#reunion!!!!

“Are you sure you should be talking to me in the middle of the day?” Sarnai asked, crouching down next to Toph.

Toph snorted harshly, making a hilarious juxtaposition to her soft, airy clothes. “Don’t doubt me. No one’s around, that’s why I called you over.”

“Sorry, sorry, but I thought we were gonna meet up tonight.”

“Yeah, wanna head out early? You won’t guess who showed up last night after you turned in.”

Sarnai tilted their head, unsure where Toph was going with this. “Yeah, I don’t know your friends, so I wouldn’t be able to guess.”

“Jeez, I thought you were supposed to be smart. Who could we possibly both know?”

Wait- What? No way! Sarnai jumped to their feet with an elated cheer. “Well, what are we waiting for? Where is he? Oh man, I can’t wait to hear what he’s been up to!”

Toph cackled and stomped the ground, opening up a tunnel beside her. “Told him to meet me for an ass-kicking in my usual place. Pretended to be feeling sick, so everyone thinks I’m sleeping the afternoon away. Let’s go.”

The walk to Toph’s training clearing had Sarnai’s pulse racing in anticipation. It had been just over a year since Hui followed after that library spirit. Sarnai had so many questions! Where had the flying jerboa come from? What had Hui learned while in the library? Had his egg hatched yet? Where has he explored in the past year? Had he missed Sarnai as much as they had missed him?

Trees slowly started to thin out until Toph and Sarnai entered the clearing. Seated on a rock across from them was a young teen in muted maroons and vibrant greens. He looked up, one eye wide and the other as wide as it could be with the scarring around it.

“Hui!” Sarnai yelled, breaking out into a run toward him. They gave him no chance to avoid their embrace, colliding into him at full speed.

With a startled grunt, Hui stumbled back but managed to keep both of them standing. He was taller than the last time Sarnai saw him, but Sarnai still had several inches on him. More impressive than his height was how much muscle the dang kid had. Jeez! What was his uncle feeding him?!

“Hey, Sarnai,” Hui said with a raspy laugh. His voice was a little deeper than the last time Sarnai saw him too.

“What are you doing here?” Sarnai asked into his shoulder as they squeezed him.

Hui squirmed and laughed breathlessly, not trying very hard to push Sarnai off of him. “I was in the area and promised Toph I would visit next time I was. I wasn’t expecting to find you here!”

Sarnai pulled back to look down at their strange little scholar friend. His eyes shimmered with the threat of tears and he probably didn’t realize how dopey his smile looked. At least that was one question answered. Hui definitely had missed Sarnai just as much.

“Well, lucky for us we happened to be in the area at the same time.”

Toph stepped up and punched both of them hard in the arm. “Alright, enough with the dramatic reunions. I wanna hear about how you almost got yourself killed this time!”

“Why do you think I almost got myself killed again?!”

“Well, did you?”

Hui looked away and scrunched his nose. “Depends on who you ask.”

Toph cackled loudly, shoving Hui down on the ground to begin his story. Sarnai giggled and dropped down next to the pair. Their chest felt like it was going to explode it was so full of joy and excitement.