"Mom" the girl whined. "Can't I just have one free day?" She looked to her mother, who sighed at her daughter's request. Airi patiently waited with high hopes for a response other than the release of air. To her, the spoken words were majorly important as reading people's body language wasn't much of her thing, so her mother's scowl and crossed arms meant nothing to the young firebender.

"Fine," her mother said at long last, making Airi almost jump with joy. "But I need you to pick up the flour. That's your only chore," she instructed, but those words didn't faze the girl until she was downstairs, putting on her shoes. Dumbfound, she looked back up at her mother, who gave her one last exasperated look before walking off, her last words echoing in the small house of "I love you, darling".

At least, Airi realized, she didn't have much to do! Only when there was a big demand did she work in the kitchen, helping her mother and father prepare and bake bread. If she wasn't she was most likely running all around the city on errands. Well, she loved to run around and be helpful, but sometimes she just liked a little time for her to do what she wanted.

She skipped out onto the open streets and let her feet take her wherever they wanted to go. On this sunny day, she just wanted to enjoy being outside and having a tidbit of freedom. She loved the warmth of the sun on her skin, reminding her of her bending ability and how much she wanted to use it, but you wouldn't be using bending willy nilly, especially firebending! It was a sad truth, but even if she couldn't, she had most of the day to herself! How could she be sad?!

While Airi roamed the city, taking the long way to the flour provider, walking through alleyways, playing with younger children and helping the occasional old lady with whatever she needed. She continued to walk with the crowd when she noticed something quite peculiar. She noticed a boy with a hammer? How strange! He looked frustrated, though. Hopefully, he wasn't going to use it on anyone!

"Hi!" the bubbly girl said, smiling, tapping on his shoulder a few times. "Do you need some help?"

Airi laughed at the boy's response. That was quite the response! He looked rather confused, but she couldn't imagine why. Was he lost or something? Well, this was a pretty big city and even she has managed to get herself lost, despite having lived in the city for most of her life. Sometimes she wondered if the city just ended up like this or if Avatar Aang planned it to be confusing. Neither of those ideas made sense to her, but she never thought on that subject that much to come up with anything different.

"Alright," she said, her smile growing bigger. "My name is Airi. It's nice to meet you, Niko!" This guy looked like he was new, judging by his clothes, but nonetheless, she knew that this was going to be an adventure. The firebender loved to help people, even though she didn't want to do errands. She always figured there was a difference between showing someone a bit of kindness compared to grabbing bags of flour and whatnot.

"Where do you need to go," she asked. "Whatever your destination, I'll take you there!" Airi promised. She knew the city like the back of her hand- whatever that saying meant! However, she just couldn't give directions. It just wasn't possible for her to put that kind of thing into words. She had an internal navigation system, so to say. It was just easier for her to be there, knowing the sight of the streets better than her memory of them.

What she didn't get was why his gaze seemed to be focused on their hands. Was she supposed to have done something? Like a secret handshake or give him something? Maybe he liked her gloves?

Oh! But first, they needed to get away from this silly crowd. She grabbed his wrist as best she could, running against the crowd to the safety of the sidewalk. "So, what's the destination?" She scratched her head, her fingers getting stuck for a moment, but once they were out, she managed to undo her braid. Oh well! She grabbed the ribbon and decided that, for now, to just leave it in a pony tail.

Airi felt bad about dragging the guy through, but there wasn't any other way out! If they continued to stand there, they would only be an obstacle for the people passing. By the time they left the moving crowd, he didn't look too roughed up about that. That's good; she wouldn't know what to do if he had gotten hurt. Well, she would feel sorry and responsible, but she wouldn't know how to help.

"I don't think you're an idiot at all!" she chimed after listening to his explanation of his situation. It was a bit hard to hear, due to the crowd to the side, making noise, even more so since she her attention span wasn't that great. "But that's cool! I'm glad you moved here! It's really great, despite the bad stuff." The city itself was amazing, but the people were a different matter altogether.

