Dancing On His Flames
Chapter 2
"Zuko tonight is music night, why don't you join in as a woodwind?" Iro suggested as he slumped a heavy arm onto his nephew's shoulder.
"No," Zuko replied flatly, as he gave his uncle a withering stare.
"So impassive. It's very unattractive to the women you know," Iro remarked, patting Zuko's shoulder as if to at least seem like he cared.
Zuko pushed off his uncle's arm and grunted. For a moment, Iro didn't seem to register the possibilities of this gesture, and then it clicked.
"Oh, I see how it is. You're into that girl aren't you - the new little catch from the Earth village. The crew was wondering why she's been on for so long," Iro's expression became impish as he grinned broadly.
"What are you talking about?" Zuko asked stoically.
"Well, you two are in the same room, in your personal hallway. It's the ideal way to get some action without anyone noticing. Oh, Zuko boy, already growing up aren't you?" the old man teased and whacked the poor youth on his back, leaving the boy with a stinging sensation.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for music night uncle?" Zuko gritted through his teeth.
"Of course," Iro flashed a toothy grin and went off his way.
Zuko let his gaze steady and stopped for a moment to think about what his uncle had just said, and then continued walking.
"An old geezer like him ought to act his age," Zuko mumbled.
(:O)
The girl sat on windowsill and gazed out onto the sea. Her brown eyes now became a light blue. Her eyes naturally changed colors. The servant ladies always said she was cursed. "Only a demon could have eyes as abnormal as that. It only proves how untrusting she is. They way her eyes change; it's probably how she keeps twisting her thoughts into something dishonest."
The girl closed her eyes and sighed. She wasn't anything but something to scorn at. A comparison on how much better other people were next to her. But here next to Zuko, she felt as if an entire burden had been lifted from her shoulders. True, he did lack etiquette and was a bit touchy, and also a bit dim in the respecting fields, but he had shown her kindness. He healed her wounds, gave her food that was actually safe to eat, a room, clothes, hygiene, and a presence of concern that she had been missing since her parents had been slaughtered.
"What is you name?" Zuko asked.
Xiang… She wrote.
"I see," Zuko replied.
Strange, that name seemed ironic to her current situation. To soar was what it meant, or so her mother had told her. It gave her hope, and inspiration to dance. The desire to soar and be free of all troubles… A goal.
The door creaked open; Xiang turned over and met eyes with Zuko. She smiled at him shyly. He closed the door and sat himself onto her bed.
"Tonight is music night," he stated.
She tilted her head. A party?
"It's a night where the men on the boat just play music, dance, play around, that kind of stuff. Do you want to go?" he asked her.
Her eyes shone with joy and she nodded anxiously. Zuko's lips stretched slightly.
"Ok. I'll be back later and take you. Be ready by sundown," Zuko informed and left the room.
Music night… She thought giddily. She could dance on her own will and play about. A privilege she hadn't been graced with while being enslaved. She opened her drawers. There weren't too many female clothes. After all, the boat was infested with men. But she had three other outfits to change into.
She took out a pink dress robe. It was embroidered with golden, brown flowers and swirls of blues and greens. It was dressy, but gave her more freedom to move about with. The sleeves stopped a little over her hands, but it was still flattering on her figure.
She foraged the dresser until she found a large red cloak. Zuko had told her that the clothes in the dresser were all clothes the men had grown out of, so they were hers to deal with. With a mighty tug, she pulled the cloak into two neat halves. Finding a needle and some string, she began to sew the rags onto the inside of the sleeves of the pink dress robe. When she was done, the sleeves looked ridiculously long. She smiled with satisfactory. Now she would be ready for music night.
(:O)
A knock was heard. Xiang rushed to the door and opened it, only to find herself face to face with no one other then Zuko.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
She nodded enthusiastically. He looked strangely at her sleeves, but decided not to question anything. Women and clothing were never his strongest suits. He gestured for their leave and took her out of the hallway and out onto the deck.
When she arrived out of the dark and quiet tunnel of the hallway, Xiang was greeted by the sounds of loud, cheery music and the boisterous laughter of men. When she stepped aboard, there was a slight pause from the clamor. The men hadn't seen women for a long while, and to see aone on board was somewhat of a surprise. She smiled, which ended the silence and the music began again.
She opened her mouth and held her stomach as she smiled. It was a silent laughter, but it still gave off the same aura of levity. Zuko smiled, she seemed happy, and he couldn't help but feel a light wavering feeling encompassing him. She ran out into the center of the deck and stood for a minute, trying to feel the music and beat go throughout her body. The voices hushed as all eyes turned on her. Every man on the ship had heard of the girl being a personal dancer for the Earth tyrant, they were all anxious as to whether the rumors proved true or not.
