Thanks for all your reviews!
Time for some shameless fic plugging :D I've written a one-shot based on what is said to happen next episode. It's calledAmber Stare. Go check it out and don't forget to review.
Disclaimer – I've said it twice now, I only own the episode Zuko Alone (the idea behind it at least). As I've already stated I own a flying pig and my polar bear lives in the Sahara Desert. The word ignorant has been taken out of the dictionary.
I did a sloppy job on the fields but I didn't care. I couldn't concentrate much anyway. I was too busy fantasizing on the Stranger's true identity and how he got his magnificent scar. I figured he must have got it saving an entire Earth Kingdom city single handedly against a whole army of vicious firebenders, but now he was a wanted man from the Fire Nation because he had thwarted their plans so easily and he couldn't give his identity to anyone just incase they tracked him down.
I hurried back to the house where Dad and the Stranger were working. The banging of metal on metal could be heard from quite a distance as they hammered the nails into the roof. I scampered up the ladder; my feet almost slipped a few rungs in my haste. Once on the roof, I could see that they had made quite a bit of progress. When I had left the house in the morning, half the roof needed building but now they only had a little less than a quarter to go. The Stranger didn't seem too apt with woodwork though. Bent screws littered the tiles that he'd been working because he had hit them at odd angles.
I took this as a prime opportunity to pry information from him.
"You're not from around here are you?"
He merely shook his head and grunted in response, not even stopping in his hammering.
"So, where're you from?"
"Far away," was his short reply.
I had already gathered that he wasn't the most talkative person on Earth so I persisted in my questioning. Short answers were better than no answers.
"Where're you going?"
He paused in his work but said nothing.
Dad intervened. "Lee, stop asking the man personal questions."
"Yes," I replied grudgingly. I leant on my elbow unable to think of anything to talk about that didn't involve me asking personal matters. So far, his answers seem to tie in very well with my 'wanted war hero theory'.
"So, how'd you get that scar?" I asked. I was hoping for a spectacular tale of heroic deeds and near death experiences or a story about how he had vanquished the evil Fire Nation from a helpless village.
In reality though, I got quite the opposite. The Stranger slammed his hammer onto his thumb as soon as I asked. I think I might have touched on a rather sensitive topic. But then again, of course he'd be modest about his gallant past; he wouldn't want people to send word to his enemies where he was.
Dad gave me lecture about how a man's past was there own business. I wasn't listening though. I was busy filling in the Stranger's mysterious background for him in my mind.
Mum called us in for dinner which was a quiet but friendly affair. The Stranger still hadn't said much and I had decided that I wouldn't get anymore answers about his history. Instead I relived how he had beat off Gal and his goons this morning single handedly as they attack him, adding in a few little details of my own, like the fire breathing chimera that had appeared out of the sky which I had scared away once I showed it my terrifying rotten egg of doom.
Night soon fell but I was too excited to sleep. I was dying to try his sword that he hung up in the barn where he planned sleep. I had offered that he could sleep in mine and Shen-Shu's bedroom but he rejected my offer saying that he didn't want to intrude. Quite what he was intruding on I didn't know but I figured I wouldn't get a straight answer even if I asked.
I gazed out of my bedroom window and saw the Stranger staring out at the night sky with a longing look on his face. I pondered on what he was staring at or who he was thinking of. I looked up at the stars too and wondered if Shen-Shu was watching them as well. I liked to think that he was. It made me feel closer to him; like he wasn't at war hundreds of miles away but that he was by my side. Often when I was star-gazing, I felt a cool breeze on my cheek and I could swear that I could hear my brother's voice on the wind, whispering to me the many names of the constellations.
Some time later, the Stranger turned in for the night. I took it as my chance to sneak in and have a play with his sword. The barn door creaked open shedding a sliver of moonlight onto the sleeping figure. He was curled up in a loose ball on a bed of hay.
Personally, I've always hated the feel of lying on hay. I disliked the prickling sensation of the stalks and the way it got tangled in my hair so I couldn't get it out. Mum had offered him a straw mat to sleep on but for some reason he had turned down her offer. I think he didn't like receiving help.
His outer garment lay in neat pile in the corner and his sword was hung on peg just above. I sneaked over as silently as I could and hooked it down. It was heavier than I expected, twice as heavy as Shen-Shu's kantana.
The Stranger murmured in his sleep and adjusted his position. I froze thinking I had woken him up. Even though I considered him a friend, I hadn't exactly asked for his permission to use his swords and I didn't want to get on the bad side of someone who could scare Gal. Luckily, though, he was still asleep so I quickly made my leave.
