THE PLEASURES OF PLANTS
Warmer months came and went again. Flowers filled the air with their smell, mild and sweet and different from what the wind had tasted like during spring.
Also different from the way flowers scented at home, in the Fire Nation.
In spring, the flowers here mostly smelled like grass, Mai thought. In summer, they smelled like flowers.
But nothing ever smelled like fire lilies; like sun roses or dragon daffodils. The air here wasn't flooded with the aroma of pepper-oranges and dry pomegranate-jujubes, the sun here wasn't as mighty and red and the people here didn't look like they craved all this sunshine and fed on it, in a way, like they were supposed to.
Mai was no bender, she was no constantly adventurous person either, and when she was outside in summer, she mostly hid in a large tree's shadow or underneath a parasol. But still, she was a citizen of her nation. Fire and heat slumbered somewhere in her veins, her very core was painted all dark red and black. Summer was a time to feel powerful, not exhausted, but so far away from home, the meaning of this season seamed to blur, and the people in Omashu seemed to infect her with their Earth Kingdom exhaustion.
Or perhaps, it wasn't even the heat, that made everyone here so boring. This city's resistance fighters lacked their usual endurance and stupid optimism, and perhaps, that was due to their permanent lack of control over their hometown.
Or, as Mai liked to think, also due to her own efforts.
Not, that fights against idiots weren't mainly about the fun. They were. Fun first, results second.
Fighting against idiots just wasn't all that fun, when you knew that it was basically all fun there ever was to be, these days.
Sometimes, Mai even found herself wishing for her parents to cause some severe military mistake, in order for them to leave this place and for some other family to endure the ever-lasting boringness of this hell-hole.
But of course, she wouldn't dare to say something like that aloud.
Most of her thoughts had to be kept in the private safety of her head.
Things were about to become a little nicer, soon, though. Mai had received a letter from her aunt Mura, who was about to visit Omashu in a few weeks. Mura owned a flower shop, at home in the Fire Nation.
So, perhaps, if Mai was lucky, there would be the smell of different flowers in her room here quite soon. Maybe even the smell of fire lilies.
It seemed like something small to hope for, but it would actually mean quite a lot to her, if that happened.
Not, that Mai would tell anyone else about such nonsense.
Author's note: Hi there! I'm so, so sorry for not posting anything on this for so long, I really don't know why I didn't. :/ A great thanks to everyone who's still reading, and also to people who might give this a try now! :) Thanks as well for the lovely feedback, you guys make me happy. :') I'll probably update another five or more last chapters to this over the course of the next few days, and then there's another Mai/ Maiko-thing on the way. :) Would be cool of you to check that out, too, of course, if you're interested. :) What else? Reviews are still more than welcome, ideas too, and I'm still searching for a Beta. ^^ Have a nice week!
