A Complicated Meeting (Open to Ray)

"Hello Akari. How have you been?" Arsotash asked, smirking. Akari gave a quiet "fine" and let him get down to business. He was checking up on how she was doing with the mission. But she still didn't have any information. What if he thought she wasn't doing a good enough job and actually hired an assassin?! Would Arsotash do that? She'd know Arsotash for a while, an pretty much trusted him... But then why was he here? Why now?
"So... how has your assignment been going, huh? Liking this traitor? Well, anyway, my real question is much more general. What have you learned? You have been watching him for a few days. You should be prepared with a report by now, hmm?" Arsotash calmly picked at his nails, a confident air to his voice. Akari felt her mind go into a frenzy. What to say what to say WHAT TO SAY?!
"...He's a great kisser." Akari blurted out. Arsotash looked up and stared into her face, his eyebrows raised almost to his hairline.
"What?"
"Uh, I mean, I said... He's a Greek philosopher!" Akari said desperately. Arsotash looked dubious, but waved a hand to let her go on. Akari swallowed. This had been the plan from the start. Observe Akane and tell Arsotash. So why did she feel like she was betraying him?
"Umm... He..." Akari looked around, feeling awful. How could she stop this now? The ball was rolling, and it was too big for her to stop. "He's..." Arsotash tapped his fingers on his leg, getting impatient. Akari broke. "Alright, he's incredible. I've been questioning him and he still hasn't let anything past. He's cold and doesn't care for me at all. I'm not sure if I can get anything out of him. It seems like he's obsessed with his secrets and won't trust anyone. I don't really have anything to tell you. If I did tell you anything about him, it would only be about how he always hides his face and what food he's eaten the past couple days." Akari lied, talking quickly. Arsotash glared at her but sighed. Would he buy it? Akari asked herself.
"Fine. I guess he isn't the most wanted man for nothing. You get a little but longer, but if you still don't turn up anything, it's not going to be pretty."

Akane felt a wave of relief wash over him and he sighed. Slouching against the wall he relaxed, waiting until Arsotash as gone until he stood up. Akane retained composure as he walked towards Akari, something crossed his mind. 'Great kisser' she thought he was a great kisser. Akane couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, but quickly shook the smile from his face as he approached Akari. He could still feel some tension, leading to the only thing he could get out of his mouth being, "Hey." Akane lowered his hood as he looked at Akari, "Sorry." Followed his "Hey" which was followed by, "I'm sorry. For just leaving you that is. I shouldn't have. It was wrong, and rude." The only thing Akane could do now was hope she would accept his apology.

Akari almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Akane's voice. "Oh! Hi, uh, no it's fine! It was probably good for us to go and get our heads together. I actually haven't found anywhere to stay the night yet, but I'd be most comfortable at you know, and average inn. I mean, I know you have a lot of money... but uh, I'm just gonna find a regular place, if that's ok?" Akari felt nervous, wondering if he had seen her with Arsotash or heard the conversation. What if hated her now? She felt like she was sweating from nerves. And then she remembered. "He's a great kisser." Akari almost fell over on her face. She blushed and hoped the darkness would hide it. Please, please let him not have heard that, she prayed. She dusted off her hands where she had scraped them on the pavement and turned back to Akane. "Umm, that place looks good," Akari said, pointing to a small inn on the other side of the street. She crossed and hoped that she wasn't making a huge fool of herself... And that she hadn't made a huge mistake.

Akane nodded, "That inn seems fine, sure." he said "We can spend the night there and finish the mission in the morning, sound good?" Akane followed Akari to the inn, and stood at the door, holding it open for her. "After you." he whispered. He had the urge to-in his over confidence-to bring up the good kisser comment, but he felt it best to hold that back. That was a private conversation, and it was best to not bring it up as to not make himself look any worse. Akane entered the small, quiet, inn, noticing how empty it was. A small dog sat by the bar, sleeping. Akane walked towards the innkeeper, "Two rooms please?" he asked, the innkeeper nodded, pointing him the way to go. Akane nodded in thanks and motioned for Akari to follow him up the stairs. As they reached the top Akane paused, their rooms on opposite ends of the halls. He turned to Akari and spoke, "Akari.." he said "I was wondering. Would you..well..after this mission. Would you like to come back to the Earth Kingdom with me? I have a few missions lined up there. You can keep all of the payments if you want." Akane had a feeling that he was being too upfront, so he added in quickly, "Think about it. You don't have to answer now. I understand that this is a big decision for you, and that you may not feel all that comfortable with me yet. But...I enjoyed doing this mission with you, and I'd kinda like to do it again." Akane smiled as he looked at Akari, part of him regretted his next move, but he felt that it was-even ever so slightly-called for. Akane put his hands on Akari's shoulders and leaned in gently kissing her again. He smiled as he pulled back, and walked towards the other end of the hall where he room was, raising his hand over his shoulder and saying "Goodnight." Before dissapearing behind his door. Akane smiled as he threw off his cloak and lay out on the bed. His body felt numb with joy, "So this is love?" he asked himself, "It's been a while. But it feels...pretty damn nice."

Akari stood in the hallway, stunned again. How many kisses could one girl take in a night?! Akari ran into her room and slammed the door, feeling like she'd been electrocuted. After taking off her twin swords she collapsed on the bed and buried her face in her pillow. She would love to go back to the Earth Kingdom with Akane. But if he kept making moves on her she would probably freak out and run away... She'd have to learn to deal with it then. By now she knew that she would regret it much more if she left now. Finally having sorted it out, Akari fell asleep quickly, waiting for the morning sun to come.
((haha, it's short this time, sorry!))

