Suyin rapped her knuckles against the cell door, the metallic sound clanging loudly in the otherwise silent hall of the tank train. She donned her most intimidating tone, bringing to mind Azula as if to imitate her as she called out to the prisoner, "Stand back from the door."
She heard a shuffling from the inside, and then Suki's voice, muffled through the thick metal walls- "Ready."
Suyin found the key easily on the ring on her belt, and opened the door with a heavy click, all the while balancing the small tray of food on her other hand. She opened the door slowly, just a little at first, and peeped inside to make sure that the prisoner really was standing up against the far wall of the room. Only then did she enter and place the food on the floor of the cell.
It made her a little nervous, entering Suki's cell. Unlike the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, to whom Suyin could pass their food through the bars of their cells, delivering Suki's food meant proximity. It meant unlocking the door that stood between them and stepping into her area. It meant that she was, however small the chance, able to attack her.
So when she brought her meals in, two times a day, she ordered the prisoner to stand back before she opened the door. She had made it very clear - or, at least, she tried to, in the most threatening voice she could muster - that if she tried anything and attacked her, she would make sure she would end up in the most unforgiving cell Boiling Rock had to offer. The girl hadn't looked entirely convinced - in fact, she'd almost looked amused - but she agreed readily enough and promised Suyin she didn't wish for any trouble.
And so far, she kept her promise well enough.
"Thank you." Suki smiled at the food, but kept her back up against the wall, obediently, not taking a single step forward.
Now, the food was hardly anything to be thankful for, but it would, at least, ward off starvation. Not enough to keep her or the other Kyoshi warriors strong - for weak prisoners were docile prisoners, Suyin learned from the soldiers - but it would keep them alive. A small bowl of plain rice and weak, watery green tea. Barely a meal. Hardly even salted. But Suki thanked her for the food today just as she had the day before. The other girls ignored her, or otherwise sent her glares, usually without even a single word spoken between them, but Suki always had a kind word or gesture for her.
Suyin nodded. She didn't know what to say. She grabbed the slop bucket instead, seeing that it was nearing full and she ought to dump it out, but as she turned on her heels and put her hand on the doorknob, Suki called out to her-
"Wait, please. Su, right? That's your name?"
She stopped in her tracks. "Suyin." She corrected her. She couldn't help it. She knew she shouldn't be talking with the prisoners, not too much, anyway, but…
"I'm sorry, I overheard them calling you that before. Suyin, then. That's a really pretty name." Suki's voice was gentle. Kind.
Suyin looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at the girl. "What are you playing at?"
"Nothing. Nothing." Suki assured her, and had the gall to look surprised at her accusation. "I just- I just want to talk. I promise. Just talk. I was hoping- we could be friends."
"And why would you want to be friends with me?" Suyin scoffed.
Even if she was not her captor - she was her warden, and certainly not the first candidate for a "friend". It didn't make sense to her in the slightest. Suyin didn't have much experience with prisoners, and though she felt bad for these girls and wished them well - she really did! - she wasn't naive enough to believe they felt anything for her but hate.
But Suki just shrugged and sent her a crooked smile, "I'd always rather have more friends than enemies, and you look like a good friend. And, admittedly, it's quite lonely here. I'd rather be with the others."
Suyin snorted. So that's what this was about. "I'm sure you would. But tough luck. Orders are orders."
"Oh, I know. I wouldn't ask you to go against them." Suki said sweetly, but she thought she saw a flash of disappointment in her eyes anyway. "But that's why I'd like to at least talk with you, to ward off the boredom and the loneliness. Surely that's allowed, right? Where's the harm in that?"
She wasn't sure - was it allowed? Azula hadn't mentioned anything like that at all. And Suyin really didn't know enough about how she ought to behave around prisoners to figure this out for herself. It didn't feel like anything terrible - but neither did it feel right. And well, in all honesty, ever since she split off from Azula's group, Suyin, too, felt threatened by the loneliness creeping at the precipice. Not to mention, there was something she wanted to ask Suki about…
But no. She probably shouldn't be talking with the enemy any more than she had to. Keep it at a minimum and all that.
