Listen, I kind of took a break from writing and this feels off, however it is a bridge chapter to get from here to there, here being this hodgepodge of jumping around. There being where I want to be. I hope you guys enjoy. Love feedback! Sorry it took so long.
Not wanting to follow the accusations of the man that was taken by the Dai Li, Elaki, instead, visited the tea shop and became comfortable around the two suspected firebenders. She noticed that the Dai Li didn't take the accusation seriously, as there were no signs of them in the area. Though, if the Dai Li were spying on the two, Elaki imagined they wouldn't be noticed anyway. The Dai Li could be anywhere, following, watching, but they likely had their hands full with the Avatar in the Upper Ring.
Kenshu shared with Elaki the rumors he heard while directly working on people's dresses and robes. The group with the Avatar were spreading word of the war outside the walls, and the Dai Li couldn't abduct the Avatar, could they? People were afraid in the Upper Ring for a reason of the Dai Li, but could the Dai Li take the direct symbol of hope away from the people? They may not speak about the war, sure, but a lot of people knew it loomed over the walls, watching, waiting, never truly taking Ba Sing Se but skimming around the edges.
Elaki did not believe that the two could be firebenders. The burn alone on the boy, Lee, meant the world to Elaki. It meant one of her people harmed him, hurt him, blinded him. However, his nature and personality, easily angered, hot-tempered, showed more Fire Nation upbringing than Earth Kingdom, like there was a fire inside him, like her, that was not easily quailed.
Elaki watched, but did not stalk. With the coming of the summer season, more and more outfits were being altered, changed. Colors were changing, lighting. Materials and fabrics were aplenty, and Kenshu and Elaki were furiously sewing and touching up people's dresses, robes, trousers, and the like.
Kenshu knew a cobbler who took a portion of commissions from his recommendations, and vice versa. There was a small community that arrived out of poverty, or near poverty, in the case of Kenshu and Elaki. They grew together, and helped each other, and watched each other's backs. In order to get to the level of popularity, and safety, it meant that Kenshu had to give more than he necessarily wanted in taxes and in bribes.
Ba Sing Se may have been safe, but the corruption seeped out of each ring, sapping from those that were desperately trying to outrun the war. However, nobody could outrun the war for ages. Not even Elaki, no matter how hard she tried, and soon it would come to haunt her more than in the nightmares that plagued her sleeping hours.
The Avatar continued to cause an uproar all throughout the city, and some of his companions visited Kenshu's shop for more fashionable outfits. A blind Earth Kingdom girl and a Water Tribe girl stood for a few hours, the blind girl complaining about Kenshu's comments about her dirty feet and having to stand still. Elaki stood far off, aware of the eyes that seemed to follow her. The Earth Kingdom girl was suspicious of Elaki, though Elaki had been careful. Her heart raced faster, and she spent less time in the main shop with Kenshu than she normally did.
There would be questions later, from Kenshu, about her position on the floor and how she was supposed to act around customers. Not fleeting, but helpful and welcoming. Elaki's heart stuck up in her throat, and she wanted to run. Ba Sing Se was supposed to be safe, but the Earth Kingdom girl knew somehow that there was something wrong with Elaki. Could she feel the fire pounding in Elaki's veins? Did she know about the lies Elaki had told to get to Ba Sing Se?
Elaki skittered around the outskirts of the earthen floor, smooth and pretty. She helped with the finishing touches on other people's garments, but fear wormed its way into her soul when it came to that girl. She did not share her fears with Kenshu, and tried to pretend like everything was okay. There would be no time in which Elaki and her would come across one another. Elaki did not spend much time in the Upper Ring, and she skurried away if she thought she saw the young girl. Elaki hadn't acted like this in ages, and her anxiety was beginning to get to her.
What if she erupted? What if she accidentally set something ablaze? Oh, dear, she was so worried. Once, when Kenshu left to go to the back of the store, Elaki was sweeping some of the threads and scraps that had fallen while he worked on the blind girl. Her comrade, the Water Tribe girl, lashed out quick, grabbing her arm.
Her eyes were deep, mirroring the flames within Elaki's own. Elaki did not move, the broom close to falling on the floor. Her blood pumped hot - she could feel her warm skin pressed against the coldness of the Water Tribe girl.
"Why are you so nervous?"
Elaki's heart caught in her throat. She choked out an answer, but nothing came out of her mouth. It was easy to lie about the Dai Li. It was another to tell the truth about her Fire Nation heritage. It was another to be confronted directly.
"The Dai Li are always watching. I have heard rumors about you bringing up the war among people. I did not want something to come upon you." Lies. It was all lies.
