Aki's POV:

It's been three days since Kacie and the others took me in.

Since my brother died.

Trying not to think about it, I roll off the matress onto the floor. Kacie yelps as I land on her arm which wakes Hansol up who slams his fist down on Mingming's face. I wince. They all get up, rubbing their arms and faces, blinking at me in confusion.

"Good morning," I whisper, blushing as they realise what happened. "Sorry..."

"Don't apologise, Aki," Kacie laughs. "You woke me in time for our practice before the rematch with the Panda Dogs..." She yawns. "Mr. Hotshot over there..." she mumbles, pointing at Hansol who falls back on the mattress, "got us an unnecessary battle which will be a complete waste of our times."

"Oh." I smile at them.

"I died..." Hansol moans as Mingming prods him awake again.

"I'll go and make breakfast," I say which is greeted by happy noises of 'yay' and 'you rock'. I also hear a cheeky: "We get real food now!" followed by Kacie's trademark 'water whip'. I smile to myself as I head to the kitchen to find something to make.

I have a new family.

*****

The evening comes as I help Kacie with her waterbending.

"My main problem is dodging," she says, doing a few stretches. "I am decent at it but I need to be...perfect."

"Of course," I grin at her before joining her in the middle of the training hall. "Airbenders' favourite tactic: avoid and evade...or evade and run away...or something like that."

She laughs.

"Okay, Sifu Aki...I'm ready."

"So let us begin."

Without giving her any warning I send a blast of air into her, sending her flying. She picks herself up, grinning slowly.

"So we're not going easy, are we?"

"Nope."

"Game on, Aki. Game on."

And she sends a quick wave of water in my direction. I slide to the right of the attack, grinning as it hits Hansol who comes in holding a towel. Without a word, he walks out of the room, mumbling angrily under his breath. We continue the same pattern; she would attack and I would dodge, and then I would attack and she would...uh...attempt to dodge my quicker attacks and run away from my slower ones. After what seems like hours, she gets the hang of it and we're both worn out.

"We should get you ready for the match..." I huff, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

"Yeah..." she nods following me to the changing room. "Thanks, Aki," she says before going in.

I smile before going for a quick bath.

*****

I run as fast as I can, drying my autumn-red hair in the wind. There are thirty minutes before the match and I need to check up on the others.

Suddenly, a dark-haired, golden eyed boy steps in front of me, his eyes stern. There is a small chain on his neck with a fire nation symbol on it. He must be looking for me! No...wait...he's found me! I start panicking even before he says anything.

"Hello Airbender," he says, his voice warm and welcoming, but I still get the chills. He seems interested in me. Interest rarely turns out for anything good. And he's handsome. And handsome never turns out for the good. "I haven't seen an air bender before."

"H-how do you know I'm an air bender?" I stammer, taking a step away from him. Is there somewhere I can run to? A room? A cupboard? Anything!

He realises how scared I am of him and tries a smile. His smile lights up his face, making him look even more handsome than before.

"I saw you air bending with Kacie from the Bending Bisons?" He says slowly. "Relax. I won't tell anyone your secret if you don't want me to....I was just interested."

"Oh." My voice is quiet and I feel the heat creeping up my face.

"You're adorable..." he whispers, taking my hand in his and placing a kiss on my cheek. He grins a slow and easy grin, making me melt inside. "See you around, Autumn."

He lets go of my hand and walks away.

Autumn?

I instinctively touch my hair.

Yeah...Autumn's a suitable nickname...I decide.

His words run through my mind even as I run to the arena to watch my friends take his team on.

'You're adorable'...

*****

"Aki?" Kacie asks, smiling at me from behind her helmet when she notices me taking my seat.

"Hmmm?"

"You look happy," she laughs.

"I do?"

"Yeah...very happy..." Hansol says from behind her, his mouth pulled up in a grin. Mingming notices as well, waving at me. I wave back, smiling.

But as soon as the other team comes on to the playing field, I freeze, my smile slipping as my eyes widen in fright.

The boy I had met before was standing there, wearing a Pro-bending Panda Dog uniform. He was their fire bender!

But what scares me the most is his eyes; the warmth that was there when he was with me before is gone. He looks up at me but it feels as though he is looking through me. I shudder as he looks away.

Is he really the boy from before?

Or is he this cold pro-bender on the playing field?

I bite my lip and watch him as the match begins.