Disclaimer: I do not own Atla or its characters.
"Kuzu," Jia had called her as she was folded the dining table covers. "Are you sure that you don't want to go to the festival?" Kuzunoha continued to ignore her, picking up the pile of table covers and walking towards the door. "Kuzu, c'mon, don't ignore me. You know why I did what I did. If you would've told on them, they would've been out for revenge."
Kuzunoha looked at Jia finally. "So what? That wasn't your call to make. They already treat me horribly so what's the difference of them doing it even more? At least the prince would've know and maybe he would've told them straight. You didn't give me that luxury to even try."
"But I was just looking out for you, please don't be angry. We're friends, remember?" The girl continued to beg, pressing her hands together to please for Kuzunoha to forgive her.
With a sigh, Kuzunoha had looked to Jia and smiled wanly. "I can't stay mad at y—" Before the sentence could even leave the girl's mouth, Jia had hugged Kuzunoha tightly. "You're such a kid."
"Then you have to spoil me sometimes." Jia said, giving a toothy grin.
"Don't I already do that?" She said in flat yet teasing tone, which made the other girl chuckle. "You really wanna go to this festival, huh?"
"Yeah, it's gonna be fun! Oh, and one of the nobleman that came by the other day dropped his wallet and I kinda scooped it up." Jia said, taking the pouch from out of her sleeve pocket.
Kuzunoha's eyes had widened, and she had looked around to see if anyone was nearby. "That's stealing, Jia!" She whispered, but her friend continue to giggle albeit manically.
"I know~" She cooed, "But we could buy some cute outfits and be like regular Fire Nation girls instead of servants for a change."
The idea did sound fun and exciting, but it also sounded too risky and filled with hard consequences. "Jia, I don't think it's a good idea."
"Kuzu, we're put on cleaning room duty. Nobody is going to be in the palace. If we clean all the rooms now, we can hurry up and go. I know a secret chamber door that I saw one of the servants using earlier, so it'll be a piece of cake."
Why did she have such an elaborate scheme? Like she really put a lot of thought into it. Kuzunoha had bit her lip, getting pressured into going with the idea. It would be nice to have a break, wouldn't it? To be out in Caladera city and having fun.
"It's risky..." Kuzunoha began to say, Jia's eyes were big and pleading to try to convince her to think otherwise. Seeing the expression was breaking down her resolve, Jia really knew how to get under Kuzunoha's skin. "Fine, we'll do it. We deserve it!"
"Oh yeah!" cheered Jia, throwing a fist in the air. "Okay, so everyone is going to see the prince off and that'll be our time to escape."
Kuzunoha had nodded, "Okay. So let's hurry up and finish cleaning the room before he gets ready to leave."
"Okay, we'll meet at the front doors with everyone else and see the prince off and quietly escape." Kuzunoha took in the instructions, memorizing every word. They had then split up and went to the palace rooms that they were assigned to clean.
Striding down the hall after splitting up from Jia, Kuzunoha had hummed a happy tune as she had walked down the hall with her hands behind her.'A night out in the city during a festival~ It'll be fun.' She thought happily.
Her tune immediately ended when she had seen three familiar figures. The person in the center between girls was a person she certainly tried to avoid, no matter the cost but it seemed like avoiding her was inevitable at the moment.
"Your highness." Kuzunoha had bowed once the princess was a good feet near her. Azula was the princess of the Fire Nation and youngest and only sibling of Prince Zuko. She was beautiful but there was something dark and sinister inside her.
Unlike her brother, her hair was black as a room without light and her eyes weren't a bright amber like her brothers but a bright yet molten bronze. She had a petite and shapely frame, her hair was pulled back into the signature topknot with a three pronged flames headpiece embedded in the knot to show her royal rank. Not to mention the two, long bangs framing both sides of her face.
She along with the rest of the royal family had wore the royal armor and militant attires. Azula had tilted her head back slightly, observing the servant before looking to her left. "Mai," she said to the pale-skinned girl, her hairstyle was what made her stand out. Her exceptional dark yet lustrous black hair was bunched up and tied into buns on the top with the rest let down below shoulder-level.
Mai's gold eyes had looked towards the princess, "Yes, Princess Azula?"
