It was the fifth time Kaida had snuck out that week, but she had to. She slipped away a little while after her aunt and attendants went to sleep and returned just past midnight each time. She could get away from her aunt, Yoriko, the servants, and from Li Hyun…
Kaida balled her fists at the thought of that cruel instructor Yoriko had around for her. She was out in the night air once more after climbing out of her window and running across the garden. She made her way through the streets of Ba Sing Se with natural ease, for she had taken great care to memorize routes to and from the house when she and her aunt went out. Her clothes were plain, unlike the ones she was forced to wear all day. Pants, a sleeveless tunic, flat slip-on shoes. She had to get away. Kaida needed freedom from that stifling house and its rules and customs and punishments and endless (and mindless) visitors.
The air that night was heavy with moisture. It felt so think you could cut it with a knife. The sky was begging to pour rain any time now, but Kaida gave no notice or worry. For a few hours, she was free. She was free to bend…
A nice courtyard, led to by narrow alleys on four sides, surrounded by large buildings with no windows but in the front. No one would be out at this hour. Kaida stood in the crossroads of that courtyard, just watching the way the wind played with the shriveled, dry leaves and dust. This city was stifling, so different and so strange. She had thought her aunt's control on her dress, her activities, and her speech had been the reason she felt so caged. But that built up pressure swelling in her chest, causing all these rocky emotions and thoughts, it was not just that. It was the constraint on her soul, her life, her bending.
A strong breeze blew against the wind, stirring the leaves and dust up again. Kaida smiled. She felt a raindrop touch her arm. Then another, and another… It began to rain like the sky felt the same need to release as she did, or perhaps it was sympathizing with her, or perhaps taunting…
Kaida held her hands up, assuming a stance, and the raindrops about her person froze and hung in the air. Her practice was beginning to pay off. She whipped jets of water about in graceful arcs and sharp lines. She used one spray of water to form needle-sharp icicles that dug into the earth deeply. The water was therapeutic, somehow, she felt calmer and more balanced. The rain began to pour, drenching Kaida to the skin but it did not bother her.
White hot flames lit up the courtyard with an eerie warm glow. The rain steamed away from the heat. The flames danced and tore through the air. Kaida's eyes shifted bright gold, reflecting the fire's colours as she continued to firebend. She gritted her teeth together, the passion and anger built up inside flowing through her fingers creating the flames. A tear made its way down her cheek, or perhaps it was only a raindrop. The water did nothing to hinder the fire anymore, despite it pouring down relentlessly. The water streamed down Kaida's arms and dripped from her clothing before fluttering away as steam. The blonde made one last, gigantic fireball and drove it into the cobblestones with such force the nearby stones singed and turned black, some crumbling to ash.
Kaida pulled her arms down after a moment's pause and let out a deep breath. Finished. Her body felt lighter, freer. She smiled, almost laughed, standing there in that rainstorm. Kaida had been scared, before she had begun to sneak out, that she had forgotten how to bend completely. But it was second nature to her, like all benders. She could never forget…
She could never forget… Her mind wandered in that loud night rain to many things. Her old home, her missing family, the army, the war. Why was everything so complicated? Why couldn't she just forget about the sad things and think of the good? Why was she so stuck on thinking about that one person…? The rain fell, ignoring her questions, and answering her with the hiss of shattering droplets.
