Hey everybody! Here's the third chapter of Madoka Ame! I hope you all like it! A special thanks to razzledazzle41191, RIRAITOxRAITO, Hiko-chan, and Twilight Rose2!!! Thank you all very much! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!!
Disclaimer:I do not own "Avatar: TLA". I do, however, own Haruki, Ming, Yu-Lin, Xian, Granny Asami, and this story. But if I did own "Avatar", Azula would be in prison in a straightjacket, Ozai would be dead, Ursa would come back from "vacation" (yes, I believe she is on "vacation") Jet would still be alive, and a whole bunch of other shit that went down would all be changed. Oh, and Aang and Katara would repopulate the Air Nomad race. That is all.
Friend or Foe?
Yu-Lin once again found herself at the turtle-duck pond, outside the palace, the next day watching them swim around and scramble for the food she threw at them. She knew she wasn't supposed to be there; she was supposed to help Ming and Haruki, another servant four years older than her, clean Fire Lord Azulon's war room. They were ordered to finish before he woke, but since it was still quite early and the sun hadn't completely risen, Yu-Lin reasoned, she would just stay by the pond for a little while and then hurry and meet them.
"I'm sure they'll still have a lot more to do once I get there; the war room is huge, I'll help them out then," she said to the swimming turtle-ducks as she tossed more bread in the water. She continued to watch them and slowly sunk into another daydream, her eyes becoming blank and vacant as she stared into space.
Because of this, she failed to notice someone approach her quietly from behind. The stranger stood a few feet behind her and took her out of her trance by softly calling out her name. The young girl almost fell into the pond with fright. She quickly composed herself and stood up, facing the newcomer.
Her eyes widened when she realized who stood before her.
"Your Excellency, Princess Ursa!" said the child in a hushed, and shocked tone. The servant girl crumpled to her knees and bowed in respect to the Princess.
Ursa wore a long, flowing red robe with a golden collar designed with flames around the hem of it. Her shoulders and chest were protected with armor, and the long, wide sleeves of her robes were laced with long gold fabric. They fluttered in the wind as she stood, looking warmly at the bowing girl, with her golden eyes. Ursa wore her long, silky, ebony hair down except for one part. She had arranged that part of her hair into a topknot where a flame-shaped crown rested.
She continued to smile kindly towards Yu-Lin. "You may rise, Yu-Lin," she said softly. The girl hastened to obey. Like always, she kept her eyes to the ground.
"What are you doing out here by yourself?" asked the Princess. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Yu-Lin nodded, her face reddening with embarrassment and shame.
"Where are you meant to be now?" inquired Ursa.
Yu-Lin was silent for a moment then answered, "I am meant to be in His Esteemed Royal Highness, Fire Lord Azulon's war room, Majesty. I am to help Ming and Haruki clean it before he awakens. But I must be too late since your Excellency is already up and has found me sitting here doing nothing and rejecting my duties and for that I beg forgiveness." Yu-Lin's throat tightened at the end of her sentence and became one octave higher than usual.
The elder Princess laughed slightly, surprising the ten-year-old girl before her. Unintentionally, she raised her head and looked up at her, her expression one of mingled surprise and confusion. Had she said something funny? She prayed to the Spirits that she hadn't accidentally said something that would cause her even more embarrassment.
Ursa's laugh died away and she stared warmly towards Yu-Lin who blinked and bowed her head and stared at her feet.
"You have no need to worry, young one," she said. "I came out here for a short walk through the grounds. It's something that I like to do once in a while when the Spirits do not grant me rest during the night…something to clear my mind." She looked upward towards the sky for a moment and was silent. After a minute, she looked back at Yu-Lin, with her smile upon her lips once more. "Don't worry. Fire Lord Azulon is still sound asleep. He doesn't wake up until the sun has properly risen."
Yu-Lin remained silent after hearing this, but inside she sighed with relief. For a moment she thought she would be reprimanded for her actions. Princess Ursa is quite kind, she thought, much unlike her daughter. Princess Ursa is like Mother. They both have such kindness. Prince Zuko must take after her.
"Come Yu-Lin," said Ursa, kneeling down to Yu-Lin's level and looking into her eyes. "I'll take you to the war room. Ming and Haruki must be waiting for you by now." Yu-Lin nodded in agreement, and followed in step behind the elder Princess to Fire Lord Azulon's war room.
"Argh! When is she going to get here?" cried Haruki, throwing her rag into the wooden bucket next to her in anger, and splashing soapy water everywhere and managing to get a considerable amount on her front. She and Ming were busy cleaning and had been there in the war room for a considerable about of time and there was no sign of Yu-Lin still. They were nearly finished.
