Pre A/N: I am finally free to be writing again :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything related to it. But this story, its plot and any original characters/locations created here belong to me.
Chapter 7: The Celestial Benders
Katara's contentment with Zuko's sleeping state was brought to a close when the firebender opened his eyes, that 'soft' look disappearing and being replaced with confusion instead.
"What in bacui berries are you wearing?" he asked, sitting up by propping himself on his elbows, still lying on his back.
He had a good reason to ask, for Katara was wearing an outfit very different to her usual faded-blue tunic and breeches. Her feet were covered with soft, black pumps instead of her usual boots, which had been placed neatly with her sleeping bag next to the tree behind her. She had been shocked to find her old pair of leggings with her, since she had not worn them since they left west Earth Kingdom. Their midnight blue material molded perfectly onto her legs, and she felt that familiar feeling of lightness and comfort. The tunic she wore was the part that mainly concerned Zuko; it was a cornflower blue halter-neck garment, coming down to just below her calves with two slits on the sides for her legs from the bottom to her mid-thighs. A white obi sash tied it together, covering the material on her waist from her hips to the first of her ribs.
Katara just finished clipping her mother's necklace around her neck when Zuko awoke. She whirled around to face him; the new tunic appeared to be wrap-around just like her other tunic had been, one white streak crossing over another – which continued down to the obi sash – at her chest.
"Hey! How long have you been awake?" she demanded, an embarrassed frown gathering on her face.
"Not long."
"You're many things, Zuko – a liar, a traitor, a bad tea-server, a bad tea-maker, a bad joke-maker, a bad dancer-"
"Get on with it," he interrupted.
She put her hands on her hips. "You're all those things, but I didn't think you were a pervert."
He snorted and got up from his sleeping bag, his long coat falling to the ground. "I'll try to control myself," he said flatly.
Katara rolled her eyes and turned back to pick up her boots; the halter-neck was also backless, but she had willingly expanded her sarashi lower over her back to cover up the area that would have been bare. "We need to think of a new plan."
"Already on it." Zuko's head popped up from the saddle to look down at her.
"Whoa!" She dropped her boots again. Her shoulders sagging in disbelief, she said, "How did you get there?"
"Like always."
"Did I mention you're also sneaky?" Katara snatched up her boots and stomped over to Appa, opposite her end of the new campsite. She heaved herself up into the saddle. Zuko was staring at a piece of parchment, and when his expression changed to satisfaction, Katara blinked. "What is it?"
He looked up from the world map spread over his lap. "You know the name of the island we crashed on?" he asked.
She laid her boots in the far corner from the front of the saddle where Zuko was seated, and rested back on her knees. "No."
"It's Rongyan Shui." He cracked a slight smile.
But Katara grinned widely. "It is?" She made her way over to his side and sat down, leaning against the rim and spreading her legs out in front of her.
Zuko handed her a corner of the map and moved over so she could see easily. "Right here, in the corner." He tapped his finger on a volcano in the far-west part of the Fire Nation.
She read the tiny ink. Indeed, it was Rongyan Shui. "A volcano…" She twisted her neck right to look in the direction behind her, though with the trees in the way she could not see a thing. "This entire island is a volcano?"
"Apparently. We must be on the deserted half of the island, so we're in luck."
"How can you tell?"
"This little hut symbol stands for human settlement." He pointed again.
Now that she knew what they were, an abundance of the little hut icons jumped out at her, placed at various points on destinations on the map. "Cute."
"Sure," said Zuko uncertainly. He rolled up the map and placed it on the floor of the saddle next to him and turned back to her. "So now we just need Appa to recover."
Katara took a deep breath. "I'll heal him, but my abilities are still pretty weak since…" She drifted off, remembering the sea raven flag on the iron door, which she had seen when they were in the ship.
"I've never seen anything like that before," he said, glancing at her. "What was that… power?"
She stood up quickly. "Something I'm not very proud of." She hopped off the saddle and landed on the ground on one knee.
"Hey, wait," he said, jumping down after her as she went to her side of the campsite and sat down in front of her sleeping bag.
She drew her knees to her chest and rested her cheek on the one, looking off to the side with a regretful expression. Hama, it's your fault this happened – I think… I hope… She shut her eyes.
