Fire Nation: Fire Nation Capital - Brothers ((PRIVATE))

KIHARU

Kiharu squirmed a bit in her seat, a bit restless waiting for her meal. Her father had taken her to an extravagent diner and the food was taking a moment to get ready. The thin girl's rear was already falling asleep.

And she was hungry.

She glanced up at Kiari from under her lashes. The man, although in his forties, was blindingly handsome. Long, dark hair fell just to his shoulderblades, and his eyes were almond and violet. He had soft features that always puzzled Kiharu to no end. He took after his mother almost completely.

Kiari was gazing at the menu with patient eyes. He'd already ordered, but he seemed to want to occupy himself. Suddenly, he said. "Do you know why we are here, Haru?"

Haru tilted her head. "What?" she said. "Why?"

"Noriaki and Sable are meeting us today."

It took Kiharu a moment to process what he said, and another moment to understand the people he was talking about. A bright smile broke out on her face. "Sabie! Nori!" she squealed in delight.

"I know you don't get to see them often," Kiari said, smiling as if pleased by her happiness. "So I organized this. As soon as you were healthy, I planned for them to meet us here. I'm so proud of them; they're very accomplished."

Kiharu tried to remember what her brothers looked like. Noriaki was big and strong, with short hair in the back and a long, black bang, she thought.

Wait -- both of them had long bangs. Swept over one eye. Sable's his right and Noriaki's his left. Did that change at all?

Kiharu gave up. Now she was even more antsy. She wanted them to show up!!!

Kaji walked up from behind Kiharu, he smiled as he put his hand on her shoulder ominously. "Boo!" he shouted scaring her "Hey cuz, how are you?" Kaji pulled up a seat and sat next to his cousin "Waiting for someone?" he asked her.

Kiharu looked at him, a gleeful expression lighting up on her face. "Actually, I'm waiting for my brothers to show up," she told him. "I think you just took one of their seats."

"It'll be fine, Kiharu," Kiari told her, giving a soft smile to the kids. "You two are small enough, there should be plenty of space."

Kiharu frowned. What Kiari meant was that she was tiny and Kaji was fine. When she and Kaji were next to each other, it was about the space of a regular adult anyway. And even though she was eleven and older, she looked seven and waaaay younger.

Kiharu didn't like that. She never did. Silently, she passed Kaji the menu so he can order.

Kiari was looking out the window at the people that passed by. The all seemed fairly wealthy, and Kiharu had long grew bored with waiting on her brothers. In fact, she wanted a nap.

"There they are!" her father exclaimed suddenly.

Kiharu's attention snapped fully to the window. Two men, kind of large and regal-looking, were passing the window to enter the diner. They walked side-by-side, and weren't even having a conversation. Suddenly, Kiharu was a bit intimidated. They reminded her of those military men she'd seen guarding the halls of the palace.

As Kiari waved them over, her voice caught in her throat.

The first was rather tall and was dressed in sweet yellow colors. He had a long, chin-length bang completely concealing the left half of his face, covering a brown-hazel eye. "Lookie here!" he said. "Haven't see you in a while, Kiharu! Imagine that, you're growing up so well!"

The other was completely silent, seeming to prefer to watch rather than speak, but there was a kind of fond warmth in his eyes. His hair was long, other than Noriaki's short style, save for the man's bang. It was loose, falling all around his shoulders. His similar bang swept completely over his right eye, and a bright blue orb poked out.

"Hello," he said finally, very quietly.

Kiari regarded his sons proudly. "Please, take a seat. I'm sorry but Kiharu and I already took our orders. You two and Kaji still have to order."

Noriaki scooted next to Kaji, and Sable seemed to glide in next to her (their?) father.

"Eh, I don't mind!" Noriaki said. "It's just nice to be here!" He looked at Kiharu. "You're awfully quiet. Sable, I think she's gonna be just like you."

Sable looked as if he was pretending not to have heard that. He was reading over the menu, glancing up at Nori for only a moment before he refocused his attention once more.

