Media: Fic
Title: Solar Winds (Avatar: The Last Airbender Fusion, 36/?)
Rating: PG-13 for innuendo, swearing, violence.
Spoilers: None for either series that I am aware of.
Warnings: None for this chapter. See Master Post for the grand list of warnings.
Word Count: 5600
Summary: Kurt Hummel, the current Avatar, finds a Firebending teacher in the young Prince Blaine. Is that all he finds? Or will destiny conspire to push them into becoming more, to the world and each other?
Author's Note: Hee. It's an interesting experience, reading the responses to these chapters sometimes. Rachel is such a divisive character—people seem to feel very strongly towards her one way or the other, but very rarely are people indifferent to her. XP My goal with Rachel is my goal with pretty much everyone—to do her character justice, to make her human and relatable, funny and flawed. Hopefully, even if you can't like the show's Rachel, you'll give this one a chance. ;) At the very least, you'll appreciate the juicy tidbits of backstory she brings in this chapter. Hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER 36 – The Sho Fa Experience
"…no more Fire Prince, no line of succession, and no way to remove Sue from the throne without a revolution or a war, both of which will cost countless lives," Kurt says sincerely, and Blaine crumples a little deeper into himself
It kills Kurt to see Blaine like this. Almost as much as it kills him to see him hurt. Blaine is so… not 'innocent,' per se, but… naïve, maybe. Optimistic, idealistic, unrealistic. He wants so badly to be able to believe in people, to trust in them, despite all evidence to the contrary. Trying to take that away from him feels like removing the support beams from inside of his heart and waiting for it to collapse.
But a sad, disillusioned Blaine is better than a dead Blaine.
At least, Kurt sincerely hopes that is the case.
"I… understand where you're coming from. Maybe we should—"
And suddenly, the door opens.
Kurt spins around, ready to attack. Finn and Mercedes follow suit, while Blaine stands ready to do… something. He doesn't seem to know quite what, but he's definitely ready.
Fortunately, it's no one important.
Just the girl from last night who… seems to be having some kind of episode.
Kurt and his friends watch, wide-eyed and baffled, as she gasps dramatically, leaning against the wall to support herself and clutching her proverbial pearls (proverbial, as Kurt is almost entirely certain she can't afford real ones). She doesn't even seem entirely aware of them, moving around until she finds a trunk to sit on, whereupon she plops herself down and attempts to regain her composure.
Oh, please. Kurt is, when the occasion calls for it, ever-so-slightly given to drama. And if there is anything a drama queen recognizes, it's another drama queen. He lets his disgust at her transparent acting display fully on his face.
As she slowly seems to regain herself, she finally notices the other occupants of the room she so rudely barged into, and greets them with a chirpy "Hi!"
Unfortunately, Blaine once again demonstrates his ability to believe absolutely anything by rushing to her side. "Are you okay?" he asks. "You looked like you were having an attack."
Finn starts to move forward from behind Kurt, but he stops when Rachel's hand suddenly shoots out and latches onto Blaine's shoulder, a look of utter anguish on her face. "Am I okay?" she asks, incredulously. "That you can even still think of others after all you have been through… it just speaks so much of your character."
Kurt's eyes go a little wide at this. He doesn't like the sound of that. It seems a little close to the sound of someone who knows too much. He looks over at Mercedes, who is ever-so-subtly moving towards the door and shooting him a 'are you watching this?' kind of look.
"Are you okay?" the girl asks.
Blaine looks a little confused. "Ummm… yes? I'm not the one who just almost passed out. I'm right as the day."
Now the girl looks near tears. "You brave soul. You hide your pain so well. Oh, Blaine…"
Oh. Shit.
Several things happen at once.
Mercedes promptly slams the door and becomes a human brick wall in front of it. Blaine recoils from Rachel, regarding her with open shock. Finn… for some reason trips over himself and lands facedown next to Kurt, who promptly voices what everyone is thinking.
"What did you just call him?" Kurt says, his voice low.
The girl stands up, her face a picture of utter sympathy. "It's alright," she says. "You don't have to keep secrets from me."