"I'm busy. I have better things to do than sit around and chat with prisoners." Suyin lied.
So before Suki could say anything else, before she had the chance to chip away any more at her resolve, Suyin turned on her heels and left the room with the slop bucket, locking the door securely behind her. She wondered which was more full of crap: Suki or the bucket?
In truth, there was very little for Suyin to do. Apart from attending to the prisoners twice a day, she had no other responsibilities. Bringing them food and tea and emptying their slop buckets was quick and easy - and gave Suyin freedom for all the other hours of the day. Well, maybe freedom was the wrong word, for while she wasn't locked in a cell like the prisoners, she was very much confined to the tank train like the rest of their travelling group.
Perhaps she ought to help the soldiers out a little with the chores that came with maintaining the tank train - that is, cooking and cleaning - but those things had never been her responsibilities back in the palace nor back on the ship, and Suyin wasn't about to start now. Verily, it was beneath her. Her duties were tied to Azula, and even though the princess was away now, it didn't change Suyin's position. She was a handmaid, not a cleaning maid. …Right?
With nothing to fill her time, the hours felt longer than they ever had before. Back in the palace, she'd spend her free time with Linhua or Chiyo or Lian. On the tank train - she spent most of it with Azula and Ty Lee and Mai. Even when she had a few hours entirely for herself, she'd never before spent entire days so completely alone.
And it was starting to eat at her.
The soldiers weren't exactly great company. It seemed as though they were growing bored with their long, dwindling hours of nothing as well, and killed time with training and sparring and playing card games. Suyin had tried to join them in their dinner party that first night, but after one of them made a rather callous pass at her, and another few insinuated she ought to leave the keys to the prison cells with them so that they could spend some time with those girls, she, entirely repulsed, left their company and rather kept to herself from that moment on.
The first night she spent back in her room. But after seeing Suki's cell, she realised that her own room was, well, hardly any larger than that makeshift prison holding. Whether that meant that Suki was given a particularly luxurious cell or that Suyin's quarters were really quite abysmal, she wasn't sure. Nor was she sure whether she wanted to find out. And Azula's room stood empty and oh-so inviting…
Where was the harm in it? It wasn't as though the princess had any use of this room now. Whether Suyin used it or whether it stood there, unbothered and unoccupied for the next few weeks would cause no difference at all. The princess need not even know. And while encroaching on her private room in the palace could definitely be seen as an offence - the room on this tank train wasn't a permanent holding of any sort. Perhaps, if Suyin was set on moving into another room, using the bedroom Mai and Ty Lee had shared would be more appropriate, but as much as she liked them both - it was Azula whom she missed the most.
So she moved the few things she had to Azula's room. The bed wasn't anything spectacular in comparison to the princess' bed back at the palace, but it was a huge upgrade from Suyin's poor room and thin futon. And it still smelled of her. Just the fact that she knew the princess had laid her head on this very pillow, that she had slept beneath these covers, brought her closer to her. Even with hundreds of miles between them - they were together in some way. She'd nuzzled her head against the pillow and breathed in deeply, allowing her scent to fill her up from within.
Where were they now? Had they made it into Ba Sing Se all right? Safe and unnoticed? Would they have even heard from them, if something had gone wrong? Though she tried not to, Suyin couldn't help but imagine those Earth Kingdom soldiers grabbing at them, tearing their disguises off. Throwing them in prison. Executing them, maybe.
But the girls were strong and clever, Suyin assured herself over and over again. And besides, if they had been captured, execution would be a stupid move. Surely the Earth King would rather trade the princess for an end to the war, or something. She'd be too useful a hostage. These anxieties weren't doing anyone any good; the only productive thing she could do right now was focus on her duty, however small it was.
She fell asleep with these thoughts of her friends, and the scent of the princess enveloping her. And when she awoke the following morning, a part of her was surprised that Azula was not, in fact, in bed besides her.
