#you ask

Zoey hums thoughtfully like she’s genuinely considering it, leaning over Rumi with a playful squint and the whole room feels a little softer for it, warm and close and easy. It’s the kind of warmth that feels like stepping into sunlight after too many hours in the cold.

Then Zoey snorts and flops onto her back beside her, the mattress dipping with the movement. "Yeah, maybe." She turns to her side, propping her head on her arm, and Rumi can feel Zoey’s gaze settle on her again — gentle, steady, almost reverent in its quiet focus.

Rumi pretends to read the papers for another moment, but the weight of that gaze is impossible to ignore. “You’re staring,” she says softly.

Zoey hums, unbothered. “You’re nice to stare at.”

Heat blooms instantly across Rumi’s cheeks, warm and startled and a little helpless. She rolls onto her side, facing Zoey fully now, her eyes flicking between Zoey’s — bright and impossibly open, like she never learned how to hide anything that mattered.

“You’re one to talk,” Rumi murmurs back.

Zoey’s lips curve into something radiant, not just a smile, but something that glows from the inside out. That effortless, sun-bright warmth Rumi has never been immune to. Zoey shuffles closer without hesitation, like being near Rumi is the most natural thing in the world. Like gravity, or breath, or coming home.

And in moments like this, Rumi can’t help but see every beautiful angle of her. The wild, loose fall of Zoey’s hair, the freckles scattered across her nose like soft constellations, the way her eyes soften when she looks at Rumi, as if she’s seeing something precious, the warmth she carries effortlessly, like she’s her own small sun.

Zoey looks at her like that warmth is meant for her and her alone. Open. Gentle. Loving in a way that feels unguarded, impossibly tender. And Rumi feels her chest tighten — in the sweetest, most devastating way.

And then Zoey’s smile begins to slowly shift. What starts as a soft, thoughtful curl at the corner of her mouth begins to fade, her expression turning contemplative, almost searching. Rumi watches the change with a faint prickle of worry, her pulse snagging as Zoey’s brows draw together, the warmth in her eyes sharpening into something she can’t read.

For a breath, Rumi wonders if she’s said something wrong. If something’s changed. If Zoey’s about to pull away. But then the frown softens… melts… reshapes itself into the unmistakable rise of a pout. And Rumi feels her body betray her — the impulse to lean over and kiss her rising unbidden.

The thought startles her, sharp and sudden. How easily it comes, how her chest tightens, how a tiny shiver travels down her spine. She has to consciously halt herself, remind herself that this isn’t what they are.

Rumi bites her lip, eyes flicking up at Zoey with a raised eyebrow. “You’re making a face.”

“No, I’m not,” Zoey mumbles, but her voice lacks conviction, soft around the edges, and Rumi feels the weight of it in her chest.

Rumi chuckles, even as something unsettles in her ribcage, something that both burns and coils tight. “What is it?”

They’re gonna be alarmed at first but finds out that the boys created the crowns for them I swear I’ve seen this from some fanart…

For sparring…it would be legendary.

Suki teaching Toph hand to hand self defense without earthbending. (Toph complains the whole tome but secretly loves the challenge.) Katara acts as a training dummy, using water whips for Toph to ‘listen’ to while Toph blocks it with swords that Katara learned from Sokka and Zuko. Suki then trains Katara to create ice fans with shards of ice coming out like blades for aesthetics which of course she doesn’t need to. I know its extra but let me live my fantasy out.

They could also have a spa/sauna day where they’re supposed to be talking battle strategy but ends up roasting the boys or lovingly share how proud they are of them. And also sharing gossip in the kingdom, whether it’s within the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, the Temples or elsewhere.

Complete with a steam room, face masks, Toph dramatically complaining that ‘this mud feels weird on my feet,’ with Suki braiding everyone’s hair.

Or at minimum, post mission, wind down, they’d hang out at the Jasmine Dragon siping boba (yes,’m manifesting boba in the atla world) trading stories and just people watching, or in Toph’s case people vibing, Like a Ba Sing Se version of Archie’s Pop Tate’s.

They're doing a high stakes mission. It's already not a great situation, because they're not getting to be independent, they're subject to the whims of this Sith who's working with them, and a lot of the guys are not happy about this. So the father has a lot on his plate, trying to retain their autonomy but also keep the peace (which is. difficult with Mandos)

And it's going pretty well! Except suddenly the Sith is threatening them. Over his son. Who he has complicated feelings about and he does not wish to examine them. But regardless of his own feelings, nobody threatens one of their own and gets away with it. This is crossing the line. So Ga'eon's father is the one who throws the gauntlet down to this Sith. You will not be kidnapping or stealing away any of our own, thank you. If we have to use force to make that clear, we will.

But... it's really not about Ga'eon, at all. It's about pride. It's about doing what Mandalorians do, which is protect their own and refuse to let anyone walk over them.

Fast forward --

One week into the war preparations. Ga'eon is missing. In fact, he has been missing for several days, but nobody was worried at first because he often went on solo trips to gather herbs and such, and those trips sometimes lasted days (he prolonged the trips, often. nature was better than dealing with the perceived judgement of his kin). And it's not like he took his armor, or any of his important belongings. Those are all in his area of the camp, just as they should be...

It's only when he's been gone for around a week that they realize something has gone wrong. They go looking, but nobody really knows where he goes on these trips. He never said. Eventually, they have to move on, so they have a funeral and leave. Of course, not everyone believes he's dead. There are rumors that the Sith came in the night and stole him away, somehow. But Ga'eon's father insists on a funeral (it's better to think that, than the alternative), and so that's what they do.