Mikki slid up the stage, her face still a bright red from the previous event. She slapped her face a couple of times lightly. What did I just do?! This is exactly what Jiyong and Yuri were talking about! she continued to mentally scold herself as she thought about to tell Jiyong or Yuri for advice since she was really at a cross roads here. I mean.... it wasn't bad.... the kiss was actually kinda... nice... Catching herself in her stream of mental notes, Mikki shook her head and slapped herself one more time. But this time, it was hard. It wasn't until she heard a snicker next to her, did she remember she wasn't alone.

"Looks like that guy has Monkey a little confused," Seunghyun chuckled beside her. Mikki grew an even darker shade of red, if that was even possible.

"Sh-Shut up."

"No need. I thought it was cute!" he pinched her cheek gently.

By now she was the shade of a freshly ripe tomato and held her burning cheeks in her hands. It sure to be the youngest one out of the benders just to have them tease and baby you. "I-I said sh-shut up!"

"Come on, this is a part of life! Sure, you have to go away and leave forever soon, but-"

"Not helping."

"Mianhae," he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. That really made Mikki even more messed up in the head. She believed that if she were to think about this all a mere second more her head would explode into a million tiny little pieces and her brain would melt to nothing but mere goo. So should I reject him? I have to leave, right? But I don't even know if he will confess! But-...

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the crowning of the victors!" the ref cut her thoughts off and continued. "The judges have their decisions in who worked the hardest and tallied the most wins! In fifth place..."

Mikki tuned out everything else heard, all she could hear was the static sound in her brain which was currently dormant. Yuri tapped her on the shoulder, breaking her out of her trance.

"Hey! They're announcing the winners!" she poked her cheek.

"Oh um... yeah."

To be honest, Mikki was actually, for the first time in her life, nervous about what was going to happen. She was sure she probably wouldn't have come in the top 5, but there she was. She expected her name to be called next, since she was the last one to begin training out of the rest, especially her brother and sister.

"And congrats to SHINee for fifth place! In fourth place is...." the sound of ripping envelope came into earshot, then a bright and cheery, "Girls' Generation!" Then a bunch of squealing. She could see Yuri hold the flowers and hug the rest of her members excitedly. Mikki tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She could have sworn that she wouldn't have gotten into the top 3.

The last three hopefuls stepped onto the stage quietly. Mikki, Big Bang, and 2NE1. CL smirked at Mikki before leaning into her ear and whispering, "Although I may have lost to you, do you really deserve this? I went through seven years of training for this moment and how many did you train? Hm?"

MIkki muttered and small, "Ten months."

"My point exactly," CL rolled her eyes and stood back up straight for the results.

"Now, in third place is...."

CL smirked again and looked at Mikki, knowing her name would definitely be called in the next few seconds.

"...2NE1!"

"What?!" CL cried out, and although confetti was flying everywhere and they were being congratulated, she threw the flowers given to her on the floor in disgust. Even the rest of 2NE1 were cheering and hugging each other, but all CL did was stand there with her jaw dropped. Mikki came by and closed her open mouth for her.

"Sometimes it isn't how long it takes, but how much it took," she tapped her nose with a wide grin, then waved gleefully at her as the four were being literally shoved off the stage.

"Now, the winner of the 2012 Bender Tournament is.... MIKKI!!!!"

The crowd whooped and hollered for the winner to take her place. Key from the stands was definitely the loudest, and Mikki roller her eyes at his joyfulness. Though she really should have been happy in the moment, she couldn't help but frown at the sight of her brother and the rest of Big Bang. They, never not once, ever got less than 1st place, and she just broke their streak. She watched their held hands loosen as they "bro-hugged" anyway. Jiyong gave her a thumbs up and ruffled her hair before walking off the stage to let her have her moment.

"Wait!" she grabbed the microphone without a second thought, and just like that, the whole arena was dead silent. "I-I.... I don't deserve this award," she confessed. She glanced over at Jiyong, only to have him mouth at her, "What are you doing?"

Ignoring him, she faced back to the spectators and continued. "The true winners are really Big Bang, They were the ones that helped me throughout all of my training. They have always worked harder than me," she said as she walked offstage and towards the five. She draped her arm around Jiyong. "I'd really like to be able to share this award with them. With my brothers."

The audience was still silent for a minute, letting everything they just heard sink in. Although it was incredibly nice and kind of Mikki, usually this was not allowed. In fact, it's never even happened once before, so everything was all in the judges' hands now.