Ming looked up from her job of cleaning the floor at Haruki looking down at her sopping wet front, horrified.
"Look at me!" shrieked the fourteen year old. "Now I'm all wet because of her! This wouldn't have happened to me if she were here in the first place! If she's having a grand old time with those stupid turtle-ducks again, Spirits help me, I'll…"
Ming tuned her out, rolled her eyes and continued working. Haruki thought so much of herself, just because she was one of the oldest of the younger servants. She was always pampering herself and trying to make herself look as beautiful as possible, which—Ming had to admit—she always did.
Ming looked back up at Haruki, now muttering to herself that she could not possibly walk through the palace looking like she just got out of a sewer and she would have to ask a sick servant if she could borrow her clothes for the rest of the day while hers dried.
Ming narrowed her eyes at Haruki. She's so full of herself! She thought angrily. She watched as Haruki tossed her long, ebony hair out of her field of vision, picked up the wet rag from the bucket and continued scrubbing the pillar she was cleaning. Ming had to admit…she was pretty. She almost had the body of a woman, though some of her features were…lacking. Her lashes long and dark, and her eyes were almost the same color as honey. She was tall and svelte and when she walked, it was with the grace of a dancer in the market square.
Ming sighed turned back to her job of floor-cleaner. "Please hurry up, Yu-Lin," she muttered. "If I have to hear Haruki whine about one more thing, I think I'll go insane!" And she scrubbed the floor vigorously in her frustration.
After five minutes, she heard a voice in the doorway call her name and she looked up. There was Yu-Lin smiling and waving at her, standing next to Princess Ursa. Ming hastened to get to her feet and bowed at the Princess. She tried to say a word of greeting to her, but her mouth had gone dry.
She took a breath and opened her mouth again to try to speak when Haruki cried, "There you are, Yu-Lin! It's about time you got here! Look at—" she stopped when she caught sight of the elder Princess. She took one shocked look at her, and quickly bent at the hips in a bow. Ursa smiled down at both of them then said, "Yu-Lin has been with me for the time being, that's why she's a bit late." She turned to face the young girl beside her. "Goodbye, Yu-Lin. It was nice talking to you." She patted her head, and looked at the other two girls. "Good day," she said, and left. Once gone, Haruki rounded on Yu-Lin.
"Do you know how long we've been waiting for you?" she demanded. "We've been working our butts off in here, and you just randomly decide to show up with a smile on your face like you enjoyed watching us break our backs scrubbing the pillars and floor! Look what you did to me!" She flung her arms to the side so Yu-Lin could see that her clothes were soaked.
Yu-Lin blinked and looked at Ming who just rolled her eyes.
"Don't you have anything to say for yourself?!" continued Haruki. Yu-Lin stared back at Haruki and said, "I'm sorry for having troubled you, Haruki. But you shouldn't blame me that you got your job of washing the pillar confused with washing your clothes."
And with that, she went to Ming's bucket and started wringing the wet cloth dry, leaving the fourteen year old rooted to her spot looking angry and flabbergasted. Ming, on the other hand, looked disturbed. She knew when Yu-Lin acted that way she was upset about something. Ming decided to find out what.
"Hey," she whispered, kneeling down to her level, "what's wrong? What's bothering you?"
Yu-Lin was silent for a moment as she absentmindedly replaced the cloth in the bucket and wrung it over and over again. After the fifth time she did this, she submerged the cloth and her hands in the soapy water and left them there and stared down at them.
"Her Excellency, Princess Ursa is troubled about something," she finally said, her voice barely audible.
"Huh?" said Ming, leaning closer to hear. In the background, Haruki stomped back to her bucket and started scrubbing a pillar, muttering to herself. Yu-Lin and Ming ignored her completely.
"What did you say?" inquired Ming again. Yu-Lin looked at the water once more, then looked at Ming, her expression one of utmost seriousness.
"Princess Ursa is worried about something," she repeated.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. But she told me she couldn't sleep last night. And when she does, she has terrible dreams: Like something bad is going to happen. She sounded really unnerved about it." Ming stared at her, then at the ground, her eyes narrowed, thinking.
"Granny Asami says that sometimes the Spirits grant visions to those they feel are in some kind of danger…or as a warning of some kind," she said, referring to an elder servant of around sixty-seven who was a great believer in the Spirits and their World. She wasn't really her grandmother, but the old woman was so kind and loving to everyone, that the other servants just started calling her that one day and the name stuck. Granny Asami didn't seem to mind one bit.
