko or King Kuei to come one of these days," he admitted, and with his gaze focused on the horizon, he almost missed the chance to ask Appa to land on Air Temple Island. He managed in the last second.
"Perhaps it is one of them," Tapeesa said, and he felt her lean back. "I say we cook something for them to eat if one of them is coming and wait."
"Yeah," Aang muttered to himself, mourning his lost plans for a while, but he didn't let Tapeesa see it. He was back to his usual self by the time they had landed.
"I also need to check their rooms," he remembered as they landed, "if they come, they will probably be tired from their journey."
"I will cook," Tapeesa decided, already heading to the kitchen area. "Come join me when you are finished."
Aang didn't protest and a while later, he was gone. Tapeesa started cooking the food she had in mind—a meat and vegetable soup in case their guest favoured meat the way she did—and absorbed in her task as she was, she didn't realize when the time passed. Aang even came back in the room for a while to check up on her but when he noticed she was immersed in cooking he left to look at the ship they had seen about an hour ago, only to notice it was clearer now, closer. If he squinted hard enough, he thought he could see the red flag of the Fire Nation. He went back inside.
"You might want to see that ship for yourself," he told her as he got inside. "I think it's a Fire Nation ship."
Tapeesa left her position by the stove at once and headed outside to look at the ship herself. It seemed to be moving rather fast, and as she looked better, she too could make out the red flag on the highest part of the ship. She got back inside.
"It is a Fire Nation's ship," she told him at once, "Zuko is coming."
"I haven't seen him in a few months," he said as he moved to the side to let her pass and take care of the food. "Have you seen him since-"
"He came to the Southern Water Tribe about a year ago," she admitted, "Katara had told him about the progress she had made in a letter and he arranged some time to visit us. His intension was to maintain a good relationship with the tribe, after all he and his nation have done to it."
"And?" Aang asked as he moved by her side to look at the food that was almost ready by now. "Did he succeed?"
"The people didn't see to him kindly at first," she admitted, "then they noticed how Katara and I were completely at ease around him and gradually started to trust him a bit more. I think his next visit will be better."
"He will make them like him, I am sure," Aang confidently said, "Zuko made Katara like him. He can do anything."
Tapeesa chuckled, turned to him with an amused look in her eyes. "I know, she holds grudges."
"Yeah, I thought he managed to do the impossible back then," he laughed fondly as he reminisced his past. "You know, even though there was a war, we had fun."
Tapeesa smiled at him before she cleared her throat. "I say we wait for Zuko to eat together."
"Whatever you want," he shrugged, "if you are finished, we can watch him come."
Tapeesa hummed, took the food off of the fire and followed after Aang outside. The ship was now a lot closer than it previously was.
"It's a really fast ship," Aang commented. The ship had crossed half the distance to the island already.
"She is," Tapeesa agreed as she walked forward to stand by the edge of the island and look at it better. Aang followed after her. "The one I rescued you from was like her."
He let out a small sound of realization. "You had scared me so much back then when you first came in the room and told me no one was by my side."
"It was true."
"Whose side were you on then?" he chuckled as he turned to face her. "Because you did save me a while later even though you were in a dire need of aid yourself."
"I was on my own side," she mused as she turned to him with a small smirk, "is that why you started to like me? Because I saved you despite the danger I was in?"
Aang flushed, "Are we really going to talk about that?"
"Do you have anything else to talk about?"
He looked away. She smiled in triumph. With a sigh, he started talking.
"I really liked the way you look. I thought I hadn't seen a more beautiful – I mean, you must know you are attractive-" he broke off as she sent him an encouraging nod. He continued so as to not embarrass himself further, unable to quite look her in the eyes. "You intrigued me somewhat because you appeared so closed off even though you helped me whenever I asked you to. You always looked out for me and protected me even though you disagreed with what I did and made your job Zuko had assigned you harder." He laughed to himself as he turned to face her. "You know, this was rather embarrassing for me. You will have to tell why you liked me too."
"I have no issue telling you," she smiled slightly, a brow raised in a teasing manner at him. "You were the first person in a while to bother looking past my appearance and attempting to figure me out. You seemed to care about what I thought and I realized you are kind and sweet. And you didn't run away when I used my power in a scary manner."
Aang hummed, "Your attraction to me seems self-centered."
Tapeesa scowled, reached over to push his shoulder. Aang winced. "You need to stop hanging out with Toph."
She shook her head at him and turned her attention back on the ship coming closer. She estimated in a few minutes, it would have reached the dock. Wordlessly, she walked towards the dock and Aang followed after her. By the time they had reached the dock, the ship had arrived. The door opened. Zuko came out, dressed in his Fire Lord attire, his crown on his head.
"Land at last," Zuko said as he stepped on the dock. The ship behind him kept on moving, and catching Tapeesa's expression, he rushed to explain. "They will be staying in the ship that will be docked in the city's harbour." He took one look between them, how close they were standing before he raised a brow. "What did I miss?"
"Nothing you won't learn about during dinner," Tapeesa told him before Aang could, seeing from the corner of her eyes that he was already starting to get flustered. "Come. I have cooked some meat soup."
Zuko hummed, "You can start telling me all I've missed now. I don't have anything else to do. Aang, start talking."
"I – well, it's quite a lot honestly-"
Tapeesa couldn't help but laugh.