Without another care in the world, however, Key stood up abruptly and began to clap as loud as he could, striking his hands together at a steady pace. The small yet powerful sounds echoed in the large room. Suddenly another rose, and another, and another, all mimicking Key's thoughtful actions. Soon the whole arena was filled with the familiar sound of applaud and whistles. Big Bang and Mikki looked over at the judges to get their 'ok,' and once they were, they, too, began to celebrate with all the others. Jiyong and Taeyang were holding up the trophy along with Mikki, while Seunghyun and the two maknaes were too busy and decided to go a little crowd surfing.

"I could have never beaten the best," Mikki shouted over the blaring sound of the music and the blurriness of the confetti.

"Eh, but you did! You won, you did it!" Jiyong retorted, ruffling her hair again.

"No. We did." As cheesy as it sounded, it was true. The icy, awkward bond the two used to share now were definitely closer.

And to complete the sibling bonding, Yuri popped her head between the two and shouted, "Oh yeah we got ourselves a couple of winners here!"

Key, watching the whole thing from the stands, cracked a smile and pulled out his camera for a quick snapshot. He took pictures of the family, pictures of the judges, and every one of the other benders who were free to run around using their powers as madly as they possibly could.

Finally when the whole competition was over, everyone was taken back down from the clouds. Although Key spent most of his time screaming again from his fear of heights, it was more fun than he remembered it the first time and took a small video clip of it.

Mikki sat alone on one of the swings, her body still and almost lifeless. All of the fighting there really tuckered her out. All she wanted to do was sleep, but she would have a tough time in doing so, since Jiyong and Yuri both decided to invite over almost all of the benders to their house to have a small get-together. (Which really meant a full-on party until the neighbors called the cops, but they didn't have neighbors so they were all good to go.)

Key debated in his head behind her, whether to go up to her or not. He was more than sure that things would definitely get awkward from their first kiss, but he also knew that he couldn't avoid her forever and neither could she.

Obviously, Key must have made some rustling sound, or Mikki just had sensitive ears, because she said, "You can come out now, you know. Lemme guess... Seunghyun or Key, am I right?" At that very moment she turned 90 degrees just to get a good glimpse of her admirer's face. "Key. Knew it."

Key merely shrugged and trudged over to the swing opposite from hers. "H-Hi. Congrats," he bowed his head and looked down from there, breathing heavily to try and make the situation seem less awkward than it probably was from another's point of view.

"Thanks."

"..."

"..."

"So about that whole thing back there...."

"..."

"I-I..."

"..."

"...just wanted to say..."

"..."

"Could you at least say something to..."

"..."

It wasn't until the third time Key did this did he actually notice he was the only one talking and was getting cut off by her own silence.

"Look and listen well," he firmly stated. Mikki lifted her head and tilted it at him. "I-"

"..."

This time, Mikki was the first to speak up. Or yell up.

"WHAT?! YOU WHAT?!?!?!" she got up from her swing, impatient and irritated from the way he was acting.

"IreallylikeyouandIjustwantedtosaythat-"

"Okay now stop." Key obeyed. "Now go. A little slower this time," she explained with small and quick hand motions.

Key cleared his throat and loosened up his shirt collar with his index finger. Taking in a deep breath, he thought, I'm a man... I can do this.

"Listen... so I guess it was kind of obvious already that... I really like you, Mikki- or Min Ki, or whatever you wanna be called. I don't know if you feel the same way or not, but if you don't, that's all right with me," he looked down at his hands and fiddled with his fingers. "I really just needed to get that off my chest, you know? But... even if you do reject me... can we still just be friends? Like pretend this never happen- you know what? Never mind. Let's just forget everything I just said in the past minute," he stopped himself and wimped out in the middle, not quite sure if he wanted to do this. He really liked and cared for the girl a lot, but at the same time, he also didn't want to lose her. That was the scariest part for Key.

He let a long, deep sigh pass his lips, and before he could say anything else, he could hear the squeaking of the other's swing. Thinking she had left and that he had just lost one of his good friends, he slumped his shoulders, but yelped a bit when he felt a sharp pain on his arm. It took him quite a while to realize that Mikki hadn't left and actually walked up to him and smacked him across his right arm.

"Ouch! Wh-Wha-?"

"You pabo, you didn't even let me respond!" she put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

"Bu-But I thought you were going to reject me?"

"You keep jumping to conclusions," This time, she sat in the swing next to him and awkwardly took his hand... or his finger. "I was about ready to give up when CL had me trapped, ya know. I felt so helpless and weak, I just kinda waited there for the fire to overcome me."

"But you didn't," Key pointed out. She nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you?"

She shrugged slightly. "Why not? It's better in trying. Though there was a certain reason why I wanted to get up. You wanna know what?"

"Jiyong or Yuri?" he innocently asked. Mikki chuckled and shook her head.

"Aniyo... it was you," she confessed, lowering her head so that her hair blocked her face so he couldn't see the blush that was creeping up on her.

Key's eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. He looked around and placed a finger on his chest. "M-Me?"