Zuko could tell that this was not the time to talk to her about this topic. This girl was so fickle; one minute she would be teasing and talking to him, then the next she would be sulking and frowning. He wished there was a way he could handle their conversations in such a way that it would not end like this. He could not pretend that she had not divulged her past with him last night, and he thought she would be able to tell him with ease about those few days ago on the ship. He had obviously thought wrong.
"When did you even get that outfit?" He thought up the most irrelevant question possible and blurted it out. To his relief, she opened her eyes and looked up.
"Suki packed it for me. Plus, my other one ripped."
"I remember when she got it for you." He seated himself on his still-unrolled sleeping bag.
She sat up straight. "What did you guys actually do on that shopping spree?"
"Supplies trip," he corrected.
"Whatever."
He scratched his head. "We bought stuff."
"Of course." She let go of her knees and let her legs fall in front of her, gazing at her pumps which had not been worn in such a long time.
"Where did you go last night?"
Katara was shocked that he knew of her absence. "Why?"
"How else could you have ripped your tunic? Lying on a sleeping bag can't rip a tissue," he added.
"I was exploring. And I would fix it, only I haven't got mianhua or anything."
Zuko made to check in his shoulder bag, flopped next to him on the ground. "I might-"
"You don't," confirmed Katara before he could even peer inside.
"How do you…?" He frowned. "Did you…?"
She twiddled her thumbs. "I had to check you weren't carrying anything suspicious. That, and I went looking for mianhua before you woke up."
"You went through my stuff."
"Please, Sparky, it was bound to happen sometime." I don't care whether I sound playful anymore. It's… actually coming naturally now.
Zuko could not grasp the concept. "You went through my stuff, while I was asleep."
"Back to the exploring, I should probably show you something I found."
Zuko shook his head and leaned forward to kneel on one knee, his boots stamping on the still-unravelled sleeping bag. "What is it?" he asked, recovering.
"A pond. It could be helpful while we're stuck on this island."
"Then lead the way."
Katara nodded and stood up. She gestured for him to follow her into the mass of trees and together they began the walk directly north toward the pond. The twigs and dry leaves crunched beneath their feet as they went, following Katara's trail marked with broken branches from last night. The sudden intensity of the sun's heat pushing past the shelter of the canopy indicated the coming of noon. The usually cool shadows became hotter and more humid. She looked around and concluded that they would be arriving at the pond shortly.
"It's called bloodbending," said Katara, stepping over a surfaced root.
"What?" Behind her, Zuko frowned as he did the same.
"That thing I did on the ship. You're lucky I felt bad, otherwise I wouldn't have told you anything."
"Right. Wh-"
"I'm not gonna explain because you know what it is." She glanced up at the canopy, half-expecting the sun to be there, and huffed as a heat wave rushed over her. The Fire Nation summer is the worst.
"Actually, I was checking why you're upset about it," he said, rubbing his forehead with the back of his wrist.
"I have every reason to be upset about it." The heat was beginning to aggravate her.
"I'm not trying to argue with you. I'm just seeing if you're okay."
"So don't argue!" She huffed again. "Yesterday you said you wouldn't."
Zuko paused before replying; he thought could hear voices up ahead. How could someone else be here in this area? There was not meant to be any human life around these parts. "Sh, Katara, I think I hear something."
"What now?" she demanded very loudly.
This time for sure, he heard the voice of a woman up ahead in some sort of clearing.
Just as Katara's elbow jutted behind her as she made another stride, Zuko snatched hold of it and pulled her back against him. She almost let out a cry but his hand covered her mouth, muffling her successfully. She felt Zuko moving his back up against a tree, yanking her with him. He held her wrist against her back, holding her slightly away from him, trying not to invade her space – any worse than this. She scowled under his hold and tried to step on his foot, but ended up injuring her own when it made contact with the toe of his hard boot.
"Listen," he hissed in response.
When he was sure she would obey him, he released hold of her mouth and moved his hand against the tree, trying to edge closer to the voices to improve his hearing. Katara tilted her head to the side, but the murmurs did not grow any clearer. Zuko let go of her wrist and tried to edge more around the tree; he caught a glimpse of the area in front of this tree. If they moved a little further, they would not be seen by the speakers.
"Come on," he whispered, motioning to the trees in front of them with a finger.
