Chapter Text
Rangi focused her attention as they began to work through the books on Yun’s current History project assigned by Jianzhu. They were both to study the history of Earth Nation politics and the various deals that previous Avatars had been made over the past several decades. There was only one problem: it was cleaning day in the library and Kyoshi was there to help. Every so often, Rangi’s gaze would look out across the large seating area and they would catch eyes. Rangi’s heart would pound in her chest as she hurriedly looked back to the book she was reading. Why was she so nervous?
“Rangi!” Yun said loudly, causing Rangi to whip her head in his direction, annoyed, a glare across her delicate features. He smiled at her, unaffected by her impatience. He was used to it by now. "I said your name like four times. What are you staring at?" His jade green eyes followed her bronze ones until he saw who they admired. “Kyoshi?”
"Kyoshi," Rangi repeated in a faraway tone.
Yun shook his head and snapped his fingers in front of Rangi’s face, pulling her attention back to him. "You seem incredibly interested in her. She does have an interesting background before coming here. I have talked with Auntie Mui and a few other servants about her.” Rangi was suddenly stung with jealousy that Yun seemed to know more about Kyoshi than she did so far. Did they hang out without her?
If Kyoshi had been so interesting, why was this something Yun had never told her about? And what did he know that she didn’t? She bet he knew how amazing Kyoshi was. He probably knew more of her likes and dislikes. They probably laughed and joked and had all kinds of fun and conversations while Rangi wasn’t around. They were definitely hanging out without her.
"Earth to Rangi?" She hadn't realized she was still staring until Yun spoke again. She flushed a deep beet red and shifted in her seat so she could no longer see the attractive girl across the way from them. He hefted a sigh and closed his book, sliding it across the table. "Okay, you are not going to be able to pay attention here. Not when you've been eyeballing Kyoshi the whole time." His abrasive tone softened as he looked at his friend. "Just go talk to her.”
Rangi sputtered out a loud scoff, gathering the attention of a few servants around them. He really had the audacity to comment about paying attention. She lowered her voice and glared at Yun. "Yeah, that'll be great. 'I can't stop staring at you. Wanna hang out more often and be best friends?'" Her head tilted to the side in disbelief. "No, that's fine. Besides, I think we did enough for this afternoon."
Yun shrugged and stood up. "Whatever you say, Rangi. But the staring goes both ways." He looked over her shoulder and she turned her head to follow his eyes. Kyoshi was hovering across the way, no longer bothering to clean as she openly stared back at her. Rangi smirked at the attention but quickly shook her head.
Yun said his goodbyes and walked away, leaving Rangi alone at the table. She tidied up the area and stacked the books they had found for their next study session. Did she dare walk up to Kyoshi and start a conversation? No, that sounded stupid. She didn't want to look desperate, even though she felt oddly desperate.
She'd play it cool. She’d walk on by, carefree and confident. They would inevitably see each other again. That sounded right. She'd make it look as if she was not thinking about Kyoshi at all. Boosted by this thought she strutted out of the library and didn't even throw a glance towards Kyoshi. She had nailed that exit. And she absolutely did not look behind her to see if Kyoshi had watched her leave.