Kuzunoha had stood straight, looking at the three, confused of what was going on. "This servant is the one they call Yeh-Shen, haven't you heard?"
The atmosphere of the air had became thick and danced from hot to cold. There wasn't an expression Mai's face but upon hearing the news, the girl's dark and thick brows had knitted together for a few seconds before she erased all emotion from her face. Her eyes then looked towards Kuzunoha, and it had felt like she was glaring daggers at her.
The atmosphere was tense except for the side of where the girl on the right stood, she had brown hair that was pulled in a high ponytail but it was braided with bangs covering both sides of her face, but there was more of a fringe unlike Azula's who let her forehead show instead of being covered by hair. She also wore pink, making her the brightest out of the trio. Her big, grey eyes had shown friendliness and there was a smile on her face.
"Oh, so that's the girl people been talking about?" She said, lighting hitting her fist atop of her palm as she just understood what Mai and Azula were speaking about.
Kuzunoha could feel her anxiety increasing; the whole situation wasn't comfortable and it didn't feel like it would change any time soon. "Is there..." Kuzunoha mumbled but then cleared her throat, trying to make herself speak up, "anything I can help you with?"
"Yes, there is." Azula quickly said, which made her anxiety increase. "Tell me how you seduced my brother into making you a servant."
Mai had looked at Azula as if to tell her 'that was enough' but she remained silent and Azula's cruel smile never wiped off her face. Kuzunoha's head had lowered, her hands now in front of her as she had felt small. Was this... Was her life in the Giaseng always going to travel with her? "I did not seduce him." She answered honestly, "He pitied me."
Azula could tell Mai was relieved, her emotions were in her eyes and not on her face. "Oh? Well, my brother does believe in mercy to less fortunate. Such a idiotic trait if you ask me; turning whores into royal servants."
Biting down her tongue, she remained silent. She didn't know what else to say. Kuzunoha would never agree that she was a whore because her body was still pure but even so, what if a woman's body had done carnal desires? How does that take away from their humanity? How does it make them inferior and less human? But what did she look like arguing the princess about that? It was best to be obedient.
"Azula, we should get moving." said Ty Lee, "We're going to be late to seeing your brother off and enjoying the festival ourselves."
"I suppose you're right." The princess sighed before looking back at the servant, "Go on with your duties." Kuzunoha had bowed once more and then began to walk down the hall, but before she had walked past Azula, she had heard the girl mumble. "Know your place."
Freezing, she had looked over her shoulder as the three girls had walked down the hall and went onto a different topic. Kuzunoha bit down on her lip, holding back her tears. 'Every day someone and trying to rip me apart... Not today, I'm not going to let it bother me today. I'm going to have fun.'
oOo
"Phew!" Jia sighed, panting heavily as both of them were leaning against the gate of the Fire Nation palace. Kuzunoha was panting as well, wiping sweat from her brow. It was a close call, especially since Gou and her lackeys were looking at them suspiciously and even followed them until Jia managed to confused them within the large palace.
It was starting to make her have second doubts. What if Gou had caught on that they were going to the festival? She would tell and they would be done for! Maybe it was time to turn back... Maybe she was dreaming a little to childishly to think that they could have fun for just one day—
"We're not giving up, Kuzu!" It was to be expected that Jia did not think that turning back was worth it after all they went through just to get outside. "We're going to have fun TODAY AND YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT!"
Kuzunoha had pressed her back against the wall, startled by Jia's frustrations. The girl had her forehead pressed to Kuzunoha's, her eyes boiling with anger and determination. "Alright! I'm not giving up just yet, Jia. Calm down."
"Good." Grabbing onto her wrist, Jia had begun to pull Kuzunoha towards the city while keeping an eye out for any guard that could be nearby. "Okay, now we'll begin by shopping first!"
Smelling fresh air for the first time in a year was comforting. Her duties always kept her away from the courtyard, which Gou loved to rearrange in her schedule. She had allowed Jia to pull her to any direction she wanted since she probably knew the city more than she did. There wasn't like there was ever a time she was allowed to roam around freely.
Immediately, her eyes were focused on the buildings. So many of them had red and gold stones roofs, pagoda style. Symbols of the Fire Nation were everywhere but due to the festivals, her eyes were more focused on the red lanterns that were all over the place and lighting up the entire city.