They left the cover of the huge tree trunk and crept closer, moving with stealth, trying to make out these all too familiar voices. Katara forgot how frustrating the situation was, and became eager to see the speakers when they edged away. As she passed a tree, she used her hand to support her as she stepped onto the root to peek through the branches. The two figures were at her pond, light spilling into the clearing. When her eyes finally adjusted, she let out a tiny gasp at the sight and nearly lost her footing, stepping heavily on a mound of twigs.
"What was that?" hissed the voice of a man.
"Be a man and see what it was," answered the smooth, loud voice of a woman, who seemed not to care what was lurking in the shadows.
Zuko, who had been leading the way closer, flapped his hand, signalling for her to hide. She twisted around in her wobbly position on the roots and ducked behind the same tree; Zuko followed her around the other side of the tree. He held a finger to his lips, to which Katara nodded, even though she was slowly getting annoyed with his orders. They listened to the next exchange between the supposed strangers.
"Well, see anything?" asked the woman.
"Nothing. It must have been a squirrelmonkey – but rest assured, the next time I'm here I shall hold a hunting expedition," added the man disdainfully.
Katara turned to Zuko with a wide-eyed frown, and he narrowed his eyes when responding to her look. The attention seemed to shift from them as the man and woman continued their conversation further into the clearing. Katara jerked her head to the side and turned around so her body was pasted onto the tree. Carefully, she poked her head around the side and took in the sight that had surprised her just a while ago.
Yes, she had been correct. Next to the ever-sparkling water of the pond, stood two people neither Zuko nor Katara had seen in a long time. Jun, the bounty hunter, and Long Feng, the previous leader of the Dai Li.
"Next time you'll be picking up the beast and bringing it back to your Her Highness Zappy," pointed out Jun.
"I won't have to answer to my previous officers anymore. In fact, I will be commanding them once again." Long Feng definitely had a reason to be on this island.
The words from this man's mouth were bringing back all of the memories of the gang's last Earth Kingdom pitstop, Ba Sing Se. One in particular nagged at Katara's mind. It was one that had earned her many bad dreams, many regrets. If she had only been quicker, it would not have happened. Of course, there was no confirmed proof of it, though the statistics were very bad. She felt heaviness behind her eyes as tears began to form, but she was angry, just like when the Freedom Fighter who betrayed her emerged before her eyes so unexpectedly. She was going to make Long Feng pay for what he did to Jet.
She was about to leave the tree and move forward at a run when Zuko's hand clamped down on her shoulder, successfully halting the blowing of their cover. "What are you doing?" he whispered so softly, it was as though he mouthed it.
She matched his quietness. "Long Feng killed Jet. I have to-"
"No… not yet. We need to know their agenda."
"Fine." She pursed her lips and resumed her post behind the tree.
Meanwhile, Jun was rustling branches over somewhere in the clearing. Long Feng was looking in her direction when the bounty hunter's shirshu, Nyla, moved up to him with a grunt and sniffed him from head-to-toe. He pushed the inquisitive pink, tentacle-like nose away in disgust and wiped his hands down the front of his tunic.
"Oi, Feng, I found just what we're looking for," called Jun, walking back to Long Feng. "In the corner, Nyla, you'll get your treat later. First, I have to focus on getting mine."
Long Feng sighed. "What did you find?"
Jun smirked and held up a long trip of faded blue material. "I found it caught on one of those trees. By the looks of it, it's Water Tribe."
"Water Tribe…" repeated Long Feng.
"Yes, Water Tribe. And you know who is Water Tribe?"
"The waterbender-girl who's always with the Avatar."
"Exactly."
Back behind the tree, Katara's face was heating up. She had been foolish to leave behind such an obvious clue. She did not think anything would be, and even if she had, why would it mean something to anyone else? Her brother might have inquired about it, but Jun of all people was the least-expected person. She pulled in from around the tree so that she was fully behind it, her back pressed to the trunk. Zuko gave her a hopeless glance; she frowned back at him.
"And you know what else, Feng?" continued Jun. "The scent will be even more familiar to Nyla, since Zappy's brother, uh… Scarface already used her scent before."
"Excellent. I expect the results to be good, too," said Long Feng, surveying Jun suspiciously.
