The following morning was another boring day for Zuko: Boring meals, Boring teachers, boring lessons, Still trying to master his fire bending, he couldn't understand why he just can't be like Azula, Who snickered all the time when he failed. In the afternoon, he sat alone with his ragged doll by himself, bored to death because Omi's Mother was sent to run some errands at the market, and she took her daughter along with her. He sighed to himself, He walked out of garden and roamed around the halls, all the same; Red, red, red, gold, red, red, red, black, red, red, red, etc. He finally leaned against the wall, looking at his doll. He sat it next to him as he started talking to it.
"I'm bored," He sighed,
"Are you bored?" He made the doll nod.
"I like you, we have a lot in common," He said as he smiled to the doll,
"If only Omi was here, we could have loads of fun," He said as he hid his head between his knees.
"What do we have here?" Azula came, swooping the doll into her hands,
"A new toy?" She asked, faking her amazement,
"Hey! give that back!" Zuko said as he frantically reached for the doll, Azula dodge him,
"What happens if I don't give it to you?" Azula sneered
"I'm telling mom!" Zuko shouted,
"Why is this doll so important to you, huh?" Azula dared to ask,
"It doesn't matter, it's mine!" He said,
"Aren't girls suppose to be the ones playing with dolls?" Azula said as she threw the doll in midair towards Ty Lee who caught it,
"You're right Azula!" She exclaimed,
"Let's play!" She said as she threw it, Zuko ran after it, Azula caught it once again,
"Who gave it to you?" She said as she threw it,
"It better not be your girlfriend!" Ty lee said as she caught it and threw it again,
"Shut up!" Zuko shouted,
Azula laughed as she threw the doll again, this time it landed onto Mei's hands, who, wasn't part of this game at all. She frozed and stared at the ragged doll in her hands,
"Throw it Mei!" Ty lee giggled. Zuko quickly went to her,
"Please Mei, hand it over to ME!" He begged,
Mei glanced at his face; she saw that he really wanted his doll back, maybe it does mean that much to him, and seeing it's condition, it's giver must've been important to him as well. She gave in and handed it to him, he grabbed it and ran off immediately.
"Why did you do that?" Ty lee asked,
"We were playing a game!"
"I...I..." Mei said slowly,
"You're no fun, Mei," Azula said.
"Spoiler," She added,
"Come on, Let's go outside" Azula sighed,
~Meanwhile~
~maybe I should've stayed back at the palace,~ Omi thought, she wonder if Zuko must be bored with himself, she understood that, she used to get bored in the afternoon before she met Zuko.
"Omi, stay close" Her mother told her.
The little girl carried a basket of ginger, while her mother carried two bags of vegetables. When she stopped and checked the apples in a fruit stand, Omi heard a bunch of war cries and... fire? She came closer to a wall, she pressed her ears onto it. The noise came from behind, she looked around to see an opening, she spotted an open high window, she climbed up some crates that allowed her to perfectly reach and peak through.
"Fire students!" She whispered excitedly.
She saw a row of students older than her, doing exercises similar to what She seen Zuko and Azula do, only that these were more advanced, a Teacher stood behind them. After the students finished, they bowed for the teacher, who came up to them.
"Nobu," He pointed at a boy,
"You're up,"
A boy came up away from the students to have some space.
"Remember," The teacher spoke.
"You must breathe in like building a fire, let the heat flow out," The boy bowed, he took a stance, perfectly well balanced, Omi watched intensively as the boy fire bended what he learned.
"Perfect," The teacher said, He then told a girl to step up. She did as she was told.
"take notice the positions of your arms," He reminded her, the girl bowed and started, like the boy, she fire bend perfectly as well. Omi watched in awe how the fire flowed in the air, it was beautiful.
"Omi!" She was shaken from her lost stares when her mother called,
"Come down here, now!" She sounded worried, so Omi didn't waste time to carefully climb back down
"Omi, what were you doing up there! you could've hurt yourself!" Her mother exclaimed once she got down,
"Mother, there were fire benders-"
"Child, you know we can't be spying on them like that!" Omi's mother knelted down,
"We're not like them," She said firmly,
"And they are not like us,"
Omi's eyes turned cold,
"What do you mean, not like us?"
