Hey! I have finally updated! Also, I will not update my story again until I get up to 64 reviews...muahahaha! I'm so mean! Love you all!
On with the story!
The garden was so soothing and peaceful; how could anyone in the Fire Nation contain such a thing? It was something to behold, and yet something worth regretting. If there were more gardens much like this one, that simulated the same exact feeling she felt right now, she would never want to leave. In truth, she really had nothing else to live for so why not just enjoy life while she could. She knew this peace was the beginning of turmoil. It was the way everything happened. First came a thing that seemed to be an undying peace which would soon fling you harshly into a battle of doom. It wasn't fair and nor was it right but it was the way everything went. The grass she was sitting on was so cool and soft. The touch of the grass felt like silk and her eyes searched the dark blue sky dreamily. The sky seemed to be looking back at her too, with its twinkling eyes staring back down upon her. It was probably wondering why she looked so content being imprisoned in the Fire Nation capitol. She didn't enjoy being in the capitol but she didn't dislike it either.
Kids back in the village use to have nightmares of being in the custody of the Fire Nation and held in its capitol's prisons being beat and killed. Here though, in real life, the monsters weren't so scary and the nightmare wasn't so bad. Then again, she had lost her family a long time ago. She wasn't really missing anything by being here; she was just learning something new.
Why could life be so harsh and yet inevitable? If there are consequences to our actions, then why do we do anything? If the lies we tell come back to us in the end, why do we say them? If we want to keep something secrete, then why do we tell them?
The twinkling lights in the sky, the vast open, deep blue sky, the grass, flowers, and trees could not answer her questions but she still felt more at peace when she asked her questions allowed to them. She thought that maybe since the trees, stars, sky, and earth had been around much longer than her and the war, maybe they would have the answers to her questions.
It was said that the older you were, the smarter you were. The reason was, you understood what consequences would come from your actions and understood things better in general.
Many people tried to achieve this intelligence in their short life; however, they only succeeded in proving to people that they were stupid to believe they were so smart and that, they were in fact, the dumbest people in the world. She could only hope she wasn't like that. She already felt weak and vulnerable on the inside; she didn't need other people to see her that way too.
She saw a shooting star race across the sky but she made no attempt in making a wish. Wishes were dreams, dreams were hopes, hopes were fantasies, and fantasies were false. Wishes were things people made when they needed something to give them a false sense of security. In the end, it always ended up hurting the people more than helping them.
She had learned that the hard way. Her wishes she made were never fulfilled and so she soon faced the harsh reality, wishing didn't help anything at all.
Her hand reached into her pocket and pulled out the tiny sea shell she had found on the beach a day before she was abducted from the island. This was the only true thing that gave her hope. It was a peace of her and her life. If reminded her of the beach and the ocean; it reminded her of the sound of crashing waves, singing seagulls, and the clear blue ocean. This was the only thing that could remind her of the true life she wanted and the true place she wanted to be at. It was the only place she could forget about her past, forget about her future, and forget about the present. Nothing mattered to her when she was alone on the quite beach. Staring at the little sea shell, she found herself envisioning the ocean scenery she knew so well.
She was all alone in the garden for the exception of Chris who was a few feet away from her, standing like a statue. She had almost forgotten he was there, but, she couldn't hold in all the water that began to pile up beneath her eyelids. She heard foot steps behind her and she tried to wipe the water away. She almost managed completing her task, but for the exception of one stray tear who slowly slid its way down her face.
She heard then heard two pairs of footsteps. One was heading away from her and the other, directly to her. She was about to wipe the stray tear off of her face but someone's voice stopped her.
"What's wrong?"
She didn't respond and let silence be the only response this man was given. This man, she was sure, was the Emperor.
She turned around to face him and to look him in the eye. Even in the night, under the moonlight, his eyes shined brightly and made them easy to find.
He could see the water in her eyes and the stray tear that was hanging onto the side of her chin. This wasn't the normal and feisty girl he knew. This girl was letting her guard down almost as if she were in defeat. He didn't know what to do so he just kept his eyes connected with hers. After a second though, she turned around, back the way she had been facing before.
"Why are you here? I thought you were fed up with talking to me."
Her voice carried an icy tone which was no surprise to him. He smirked a bit. It would be so much fun to break her down. It would definitely be an achievement worth being proud of.
"I'm here to simply talk with you, not to find out any information from you."
He started making his way to sit by her, with respectable distance of course, and she shook her head side to side.
"You mean to willingly give you information about myself without you having to ask questions. That way you would be getting to know me but not by force, but by my own free will."
Well there are certainly no secretes here.
As he sat he began to look into the stars, the very place he had seen her staring at. He was looking for something significant or something worth while looking at but all he found were billions of stars and a wide open sky. He had no idea as to what she found so interesting.
His silence seemed to answer her question. That was the exact reason he was here for. There was no reason to get mad at him now though, she had some more questions she needed him to answer.
Turning her head to face him, she spoke calmly and quietly. "What is your new plan?"
His face, unlike every other time she had seen him, did not withhold any emotion. His showed everywhere on his face, confusion.
