Kai's POV

Taking a deep breath, I stepped up to the front door of the giant mansion in front of me, silently cursing my dad for making me do this delivery for him. The straps of the basket I carried on my back sank into my shoulders, and I could've sworn it was going to leave a mark. I grimaced and set it down on the stone steps, then did a few stretches, cracking my back. Ha, looks like I was already getting old. At this rate I'd be going to the grave soon.

I grabbed the metal knocker and struck it against the door. My tongue and throat felt dry, and I recalled a river I'd passed earlier on my twenty minutes' walk here. Once I got rid of this load, I could go and take a sip. Even the amazing Master of Fire needed water sometimes.

The door creaked open, revealing a girl about my age with bright red hair and large, gorgeous amber eyes. My breath temporarily hitched in my throat as I took in her face.

"Oh hey," I said, putting on my most charming smile and wishing I was wearing something other than that sooty apron.

She smiled a little, and after taking one look at her outfit, I realized she must be Mr. Chen's daughter and dropped the facade. He was the wealthiest merchant/landowner for miles around, so forget flirting.

"Did Mr. Smith send you here?" the girl asked, eyeing me with curiosity. Even though her hair was neatly combed, some strands were falling over her face, and I resisted the urge to tuck them behind her ear. The last thing I wanted was for my dad's client to accuse me of assaulting his daughter.

"I volunteered, since I figured I wanted to go for a walk today," I fibbed, for some reason not wanting to tell her that I was the blacksmith's son, "You know, like a good neighbor."

"That's sweet," she said, chuckling softly, "My dad isn't at home today, so I guess I'll just take these in."

"Whoa whoa whoa," I said just as she reached over, "These are heavy. Where are you gonna take them?"

The girl laughed a little. "I'm just gonna drag them inside. Not far. I can handle it."

"You sure?"

She frowned. "Yes. Do you mind stepping over for a sec?"

I grudgingly did as was asked, not wanting to leave just yet. The girl picked up the basket easily, much to my amazement, and set it next to the wooden couch. "Do you have water? I'm kinda thirsty, after the long walk and all."

"Oh, I'll get some for you," she said, and before I could respond, hurried out of sight.

Okay, fine, maybe it was a good thing she still wouldn't get the hint and just let me go in. After all, I was poor.

I leaned against the doorframe, waiting for her to return. She did soon enough, and I couldn't help but grin at her eagerness to help. When the girl passed over the dainty-looking ceramic cup, I reached out, my fingers lightly grazing hers. She jumped, and I barely caught the cup before it fell to the ground, but spilled water all over her in the process.

I braced myself for her to yell at me.

"Oh shoot, I'm such an idiot," she said with a laugh, and I stared at her, confused.

"I-I'm sorry, m-miss," I burst out, barely able to string two words together. Just great, if she told Mr. Chen... He and Dad would be chasing me down the streets waving cleavers.

"It's not your fault," the girl replied, stepping past me out into the front yard and shaking her hands. "I kinda... uh..." She turned back to me and met my gaze, blushing slightly, making my stomach suddenly feel all jittery inside. My hand jumped to my hair and I messed it up again, not knowing what else to do. It came out slimy from all the sweat. I tried to hide my disgust.

"Well... is there anything I can do to help?" I asked, genuinely meaning it and wiping my hand on my apron.

"No, it's fine. You can go," she said, waving her hand.

I opened my mouth to protest, then realized there was nothing to say. "Okay," I murmured, not sure if she heard me, and walked back onto the dirt road as casually as I could.

I never even caught her name, and it wasn't until later that I realized I hadn't even returned the cup.

... 

"It's your turn to do the laundry," the annoyance that was my baby sister said, tossing her clothes onto the pile in the middle of the living room.

"I'm not washing your clothes," I snapped, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed.

Nya threw a pair of Dad's pants at my face, and I barely caught it before it hit me. I mustered the worst glare I could, which only made her burst out laughing.

"Kai," Mom said, walking into the room, "Just go down to the riverside and wash the laundry for once. Nya's always doing it."

I wanted to slap the smug look off her face. "I'm always making deliveries for Dad," I shot back, recalling the many afternoons I'd spent puffing down the dirt roads with a giant burden on my back.