The people staring didn't make her nervous. People had always stared with intense scrutiny when she danced. The men's staring wasn't so alien-like to her. She felt the music go through her bones, her muse stirring within herself, to her there were no eyes watching, just simply the essence of her being.
She swayed her arms as her feet and legs gracefully moved in slow steps. Then the music became livelier and almost on instinct she began to move more fiercely. Her long sleeves swayed lightly with her arms, her legs supporting her with every leap, landing, and step. She threw both arms in the air and simultaneously moved them to the side as she leaped. The emotions only began to grow stronger as she put more and more of herself into the dance.Her longsleeves billowed and rippled, resembling water. They surrounded her, and empshasized the beauty of her dance. The music came to its climax and was decelerating to an end as it began to steady.
She moved leisurely and more calmly. Xiang felt the music closing to what sounded like a sorrowful ending. She began to feel sadness flow into her soul as the sadness was expressed in her final movements. As the final notes played she moved a sleeve in front of her face and the other sleeve billowed outwards. She breathed as her mind came back to the real world. The sound of the music was intoxicating to her ears and always turned her mind from reality to the illusions of her momentary joys.
The sounds of applause deafened her for a minute. She felt joy glowing inside of her. She brought her sleeve down, revealing her beaming face filled with pride and benevolence. The men were astounded and soon began roaring for another. Her face filled with happiness and she agreed to another dance.
"How about Zuko plays a solo this time?" a voice suggested.
Heads turned, Iro was grinning broadly. He sat alone, on a bench that had been placed outside.
"If I remember correctly, Zuko was quite gifted with the flute when he learned at the palace. It was as if the ancestors themselves had put their blessings into his playing. Perhaps he would grace us with a tune," Iro suggested.
Zuko stood there frozen for a moment. His face had changed from being awestricken, to stony and almost nostalgic.
"No, I don't feel the need to," Zuko replied taciturnly.
Xiang was quite curious; she remembered she had a flute with her from the Earth King. She took a moment to run to her room and retrieved it from the inner robes of her other clothing. When she returned she handed him the flute, as if she was pleading for him to play. Zuko stared at it for the longest time. He felt himself become absorbed in the carvings that had been meticulously etched to the last detail. The dragon that had been carved seemed to come alive and guide his hands to play the notes on the flute. He finally sighed and took the flute from her hands. She smiled gratefully and guided him to the center near the other instruments.
Standing in the middle of the deck she locked eyes with him, signaling for him to begin. He took a breath and began to play. For a moment she felt overwhelmed and took a minute to admire the melody. His playing was flawless and was pouring with emotions. She felt as if his own soul was lamenting to her, beckoning for her to be enveloped by it.
She moved effortlessly to his accompaniment, her sleeves swaying with her as she began her dance. The beginning was slow and depressing. She felt as if water was moving with her. Her eyes opened, they were blue and she felt water suddenly elevating from her fingertips.
She closed her eyes again and felt the music go through her bones. Suddenly the water from all the cups began to hover into the air and slowly move towards her. It moved with her every step and swirled with her. Zuko didn't seem to notice, his mind was focused on the flute. The men were speechless.
Then he began to play a more airy tune. The water dropped onto the ground, she opened her eyes halfway, revealing them to be gray. She closed them again. A breeze blew from nowhere and blew her sleeves in a more poetic and flowing manner.
His music became more calming, and soothing. Her dance became more solid. She turned to glance at Iro and smiled joyfully, her eyes were green. She closed them again and moved with the music. The wooden benches began to shake, vines grew from them, flowers bloomed and their petals were carried by the wind. They surrounded her, and the scent intoxicated the noses of the men who were amazed and confused.
Zuko's playing became more angry and demanding. The flowers stopped growing. She moved vigorously and leaped higher, moved more quickly and began to spin harder. She opened her eyes to entice her audience revealing the golden orbs. She closed her eyes and the petals in the wind burst into flames. They began to spin around her, creating a spiral of fire surrounding her.
Zuko suddenly stopped playing. He could sense the fire and smell the ashes of the burning leaves. Xiang jolted to a stop. The spiral of fire died away quickly. Zuko looked around, observing what had happened. There were flowers growing on the benches, puddles of water on the ground and the ashes of the petals in a pile surrounding her. Xiang looked at Zuko, her eyes were brown. He looked at her questioningly.
"What the hell is this?" he demanded.
There was a silence. The crewmen themselves couldn't find any way to explain the recent phenomenon that had just been played before their eyes. Iro stood and began boldly:
"It seems that Xiang has been keeping secrets."