The handrail by the park? Sounded familiar, but she wouldn't really know until she got to the park. She laughed at his words, when he tried to explain the park he was talking about was the one with the pond. "I know what you mean," she said. "I might be able to help; or at least help you to the park. It's this way!" she told him, following the sidewalk with a skip in her step.

"Oh!" she said with a sudden realization and turning to Niko. "I how long have you been here? Why did you move here? Do you like it so far?" Airi asked, attacking him with questions. She just loved to meet new people.

"That's cool!" she said. "I hear the train is a lot of fun, but I've never actually gone on it. I've had the need to, you see," she tells him, getting lost in her own words. "I've lived here all my life and I walk everywhere. My parents say I have way too much energy, and I don't disagree with them, but it would be nice to try the train once or twice. I don't know where I would go or how much it would cost." The perky firebender's words had the most carefree air to them, and the girl who said them was just the same way. To her, she didn't suspect anything from Niko's pauses or even the avoidance of a few of her inquiries. To her, she got some answers and that was enough!

"You've got that right!" she chimed happily. Airi kept walking, though her eyes darted everywhere, noticing everything she could. She noticed little children being pulled on behind their mothers and men checking their watches like they were in a hurry. "I used to get lost all the time, but not anymore. I mean, I have a bit of a memory problem, so it's hard for me to remember what I'm doing, but I've lived here long enough, I know how to get home at almost every point of the city. And I say almost because this place just keeps on growing!" She throws her arms into the air, as if to show that the city was growing.

"Look!" she said, pointing dead ahead of them. "I can see the park just a bit ahead. Do you recognize anything now?" Airi asks him.

"Yay!" Airi chimed happily when he confirmed that the park she lead him to was the right one. How awkward would it be if she had been thinking of a different park with a pond and lead him that way? If that had happened, he would have been even more lost and might not even like Republic City anymore! She couldn't let that happen; this place had been a good enough home for her and she was confident that it would be for just about anyone, but people needed the right first impression! Just like when people came to the bakery, you needed to be nice. If you seemed mean, they'll think you're angry all the time!

"Sure," she agreed when he urged her to follow him, skipping along as he jogged, following him swiftly past the crowds of people, turning her body this way and that to avoid knocking into people."It's great!" the brown haired girl exclaimed. "And no problem; I'm always to help! And yes, I have. I used to come here a lot as a kid, but not so much anymore. Or, uh, at least, not that I remember," she said. Unbeknownst to most people she knew, she had the odd fear of turtle ducks. There was no reason for, so she avoided the situations by not going to places with turtle ducks, but she wasn't about to blurt that out loud randomly.

"Good!" she said. He was remembering stuff about his way home. Airi never had troubles going home, so she couldn't get how hard it was to reposition oneself in the city since he problem was all about the situation, not the place. She often ended up in the underground area because the homeless lead her that way after she would repeat something several times, forgetting she had done it or hadn't even finished it. That was why she got lost in the place she knew so well and called home.

Why did he feel like he wasted her time? She had time to herself, but it wasn't like she had any plans as to what to do with it! It seemed like a crazy thing to do, to the firebender, to plan out one's day unlike letting it take it's own course. "It's fine! I love helping," she said. It was true she loved to help, but it stemmed from having been helped so much that she just wanted to give back. "But I would love some food!" she exclaimed happily. Airi loved food. She burnt so much energy firebending or running around doing whatever that food was often on her mind.

"Do you have any rice? Or fruit? Meat is always nice, too," she asked for, happily. Fried rice was also nice, especially when he had a bunch of veggies in it!

Airi giggled at his comment of hearing something smart. All she did was mention food! Then again, he might not have talked to anyone before he met her; he had looked lost like he hadn't any help when she first saw him. Then again, you don't have to talk to hear something so she decided to push those confusing thoughts to the back of her mind, moving on to a more important matter at hand: filling her stomach. "Really? Great!" she commented happily. A cook? Anything she wanted? This day just got a whole lot better!