The younger sighed. "Sometimes you're too innocent for your own good. Of course, you, pabo!"

His eyes rounded once again, almost the size of an owls. "So... So does that mean that you...?"

Mikki giggled again and fully held his hand, squeezing slightly. She nodded and grinned. "Let's give it a try."

Key's face turned from solemn to bright as the topic turned from bad to good. He giddily nodded and jumped into her arms, having her awkwardly pat his back in response to the unfamiliar embrace. Although it felt good to have someone there for her, it also meant one more heart for her to break once she has to leave.

She knew it was the wrong choice. She slumped her shoulders in the hug and mentally scolded herself several times, but it was all too late. She was pretty much stuck in the mud. She couldn't just say then and there, "Hey you know what? Never mind I change my mind." or break up with him not long after. It would destroy his heart to smithereens, blown into dust. But if she did wait, she would probably fall for him even more. Might as well while she was at it.

"Your house is having  party, right?" he suddenly questioned once he pulled away.

"Yeah. You wanna go?" she asked back, not offering, but more in a surprised tone.

He shook his head. "No. I was just wondering if you needed a place to go. My house is open until you have somewhere you can rest peacefully."

***

When Mikki returned to Key's home with him, it seemed almost different than before. She couldn't put her finger on it, it was like she was totally drawn to it like it was her own home. I guess after being there a while, she kind of got used to being there.

They entered the house and had their usual conversations that annoyed the heck out of each other, and the ones where they actually agreed on something. They were in the middle of watching gag shows on the TV when Mikki sparked up a question.

"Where's your mom? I've practically been here all day and she isn't here."

"I don't think my mom's home right now. She's probably volunteering at the hospital."

"Your mom's so nice...." Mikki said longingly.

Key half-smiled."Yeah I guess... what about your mo-" he cut himself off once he realized he was talking about a forbidden subject. Mikki glanced up at him with sad eyes, then looked back down.

"You wanna know what actually happened?"

Key argued with himself in his head. They were a couple now, so why shouldn't he be able to know? Then again, it could be dangerous to even think about to her and he didn't know what she would do. He decided that he would let her tell, but would just nod and listen attentively.

"My mom..... isn't my real mom."

Key tilted his head to the side, utterly confused with what she was trying to say right there. "Huh?"

She lightly chuckled and continued. "I mean, she isn't my biological mom, but I loved her just as one. You see, my real mother passed away right after I was born. Like, right after. I could have died, too, but the doctors took good care of me. I don't even know what she looked like, but I knew she probably loved me to bits. My father remarried to a lady, my mother, when I was two years old. I was too young to comprehend things back then so I just called her 'umma' from the get-go."

Key nodded, ushering her to go on. He understood so far, but he knew he would probably get lost as more clusters of words came.

"The thing is, my mom was mortal while my father wasn't. All of us but her were benders. What I find funny, is that he never told her."

"He.... he never told his wife that you guys had powers?"

Mikki sadly shook her head. "I remember he took all of us in to tell us what and what not to do..."

Flashback

"Appa, why isn't umma in the family meeting?" 6-year-old Yuri asked, tugging on her father's sleeve. He smiled lovingly and hoisted 3-year-old Mikki up on the bed while patting the seat on the bed next to him for the other siblings.

8-year-old Jiyong nodded in agreement. "Umma's always included," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Neh, I know... but this is just going to be a talk between the 4 of us. What I say, you cannot repeat to your mother, do you all understand?" he kindly requested. Jiyong and Yuri nodded while Mikki latched herself onto her father and snuggled into his neck.

"Neh, understood!~" she echoed him.

"You know how you have powers, right?"

Jiyong got up abruptly and shouted, "Yeah I do!!! Appa, look what I can do!" he said before running over to a potted plant and having it grow two times in size. Yuri applauded him. Mikki just sat there in awe, watching her brother rotate and care for the plant. Their father had a look of worry in his eyes.

"Ani! Ani!" he put Mikki down on the ground and shuffled over to Jiyong. "Umma's sleeping. You could wake her up and have her see-"

"Waeyo?" Yuri interrupted. "Umma knows we have powers, doesn't she?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's what I wanted to talk to you all about. Kids, your umma.... will never know of this, alright?"

"Wae?" the three siblings asked in unison.

"Just because... I don't want her leaving us."

"Waeyo?" Jiyong asked again. "She wouldn't leave us... she loves us, right?"

"I know she does, but.... just promise me you won't say a word to her. Not now, not ever. Cross your hearts." They respectfully obeyed. Although none of them still were unsure of all of this, they still did as they were told.