Her mother couldn't do anything but tell the truth,
"We're slaves, Omi," Her mother continued,
"I know it doesn't sound right, but..." She paused,
"That's how it is. And they don't want us around,"
Omi looked up, terrified, does Zuko know who she really is? if he did, would he still want her around? Her mother stroked her child's face,
"They only want us to serve them," She said,
"But we must be careful, okay?"
"Why?" Omi asked, unsure if she wanted to hear the answer, Her mother stood up, holding her hand.
"Just, because," That was all she could ever tell her, Omi was too young to know the horrible truth, she knew now that she's a slave, that would be enough for today.
They headed back towards the palace.
At night, Omi stood outside, looking up at the stars, thinking about what her mother said; She was a slave, her whole family is, that means, she's not free, she's not wanted, that explains why they always had to travel and no place to really call a home and why she's always been bullied, Azula isn't the first, also why She has to be afraid to never displease anybody. She wanted to cry, but she told herself to not even try, it isn't going to change anything. At least, she made two friends, The princess and Zuko. She missed them today, she wanted to ask the princess if she could teach her how to braid. She started to wonder if they actually liked her.
~Do they even know I'm a slave?~ she thought
.
"Omi," She heard her mother call,
"Yes mommy?" Omi turned towards her mother,
"There's something me and your father want to talk about," Omi's stomach turned, she had a feeling that she's going to find out about who she really is.
Omi sat on her mother's lap while her father, who sat across them, put a small candle to light up a bit the place.
Omi couldn't believe the story she was told:
Her great great grandfather was part of the air nomads, his brother sent him his only son to be taken care of by the air nomads at the Southern air temple, because they feared their son could be the new avatar. By that time, the war started and the avatar's life could be risked, the young avatar grew without knowing he was being taken care of, by someone from his own family: his uncle, who also had a friend, Monk Gyatso, who loved the boy dearly. When the boy ran away one time, the fire nation navy attacked the air temple, it was only Omi's great great grandfather who was able to escape.
Then when his long and lonely journey had tired him, he rested in a nearby village, there he met a family, they helped him and took him in for awhile. He married a girl from that village and since she already knew about his identity, she agreed to travel with him far and wide like a true air nomad. When they had a child of their own, the curious young teenager was then caught by trade sellers - slave trade sellers - and since he was afraid for his own safety, he cried that his father would fight him because he was powerful air bender. The slave traders pretended to be afraid and set him free, but then they followed him. They ambushed his home and separated the family, executing the young boy's father, while his mother was sold into slavery and him, as well, unfortunately they couldn't stay together. Then when the boy grew up into a strong man, he caught the eye of his master's daughter, she gave up her comfortable life to be able to be with him, they were secretly married and had a son, he was Omi's father, right after his parents' death, He was sold into Ba Sing Se, he was taken to the Duke's residence, where he met and fell in love with Nora, Omi's mother. And, similar to his parents' story, his beloved ran away from the comforts of her own luxurious home to be with him, even if it meant to be a slave forever.
"That means..."
"You are a Duchess," Her mother said,
"And related to the avatar," Her father concluded,
"But don't tell anyone, it's a secret,"
"Okay,"
After they went to bed, she made sure her family was asleep, she snuck out of bed and carefully tip-toed outside to gather some sticks and came back in. Carefully laying the sticks, one on top of the other, she sat down leg-crossed. She tried her best to focus, she breathed in and layed her hands out, hoping that she can build a fire to warm up. She focused and breathed, slowly, like she heard the masters say to their students.
