I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. I have been planning out this story for months, so I am hoping that it will come out well. Please R&R!
Xue sat on the stone wall in the court yard. It had been almost a year since she had been brought to the Fire Nation, and she missed the cold weather. She looked down at her clothing. It was old, and tattered, and the once bright blue colors had now become faded from the sun. She refused to wear any of the clothing that the servants brought for her. She wanted only to wear the colors of her people. This was starting to become a problem for her though. Being in her teenage years, her body was starting to fill out a bit more, and that made her old clothing not fit as well as it used to.
She looked over at the sundial in the courtyard. It was midday. It felt like it should be a lot later than that. She had gotten up before the sun again so that she could practice her water bending. Since she was out of the hands of her people's traditions, the Fire Lord had ordered for her to learn all the different water bending skills, including fighting. She trained hard every day. It was the only thing keeping her sane in the Fire Nation.
"Day dreaming again Xue?" came a taunting voice from the other side of the courtyard. It was Princess Azula, and her friends Mai and Ty Lee. The three girls had made a point to make Xue's life miserable since the day she got there.
"Go away Azula." Xue sighed, "I do not feel like dealing with you today."
"What a pitty." Azula said with a smile, "We were hoping you would play with us." As the final word escaped her mouth, she sent a small ball of fire in the direction of Xue. Xue sprang to her feet, and dodged the fire, landing on the floor of the courtyard.
"Fine!" Xue said, with a hint of irritation in her voice. "You wanna play? Let's play!" Xue swung her arms in the air, and up came a wave of water from the pool that crashed towards the three girls. Azula and Ty Lee both jumped out of the way in time, leaving Mai to get soaked by the wave. When the water settled, Mai stood drenched with water. Ty Lee let out a giggle. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" she screamed and darted an evil look at Ty Lee. Mai then reached into her sleeve and pulled out her throwing knives. One after another they made a trail on the wall behind Xue as she dodged them. Xue felt a sudden tug as one of the knives pinned the ankle of her pants to the wall, and fell to the ground.
Azula, seeing an opening, started to attack Xue from the side, but before she could reach, a wall of fire separated the three girls from Xue. A very wise and calm voice came from the entrance of the courtyard. "Three against one is not a fair fight ladies." It was Iroh, the Fire Lord's older brother. He turned to the three girls, "I suggest you movie a long now ladies." The three girls turned away a bit irritated at the fact that their fight was interrupted. Iroh walked over to Xue, and offered her his hand. "You seem to be getting yourself into trouble more and more these days Princess." Xue took Iroh's hand and he helped her off the ground.
"What can I say," She said with a smile, "I like a little trouble in my life. It keeps things interesting, although it looks like today it cost me my pants." She said looking down at her ankle. The pants had a huge hole in them, and they were starting to rip more up the side.
"Why are you still in those old clothes?" Iroh asked with a kind voice "Haven't the servants brought you new clothes to wear?"
"They have, I just do not feel comfortable wearing them. They are not the colors I am used to wearing, and I want to wear the colors of my people."
"I understand that your heart is with your people, but that is no reason to make yourself wear rags." Explained Iroh "Just because you are wearing the colors of the fire nation it does not mean that you no longer love your people. Clothing is just clothing, no matter what color it is, and as long as your heart is still with your people, then you can wear whatever colors you want to. Besides, I bet you would look absolutely beautiful in some new clothing."
Xue smiled and gave Iroh a hug. "Thank you for that Uncle Iroh. You have always been so kind to me."
"Of course Princess." He put his hands on her shoulders when she pulled away from the hug. "Now, let's go get you some new clothing."
Xue sat in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. Her once brown hair now had a golden tint from the sun shining on it all day. She put the brush down on the vanity. She was a bit uncomfortable about how well the clothing has suited her. She had on a red top, that hung off of one shoulder, and a gold arm band on the other side. The shirt cut off before her belly button, revealing her once hidden body to the world. The skirt that she had on was made of layers of different shades of red, and reached just below her knees. This helped show off the gold bangles around her right ankle, and the new sandals she had found in the bottom of the clothing pile. She left her hair down, except for a small braid on each side that were decorated by gold beads.
Zue got up from the chair and headed out of the room. She did not want to stay there and look at herself anymore. She walked with a quickened pace as she made her way back towards the courtyard. She would use the pool there to determine how well her new outfit held up during her water bending. She made it out to the pool and started her practice. It was so much easier to move around in this clothing that fit her correctly. She moved the water around her making little waves, and dancing streams. She got so involved in what she was doing that she accidently shot a bit of water over the wall. She heard a yelp from somebody getting hit by the cold water. She jumped out the side of the pool, and ran over to the courtyard entrance so she could apologize.
"I am SO So-" She cut off mid sentence when she saw who it was . Zuko stood in the walkway, water dripping from his clothing. "Oh." She said, giggling "It's just you. Well that's ok then."
"Just me?!" He said a bit irritated, "That's a great way to-" but he stopped short. He looked up to see Xue in her new clothing, and was at a loss for words. She was not the same as she was in her old clothing. "Wow." He said quietly.
Xue was confused. "What?" She realized he was staring right at her now. "Do I have a leechy-bug on me or something?" she checked over herself, a bit worried.
"No." Zuko said, still a bit awe-struck. "I've just never seen you in clothing that wasn't old ant tattered…you look….beautiful."
Xue felt her cheeks get warm as she blushed. He had never said anything nice to her like that before. Zuko mostly ignored her, and when they did have to make conversation, they were very sharp and snooty comments they passed back and forth. She managed to let a "Thanks" slip out of her mouth. They both stood there for a moment, neither one of them knew what to say. Zuko opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but before he could speak, a familiar voice called out from behind him.
"There you are Prince Zuko. I have been looking all over for you." It was Iroh. "Your father has requested an audience with you." He said, gesturing back towards the building. Zuko immediately snapped back into focus, and turned round to head back into the building. As Zuko got closer to his Uncle, Iroh noticed how wet his clothing was. "Decide to go for a swim Zuko?" he asked. Zuko only responded with an irritated glare as he passed his uncle. Iroh let out a little chuckle, and gave Xue a wink before following Zuko into the building.
Xue quickly snapped back to reality when they had left, becoming a little irritated with herself. She went back to the pool to practice some more, hoping not to hit somebody else with water today.
Thanks for reading! I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can! Please R&R!