She tidied up what little mess the princess had left behind, and then went to fetch the food for the prisoners. Evidently, the girls in the cells had been talking, for Suyin heard the hushed murmur of indiscernible words as she approached the prison room, but they clammed up quickly, probably having heard Suyin's approaching footsteps. When she entered the room, she was met only with silence and hateful glares. What had they been talking about, to silence themselves immediately in her presence? Was it something dangerous? An escape plan? Or were they simply protecting what little privacy they had?
In any case, Suyin didn't really mind. She knew the girls hated her. She knew they were not going to be friends. She slipped the trays of food through the opening of each cell, wordlessly, though a nagging feeling that she ought to say something ate at her. At least a bit of decency. Humanity. Anything. But she couldn't think of a single word to say that would not sound sardonic, and the way the girls looked at her with daggers in their eyes left her with a bitter taste in her mouth and an eagerness to leave as fast as possible.
The days felt identical, and it was easy to fall into a routine. Apart from the time spent with the prisoners, performing her duties, Suyin kept to herself. She found an old military book in Azula's room and took to practising her reading, trying to make out the complicated characters she'd never seen before. Some she could make out from context - others remained indecipherable to her. But, dull as the texts were, they filled up her time and gave her something to do, something with which she could better herself.
It was a few days later, while delivering Suki's evening meal, that Suyin slipped up and let her guard down. She'd announced her presence as she did every time, signalling for the prisoner to step away from the door, and once she was inside, locked it securely behind her. And, as always, Suki thanked her with kind words, and fished for a conversation.
"How are the others?" Suki asked after Suyin placed her tray on the floor. "I'm worried about them."
Was this another attempt to guilt her into letting them into the same cell? There's no way she'd allow that, no matter how worried Suki might be about her friends.
"They're fine," said Suyin, voice hoarse from disuse. She realised she hadn't yet said a single word today. Nor yesterday, for that matter. Her own voice sounded unfamiliar to her, somehow. Like that of a stranger.
Even so, she wasn't lying. Perhaps it was a stretch to say that any of the prisoners were doing well, but they were just fine. Alive and unhurt - at least physically. She'd provided them each with blankets and pillows and brought in food two times a day.
"But a lot less friendly than you."
Suki gave her a wry smile. "Well, you know."
Suyin did know. She wouldn't demand that they be friendly with her.
"But I'm glad," Suki sighed as if in relief, "If you're taking care of them, then I know they're alright."
The comment gave Suyin pause. She sounded genuinely thankful. Was this something that Suyin should appreciate? It was miniscule; she only attended to them as much as she attended to Suki - that is, barely anything at all. Well, it's true that she'd shot down the men that first night, when they asked her for the prison keys, but overseeing the prisoners was her duty. She wasn't going above and beyond; she was simply doing what Azula had told her to do. And if Suki wanted to appreciate her for it, well, she wouldn't reject it, she supposed, but it felt off. Azula would never bother thanking her for something so insignificant. For something that was simply a part of her daily responsibilities.
It unnerved Suyin. Obviously, Suki was just trying to get her guard down, to get her to move them into the same cell. To plan an escape, maybe. To manipulate her. Suyin wasn't going to fall for that.
(And yet, even knowing so, she couldn't help it… it was nice to be on the receiving end of such kindness. To be thanked, even for something so insignificant. And she was so terribly lonely.)
"They're fine." Suyin assured her, again, though this time her voice came out gentler than she perhaps intended. "They've been asking about you, though."
"Have they?" Suki smiled. "They must be worried. Would you tell them I'm all right?"
"I already did," said Suyin. "I'm not sure they believe me, though."
"I guess not." Suki paused for a long, thoughtful moment. "Suyin… Could I ask you to give them a note from me? Just to ease their worries. They'll recognise my handwriting, so they'll know it's from me."
"And why would I do that?"
"Just- just as a favour. I'm not going to write anything that would get you in trouble. You'll read it, of course. I just want them to know I'm safe."