"Wh-what secrets?" Blaine stammers. "I mean… pffft, secrets. There are no secrets here. What secrets? I mean… obviously, there are no secrets, but hypothetically, if there were secrets, what non-existent secrets would you be referring to?"
"Smooth," Mercedes deadpans. "Real smooth."
"It's okay!" Rachel says, utterly sincere. "I heard everything through the door—"
"You were eavesdropping on us?" Kurt asks.
The girl blushes just slightly, but holds her composure. "Not… at first. I was merely passing by when I heard a voice I recognized. Everything you were saying was actually quite audible. If you want to keep things secret, you should probably speak of them a little more silently. Or possibly in some sort of code."
"So… how much do you know?" Blaine asks, looking slightly sick.
"You are the Fire Prince," the girl coos with sickening sincerity. "Your rightful throne was usurped and your father was killed by a wicked villainess, and now you struggle to find allies and hope in a world that seems determined to betray you."
Blaine tilts his head slightly. "That's a… somewhat flowery way to put it…"
"But it's true, isn't it?" the girl asks.
Blaine starts to answer, but Kurt quickly draws him aside to have a short pow-wow with Mercedes by the door. "We'll be with you in just a second," Kurt says sweetly. "Sit tight!"
The three of them form a small triangle. It is then that Kurt notices that Finn is still on the floor and not even paying attention to them. "Finn!" he whispers intensely. "Get over here!"
The tall boy scrambles to his feet and joins the huddle.
"Okay, so," Kurt says. "This is... an unexpected and unwelcome development. What do we do?"
Mercedes shrugs. "Knock her out, put her in bed, and act like none of it ever happened? She'll think she dreamed the whole thing."
Blaine looks hesitant. "That's a little… violent."
"We could just bury her somewhere," Kurt offers.
Blaine and Finn both regard him with wide, horrified eyes. "Dude!" Finn says.
"I'm not saying we should," Kurt clarifies. "I'm just saying… it's an option."
The Fire Prince shakes his head. "No, we can't do that. Look, why don't we just… ask her to keep quiet?"
Kurt looks over his shoulder at the girl. "I may be judging her a little prematurely, but she doesn't strike me as the 'quiet' type."
Mercedes nods her head. "Oh, she's not. I know a gossip when I see one. That girl is a trout mouth."
"Well," Blaine says, "I don't really see many other options. We can't just… get rid of her because she's an inconvenience…"
At this point, Finn chimes in. "Umm, guys? I think she can hear us."
Everyone's heads turn to look at her, just in time to see her face morph from shock (and no small amount of fear for her life) to complete nonchalance.
Blaine sighs, breaking the huddle. "Listen, Renee—"
"Rachel," the girl corrects. "Rachel Berry."
"Rachel," Blaine amends. "You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. Please," he says sincerely. "Not a single word. Even the tiniest slip up could get one or all of us killed."
Rachel looks appalled that he would even suggest it. "Oh, of course not! I swear by the sun, I will not disclose your secrets to anyone. I don't want to hurt you," she says honestly.
Blaine smiles.
Then she finishes her sentence with a bright grin. "…I want to help you!"
Blaine's smile turns uneasy. Kurt massages his forehead. Mercedes looks at her like she's crazy. And Finn just sort of… looks at her.
"I know that I may seem to be little more than the humble daughter of two innkeepers, but I am, in fact, a very talented up-and-coming local performer," Rachel states.
"You and everybody else," Mercedes mutters.
Rachel looks appalled. "I'll have you know that I am currently first understudy to the famed April Rhodes for the role of Kushinada in the current production of The Orochi Cycle! They would not give that role to just anyone."
Mercedes crosses her arms and stares at Rachel plainly. "Well, they didn't really give it to you, either, so I don't know what you're bragging about."
Kurt decides to try a little tenderness at this point. "Look, Rhonda—"
"Rachel," she insists, and Kurt suppresses a laugh because he might have kind-of-sort-of gotten it wrong on purpose.
"Right," he says. "Rachel, I'm sure you are very talented and… lovely, in certain ways, but I fail to see how that is—in any way—helpful to us."
