YAY! A quick update!!! This chap explains a LOT. a LOT!!!!! Its okay, I've written better, but I had to get this done. I need to write more TFA oneshots while the third season is still going on. Also, I'm hooked on a new anime called K-ON! but I've watched all the episodes that have aired so far. The next TFA and K-ON! episode airs SATURDAY!!! HAPPY ME! Well, PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Ty Lee's head felt funny. Not hurting necessarily, just heavy and kind of tickly. Her eyes might have well have been glued shut. She could hear voices, and she shuffled her body a bit. She was in a bed.
"She's moving!" A familiar voice called, "Kid, hey kid, you okay?" It was Ling.
"Mm-hm." She responded simply. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She immediately regretted it. A blast of light and color infiltrated her sight. She lifted her hand to cover her eyes and moaned, "Ow…"
Once her eyes adjusted she looked around. She must be in the infirmary. It was all white with barely any furniture. She had seen the infirmary from the outside, but never been in it. She had never been hurt before. And now…What had happened exactly? She remembered the scene clearly, but none of it made sense.
"Hello, sweetie. Let me check your temperature. You had a nasty fever when your teacher brought you here." A lady she recognized as the school nurse said as she walked over to her. Ty Lee stared in shock. The woman looked completely normal. Absolutely normal. But surrounding her body was a warm glow of light orange.
"You…you…" She pointed her finger at the nurse, at a loss for words. Ling stood behind her, and instantly gave her a serious look that told her to shut her mouth. She obeyed and let the nurse check her temperature.
This seemed oddly familiar. She remembered seeing colors before. Yes, she gained the ability when she first went to the swamp. But how had she lost it? She obviously hadn't missed it much. Now watching the colors dance off Ling's skin she began to feel nauseous.
"Well, if she's all good, I'd like to have a few moments alone with her. We didn't get to completely finish our lesson yesterday, and I want to talk her through a few basics." Ling said to the nurse. Yesterday!? How long had she been out?
"Her temperature is normal again, so I think that should be fine. Come and get me if you need anything." And with that the nurse left. Ling sighed and looked up to Ty Lee.
"You really okay?" She asked.
"I'm not sure…what happened? Why can I…why can I see the colors again?"
"That's what I thought. You already had the gift beforehand." She put her finger to her mouth, "I'm not a resident expert on this, but I'll tell you what I think happened. You can see…colors you say? Do they change depending on ones mood?" Ty Lee nodded vigorously, "That's two rights for me. Okay, well…I'm kinda like that too. See one day I went to the…uh…" She looked around for the right word.
"The swamp!? You went to the swamp!?" She called excitedly. Ling cringed at her loudness, the turned to see if anyone was near their room.
"Uh…yeah, that. I went to the 'swamp'. I'm not sure how, but one day I was transported there. I touched a funny-looking plant…"
"The Jade Lotus!"
"You know a lot more than I thought." Ling nodded approvingly, "Well…now I can tell what someone's mood is, just like you…even more in depth than you, I think. Except its not when I look at someone…its when I touch them. I can read someone's feelings, even their thoughts at times. It can get really annoying, which is why I ask people not to touch me. But I guess that makes me sound weird, doesn't it?"
"Not really," Ty Lee lied. Now it all made sense; Ling's odd behavior that was.
"Ah, the sycophant to the end." Ling smiled. Ty Lee didn't bother to ask what a 'sycophant' was. It didn't sound like a good name to be called, "But there is still something I'm not quite sure about…"
"What happened when I touched you?" Ty Lee suggested. Ling nodded.
"I've never had that happen before. Then again, I've never met anyone like me before. I think…the 'swamp' wanted you to regain your powers, and perhaps through contact with another power-bearer, you received it. I know it doesn't make much sense, but it's the only hunch I got." She looked at Ty Lee seriously, "Did you see anything when you touched me? All I felt was a spark and then you fainted."
"I saw…I saw my mother…and she touched my head…then I don't remember…" Her mother! She looked back at Ling. She looked the same as before, but Ty Lee no longer felt that she resembled her mother. What was happening? "You…you looked like…um…I mean, well, before you looked like her. Now you don't….I'm not quite sure what is going on." Ling considered this for a moment.