The blind girl's face jumped up, locking on Elaki. But she could not see. Did she know about her lie?
When they left, they shared hushed whispers. The Water Tribe girl looked back at her, and the blind girl held a grin across her face.
Oh, spirits, Elaki thought, watching the door close behind them, they know.
She thought of her Han Jian sword buried underneath scraps of cloth. She thought of the blood stained on one of her dresses. She thought of the boy. Of his scar. And of the way his uncle was so familiar, so eerily close to Elaki's heart.
But, mostly, she thought about how she had received her sword. Of her family and all that she had lost. Of all that the Fire Nation could not protect in the colonies or at home. Of her desperation to bend without worry, to breathe easily. To be free.
Elaki confronted Zuko after his dangerous display of bending with some girl. Elaki had been running a late errand of shoes for Kenshu in the lower ring. The tea shop had closed hours ago, and she wandered about the lower ring, waiting, thinking, and listening to the music of the night air., while she waited for the cobbler to finish the rush repair.
She hadn't wanted to know. If she had approached him directly after the fight with the other boy, he would have thought her an Earth Kingdom spy, ready to whisk him and his uncle away to the lake. But she watched, in awe, from an alleyway as lanterns lit themselves around a fountain, and his tender kiss with another lady.
A fire erupted in Elaki. Not at the kiss. But at the flames. At the power within them. At her own power.
Clenching her fists, she followed Lee back to the shop. He was alone. He unlocked the door and almost closed it behind him, if it weren't for Elaki's fast foot catching before he could latch it.
Shoving the door open, aware, vaguely, of the look of shock upon Lee's face, Elaki shoved her way into the shop. "We're closed," Lee said, frowning.
"I saw you." Elaki closed the door behind her, locking it behind her.
"Saw me where?"
"By the fountain. With the girl."
The shop was dark, save for a small candle flickering on the counter. Elaki sunk into a chair, trying to appear less frightening than she probably looked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
By way of showing, of telling him, Elaki held up a hand and closed her fist, extinguishing the only light in the room. Just as quickly, she shot off a small blast of fire toward the same candle.
"Is your uncle one too?"
Feebly, Lee nodded, sinking down in a chair far away from Elaki. "Are you a spy?" he asked, face dancing in the flickering shadows.
"For who?"
"Oh. You're just a refugee too."
"Why would I be a spy? For the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom?" Lee stayed silent, ignoring her question. The flame flickered higher at Elaki's irritation,at his nonchalant attitude toward such an accusation.
They both stayed silent for a long time. "You shouldn't firebend so openly. Someone could have seen you. Could have reported you. You should be more careful."
Abruptly, Lee stood, knocking the chair loudly to the floor. "Don't tell me what to do. Get out of the shop. Now."
Despite her best intentions, Elaki avoided the teashop for a long time, getting lesser teas and biscuits from shops in the Middle and Upper Rings. Staying busy for the Earth King's banquets and trying to keep the unrest quiet within her soul, Elaki kept avoiding Kenshu's questions about why she hadn't gotten "any biscuits from that Lower Ring tea shop? You know, I heard that they are opening up a shop in the Upper Ring soon!"
"Wow, word sure does travel fast, doesn't it!?" a man from atop his post said. "I heard the conversation about moving the shop this morning! It's going to be beautiful! What good tea!"
"Elaki, tell him -"
"Kenshu, I haven't been there in weeks. We've been too busy," Elaki said, rudely interrupting her master. "I'm going to go drop off this delivery quickly and return with lunch. Noodles?"
After a pause, Kenshu nodded, dismissing Elaki's tired undertone. "Noodles sound fine. The thick ones for me!"
The air was nice, but Elaki was tired. Had she ruined things with Lee by advising him against firebending? Or had he ruined things by claiming her a spy for the Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom? Why would she be spying on him? What did he have to hide? And why was his uncle so oddly familiar to her?
Dress folded and wrapped neatly in her bag, Elaki made her way across the Upper Ring. On the trip bag, flyers began falling from the sky. Quickly, discreetly, as Elaki knew the rules and how to avoid looking like you were breaking them, she snatched one out of the air and shoved it into her money pouch. Her heart beat quickly, though nobody looked directly at her.
The noodle shop, as usual, was busy. The flyer burned a hole in her pocket, and she left quickly once her order was ready. Briefly, she passed the store front of the new tea shop and saw the older man that was with Lee. She did not wave, and swiftly returned to work.