Suyin chewed her lip. This felt like a trap. Like something she should watch out for. Was there any possibility that she could get a secret message out to her friends? She racked her brain for any way that this could go over her head and end up badly, but no matter how she looked at it, she couldn't imagine that one little note would aid them in any form of escape. She supposed… there would be no real harm in it… right? It would just be a note. She would oversee Suki writing it, and deliver it in person. Maybe the other girls would even warm up to her, a little. She wasn't looking to be friends with them, but it would be nice not to be greeted with such hateful gazes.
"What's in it for me?"
"I… don't have anything to offer you in return." Suki said slowly, apologetic. Even so, her eyes were expectant. Careful and hopeful. Suyin had shown she was open to the idea - now, it was time to barter.
"Then tell me something."
Suki's countenance hardened. She pressed her lips together in a thin line, "I don't have any information."
For the first time since her placement in the cell, Suki's confident facade wavered. Suyin could see as much on her face. Her request gave her pause, the question hinting at something dangerous. It was no wonder she jumped to such conclusions, Suyin thought, when anything could go in times of war. But she had no intention to dig out any answers from her. At least - not the kind Suki was probably expecting.
"I'm sure you don't." Suyin agreed, enunciating each word carefully. "You wouldn't know anything about the Avatar, so I'm not going to waste my time with that."
That was more of a hope than a fact. More of an instruction, maybe. If the Kyoshi warriors knew the Avatar's bison, then they surely knew the Avatar as well. Maybe they had some useful information about him after all. Maybe Suyin ought to try to squeeze out whatever information possible from her, and to relay it, somehow, to Azula, but she really didn't want to do that. That would be dipping her hands into the war, again. Even if Suki or the other Kyoshi warriors had any important information - surely the Fire Nation would rip it out of them in prison later. No matter the price - even if under torture. Suyin wouldn't be able to help them then - but at least she could look the other way for now. She didn't want to be any more complicit in this war than she already was. If the girls knew anything - she hoped dearly that they would keep it to themselves, and hopefully forever. She hoped the prison wardens would never suspect them in the slightest.
"I want you to tell me about Avatar Kyoshi."
Surprise flitted over Suki's features for half a second before she regained her composure. "You want to hear about her?"
"Yes." Suyin admitted, more softly than she'd intended. It was as good a topic as any. And, in truth, there was a question that she desperately wanted answered…
"Why?"
She leaned back against the door, settling into a more comfortable position - albeit not comfortable enough to sit down and let her guard down completely. "I liked her when I was young. And you know a lot about her. Or at least I'd assume so."
That much was true - though it was not something Suyin had admitted in a long, long time. Back in school, they'd learned about the Fire Avatars in detail, and only skimmed over the others, but Suyin had always liked the women most. She remembered thinking how pretty Kyoshi and Yangchen both were, and the disappointment that came along with realising they'd barely spent a few days learning about them or their legacy. The rest of the time was spent talking about Avatar Roku and Szeto and the long, long history of the Fire Lords.
But it had barely been a phase, even. She remembered talking with her friends when she was a tyke, discussing each others' favourite Avatars. She'd claimed Kyoshi as her favourite and suggested they play pretend as her and Rangi and Yun, and her friends had laughed her out and insisted that she had to choose a Fire Avatar, that those were the best, that it was an embarrassment to choose anyone from another nation. So from that day on, Suyin kept her mouth shut and claimed that Avatar Kouen was her favourite - though she was a Fire Avatar from so long ago that there were barely more than a few sentences about her in their history books.
"Sure." Suki smiled, though her smile was guarded, untrusting. Wondering, probably, just what Suyin was playing at this time. "What do you want to know?"
"I don't know. Anything." Suyin lied, too afraid to actually put to words the question that weighed on her mind.
Suki nodded and sat down on the bed. The gesture she gave Suyin almost seemed to invite her to sit down besides her, but Suyin wasn't about to let her guard down any more than she had to. Any more than she already had. Even if it was more uncomfortable, she'd rather stand by the doorway.