It was now Zuko's turn to look down and creep away from the edge of the tree. He leaned against the wood, next to Katara, and stared at the muddy ground beneath their feet. This did not help his feelings regarding his betrayal of the gang in Ba Sing Se, and all of the misdeeds before that. If only he had realized sooner what his purpose was, maybe he and Katara would not have been hunted down by an unscrupulous old man and a neutral yet crafty woman.
"You'll take what I give you," snapped Jun, the atmosphere becoming darker.
"And what you deliver had better be the best, otherwise you're not receiving a single coin."
"If I'm not paid for this mark, then you might as well walk away now." Jun nodded at Nyla, who barked in agreement.
"I don't plan on walking," said Long Feng smugly. "I plan on flying away on the back of the Avatar's bison." Behind the tree, Zuko and Katara's eyes widened.
"Hm, so you do need my service…"
"I don't need it. It happens to be the most convenient source I have at this moment."
Jun cackled, making her way to Nyla and climbing into the saddle. "Because your officers are against you?"
Long Feng narrowed his eyes. "Don't underestimate me, Jun. You're wanted in most parts of the Earth Kingdom and maybe even the Fire Nation. Face it, you're on the run, and you're running out of places to go. If you help me, all of your crimes will disappear-" he snapped his fingers "-and you'll be able to return home. Looking at the overall picture, you need me as much as I need you."
"Aw, so what if I do?" she cooed falsely.
"No games."
She snorted. "But of course. You're also in a situation – what, you have to answer to those identical witches, Zappy and your ex-officers? Feels like a big slap in the face, doesn't it, Feng? Honestly, I don't care how long my running is gonna be for. But you are on the line – heck, you're about to be put to death by a little girl!" She became less mocking as she spoke. "Now, I have all of the evidence, and therefore you wrapped around my prickly finger. Your ship is leaving now – don't get poked."
She cracked the whip and the shirshu reared back before charging off through the forest in the opposite direction. A stunned Long Feng was left behind, gaping, his green eyes wide. This woman was despicable. She was very clear in what she meant – no beating around the bush, no forced courtesy; a dangerous entity with qualities admired by Long Feng. If she were to produce good results for this mission, she would have a bright future as a leading officer in his army… his new world. Long Feng turned on his heel and walked in a westerly direction through the forest; his plans would have to wait until it was the right moment to strike.
When Zuko and Katara were sure the coast was clear, they moved away from the tree and into the clearing, noticing the footsteps left behind by Nyla and Jun's dagger-heeled boots. Katara bit her lip and looked in the directions Jun and Long Feng had walked before crouching down by Nyla's footprint. It was large and fan-like as though it was webbed. She sighed and spoke.
"So this is it. We came all this way, just for our cover to be blown," she said bitterly.
Zuko was pacing and stopped to run a hand through his hair. "I didn't plan this."
"I hope not, but from the sounds of it, Azula doesn't know he's here." She plucked up a rock from the ground and weighed it in her hands.
"Yeah. So, I'm guessing we're still on this mission?"
Katara looked up. "Yes." She smirked and tossed the rock aside.
"Right then, so we need to get Appa back in shape-"
"I need to get him back in shape."
"Yes, you," he said flatly. "We have to lay low until we can sort out Jun and Long Feng."
"I'll sort out that creep right now," said Katara, rising to her feet.
"I mean we must wait for them to find us." When she did not understand his statement, Zuko explained further. "We might blow our cover if we go out looking for them."
"We already blew our cover."
"But…" Zuko held up a finger. "They don't know where we are. Jun went off in that direction." He pointed the same finger behind him. "And Long Feng went in that direction." He pointed his finger to the right. "If they already knew where we are, they would've come straight to the campsite."
"I see." She nodded, and could not help but feel impressed. "You're suggesting we stay where we are until they discover us, in the mean time building up Appa's strength."
"Yes. Appa's not even strong enough to go searching for them – but I hope he'll be fine when we're tracking down Yon Rha."
"I'll do my best." She was about to turn and lead the way back to the campsite, but then said, "You know, Sokka might be rubbing off on you."
Zuko's mouth formed a small 'o'. "Why Sokka?"
"That's a good plan, Zuko."
"Sure, but Sokka? He would've tried to build a catapult by now!"
She raised an eyebrow, and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized that that was something Sokka would do. "Let's get back now," she said.
"Yeah. It is a nice pond, by the way."
"I got water for the healing from it while you were still asleep."