Despite the ugly experience she had her time here, she had found it to be physically beautiful. "It doesn't surprise me that Princess Azula's friend had stuck close by Prince Zuko." Kuzunoha's head had perked up, her eyes glancing towards her friend. "I think her friend has a crush on him or somethin' like that."
Which one? Before she could ponder, the memory of the pale and apathetic girl had crossed her mind. That short but yet sharp memory of when she her eyes had nearly narrowed into slits had awakened. It had to been her. After all, Azula did already gave a clue, didn't she?
"Oh," Kuzunoha had mumbled, "that's nice, I guess." She didn't know what to say. It made her feel uncomfortable to even think about that girl.
"Ooh, look at that!" Jia pointed to one store, "Isn't that outfit cute?"
Kuzunoha's eyes followed to the store, blinking twice. "Ahh, it is cute." On the stand was a traditional Fire Nation girl's clothes. It was a short-sleeve crop with a gold-trimmed collar with red sequins and matching pants with a black and gold belt sash-like skirt.
"Let's go in there!" Jia had pushed Kuzunoha forward, leading her into the large yet humble shop. The prices were a bit reasonable but Kuzunoha didn't want them to spend all their gold pieces in one blow. There was no stopping Jia however.
Kuzunoha had followed her into the store, letting Jia run wild with ideas for outfits. Meanwhile, she had just stared at herself in the mirror a bit surprised. Of coruse she had seen her reflection in water and from baths, but she never had time to really get a good look at herself in a mirror without worrying about getting trouble.
Her complexion had became paler than she remember, which probably from the lack of sun for a year. It made her lips and eyes stand out more, and made her hair look much darker. It was the token beauty in Fire Nation culture, but to her, she felt like she was in a stranger's body.
The only difference between herself knowing that this was herself was because her eyes blatantly reminded her of her mother, the curve and button-like shape of her nose reminded her of her father. Her heart shaped face like her grandmother, and her small ears like her grandfather. Those things, those things that had stood out in the memories of her family, reminded her that this was truly her. Her family was together on her face.
"I think this would look cute on you, Kuzu." Jia had broken her out of her thoughts, "And let's do something about that hair of yours too! Tired of topknots, let's try something new!"
Jia had pushed her towards the changing room, throwing an outfit over the door. "Try that on and I'll do your hair. Store lady doesn't mind, right?" She looked over her shoulder to the old, round woman who merely chuckled.
"I find it cute when girls do makeovers in the stores. It reminds me when my daughters were young." She said, which made the wild-haired servant smile.
Waiting for about twenty minutes, Kuzunoha had stepped out of the changing room. Jia had picked out a sleeveless. burgundy crop top that had the Fire Nation gold and red collar. It showed her bare stomach, which seemed flat as a board like most of the servants since they were only give a handful portion of food.
Black tights had outlined her slender legs, a burgundy skirt that reached her knees with slits that came all the way to her hips and a Fire Nation gold belt around her waist. On her shoes were regular, flat burgundy flats. "And about that hair of yours." Jia had walked over, releasing Kuzunoha's hair from the red ribbon that kept half of her hair bound in the topknot. Her long, black hair had fell to her waist while Jia went to work.
When she finished her hair was arranged in two buns on the side of her head with three gold, thin clips in the front. For hair decals, she had a chain of cherry blossoms on each bun, which made her stand out. "Whatcha think, granny?" She asked the store owner.
"My, she looks beautiful. She's missing one thing however." The woman had walked over, handing over, handing her a small, clamshell. Kuzunoha had opened it to see red lip paint, in which Kuzunoha had smeared the lip paint on her full lips and looked in the mirror to make sure she didn't smudge. "
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" Kuzunoha had smiled at Jia's words, "I made my friend a hottie! All the guys are gonna—Wait a minute, how am I making you look better than me? Lemme get myself together!"
Jia had quickly scurried around the store, picking out what she wanted to wear and leaving Kuzunoha to wait. When Jia had finally left the dressing room, she had came out wearing a scarlet kimono-like blouse with long sleeves, that was held close by a black obi. She wore a scarlet skirt to match with black flats. Kuzunoha had walked over and did her hair, styling it so that she had two shoulder-length bangs framing both sides of her face and two loose ponytails that fell down her back.
