I apologize once again for the long wait. Like…a really long wait. Did you know how freaking busy college can be? Especially when you have a job? Pretty busy. And of course there's other stuff going on. Ohohohohoh, and I'm a BETA for a writer that I have befriended! :D Her pen name on here is our-dreams. And her story is Black Falcon. If you like the show Young Justice and you don't mind an OC (like this story lol), then I totally suggest for you to check it out.
I love you guys for sticking with me, and I enjoy the newcomers! Thank you everyone! I hope you enjoy!
I inhaled sharply as Lee kicked me away from him once again. I staggered back, panting heavily. He held his sword in front of me once again, his face expressionless as he said, "you're dead."
I slumped as I looked at him, "do you think I would be winning when I started eight days ago?"
He smirked, "then that means you'll just have to try harder."
I took in a deep breath, suppressing a growl; he's been doing this to me whenever we trained. We started sparring the day after he started teaching me. I guess that's a little too quick to introduce something dangerous, but he did. Why would he trust me with dual swords so soon? Probably because I was fighting him and he was way better than me. Lee was a good teacher, to my surprise, great at explaining what and why I was doing, and I think it helped that I was also a visual learner. As we sparred, he would compliment on some of my moves, and then told me what I needed to improve on during and after the match.
"Are you too tired to continue," Lee questioned. He was confident in me, but I could see the worry in his eyes. I do have new bruises and minor cuts, but the cuts were from my clumsiness and the bruises…well, I've been training.
I shook my head and a corner of my lips lifted up, "no, we're just getting started." I ran at him with my twin swords and feinted, pivoting around him. I already knew that he would, but I was ready to cut him, and he blocked it and countered with his usual ease. I was able to dodge it in time and back away as I began to wonder how to disarm him.
Lee advanced towards me as I thought, and soon enough, he lunged. Naturally I blocked, both of his twin swords were in his right hand, my left sword was inside, to parry his blade. I took a step closer and brought my sword up, while touching his blade the whole time. I wrapped the sword around his and pointed the tip of mine outside of his blade and made a quick jerk.
The swords flew out of his hand, landing a few feet away. I pointed my left sword at his chest and my right over my head, in a dragon stance, "you're dead."
I smiled to myself; I actually used my brain for once. This is what I get for paying attention in math class and applying it to life! I was actually able to disarm Lee, a sword master. The sudden thought made me hope he didn't go easy on me. That would put me down quite a bit.
Lee smiled at me, a soft, sweet smile, "good job, Olivia. How did you figure out to disarm me?"
I shrugged, murmuring, "I just did it."
I went to hand the swords to Lee, but he put his hands up, "not yet. Let me teach you one more thing today. No more sparring for today, I promise."
I twirled a sword in my hand and grinned. What can I say? I'm an eager learner. All of this came to me as if I had learned it years ago, so I don't have to have the trouble remembering what I learned in the past few days when it just feels like a refresher.
He picked up his swords from the ground, "we'll start with the crane stance. You stand one once foot, your other at your knee, one hand at your hand, the other by the leg that you lifted. Like this." He showed me how to do it, and I walked around him, taking note of his posture. After I nodded, he stood normally and put his swords down, "try it."
So I did, lifting my left foot up to my knee, doing my best to maintain balance as I lifted my right arm above my head, positioning my hands to where they're supposed to be. The sword in my right hand was pointed to the direction I was looking, and the one in my left hand was downwards towards the ground. Once I was steady enough, Lee stepped in closer to me, putting a hand on mine and moved it up slightly, "Don't want your arm too close to your head, so if someone hits you, you won't hurt yourself."
My breath hitched in my throat as I noticed the distance between us. He was so close, I could smell him, even in sweat, he smelled amazing. "There," he said as he took a step back and crossed his arms, "that's perfect. Memorize that stance, maintain the balance, it can be used to dodge and block your opponent." He picked up his swords, "now remember, your aim is not to kill the enemy, just to disable them. There are three vital areas to stop him from attacking you."
I got out of the crane stance and tilted my head in interest, "really?" After a minute of thinking, I asked, "the tendons?"
