I jerked awake. Where was I? I wasn't on a bench.
I moved my arms up toward my head and pushed myself up. The sheets of the bed I was in were sticky. Still I couldn't complain considering it was a vast improvement over the park bench. I sighed. What else could I expect from boys?
Bolin was going to give me his room, but in the end I stayed in Mako's. He didn't want his brother getting another back ache from the couch. Apparently, Bolin liked to complain quite a bit. I looked over across the rail's of Mako's loft room. Mako was asleep on the couch, and I could hear Bolin snoring.
It was good they were still asleep. I had to put on clothes. Bolin had given me one of his t-shirts which fit me more like a dress.
Quietly, I climbed out of bed and tip-toe ran over to the ladder. I quickly jumped down from the loft and ran to the small bathroom to clean up. I felt disgusting. I hadn't had a shower since I'd arrived in the city, and I was so grateful that I hadn't minded using guys' shampoo and body wash. I'd get more feminine bathing products from Korra later. She wasn't the girliest girl, but she did appreciate lavender-scented soap.
After I'd finished freshening up, I realized that I'd forgotten my clothes upstairs and also that those clothes were disgusting. What was I going to wear?
Wrapping the towel around me, I poked my head out of the door and saw Mako in the kitchen eating some Muncho's cracker chips. He wore only the shorts he'd slept in, and his black hair was a mess.
"Hey," I said quietly. He jumped a little and turned. "I don't have any clothes."
Mako's face flushed a light pink. "Oh, uh," he stuttered. "Hey! Bolin!"
I heard grumbling from upstairs and loud thunk as Bolin hit the floor. "Ow," he groaned. "What, what is it?"
"Bring Zuri another one of your huge t-shirts to wear for now!"
"Thanks," I said slowly. "But I'm not crazy about the idea of walking around in front of you guys with nothing but a t-shirt on, no matter how long it is on me."
"What are we supposed to do then? We don't have any girl clothes."
Bolin stumbled up to the bathroom door rubbing his eyes and handing me a pro-bending t-shirt. "Yeah, no girly clothes here," he groaned. "What time is it?"
"It's almost noon," Mako told him.
"Ugh! It's too early to be alive!" Bolin threw his arms in the air, walked over to the couch, and flopped down on his face.
I pulled my head back in the bathroom and shut the door. I jerked the shirt over my head quickly and tugged it down as much as it would go before running a comb through my wet hair.
"Oh, I know!" Bolin screamed. "We can borrow some clothes from Korra for you, Zuri!"
"Yeah, no," I said walking out of the bathroom and holding the t-shirt down. "I'm quite a bit smaller than Korra. Her clothes are too big."
Bolin fell on his face again but peaked at me with one eye. "I need bottoms," I decided aloud.
"Here," Mako's voice said from above me. A pair of shorts hit my face as soon as I looked up.
"Thanks."
I walked back into the bathroom and slid the shorts on without shutting the door. I was pretty sure neither of them could move fast enough to see anything. The shorts were quite big, but it was better than nothing. I'd just have to make sure not to jump around and make them fall.
There was a piece of paper laying on the table in the kitchen. I walked over and read their tiny grocery list. I guess they couldn't afford much. There was no way I could ask them to buy me anything to wear. They'd already given me so much.
"Bolin," I said, but he didn't reply. "Bolin, are you awake?"
It took a moment for him to reply, but eventually, he said, "Unfortunately."
"And you better stay awake, Bro. You're going to the store."
"What?" Bolin screamed and jumped up from the couch. "The first day in forever that we don't have practice, I have to go to the store! Why don't you go?"
"I'm working on getting us the money for the championship... and the rent."
Mako walked past me quickly, his red scarf flapping me in the face, and he was gone before I could look up again. Bolin fell back to the couch and moaned about having to go out. Eventually, he got around and left for the store, too, after insisting that I tell him what my favorite food was so that he could buy it for me.
Then I was alone, so I looked around the place for something to do. The entire place was nasty. Well, I thought to myself. I at least have something to do today, and I need to repay the boys anyway.
"Zuri! I'm ba - Woah. This place looks great." Bolin had been gone for a while, so naturally I was pretty much finished cleaning. I'd just made Mako's bed and was climbing down the ladder when Bolin arrived. "You're magic, aren't you?"
Bolin kept closing his eyes and opening them, shocked at how good a place could look if you actually took a little time to keep it up. "Yup, still clean," he said after closing his eyes and pinching himself.