"Nya and I are going to the marketplace to get groceries and pick up your stuff for the new school year," Mom explained, "Do you want to come instead?" My sister opened her mouth to protest but Mom raised a finger and she closed it.

"No," I muttered, hating the marketplace. Going was nothing but a few hours of walking around, comparing and negotiating prices as if a dime's difference was worth ten minutes of whining. "Fine I'll do the laundry."

...

I plopped down on the grass and leaned against the laundry basket, desperately needing a break. Okay, maybe Nya deserved a bit more credit for doing this every week, but then again, she never had to suffer through the deliveries. Time for a little nap...

"Hey, it's you."

The voice awoke me from my siesta, and annoyed, I turned over to the side, away from whoever was talking, my eyes still closed. "Who dares interrupt my nap?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to." It sounded like a girl, and her voice seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't recall where I'd heard it. I opened my eyes and turned back towards the voice, and it was her. The merchant's daughter.

"I haven't seen you in a while," I said nonchalantly, but suddenly my heart began pounding, harder than it ever had before. Somehow she was even prettier in real life than in memory, and I found myself at a loss as to what I should say next. I knew I shouldn't care so much about a girl I'd only seen once months ago, but there was just something about her.

The girl smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

I stared, unable to take my eyes off her. My hand instinctively reached for the lump in my pant pocket, where I still carried the cup, newly dubbed my good-luck charm, with me. Nya had mocked me at first but eventually got tired of it. I honestly didn't know why I was so attached to the cup, but whatever. My mind blank, I stupidly held it up for her.

She blinked as she slowly took it from me, and I felt shivers travel through my arms from the sport where her fingers touched mine. "Wow, you've kept it on you all this time?"

I suddenly realized what that implied and quickly laughed it off. "No, of course not. I had a feeling I should bring it today. You could say I'm gifted with the sixth sense." If Zane saying that was believable, me saying that should be, too.

"Ah, I see," she said, dropping down onto the ground next to me, and began rubbing blades of grass between her fingers. I tensed with the sudden closeness and tried not to make it too obvious.

"Oh, by the way, I never caught your name," I said, the silence making me uncomfortable.

"Skylor," the girl replied, meeting my eyes. "You?"

I hesitated, wondering if I should tell her my real name. She might associate it with the blacksmith's son... but then she probably hadn't even heard of me, so it should be fine. "Kai," I answered, and it took all my willpower not to reach out and touch her face.

Skylor nodded thoughtfully and turned back to facing the river, where several other people were knee-deep in the water, washing their clothes. She turned back to me. "Good day for laundry, isn't it?"

"Who told you I was here for laundry?"

"Your basket says it all," she said with a laugh, then tucked a few strands of her bright red hair behind her ear.

"Right," I muttered, feeling stupid. "What about you?"

"Dad let me go to the village to get something for myself, but I decided to take a quick stop here since the scenery is so nice," Skylor explained, wrapping her arms around her legs. "I guess I'll go."

"Wait," I said before my brain could tell me not to, "Already?"

"I mean," she shrugged, "I kinda interrupted your nap."

"Nah, I got enough of that," I said, "Company is nice, so feel free to stay."

"Well, I don't want to get in the way of laundry, but if you want me to..."

"You know what, you can go. I don't want to keep you from your stuff, ya know? Besides, we barely know each other." As much as I wanted to tell her to stay, it just didn't feel right. People of her status didn't normally spend time with commoners like me. Sure, my friend Cole was rich too, but the elemental powers we were born with gave us something in common, so there was a reason for us to be friends. Skylor, on the other hand...

She sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry to have bothered you, Fireboy."

What the―

I grabbed her wrist just as she was about to get up, completely forgetting that I could be called up for assault on the spot. "What did you just call me?" The people in our village knew that I had powers but Skylor wasn't from our village...

"F... Fireboy?" Suddenly, Skylor's face paled and she bit her bottom lip.

"How did you―"

"I... I have powers too," she mumbled, slowly sitting back down beside me. "And that day... we touched and..." Skylor gulped, her cheeks now turning pink.

"Wait, what?"

She nodded meekly, blushing harder. "Dad told me not to tell people, and... can you not tell anyone?"

"Which... which power?" was the only thing I knew to say in response.

