I wasn't satisfied with the way To Catch Smoke was going...but don't worry sneak peak:
Katara withered on the floor as pain convulsed her body, her palms shearing from the raw energey, raw agony, raw power.
disclaimer: i no own it... i own ME waffles, tho...
Wady Katara?" Alana asked tiredly, her seven-year old fists rubbing the seep out of her mauve eyes. She glanced at Ea to see the baby still sleeping. She heard a sob from a door. Opening it with interest, she saw Katara curled into a ball on the floor, crying her heart out.
"Katara!" Alana gasped, her purple eyes wide with worry. She dropped down on her knees and 'scooped' Katara up the best she could with her short arms. Katara leaned in the child's embrace, and she couldn't help a smile as Alana rocked her back in forth.
Katara forced herself to stop crying and looked at Alana with a sad smile. She cupped the younger girl's cheek, stroking away tears that had formulated out of sympathy. "Do 'ou have an ouch?" Alana asked, gripping the water bending princess harder.
"That's a way of saying it, yes." Katara said sadly, watching unfocused as Alana picked the jasmine blossom from her tangled hair. She couldn't help the weighted feeling in her chest as she saw disappointment bloom in Alana's iris eyes worsen. She had looked up to her, admired her, and automatically named her as invincible. And now she saw weakness rack Katara's form.
"Alana, I know you thought I was indomitable, but know one is. The important fact to know is to just try your hardest, and you'll be rewarded with more zeal." Katara said softly, pulling the seven year old Alana in her lap. The girl nodded, even though Katara had used some lucid words in her sentences, too advanced for her age.
"Katara?" Alana asked quietly, twirling the flower around in her fingers.
"Hmm?" Katara asked, smoothing back her hair.
"Can you sing me a song in the Wata Wanguage? Mama knows it, but not that good." Alana asked nervously. Without answering, Katara carried her to the balcony, and set her down on a bench.
"Wait here." Was all she said. Alana thumped her feet against the bench, waiting as she said for the princess. She came out with Ea bundled in a fleece blanket, yawning sleepily and revealing her new baby teeth. Two had protruded from her tender gum in three days.
Handing her gently to Alana, Katara pulled a silver fan out of her belt and a blue one out of her boot. The outer edges of the fan were razor sharp and perfectly balanced. Her starting position was with her right leg extended and slanted to the ground, while her left was bent slightly to hold her weight steady. Her fans flashed in the sunlight as she moved them lithely around her form.
Her body rippling from pose to pose, she sang;
O zora no
Tusuki no hikari shi
Kiyokereba
Kage mishi mizu zo
Mazu kori keru
The purity of the moonlight,
Falling out of the immense sky,
Is so great that it freezes
The water touched by its rays.
Murasame no
Tsuyu mo mada hinu
Maki no ha ni
Kiri tachi noboru
Aki no yugure
The hanging raindrops
Have not dried from the needles
Of the fir forest
Before the evening mist
Of Autumn rises.
Asuka gawa
Kawa yodo sarazu
Tatsu kiri no
Omoi sugu beki
Koi ni aranaku ni
The mists rise over
The still pools at Asuka.
Memory does not
Pass away so easily.
As she sang, her voice rose through the city, sinuously entwining everyone's' thoughts around her musical talent. In the middle of the song, the Kingdom grew quiet, misty-eyed elders lost in their memories of the legendary city of Asuka.
Despite the complicated twists and dips of the pattern dance, never once did she falter or pause for breath. Alana found herself crying at the intense sadness and sweetness that hung in the air after Katara sang the last note, drawing everyone down with her as she sank to the floor.
"I don't know who to choose." Katara whispered brokenly. "My friend, of my love?" She closed her eyes tightly and ran a slim finger on top of the razor of her fan.
"Choose the one closer to your heart, not your sense." Alana said, all traces of her impediment gone. Her eyes growing as wide as lemons, she groped at her own mouth; as if to find her obstruction on her chin like spewed out food.
Katara sighed and got up slowly, as if all of her energy was gone. Taking Ea out of her arms and grabbing Alana's hand, she whispered, "We should get you to Aria…" She trailed off, the girl's mother walking in slowly.
"Atara! That was a beautiful song! Where did you learn the language so fluidly?" She asked and then gasped as she saw Katara's state. "Oh my word! Are you okay, young one?"
Katara smiled wanly at being called 'young one'. She had heard elders describe what it felt like to be their age; stretched out like too much butter over too little bread. That was exactly how she felt.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Your wise daughter here helped me come to a conclusion." She sighed and they said their goodbyes and goodnights after Aria gave Katara a book on Neelam.
Sitting down on the bench on her balcony with Taini wide-awake in her lap, she read about her ancestor.
Neelam won Hoshi, a gypsy dancer, was famous for her shukusen, made out of silk between elegantly pierced steel ribs that are blunt at the base and razor sharp on the ends. But most importantly, she was known for her lover, who was believed to be the God of Fire, Agni.
Beautiful beyond compare in her twenties, she mostly resembled a nymph1. The ancient Water Language came easily to her, along with the pattern dances for the shrukusen, a fan like weapon.
After her years with Agni, Neelam disappeared. Some say she turned. Changed from mortal and immortal for the pleasure she gave Agni. The most noted features of Neelam were her striking blue eyes, flecked with silver, along with a diamond necklace. Once Neelam disappeared, everything of her's was left behind. Everything, but the diamond necklace.
Katara shivered, fingering the diamond hanging from the silken silver chain. Though the passage was short and confusing, she found a lot of common characteristics. Shrugging off a nagging feeling, she went into her room to check on Ea, who was sleeping peacefully.
Sighing, she slid onto her bed, staring at the moon that was overhead, seen through the sky-light of her room. Getting frustrated and impatient, she rolled onto her side and something caught her eye. A thick, little book, dry and faded with age, appeared to be over a thousand years old. Next to it lay two smooth stones the size of Katara's head. Curious, she first picked up the book and scanned the cover for a title.
There was none. The leather bond book was midnight blue that glinted red in the light. Katara's brow furrowed, How could blue appear to be red? She pondered, but shoved it to the back of her mind. The spine was worn and eaten away and there were unfamiliar ruins etched in silver on it.
Katara opened it and her eyes widened. There, on the front page, was an accurate portrait of a woman and a man making love. The woman looked just like Katara, the man… Katara's heart thumped rapidly.
The man looked exactly like Zuko.
Yes another short chapter... but I have to get ready for a dance on friday... my first dance, btw.
Again, I don't know if the Japenese is right, I got it all off a website...