"I could be your guide through the city!" Rachel chirps, undeterred by Kurt's passive-aggressive skepticism. "I am well-versed in the many famous landmarks of Sho Fa, and the historical significance behind them. I would be happy to show you anything you need to find." At this, she turns to Blaine, staring at him with stars in her eyes and oh, please. "I'm sure that you in particular would love to see all the wonders of this city, given how significant it is to your family."
Wait, what?
Blaine stares at her, brows furrowed. Even Mercedes and Finn seem much more interested now.
"I don't… what do you mean?" Blaine asks.
Rachel looks a little confused. "You don't know?"
"Know what?" Blaine asks again.
The girl is strangely quiet when she speaks next. "Blaine… this is your mother's hometown. It's where she grew up, where she made a name for herself as an actress and a singer. It's where your parents met, and…" she trails off, adding with a soft smile, "…where they fell in love."
You could hear an ant tapping its foot in the silence that follows that proclamation. It takes them all off guard, but none moreso than Blaine himself, whose eyes are clouded over and shimmering with moisture.
"I… I can't believe you didn't know…" Rachel says gently. "I didn't mean to upset you, I just—"
"No," Blaine says, his voice thick. "It's alright. I just… my mother died so early in my life… and my father could never bring himself to talk about her…"
"I'm so sorry," Rachel says, seeming sincere for perhaps the first time since Kurt has seen her. "I honestly thought you knew. I won't mention it again, if it upsets you—"
"Oh, no!" Blaine says, looking right at her. "Please, don't think that I don't want to hear about her… I do." He smiles unsteadily. "I want to hear everything."
Rachel smiles back, and at that moment, Kurt knows that for better or worse, he isn't getting rid of her anytime soon. This is too important to Blaine. Kurt can tell by the look in his eyes that he needs this. And he has to admit… annoying as she is, at the moment, she is their best option in terms of knowledge of the city. Artie's maps are useful, but they won't guide them like a personal guide can.
"Alright," Kurt sighs, finally. "You can be our tour guide."
The aspiring actress beams and starts clapping excitedly. "Oh, thank you so much! I promise, you will not regret choosing Rachel Berry to usher you through the Sho Fa Experience."
He already does, kind of. But there's no use in telling her that. "Wonderful. Well, being that you have barged your way into our little circle of trust, we might as well get introductions out of the way and lay a few ground rules." He waits until Rachel's full attention is on him before he continues.
"Listen carefully…"
Artie Abrams has badgermole blood.
It's the only explanation for how impossibly awesome he is.
He pops up from underground on the underside of an empty crate, taking a second to breathe, brush himself off and make sure nothing exceptionally poisonous or unfriendly has latched onto him in his time underground (people'd be amazed at some of the funky shit happening just below their toes).
Burrowing is kind of like sprinting—you need to get where you're going, fast, and without stumbling. It's the main reason a lot of Earthbenders never even try to burrow—make one wrong move, take one false motion, and guess who just dug their own grave and buried themselves in it? That's right, you did!
Fortunately, Artie has plenty of practice under his belt. In places like Sho Fa, when he needs to get around quickly without being seen, burrowing is pretty much his bread and butter. They never see him coming, they never see him going—they never see him at all, the ideal situation for any thief.
When he's feeling suitably rested, he closes his eyes and spreads his hands along the ground, planning his next move.
Tremorsense for Artie is kind of weird. He has it—all earthbenders do, even if most never try to develop it—but his doesn't work like most. He can't feel much of anything below his waist (though his bait and tackle are still perfectly functional, thank the spirits), but everything down there is still part of him. Energy and vibrations still travel through it. So when he's just sitting around, Artie's tremorsense is kind of fuzzy and unclear. Kind of like his vision without his glasses—he gets a vague idea of what's happening, but nothing… concrete.
When he uses his hands, however, everything becomes much more defined. The world around him is laid open, and pretty much anything on the ground is visible and distinct to him. Walls? Pffft. Walls can't hide you from Artie, not when he's really looking for you. Through the ground, he can feel a barrel and tell you what's inside, feel a person walking and guess (fairly accurately) what shoes they are wearing and what they do for a living. He can detect buried things—from treasure (acquire!) to ant colonies (avoid!)—and react accordingly. Most importantly, however, he can find (and sometimes, create) his next hiding spot.
