The Adventures of Fangirl and Jeong Jeong,
Or,
The History of a Girl, Her Lineage, and Her Master
"Why did you paint me Firebending?"
"I thought it looked more exciting that way."
(From Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang)
I.
Suki knows she's different. Just the way her hair is auburn and her eyes are blue when everyone else on Kyoshi Island has brown hair and eyes, even her mother and her father and her sister, and the way she's taller and more angular are signs to show just that. But despite dissimilarities in appearance she never would have thought she is anything other than a warrior of Kyoshi.
On her thirteenth birthday, her sister, Akiko, is six and beaming, perpetually smiling that adorable little grin of hers as Suki prepares to blow out the lone candle on the seemingly gargantuan fruit tart. Suki flashes a grin over in Akiko's direction, eliciting a cry of delight on the smaller girl's part. Suki inhales. No one notices the candle flame grow, just the tiniest bit, before it takes its original position.
She blows out the candle. Her family sings "Happy birthday" and they all begin eating amid the chatting and the laughing of happy people gathered to celebrate a young girl's transition from a child to a woman.
As they finish their tart, Akiko rises from the table. She trips over the lace of her tiny boot. The girl falls and scrapes her knee on the cold, hard ground of packed dirt in the wintry cold and she cries and she whimpers and she whines in her still-present baby lisp about the pain of her leg. Suki thinks of the harsh training as a trainee under the Kyoshi fighting force she has to endure but she doesn't voice her opinions. Instead she helps her sister up and treats the wound with as much care as possible. It isn't a huge one, but it reminds her how fragile Akiko is. It's not a pretty thought.
The guests stay till nightfall, partying and congratulating the birthday girl until she is sure her head will explode from all the talking, but they continue. Just when she thinks she can take no more her sister toddles in and steals the show. Usually Suki would be annoyed at that but this time she is grateful. She slips out the back door.
Suki knows what she is about to do is wrong. Her parents speak of the evil of the deed constantly, but she wishes to know why it is so pleasing. Always having been a curious child, full of spunk and sass her sister seemed to lack. She pulls out a small flask of the forbidden liquid. It may be sinful, but she desires to know why the older warriors speak of sake as they do.
xxx
The walls sway uncontrollably. Or is it Suki who's rocking? She has no idea. The ground seems to move out from under her feet in her intoxicated state. She rambles down, down, ever so far down the road, all the way to the pier, where the last few fishermen are tying up their boats to go home after a long grueling day at work. She pauses. "Stupid water," Suki slurs as she kicks several clumps of dirt into the harbor. "'m sick o' water." She lifts the bottle from which she has been drinking and stares at it for a few moments. The girl attempts to read the label, but finding her vision to be blurred and close examination therefore impossible, she flings the bottle out over the end of the dock. It lands with a well-sized splash, which wets her mud-caked shoes; the new ones she has just gotten that will surely cause her to be harshly reprimanded for such carelessness. But the youngest Kyoshi warrior cannot comprehend that. She shoots her fist out at the sunken flask (take that, you bottle) and is met with… a glow? It is a flash of orange, a hot, searing, blaze through space, and it startles the girl. The world is suddenly bathed in orange, an orange that hangs on the edge of scarlet, and then all goes black.
She dreams of fire. Fire consuming all, her family, her friends, the world… it is not a pleasant notion. There is a strange joy in burning… she can't help but relish it. Suki feels the irresistible pull of power; she can feel it pulsing through her veins, her every particle! Yet she is terrified, terrified of an unknown force beyond her control.
Suki awakes with a jolt to the pungent odor of smoke. Her first thought is of her sister, and the second, of intense heat. Groggily dragging herself up, she perceives that she is still on the docks. She shakes her head. Her eyes widen as she realizes the cold, hard truth – the saplings near the shore, newly planted that spring, are all ablaze. It is the middle of the night, so no one but she is aware of it. Suki has no choice but to gape in horror at what must have been her own doing.
The trees are still burning when Suki flees.
The next night the nightmares are worse. They are clearer, yet more mysterious. Behind those ominous flames, there stands a man: a silhouette really, only a faceless shadow, but it strikes fear deep into her heart. She turns to run, but her feet seem to be made of lead. Soon the warrior cannot move, cannot scream; all she can do is stand and watch as the world dies in flame.
Many days of the same routine pass. Each day Suki acts as if nothing haunts her, cheerfully helping around and generally spreading joy, but at night she is a completely different person. Every night she sees flames, and death, and cruel heartlessness from the mysterious apparition behind the burning wall, until it begins to gradually morph from a man, tall in stature, to a thin girl with short auburn hair and blue eyes.
The girl is familiar; Suki thinks some time later, all too familiar. By this time she is exhausted from lack of sleep, for when all else fails, she decides to avoid her dreams by remaining awake through the night. Being deprived of proper rest has taken a toll on her health. Bags have formed beneath her eyes, giving her the appearance of disease.