Lee gave a nod and a small smile, "that's correct. The tricep, so he can't flex, the bicep so he can't move," he motioned the area just above his elbow, "make sure not to get too high on the bicep. And then the thigh, so he can't walk. And if he keeps coming after you, do the other side."
Ouch. Getting sliced there must hurt. A lot. Doesn't getting sliced just hurt in general? Why am I even thinking this? Silly me, having inward conversations with myself. I nodded, "Noted."
He continued with the lesson for about another half hour, showing me a movement then stopping to make sure I did it correctly and continued. When it was finished, I handed him my swords, smiling like a doofus because I love what I learn, "thank you for teaching me, Lee."
He chuckled and shook his head, "do you really have to say that after every time we practice?"
I nodded enthusiastically, "yes. I love learning. You should've known that by now."
"You're a fast learner. What takes years for people to learn…it takes you hours. You have talent."
I looked down at the ground with my hands clasped together, "thank you." Compliments directed towards me, I wasn't entirely used to. It was nice, but I'm a modest girl and I give other people the compliments, usually not the other way around.
"Go ahead inside, I'll put the swords away," he told me as he walked over to the case. I walked inside went to our bedroom. I sat down on my bed, then one farthest from the door.
Lee then walked in with two apples, he tossed one to me and I eagerly caught it and took a bite from it, savoring the fresh juices of the apple as I chewed it. I swallowed and grinned at him, "thanks, Lee."
He smiled back, but of course it wasn't a huge smile, it was one of his rare, genuine smiles, which happened more often than it did a few days ago, "no problem."
I couldn't help but lightly blush, we grew closer over the past week, and it felt good to have someone my age to talk to. Lee frequently asked if I remembered anything about my past, and so far no such luck. He seemed quite curious about it now that I think about it. I looked at Lee, "we don't have work tomorrow, do we?"
He shook his head, 'we have the day off tomorrow, so training is in the morning."
"Figures," I sighed.
I woke up gasping for air. The dream still ran vividly through my mind, replaying in my head over and over again. It was hot in here- oh- I'm sweating. I then noticed Lee; he was sitting on my bed, probably trying to wake me up. "Did I wake you," I asked tiredly.
He nodded, "yeah, you did," he answered softly. I could see his eyes shining in the darkness, awake and full of worry, his hand was on my arm, caressing me. Did he even realize he was doing that? "Were you having a nightmare?"
"I think it was a memory," I was breathing heavily and brought my hands to my forehead.
"What was it about?"
I avoided his eye contact and looked down, "the death of my parents." I felt my eyes starting to water as the memory ran fresh through my mind, retelling the story.
Emerald eyes held the determination and worry of my mother as she ushered me into the closet. "Stay quiet, no matter what happens," she softly ordered. As she said it sent shivers down my spine and I grew frightened as I nodded silently. She closed the door and I peeked through a small hole as the Firebenders piled into the room.
"Where are they," one of the men demanded.
She looked at them, her demeanor showed nothing of what she must have felt inside. "Who are you talking about?" How could she remain so calm and tranquil?
Another snarled, "You know exactly who we're talking about! Where are they?" He grabbed Mother by the neck and shoved her against the wall, making her black hair fall from her intricate bun.
Her hands grabbed onto his wrist, trying to rip it away from her, "I told you," she choked, "I don't know…who you're… talking about."
The first one narrowed his eyes, his voice had a hidden meaning behind his question, "are you sure?" if she didn't give them the stuff they wanted…
"I. Do. Not. Know," she said slowly and defiantly.
The one that held her sighed, "fine then, I guess we'll just have to kill you."
She made no scream. She didn't look frightened at all, but courageous, as a tear managed to slide down her cheek. The man drew back his right hand, summoning fire on his palm, but I also saw something else. A spark; a blue flashing light, I couldn't identify what it was though. He struck her with the heel of his hand, and she immediately went limp. The soldier let go of her and she fell to the ground, her body still and lifeless.
A few months later, my father was getting beaten by a large group of fire nation soldiers. His wrists were tied behind his back as he stood there, taking it all. He bent over, doing his best to keep standing hit by hit. His golden eyes glanced at me, full of sorrow. There was a meaning behind those eyes, almost like they were telling me to run away.