"Ain't I a hottie? I might snag me a rich one today!" Jia grinned, Kuzunoha chuckling at her friend's crazy antics.
"C'mon you two, I'll ring you up. Don't want to miss the festival." The woman said as Jia had paid the woman 100 gold pieces.
"Thank you so much!" said the two girls in a unison.
But before they left, Kuzunoha had reached to return the calm lip paint. "Oh, thank you for letting me use this."
"No, child, keep it." The woman shaken her head, pushing Kuzunoha hand closed and back close to her. "A young woman can't walk around with makeup." She smiled, which made Kuzunoha return one as well before following Jia out into the festival.
The cultural music was blaring and there were sounds of laughter and conversation. People in the Fire Nation smiled? You wouldn't have believed it if you didn't see it. Everyone seemed happy and normal, and not like the monsters that everything made them seem out to be.
Kuzunoha was being tossed around however, Jia had took her to whatever Jia herself thought was interesting. Down from food to silly games, but Kuzunoha had enjoyed the girl's company more than ever. "Yakitori?"
"Mhmm! Its grilled picken, it's really good!" Jia said as she had gotten them both some, both of them nibbling on it as they looked around the festival.
It was indeed good. Just one strip of picken had so much flavor and it was spicy to boot. Kuzunoha had loved spicy things, which made her Fire Nation side really stand out.
"It's a bit spicy but yeah, it's good!" Jia was from the Earth Kingdom, Omashu to be exact. Of course she wasn't used to the spice but unlike others, she had quickly adapted to it. Kuzunoha had smiled until she had heard people whisper and mutter about the Fire Nation Prince having already returned home.
She wasn't sure why but she felt disappointed hearing that. In some odd way, she had hoped that she would see him. Kuzunoha barely saw him depart because all the servants had basically blocked her view, but now she couldn't see him under the bright lanterns, receiving congratulations of becoming a man.
Oh well, maybe next time.
Turning to Jia, she had seen the girl was talking to a rather handsome, Fire Nation boy. It was obvious there was flirting going on, Jia was redder than the lanterns above them and played coy. Jia wasn't even the shy type, sighing she had looked over towards the Fire Nation palace in the distance.
Before she could even soak in the beauty of the Fire Nation a palace, she had heard "Hey!" Kuzunoha had quickly spun towards Jia, pointing ahead. "That guy stole my wallet!"
Her wallet? Oh wait, the wallet they stole. Kuzunoha wasn't sure why she ran after the guy, it wasn't their money in the first place. Of course, that didn't cross her mind. All she heard was stolen wallet and there was a thief that thought it was okay and that he would get away with it. Wasn't that hypocritical or was this just plain ironic?
However, a cloaked person had jumped in front of her. They had ran after the thief and during mid-run, they had unsheathed two dao words which made the crowd gasp. Things were becoming a little too intense.
Kuzunoha could barely see since the crowd had gotten bigger, wondering if the boy could catch the thief or if he would hurt him. In a matter of minutes, the cloaked person had stood in front of them and handed her the wallet.
Her eyes had looked at the person, blinking twice in surprise. "Thank you." She said as Jia ran over, "here." She handed Jia the wallet, who was more than relieved at the heft, red pouch being returned in the palm of her hand.
"Who was that guy?" Jia questioned, in which Kuzunoha had turned to see the cloaked person was walking away.
"Give me a few gold pieces." Kuzunoha asked, leaving Jia surprised. Jia had given her ten gold pieces and Kuzunoha had ran over the mysterious boy. "Let me buy you something as thanks!" She had said, in which he had looked at her. The cloak made a shadow over his face, prohibiting her from seeing much of anything.
Grabbing the boy's arms, she had led him towards a stand which had sold masks to children and adults alike. "Come and buy a festival mask! These masks were made with care and each of them have a story!"
Before she could pick one, the boy had stopped her. He had lowered his hood and revealed a very striking blue mask, which startled her but amazed her at the same time. "Oh, I didn't know..."
"That's some mask you got there, kid!" said the man who owned the stand.
Kuzunoha had looked back at the masks, wondering if she should buy one as well. The person instead shook their head, as if to convince her not to.