Taking a deep breath, he promptly shoves himself back underground, steadily burrowing across the street, zig-zagging to avoid a couple of pipes and a shoebox with a dead cat-owl in it, and popping out inside of a storm drain. He hasn't found much of interest so far. Well, not much of financial interest—there's almost always something interesting going on around him. People do all sorts of crazy shit when they think no one is watching.
Not that he's watching or anything.
Well, okay, maybe he's watching.
Fine. So Artie is, occasionally, kind of a creeper. It comes with the territory. Besides, it's not like he does anything super-voyeuristic or whatever—nothing makes him pull his hands back from the ground like he's been burned quite like the distinct vibrations of people doing the nasty where he can feel it. Gross. He can't imagine what it'd be like to see the world like this all the time. It's times like these that he's thankful he just has badgermole blood, and is not, in fact, an actual blind badgermole.
He's just getting ready to map out his next move, when…
"…be there in just a second, boss, I gotta dump this out!"
And that's all the warning he gets before Artie is promptly doused right in the face with a bucket of fish water (complete with dead fish).
With a silent sigh through his nose, he scrunches up his face and takes a second to pick the dead goldfish-guppies out of his hair, thanking the Hills that he didn't have his mouth open for that.
His is a dirty job, but someone's gotta do it.
Once he's recovered from that nasty mess, he again places his hands against the stone walls of the storm drain, and feels out the world around him.
It is then that he notices it. A barely-there vibration, moving away from him. A set of very, very light footsteps. Possibly the lightest he has ever felt—so light that he almost dismissed them as his imagination. You can learn a lot about a person from their gait; generally speaking, people don't really think about how they walk. There are all sorts of walks in the world—stompers, skippers, draggers, bouncers, heel-walkers, toe-walkers, striders, meanderers, marchers, prancers, dancers…
…huh. There is a slight chance that Artie thinks about walking more than is really healthy for someone in his position.
But that's beside the point. A person's walk can tell you a lot about them, and this person's walk is telling Artie that they are very finely versed in the art of movement. No one can step that lightly without training. It's almost as if they barely touch the ground at all.
Artie smiles. This is interesting.
He dives into the wall and heads to get a look at the source of the steps, surfacing beneath a discarded junk cart with a broken axel. Peeking out from beneath it, he can make out the shape of the figure as they turn the corner.
They're wearing a black hood.
…huh.
Well, that takes care of that, then. Artie knows what he'll be doing for the next however-long-it-takes-to-find-out-who-this-is. He can't be sure, of course, but Artie has a hunch that he has seen this guy before.
And Artie is all about following some hunches.
"Remember everyone's names?" Kurt says as they prepare to leave.
"Of course," Rachel reassures him. "This is just like a play! Well, really more of an improvisational acting exercise—"
"Yes, whatever," Kurt brushes her off. "And one more time—what happens if you use our real names and we get killed?"
"Your next incarnation will hunt me down and use me to invent painbending," Rachel repeats, not seeming terribly unnerved by the statement at all. Kurt is a bit annoyed. His game must be slipping.
With everyone in-costume and in-character, they slip out of their room and down the stairs.
"I just need to tell my dads what I will be doing for the day," Rachel says as they reach the bottom floor.
"…dads?" Finn asks. Kurt and Blaine give each other a surprised glance.
The answer to Finn's question comes quickly, as Rachel steps into the foyer where the barkeeper and innkeeper are both standing behind the counter, diligently pouring over a stack of papers.
"Daddy, Father," Rachel says warmly.
"Good morning, sweetie," the innkeeper says.
"And how is our little shining star this morning?" the barkeeper asks with a smile.
"I am quite well, thank you," Rachel beams, turning towards Kurt and the gang. "Councilor Ganterson, Lady Desiree, I would like to introduce you to my parents. This is Hiram Berry, my Father," she says, indicating the innkeeper, "and this is Leroy Berry, my Daddy," she continues, indicating the barkeeper.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Kurt says primly.
"Daddy, Father, this is Councilor Ganterson and his entourage, the lovely Lady Desiree, and his servants, Ozark and Zarko," she says sweetly.