A fortnight after her first vision, exhaustion takes over, and she falls asleep despite her resolution not to. It is then that she sees the fire-girl's eyes for the first time: cold and hard, with not a hint of compassion in them. But those eyes are not the typical amber or even gray; instead they are blue like those of one from the Water Tribe.
xxx
Life fades; air chills. White turns to gray, and all withers and dies. Suki meets the Avatar soon after her fifteenth birthday, followed by Fire Prince Zuko on his hunt for the Avatar, who leads a raid on the island. He is eventually forced to retreat, but at a great cost to the natives. Buildings are charred and burned. Several girls have minor injuries. Fire has brought nothing but pain to Kyoshi.
Suki witnesses the evil fire brings and decides it is not to be trifled with. She vows never again to use her Firebending powers, whether accidentally or willfully. It is then, with sudden shock, that Suki realizes who the girl behind the wall of fire is: it is she, years aged, corrupted by lust for power.
She leaves that same night.
By morning Suki is far away from Kyoshi, all the way on the other side of Chin village. It breaks her heart to leave her native home, but she feels she must. Now that fear has been planted in the minds of the islanders they will only drive her out because she is a Firebender.
Suki's belongings are scant: a single change of clothes, her katana and fans, and eight silver pieces. Ba Sing Se, she decides, where all refugees seek a haven, shall be her destination.
She makes her way carefully through the southern Earth Kingdom. She is nearly killed several times, but she never travels directly towards the Impenetrable City itself for fear of the swamp and desert known to exist in that specific direction. Instead, the self-banished Kyoshi Warrior treks across the Kolau mountains of the west. She travels sometimes by foot and sometimes by cart, depending on who is willing to help her, until she reaches the border of water separating the north from the south where many refugees congregate for the ferry at Half-Moon Bay.
This is not to say her journey is easy. The nights are cold, and sometimes she can barely tell where she's going. She hardly has enough provisions for herself, and she is robbed several times, leaving her with meager possessions. Nonetheless she braves her way through the vast continent.
Suki's hardships are not over when she reaches the bay, however. Her request for a ticket is denied. Having lost her passport, Suki is forcefully shown out the way many others have been. She cowers in the eerie safety of the shadows, peering around her. She observes the crowd; most of the people are typical Earth Kingdom natives with green clothing and heavier builds. It's not very interesting to look at them.
Suddenly she sets her eyes on someone who stands out from the crowd: a cloaked man, foreign from his appearance, with wild white hair and a knife scar on the right side of his face, an attribute not commonly seen in the country since burns are much more often received. This particular man is tall, but not terribly tall in comparison to some of the larger Earthbenders Suki has seen. He slouches, his head is ducked down low, and his feet are firmly planted on the ground, shoulder-width apart. From her distance Suki can see he has a long white beard.
He strikes her as odd among the crowd of refugees. The Kyoshi Warrior edges closer toward him, little by little, until he is only feet away from her. He finally makes eye contact.
His eyes are gold.
He's a Firebender. Suki knows it. She steps back in shock and turns, ready to flee, when suddenly he's in front of her. "Control yourself, pup; I know what you're thinking," he growls.
"How the — how the hell did you get here from behind me?" she demands. The man only shrugs.
A grunt. "I look old but I'm no weakling. Now get out of my sight."
The former leader of the Kyoshi Warriors gapes, wide-eyed, at this mysterious person's attitude. Then, realizing what she is doing, she quickly resumes her fierce expression. "I'm not moving unless you tell me who you are," she insists.
"Lee. You can leave now," the man says.
"You're not telling me everything."
"Should I?"
"Yes, because I know that you know that I know that you're a Firebender."
"So difficult, you." With this he scowls and grabs Suki's wrist. "Come with me."
xxx
They must look like a peasant girl and her irate grandfather, Suki thinks as the man agilely weaves through the crowd of refugees.
"Where are you taking me?" she hisses.
"Where we won't be seen," is the gruff reply. The former Kyoshian refrains from questioning further.
The pair ventures away from the hidden safety of the cove. Neither utters a word the entire walk; one does not wish to know, and the other does not wish to answer. Suki's stomach flips twice, for she knows not what to expect. True, she has her suspicions, but they are not pleasant ones so she avoids pondering upon them. Still, her thoughts are doubtful.
At last they reach a shaded glade some distance from their initial location. The man abruptly stops, looking over his shoulder to ensure Suki is still behind him, and then he sits on the dusty ground with his legs crossed. The young woman follows his example.
"Do you know why I brought you here?" grunts the older man.
"Well, I have my suspicions, but I'm not going to share them with a complete stranger," Suki admits.
"But I'm not a stranger. I come with a very important message concerning one of your deceased relatives – I am sure it is you since you bear the aura of both a raging fire and a frozen glacier."
"Listen, I don't want to hear that old 'I am your father' trash that's in every cheap drama the village girls obsess over."
"Sharp girl."
"I still don't trust you."
"That's understandable. Rethink that. Your grandfather wished for me to give you something. I've been tracking you for months."
"That tells me nothing, Lee."
"You will address me from this moment forward as Master Jeong Jeong. I will not tolerate a disrespectful child."
"Yes, Master Jeong Jeong."