"Oh, okay." She shrugged, unbothered if she received one or not. "But I have to repay you back." Silent he remained, which made Kuzunoha a bit uneasy. It made it difficult to talk to him but she was going to keep insisting. He tempted to walk away, but she had grabbed his arm and shook her head. "No, I'm going to repay you back. I hate people doing things for me and I'm unable to express my thanks to them, I'm already in that predicament with someone and I don't want it with another person."
They didn't put much of a fight, which relieved her. She had scanned around the place and then looked at the games, "That's it! I'll treat you to a few games!" Tugging the male's arm, she had pulled him in the direction of the games.
He seemed a bit reluctant, the strange boy that was, but he had came along even if it he was a bit hesitant. She had dragged him to one booth, "Oh, you can get a fish with this game!"
For some reason, she could tell that he wasn't all that enthused, which made her laugh. "It seems fun, c'mon. Try it." She had given him the paper net, and she had watched as he had inspected it before turning his head to observe the others that played. Carefully, he bent his knees and tried to scoop up a fish, which he successfully did but before he could say he caught it, the paper had dissolved and the fish plopped back into the water.
Kuzunoha had sighed, "Better luck nex—" She figured he would give up, but he kept pursuing. She watched as he had tried relentlessly to successfully capture a fish and after twelve times, he succeeded and showed her the bag with the fish swimming happily. "Oh wow, you did it." She was surprised but also happy that he continued to try. "But don't you think it'll be lonely?"
His head had cocked to the right as if confused by what she meant. "Don't you think the fish will be lonely swimming in the bowl by itself?" Kuzunoha asked, "Even fish get lonely sometimes..."
He stood still as if soaking in what she had said before trying again at the fish game. Kuzunoha's eyes had widened, surprised that he was doing it for the sake of the fish. He won another fish, while the one he first caught was blue and white, the second was red and white. He had handed it to her, which surprised her. "But if you give this to me then..."
Her eyes had softened, "You can't give the fish to me. There's no place for me to put it." She had handed it back to him. "I'm...I'm not really living a lavish life unlike I look."
Instead of telling him that she was a servant, "Anyway!" She had lightened up the mood, "Let's go on to the next thing."
For about an hour, she had took him to every game that was just about at the festival and she had paid for them all with each gold piece. When she ran out, there was no game for them to play. "Well, that's it. Don't worry about the gold pieces, my friend and I still have a ton left."
Now it was awkward. Should she say goodbye? There was no use for him to keep staying around with her now that she repaid him for getting those gold pieces back for them. Besides, she wasn't sure if she entertained him properly since he was quiet the entire time. "Hm.. Would you, like to see the fireworks with me?"
His head was in her direction and it felt like his eyes were on her. "It's my first time seeing fireworks and my friend seems quite busy having an adventure on her own. So, I'm hoping, if you don't—" This time, he had grabbed her wrist and led her away from the festival area and towards the large lake in Caladera.
He sat down on the grass and she had instinctively sat beside him. They silently waited for the fireworks, not bothering to say a word. It startled her at first, the loud yet crackling sound of what would come out to be beautiful colors in the sky. Her eyes had lit upon see her first set of fireworks. Never in her life did she imagine they would be this loud and this beautiful.
"This is my first time seeing fireworks." She said to the boy beside her, who had remained silent as he did the whole time. "I came from a poor village, so fireworks weren't something we knew of." She had pulled her legs up towards her, her knees pressed to her chest as she had rested her chin in between in knees. "They are more beautiful than I imagined..."
The fireworks had went on for another forty-five minutes until they had finally stopped. Kuzunoha had sighed sadly, almost wishing that the festival would go on. Standing up, she had looked at the masked stranger. "Well, I guess this is goodbye, right?"
The masked stranger had jumped to his feet, his head in her direction. "Take care of those fish, okay? One of them is mine and you'll be taking care of it for me. So, goodbye."
Kuzunoha had bowed politely and then turned to walk away but she felt a hand wrap about her wrist, stopping her from going any further. She had looked over her shoulder to see it was the masked-stranger. "The festival is over." She tilted her head, "There's nothing else for us to do. You can't possibly walk me home either."