I took the weapon up to the sunflower field where Shen-Shu and I used to practice and play. I unsheathed the sword carefully realizing that it was not just one sword but two. They just made me admire the Stranger even more. I didn't know anyone who was skilled in Dao swords. Most of the people in Tung Tsuen were farmers and the weapons that a few did know how to use consisted of war hammers and spears. A few of the men that had left to join the army could handle kantanas like Shen-Shu though.
I gripped the swords tightly in my hand and swung them around a bit trying to get the feel of them. They felt awkward and heavy but after a while I got used to them. I leapt up in the air pretending that I was one of the great generals that defeated the Dragon of the West at the Battle of Ba Sing Se. I brandished the blades wildly and mimed slicing through a ferocious Fire Nation soldier decapitating sunflowers as I went. I pretended that the near by tree stump was the legendary Fire Nation general himself and stabbed it over and over again with all my might. However the 'general' remained annoyingly intact, the only damage that I managed to inflict was a slight chipping of bark.
"You're holding them all wrong," a voice said startling me, causing me to fall backwards and land heavily on my rear end.
I glanced up to see the owner of the voice and realized it was the Stranger. I hung my head in shame as I handed him his weapons. I was too embarrassed to make eye contact with him. He took them from me and to my surprise gave me advice on how to use them properly.
"Don't think of them as separate because they're not. Keep in mind; these are dual swords, two halves of the same hole," he instructed.
He demonstrated a few moves, wielding them like they were an extension of his arms. He moved with memorizing grace yet I could see the power behind his actions. The Stranger was a true master of the swords. I could even see a hint of smile as he moved in harmony with the blades and his eyes gleamed with an emotion that I couldn't properly describe, a sort of satisfaction that was only brought out when doing something that you truly had passion about.
He passed the swords to me and I tried to mimic his previous movements but failed miserably. I felt small and weak compared to the Stranger. I looked over for reassurance to where he was standing with his arms folded across his chest, surrounded by sunflowers. He smiled at me and nodded his head in silent praise. I couldn't help but grin back, my heart swelling with pride.
The Stranger taught me a few of the simple basics, giving me advice on how to move and awarding me with a smile when I did it right.
"Hey, can I show you something?" I asked, pausing in my current exercise.
He nodded his head and I motioned for him to follow me, his swords still gripped in my hands. I ran through the field, my heart feeling light with joy and my feet feeling like they were flying over the earth. I could hear the Stranger's feet pattering on the ground behind me and I let out a hoot of laughter as I ran, savouring the carefree time. The stars sparkled over head as if sharing in my happiness.
Finally we arrived at my destination. We stood by a small mud hut. Shen-Shu and I had built it ourselves. We had told no-one about. We went there every month and not the sun or the rain could stop us. During the day, if it got too hot we would take refuge in the hut and in the night, we would fall asleep under the open sky with the moon keeping watch over us. We went there to be alone, just us, away from any troubles of the news of war that tumbled into our village every so often. I hadn't told anyone about our secret hang. At least, not until now.
The Stranger and I flopped down on the ground and we spent the rest of the night stargazing, picking out the pictures in the sky. Mostly he listened to me but after a while of silence (I had run out of constellations to talk about) he spoke up.
"You see that groups of stars up there? That's the Phoenix"
He pointed out a collection of stars, drawing the bird in the air so I could see it perfectly.
"It symbolizes hope and freedom. They say that there's only one in the world so she's free from any troubles of hatred towards her own kin."
The Stranger spoke as if he was in a far off dream. His voice sounded devoid of emotion like was trapped in a distant memory.
"She never dies but is born again from the ashes," he continued in the same far off tone. "It's said that if you're lost, she'll guide you back to where you came from and if you're alone, just look up to her and there's someone who loves you who's watching her too."
Maybe Shen-Shu was staring at her in awe as well. The thought warmed me inside.
"You know, yesterday I saw a wishing star so I wished for a friend, someone who would listen to me, teach me things I never knew," I said. The Stranger turned his head in my direction, a curious expression on his face.
"Today, it came true"
I got no reply but even in the darkness, I did see a gentle smile grace his lips lighting up his face.
All too soon he decided it was time to go back. The phoenix twinkled merrily above us and the moon cast a gentle light on the path home.
OMG, ORINALITY mhwhahahahaha. (Well a bit of it at least.) Don't we just love that scene under the stars?
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