"You think the Spirits are giving her Excellency a vision of something bad then?" asked Yu-Lin, worried. Ming shifted her gaze to her.
"Anything is possible, I suppose," she said. "But…" she got up and stretched. "…I don't feel much like discussing something that has to do with the Spirits and their mystical powers," she formed imaginary quotation marks with her hands. "We still have to finish up here."
"Does anywhere else need to be cleaned?" asked Yu-Lin. "You and Haruki are practically finished here anyway."
"The sparring room still needs to be cleaned. I'll meet you over there; I have to fill this bucket with water again," replied her friend as she picked up the empty bucket and cloth and placed it inside. "I'll see you later." Yu-Lin nodded and left.
Water sloshed over the side of the bucket as Yu-Lin set it down once again to rest and catch her breath. She wiped sweat from her forehead and said, "At this rate, I'll never make it to the sparring room." Nevertheless, she picked up the wooden bucket and went on her way.
She continued on carrying her heavy load, when she suddenly felt it become considerably lighter. She looked to her right, and saw Ty Lee, who apparently snuck up behind her and was helping her carry the bucket between them.
"M-M-Miss Huang!" stammered Yu-Lin. "Y-you don't have to do that! Please, you shouldn't soil your hands to help me."
Ty Lee just smiled and said, "Don't be silly: I want to help you. It's the least I can do after…what Azula did to you the other day." She said the last bit with a hint of remorse in her voice. Yu-Lin didn't say anything…she knew what Ty Lee was talking about.
"I want to apologize for her," she continued, her voice sounding more remorseful. "She shouldn't have done that to you." She looked at the servant. "It was totally uncalled for. I'm sorry."
They both stopped and said no more. Yu-Lin stared down at the floor, shocked, and Ty Lee looked directly at her, eyes filled with sympathy. They were both silent for a while.
"Thank you," whispered Yu-Lin, breaking the silence. "But…it's all right—"
"No, it's not!" interrupted Ty Lee, her voice fierce. "You shouldn't have to go through that—nobody should! What she does is down right mean to you. You should stick up for yourself!"
"I can't," breathed Yu-Lin.
"Huh?"
"I can't do it. She's the princess, if I say one word against her…she'll have me punished. And punishments here…" Yu-Lin's voice trailed away as she absentmindedly place a hand to her neck. Ty Lee gently placed the bucket on the floor; the servant girl following suit.
The nobleman's daughter then sighed briskly and placed her hands on her hips, a confident smile on her face. "Look at me, Yu-Lin," she said to her. The servant looked, and was slightly confused as to why she was looking at her the way she was.
"You said you don't want to be punished by Azula right?" Yu-Lin nodded, and Ty Lee continued by saying, "Well then, I guess I'll have to protect you from her, like Prince Zuko is!"
"What?!" exclaimed Yu-Lin, now more confused than ever as to Ty Lee's suddenly jubilant attitude.
Ty Lee nodded and carried on saying, "That's right! I'm going to help him protect you from Azula. You know why?" she challenged her.
Yu-Lin responded by shaking her head, as to which Ty Lee countered by taking both her hands and holding them in hers and saying softly, "Because I'm your friend. Don't you ever forget that. I'm your friend and friends stick by each other. I promise, I'll do my best to make sure Azula doesn't hurt you. Ok?"
Yu-Lin smiled widely, and her eyes filled with tears once more as she expressed her deepest gratitude to Ty Lee who smiled and told her that it was the least she could do.
"So," she said, once Yu-Lin stopped crying tears of joy and the two had picked up the bucket once again, "where are we going with this thing anyway?"
"The sparring room," replied Yu-Lin. "I have to clean it. Ming's coming too, she said she'll help me."
"Oooh. Okay, then," said Ty Lee, her voice filled with bubbly happiness.
They made fair progress as they walked together through the palace, and what seemed like no time at all, they had reached the sparring quarters. It was its own room, secluded from the rest of the palace—its only connection to it a small hallway joining it with the palace.
The two young girls had set their bucket of water onto the floor and Yu-Lin peered inside to make sure no one—mainly Azula—was inside. Instead, she was greeted with the sight of two boys sparring each other using their firebending skills in the center of the room. She recognized one of them as Prince Zuko. Both boys were wearing training outfits.
In a dark corner of the room, stood a man of middle age, with graying hair tied in a topknot, a moustache, and beard. He wore a sleeveless black shirt lined with silver, and matching pants. On his feet, he wore dark flexible shoes to go with his ensemble.
He was watching the two young boys very closely; his arms folded across his chest a small frown upon his face. Yu-Lin deduced that the man was obviously the boys' teacher.
