Sweet Air [Mature]

Kano's hand drifted back up onto her chest and beyond to her neck once more, caressing it as he looked deep into her eyes.

"You... are beautiful." he said, smiling weakly. "You may not know it, but you're absolutely beautiful. Even when you're a Tekina-Kaze, you're beautiful."

It was true. They'd known each other but a short time yet he'd noticed she was always more comfortable when she was veiled in the garb of the Tekina-Kaze. Granted, it was just a theory, but he thought she wasn't as comfortable being her natural self as she was being a warrior. It was important to him for some reason to let her know that he found her intoxicating regardless.

Kano smiled. She was pretty adorable when she stammered in that nervous-esque way. That awkward smile gracing her lips was cute, to say the least. And that sigh! Whatever was behind it, Kano was in the mood to find it intoxicating. Playing an urge, he slowly rose to his feet, gently guiding her to rise with him. He met her lips with his as he guided her backward toward the wall, letting his hand drift back down to her breast as it had done before. He gently squeezed it as they met the wall, their lips still together.

Their lips separated as his other hand found her hip, coming to rest on her belt. He met her silver eyes with his sapphire ones.

Kano stepped closer, but it wasn't because of anything she'd done. He just wanted to be closer to her. His hands traveled over her body, drifting around to her back. As his fingers caressed her back, he smiled at her. Their bodies were almost pressed against each other as they stood there, against the wall.

Kano felt her belly arch forward, pressing into him as his fingers traced her spine. He felt the subtle bumps of the vertebrae under his fingertips as he kissed her neck. He got even closer, pressing his body gently against hers, feeling her breasts press against his chest. He felt the tip of her triangular belt buckle pressing into his navel.

Backing off slightly, his fingers fumbled at the buckle as he undid her belt and let it fall to the floor with a clatter and a thud. With the belt out of the way, he moved closer again, picking up where he'd left off. He had to bend at the knees slightly to lower himself so that he could continue to kiss his way down her neck to her shoulder...

Kano let his hands wander, passing over her hips and across her back, drift down to her rump and up to her shoulders, all at a sensual pace. He liked the feel of her fingers on his back as they traced the lines of his muscles and bones. He'd never felt so close to anyone before. It was a feeling he wanted to make last. Yet, somehow, he knew they had barely scratched the surface of this sensation.

He opened his eyes, which had been closed as his lips touched her silky skin over and over again, and his gaze fell upon one of those brilliantly sky blue lines which flowed over her body. He began to trace one slowly with a single finger, following it down one of her arms until his finger was stopped by one of her gauntlets.

Caressing her forearm, he slowly removed the glove, revealing the remainder of the line he had followed and it's arrow end on the back of her hand. He examined the arrow, tracing it with his thumb as he held her hand in his. He kissed the arrow gently, looking up into her eyes before removing the other glove and dropping the pair on the ground at their feet with her belt. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently passed them across her shoulders to her neck and up it until he had her face held gently in his hands and then he kissed her again, intertwining his tongue with hers once more.

As she squeezed his back, he passed his fingers down her body again, not parting his lips from hers. One of his hands drifted to the middle of her back where his fingers played circular pattern of no thorough devising. His other hand moved lower on her back until it came to the small and found the waistband of her pants. His fingers slowly sneaked underneath it until half his hand was inside her pants, his fingers laid across the band of her underwear, his fingertips placed gently on the silky skin of her upper rump.

They were pressed together again as they kissed, their bodies applying a pleasant pressure to one another. This time, there were no belts or armored gauntlets to get in the way of their embrace...

His heart beating at the thought, Kano gave in to his desire to see her without her pants on once more. Their day at the beach had left an impression on him. It was a quality of the men of the north that they truly appreciated good legs. Though he would never have said anything of the sort to her, he was a product of his blood. And his blood loved good, strong legs, especially when they were that beautiful.

His other hand drifted down to her waistband as well and his fingers worked their way into it. With gentle pressure on the side of her legs, he tried to coax her into narrowing her stance so he could remove her pants...

Their lips separated as Kano moved back just enough to give her room to move. When she brought her legs together, he shared a gaze with her briefly before lowering himself to one knee, bringing her pants down as he knelt. The baggy fabric pooled around her feet, but he didn't bother moving it from that spot. She could step out of them if she wished.

He caressed her calves gently, allowing his fingers to travel up her legs as he rose to his feet once more. When his right hand found the back of her knee, he wrapped his fingers gently around it and brought her leg up with him, holding it at his hip as his other hand played at her rump and lower back. He returned to their kiss, all the while letting his right hand pass over her incredible thigh. It's tone was stunning.

Kano pressed himself against her gently and then took her other leg in his left hand and lifted it as he had done with the first, letting his hands travel up her thighs and grasp her buttocks to support her. He lifted her up the wall as he rose back up to his full height and once again, he separated his lips from hers. However, they didn't remain off her for long.

Bending his torso so that her breasts were no longer pressed against his chest, he looked down at them. They were beautiful, just as the rest of her was. She might have been one to hide her feminine side behind the veil of a warrior, but she had little to fear from letting it loose. Her body was flawless. He contorted himself further until he was able to plant his lips on one of her breasts. It was silky and soft to the touch as the gentle sound of his kiss came. He repeated the kiss several times, his eyes closed in sheer contentedness all the while.

