Disclaimer: Don't own avatar, or May It Be. However, I do own that little ditty that Kila sings before May It Be. Yea, its crap…but I only write depressing poetry. Why? That's another story.
A/N: sorry, I just noticed a typo. If you read "Melina" in the last chapter, then I meant "Melia." I'm a bad person who doesn't proofread sometimes when I'm in a rush, I know.
Hey everyone…sorry for the delay.
Um…nothing really to say. Except thank you to all the reviewers, I should have little notes to most of you afterward. Cause I just get bored like that.
Actually…here's the notes. Cause I'm cool and don't use a backspace. Booya.
Khazia- STALKER MINOR! Mai luv. Yea, Jet kinda creeps me out also…but, that's Jet. And I had to put him in here…because…he's awesome. I dunno…you know how bizarre I am. Perhaps he will be reminded of a certain waterbender, perhaps not…who knows for sure? oO
Petitio Principii- First of all, I love your screen name. And all your reviews always make me laugh. Um…let's see…to answer your question, Aang and Kila are kinda the same person…bizzarly enough, so they have a connection. It's like twins. And dogs. And yes…if Zuko does fall in love with Kila (but will it happen? I don't know…), then I guess he will love Aang. I never really figured that before…that's so bizarre, I don't want to think about it! We will learn more about Melia in this chapter, and when everyone is taken to the…I mean what?
Zulaya- Batman is mine. Remember this. His sexiness is too grand to be spread around, it must be contained in a certain area, aka with me. Thank you about saying Jet is in character. The problem writing him is that he's an ok guy…but a tad twisted. So it's really hard. I'm glad you think he's good. Yes…school sucks.
ElvenArcher0310- OMG! ORLANDO BLOOM! …sorry, that's what your screen name reminded me of…and I had a sudden spasm of his sexiness. Ok…moving on. Thank you so much for your review, and saying that it was the first Avatar FF you read. That's an awesome complement, and I bow to your awesomeness. Might I suggest Khazia's stories? Because if you like mine, you will love hers. -points to above screen name-
o-dragon- Coyly 1. Tending to avoid people and social situations; reserved. 2. Affectedly and usually flirtatiously shy or modest 3. Annoyingly unwilling to make a commitment. Dictionary dot com. Gotta love it. does that answer your vocab question? Melia is actually one of my friends' names, so I stole her name. Oh dear. She doesn't really look like the Melia in this story though…Melia is a Hawaiian name…it's usually spelled Mahlia…but…Melia is prettier. YES PROCRASTINATION!
And to all of you who reviewed who said "Yes, keep writing I love this story!" or something along those lines, thank you very much for taking the time to say that!
12
The next morning Kila woke up on a straw mat and was utterly confused. Then she remembered that Jet had picked her up that night before, and she was staying in Melia's room.
Kila sat up in her makeshift bed and rubbed her neck. The straw mat wasn't exactly the most comfy thing to sleep on, and it left her feeling quite sore.
She looked over to where she remembered Melia was sleeping the night before, and was not surprised to see the bed empty. Rubbing her eyes to wake herself up, Kila crawled out of her blanket and stood up, stretching. Running a few fingers through her hair to get the tangles out, she remembered that she hadn't bathed sense Aang had grabbed her three days ago. "Ew. I need a shower today…" Kila muttered to herself as she twisted her hair into a bun.
Walking out of the room, Kila now took a good look around her surroundings. Apparently, she was in what looked like something taken out of the Swiss Family Robinson; she was standing in a large wooden tree house, and there were about fifty identically other houses surrounding it. Strung from all the branches were numerous pullies, cords, and bridges, and some kids were whizzing past on some other type of wire.
Kila walked around trying to find a bridge to get to the mess hall, and finally had to ask someone where it was. After getting a strange look,theskinny boy she had questioned pointed to a bridge right behind Kila and walked away. She rolled her eyes and nervously crossed the bridge, praying that it would hold her weight.