Everyone was staring at her. She felt her heart rise to her throat as she was panting. She didn't really know herself. It was as if she was sailing on his song and just felt her spirit soaring. The flowers blooming gradually, the air dancing around her, the fire spiraling in all its magnificence, and the water moving smoothly and elegantly in its sways of harmonization, there was just no way to explain it. It had all just simply happened.
Zuko stared at her intensely and finally found the words to say:
"What are you?"
She looked troubled. How in the world was she going to explain on what had just happened? She opened her mouth and then closed it. Her eyes shifted away from his face, she felt scared. Frightened, cornered like a mouse that had been caught by the cat. Suddenly she felt a hand roughly grab her arm and she was dragged into the hallway. She was thrown onto the bed. The rest came as a blur.
Zuko closed the door and locked it. Then he walked towards Xiang so that he was only a foot's length away from her.
"What just happened?" he asked her, he opened his fist, revealing a crushed flower that had been growing on one of the benches.
A single petal floated to the ground in defeat. It was still glorious as it fought the air currents to reach the ground. She felt the momentary relief and then the fear crawl back into her skin as she looked back up at Zuko.
For a moment she looked at him in silence, and then he remembered. She couldn't speak. He grew frustrated and eyed a piece of paper and the bowl of ink and a brush on the table. He passed her the bowl roughly; it was as if he was trying not to break the bowl itself as he handed it to her.
She stared at the paper, trying to think of some way to explain. Nothing came. There truly was no explanation. It was as if she felt something overwhelm her, something that grew and extended from her fingertips. She tried to think of some reason, some possible way to put the extraordinary happening into words.
Her gaze grew more intense and she felt Zuko eyeing her, making her feel nerve wracked with panic. Finally she glided the brush onto the paper. Zuko read it:
It just happened. I don't know why or how, but I just felt something and it happened.
He reread it and finally looked at her and said:
"Are you the avatar?"
She looked at him frustratingly and once again began to write another message.
I told you, I don't know. I'm not even sure of what an avatar is. All I know is that I felt something and then it all just happened.
He couldn't help but feel skeptical. There was no other explanation other then her being the avatar. But then would that mean that he had been seeking the wrong person? This entire time he had been tediously tracking and hunting down the wrong person this whole time? He eyed her warily and finally decided something. He took the wooden end of his other ink brush and put it in front of her face.
"Make it grow, make plants grow from it, do something to make it different," Zuko commanded.
She stared thoroughly, her eyes focusing on only the brush. She began to stare with such immense concentration that she began to tremble.
"Stop." Zuko stated.
She immediately stopped and began to pant. A drop of sweat came down from her forehead.
"Calm down. Don't force it, just let it flow into you," he guided her hand onto the brush.
She did what he said. She closed her eyes and took a breath, then opened her eyes. She didn't try to stare it this time; she just relaxed, searching within herself, yearning to conjure a force that she had no idea of where it originated.
Finally a leaf sprouted from the tip of the brush. It grew, and grew, and grew, till it bloomed into a flower. She stopped and panted; it seemed more of a struggle this time. She felt her self depleted of any energy, all from a simple task.
Zuko examined her. Analyzed the amount of struggling it took her to do an easy thing.
"Now make it burn," he said.
She caught her breath; she would not let herself get tired so easily. She began to stubbornly pull herself up and stared again. She went inside of herself, calling forward a spark of energy, a force that had no information of its origination. Finally a small flame burned boldly from the plant. It withered into ash and the flame died away instantly.
Once again she was tired. She threw her body onto the bed, panting hard. Strange, it was so effortless before when she was dancing, why was it so hard now?
Zuko watched her ribs and stomach go up and down, up and down. He observed the amount of strength and focus it took her and watched her brow sweat profusely. He stood up and opened the door, ready to leave.
"Get some rest. You've answered enough for me just now."
He left.
She felt somewhat relieved. Too tired to even slip under the cover, Xiang closed her eyes and fell asleep.
(End Chapter)
OMFG… I'm so sorry guys, a lot of stuff has been happening and my muse died. It's been like months…? Jeez hope you guys can forgive me… I am at your mercy… bows to loyal readers Teehee, well hopefully you enjoyed this one. The third chapter? I don't know, I'm constantly changing the plot, so when that's finally established, well that's when I'll update and write in a mad frenzy. I really am sorry for not updating! But a lot of stuff between friends, getting a forbidden boyfriend (yeah complicated sutff), defying my religion, and stuff with my family, it's held me back and given me a lot to stress about. But let's worry about the story, and don't worry about me. I'll get those chapters up when I can… I am so grateful for you patience! Indeed I am worthless.