Kaji smiled "Hey Nori! Hi Sable!" he said "How are you guys? I have seen you in forever, tell me all about your awesome adventures will ya? I wanna hear all about your travels...I wanna be just like you when I grow up.....just like you or dad...dad was cool when he was younger...Auntie Ama told me all about his travels and adventures....I wanna grow up fast too!! Grown ups get to do all the cool things!!"

~ NORIAKI

Noriaki gave a hearty laugh. "Slow your roll, kid. We haven't even ordered yet." He pulled Kiari's menu across the table and in front of him. Scanning the entrees, he finally decided on what he wanted and mentally recorded that in his mind. Sable seemed placid as ever, but Nori knew it was likely that he'd already chosen something to his tastes. Most likely a salad of some sort.

"Okay, now I'm ready," he told Kaji, giving him a bright smile. "Ah, my job is great! But it's not as special as yours. I'm pretty sure you'd have lots of fun adventures as the Fire Lord. But don't be too quick growing up, your best years are where you are now!"

"Really?! You think so?! Cool!" he said slimingly widely "When I grow up I wanna be a cool Fire Lord just like my daddy, I wanna grow up and be tall like him too! He's a giant! But are you sure I can be as cool as my dad? I mean he's so smart and strong, and knows something about this King that I don't, can I really be like him?"

~ NORIAKI

Noriaki suppressed a chuckle at the boy's enthusiasm. "Of course you can!" he told him. "You have his blood. You're his kin. You're destined to follow in his footsteps and maybe even become something greater."

Kiharu watched the scene quietly, folding her hands in her lap. She felt Sable watching her, almost as if he was trying to reassure her that she wasn't forgotten.

The waitress came again, and Noriaki and Sable placed their orders. Kiari handled Kaji's for him, and asked them to hold off his and Kiharu's food until theirs came too.

"What?" Kiharu protested. "But Daddy! I'm hungry!" She folded her arms, pouting.

Kiari grew stern. "Well, would you rather engorge yourself here and finish, than wait another hour for Sable, Noriaki and Kaji to finish their meals? Or would you rather we all eat and leave at the same time?"

Kiharu sighed. This day wasn't turning out so great. She was starving, being ignored, and then had to be scolded in front of her brothers, whom she hadn't seen in years.

Kaji looked at Kiharu "So what about you cuz?" he said "You still gonna be my advisor when you grow up?" Kaji smiled "We'll be the best Fire Lord and Advisor team ever!! We'll be tight cuz we're cousins!! That'd be so cool!"

Kiharu gave Kaji her brightest smile. "Mhm!" she agreed. The boy's mood was contagious, and she felt her self-consciousness lighten considerably.

Noriaki gave a hearty laugh. "Isn't that somethin'? Look at you, Ki, always so smart!" He reached to his side and pulled a bag into his lap. "Sable and I got you somethin'."

He pulled a large, albeit colorful book out of the back and handed it to Kiharu. The girl's eyes lit up when she saw it, and an involuntary smile broke out across her face. "Yay!" she cried, groping for the novel excitedly with her small hands. It was a bit heavy for her, but she scanned the title with loving admiration.

"I've always wanted this book," she said, fondly running her fingers over the leather cover. "Where did you guys manage to find such a fresh copy?"

Nori tilted his head towards his brother, who was still as silent as ever. "Simple. We visited the author. We even got her autograph for you."

Kiharu's happiness was obvious. "Thank you, thank you!" she said.

The faintest smile lit up on Sable's face. He turned to Kaji, and said maybe the first words he'd uttered through his entire visit. "We didn't forget about you, Kaji," he intoned.

Noriaki reached into the back and pulled out a crested medallion. "This was crafted in the mountains," said Noriaki. "It's supposed to slighly amplify firebending by speeding the flow of your chi." He leaned over to put it around the boy's neck.

"That's so cool!!" he said "Thanks guys!! You guys are awesome! I can't wait to show dad, we can train forever now, I'll be a strong firebender like him, and I'll go on adventures just like him....and maybe I'll find a girlfriend too. What do you think Kiharu?"