Empty Return

"This feels good," Nik smiled in an effort to alleviate the tense and awkward environment while leaning against the tree without any chance of getting interrupted this time around.

He set out with the objective of securing uninterrupted time within the Spirit Oasis and that's what he achieved. Sometimes, severe objectives call for unorthodox methods.

"What's so great about it?" Mai frowned as she looked at Katara, Suki, and Yue looking at one another uncomfortably.

"Before that, why are you even here?" Nik looked at her as she shrugged without replying, equally clueless. Where could she go when having nothing to do?

Nik wasn't the one to reveal he had some 'time' with Yue. In fact, it wasn't Yue either. It was Hahn who grew delirious and finally made the rumors spread that Yue was potentially in the same bed with Nik and when the couple was confronted during the lunch earlier, Nik agreed to it quite simply while Yue's reaction was to adopt silence since someone was already taking the lead.

"I feel uncomfortable," Mai stated softly but kept her eyes narrowed.

"Then leave," Nik scoffed.

"It's interesting, however."

Of course, Nik wasn't the only one who wanted Mai to leave but the other three women wanted her to take a short break from their presence so that they can sort things out but as the professional wielder of hidden weapons admitted, things felt a little interesting. At most, Mai hoped to see Nik getting slapped at least once.

Seeing that Mai was as stubborn as she was silent when it came to keeping herself entertained, Suki was the first to sigh, "I have... some confusion. Are you going to marry her?" Her tone felt slightly choked as Nik shook his head thoughtfully, "No, instead, she decided to come with us once this is over—"

"It will never be over," Katara scoffed, "There is just so much to do!" Reigning her frustration in, she glowered softly, "Just how undesirable are we that you still have to..."

Nik would be lying if he didn't want a Bloodline that gave him some more consoling ability than just a pretty face but he worked with what he had. Again, the best option was to speak the truth but even if he felt reluctant about sharing everything, it wouldn't stop him to express what he truly felt or desired at this moment.

"The three of you aren't undesirable... if it was like that, I wouldn't have bothered to show myself or even remain in the tribe. Believe it or not, right now, the three of you are the main reasons why I'm still here. Had it not been for you, I would have been itching to leave and heal my knee completely... The problem isn't you guys but me."

"Don't we know it," Mai poked with a rare smirk.

"That reminds me, I should include Michi, too. Since she was clear she wouldn't mind it," Nik added and glanced at Mai who instantly felt as if she had swallowed a massive turd.

"Great... there are four of us now..." Katara's shoulders slumped while Suki glanced at her weirdly. After all, Suki was the first 'official' girlfriend and Katara, at least, happened to be a drunken encounter so the fact that Katara felt the most possessive of Nik was oddly comforting and strange at the same time. Comforting because there was already one of them acting as such in everyone's stead and strange because this indignant shouldn't even come from Katara but Suki instead.

"I beg for your forgiveness... I'm the one who asked Nik to take some liberties with me so that I could show Hahn that I'm no longer his to be used but..."

"You crossed some boundaries," Suki completed the sentence for Yue as Nik nodded with a serious expression. Again, he hoped for the best. It was selfish of him to try and make this work but Nik felt that things may get even more dubious if he kept at it. As things as now, Nik was thinking of revealing the ability to enter his personal space only to the girls once they put the Water Tribe behind them.

"Again—" Before Yue could begin, Nik interjected, "I'm sorry if I hurt you. And, back then when I said that I only did it for the Spirit Oasis was a jest... if I was with someone else and any of you had asked me to do what Yue did... I assure you, things would go the same way it did with Yue."

"So you're saying we can't trust you?" Suki sighed softly.

"I'm saying that you should only trust this side of me," Nik revealed, "Of course, I'm not going to let... personal situations get in our way but... I want you three to know that I like you."

Rubbing the back of his head, he added with a smile, "I'm a mess so I won't hold it against you if the situation feels too uncomfortable for you to continue a relationship with me."

The duo fell silent.

"That is so unfair!" Suki snapped, the meaning behind her words was clear to Nik as he couldn't help smiling even brighter while tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she viewed him intensely, "I guess I'm not that good of a guy, huh."

The truth could be freeing in some manner and accepting that he wanted to enjoy more of his life since he would be forced to enter different worlds, likely, without any intimate partners, Nik would only set others up for hurting if he didn't fulfill certain roles and responsibilities and continued to act around sneakily. At least, this way, they have enough knowledge of him to think should they continue or not. After all, they have already been together for months.

Mai, on the other hand, loved the dilemma she was getting to view.

She wanted to scream happily— I told you so— but it wasn't in her nature to celebrate victories. Instead, she savored the process since victory, in the end, defines a conclusion that always turns out to be boring.

"May I say something?" Yue spoke up.

Suki and Katara silently looked at her as she cleared her throat and admitted, "I fell for... a raw quality that I saw within him. Unlike Yoki, whom I desired to marry out of my need to fulfill my responsibility... I felt a little more... liberated with Nik, but still rooted. I am aware this doesn't help, but I wanted the two of you to know that if I am truly viewed as a sore sight, I will not continue any form of foolish behavior with Nik."

She then turned towards Nik, "You promised me victory and I promised you my very being... but even if I don't mind the presence of other women, I wouldn't be comfortable in the end if someone hates me for barging into their relationship..."