Finally Katara was unable to continue her focus of chi into healing Appa. Her eyebrows knit together as she pulled the water away from the bison, hearing him give a soft grunt in thanks. She opened her eyes to see that, once again, evening had fallen without her. There was a pile of wood in the centre of the campsite holding a short bush of amber fire, but the warmth she could feel all the way across the site was inviting, and she rose to her feet and made her way towards it.
She sat down on the side closest to her end of the campsite – while she was healing Zuko had sat on the ground and seemed to be lost in his thoughts; legs stretched out and hands hanging lazily over his knees. He was hunched over with a concentrated look on his face; this boy always seemed to be in deep thought. Katara studied him further; he was just sitting still, not a single movement besides the rising and falling of his shoulders as he breathed evenly.
She raised an eyebrow. "Were you paralyzed by the shirshu or something?"
He started when he heard her voice. "Oh, sorry."
"What are you thinking about?"
"Just stuff. Why?"
"You're really into it." Katara glanced around. This is awkward. Why is he acting differently? "You got the fire going." What else can I say to him?
"Yeah." He looked off to the side.
"For dinner, I'm just gonna heat up the stuff we packed, okay?"
"I don't mind." He shrugged. "It's too dark to go hunting, and if I use firebending I'll probably end up burning down the forest."
Katara nodded, got up and went over to Appa once again. She stopped abruptly when she noticed something had changed; the mud that was in a heap up to Appa's nose and the broken branches caused by the damage of their fall had disappeared. At least he had been doing something productive while she was healing the bison. She went around the side and climbed into the saddle. Untying a sack, she pulled out her favourite pot from the Western Air Temple and the eating instruments, holding them tightly in her arm as she touched onto the ground, using the other arm for balance. Her meticulous ways did provide her with back up plans if things like this were to happen.
Kneeling on the ground on the other side of the fire, she placed the chopsticks on the rectangular trays and handed one to Zuko. She opened the pot to reveal Suki's fish and vegetables. First, she dished out her own and laid it on the log. Since they had to be allied for this mission, it was only polite to help out Zuko. Before she was going to put the food in his tray, he stopped her and tried to take the pot.
"It's okay. I'll do it," he said.
Katara reluctantly released her hold on the pot and slowly went back to her log. "Are you sure?"
"You may think I'm like a typical prince, but I'm not dependant. Not anymore," he added.
"You're definitely not a typical prince," she agreed, picking up her tray and holding it near the fire, waiting for it to heat up. When Zuko just held his near a palm of fire, Katara sucked her bottom lip in. "You don't have to show off, Sparky."
"Yeah, because doing this requires mastery of firebending," he said sarcastically, holding up his ball of fire.
"I'm a waterbender."
"But you always act like a firebender."
"How does a firebender act?"
"Like you." Zuko half-smiled.
"Ugh! Really, Zuko? 'Like me'?" Katara rolled her eyes. "How lovely."
"See, that behaviour right there. It has firebender written all over it."
"Hm, yeah," she said sweetly. It was about the right time for the food to be fully heated; they brought their trays closer and began to eat. "Speaking of which, where did you learn firebending from?"
Zuko swallowed the food in his mouth. "My uncle."
"No, when you went with Aang. Who was actually willing to do it?"
"We found a bunch of dragons," he said, mimicking what Katara had said once before, and took a vegetable between his chopsticks and popped it in his mouth.
She frowned and picked at a piece of fish. "You couldn't have. I told you not to make stuff up like that."
There was silence as they continued their meal until their trays were empty, and only after that did Zuko speak again. "Fine, I'll tell you the whole story. But you have to promise not to tell anyone."
"Okay then," she said doubtfully.
"You need to promise – properly."
"I promise not to tell anyone. Happy?"
He sighed. "You usually say the original firebenders are dragons, but before they were known as the Celestial Benders. They used to be very common before the War, but when Sozin started it, their numbers started going down 'til they were completely extinct. The new firebending is fuelled by rage and hatred and ambitions. When my ambition to capture Aang stopped, I lost my firebending skills – my fuel. So we had to find someone else to teach us, someone who knew the original, Celestial way. I couldn't find my uncle who knew it, so we went looking for the Sun Warriors."
"The Sun Warriors? Is that a band or something?"
"No," said Zuko patiently. "It's a tribe of people who worship the dragons, and the royal family of the tribe were the only human Celestials."