Suddenly she felted a glow, very close to her face, she opened her eyes and a flame flashed out as she gasped, she looked behind her again if her parents stirred, her mother did, a little bit, but then she tried again afterwards. She thought that if she was related to the avatar, and from the earth and fire nation, there HAD to be bender in her family line somewhere, Because whenever she saw a bender strike, she felt so much energy build up inside of her. She breathed once more, hearing a small crackle, she opened her eyes, concentrating, it was a good fire, burning and roaring like a whisper, she focused and continued to breath when she let one hand down, it still crackled marvelously, she grabbed a stick with one free hand and placed it over the fire, letting it burned, she placed it again on top of the rest of the wood. She smiled greatly on her success, almost wanting to jump up and down for joy, she's a FIRE BENDER! but she knew she can't do that right now, she fetched for more wood before going back to bed, all warmed up inside and out.
In the morning, she woke up, though she was still tired, she was rushed to get ready for the day. In the kitchen, her mother told her to gather sticks and wood to build a fire to start cooking breakfast for the royal family, she came with a stack and threw the wood into the fireplace, the flying dust made her nose itchy, as she threw more wood in, The dust made her sneeze so hard that she accidentally blew fire, lighting the wood underneath the pot. A plate was broken, she turned around and saw her mother, shocked to what she just saw.
"Omi, you... you made that happened?" She asked her, trying to keep calm.
"Uh..." Omi thought nervously,
"Yeah?" She said, Her mother swallowed hard,
"By any chance, did you... bend fire last night?" She asked quietly, Omi stood quietly, not liking the way her mother reacted.
"Omi," Her mother began to say,
"Yes I did, Mother," Omi said, looking down in disappointment,
"Omi, I want you to listen carefully," Her mother said, sounding serious,
"Try not to fire bend anymore," She said,
"What?"
Her mother looked at her, feeling sorry that she had to say this to her.
"Darling, I'm so proud of you," Her mother hugged her tightly,
"But remember who we are," She said to her.
"They could hurt us if we ever knew how to bend,"
Omi backed up in horror,
"No, mother, we'll run away!" Omi protested,
"No, Omi, we can't run!" Her mother stood up,
"We'll be in danger if we do,"
"But mother-"
"Didn't you hear what I just said!" She raised her voice,
Omi teared up and untied her apron,
"I hate being a slave!" She said as she threw the apron onto the floor. She ran out of the kitchen,
leaving her mother alone and tearing up as well.
Meanwhile~
Zuko ran through the halls, today he hid the doll in his bedroom, somewhere beneath his closet, that's a place
no one will look and probably want to take it away... like Azula for example.
"Still looking for your girlfriend?" Azula spoke, running behind him,
"Back Off!" Zuko said as Azula stopped in front of him,
"You really need to consider the ''bond'' you have with that dust rag," She continued,
"You're just jealous because I made a friend while you scare yours," Zuko said, with a mocking smile,
"Well, at least they're the kind of people I can hang around with. While you and her, it's forbidden," She said,
"What do you mean 'forbidden'? " Zuko sneered,
"You didn't know?" Azula acted as if she was shocked,
"Well, there's no surprise in that," She muttered,
"Spit it out Azula!" Zuko yelled,
"Such in a hurry to hear that she's a slave?" Azula raised an eyebrow,
"What?" Zuko said, surprised.
"Sheeee's a... slaaaave," she prolonged her words,
Zuko was shocked, he tried to hide it.
"So?" Zuko said, shaking his head,
"Sooo, she's in the low-to-no class, whatsoever," Azula responded, checking her nails,
"But that doesn't change anything!" He said,
"Oh of course it does," She said as she started to circle him,
"You see, your relationship with that slave is practically band from public, let alone in your home,"
"But mother likes her,"
"Oh please, mother doesn't know what she's doing," Azula rolled her eyes,
"Hey! don't say that about mom!" Zuko protested,
"Alright, Alright," Azula raised her hands in defeat,
"But, one thing Zuzu," She continued,
"Your relationship has to end, no slave nor servant has to create a bond with their owner,"
"But I-"
"P-lease. Don't be a baby," Azula hissed,
"You have to end it, it's practically a law you know," She said crossing her arms,
Zuko felt disappointed, but he didn't want to believe it, why should he end up his friendship with Omi? just because Azula said so? No way!