"Nice to meet you as well," Hiram says. Leroy winks at them.
"So… wait," Finn says, opening his mouth for the first time in several minutes in such a way that Kurt is almost certain nothing good is going to come out of it. "So… you're both… guys."
"Yes," Hiram says, not impolitely.
"And you're both… her dad?" Finn continues.
"Indeed we are," Leroy says casually.
Finn looks confused. "But… how does that…"
The Berrys share a look. When they turn back towards Finn, they open their mouths to speak at the same time. They do not, however, say the same thing.
Hiram: "We adopted her."
Leroy: "We gave birth to her through our penises."
The look of horror on Finn's face clearly shows which of the two responses he heard.
"Leroy, stop it," Hiram scolds. "I told you not to say that anymore!"
"I'm sorry, Hiram, but I am just so sick of that question. Is it really that difficult a deduction to make?" Leroy snarks.
"Daddy," Rachel whispers. "Be nice! These are very important people."
"Actually," Kurt clarifies. "I am important. Her too, I suppose," he adds, indicating Mercedes, who looks put out. "Them, you may insult to your heart's content. I do it regularly," Kurt smiles, indicating his two 'servants.'
"How gracious of you, Councilor," Leroy says with a shit-eating grin.
"Oh, you are just the worst," Hiram sighs, with an eye roll.
"As I was saying," Rachel says, re-railing the conversation. "The esteemed Councilor was impressed by my knowledge of the city and its rich cultural history. He has asked me to be his personal guide to the many wonders Sho Fa has to offer. I hope that's alright with you."
"It's fine, sweetie," Hiram says.
"Far be it from us to deny an esteemed Councilor anything," Leroy adds lasciviously.
"Do I need to gag you?" Hiram asks pointedly.
Leroy turns to him with a smirk. "That all depends on what you intend to do with me," he says, his voice low and sultry enough to turn every face in the room bright red.
"Well, thank you, Fathers, we'll be going now," Rachel says, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. She then turns to lead everyone out of the room before her fathers can embarrass her further.
"Bye sweetie!" Hiram calls out.
"Take good care of our guests!" Leroy adds. "Seriously, we need the patronage."
As Kurt turns to leave, he is pleased to note that Blaine seems to be blushing just as deeply as he is.
Finn on the other hand, looks a little pale. He at least has the good sense to wait until they are outside before timidly approaching Rachel, and quietly asking, "Ummm… so… which one was true?"
The resulting prominent, palm-shaped red mark on Kurt's forehead is easily disguised by some concealer.
Well, Artie was right. Sho Fa is full of weirdoes.
By the time they make it out into the city proper, the world is fully awake and the 'rich cultural heritage' of the city is on full display. As Rachel confidently leads them down the sidewalk, Blaine finds himself dodging around all sorts of interesting characters—a man with a large nose ring, juggling live turducken, two women in leotards who seem to Blaine to be made of rubber for all the strange, slightly frightening ways they bend themselves, and an odd, silent character in black and white who keeps making strange motions at him and staring at him with wide eyes…
"Sho Fa is a city rich in artistic talent. These lovely street performers are a wondrous example of the boundless varieties of self-expression one can find within the city's confines."
The gang passes by a cage with a bunch of nearly-naked men in loincloths, headdresses, and body paint. "I am a Sun Warrior!" one of them shouts. "A strong member of a once-proud native race, caged and subjugated for your amusement! Come, o Fire Nation, come and gawk at me! Let me amuse you!" he cries.
"As varied as the many forms of artistic expression are, so also are the many political views represented by our population. All manner of points on the political spectrum are represented here," Rachel says, matter-of-fact, as they pass by a large mural of the Fire Nation, surrounded by a wall of heavily-armed ships, as a cloud of skulls and bones gathers around it. 'NOTHING to FEAR,' is written just below a skull that appears to be laughing. He passes a man who is almost naked, tattoos of red covering most of his body, his hair wild, his teeth sharpened, a pair of prominent antlers on his head. "We gave you the gift of fire," the man growls at them as they pass, "and what did you do with it? You betrayed us!" he shouts, a burst of fire escaping from his mouth as he roars to the Heavens in outrage.