"Maybe the 'swamp' was trying to draw you to me through your inner longings…you miss you mother, don't you?" Ty Lee tried not to let the tears fall as she replied.
"Yeah…"
"Then that explains it! It all comes together now, you see? Now…you probably don't want to go advertising this to all your friends and stuff…"
"Why not!?" Ty Lee asked incredulous.
"Well…its so ridiculous sounding and some people take things the wrong way, so it would just be better if you kept it a secret, okay? It can be your special ability to help people without them knowing."
"I guess so…"
"You've been unconscious since yesterday…so we weren't able to finish our lesson. Nor will I be joining the staff at this school, not enough students signed up for my lesson. So…I'm entrusting you with this." She walked over and picked up some scrolls from a lonely bench in the room, "These are body maps that show where pressure points are. Memorize them. You already know how to hit, just do it harder. Practice at least once a week, and I think you'll do great."
"Thank you, Sifu Ling." Ty Lee replied in gratitude. "But, I don't think I can do it without you."
"Oh, believe me, you can. You have more confidence than you realize. I felt it when you touched me." She smiled big, but then looked away, her color turning from pink to blue, "I'm gonna have to go now…I'm expected home since I don't have the job. Take care, okay?"
"But Sifu Ling!" Ty Lee almost jumped out of the bed, "I…I don't know how to…I mean, you can't go yet!"
"The carriages for the teachers who aren't staying are going to be gone soon, so I have to catch one now. You'll be fine. In fact, I think your friends are coming by soon. They tried to get in earlier, but you were still out cold. The younger one was really bossy." She scrunched up her face, which made Ty Lee laughed. That sounded like Azula to her.
"Okay then…Goodbye…" She replied solemnly.
"Hey, don't act so glum. I'm sure we'll see each other again eventually." Ling assured her.
"…you're right. Thanks, Sifu Ling!" She instinctively reached out to hug her, but stopped remembering.
"No…its okay. Once I've touched someone it doesn't feel so bad the second time. And besides, a hug is worth it." Ty Lee wrapped her arms around her, feeling her soft skin. It prickled as she touched it. "Bye kid…Ty Lee." Ling corrected herself and stood.
"Bye!" She called as Ling left the room. Then she lay back on the bed and sighed. What a weird day this was. And the only person she could truly talk to it about had just left.
She heard footsteps and suddenly Mai and Azula entered the room. Mai looked like she was worried out of her mind, but Azula seemed pleased. Both wore colors of mixed blue and orange.
"Told you she was fine, Mai." Azula announced. "I can't believe that you fainted during your lesson. Was it that boring?" Mai ran over to her side and checked her forehead. Ty Lee tried to slink away from her cold hand but was unable to.
"No. I just…I was doing handstands, and a lot of blood ran to my head and I passed out." Ty Lee lied.
"For a whole day?" Azula wasn't buying it.
"You faint when blood runs from your head, not to it." Mai corrected. Uh oh. Now she was definitely found out.
"Well…I'm sure it can happen when blood comes to it as well." Ty Lee huffed, "I'm just saying what the nurse told me." She looked out of the corner of her eye to make sure the nurse wasn't coming. If she did her explanation would be completely falsified, for Azula would certainly question her.
"Can you leave now?" Mai asked.
"Uh…let me ask the nurse." Ty Lee slowly got out of the bed, her legs a little stiff from not using them. She approached the nurse, who was coming into the main office from another room. "Can I go? I feel better, and you said my temperature was fine."
"I guess you can." The nurse replied warmly. With that Ty Lee ran back to her room.
"Let's go!" She cried, grabbing the scrolls Ling had given her and dragging the others through the door to the hall to stop furthering questioning of the nurse.
"What is that?" Azula pointed accusingly at the scrolls.
"Oh, well I missed a lot of the lesson yesterday, so Sifu Ling is letting me have these scrolls so I can learn more myself." Ty Lee beamed.
"So you enjoyed the lesson?" Mai asked.
"Yeah, I didn't expect to, but it was actually fun."
"Well, I've heard that that Ling lady is a real nut-job." Azula interjected, "Acts really funny. Someone even told me she had to go to a crazy house once." Her color had turned a dark shade of yellow.