"Well," Suki began slowly, "Her mother was an Air Nomad, and her father was from the Earth Kingdom. They were both criminals and constantly on the run, taking their young daughter with them… Because Kyoshi was constantly moving around, they couldn't track her down as the Avatar. She herself didn't know she was the Avatar until she was sixteen - she worked as a servant up until that point."
She listened as Suki continued, telling her some things that Suyin already knew, but many of them that she didn't. She told her about the false Avatar and friend, Yun, and about her adoptive father, Kelsang. About her loyal friend, Rangi, who stuck by her side through thick and thin. About the Flying Opera Company. About Jianzhu. About Fire Lord Zoryu. The Fire Nation components of this story Suyin was more familiar with, though she still listened with interest. Rather than going into specific details, Suki summarised Kyoshi's life.
"She left Kyoshi Island to her daughter, Koko, who became governor-"
"Daughter?" Suyin couldn't help but interject with a question. "I didn't know she had one. I didn't know she was married."
"She wasn't. Not officially, at least. But they had a daughter together. For all intents and purposes, she and Rangi were married."
"Lieutenant Rangi?"
Suki nodded.
Suyin felt her heart pick up pace and her mouth go dry. She licked her lips. "But they were both women."
The look Suki sent her told her more than the books she'd studied in school.
"It's been mostly erased from history. Even in the Earth Kingdom." Suki placed her hand on her chest as she spoke, gentle. "But we know. We remember."
Suyin had suspected something like this, once upon a time. This question that she wanted answered, this question that she was too afraid to ask outright. They weren't taught such things in school - how could they, when the very topic was taboo? There was no prison sentence for such deviant acts, but the women that liked women and the men that liked men were not treated kindly in their world. Not in the Fire Nation, and not in the Earth Kingdom. She didn't know anything about the water tribes, but they were primitive and callous and so she could not possibly imagine them being more accepting than the other two nations.
But she remembered learning about Rangi's great devotion to the Avatar. That she was not only her firebending teacher but also her close companion. That her devotion to her was so great that she came with her on her travels. That she never married. That they took in an orphan girl and raised her in place of parents. That she remained Kyoshi's faithful servant and friend to the very end, up until when she ultimately gave her life for hers.
She'd dreamed, sometimes, of finding such companionship. Of loving a friend so deeply that her devotion would be admired, just as it was with Rangi. That she would not have to marry. That this companionship itself could take its place, that she could spend the rest of her life with a woman rather than with a husband. That this companionship could be just as real as a marriage.
"They were a couple?" Suyin whispered, though her words were not so much a question as a statement, desperate for confirmation.
"Yes."
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know whether she could believe Suki at all. Maybe all she meant to do was to pull her leg - to drag Rangi's name through the mud, to make her out to be a terrible, deviant woman. She was revered in their nation, as the companion and firebending teacher of an Avatar. As a great leader of their military. As the daughter of the respected headmistress of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Even though Suyin had never attended that academy, she knew all about Headmistress Hei-Ran - who had been, herself, the companion of Avatar Kuruk, and a great source of pride for the Fire Nation.
But if she meant to sully Rangi's name, then why would she sully Kyoshi's along with it? It wouldn't make sense. And- if this really was true - it only made Suyin like them more, not less.
Suki didn't say anything either, though she kept her eyes trained, gently, on Suyin, lost in her own thoughts. She wondered what Suki thought about her now. She'd been callous with her reaction, perhaps, and left little room for interpretation of why she was so interested in the details of Kyoshi and Rangi's personal relationship. How much did Suki suspect? It made her nervous. She'd never allowed herself to even hint out loud at the feelings within her, and had long since accepted she'd have to carry them on her shoulders like a silent burden, forever.
Once, on her thirteenth birthday, she'd allowed her friend's older brother to kiss her, desperate to suffocate the feelings within her, to convince herself she wasn't broken after all - but the kiss had done nothing for her. Just the pressing of flesh against flesh. Now, a few years later, she'd given up on denying her truth - but accepted that she would be lonely and an outcast and a spinster forever.