Of all individuals, Yue was the last person Nik felt would want to back out since she was the most open about his nature.

And it would be a lie if Nik said he didn't feel the least bit bitter.

"What about you?" Katara questioned as she looked at Nik. Two other gazes followed the same direction while Nik swore he could feel Mai's shoulder slightly trembling, maybe from restraining the urge to chuckle.

"Well, all of you."

"Huh?"

As the girls felt dazed, Nik frowned, "I keep saying that. If we weren't traveling from one location to another, I would be bringing food enough for seven people to last us every night. I would love you and show it at any given time. I would keep all of you awake for hours at night and sometimes morning until you begged me to sleep and then again. I would put a wide ceiling above your heads so that you can do what you wish and have something to return to."

"That's what I feel. And, I said that I would feel alright if any of you don't want to continue," forcing a smile but with an intense, almost raw gaze that they had ever felt from Nik, he chuckled, "But Yue, my princess, I just felt like shit... so, unless you physically get me beaten up, I'm not going to let any of you go!"

There it was. The same heat within his abdomen that would only be present rarely when he came to enjoy his time with his partner but this time... it wasn't just warm. It was furious yet comforting. The heat had begun to travel throughout his body and the most comfortable location it settled on was around his left knee. It wasn't completely obvious at first but Nik could have either kept his focus on the heat or the girls and he chose the latter. The situation was simply too delicate at this moment.

His confession made Mai's silent excitement reach its peak. She was truly expecting him to get beaten up in the form of a rejection when Suki moved slightly and jumped into his embrace, "No need for saying so embarrassing things..." she mumbled softly.

Mai: "?!"

"I was wrong... you can't be expected to be good at all," Katara scowled, raising Mai's hopes again but dashing them the next instant as she, too, leaned forward, hugging Nik and Suki from the side, "I just don't like the idea of sharing you... but if you go above and beyond to the point that even I'm full of it... sure, why not?"

Mai: "?!"

Yue smiled as she didn't hug and interrupt the trio's moment but added gently, "It's comforting to know that you're a persistent warrior."

Nik grinned and then looked at Mai mockingly, "Enjoying yourself? Was it exciting enough?"

Her eyelids twitched.

But just when she expected things to end, the news of the Avatar's arrival took the attention of the group within the oasis.

---

"I see..." Yoki frowned, like others. There was another youth within the meeting whom Katara, Suki, and Nik were familiar with as the only Lava bender they had met— Sun. The plight of Makapu Village was something Mai had already blurted out back in the banquet and any other location with the same sin as supporting the Avatar may face similar consequences soon enough. The news didn't bring any relief to the Water Tribe but there was a piece of good news too.

Yoki had extracted everything from the spy and just as how Zhao managed to succeed in taking out the only prisoner of the Dai Li that could rehabilitate conditioned prisoners, they could scheme against the Admiral, too. In fact, they hadn't lost their hopes just yet.

After all, it would be irrational to think that a group of conditioned prisoners is being brought in but not the specialist to keep things in check.

In fact, the group hadn't returned to Omashu after the ambush because they feared bringing Omashu down with them. Instead, Appa flew over the time and risked exhaustion to bring the group back to the tribe at a record-breaking time.

Before the youngsters could get together and discuss their journey, Rena gave Nik a scroll and Mai a folded letter. There were dark eye bags under her eyes as she yawned, "Miss Michi gave these to me. The letter is for you and Tom-Tom... I read it. You both are screwed... and the scroll contains a letter for you, too, Nik... you, too, are screwed."

She added the last bit with a meaningful smirk as Mai frowned, "You read my letter?"

"I know, I'm horrible. Get over it... I was feeling quite depressed after the ambush so this cheered me up and oh, Nik... I didn't let others see what was inside that scroll. You can thank me later."

With that, she pulled away the sleepy Sokka and Aang collapsed on the ice right then and there, snoring away.

Mai's and Nik's gaze fell on the scroll as both of them came to a certain conclusion.

"Give it to me—" Mai scowled as the scroll disappeared from Nik's left hand as he smiled, "Oh, look... a letter from your mother. Why don't you join us again when we read it? It will be like this afternoon."

"I swear... if there is anything compromising in there which leads to a bad name for my mother..." Mai didn't complete her sentence as Sun interrupted the duo.

"Aang asked me to give the two of you these. This is your commissioned weapons and other support tools to maintain them." Sun pressed the giant sack on Mai and then handed Nik a wooden staff, "And this staff is for you. It's crafted in the same design as Aang. He predicted he would sleep the moment Sokka completes his report... so don't break it.

By the way, why do you need a staff like Aang?"

"I like the range," Nik lied.

"It's also a glider," Sun pursued.

"See? Even greater range," Nik shrugged as he left with others under Mai's glare.

---

"Sir, this was sent from the same channels as before."

A report was placed on Zhao's desk as the reporter excused himself sensibly.

Reading through the report, Zhao couldn't help but smile slightly, "So, that prisoner is dead and the Avatar returns empty-handed. Hmm... that path has now some sentries? Understandable... but this is hardly the end of their misery."

His eyes lit up deviously as flames emerged from his palms and burnt the report to ashes.

"Prepare for incoming exchange of hostages. They have no cards left to play but are still holding on too much to lose..."

***

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