Akane sat up in his bed. It was morning. He smiled as he pulled on his cloak, today was the day. The day he would get his answer from Akari. As Akane walked from his room and down to a table in the inn below he remembered that he still had to buy a herd of cattle for Garuda. "I'll do that before we leave today," said Akane, "Right after we complete the mission." As Akane slid into a booth, he saw Akari walk down the stairs. Something inside of him jumped, remembering both kisses last night. He did his best to keep his cool, but the love slowly started to creep back into his mind. The only thing that kept it in check was Garuda's voice, and advice, telling him to take things slow. This made Akane calm the emotions he felt towards Akari and function normally. As Akari slid into the booth, the bartender walked over and asked them what they would like for breakfast. They ordered and the bartender left to prepare the food. Alone in the booth, Akane brought up the courage to ask Akari for her answer, "So..." he said quietly, "Have you thought about my proposal?"

Akari almost laughed; all the romance made it sound like Akane had asked her to marry him. Instead she smiled widely and said, "I think it'd be fun to go the Earth Kingdom with you! I've never really been there, though. I think it should be exciting! I wonder what it's like...?" Akari trailed off, brightening up even more once she saw the food. She settled in immediately, trying to eat quickly so they could get ready for the mission. Today was going to be a good day; from the way remembering last night didn't bother her, being next to Akane didn't make her feel awkward, and she was feeling cheerful again.
Tsuki hopped up on the table and Akari poured some milk into a saucer for her. Tsuki lapped it up delicately, then groomed her gleaming white fur. Then Tsuki walked over to Akane and purred, as if asking for some of his food. She seemed to approve of him.
The only thing that bothered Akari now was the fact that she still had that mission running around behind Akane's back. What should she do about it? Should she tell Akane? Quit the mission? Lie to both sides? Betray Akane? Akari was glad she'd eaten quickly, because she had no appetite after those thoughts. She had to decide, and soon, because if she didn't, her good day would be ruined.

Akane wanted to smile widely, but held back slightly as he heard Garuda's voice in the back of his mind. "Get a grip, Akane!" Akane nodded with a small smile, "Well," he said "I'm glad you chose to come back with me. There are a few missions there that you'd like. And I could use some help with them as well." Akane knew this was a lie, he and Garuda had bested armies before, he didn't NEED Akari persay. Not for the missions anyway. He really asked her along for the company. And because, he loved her-something he had slowly come to terms with last night. He noticed Tsuki asking for some of his food, Akane didn't know what to give him, but didn't want to deny him anything. He decided to just give him his glass of milk. As Akane poured the milk into Tsuki's bowl, he looked at Akari. She seemed distant. "You okay?" he asked her, a question he hadn't asked her in a while, "You seem off...." Her sudden change in personality made Akane uncomfortable, like she had a secret hidden agenda.

Akari jerked herself back to reality and smiled at Akane. "No, I'm fine! Just spacing out!" Akari reassured herself with the thought that it was only breakfast, and she had lots of the day left to make a decision about the mission. While she was coming to terms with that, she might as well act normal-for her- around everyone. "You can just give Tsuki a little fish. She likes to pretend that she can have everything," Akari explained, handing a dried fish to the bewildered Akane. As soon as everything was finished, Akari jumped up and grabbed Akane's arm. "Alright, mission time!" She cried, dragging him with her as she dashed out the door. The sun was bright, even though it had barely just cleared the horizon, and Akari shaded her eyes with her free hand. She smiled into the early sun and felt the wind whip across her face. At least her day was nice for now.
Akari looked around for Tsuki and saw her streaking at her heels, easily matching Akari's pace. Akane seemed to be keeping up just fine, too.
((By the way, I've finally come to a conclusion about Tsuki's gender... She's a girl. That's probably been really confusing, so I'm sorry! At first I thought she would be a girl, but then I thought maybe a boy because you might confuse Tsuki's actions with mine... but I settled on girl, since that's what I wanted originally... hehe, sorry again!))

(Haha nah it's fine. I assumed Tsuki was a girl at first, then you said he, and then when you said she I just assumed you typoed. But it's no problem. I'll remember that lol)

Akane nodded and smiled as he gave the fish that Akari handed him to Tsuki. All of a sudden, like a tropical storm, Akari had grabbed Akari by the arm and down the street towards the employers house to finish the mission. After a good ten minute walked they reached the house, leaving the cart infront of the merchant's stables, they took a large pouch of gold in return. Akane smiled as he handed the gold to Akari, "As promised," he said, "It's all yours. Just like I said." Akane bent down and pet Tsuki between the ears before looking towards the market street. "Would you mind tagging along for one last stop before we take the boat to the Earth Kingdom? I need to buy something for Garuda."

(Oh and I was thinking, after they board the boat for the Earth Kingdom, we can change topics if you want. And make a new one in the Earth Kingdom. As for a direction for that topic, I was thinking, either it's their boat ride over and then the arrival to Akane's home. Or just the arrival at Akane's home and a day in Ba Sing Se. I was thinking that they could be ambushed by either old enemies of Akane if they're in Ba Sing Se or Fire Nation Police if they're on water, and yeah...and Akari could maybe come up with a decision to keep taggining with Akane, just untill she has more info on him...just a suggestion though, you decide.)