There was a small break between clients that Kenshu left to go share lunch with his wife. Elaki moved the loose scraps of fabric from her experiments aside, looking at the bowl of noodles and broth longingly. However, she pulled out the flyer before it could be discovered, whether by Kenshu or anyone else.
In the dim light of the backroom, Elaki squinted at a drawing of a bison, white with arrows written upon it. There was an address written, pointing toward the best houses for guests to Ba Sing Se. Like the Avatar. And his friends. It was a lost poster. Like for family members that had been displaced, or pets that wandered out during times of unrest.
Elaki's heart did not know what to do. Sure, the Avatar was in Ba Sing Se. She had met some of his companions before. However, letting flyers out in the air freely, without the stamp from the council, was against the law.
Clenching her fist, the flyer smoldered into ash and Elaki brushed them into the stove. She was safe with Kenshu. She was safe hiding who she was. It was reckless to follow Lee and show him what she could do. It was reckless. She was being reckless.
"Oh, Mushi! It would be a pleasure to tailor your clothes!" Elaki heard Kenshu's happiness from the backroom. In the later portion of the day, appointments and clients had eased down. However, it was near closing time, and it was too late to have walkins.
Elaki stood to see who Kenshu was talking to, moving through her cluttered room/storage closet. "Elaki! I need your help! Can you bring the underclothes you made the other day? The big ones! With the nice yellow-brown?" To Mushi, "I think we can tailor them down to fit underneath this nice green robe. That way, when you get busy or in the summer months, it will be easier to care for."
"My nephew, who is unfortunately sick and couldn't join, will need some clothes as well." Elaki stumbled over a dirty pot, kicking it and cursing underneath her breath. She couldn't find the underclothes Kenshu was thinking about. Had she put them in a box of mess ups?
"Without him here, we can't exactly tailor them to his measurements. However, we can try and find something in his size and tailor it when he is feeling better. How does that sound?" Underneath the table box!
"Yes!" Elaki said, opening the lid and taking out two of the shifts Kenshu was talking about. She hadn't fully been listening into the conversation between the two, though bits of it had flowed through the open door and curtain. Curious, but keeping it hidden, Elaki entered the main shop with Mushi and Kenshu.
"Oh, wonderful. Maybe something matching with this green color? He's always so sulky, though I think things will be looking up for him soon."
"Of course. The new shop will probably do wonders for him. Thank you, Elaki."
"You're the tea maker!" Elaki said, stepping forward despite her lower place behind Kenshu.
"And you're the girl that buys the biscuits!" Mushi said. Not "You're the girl that fought the curved sword kid and kept the Dai Li away from us". What a blessing. She smiled and held out the clothes in her arms.
"You can step behind this partition here and change, and we'll see how they fit. Elaki and I will make sure the shifts fit first, and then try on the robes."
"He said his nephew is sick, and I'm so proud of them for finding a sponsor to work here in the Upper Ring," Kenshu said, voice hushed as he moved over to the robes. "So we will be giving them a discount. I know how much of a struggle it is to work in the Lower Ring, and clothes are not something that people expect to be so expensive, especially when they work like us. You've met his nephew. Do you think this would be sizable for him? How old is he?"
"I think he's fifteen, sixteen? Younger than me. Very skinny. I think a two-piece under shirt and pants would work better than the shift for Mr. Mushi, don't you?"
"Yes, yes. Better mobility and not so . . ."
"Old. Not so old," Elaki said, smiling and jostling Kenshu's arm playfully. "I think the brown ones you made last week would work. The ones that cuff at the feet."
Erupting from behind the partition, Mushi smiled and, just in his underclothes, said, "These fit perfect! Plus, it hides my stomach!" Slapping his stomach, Mushi moved to stand on the podium to try on the robes. "If they are big, I saw that black belt that would go well with this too, to put pouches on like your apprectience here often does."
"Elaki found some under clothes for your nephew that we can look at after your robes, though I do like the idea of the two of you matching. What if you had a hat as well? Does your nephew have long hair like yours? Maybe a hat could go well with his hair, too?"
"I like the hat," Mushi said, nodding, shrugging into the green robe. "I don't think Lee would like it."
"I have seen a lot of people in the Upper Ring, lately, with a belt or ribbon around the midsection, Kenshu. Maybe it's good if there is a little extra width, though it looks like lengthwise, this fits Mushi perfectly."
After Mushi had finished and left, there was an unfamiliar hush that fell over the Upper Ring. Normally, crowds of people were going back and forth from plays and dinners. However, Dai Li were crawling over the streets, openly.
That night spoke as a bad omen for the capital of Ba Sing Se, as, tomorrow, unknown to Elaki, Ba Sing Se would fall for the first time in history.