"Is there anybody in there?" whispered Ty Lee from behind her. The servant girl jumped; she had forgotten she was there.
"Yes," said Yu-Lin, looking at her. "Prince Zuko is sparring with someone, and there's a man watching them. I think he might be their teacher."
"Indeed, I am," said a deep voice from the doorway. The two girls nearly jumped out of their skin. They took a step back from the now widely open door, and looked up into the face of the Sparring Teacher.
"Can I help you?" he asked them, his tone unpleasant. Ty Lee and Yu-Lin remained quiet, until someone broke the silence.
"Hi, Yu-Lin," said Prince Zuko, coming from behind his teacher, smiling widely at his friend. He looked at Ty Lee, and his voice became menacing. "Ty Lee," he uttered, glaring at her. "Why are you here? Have you come to pick on Yu-Lin again?" he demanded of her.
She looked taken aback at the sudden accusation but she stood her ground and said, "No. For your information, I helped her carry this heavy bucket all the way over here! I would never dream of picking on her! Why should I?"
"Well, you didn't do anything the last time Azula tormented her, so…" replied the Prince, his voice trailing away.
"Well, those days are over!" countered Ty Lee. "I vowed to protect her from Azula for as long as I live! Yu-Lin and I are friends now," she added, giving the servant girl a tight hug, and giggling. Yu-Lin looked at Zuko and gave him a weak smile of embarrassment.
"It's true," she said. Zuko looked from Yu-Lin to Ty Lee, then sighed and said, "Okay. But remember, Ty Lee…you promised." He golden eyes stared directly into Ty Lee's gray ones, all warmth within them gone and replaced by cold steel. His eyes seemed to challenge her, as if he wanted to prove to himself that she was lying. Ty Lee just smiled gave him a salute in response.
"Are you here to clean the sparring room then, little girl?" asked the Sparring Teacher. Yu-Lin nodded.
"Well then, Prince Zuko," he said turning his attention to him, "I guess your training is over for today. You are improving, but you still need a lot of work to do. I will see you tomorrow. Xian!" he called to the boy, still standing in the middle of the room. "Come along, it is time to go home."
"Coming, Father," said Xian, and he ran to his side. Xian's father turned to face Zuko, who bowed and said, "Good-bye, Xian. Good-bye, Sifu Jeong Jeong."
Jeong Jeong nodded his head and left while his son lingered a bit and started giving Zuko moves to work on before they meet again. It was only after his father called his name again did he run to meet him, but not before saying that he hoped Zuko would take to heart what he said, and that his sparring would become much better the next time they meet.
Ty Lee stared at the pair of them as they left. Once out of earshot she asked Zuko, awestruck, "That was Admiral Jeong Jeong? He trains you?"
"Yeah," said Zuko, with the air of someone saying that they ride hogmonkeys for a living. "He trains both Xian and me at the same time. When we've mastered a move of some kind, we spar together and see if we can use it properly," he explained. "But enough about that, Yu-Lin has cleaning to do. I'm going to go change." With that, he left the two girls alone in silence.
"Well," said Ty Lee, picking up the bucket and looking at Yu-Lin, "c'mon! We've got cleaning to do!" Then, without waiting for her, she proceeded to walk into the room, Yu-Lin trailing behind her, confused.
"Wait, you're helping me?" she asked, as Ty Lee set the bucket down, wrung the wet cloth dry, and started scrubbing the floor, on her hands and knees.
"Of course," she said, looking up and smiling. "That's what friends do!" Yu-Lin smiled and went to help her. She looked around for another cloth, then, realizing there was no other, she tore off a piece of her dress and used it instead.
The two of them worked for some time, talking to one another and getting to know each other a little more. Ty Lee discovered that Yu-Lin's father—once a servant as well—had died before she was even born; hanged himself on the palace grounds near the turtle-duck pond. After this morbid piece of information, the two continued working in silence.
After a while, the entrance door slamming open broke the silence. The girls looked up from their work, and saw Azula and Mai walking in. The hand Ty Lee held the cloth in was clutched tightly around it, her knuckles white while Yu-Lin quickly looked away, pretending fruitlessly to be invisible.
Azula looked from Ty Lee to Yu-Lin and smirked devilishly. "Ty Lee," she said, walking towards Yu-Lin and roughly pulling her hair so hard that the servant girl out a small yelp of pain. "Why are you on your hands and knees with this trash?" The Princess looked down at Yu-Lin, a demonic grin on her lips.
The nobleman's daughter made an effort to help Yu-Lin but stopped herself. "I…uh…" she stammered. What was Azula going to say when she found out she had befriended Yu-Lin? Will she treat her the same way?