She smiled the slightest bit and allowed a soft giggle escape her lips. "The person who interrogated me today was definitely not as good as the other interrogators. Who was he? What are you planning on doing?"
"He most definitely was an interrogator, but definitely not my best one."
"He was not."
"How do you know?"
"Everything about him. Everything from his clothes to the way he was expecting to be treated. It was actually very funny too. He had no idea as to what he was doing. Also, unlike the other interrogators before him, he knew nothing about me. He was horrible!"
"So what are you saying? You want an interrogator that annoys the heck out of you?"
"It would make things more interesting. Plus, they never get on my nerves; I always tend to get on theirs first."
Her voice sounded sly and sneaky, but then again, her face and her actions were as neutral as ever. Staring at her for a minute, he started to remember every reason why he hated her so much. She was just way to confusing and you could NEVER figure her out. He silently groaned inwardly and realized that yes this is surely going to feel like a never ending night.
The long silence was soon broken by her voice again.
"You still did not answer my question."
Her gaze returned to the sky as his own gaze turned towards her face.
"They're members of the council."
"So why are they questioning me?"
"Because I told them that you will give them no information and that you could care less about what rank they have or what they represent, you will not talk to them. I told them you will annoy them in more or less two minutes and I also told them they need to give you respect or else the most certainly will not get a single drop of it from you."
"Wow. I feel so special! Now you're discussing about me in meetings! I must be very popular."
Her voice was mocking and he quietly winced with every word, he knew what was to come next.
"I know this also must have something to do with you wanting to gain honor and respect from these men. Possibly because you could not do it so they most surely can not either, am I correct?"
"No."
"Well then you wouldn't mind if tomorrow's interrogator comes, I tell them everything and make it easy for them."
"You wouldn't do that. You care too much for the village."
"But you wouldn't know if I was lying or not."
Every word she said was true. The two of them knew that. Like he had thought before, there were definitely no secretes here.
"Be honest and I promise you I won't do that."
"How can I trust you?"
"You can't. I'm asking you to do the impossible and I understand that, but what you need to understand is that there are something's you are doing right now, that almost seem impossible to you. Sometimes you just have to believe."
"What things in my life would you possibly know of or even understand?"
"I thought we both already found out something about each other a while ago."
She turned her face fully towards him, adjusting her focus fully towards him. When there eyes connected, he knew exactly what she was remembering of. He knew, for once, exactly what she was thinking of. He watched as her eyes outlined a part of his face, his scar.
"I need the trust of not only my council but my people as well. How am I suppose to be a great leader without the trust of my people? I don't understand what I need to do. My uncle has helped me somewhat but other than that, I'm all on my own."
"That's a dream most teenagers would love to have. To be young and ruling a nation the way they want to."
"This isn't a dream."
"I understand that, but it's ironic. When have the right to rule a nation, you want to get rid of it, but when you don't have the right, you would love to get your hands on it."
He replayed the words over and over in his head. She was right, of course. She also said she understood too. That was the first person who had ever said that to him other than his uncle. I understand. He wasn't at all used to that word coming from anyone else and it stunned him that it came from her.
"You're so young. Why are you ruling the nation, especially by yourself?"
"I have help."
"But why are you ruling the nation."
"That is something I am not interested in sharing with a prisoner of this nation."
"You don't discuss it with anyone."
"How do you know that?"
"Your eyes."
How does she know everything? Wait, why is she asking the questions.
Crap!
He knew it right at that very moment. He was again, another victim of her game. He started to mentally slap himself but that didn't hide the fact that he was so angry at himself.
"Let's go. I'm taking you back to your cell."
For the first time, he actually heard the unthinkable.
"Yes sir."
She obediently sat up from the ground and stared at him waiting for his guidance to her cell. She was respecting him and following him. She wasn't rebelling or acting like any of the council. She held him at a high status and he could tell, she wasn't playing games with him. She really meant what she said and she didn't ever regret it.
Still shocked and stunned, they walked silently to her cell. He opened it, and she walked in obediently. He locked it and was about to leave but she said "goodnight".
He just stood there, absolutely shocked she said that too him. It took him a good minute before he left. He really couldn't decide what to do.
Should I have said goodnight back? Wait, why should I? What is going on? Why is she being so nice all of a sudden? Why did she ask me to trust her? Why am I so confused?"
He had no idea about what was going on. He just kept himself walking towards his room where he would sleep and try to forget everything that happened to night.
She had said goodnight to him, but she didn't know why. When they talked, he again showed her he was more human than monster. He was an average boy that was trapped in such a high status. He didn't believe in himself, that's why it was hard for people to believe in him. Everything he felt was because of that scar. It held memories, but horrible ones. It made so much sense to her now, the way he was and the person that is. Everything seemed to make itself known to her now. Believe it or not, she was going to help. She had felt that way before, she didn't want to have him feel that way too. The feeling is relentless and uncaring. No one should feel that way, not even her greatest enemy.
Wow. This chapter was hard to write! Also, I'm sorry I haven't updated a lot, but then again it's because of soccer, soccer, SOCCER! Oh my lord I'm going to croak.
Remember to Review! It is muchly appreciated! Thanks!
--ditz4lyf
