Kaida sat in a large sitting room of her aunt's home in Ba Sing Se. Her aunt, Yoriko, was playing the part of an influential Earth Kingdom aristocrat. She was doing quite a good job of it and was quite comfortable with her life. She had a handful of servants for company, having no husband or children. She was particularly glad for Kaida's being there, although was quite horrible at expressed her gladness.
Kaida was thrust into a world of which was completely foreign to her. It was nothing like the upper class of the Fire Nation. Here they was no talk of supremacy or war, it was polite conversation of the weather or tea. You had to choose your words carefully or else…her aunt only left it at that. There must be something horrible awaiting those who speak of a restricted subject.
Kaida didn't particularly like the dresses, makeup, and headdresses she was forced to wear either. They weren't as soft as Fire Nation silks and linen were. It was a kind of thick cotton or wool, sometimes something better, but it was uncommon. It scratched at her skin and made her itch constantly. They girls here wore way too much makeup as well, and she spent most of her time wiping it off on her sleeves.
She was careful to adjust her posture when her aunt's attendant, Li-Hyun, came in. A tall man with dark hair and a face that looked like it had been tightened to the point of nearly ripping his skin. His nose was forever stuck in the air. It was his job to monitor Kaida's behavior, dress, manners, and everything else her aunt could ask for. She had suffered many…character builders…since she arrived and asked to stay with her nearest living relative. These "character builders" were nothing more than the common punishments Li-Hyun used to make Kaida miserable and entertain himself at the same time.
Kaida wanted nothing more than to return to the Fire Nation, in a time of peace, and live with her grandfather again and perhaps see Zu-…Her thoughts ended abruptly when Li-Hyun slapped the table in front of her sharply with a thin stick. He glared at her down his long crooked nose.
"Please pay attention," was his bitter command.
But her thoughts did again wander as her aunt and her guests moved into the room she was in and struck up normal, "safe" conversation. She had not bended in such a while, she was frightened she would not be able to do so ever again. The red stone had ceased to drip away from the little silver dragon pendant she still wore, for an unknown reason. She sifted through many thoughts before again coming to the same person.
Prince Zuko. She hadn't seen him in such a long while, or his uncle. She worried for them and missed them. She wondered why she just couldn't let them go. The other day, while walking to a shop with her aunt and companions, she thought she saw Zuko walking along the road beside them. But he was different than the Zuko from her memory. His hair was grown out and messy and he had been in Earth Kingdom clothes. He looked changed somehow, but that scar she thought she saw under his long bangs made her dwell on the memory and dismiss theories of it being some random city boy.
"My my, dear Lady Kaida, I do say you look so pale. Are you well?" One of her aunt's companions spoke to her for a change. Kaida looked up to her, indeed very pale in the face, but said nothing. She was receiving some nasty looks from Li-Hyun from over the woman's shoulder.
"Yes, I am feeling a bit under the weather. Please excuse me," she stood and bowed respectfully to the ladies and then her aunt before leaving the room. She went straight to the kitchen, with its warm stone oven and stacks and piles of various ingredients and sat by the hearth in the corner. Normally a couple of servants would be in baking all day, but today they were out buying more food for the week, so the kitchen was empty.
Kaida laid her head on her folded arms, feeling the warmth of a dying fire. Her eyes watched, half dazed, slowly sinking into a warm orange color. Without her noticing, the fire grew and strengthened, all in the view of an approaching Li-Hyun. Her hand was smacked by the thin rod sharply, interrupting her thoughts rudely. She turned and looked at him as the fire returned to normal. His eyes were wide and glassy as they darted between her and the fireplace.
Kaida felt her heart in her throat as she realized what she had just done. Before reacting, Li-Hyun was showering her with a series of whacks with his cursed stick. She balled her fists after trying to fend off his attacks and for the first time, turned out the door and fled.