They were running through form after form, helping Izumi catch up. It had been hours since they began that Saturday's practice without Great Uncle Iroh. Any non-benders would have gotten sunstroke being outside for so long in the blistering heat but Masaru and Izumi were firebenders and only felt more energized by the prolonged exposure to the celestial object's harsh rays.
"We should break to drink at least," Masaru said, stretching his shoulders, walking over to the wings of the courtyard.
"Agreed," Izumi replied, following her friend. She loved firebending. She loved spending more time with Masaru. She loved learning from him. And he, he loved teaching. And he loved her.
Izumi drained the first of two dozen full bottles she brought with her that day. They decided to skip library time today for a day in the heat and had no intention of reentering the palace until the sun set on the horizon.
Masaru drank most of his water then poured the rest on his head to wash off some of his sweat. She watched him curiously as he stretched. Somewhat mesmerized by his routine. And then, he started disrobing.
"What are you doing?" She asked, taken a little aback.
"Removing my shirt," Masaru replied tossing his belt aside and shrugging the tunic from his shoulders.
"Why?" Izumi asked.
"Because I'm hot," Masaru replied.
Izumi thought about it. It was very reasonable. The clothing did contain the heat. So she undid her belt and followed.
"Woah! Wait! What are YOU doing?" Masaru asked, averting his eyes.
"Taking off my shirt," Izumi replied casually.
"Why?" Masaru asked, still looking away.
"Because I'm hot," Izumi replied, confused to why he would ask such a thing.
"But— but you can't!" Masaru replied, his tiny chest panting.
"And why not?"
"Because— you're a girl!"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"It's not proper!"
"Says who?"
"I don't know— it's just like that for girls! They're not supposed to take their clothes off in public! It isn't decent!" Masaru replied.
"First of all, we're not in public. There's no one here but us! And second of all," Izumi came over and wrenched his hands away from his face and forced him to look at her eyes. "Now that I've seen you shirtless and I've seen me shirtless, I can verify that we look exactly the same! So why can't we both take off our shirts if we're both hot outside?" Izumi asked. Masaru lowered his arms in defeat and she let go of his head and knelt in the grass before him, both bare chested children with no breasts and a little round belly.
Masaru examined the resemblance and then turned away.
"I still don't think it's right,"
"Well for someone so grounded in logic, you didn't give very good reasoning for your thinking," Izumi replied, pouting.
"Hey!"
"It's true! Now quit squirming and lets get back to work! You promised to help me catch up to you!" Izumi yelled standing, pulling on his arm to get him back on his feet.
"Ugh, fine. But just as a warning. We might get in trouble."
"Why? The only difference between us is what's between our legs and the length of the hair on our heads. Now come on! Next form! You PROMISED!" Izumi said darkly.
They drilled the Dancing Dragon, the Flight of the Phoenix, and the crouching Ash chameleon when they heard someone scream. They both turned to see a servant asking along the upper balcony that enclosed the courtyard.
"Oh Spirits!" She covered her eyes and ran.
"You were seen!" Masaru yelled, running to gather his things.
"Why is that a bad thing? Am I that ugly?" Izumi asked, waving her arms with exasperation. "And why is it that you assume it was my body and not yours that made her run away screaming?"
"I just know okay?!" Masaru yelled, throwing his bottles of water into his bag.
"Are they injured?" a cool, but familiar voice asked the shaken servant. Both children froze.
"No, look!" The servant said, pointing.
Izumi and Masaru turned ans both took a knee.
"Auntie Mai," Masaru bowed his head.
"Mother," Izumi did the same.
"Izumi, put on your clothes please, — Masaru—"
"I tried to stop her, I swear it!" Masaru said quickly.
"Zumi, now!" Mai yelled sternly, noticing her daughter remaining kneeling in the grass.
"Not until you give me a better reason than Saru did as to why," Izumi replied.
"Zumi- don't argue with me and put on your clothes already."
"Answer me," Izumi shot back.
"You don't get to make demands," Mai replied impatiently.
"What are you going to do about it?" Izumi asked, feeling particularly braver now that she had firebending at her disposal.
Mai opened her hand and slipped three blades into the space between her fingers. Izumi stood up from her crouched position ready to fight. The servant screamed again and ran away to go get more help.
"Zumi, I don't think this is a good idea!" Masaru yelled.
"I was hoping to not see you rebel until you were at least sixteen, but I guess, things don't always go according to plan do they, my sweet little Zumi?" Mai asked, dangerously calm in her speech.
"Sorry," Izumi shrugged, feeling formidable against her non-bending mother. Mai threw her knives and her daughter rolled to the side and ran. She was a fast little thing and able to dodge most of her mother's daggers. Her mother often pinned people by the wrists since it was safest part of the body to aim, but she couldn't pin her daughter by her skin, so she had to aim for a different place. Snagging a pant leg would be easy because of the balloon design of Fire Nation trousers, but dangerous. Stopping someone by a body part so low would cause them to fall, potentially twisting an ankle or dislocating a knee.