"That's just some rumor." Ty Lee insisted, "Sifu Ling is…I mean, she's really nice!" She soon realized that this didn't defend her argument at all and shut up. The remainder of the walk to their room consisted of Azula describing her lesson to Ty Lee and how she had impressed the teacher so much and that Midori was so jealous she looked like she was going to scream. Ty Lee obviously was supposed to find this all amusing, but she simply nodded and smiled and didn't really think about what Azula was saying.
When they entered their room, Azula confronted Mai.
"Okay, show her." She said menacingly.
"Show me what?" Ty Lee asked.
"I-I'm not sure she'll be interested in…"
"If you are going to be playing around with them, she's going to have to see them eventually." Azula smiled triumphantly. Mai sighed and walked over to her bag. She pulled out a small case and set it on the ground before them.
"What is it?" Ty Lee was now intrigued. Mai opened the case. Inside were several rows of small daggers and knifes, all with little protective blunt ends over the real sharp ones for safety. "What…why do you have these?"
"Remember? I took a knife throwing class. Everyone got a case, since the class is being accepted in the curriculum." Mai looked at the glinting metal with an interested smile. For a second, Ty Lee thought she was going to pick one up and hurt someone, namely Azula, but she didn't. Instead, she closed the case. "I'm going to be practicing with them, but it will be mostly outside, so you won't get hurt."
"That's cool!" Ty Lee said, "Once you get good I can hold objects and you can pin them out of my hands."
"Uh…maybe not. I might cut you or something."
"But when you get good you will be able to hit anything you want without hurting people. I've heard about it!"
"We'll see." Mai replied, which translated to Ty Lee as probably not.
"I'm going to go out on the balcony." Ty Lee informed.
"Okay, you don't have to tell everyone." Azula retorted from her bed.
Ty Lee disregarded her comment and went out to the balcony. She had made a habit to go out and watch the flowers at least once a day, and she had not been able to yesterday. She was going to make up for it today, though, and stay out extra long.
They had added a small table and some chairs on the balcony to make it more comfortable when they went out. One of the tall trees had its branches as a roof above the table. Ty Lee sat down in the shade and looked out at the field. The wind was pushing the flowers gently, making a wave of colors. She smiled, and wondered if this is what it would look like to her if she was in a large crowd of moving people. A lot of colors…
She laid her hand on the table and touched something unexpected. It felt like foil. She drew back and turned to the table. On top of it was a wrapped object that weighed down a piece of paper. She picked up the object but then grabbed the paper quickly in order to stop the wind from blowing it away. There was writing scrawled on it.
Hope you feel better.
She stared at the writing. It wasn't anyone's she knew. Unless someone was masking their handwriting to keep it a secret. She walked back inside and shut the door. Trying not to attract too much attention, she got on her bed and lay down. Neither Azula nor Mai looked up to see what she was doing or what she was holding.
Curious, she unwrapped the item. It was fairly small, about as big as her thumb. It was shaped like a poorly cut cube and smelled of orange. She deduced that it was…candy? To make sure, she slowly inserted it in her mouth. It was! Orange rice candy, she had had it before. She let the rice paper melt and, savoring every flavor, sucked the chewy treat.
Her attention returned to the note. Whoever sent this knew she had been in the infirmary. And that she went out to the balcony every day. Or, they were just used to her going out to the balcony and when she was unable to the other day they assumed she was sick. Either way, she still had no other clues to identify this person.
She stuffed the note in her bag and raced back to the balcony to look around. Maybe her mystery person was still outside. But there was no sign of anyone. Nothing to see but the flowers and the sky. She frowned, but then quickly leaned over the railing.
"Thank you!!" She cried. Even if she didn't know who it was, she would find out. Eventually.
Ah. I've added a new mystery element. YAY! I kinda get rid of Ling real fast, but she has served her purpose in this story. I don't think she'll come back...I dd enjoy writing her though. She can see auras again! Darn...now I'm gonna have to get used to writing what people's auras look like ALL THE TIME! (this is why I originally got rid of her aura-ability, becuase it was annoying. But with only a few (10?) chapters left, I'll grin and bear it). But yeah!!! I hope to update soon again, school is out next week, so I'll have TONS of time!
R&R!