End of Flashback

"Ever since then, none of us have used our powers in front of her. We didn't even talk about it. Every time we went out training, we'd just say we're off to the gym. I felt bad, and I know Jiyong and Yuri did, too, but hey, what could we do?" she paused a second to refresh her memories. "We still had a stable relationship, though. That is, until I turned 14. Things changed then. My mom got very ill and was barely able to walk around the house by herself, but we didn't have the money to have her stay at a hospital. She was always up and about even though her doctor told her not to. Our dad was in debt. He owed a lot to the training center because of the damages we caused, or for membership, blah blah blah. One day, they actually came to our door. Of course, my mother just had to open it," she explained, her voice cracking on the word, "had." Key could tell she was getting teary-eyed, but he couldn't be left at just this.

Flashback

There was a loud bang on the door. "Open up!" a familiar voice boomed from behind it.

"Oh no!!!" Their father ran and hid for protection and safety, knowing exactly who it was. They all knew, too, that is, except for their mom and of how harsh they could be.

Their mother, Jaemin, hair up in a loose bun and her apron hanging over her shoulder, limped for the door and opened it a crack. "May I help y-"

"Please step aside," they commanded, although they shoved right past her anyway. "Where is he?!"

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't act dumb with me, lady! We know he's here. Might as well just hand him over so this will all be over."

"Who are y-"

"Annyeonghasaeo, Yang Jaehyun of BAET: Benders Association of Energy Training. We have a man here, um, Kwon Chongho, in major debt for membership, damage cause, and power-charging. Please step aside for us to examine."

"Benders-wha-what?!"

Then, all of the siblings rushed down to check out the scene. "Pft, what? What benders?" Yuri stalled first.

"You!" Jaehyun shouted. "You, Kwon Yuri! Water bender. Age 16. Sister of Kwon Jiyong. Earth bender, age 17. Siblings with Kwon Min Ki, age 14, avatar. I know you all, don't try and save yourselves and your pathetic parents!"

"Yah!" Mikki saved, "You have no right to talk to us this way!"

"Children? D-Do you and your father know something I don't?" Jaemin nervously questioned.

"Please give me Chongho so I'll be on my way. Or I'll be forced to use force," Jaehyun smirked. The rest of the family, not knowing what to do, just stood there in a state of shock as the man made his way through them and shot a fireball at their dining table.

Jaemin didn't know what to think of all of this. She wasn't sure if this was part of her imagination or it was reality, if there really was a burning table right in front of her.

"Give him to me."

"N-No!" Jiyong shouted over him, actually intimidated once in his life.

"Alright then..... maybe you'll talk.... now!" And with the last word, he sent vines tangling towards Jaemin. She couldn't move. It was like her feet were glued to the floor and all she could do was watch her life flash before her eyes.

"No!" Mikki hollered, sprinting across the room and sending a splash of water over to him and the attack.

"Min Ki-ah?" Jaemin called for her daughter with fresh tears in her eyes. She was all confused. She wasn't sure what to make of any of this. All she knew was that her whole family were some sort of immortals and they kept that a secret from her this whole time. She had been living with some sort of monster and she didn't even notice it.

Mikki joined hands with her mother worriedly while Jiyong and Yuri went to take her place in defending the house and family. "Umma, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry," she whispered, sobbing quietly. "I should have told you. Please, please say something!" Panting, she pleaded over and over for her mother to respond but she was in a daze. Without any warning at all, Jaemin collapsed as she was literally scared to death. Or, almost death.

End of Flashback

"My father was taken away to live as a servant to pay off everything. He should have been done by now, but he never came back. He left us in shame..." A small tear rolled perfectly down her pale cheek. "Our house was destroyed in the fight, and my mother was afraid. She was.... she was actually afraid to be near me. Like I would have caused her harm if I talked to her. So that' when Jiyong, Yuri, and I decided to start over. I'm not sure if they're both still alive, but..... something tells me that...."

She couldn't finish. It was mentally challenging for her to, and Key didn't blame her. As she sobbed into Key's chest, he pat her back comfortingly as he hummed a catchy tune to calm her down.

After a while, she sniffed and tried to change the subject. "Hey, so I saw you had a camera. Did you take pictures?"

Key perked up. "Oh! Yeah I did, they were awesome! Do you wanna see them?" Mikki nodded enthusiastically.

He rummaged in his bag, then stopped. He stood and pat his pockets and stopped. He checked the area around them before widening his eyes in realization.

"My camera.... I lost it."

=======================================================

GASP! IM BACK! well with this story, at least.... im gonna try and update more frequently, but ya know, school so yeah..... probably only on the weekend i'll be able to. anyways, long chapter today! just coz i lub ya! ;) drama coming soon!!! i predict this will end in like..... chapter 30 or more... or less...... whatevs, but I have so many good fanfic ideas! check out my others~! thanks~~~~

-dino-nerd525