Yes, she thought.
"You wouldn't be helping her would you?" sneered Azula, pulling Yu-Lin's hair even harder so that she gave a tiny scream. "Are you telling me your friends with such garbage?" continued the Princess scathingly.
Ty Lee hesitated. She looked from the helpless girl to the powerful, intimidating Princess as if deciding whom to choose. Finally she said, "No…of course not." She bit her tongue.
Yu-Lin's eyes—which were already filling up with painful tears—widened in horror. What happened to everything she told her a mere minutes ago as they walked together? What happened to her being her friend?
It was a lie, she thought, her eyes filling up rapidly with more tears, which flowed down her face.
"That's what I thought," spat Azula, letting go of Yu-Lin and thrusting her away as if she were something unpleasant and slimy.
"You have ten seconds," she said indifferently, conjuring up fire in between her hands. "The old hags said I should practice my aim," she continued, referring to the old two twin women, Lo and Li, who trained her. "What better way to perfect that than with a moving target?" she sneered.
Yu-Lin gasped and hastily mad to stand and run, but before she could move and inch, Azula screamed, "Time's up!" and hurled fire in her direction.
Yu-Lin quickly dodged out of the way and ran to the opposite end of the room, Azula enjoying her victim's peril and sneering. The Princess hurled another fireball at the helpless young girl, who nearly missed it by serving out of the way just in time.
Azula's laugh was like a death sentence. She continued to laugh and throw fireball after fireball at the poor servant until her laughter caught in her throat and was replaced by a yelp of surprise.
Prince Zuko had come unnoticed by any of them, from behind her and swiped his foot underneath her. His sister came crashing to the floor, stunned and furious.
The Prince, now dressed in his normal clothing, straightened up and folded his arms. "Leave Yu-Lin alone," he ordered, "and get out."
His sister growled, flipped over, and stood up facing him.
"I have sparring lessons now Zuzu," she spat, "I have to be here."
"The two monsters won't be here for a while," countered Zuko. "Now leave." Azula said nothing, gave a contemptuous look at her brother and she and Mai left. As soon as she was gone, Zuko ran to Yu-Lin's side.
"Are you all right?" he asked, putting an arm around her. She nodded, too shaken up to speak. The Prince smiled, which was quickly erased and replaced with a frown, and he turned his attention to Ty Lee still sitting on the floor with the bucket and cloth.
"I thought you said you were going to protect Yu-Lin!" he yelled at her. Yu-Lin looked up at him and was almost as frightened of him as she was of his sister. His voice was cold and accusatory, and the kindness within his eyes was replaced with cold anger and hatred. It was almost as if he were a completely different person.
At the Prince's words, Ty Lee flinched.
"You swore, Ty Lee—you vowed! Why didn't you do anything?!" demanded Zuko, holding on to Yu-Lin tightly.
Ty Lee remained quiet, not able to say anything. She was too ashamed to speak and instead she stared at the ground, tears filling her eyes.
"You said you were Yu-Lin's friend," continued Zuko relentlessly, "start acting like it." He then led Yu-Lin away, leaving Ty Lee in the empty room, crying silently.
Ok, there you have it! The third chapter! I got to tell you that this took FOREVER to write. I was working on it all day yesterday until midnight, then I had to go to bed, but I continued to write the ending (which in my opinion is really good considering it was written at 2 in the morning) down in a notebook so I won't forget it, and I just finished now at, like, noon.
So I really hope you like it! Yes, Jeong Jeong has a son! I don't know why, but ever since I created Xian, I thought of his dad to be an Admiral or Lieutenant. Zhao would have been too obvious, and I really didn't want him to be a father, so I thought "why not JJ? He's cool enough. And all that discipline he's talks about would be perfect for him to drill into the mind of a kid!" So there he is, Xian: The son of the greatest firebender ever!
Oh, and one more thing: I'm thinking of splitting this story into parts. Like this:
Part I: childhood--Zuko's banishment
Part II: Zuko's banishment--wandering around looking for him
Part III: Wandering--present canon/season 3
What do you think? They're all going to be chronicling Yu-Lin and what she goes through but I just want to get your opinion of it. If I do something like this, will you read them? I'm planning to have them have with the same first title, like "Madoka Ame:" then something else. Like a series. Anyway, just wanted to get your opinion on it is all. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Oh, and a little parting gift before I stop my rambling, SEASON THREE PREMIERS SEPT. 21st! MAKE SURE YOU WATCH IT!! If you can't watch it…then Tivo it or something. BUT WATCH IT! See you in chapter 4! I'm wiped!