His brown hair was being pulled on, forcing him to look away. They were cursing and laughing at him, taunting him and calling him a traitor of the Fire Nation. It was then the leader took out a long dagger,quickly cutting off his hands and feet. Father fell forward onto the ground, the dirt around him made a small cloud. He gritted his teeth to refrain from the scream that stuck in his throat, but his eyes were wet with tears.
The soldiers forced him into a kneeling position, as the commander took off his head.
I felt arms wrap around me, and Lee came closer, allowing me to bury my face in his chest as the tears streamed down my face. I found it upsetting that I couldn't remember if there was anyone else besides me- watching my mother die- it was all blurry, like if the dream made me far-sighted. I tried to focus on Lee's soothing words as he attempted to calm me. It was a lot harder than it seemed, but it was comforting to know that there was someone here for me.
When I was finally able to suck it up- yes, I'm harsh to myself- I looked at Lee, but he spoke before I could say anything, "I'm sorry…for asking about it…I…" He really didn't know how to react. If I was in a better mood, I would have laughed.
"It's alright," I croaked, I have been crying, so why wouldn't I have a dry voice? "Gosh I'm thirsty."
Lee smirked and stood up, "I'll get you a glass of water." He left the room, quietly sliding the door closed behind him.
I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. What made my memories come back in a dream? Yet it felt so real, like as if I was there again, thinking the same thoughts I was during the days the events happened. But it felt like some of those thoughts…some images were censored out. It was reassuring to know what my parents looked like, now I don't have that sense of guilt every time I try to remember them. I know that I love them. I've always known that.
My thoughts were pushed away when Lee entered the room with a glass of water. I eagerly took it from him, took a small sip and asked him, "are we still training tomorrow?"
He shrugged and calmly replied, "if you want to."
I guzzled down my water like there was no tomorrow, "of course I want to. I don't like being bored, and might as well be productive." It was true; I hated being bored and doing nothing, that's when I started to do stupid things to entertain myself. And I promise you, the things I can come up with are quite insane. Fun, but insane.
Well, training went okay I guess. I got new cuts and bruises, and I didn't win a match. Lee beat the crap out of me, but I still didn't go down without a fight. I get determined when I train, there's nothing wrong with it- if you don't mind getting hurt more.
I wore my dark green long sleeved tunic and brown pants that Mushi bought me because my other cloths were worn and people would stare at me like I was some kind of a psycho when I wore them. My dirty blonde hair was down, taking form of its wild, curly self.
The shopping center was rather busy today, people clustered around sales tables and walked from building to building in their little shopping groups. Why did I even come out here alone again? It didn't matter at the moment; my mind was lost in thought. Mushi was right, Akura did come back the next day, and we talked to each other while I was on my break. He wanted to know me more, which I really didn't mind. Except for the fact that no one ever really bothered to get to know me. So it felt weird being asked all these questions. The only thing he didn't know was that I've been training with Lee, and the memory I had last night.
I took a seat at a restaurant to have lunch, and I was tired due to my evil shin splints. I ordered my food and some water, the nice waiter giving me a short bow before leaving. As I waited I thought of what I should do next…and well, nothing came up. Too bad Lee didn't want to come with me, it's boring by myself.
As I stared out into open space, someone took the seat across from me. But little did I notice, as I was staring off into the distance, distracted by the scary thing that people call my mind. "Hey, Olivia…are you there?"
I blinked several times and noticed Akura sitting in front of me, "oh, hi Akura. Sorry…I spaced out."
Akura chuckled, his blue eyes sparkling with happiness, "that's alright, why is the tea shop closed today?"
"Oh, we have the day off today, the boss said that we worked hard enough to deserve one," I answered.
Akura nodded, "you have been working hard. Well, in my standards. Do you mind if I eat lunch with you?"
I couldn't help but smile as I spoke in my usual soft voice, "of course not, Akura."
Thank you for reading the chapter! Please leave a review, it makes me happy and more inspired to write. Of course I'll do my best to write and post the next chapter ASAP.
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