Mercedes and Kurt walk side-by-side, playing the part of the tourist perfectly, pointing and chuckling and making little whispered comments to each other, leaving Finn and Blaine to trail behind them. Finn, oddly enough, seems more interested in Rachel than in any of the marvels around him, leaving Blaine to gawk at this wide, wonderful world by himself. It's amazing how different Sho Fa is from the Capital, how dense and rich and varied everything is.
Soon, they come to an open courtyard, where a group of men in period costumes are staging a dramatic, heavily choreographed swordfight. People are gathered all around, eagerly watching the spectacle. Several children sit on their parents' shoulders, gazing with wide grins at the exciting fight.
It's astounding. Breathtaking, even, and in any other circumstance, he'd be delighted with everything he sees. But these aren't normal circumstances, and there are questions burning at the back of his mind, their need for answers overshadowing all else. He momentarily breaks character to rush ahead of Kurt.
"Rachel," he says. "No offense… this really is a lovely tour you're giving, and I don't mean to detract from it, I just… I'd really like to know about my mother, please."
The aspiring actress grinds to a halt and spins around to face the group. "Well, Bl—Ozark," Rachel corrects just in time thanks to a death glare from Kurt. "Her history is contained more within the middle level of the city, the Theatre District. We still have the remainder of the Market District to tour, as well as—"
"Could we skip ahead?" Blaine asks. "Please," he adds.
Rachel looks conflicted. "Well… I suppose we could. It's just…"
Mercedes stares at her strangely. "…you've rehearsed this, haven't you?" she says.
Rachel blushes. "…perhaps," she says. "I might have considered a momentary career as a tour guide to pay my bills while I did the obligatory bit parts and stage work required to refine my credibility as an artist."
"You thought you might become a tour guide, so you started giving imaginary tours?" Kurt asks.
Rachel regards him coolly. "I happen to know a great deal of local history. If I dreamed of putting that to good use one day, I don't see why that should be a problem," she says plainly, before turning back to Blaine. "And I suppose… if you want to, we can take the tour out-of-order and go to the Middle District," she says with a gentle smile, cupping his cheek with a reassuring hand. "I'm sure you'll be amazed when you hear her story," she says as she stares at Blaine with just a hint of mischief in her eyes. "You may even find a few… parallels between past and present," she says cryptically, winking at him as she walks towards the gate to the next level. Blaine follows quickly after her, and so completely misses the murderous glare that Kurt is sending at her backside as she goes…
Twinkle-toes is a pain in the ass to track. First of all, on top of the fact that his footsteps are like feathers brushing against the ground, the rest of the stupid city is waking up, so now every time he feels for the guy, he has to deal with the thousands of other people plodding around like drunken elephant goats while looking for the one set of footsteps he wants to find. It's like listening for a whisper in the middle of a full orchestra concert, and he winds up relying on his eyes more than his hands to keep track of his stalk-ee. That is dangerous business—if Artie can see the world, the world can see Artie, and he does not want to be seen right now.
Which is the perfect segue into the second major problem Artie is having to deal with at the moment.
"Mrrow," the tabby cat meows as it paws at the bush Artie is hiding in.
"Shoo!" he whispers. "Scat! Scram!"
Sho Fa is apparently home to a large number of 'cat people.' Thanks to his unwanted morning shower, Artie currently smells like fish. And cats like fish. Ergo, for the time being, no matter where he hides or how fast he moves, he winds up with a collection of cats sniffing him out and forcing him to move before someone notices the meowing menace being gathered in the streets.
Pressing his hand against the ground and focusing as hard as he can, he decides to take a shortcut that will hopefully throw his feline fan club for a loop.
With a deep breath, he sinks underground, and burrows straight into the basement of a nearby building, bursting out of the wall, sliding across the floor, and smashing into the other wall without even so much as a break in between. He surfaces in the alley on the other side of the building, in a small space between a dumpster and a wall. It's cramped, but it works, and that's all that matters. He saw the guy head back here before, so hopefully it won't be too hard to find him again.
Fingers to the ground, Artie listens to the earth.
Wait for it… wait for it… there.
The guy seems to be picking up his pace. Does he know he's being followed?