"Is that how your family got its power?" asked Katara. It does make sense…
"I wish. We got our ranking from a power-hungry fire sage, centuries ago," he corrected her. "Anyway, that royal family was the chief's family. When the War started, they were angry with Sozin's decision and so were being killed. They went into hiding and few dragons survived. Aang and I went to the ruins of Mingxing – the city where they lived – used to be. We still found the hideout where the remaining people lived, with only two dragons. These dragons taught us our firebending."
"So… that stuff about the dancing dragon was true?"
"Every bit."
"And that book, Love Amongst the Dragons, has something to do with the Sun Warriors?"
"I thought you might ask that," he said, raising his eyebrow. "Yup, it does."
"Can I read it now?" The question was forced out of her as soon as it came to her mind.
"Why?"
"I do need to pass my time, since we could be stuck here for a while." She got up and quickly plucked the book from his shoulder bag. As she walked past again, she gave him a smack on the shoulder. "That's for keeping all this from us."
"Remember Aang needs that too." Zuko rubbed his shoulder as Katara gently opened the cover. "What did you read at the Southern Water Tribe?"
"Not famous things. They were just random original stories made up by lonely housewives and eccentric teenage boys."
"Sokka wrote one, didn't he?"
"He was the eccentric teenage boy." The cover and the pages seemed so untouched. "Did you read this before?"
"No, I never had the time. During my exile, all I thought about was my honour and myself." He looked at his hands. "But I still treasured it, otherwise I'd have nothing to remember… her by."
The Painted Lady's heart stung. "You're not the only one," she said.
"Read it out loud."
"What?" asked Katara.
"We'll take turns reading it aloud. You go first."
"Um, okay." She cleared her throat and began reading the first page; the words were handwritten and central on the page, much like poetry; the story's length would not be extreme.
"'The tale of the two dragons follows the Princess Shao and the battle within her heart.
This young woman was different to the people of her tribe. Though she was a princess, she was secretly ridiculed for her demonic yet beautiful power. She was the only of her clan to display flames of the purest white, but they held a secret that should never have been told. It was by her mother, Kyra, that she came into this world, but it was by her own fault that she herself gave birth to the Cold Fire. The young girl felt immense guilt regarding her mother, who had been put to death upon birthing a monster. And the Celestial Firebender was condemned to never, not ever, displaying her Firebending.'"
Katara was slowly being pulled into this story, and turned the page to find more of the black ink.
"'As she grew into a fair young woman, she started to be accepted in society. Although it was much more comfortable for her, Shao bore the heaviest sadness of all. Being Kyra and her father, Leng's only child, she was accepted as the crown princess of the tribe. With the job of being the crown princess came a condition: she would have to marry. Princess Shao was, in truth, against this tradition, but had no choice whatsoever. Beneath the light of the half-moon, she was engaged to Tiro, the greatest firebender amongst all the Sun Warriors. The princess felt nothing for this young man of such admirable skill, and was saddened to discover so. As she silently accepted her fate, another entered her life, in the form of a simple man of eighteen, who went by the name of Ran.
'And so begins a story of the affairs of the heart.'"
Author's Note:
Thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. This was my first time writing another story inside of an actual one, so let me know what you think – and whether you'd like Shao's story to be longer when writing it :)
Okay, bacui berries are types of berries found in the Avatar universe. Long Feng is supposed to have mysteriously disappeared, but this role made sense. Zuko's thoughts are slowly starting to spill in some more… and he does only have one eyebrow. Nyla does 'bark', but not like a dog, because in the episodes you can't exactly say she grunts like Appa. And the fact that Zuko called it a 'Celestial Bender' and the "writer" of Love Amongst the Dragons called it 'Celestial Firebender' is to show the changing of the time; hint: it was written long ago, and it shows how the Fire Nation lost respect for the other elements and only called the origin of firebending "Celestial". 'Sarashi' is the undergarments used by Katara.
I have a new projects section on my profile – and some new projects I've planned while I was gone. You can check the story's status/spoilers there… I'd really like it to be easy to picture the setting and the new clothing etc. I might do some artwork? But if you want a nice idea of what the new tunic looks like, it is similar to Soifon's from Bleach (Google it only if you really want to know).
Hope you enjoy the next chapter!