A Little Less Lonely: Kyalin

A Little Less Lonely

Kya wiped a tear away as she watched Varrick and Zhu Li. Their wedding ceremony was rushed but beautiful, full of a hope made all the more poignant by the awful things they'd just endured. Kuvira's reign of terror might have been brief, but it had left a mark on all of their souls. This wedding, held just a week after all that destruction, made them all feel a little giddy.

After Varrick and Zhu Li finished kissing, the wedding parties broke up and moved to a different part of Air Temple Island. Kya had helped set up the tables, decorations, and music, but it all took on a magical quality as the sun sank beneath the waves that took her breath away. To the east, a golden-green beam of light shot skyward into the heavens; the new spirit portal, lighting up Republic City's night sky as it would do from now on until... well, forever.

"Aunt Kya!" Ikki's voice broke through her reverie.

Kya looked down into her niece's face. "What's up?"

Ikki scowled. "Nobody's dancing with me. Jinora's got Kai to be all smoochy-smoochy with, Meelo's stuffing himself with food as possible, and all the adults think they're too old. I just want to dance! "

Kya laughed, though she made a mental note to check on Jinora and Kai later to make sure they hadn't got too smoochy. "I'll dance with you, Ikki, but only if you promise not to step on my feet."

Ikki eagerly agreed, but that didn't stop her from enthusiastically trodding on Kya's feet as they spun around the dance floor. She didn't hold it against her. To her amusement, she saw Korra and Asami dancing together, looking lost in each other's eyes. It wouldn't be long until that was a thing. Mako would be hilariously confused.

As Ikki happily flounced through three more songs, Kya took note of everyone here. Tenzin was sitting and looking grumpy as usual, though his grumpiness was tempered with a soft smile whenever he looked at Pema and Rohan. The arrow on his bald head stood out. It never ceased to amaze her that all airbenders ended up looking like an egg that had been drawn on.

Speaking of airbenders, Bumi was dancing almost as gleefully and uncoordinatedly as Ikki with whoever was unfortunate enough to cross his path. Jinora and Kai were thankfully in sight, spinning at the edge of the dance floor. Meelo was trying to set a world record for how much food could be ingested in the shortest amount of time. Kya would not envy Tenzin and Pema later.

Other than her family, dozens of other people had been invited to the party: a few of Varrick's relations, including a great-aunt of his who had insisted vehemently to Kya that she had kissed Avatar Aang when they'd been young (blegh, but who could blame her; she was related to Varrick and they were probably all crazy), Bolin, who danced with Opal under Su's close watch, and Mako, who was starting to eye Asami and Korra warrily. All of the Beifong clan was here, in fact. Su, her husband, and the rest of her many offspring were all either sitting down or dancing. Even Toph had come, though she mostly stayed in the shadows and threatened to leave for the swamp immediately if anyone asked her to dance. And the Chief of Police... actually, where was Lin?

Kya frowned. She had just seen Lin a few dances ago, scowling disagreeably at her food. She'd looked good in a green jacket that fit snugly around her muscular frame. A low heat had risen in Kya's breastbone at the sight of her as her ever-present crush had raised its head.

"I think I've had enough dancing," Kya told her niece. "Maybe you can go dance with Uncle Bumi now?"

Ikki glanced over at Bumi, who was drifting around, eyeing the crowd for more victims. Unfortunately, he'd danced long enough that most people knew to stay far away from him.

"Sure!" Ikki beamed, and trotted off to him.

Laughing silently at the chaos she was sure would ensue from that pairing, Kya made her way off the dance floor. She wove her way through all the tables, looking for Lin, but she didn't find her even after she'd searched the entire party area.