Chapter 9: Stewed Cabbage

"Where the HELL have you been?!", the outburst was accompanied by the bang of her mother's sewing box forcibly slammed shut.

Jin heard her mother's distraught voice through the thin walls. She had been in her and her sister's chamber, laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark chamber, waiting. Satsu, hadn't come home before it got dark. With the curfew in force and with the penalties for any breaches whatsoever, that came with it… so to say, their mother had been beside herself with worry.

Jin couldn't make out her sister's reply. Instead she heard Satsu's swift footsteps coming closer and sat up when she felt the faint draught from the chamber door next to her sliding open. Head low, deliberately avoiding Jin's eyes, Satsu shuffled past her and plumped down on her futon. Remaining rooted on her futon, Jin turned her head and leaned over to look through the open door to check on her mother. She was kneeling next to the table in the middle of the room, her hands supporting her head. Loose strands of her hair were falling in her face and almost covered it like a curtain. She looked exhausted.

Jin watched her, keeping her eyes locked at the sunk down form of her mother. With an almost unnoticeable, tired nod she signaled Jin to deal with her sister, to carry on in her stead for now. After receiving her cue, Jin got up and softly closed the sliding door that were separating the two rooms.

Satsu was sitting on her futon, knees pulled in, embracing them with her arms. A remnant of the light from the kitchen passing through the thin paper doors subtly illuminated the shape of her like a spotlight.

"She never understands", Satsu's said weakly under her breath. "I didn't even try to explain why I was late… I never find the right words when something happens and it just gets worse."

Jin had had a fair share of fallouts with her mom and for the most part their fights hadn't been based off of something rebellious she had done or because she had deliberately disobeyed or lied to her mother. Mostly things just hadn't turned out as planned…

Jin knew exactly what Satsu meant. She didn't know what to say though. So instead of uttering empty phrases she remained silent, crouched down next to her sister and pulled her sister into a hug, burying her face in her sister's hair.

"Why do you smell like stewed cabbage?", Jin asked when the sourish odor Satsu's hair had absorbed reached her nose.

No answer.

"Satsu?"

Still no reply.

Jin pulled away, held her sister's face and tried again. "Satsu? What's with that smell?"

Looking down Satsu's sniffled "I helped out in Pu-on soup kitchen. This is why I was late."

"Oh… but… but how did you get the job? No one's able to eat out", JIn wondered.

"Pu-on caters for some of the fire nation troops in the lower ring."

"Aaand you?", Jin digged deeper.

"… usually I'll clean the dishes and… sometimes I take out the cart to do deliveries", Satsu confessed in a quiet voice.

"Who is with you when you're doing the deliveries?"

"No one", Satsu breathed.

"Satsu… They could… and you're stepping into the lion's den by choice. Alone!?", Jin almost squeaked the last part.

Satsu chest heaved as she took in a deep breath. "I'm just trying to help. Everything's gotten so expensive. Mom's worried about our finances… but you were so full of your self-pity or whatever to notice… There's no point in going to school…", she stopped herself.

"Wait. … are you telling me you're not even going to school anymore?!", Jin wasn't that surprised but she didn't like what she was hearing. Her sister was following in her exact footsteps.

"No, I stopped going regularly the week after they got rid of the head teacher", her sister admitted as she gazed out of the small window in front of them.

Lowering her voice even further Jin enquired, "Do you know what happened to him?"

"No… Lake Laogai I suppose… he was escorted out of the building by Dai Li agents. He didn't even fight back when thy cuffed his hands", Satsu pulled her legs closer and placed her chin on her knees.

This was where all inconvenient people ended up. The fire nation didn't have to make their hands dirty and investigate. The Dai Li usually took care of them. That part of the system was unchanged. What happened now was no different to what had happened before, at least in that matter. It just happened under a different flag. No need to discuss it further. Wordlessly Jin got up and snuck back to her futon. Lethargy was one way of coping with things now.

Jan-25-2021

Hey, i had a little time on my hands and came up with this. Let me know what you think :)

Sorry that it takes me so long to write something...