Kano's lips continued to enjoy that succulent softness, moving down all the time until he was at her nipple. He kissed it. Then, playing an urge as he had so many times before in those long, sensuous moments, he let his tongue touch it gently before wrapping his lips around it and sucking ever so slightly. It was a strange urge in his mind, but one which excited him greatly. To have a woman this intoxicating in his presence in such a way... it was driving him mad with desire.

Yet still it all seemed to come fluidly to his mind. His body against hers, her legs around him, her breath in his ear, his heart beating wildly in anticipation of what was to come. Part of his mind, that which was at the forefront of it all, didn't know where this would go next. It was experiencing this as if from a far away place, yet still very much there in that moment, desirous of the next. And yet there was a part of his mind, deeply rooted and away from his conscious thoughts, that directed him as though it read from a book. To him, all this was new and unknown, yet it was old and understood. An appreciation of that paradox was not lost on his subconscious, yet his waking thoughts were wholly bent on other matters...

Kano brought his lips away from her and looked up into her face. She was blushing. He had felt her heart beating as wildly as his own. In truth, he was probably as red in the face as she was, darker skin not withstanding. But his feet had other ideas, apart from remaining there against the wall. He turned with her in his grasp, walking her back over to the bed. Slowly, he placed her upon it so that her head was on the pillow, her body strewn across it's length. As he looked down at her laying there, his breath became clear and apparent to him. He realized he couldn't close his mouth for it. It didn't really matter.

His fingers moved to his own pants now, undoing the tie securing them and letting them drop into a pile at his feet as he had with hers. He lowered himself onto the bed, planting his knees and hands on either side of her so that he was on all fours above her, looking down into her silver eyes. His heart raced. His breath quickened. He was ready for what came next...

Gen poured over his paperwork as he always did come dawn's first light. An officer's job wasn't all fighting. The better part of his tasks was keeping the assets of the force well in hand. For that, paper needed exchanging. Still, it was terribly tedious sometimes. Years at work had barely made him accustomed to it. He looked down at the maps strewn across his desk and sighed.

"Hm." he said, realizing what time it was with a glance over at the water-clock in the corner. It was a simple device compared to the mechanical clocks in the Fire Nation, but it did the trick. "Quarter after eight? I wonder where Xilingshi is..."

The two of them usually had a cup of tea and discussed the day's plan in the mornings. She was almost always there by quarter till eight. A half hour late? That was unusual for her. That was unusual for any airbender. They went with the flow, but they tended to be on time.

Fearing that another attack had occurred, this time without gaining anyone's notice, he rose from his seat and stepped out into the small courtyard beyond. There were already a number of airbenders present, mostly women and children. It was one of the more secure terraces and it boasted an excellent view. A small gang of children riding air scooters darted past. When they saw him emerge from his office, they doubled back.

"Master Gen!" they said gleefully, hopping off their scooters as the little balls of air vanished. One of the older girls in the posse called him 'Geni' instead. He didn't really mind.

"Hello, children!" he said kindly, a smile splitting his face. "How are you this morning?"

"We're well!" they chorused.

"Excellent!" he laughed. "Say, have any of you seen Sister Xilingshi? She seems to be missing..."

The children exchanged angelic glances and then giggled before looking back up at him. The 'Geni' girl, Sai was the one who answered.

"She went into that Water Tribe chief's room last night." she said, still giggling. "She hasn't come out yet."

"Oh?" Gen said, his head tilted slightly. For a moment, what this said didn't fully register with him. When it did, his eyes widened and he spoke in a shallow tone of dawning comprehension. "Ooh!"

Giggling, the children summoned their air scooters again and rode off singing a jaunty twist on an old tease...

♪ Kano and Xilingshi!
Sitting in a tree! Tree! Tree!
Kissing! Kissing! Hee! Hee! Hee!
Loving! Loving! Glee! Glee! Glee! ♪

Gen buried his face in a single palm.

"Excellent." he muttered, looking up. "So I coax him into staying and an entire temple's worth of children are now singing a song about the result..." he turned back into his office, shaking his head. "Aamatsu is going to kill me."

Kano laid in the bed wearing nothing but a sheet from the waist down. His arm was around Xi as she laid next to him, one hand on his chest. Beneath the covers, he could feel one of her legs bent and laying across his. His eyes were closed contentedly as he lay there somewhere between a dream world and a waking one. He could feel a gentle morning light shining through the slit-like windows near the ceiling at the far end of the room falling across his exposed torso. He had never been so content. He wouldn't mind if this went on for hours more. It was surely a form of absolute bliss...

Yet still, slowly his eyes opened. For a time, he stared up at the ceiling, taking inventory of himself. He had come to the stunning realization that he was free of the Withdrawal. It had never dissipated this quickly before. It was incredible, now he thought on it. How was this possible? As he turned his head to look at Xi, asleep next to him, his mind struggled for an answer...

Kano chuckled in kind, smiling.

"I guess so." he said, nodding. He was absentmindedly running her fingers through her hair as they laid there. Before he could give another thought to what to say, his mouth made the decision for him. "I feel... balanced."

The words were hollow with disbelief. Somehow, they drove the realization home. The Deep Withdrawal was a stubborn affliction which did not give up easily, yet with her help he had defeated it in a single night. A glorious night, to be sure, but a single night nonetheless. It should have taken days of constant rest and meditation to recover from it, yet... here he was, balanced as ever. He felt... well, there was no other word for it -- great. Happy was a close second.