His hand had tightened around her wrist, making her squint her eyes. What did he want then? "I accept the whole silent act because you probably want to keep your identity a secret because I'm not sure if that thief guy has any allies or whatever or is affiliated with bad guys or... you're just some masked hero or what not, but I think if you want me to know something without you speaking then you have to at least do something."
Not just that, she had to find Jia. Jia was probably looking for her, worried sick. They also couldn't be gone for too long because then someone would notice. Still, she was definitely enjoying this freedom and something seemed right about this person, no matter how crazy it seemed.
He had then let go of her wrist, confusing her. Maybe he wanted to say something but ended up changing his mind. "Well..." She said, feeling awkward. "Maybe we'll see each other again." Kuzunoha smiled brightly, hoping that the masked stranger would cross her path once again.
Finally, she was able to leave but she couldn't help but drag her feet a little. She didn't want to leave but she had to. Her eyes had glanced around the area, wondering if she would see Jia. If Jia wasn't around then maybe she had already went back to the palace. So, instead, she had left for the palace and made sure she had dodged the guards to remove the stones from the gate, after searching for the loose ones.
"My clothes..." Kuzunoha then remembered as she stood in the courtyard. "I... Jia has my clothes." Slapping her hand against her face, she had sighed in aggravation. What was she going to do? She couldn't make her way in there like this.
"Went out, huh?" The voice startled her, it startle her enough to launch a fist forward, just so it could be dodged by the swift prince.
"P-Prince Zuko!" The girl stuttered, surprised that he was out at this time of the night. "Forgive me, I was scared."
Zuko had waved his hand, telling her to settle down. "So you snuck out of the palace and celebrated my birthday festival? Don't you need permission? Oh wait, servants don't get permission for that."
"I..." Kuzunoha began, "I, uh... But I..." There was no excuse that could properly pop up in her mind. She was caught, red handed.
"I have to say, I'm jealous." His words surprised her, making her eyes wide. "All they have me do is sit in a palanquin and wave to the citizens just to come back home." He didn't get to partake in the celebrations? What was the point in seeing him off if he was just going to come right back?
"Oh..." She muttered, "that's not fair."
He didn't say anything but shrugged his shoulders. "Not like I would've been entertained anyway."
"I had fun." The girl managed to say, sporting a small smile. "A nice guy helped me out though he was quite weird. He wore a mask the whole time and didn't talk but he listened, I can tell he listened when I talked. He also showed me a great place to watch the fireworks."
Zuko steadily listened to her ramblings and kept a rather straight face. "You should really hurry up inside. Your friend is waiting for you." He watched her golden eyes light up and then a sigh of relief escaped her lips.
She bowed deeply, "Goodnight, Prince Zuko." She said to him before running off inside the palace. Zuko had went through the courtyard doors shortly after and made his way towards his room. It was completely dark save for the moonlight that came from the window with the open curtains.
He had looked to his left at the nightstand to see the fish bowl of two fish swimming in what seemed like an endless chase. "Don't you think the fish will be lonely swimming in the bowl by itself?" "Even fish get lonely sometimes..."
"Who worries about fish getting lonely?" He questioned to himself, closing his eyes as he had tried to lull himself to sleep. "What a strange girl."
Kuzunoha had met up with Jia, who hurriedly pulled her in the cleaning closet. "I was looking all over you, you doofball!" The girl tried her best to yell as lowly as possible but her voice tended to rise. Kuzunoha began to put on her regular servant attire, putting her clothes in the bag that Jia had put her clothes in. Everything from the hair decals and down had went into the bag. She had even wiped away the lip paint.
"But I did see ya with that guy, what's his name? You seemed pretty into him~" teasing was one thing but suggesting that she liked him was another. Kuzunoha's face had brightened a shade of red as she had shaken her head wildly.
"There's nothing about him to really like! I mean, he didn't talk the entire time." Kuzunoha barked, lowering her head as her gaze softened. "But I know he's kind, I know that much. And even though he was mysterious, I kind of felt comfortable around him. He seemed like he would protect me if I needed him again."
Jia smiled, "Good. He can keep your mind from that unattainable prince."
"I-I never said I liked Prince Zuko! I just said I'm grateful, I'm indebted to his kindness." No matter how many times she denied it, Jia still insisted that Kuzunoha had feelings for the Prince of the Fire Nation.