Artie grins for just a second, eager to resume the chase…
Then he frowns, as he feels the pitter-patter of pawprints against the dirt.
With little recourse, he takes a deep breath, and plunges again beneath the earth.
Looks like the chase is on for both of them…
"What does she think she is doing?" Kurt hisses to Mercedes as they follow their so-called guide to the next level.
"She probably thinks she is flirting with him," Mercedes whispers back at him.
"I know that!" Kurt whispers in response. "The question was rhetorical. Who does she think she is? That she can just… walk up to him and start trying to seduce him with tales of his dead family?"
"I don't know," Mercedes shrugs. "He's a pretty good-looking boy. You can't blame her for having a go."
"I absolutely can!" Kurt counters. "He is mine!"
Mercedes stares at him coolly. "And here I thought you were past all that."
The Avatar purses his lips. "You know what I mean. I didn't mean it like… like that."
"I know, honey," Mercedes says, patting him gently on the head. "Don't you worry your pretty little head. It doesn't matter what she does or doesn't do—she's not his type, remember?"
Kurt crosses his arms and sighs. "I know, I know. It's just… annoying. She is annoying. Every time she opens her mouth, I want to stuff a sock in it."
"Dude," Finn says from behind them. "That's mean. She's not that bad. She's… nice. And smart and stuff. Just because she knows a lot of words and, like, uses them… that doesn't mean you should beat her up or whatever."
Kurt turns to gape at his step-brother. "Are we talking about the same person here? Do you actually hear anything she is saying?"
Finn just shrugs, looking off to the side. "I don't see what the problem is."
Kurt crosses his arms even tighter, blasting the universe at large with the full force of his bitchface as he stomps down the walkway. Crowds part before him; children scream and flee from the sight of him, fearful of his wrath.
All he can say is if she tries to kiss him again, all bets are off. She already got to claim those lips once before him. There is absolutely no way he will stand for it happening twice.
"Here we are," Rachel says. "The famed Theater District of Sho Fa."
They step through the gate, and Blaine's eyes nearly bulge out of his skull. It's amazing. Scads of wonderfully ornate buildings. Some with wide columns with intricate designs running all up and down them, others with statues of all sorts of mythical creatures and performers, still others with murals of incredible scenes from history and legend painted on several walls. The theaters are tall, imposing spectacles, each one carrying a unique sort of power, an expression of art as individual as the ones who designed them. The middle level seems to be dominated by a long line of these buildings, running along both sides of an enormous street that runs through the middle. As his eyes drink in the many wonders, something about what he sees seems strangely familiar to him…
"They sometimes call this place 'the Wide Street,' or 'the Broad Way,'" Rachel says wistfully. "It's my dream to perform here someday. So many wonderful roles… so many captivating stories…"
And that's when he sees the marquees, the signs announcing the productions running in the theaters. 'The Orochi Cycle.' 'The Fisherman's Wife.' 'The Girl from the Moon.' 'The Great White Wolf.' 'The Avatar and the Fire Lord.'
These are all stories he knows. Stories he recognizes at just a glance, stories told to him by his mother countless times across countless nights, captivating his imagination and making his spirit soar. These were her stories. This was her world.
This was her home.
As Kurt stomps up behind them, it takes but a single glance at the wonder on Blaine's face, the tears already gathering in his eyes, for all his annoyance to melt away. Sighing out his frustration, he smiles softly at the Prince, who looks even more child-like and innocent than he normally does (and that's saying something). If Rachel can make Blaine look like this, then he supposes he can tolerate her… for now.
"I… I know these…" Blaine says thickly as he pans his eyes across the landscape. "I know all of these… and…" He takes a breath. "…I can't even remember her name," he says softly. "I always just knew her as 'mom.'"
With a soft smile, Rachel steps beside Blaine and quietly begins to speak.
"Her name was Linda…"
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Coming up next… Blaine learns of his parents' history, Rachel wants history to repeat itself, and Kurt suppresses the urge to make her history. Meanwhile, Artie continues to track Jesse across town, and winds up biting off quite a bit of trouble for himself. Is it more than he can chew? We'll find out, soon enough…
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