She'd always figured there was something wrong with her. But now, with what light Suki had shed on Kyoshi and Rangi… If this was true… The Avatars were beings of a certain perfection; Suyin never would have thought one of them might have been wrong in the same way as she.
Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with them after all. With her.
Still, she would have to keep it a secret, or she would surely lose her job. There was no telling how Azula would react to finding out her own handmaid was a deviant woman. But even if Suki suspected something and wanted to wield this information against her - what could she possibly do? Report her to the soldiers? To the prison warden in Boiling Rock? To Azula herself? No one would ever believe her, an Earth Kingdom prisoner, over Suyin herself. She had no proof, and so Suyin could rest easy. And so Suyin could let her guard down, just a little.
"I'll bring you paper tomorrow." Suyin promised the prisoner. "You can write your note."
True to her word, Suyin brought Suki a scrap of paper and a stick of charcoal with her meal the next day. She watched over Suki's shoulder as she scratched out a message in neat handwriting, and thanked her again, profusely, for allowing them this favour. Her flattery made Suyin blush, and she, tongue-tied, opted to busy herself with reading the message closely, just to make sure she wasn't writing anything inappropriate. But it didn't seem like so - there were no plans of escape, no words that read like code, nothing in a language Suyin couldn't understand. The paper was barely more than a scrap, and so even with Suki's cramped writing, she couldn't fit much on it. All the note read was:
I'm all right, promise. Reina, take care of the others. Be brave, girls.
Suki
And so, having exhausted all possible interpretations of the note, Suyin nodded to Suki and slipped the little piece of paper into her sleeve.
She thought to hide it beneath one of the rice bowls, but figured that an explicit delivery would be the best option. Otherwise, the prisoners might think that Suki escaped somehow, and slipped the note to them herself. And - though Suyin would never admit it - a part of her wanted her deed to be appreciated. Maybe the girls wouldn't look at her with such hatred then. Not that she cared what the prisoners thought of her.
It was confusing. She didn't like to think of it too much.
"I have something for you." Suyin announced when she came to deliver food to the others.
The girls all looked up at her, some of them confused, some of them afraid. She'd barely spoken to any of them before - it was no wonder they were jumping to conclusions. She placed the trays of food down as she always did, sliding them through the little cell flaps. Considered, for a moment, how best to do this next part. She didn't know any of these girls' names - in fact, the only reason she knew Suki's name at all was because she'd heard the girls ask for her before.
"Which one of you is Reina?"
The girls exchanged wary looks, but one of them quickly straightened, and when she spoke to Suyin her face was hardened and wary - a commendable effort to hide her anxiety. She had straight, long hair, dark as night. She looked to be the oldest in the group, though her cheeks still retained their youthful softness to them.
"I am," she said.
Suyin nodded. She plucked the piece of paper from her sleeve and, without another word, held it out to Reina to take through the bars. The five pairs of eyes on her felt suffocating, clearly wary and distrustful even of this single scrap of paper.
"Take it," Suyin insisted, feeling irritation bubble up within her at the sight of their hesitancy, "It's from your friend. Suki."
That certainly caught their attention, and Reina, though still cautious, took the paper from Suyin. She unfolded it and visibly relaxed at the content of the message, reading it over and over and over again.
"It's from Suki." Reina repeated in a breathy voice. "She's all right. She says she's all right."
She handed the note to one of the girls besides her, for they all clamoured to take a look and read the message with their own eyes. Suyin watched them for a moment, but she felt far too much like a stranger shouldering her way into an established group, and decided, instead, to give them some privacy. But as she turned to leave, she heard Reina call out to her-
"Wait, please!"
Suyin stopped and turned around. Cocked an eyebrow at her instead of saying anything.
"Thank you."
She wanted to say that she didn't do it for them, that she did it for Suki, but stopped herself just in time. That was a ridiculous notion - she shouldn't like any of the prisoners in the slightest. Certainly not one above the others. But she realised it was true, and she couldn't help it - she liked Suki. She was always nice to her. And after what she'd told her yesterday, about Kyoshi… Well, Suyin was just returning the favour. That was all.
"Sure." She said, "You're welcome."