"What in the spirit world is happening here?!" Zuko bellowed, appearing with the healer Akira and Izumi's maid, Iliana.
"Somebody has decided they that they are no longer content being clothed," Mai replied throwing more knives as Izumi ran. She climbed a wall and flipped off a railing on the balcony and onto the roof.
"Saru gets to take of his shirt when it is hot outside so why can't I?" Izumi replied.
"Zumi now is not the time for protest!" Zuko replied, rubbing his head.
"Tell me or my pants are coming off too!" Izumi yelled, standing on the roof, pulling the drawstring on the waistband of her pants. She the string out it out at arms length, holding up her waistband, threatening to let go and let her pants fall to her feet if her parents didn't answer her question. Masaru had curled up into a ball by this point with his face buried in the grass, courteously averting his eyes.
"Izumi," Mai called. "It is because you are a girl and historically girls didn't have much to offer their husbands when they married so they gave their bodies. You must keep yours chaste until you marry and—"
"And I am. I'm not making babies with anybody," Izumi replied, pensively, still holding the drawstring high.
"Now that we've told you, will you come down and put your clothes back on, please?" Zuko asked.
"No because that's still not a good enough reason," Izumi replied.
"Where do you still take issue?" Mai asked.
"Uncle, may I leave?" Masaru mumbled through the grass.
"Not yet, Son. We need to speak to both of you once Zumi comes down.
"That was historically. Times have changed. I don't have nothing. My parents are the Fire Lord and the Fire Lady. I can offer my future husband an ear instead of an unseen, untouched body! I can offer him gold once I start working—"
"You won't earn gold once you start working—" Mai interjected.
"And an ear of one so closely connected to the Fire Lord, while very alluring, won't be enough, Izumi," Zuko added.
Izumi frowned.
"You can keep your shirt off for now if you just come down!" Mai yelled impatiently.
"And please tie your pants securely," Zuko added. Izumi re-tied the drawstring and tucked it back into her waist band and climbed down, jumping from the balcony to the grass and rolling to break the impact of the fall. She walked over.
"Masaru, please stand and come over here," Zuko called. The boy stood up and bounded over, keeping his eyes on the Fire Lord and Fire Lady. "We know that while many— traditions— don't make much sense, we still must continue to follow them."
"But Father, times change!" Izumi chirped.
"In some areas much faster than others. Etiquette is one of those things that is extremely slow to evolve. It is also one of those things that if we change too quickly, we will cause chaos and lose the faith of the people. The masses find comfort in familiarity and disdain change in this particular area." Zuko explained.
"And Izumi you must remember your family," Mai reminded her. "When you make decisions. You represent your father and me. If you become as wild like you did today, and it wasn't one of our servants who saw but someone would run to the press instead, you could ruin your father's credibility as a father of a girl and no longer be trusted as the Father of the Nation. His career and our security could be ruined by your actions."
Izumi hung her head in shame and
"Please don't put all of the blame on her for being— her. It's my fault I didn't think very quickly. I should have tried harder to convince her to replace her shirt," Masaru chimed in.
"You shouldn't need to advise her on what is proper. She should know already," Zuko replied, putting a reassuring hand on Masaru's shoulder.
Mai picked up her daughter's shirt and draped it over her shoulders and tied it closed.
"Perhaps you both need a few lessons with Della, as a refresher. I have a feeling etiquette has been a subject you let fall by the wayside in the past few months while you two have been training your bending so diligently." Mai said, running her thumb over her daughter's cheek affectionately.
Izumi growled like an agitated Komodo dragon and moved away from her mother's hand but had a feeling nothing would come out of further protest, and resigned, accepting the lessons with Della as punishment for being so unruly.
The next morning as they left the tea room, Izumi turned to Masaru and pinned him to the wall by his shoulders.
"When we're older, I WILL change things!" She growled. He nodded eyes wide, terrified while impressed by her strength of Will and determination.
But Great Uncle Iroh and Father are right. We need to be patient and maintain the trust of those around us before taking action," Izumi said looking away contemplatively.
Masaru sighed. "Haven't I kind of been telling you that?"
"Not explicitly," Izumi replied, looking back at him.
He waited a minute but nothing else came. "Well now that that's off your chest, can you release me?" He asked, not particularly wanting to push the lady off of him after getting getting his ears chewed out by Miss Della for two dreadfully long hours about the different expectations society had for men and ladies.
A/N I didn't know what to call this chapter. At first I thought "Nude Izumi" just because I imagine this stubborn little girl running around topless trying to figure out why she and her best friend are treated differently when it comes to nudity. Both learn firebending, swordsmanship, etiquette, history, etc and are told that they are equals in every way and that neither outranks the other, yet when it comes to stripping in the heat of the sun, they're treated differently even though their child's bodies up top look exactly the same. (I know in Europe and some eastern countries, it is not so big of a deal if a prepubescent girl goes topless on a beach, but where I am, people think it is uncouth.) Anyways, I just wanted to go over the gender roles/expectations that Izumi must endure and the instances that contributed to the development of the progressive ideals she has as an adult.
