Kiana fiddled with the tassels on her belt as she walked down the street. It was her day off, and instead of spending it at home with her boisterous family, she spent it wandering around downtown. It wasn't any less noisy, but it was the kind of noise that blended into the background. It made her feel less like an outsider, and it still let her hear her own thoughts. Besides, it was unbearably hot in Gran Gran's house. Kiana had never experienced summer like Republic City had. She'd even had to ditch her regular clothes for a light blue dress and pants that tied at the knees. No boots, no fur trim, no heavy fabric. It was pretty strange to feel the breeze across her bare arms and legs.

Kiana was quickly learning that Republic City never slept. Even in the afternoon the sidewalks were crowded with people, and Satomobiles roared up and down the streets. She was having trouble getting used to the sounds and smells — cigarette smoke and sweat mingled with day-old food. At least her parents were settling in okay. Her mother was used to big cities — she had grown up in Ba Sing Se, after all — and though her dad was less cosmpolitan, nothing ever seemed to phase him. Kiana envied him, and she worried about him.

Kiana had gone a few feet past the store front before she realised it was the same place she'd stumbled upon the week before, when she had stayed back late to work. It was a bookstore, and it reminded her that one of her cousins had mentioned wanting a particularly hard to find book. If she was in luck, maybe it would be here instead.
Once inside, Kiana wandered into the first two sections, skimming over the rows of dusty books crammed into the shelves. What was it that Asha wanted again? Some sort of love story, if she remembered. Or was it adventure? The genres were displayed on a sign over each section, so she went through each section slowly, trying her hardest to remember what it was called. It was mean to say, but she hadn't really listened when Asha had been talking about it.
Kiana turned the corner in the next section and ground to a halt abruptly, almost walking into a young man with long brown hair.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "I mean, um. Sorry. You don't happen to work here, do you?"

He didn't work here. Kiana felt her cheeks grow hot. Why would he work here? He didn't even look like a staff member.
She blinked in surprise when the young man offered to help her. That was ... unexpected, especially as so far she'd rarely found anyone willing to help her out for nothing in return. There was no sense of community in this city. It wasn't much of a surprise, but she found it hard to get used to.

"Oh!" Kiana said. "Thank you. I'm trying to find a book for my cousin. It's ... an adventure book. I think." She paused. "Or a romance. Something for teenagers, and I should have called her before I left work, I guess."
Kiana frowned thoughtfully. She was sure Asha had talked about it at dinner. It was about some old fire nation tale, and she told the young man so.
"I'm sure it's a romance, now that I think of it," she added. "But with everything on fire. You know, typical Fire Nation story."

If the man knew his way around the store like he'd said, maybe she wouldn't have to spend the afternoon searching for the book. Normally she wouldn't mind, but it was going to get dark in another hour and she didn't fancy walking through downtown by herself in the dark. She had her waterbending, so she was never helpless, really ... but still. It wasn't wise to go looking for trouble.