She waited, for a moment, to see whether the girls would ask anything else of her. In truth, she was fully expecting them to request a favour as well, to send a message back to Suki, but the moment never came, and she left after lingering for that moment. They'd only thanked her. Maybe they were afraid to ask for anything more.
Their loss, Suyin thought with a shrug. She probably would have allowed them to write her back.
The days passed more easily now than they did before. Reina and the other Kyoshi warriors were kinder to her; they smiled at her, sometimes, and thanked her when she brought in their meals. One time, they asked her for an extra blanket, and Suyin searched through the storage room and returned with one before the day was done.
But it was because of Suki that her days were so much easier. After that business with the note, they'd fallen into a sort of unannounced routine: when Suyin brought her her dinner, she always lingered for a little while and they talked. Sometimes she asked Suki to tell her something more about Kyoshi. And then one day, Suyin made the bold decision to bring two teacups to Suki's cell. She'd made the tea a little stronger, a little better than what the prisoners were usually given, and she sat down against the wall and they shared their tea and company. Really - Suyin couldn't tell anymore whether she was keeping Suki company or the other way around. But spending time with her did wonders to dispel her loneliness, and before long, this shared teatime became a daily occurrence.
"Tell me something more about Kyoshi." Suyin asked - or pleaded, or demanded.
A little exasperated, Suki laughed. "At this rate, I'm going to run out of stories to tell you. Let me think."
Suyin pouted. Maybe she was being too demanding. Maybe she was being annoying. But these stories were so dear to her, and she liked to spend time with Suki. But there were only so many things she could tell her, she supposed, about someone who lived over 200 years ago. Even if the stories were well preserved, most of them were probably lost to the world.
As Suki mulled over what else she could share, Suyin busied herself with pouring the tea. The thick scent of it filled the room, windowless and otherwise musty, with a pleasant aroma. She filled both tea cups to the top.
"Here." Suyin said as she handed Suki a teacup.
The girl smiled at and thanked her, and reached out to take it, but oh-! It must have been hotter than she was expecting, or some tea must have spilled on her hand, for Suki hissed and dropped the ceramic cup and it shattered into half a dozen pieces on the ground, spraying hot tea all around them.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry-!" Suki exclaimed.
"It's- it's okay." Suyin assured her, though her heart was still racing from the sudden onset of it all. She hoped these weren't expensive cups. She didn't think they were. "Did you get burned?"
Suki placed a finger in her mouth and sucked on it. Her voice was muffled as she spoke, "Just a bit. I'll be okay."
"I'll bring you some water. And get this cleaned up. I'll be right back." Suyin decided. She got up and sorted through the key ring, and as she left-
"Suyin?" Suki said softly. "...I'm sorry."
She shook her head. It was sweet of her to apologise. "Don't worry. It's just a cup. I'll bring you another one."
No one bothered her as she retrieved some things from the kitchen: a hand-broom, a small bowl of cool water, a rough burlap sack, a cleaning rag, another teacup… She was rushing, a little, to get back to Suki so that she could soak her burned finger in some water before she got hurt too much. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything major; the tea hadn't been that hot - Azula wouldn't have even blinked at an accident like that. Even Suyin was used to it, after having served the princess for so long. But it was unfair to compare Suki to a fire bending prodigy; of course their heat tolerance would be different.
So she returned quickly, and placed the bowl of water before Suki and instructed her to soak her burn in it. The girl sighed in relief as the water cooled her.
"That feels nice. Thank you."
"Sure." Suyin said.
She watched her for a moment, and then set herself to cleaning up the mess. First she picked up the larger pieces of the shattered teacup, placing them into the burlap sack she'd brought with her, careful as not to cut herself on the sharp edges. She used the hand-broom to sweep up the rest of the ceramic, and then mopped up the tea with the rag. And as she worked, Suki spoke.
"Well, I thought of a story for you." She said, and Suyin perked up, eager to listen. "So, back then, the Air Nomads were still a thriving community, of course, and Kyoshi went to visit some of the air temples…"