"Oh~kay," she sung, responding to his directions. She kept quite after that, letting herself gaze at all the buildings. Though the all looked the same: run down, old and grimy, she found each one had their own charm whether it be a potted plant outside someone's window or seeing younger kids running around in the streets without a care in the world or the wear of the steps to the houses, how one side looked more used than the other.

She followed Niko up the stairs, nothing even remotely resembling the doubt of his intentions. Her mother, for all her attempts, could never teach Airi about the falsehoods of people such as some lie. Going to someone's apartment for food after helping them out with something so small? Her naive mind couldn't imagine it being anything bad seeing as Niko looked sincere enough.

"Thank you," she said, walking in past Niko. The place wasn't as spacious at the bakery, but it had a cozy, home-like feeling to it though it still looked like they were settling in. "Anything tasty would be nice," she said, taking her a second to realize how vague that was. "Like, something sweet," she added awkwardly, hoping she got some point across.

"Really?" Airi replied when Niko offered her the sweet treat. He had just met him but he was still willing to cook her something AND give her candy! "Thank you!" she exclaimed, reaching out to take hold of the jennamite right after she had taken off her shoes, setting them neatly next to his. No matter her love for candy, she had yet to eat one mainly because her mother did not think that the sugar would be good for her. The firebender had plenty of lollipops, taffy and chocolate, but not this! This was truly a big thing to her, despite how small the act was.

Gingerly, she tried to bite it, the side of her tongue rubbing against the treat. It was so different! It didn't remind her of any candy she had eaten before. Well, jenamite originated from the Earth kingdom, right? Though she had been born in the earth colonies, she had not been old enough to remember a thing. Sad, but she didn't mind. Republic City was her home and she loved it! Yet the question as to why her father never brought any home was beyond her level of comprehension.

She watched Niko as he cooked -also she still tried to figure out how to eat her treat- with curiosity. She was okay at cooking and better at making bread but she had never eaten something that looked like what he was making. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing.

"It really does look like you just moved here,"she stated, managing to bite off a piece of the jennamite and holding in her cheek as she spoke. "Where are your parents?"she asked, bouncing lightly on tips of her toes, not one to adapt to stay still very quickly.

"I could- ack-" she began to say, only to have a bit of the candy fall back into her throat. Instantly, she began to cough, her head tilting forward slightly in her efforts to dislodge the bit. It didn't take long, but it still had hurt her throat. Blinking away tears, she swallowed the candy and returned to what she had been saying. "I could help!" she offered, smiling. The act of helping someone was never a bother to her; it actually made her really happy when she did it! So many people helped her, so she just wanted to give back to the world. Besides he gave her candy AND food!

"Haha, yup!" she said, responding to the restaurant comment. Boy, it just didn't seem like he got the fact she knew Republic City like the back of her hand. "Oh... Really?" Airi said sadly when he mentioned paying for rent. Though she did like to help, money wasn't something she could pass around so easily and she knew that very well. Despite her child-like nature, she was an adult that works in a business. "I'm sorry," she said softly, looking at the remaining rock-candy in her hand, then back at him. She had bitten it and kind of licked it on accident. She could offer it to him but it might be a bit weird...

Niko handed her a pair of chopsticks and the bowl of rice (it's smelled so good!) and she began to eat it hastily. He was a good cook! "This is great!" she exclaimed happily. She knew there was a reason she liked fried rice! She took a few more bites without swallowing that her cheeks became stuffed. "My parents? Oh spirits, no. We run a family bakery. You know. Bread." The firebender swallowed her food before continuing on. "My mom is from the Fire Nation, originally, I think. My dad's from the Earth Colonies... well, I guess that's considered the United Republic of Nations now, huh?" she said with a giggle. "Actually, I was born there. We moved here when I was really little."