"Amber. I can copy powers." Her voice was barely a whisper, giving me the feeling that she really didn't want to talk about this, but this was so intriguing I had to press on.

"Wait, that's really―"

"Cool? I guess, but I can't use the power unless I've touched the person in the past week, and it's not 100%, more like 50. As in, you know, power levels. Please don't tell anyone. Dad's gonna be so mad if he finds out you know."

"Of course," I said. Everyone in my village knew I had powers, same with my friends, but I hadn't been aware that there were others.

"Thanks," she breathed, "Wow, I can't believe I've told you all this already..."

I suddenly became conscious that my hand was still holding her wrist and let go. She flushed, and for a few moments we simply stared at each other. The world seemed to stand still; birds stopped chirping and the wind stopped blowing. I could no longer hear the voices of the other people at the riverside, and Skylor was the only thing I could see.

My eyes traveled to her lips, and my head throbbed with the beating of my heart. Was she waiting for me to make the first move, or―

"Wait, you should probably hurry up and do your laundry," Skylor said shyly, lowering her gaze and blushing again.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered, trying my best, but probably failing, to hide my disappointment.

"I'm gonna go," she said, pushing herself to her feet. "Um, it was really nice seeing you again, Kai. Oh, and you can keep the cup." Skylor gently put it into my hand with a smile, and with one last glance, hurried off.

Hearing my name come out of her mouth sent shivers down my spine. I found myself breathless, despite having not done anything other than sit for at least the past half hour. When I finally regained my senses and opened my mouth to say something, her bright red hair was only a dot on the hills, far out of calling distance.

I made a mental note to come back next week.

...

Some sort of unspoken agreement had passed between Skylor and me, and we ended up meeting each other at the riverbank every Saturday. At first, Mom, Dad, and Nya were quite confused as to why I suddenly didn't mind doing the laundry, but after a while they just accepted that I had decided to play my part in the family. Of course, that didn't stop Dad from making me do his deliveries, but whatever. I no longer minded the laundry, as long as it gave me a chance to see Skylor.

I soon learned that she went to a school quite far from her house, and she would stay there for the week then come back every weekend. Her father also had her learn self-defense, and sometimes we even "fought" each other. I always let her win on purpose, even though she claimed that I was making excuses for my lack of skills.

Over time, I taught Skylor the art of mastering the element of Fire, which I made sure to mention was extraordinarily dangerous if one couldn't control oneself. She showed me a few tricks of her own, telling me that apparently there were other Masters at her school, and over time she'd picked them up.

I told her about my friends, and maybe one day I'd take her to meet them.

The thought put a smile on my face, as was always the case whenever she came to mind. Lloyd said I was being a weirdo and that worried him, but I didn't think I was ready to spill yet so I told him I was fine.

Oh, I was more than fine.

I hummed an off-key tune as I walked down to the riverside, a small skip in my step. The laundry basket didn't even feel heavy anymore, and I wondered if I may be buffer than Cole.

Sure enough, when I arrived at our spot, a more secluded area we found a few weeks ago, I could see the unmistakable red hair getting gently tossed by the breeze. I set down the basket and crept over, hoping to give Skylor a jump scare, but she heard me.

"You're late," she said teasingly and turned around, her playful smile instantly making me forget all the bad things that happened to me that week.

I threw an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me. Leaning in, I made it so my lips were hovering right beside her ear. "Thanks for waiting."

Skylor broke out into a fit of giggles and shoved me away. "Stop it, Kai, it tickles!"

Even though we'd been secretly seeing each other for several months already, the butterflies that came into my stomach every time she uttered my name never left. I lunged and Skylor jumped out of the way, sending me faceplanting into the ground. She burst out laughing, and though slightly embarrassed, I did too.

Seeing my chance as she was temporarily distracted, I leaped forward and grabbed her waist, pulling her towards me. Skylor tensed for a second and laughed harder as she struggled to get free, which only resulted in me tightening my hold. We rolled around in the grass for a bit, and when we were both finally out of breath, I kissed her.

"So that's why you keep volunteering to do the laundry," I heard, and recognizing the voice, I immediately broke apart from Skylor, feeling the heat rise up in my cheeks.

We both turned to my nosy sister, who was standing several feet away with her hands on her hips, a smug grin on her face.