After getting lost a couple more times, Kila finally made it to the mess hall and looked around to find it completely deserted. "Great." She mumbled to herself. Her stomach made a loud angry protest and she looked down at it. "How am I supposed to get food now?"
"You can come with me if you want."
Kila spun around to see Melia standing behind her, holding a large basket. "It's my turn to find fruit today." She explained. Kila smiled.
"Is there a place to bathe out there also?" she said, letting a pathetic smile slip onto her face.
Melia laughed. "Of coarse there is. Most of the people here don't go there though, because it's a secret. And plus they like to be dirty and gross." Melia wiggled her eyebrows, which made Kila laugh. Melia giggled and then said "It actually is a secret with most of the guys, the few girls here know about it though."
"What is it, like a hot spring or something?" Kila questioned, giving Melia a sly smile.
"GASP!" Melia faked a surprised look and said "how did you guess?"
"I am just so talented." Kila said shrugging.
Melia laughed. "I'll take you there if you help me find fruit."
"Done."
They turned to leave when they saw Jet standing in the doorway, looking at them with his arms folded. "You girls going out?" he asked.
"Perhaps" Kila replied. Melia rolled her eyes.
"Do you have a chaperone?" he asked again.
"Melia and I are perfectly capable by ourselves."
"Just like you were 'capable' last night?"
"I told you, I was trying to distract them."
"Right."
Melia joined into the conversation asking "what happened last night by the way?"
Kila waved her hand and said "I'll tell you during the bath; it's really not that exciting."
"So you are going out?" Jet confirmed.
"No, we're just talking about baths because we're bored." Kila relied sarcastically.
Melia smiled and rolled her eyes. "Yes, we're going out to get fruit and then take baths." she explained.
"So are you going to need a chaperone then?" He asked.
"EW. No. Not for a bath." Kila said sticking out her tongue. "Pervert."
Melia smiled and answered "If anything happens, I can use my bending to get us out of the situation."
This seemed like a perfect idea, because Jet nodded and turned to Kila saying "if she starts bending, don't act surprised, and lie saying you can't bend also, got it?"
"Why?" Kila asked, utterly confused.
But all Jet did to answer was turn up one side of his mouth in a half smile and respond with a "Be careful." Then he turned around and walked out of the room.
"FINALLY." Kila stressed, turning back to Melia. "Come on, let's go; I'm hungry."
After the two girls had gathered all the fruit the basket could carry, Kila eating half of it, and then collecting more to fill it back up, Melia led the way to a patch of hot springs.
When they arrived, both of the girls stripped off their tops leaving their chest wrap and pants on. As Kila stepped into the warm water, her muscles instantly relaxed from their tense state, and she felt her body flop to jelly for a second. Melia grabbed the soap she had brought along and started scrubbing her skin.
Kila watched Melia, then finally gave in and asked "What element do you bend?"
Melia stopped scrubbing her arm and took a deep breath. Looking up towards Kila, she muttered "You absolutely promise not to tell a soul?"
"Of coarse" Kila said.
"And you promise not to go all psycho on me?"
"Yes…" Kila was feeling a tad weary now; there were only two elements that Melia would presume Kila would go crazy about. And sense one was supposedly extinct…
"I can bend…" Melia looked around, and then whispered "fire."
Kila nodded and then paused. "So…why did Jet let you into his hideout thingy with open arms?"
Melia placed the soap on the dirt behind her and swam over to where Kila was standing and took a deep breath. "I'm only telling you because you're really the only person here around my age, and I trust you. Don't ask why…seeing as we've just really gotten to know each other really today…" Melia shrugged.
Kila grabbed a pear out of the basket and started munching on it. Melia looked back up at her and smiled "I told you NOT to eat those!"
"Well…this is exciting. You always need to eat things when something exciting is going on. I prefer popcorn…"
"What's popcorn?"
Kila's eyes widened. "Uh…corn." She nodded, half lying. "With butter on it."
"Oh…" Melia giggled and replied "I guess this is why I trust you…you open up to me…in a bizarre way."