"Sit and do not interrupt me." He pulls out a scroll tucked into his tattered brown cloak and hands it to Suki, who begins to read:
Dear Suki,
I am writing to you now not as an enemy, but as your grandfather – you have long been denied the truth, and I will make things clearer for you.
You are not of the Earth Kingdom – in fact, you hail from no nation at all. Your father, former Fire Prince Lu Ten, died at Ba Sing Se six years ago. Your mother, from the Southern Water Tribe, died in childbirth. Lu Ten met your mother when he was a commander under Admiral Jeong Jeong – for he was one then – in the Southern Fleet. This was eighteen years ago. They were under orders from Fire Lord Azulon himself to annihilate the Southern Water Tribe. The spies had informed Jeong Jeong that the entire tribe consisted of a single village, so he spared but three ships. This turned out to be a mistake, as they were ambushed by a group of tribesmen. Lu Ten was wounded and captured, while the other soldiers fled for their lives since they were nearly frozen and many of them would have perished if they hadn't retreated.
Apparently the Southern Water Tribe was very lenient when it came to prisoners of war. There, the prince was cared for and brought back to health. He fell in love with the woman who tended to him; I believe her name was Mamisarniq. She bore him a child, which they named Qaniit – falling snow.
Your father returned to the Fire Nation soon after Mamisarniq's death, where he was joyously received. Lu Ten became an admiral in the years that followed. By the siege of Ba Sing Se, he had command of the entire Eastern Fleet and led them to near victory – that is, until he was assassinated by one of his own officers.
Before your mother died she took you to the island of Kyoshi to escape the war. She took on the alias 'Misa' and called you 'Suki.' When she died, you retained this name, even when another family took you in and raised you as if you were theirs.
I know this only from my son's last words as he lay dying from severed knife wounds. I understand you've had no training in your bending – you do realize you are a Firebender, no? Master Jeong Jeong shall teach you control. I beg you not to question his methods; he will be a good shifu for you.
I wish you luck.
With respect,
General Iroh, Dragon of the West
"No way," gasps Suki as she reaches the final words of the letter. Jeong Jeong only grunts.
"Believe it if you like; it makes no difference to me. If you believe this is illegitimate, then don't hesitate to tell me to leave. I'll go now if you want me to."
"Wait," Suki says. "I'm not going to pass up a chance to learn how to turn this curse of mine into a possibly invaluable asset in battle. I want to at least see if you're the real thing. And if you're not, then I don't mind; I could kill you, no problem."
"Such bold confidence."
"When do we start?"
"No time to dawdle. We will commence immediately. Assume a stance, like so," at this point he demonstrates the proper position, "and breathe slowly. There is heat all around you; feeling it is essential in proper bending. Very good. Keep doing that until I come back." This being said, he casually treads away some distance and sits in a meditative position with his legs crossed, back to his pupil.
"Do you intend to leave me here, Master?" Suki snaps, addressing the former admiral. He replies, "You will stay in that stance and breathe until I tell you that you can move."
"But," the young woman begins to protest.
"Do not budge even a cricket-hopper's breadth from this spot," interrupts Jeong Jeong, sitting unblinkingly with his legs crossed. "And remain silent unless I tell you otherwise." He does not make eye contact with his student.
"Master-"
"Breathe."
"But I don't see the point of this."
"You wish to not breathe?"
"Clever bastard."
"It is you who is the bastard."
"Senile twit."
"Naïve pup."
"Touché."
Jeong Jeong jabs a commanding finger in her face. "Quickly, sunlight is wasting. Breathe."
Suki sighs and obliges.
xxx
In, out, inhale, exhale, offense, defense, attack, retreat.
Is this what he means? Is this what it is to wield fire? To practice the ability to manipulate fire, as it is called such in the language of the elders. Jeong Jeong has taught her nothing but breathing in the weeks since he has taken her on as a student. Upon discovering a bender willing to train her, Suki has decided to reform her weakness into yet another weapon. "I want to kick ass; I willkick ass," she repeats as her mantra.
It's enough for now.
xxx
Why? Why has he, of all people, been chosen to train this girl-child, this half-breed? The lazy coward Iroh is! To think that he sends a world-weary old man to find his granddaughter!
Or is there some underlying goal masked by these circumstances? Can it be that there is a lesson to be learned, that this is all a ridiculously devious ploy set by Iroh himself? Unlikely.
But now is not the time to be contemplating such notions. Jeong Jeong pushes these thoughts to the back of his mind and focuses on the heat about him, the heat within his body, and the heat emanating from the girl.
Particularly the latter. He allows his attention to be drawn towards his pupil behind him. Years of solitude has taught him awareness of heat in all its forms, namely the heat in physical objects. He has trained himself to be wary of all sources of warmth, so much as to be able to identify individuals. In this way he observes his protégé. There is heat radiating from her body, but it is not quite the pure aura the master is accustomed to. To be precise, it is not true heat — instead it is a blazing chill, a peculiar flurry of various sensations. Heat with the fury of a raging wildfire exists simultaneously with an icy quality singular to her, a harsh shiver not unlike the glacial elegance of an arctic floe.
Jeong Jeong rights himself in his position.