He was overly immature, but it looked cute on him. Bolin was just the type to get away with such behavior. In all honesty, it made me smile. His bubbly attitude was a refreshing change from my serious parents.
"I washed all the clothes and the bed clothes, too. Everything's springtime fresh," I told him. "It was the least I could do since you and Mako are letting me stay here for now."
"Wait, first of all, you didn't have to do all this, and second, what do you mean 'for now?' You can't leave! The place will be messy again! Look, I can see myself in the floor!"
Bolin dropped to his knees and made faces at his reflection in the floors that I'd mopped. "Okay," I said with a chuckle. "Hey, don't lick the floor!"
"Huh? Oh! Do you want to go see Korra with me? I got her some flowers for coming to save me."
"Oh, no thanks, Bolin. Uncle Tenzin can't know I'm here, remember? So don't mention me around him, okay?"
"'kay. I won't. I'll be back in a bit. Mako will probably beat me home. We can all go out to eat later. See ya!" And Bolin was gone again. I turned around and looked out the window at Air Temple Island. I wished I could go see Korra with him.
I shrugged it off and went over to my freshly washed clothes. Of course, I'd done my own laundry when I'd gone downstairs and used the laundry room... The one where they washed uniforms and dirty towels. The one not meant for personal laundry. But, hey, I didn't find enough change in the couch to go to a laundromat. Besides, I wouldn't know where to find one.
With the boys gone, I didn't bother going into the bathroom to change. So I stripped all my huge borrowed clothes off right there in the living room and jerked my own clothes back on quickly.
I turned on my heel and started towards the kitchen. I jumped. Bolin was standing there. "Uh," he said. "I just got here. I didn't see anything... So I'm just going to grab the flowers that I forgot... The flowers for Korra... And I'm going to go now. Bye."
I just stood there for a moment. How much had he seen? What angle was I standing at to him? I thought I was going to die, or at least run to Uncle Tenzin and beg to be sent home.
"Where was Bolin headed in such a hurry?" Mako's voice asked.
"To see Korra," I told him without even turning to face him.
"Of course," he said. "He has quite the crush on her."
I thought I heard something in his voice, and curiosity overtook me. "What about you?"
"What about me?"
"How do you feel about Korra? I mean, she's pretty amazing, right?"
"Oh, yeah. Of course, she's amazing. She's a great friend and a great Avatar. And she's a decent pro-bender."
"Mako, you know what I meant," I said, giving my signature look. "Come on, fess up! I may be her best friend, but I won't go spilling the beans to her!"
But all he would say was, "It's not like that."
It was a lie. Obviously. He had feelings for her. I could see it. What I couldn't see was why it made me so sad to realize how he felt about Korra.
I walked over to the window and watched the sun go down. It was beautiful and awkward. Until Mako decided to actually be polite and make conversation. "So," he said. "You're from the Fire Nation?"
"Yeah."
"Are you really a princess?"
"No, I'm not. My grandfather is Fire Lord Zuko, but he never knew I or my father exsisted. So I don't think it really counts. Please don't call me 'princess' like Korra does. I really hate that."
"I won't. I promise," he said with what looked like a scowl on his face with hints of a grin. "But Avatar Aang was your other grandfather, right? So you've got two famous grandfathers. 'Princess' would probably fit."
"I assure you that it most certainly would not."
"Okay, okay. I was just saying."
I walked away from the window and sat on the far end of the couch away from him. Although I might have been the Princess of Awkward considering how my day had gone with the two brothers.
I didn't know what to say now. But luckily Bolin came rushing in again. Well, I didn't know if it was lucky or not.
"Guys, the radio! Turn on the radio!" Bolin screamed as he did the exact thing he was telling us to do before plopping down onto the couch between us. All the while still holding the flowers he'd gotten for Korra.
" - to quash our revolution. But we cannot be stopped. Our numbers grow stronger by the day. You no longer have to leave in fear. The time has come for benders to experience fear."
"Oh... my.... God!" Bolin screamed and sank into the floor after Amon's voice ceased echoing through the radio. "Trust me, guys. This bender has experienced the fear... Mako, don't let him get me again!"
"Don't worry about that, Bro. It's not going to happen," Mako told him, holding up his hands to prevent being tackled into a hug. "Come on, let's all go eat."
And we did. They took me to a resturaunt with authentic Water Tribe food. It had been a while since I'd eaten Water Tribe food, so I savored the taste.
Back at home, Mako promised to find a way to get me some more clothes tomorrow, and I went to bed, exhausted by my cleaning efforts that day.