"You're lying Azula! there's no such thing as that stupid law!" He protested,
"I'm just giving my brother a fair warning, but remember," She started walking away,
"Rules are rules. Don't say that I didn't told you so," She disappeared around the corner.
Zuko shook his head, he couldn't believe that his friend is a slave, could she really be? Well, even if she was, she was still his best friend. He shook his head, ignoring Azula's words and headed towards the garden.
Omi was already at the garden, stroking her braid, her cheeks felt dry from all the tears, she reassured herself that everything's going to be okay. Although her mother told her not to, she breathe in and focused, she held out her hands and made a flame burning with perfection, she let it out and stood up, checking to see if anyone was around, no one.
Well, there is a reason this garden is secret.
She striked a pose and breathed, focused on her stance like what she saw the fire students do, she tried the first move, letting fire run from her fingers, she smiled to herself seeing her achievement, she prepared herself for the other move.
"What are you doing?"
A voice surprised her, making her lose balance and fall.
She immediately looked up and saw Zuko, standing and giggling quietly. She glared at him.
"Hey! what are you trying to do?!" she said when she stood up. Zuko stopped his giggling and looked up in confusion,
"I hope you weren't trying to get me caught!" Omi added, she gasped, realizing that she shouldn't have said that,
"What are you talking about? I wasn't doing anything!" Zuko said. Omi stood up straight,
" well... Good, that's what I thought." She said confidently, placing her hands on her hips.
Zuko raised an eyebrow,
"You're weird," he said, coming closer,
"And very suspicious..." He said, leaning closely,
"What are you doing?" She asked nervously,
"Playing detective," He said,
"What's that?" Omi asked, Zuko realized that she wasn't too familiar with it, he shrugged it off, deciding on another thing to do.
"Nevermind, here, I have something to show you!" He said as he mentioned her to follow him. They ran towards the wall and onto the palace grounds towards a pond filled with turtle-ducklings, Omi's eyes brightened when she first saw them.
"They're so cute!" She exclaimed,
"Yeah, here you go," Zuko took out a bread from his vest pocket, parting it into two and giving one piece to Omi.
"I... eat it?" she asked,
"No silly, you break it into smaller pieces and you feed them," He said as he demonstrated her, the ducks came closer, nibbling into the water for the crumbs. Omi giggled with glee.
"Try it," Zuko encouraged, Omi did exactly what he did, happy to be sharing a bonding moment with these creatures,
"This is sooo nice!" She exclaimed with glee.
Zuko smiled seeing her happy, then he noticed someone approaching,
"Hey mom!" He said as he ran to her, His mother immediately knelted down and grabbed her son by the shoulders.
"Zuko, why are you two near the palace?" She asked him, looking straight in his eyes,
"Uh... I wanted to show her how to feed the ducks," Zuko replied, feeling sorry.
"Zuko, next time, play in the hidden garden with Omi, please," His mother begged. Sounding serious and worried.
"But mom, I..." He said before giving in,
"Okay,"
They approached Omi, who was waiting for them. She bowed respectfully to the princess,
"Good morning your highness," She smiled sweetly,
"Good morning Omi," The princess replied,
"Zuko, it will be time for you to prepare yourself for your lesson," The princess turned to Zuko,
"And Omi, please dear, go back to your mother, she needs your help,"
Both children frowned, they left together out of sight before going their separate ways.
~What am I going to do?~ she thought,
~if something happened to her, It will be my fault,~
Voila! I've came back with another chapter, tell me what you think about it and I'll be nice enough to reply. Here we've discovered more about Omi, her ancestors and the dreadful thought of being able to fire bend but not allowed to do it. Ugh. Why!
And I totally am disliking Azula, she's the real spoiler! But that's what makes her a good antagonist, or a... pretty. Bad. One? hehe ^^ But now that we know why Omi isn't allow to fire bend, what do you think will happen if she's ever caught? *Mystery*
Ta.