"Ok, so I promise I won't tell anyone." Kila said, taking another bite out of her pear. "And I promise this is my last piece. Now continue! I'm interested."
"You are quite pushy."
"That's my nature."
"How do people stand you?"
"You ask yourself that."
"I don't know why I like you…"
"Ok, back to why you can bend fire."
"My, you have a short attention span."
"Only when things are getting boring."
Melia chuckled again, and then took a deep breath. "I used to live in a small fire nation village up north called Germank. Everyone there has light colored hair, and it's quite rare, so this is how one could tell if you were from there." Kila nodded and took another bite. "Because we were so far up north, we were a stopping and shipping point for many fire navy ships. My family was…um …powerful, I guess you could say, therefore many times soldiers stayed at our house for dinner and for the night. You with me so far?" Kila nodded and took yet another bite from her dwindling pear.
Melia took a deep breath, and her voice began to become shakier. Kila had a feeling what was coming up, but she didn't dare interrupt.
"Anyway…one time my father did something to annoy them, I don't know what…and this one Officer got really angry. So…he…he…" Melia took a deep breath to calm her down and continued. "He killed my father…then raped my mother and me."
Kila reached over and hugged Melia with one arm. Melia grabbed Kila's wrist and clung to it tight, then continued. "After that, he let his soldiers take over the village, because there was no more…well, they took over. My mother told me to run, so I did. I ran, and ran, and never looked back. Then one day Jet found me sleeping on the forest floor, and I've been staying with him ever sense." Melia looked up at Kila and said "End of story."
Kila nodded and hugged Melia again. She had a feeling that there were some things that Melia wasn't telling her, but she figured that in time she would.
"So," Melia said, shying away from their embrace and wiping her eyes. "How did Jet find you? What happened?"
"Oh. Well, it's not that exciting." Kila said, taking a finishing bite to her pear and tossing the core onto the dirt behind her. "I was with some friends, and Admiral Zhao found us. He has this kinda grudge against one of my friends, and against me I guess you could say…so they tied us up…but I got loose and ran off so my friends could escape. Then Jet grabbed me as I was running, and here I am." Kila grabbed the soap and started scrubbing her arms. "Like I said, it's really not that exciting."
"Admiral Zhao…?" Melia said, her face suddenly turning white.
"Yea, that bastard. You heard of him? Wait…of coarse you did…you're fire nation."
"Yea…I've heard of him." Melia said shivering. "What did you do to earn a grudge from him?"
"Uh……" Kila said, stopping her scrubbing to think. She couldn't very well say that she won an Agni Kei battling against him. "I can't remember. But he gave me this scar." She said holding out her left arm.
Melia cringed at the sight of it. "Yes, I noticed that when you took off your shirt. It looks quite painful."
"It was when I got it, but not so much anymore." She answered, poking her skin. The scar was indeed permanent, just like she had predicted, and it had not dwindled in size sense the day Zhao had given it to her. Kila looked back up at Melia, and decied that it was time to change the subject. So she quickly said "So, nice weather we're having."
Melia looked a tad stunned for a second, and then burst out laughing. "You are so strange." She said, stealing the soap out of Kila's hands. The rest of their bath was spent in laughter and Melia explaining and gossiping about everyone who lived in the hideout.
Kila spent the next few days hanging around Melia and Jet. She also learned most of the kid's nicknames, and figured out who were the main followers of Jet. She heard most of the stories about how the fire nation oppressed these people, and felt genuinely depressed for them. They seemed to be over it themselves, except they all continued to harbor a flame of hatred that ceased to burn out.
After Kila had spent about a week in the tree house, she asked if there were any chores she could help with. "Mainly washing clothing." she stressed. From then on she was given a large stack of putrid, dungy clothing to wash. So, she would wash these clothes, singing to herself the entire time to stay sane.
Jet was walking along on one of the third floor corridors, when he heard a voice trickling out of the upcoming room.
Sense you've been gone,
The sun has not risen.
The moon doesn't smile,
And the stars don't shine.