"And yes, before you say anything, I had to interrupt your make-out session," Nya flipped her ponytail, and continued. "It's the least I can do after you've butted in on my dates. It's karma, honey."

"Oh, you little―" I made forward to tackle her, but Skylor held me back.

"Are you Kai's sister?" she asked, not even a hint of annoyance in her voice. When I turned to look at her, she was smiling.

"Yeah," Nya said, in her I-have-to-sound-high-pitched-so-that-the-teacher-will-think-I'm-oh-so-sweet voice.

"Kai's told me a lot about you," Skylor said excitedly, standing up, "I'm Skylor, by the way."

My sister batted her eyelashes innocently, but she wasn't fooling anyone. "Aww, really? You know, we should hang out sometime! Hey! Why don't we go for a bit so Kai can finish the laundry? We're always so worried when he comes back late, though now I can see the reason is justified. If he comes back late again, our parents are gonna interrogate him."

"Wait, actually?" I asked, momentarily forgetting to be mad.

"Yeah," Nya replied matter-of-factly, "Last week I went to the river and didn't see you, so today I kinda followed you. I mean I was bored and Jay was busy."

"Wait, have you been going on dates with Jay every Saturday now?"

"I mean, you're doing the same thing."

I coughed. "Okay, fine, you have a point."

"So I guess it's settled then?" Skylor asked, "Nya and I will go to the village and you'll stay to do the laundry?"

"Ooh, ooh, and I can take you to meet my friends!"

"Wait―" I began, but she stopped me by quickly pressing her lips against mine. "Thanks Kai! You're the best!"

Then she and my sister ran off, leaving me alone with a pile of dirty clothes.

I grabbed a rock and flung it into the river. Screw Nya.

...

"Why didn't you tell us you had a girlfriend?"

"Kai, I thought we knew everything about each other!"

"How'd a loser like you start a secret relationship with Mr. Chen's daughter?"

"Kai and Skylor, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"Isn't she engaged to someone else?" Cole asked calmly.

I sat upright, having been ignoring their teasing for the past half hour. "She WHAT?"

"Calm down, it was a joke to get a reaction out of you," he said with a grin. I gave him the death glare and everyone burst out laughing.

"She didn't even want you guys to know," I muttered, folding my arms across my chest and sinking into the cushions.

"Correction: you did not want us to know," Zane pointed out, "She was happy to meet us."

"Yeah, what we all share in common is that we have to tolerate you," Lloyd said with a smirk.

"Ugh, whatever." I rolled my eyes and turned away from everyone.

"Thank me," Nya said proudly, and I had never wanted to punch her more. But I held it in.

"Never thought I'd see the day where Kai gets a girl and she manages to stay with him for more than three days," Morro remarked, making me want to shove a sock down his throat.

"She's nice, though," Jay said, "But don't you think she should aim for someone higher? Like Kai is down here," he put his hand an inch above the rug, "And Skylor's up here," he raised his hand high above his head. Laughter rang across the room.

Great, now even Jay was taunting me.

"Okay, okay," Cole said, putting a hand on my shoulder, "It's just a joke, Kai. We're happy for you, really. You guys are cute together."

There was a pause, and through my peripheral vision I saw everyone nodding.

"Do our parents know?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at Nya.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I wouldn't tell them unless you felt ready."

I let out a breath. Thank goodness Nya had some human decency.

"Okay, so can someone help me with this geometry problem?" Lloyd asked.

"No," everyone said, including Zane.

A/N: This is for day 2 of @LuckyBugBooks ' Flumptober Challenge (I won't be doing all of them, but I will try my best). I decided to do the TJC AU since I figured it would be pretty interesting to see the lives of the Ninja counterparts, especially since I only work with limited perspectives in the actual story. And also... *cough cough* we all know what happens to this ship later on, so...

Just wanted to throw some Kailor angst in there, ya know? (Yes, this first part is mostly fluff, but stuff starts happening hehehehehe) (And yeah, I know that the only two parts I've posted here are Kailor but I promise, there will be other ships soon)

Also, I think this "oneshot" will end up having four parts (I planned 1, then it went to 2, then 3... who knows, maybe it'll end up with 5 -_-)

Bruh I've been spending way too much time on writing lately, but it's ok.

Thanks for checking this book out!