I disclaim owning Avatar and yada yada yada. Thanks for the reviews everyone!
(A/N: By the way, I'm not forcing my beliefs on anyone. If you don't celebrate Christmas or believe certain aspects of it, I'm just saying this is how I celebrate Christmas and sorry if you don't like it... DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS:-D whatever.)
The next morning I got up early, showered, put my hair up so it would curl, and got changed into one of my nicer oriental clothes. I suppose I should come up with a name for them shouldn't I? How about I'll refer to them as either tunics or dresses. Because they are.
After I'd collected the gifts I was going to give away, and put on some makeup of course, I walked quietly to the cafeteria. I wasn't sure if anyone would be up yet because this was my holiday, not theirs, so I wasn't surprised to see only half the crew up and eating already.
I started handing out some of the things I'd got. They were only little trinkets that I'd found at stalls. Mainly candles and carved shapes or animals, but they were neat and I didn't know any of them personally so vague gifts were ok.
The hard ones were Iroh and Zuko. I didn't know what to get them, so I ended up drawing a picture of a sunset I'd watched from the edge of the ship for Iroh. He liked it a lot, which made me very relieved. Then the hardest one was Zuko; what on earth do you get a Prince who only wants to catch the Avatar? So I settled for a fancy, engraved telescope. It was pretty expensive and felt bad about using Iroh's money, which he lent me to shop for gifts, but I knew I couldn't use my own money and I couldn't not give Zuko a nice gift, so I stuck with that.
After I'd given all my gifts away and most of he crew was in the room, Iroh called for silence and had me start light the Advent candles. I'd told him what I'd need the night before, so I had five candles already set up.
"Ok well," I stirred nervously at the table as everyone's attention was focused on me, "normally we're supposed to light these every Sunday for four weeks before Christmas but we'll just do them all today. Zuko, could you light the first candle please?"
He looked at me oddly, but complied, flicking his hand at the candle slightly catching the wick aflame.
"The first candle is the Prophesy candle. It reminds us of the prophets who foretold Christ's birth. It represents the hope people had for the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of man."
I reached out, focusing on the second candle, and hesitantly at first the wick caught flame but steadily grew brighter.
"The second candle is the Bethlehem candle. It symbolizes Christ's birth in the manger at Bethlehem, and God's love for us by choosing to humble Himself to live among us, His creations." I asked another soldier who looked a little older than I to light the third candle. I wasn't as nervous anymore, and the words were coming smoothly. I almost felt like I was back at home momentarily. Of course, when I saw Zuko staring at me I blushed and almost choked on my words.
"This third candle is called the Shepherd's candle. It symbolizes the fact that Jesus wasn't just for the wealthy, but for the poorest as well. He came equally for everyone to share. The candle also represents the joy we have in our acceptance of His gift." I then turned to one of Iroh's captain friends who always sat with us and asked him to light the fourth candle.
"The fourth candle is the Angel's candle. It is the candle of love and final coming, representing peace. We celebrate the return of Jesus when He brings peace for eternity, and He will reign over everything." I turned to Iroh, "Would you light the last candle, please?" He nodded, then moved his hand over the wick catching it on fire instantly.
"The fifth and last candle is the Christ candle. It represents the life of Jesus Christ, and His greatest gift to us; His life for ours." Then I pulled out my Bible and read the story of Jesus from Matthew.
The room was solemnly hushed as they watched me talking about someone they'd never heard of, and this story about Him. I felt very out of place then, and when I finished I silently closed my book and wanted to disappear. Of course, Iroh could tell I was done and ready to leave the room, so he dismissed everyone until later that night.
A few of the men came over to thank me for their gifts, including the young man I'd asked to light the candle. Something about him, probably the way he looked at me, made me feel awkward and dirty. I decided I didn't really like him.
Zuko came over and said thanks for the "lovely telescope." Then he pulled a small package from a pouch at his waist and said it was for me. We both blushed, and he didn't meet my eyes; he must have been feeling bad over the last incident. I felt so awkward around him: it was annoying! I tried not to let my feelings show and smiled shyly at him. Iroh was apparently enjoying our emotional issues; he had a smug grin on his face.
As I was on my way to my room afterwards, Iroh caught up with me with something hid suspiciously behind his back.
"I know you may not have expected any gifts, but I couldn't help but get you this when I saw you admiring it." He pulled from behind his back the beautiful bolt of red silk. I gasped and covered my mouth.
"Oh wow! You didn't have to, I mean, I'd already spent so much of your money on everyone else's gifts and that was so expensive-"
Iroh laughed as the words tumbled out of my mouth. My face was flushed again too.
"Nonsense! I'm the Fire Lord's brother; do you think I don't have money? I felt you deserved it after all you've been through here, and maybe you can have it made into something beautiful for us to admire on you." I blushed even harder.
"Thank you so much. I don't know if I'll ever be able to let you know how great this is." I stood awkwardly for a moment, then hugged him. I'd almost forgotten how nice it felt to hug someone; I used to hug all my friends at home.
The thought of that made my eyes sting and I closed them hard to keep the tears from coming out suddenly. I suddenly realized I was still hugging Iroh and let go. He looked at my strained face and recognized the signs of loneliness. He patted me gently on the head.
"Don't be so sad, we'll try our best to make this a wonderful night for you."
"Thanks… I'm going to go get ready. I'll see you later." I smiled sadly, and went into my room.
Sitting on my bed, I gingerly unwrapped the present I'd got from Zuko. It tinkled softly as I pulled it free from the wrappings and shone in the dim light. He'd given me a gold headpiece with small chain oval plates dangling a short distance from it.
It was absolutely beautiful. I smiled again and held it in position above my head to admire it in a mirror. As it glistened there, it reminded me of an orange half-sun poised above the earth before it finished its descent. Well aren't I getting all poetic.
I decided I'd use some of the fabric to make a dress I'd wear that night, and to complete my outfit I'd wear Zuko's gift. Maybe he'd start looking at me again.
Wait… that came out totally wrong. What I meant was he'd stop avoiding me. And why am I defending myself to myself? I do not like him. That's it.
I forced myself to stop debating over Zuko in my head. If I didn't, I'd end up thinking something really embarrassing or stupid.
Draping the red fabric across my body in a general layout of where I wanted the fabric to go, I stood with my arms outstretched in a camisole and some red pants I'd bought here that I would wear underneath the dress.
Closing my eyes, I created an image of the dress design in my head. I mentally cut the fabric, and sewed the pieces together. As I did this, I could feel the fabric softly moving over my skin, shifting and growing lighter in some places while heavier in others.
I'd planned out the dance I wanted to do, but it required a special type of sleeves. I opened my eyes to check the progress and my mouth dropped open when I looked in the mirror.
I'd somehow created a red kimono dress that fit tightly to my upper body, with a long waist and sleeves that were folded multiple times so I could unroll them for my dance. The fabric crossed over my chest, and a strip of silk was tied around my waist making me look very slim.
I laughed out loud and put my hands to my head.
I can't believe I can do this…. It's unbelievable! I grinned, and thanked God silently for what a gift I'd been given, as well as the opportunity to visit this strange world.
I left the dress alone and turned eagerly to my hair. I was going to make sure I looked great tonight, but I'd also have to make sure that headpiece wouldn't fall out.