Jet peeked around a door frame to see Kila's back facing him, holding up a brownish grey shirt.
"I didn't know you could sing Kiana." He said as he entered the room.
Kila shrieked and whirled around. When she saw that it was just Jet, she smacked him with the shirt saying "You scared me!"
"I'm soooo sorry." He replied, his smirk plastered to his face.
"I don't believe you."
"Good, because I'm not."
"You are such a jerk."
"But you already knew that."
Kila tilted her head to the side and faked a look of thought. "Yea, I guess I did."
"So you're gonna sing for us tonight?"
Kila burst out laughing, and then placed the shirt back into the soapy water. "Nope."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm tired of singing for people."
"Sing once more, for me."
"Forget it."
Jet walked over to Kila and put his hands on her shoulders. Lowering his head, he whispered into her ears "please."
Kila's brain sent the signal towards her mouth to say "What a cheep trick! No way Jose!" Unfortunately, the mouth never listens to the brain, and the way he said 'please' made Kila's mouth say "Oh, alright." This made Kila wish she could eat her words for the second time around Jet, and she turned beet red from anger.
Again, Jet mistook her body language as a sign of embarrassment instead of a sign of anger, and he patted her shoulders and said "That's a good girl."
That night, after everyone had eaten, Jet stood up and motioned for quiet.
"Kiana has agreed to sing for you all tonight. So, listen up, and don't be rude, or you will have to speak to me about it." With that said, he pulled the reluctant Kila to her feet and sat down himself.
Kila looked out at the many faces. Strangely enough, she was more nervous now than she was singing for the soldiers. Closing her eyes to get their expectant faces out of her head, she took a deep breath, and began.
Not too far away, at the same moment, there were a few fire nation soldiers grudgingly plodding along the forest floor.
Suddenly, the head of the party held up his hand for silence. He had heard a familiar sound, and wanted to see if it was his mind yet again playing tricks on him, or if it was for real this time.
May it be an evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true
You walk a lonely road
Oh! How far you are from home
Yes, there was no mistaking it; that was her voice. As lovely as angelic as that voice was, it filled this man with such hatred that he forgot what he used to think when she sang, and now only focused on capturing her again.
Turning to another member of his party, he asked quietly "Do you hear that singing?"
The person looked upward for a moment, and studied the air.
Mornie utúlië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië
A promise lives within you now
"Why…That's Miss Kila!" Iroh answered back, taken aback.
Zuko nodded, and began following the sound. If he continued to follow the singing, he would find her. Then he could finally punish that blasted girl for betraying him.
May it be the shadows call
Will fly away
May it be you journey on
To light the day
When the night is overcome
You may rise to find the sun
Zuko tried to ignore the lyrics, and the memories of watching her sing on her table. He pushed back the thoughts of fixing her bandage, and the way her smile would hurt his stomach in an unknown way. Now all he tried to think about was how she was grasped from his ship by the avatar, and hadn't done anything about it.
Mornie utúlië
Believe and you will find your way
Mornie alantië
A promise lives within you now
Zuko tried to ignore the fact that the lyrics related to him in a bizarre way. He tried to ignore the fact that the lyrics were calling out to him. All he focused on was the sound and trying to find the owner.
A promise lives within you now
And then the melody ended just as abruptly as it began. Zuko stopped walking and stood in place, a feeling of disgust flooding his body, coursing through his veins.
Turning back around to his men, he instructed "I know she is around here somewhere. Set up the camp here, and we will continue looking tomorrow morning." Turning back around and looking up towards the stars, he vowed to himself that he would find her…and make her pay.
OMG! Angst Zuko!
So, just incase you were wondering, Mornie utúlië means "darkness has come" and Mornie alantië means "darkness has fallen." Does anyone else think this song portrays our beloved Zuko, or is it just me?
Just me?
Alrighty then.
Ps. One page of notes to you lovely reviewers, and eight pages of story. Wao. Hahaha.
Love to you all,
SeethingxShadows