A/N: Good Morning, my lovelies!!! So, could you help us all out? See, I need to keep my creative juices running, especially when I'm stuck on my stories and on Avatar... I may be stuck...
But I wondered if you could help by suggesting weird and wonderful situations for our lovely crew to join in on. E.g. Mogui meets Gandalf, and they go on a quest to slay Smaug's brother! (I know he's already met Gandalf, the Asian, but...) Or Muteki is suddenly in High School Musical! (He'd probably wreck the place) Or sassy Jin kicking it with Kakashi (That won't end well...) Or Amaya and FairyTail's own Gray Fullbuster having a sparring match with the possibility of a romantic complication! (She'd probably get into a situation with Juvia for that...)
Hey, why limit it to just the Avatar crew?! Let's add guys from the rest of our works. Lanzo meets Lucky Beggar, or Andrew from Dragonbane goes on a trip with Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third! What Characters does Amaya have? Let's get Tsukiko to meet Cap'n Jack Sparrow! Or Theron Maharial to fight Deadpool! Endless possibilities, lovelies! Leave suggestions in the comments, or send one of us a message. They'll come up on Amaya's page in the story "Shenanigans", where I (SashaL) have already got a chapter done. Also, enjoy this new chapter, courtesy of both Amaya and me!
After the others went their own separate ways, I travelled with the King and Katara back to the palace. Not quite ready to return to cramped rooms of far too serious big guys, I opted on a stroll on palace grounds, which Earth King was all too happy to join me with a cheery invitation for a personal tour of the palace grounds. Of course, I accepted. The guy is like a puppy. Eager to please and so happy.
"And this," he waved a hand to indicate a particularly cosy little garden with every colour flower imaginable. "Is the garden my father had commissioned for my mother during their... courtship...ahem."
He coughed awkwardly at that last admission, but I was too busy admiring some tall and very yellow sunflowers to care.
"Well, it's a lovely courtyard," I punned before sighing to myself. "I'm going to kill Mogui and Sokka. Maybe Amaya too."
The king seemed to gather himself and joined me with the flowers.
"I'm told that my mother loved it so much that this was the first and last place anyone would search for her and my father."
"Because your father loved being with your mother, right?" I said, moving on to green roses. "I didn't even know roses came in this colour!"
"You like them?"
"To be completely honest with you, they might be my favourite," I laughed. "Green is my favourite colour, you see."
"Ahh," he smiled back, and I looked back down at the beautiful rose.
"It must be nice," I said nostalgically. "To have something to remember them by."
"To be completely honest with you," he said as I made my way to a little stone bench surrounded with more sunflowers and other beautiful blossoms. "I don't remember much at all. I was very young when they passed on."
"I'm sorry," I said softly as he sat next to me. "It probably sounds cliche, but I'm sure they're proud of you, wherever they are."
"Proud? I spent my entire life being duped and manipulated." he clenched his fists, bunching his clothes in them. "Why would they be proud of the pathetic puppet king I became?"
"Because you cut your own strings," I said, putting one hand on his. "That's really brave, particularly since we were asking you to do a lot on faith. You stepped up when it mattered, and that's what people will remember."
The tension melted off him, and he actually smiled at me. Those dorky little glasses are hilariously cute.
This is awfully couply for two people who just met. The king's face turned bright pink, and he suddenly looked away.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I uh, this is... nice."
"Yeah," I said, amusement creeping into my voice. "It is."
He coughed nervously, then looked at me several times before clearing his throat again.
"I enjoy your company," I said, deciding to help the poor guy out here. "This has all been really sweet. I didn't really think I'd click with anyone this fast."
"Click?"
"You know," I snapped my fingers. "When something clicks. It feels right. I'd love to get to know you better."
He was still very pink and was fidgeting. "I would too. Like to get to know you, that is."
I smiled, then looked out over the flowers again. He was still fidgeting.
"Something on your mind?" I asked.
"Would it be okay if I held your hand?"
"Aren't we?"
We were actually holding hands. I'm not sure when that happened. But it did.
"Oh..."
I smiled and tipped my head coyly. "Nice deflect. What's really on your mind?"
Before he could really say anything, Katara's voice floated over the quiet air, startling him. I smiled and stood up, spotting the water tribe girl through the flowers.
"Jin?"
"Over here!" I called, waving to her, then I stopped and held my hands up like I was taking a picture. "You know, you look amazing with the flowers around you like that."
Katara blushed and smiled brightly. "Really? Thank you. I think they bring out your eyes."
I laughed and waved her over. "What's up?"
"I have Sokka's notes," she said, then curtsied to the King. "Oh, your Highness, I didn't realize you were here too."
"It's quite alright," he said, suddenly standing and then clearing his throat. He straightened his adorkable little glasses, then smiled awkwardly at us both. "I guess you'll be heading to the meeting then?"
"Yeah, apparently, I have a knack for strategy," I said dryly. "Which I don't. Amaya just always has these random facts. Some of them make me a little worried, but then I don't really know how she comes across these things."
Katara shook her head with a small smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if you said she knew the future."
I laughed awkwardly at that. "Anyway, didn't we have a meeting to get to? Also, something about Kyoshi warriors?"
"Oh right!" Katara and the King both said together before jumping into action.
"Right, well, it was great seeing you again, Earth King!" Katara said before grabbing my arm and beginning to drag me off.
"I really enjoyed talking," I said, resisting Katara's attempts at Jinknapping.
"As did I," he said, a bashful smile gracing his face. "Perhaps you could come by again after the meeting?"
"Sure," I smiled. "I'd love to. Ok, I'm coming, and I'd like to keep the arm. Thanks, Katara."
When we were out of earshot, Katara looked over at me. "Were you flirting with the Earth King?"
"Probably," I shrugged. "He's very sweet, don't you think?"
"Is it because he's the Earth King?"
"Why? Because kings are generally wealthy? Do I really strike you as a gold digger?"
"No?"
"Good, because I happen to find him incredibly interesting as a person," I said as Momo perched on my shoulder. "He could be poorer than dirt, and I'd still think he was an interesting person."
"I guess I can see that," Katara said thoughtfully.
"Anyway, this meeting thing?"
"Right, come on, we're going to be late!"