A/N. I'm sorry for having been absent these last few days! Had some stuff happen, and didn't feel like writing it! But I hope this chapter shows where I'm going with the Ember Island Players.
I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender.
Standing in the line at the theatre, Aang couldn't help but just have the biggest grin on his face as humanly possible. How could this not be the best time to be alive? Honestly? Yeah, sure, the world was going to end in what… nine, eight, days? But spirits… He still had the beautiful sight on Katara moaning on his… well, yeah. It had been a good few days.
It had happened quietly, but he felt as if the slight shyness of their relationship was beginning to disappear, to be replaced by such comfortable love… Seriously, the airbender didn't know what could make this moment even better.
"Excited?" Katara, whose hand he was holding, whispered in his ear.
"Yeah… It is good to see that not everything is gone… Even if it is about us." Sure, he knew very well that this play would be filled with Fire Nation propaganda… But they would surely be able to laugh it off as ridiculous or just plain silly.
Sokka had come in the house a few hours earlier, showing them the pamphlet, laughing about it. And honestly, Aang had worried at first. What if this was a trap, what if this was just a bad idea… But Sokka and Suki had waved away his worries, and they had even managed to make Zuko come with them, even though the firebender had been reluctant.
Apparently, the Ember Islands players were… bad. Oh, so bad. But Zuko's mother had liked them, for some reason, and Aang didn't understand why… But he trusted her judgement. She seemed to have been the more normal of the two parents, but that wasn't a big reveal, seen that Zuko's father was Ozai…
The line moved, and Aang stepped forward. He had looked around the people, and all were richly clothed, clearly from the upper classes of society. He even saw a glimpse of several clan symbols, such as the winged peony from the Keosho clan of Shuhon. Aang remembered that he had once visited their island, and that Gyatso had told him that it was one of the more powerful clans of the Fire Nation.
So, bending his head done, he made sure that the person wearing the symbol didn't see his face. For one as influential as a member of that family surely knew what he looked like… And that he was alive. Oh, how he hated to hide… But it was for the better, at least, for now… Just a few days… And then, perhaps… Perhaps he could finally begin that life he and Katara had talked about so often these last few days.
"It still looks gaudy." Zuko grumbled behind him, and, turning around, Aang lifted an eyebrow as a way to ask what the firebender meant.
"The theatre. I was here when it opened. They named it after Sozin… To please Azulon." The prince began, then, dipping his voice to a whisper, continued, "My father hated it, but my mother was a patron of the theatre. During the first play, he snored his way through the first two acts. The third, he just left. Mother hated he did that…"
Ah… yes, it seemed… demeaning. As if Ozai really didn't care about what his wife had loved… Spirits, he couldn't imagine how someone could do that.
"Of course, she did." Katara's voice sounded, and, turning back to the waterbender, he listened as she continued, "She seemed… good." That was good of Katara to say. Aang had seen how there had been cautious attempts at being a little nicer to Zuko.
"She was." The firebender grumbled, before pulling the hood of his cloak further over his face, to hide the scar as much as possible.
The line moved once more, and it was their turn. Stepping forwards, Aang smiled at the lady behind the counter, who looked bored out of her mind. Bowing politely, in the way he had learned at the school all those months ago, he spoke.
"Could we please get six tickets for The Boy in the Iceberg?" He nearly laughed aloud, thinking he was asking this person to watch a show about himself.
"A young person with manners… Well, that's a nice change. Normally we only get to see rowdy youths… Here. That will be thirty gold Bans." The lady spoke, with a smile.
How much?
That was… Spirits, that was more than Kuzon's parents had earned in a year. Just for a few theatre tickets… Did they even have that kind of money? To be honest, Aang wasn't too sure. He knew Zuko had raided the personal treasury of the Fire Lord before leaving, and that he had a money bag… But were they able to afford such an amount?
"Here." The firebender spoke venomously and threw a bag that clinked hard on the counter, and just walked past the lady, who rolled her eyes in a clear way to say see, that kind of youth.
"Z… Hey! You shouldn't talk like that to her. She is just doing her job!" Aang protested as he followed the prince, still holding Katara's hand. Behind him, he heard the others follow them too.
"Listen, they are used to people talking down on them. If you don't, they will suspect something is wrong. It's just the way it is…" Zuko didn't look around, and just walked towards a staircase, leading to the upper floor of the theatre.
Aang tried to bite his tongue, but how was this a way to live? No one should talk down on anyone. Everyone was supposed to be equal… But he also knew that that was the Air Nomad philosophy with which he had been educated. In most countries in the world, there were huge differences between classes. Even the Water Tribes, before the war, had been divided. Although they seemed more equalitarian than most, there had been differences between the smaller tribes in each Pole… And of course, there was the sexism that proved a great divider between men and women…
Suddenly, Katara's hand squeezed his fingers gently.
"I know Aang. There will be time to change that… After." The waterbender whispered in his ear, and, as they walked up the stairs, he relaxed a bit. After… After the war. Yes.
They had talked about it during the nights that followed their… well, their last session. They had not done it again in case anyone would hear them, but they had talked…
What do you want to do after the war?
Where would you like to live?
With me?
Please, don't let this be a dream…
It was a bit confusing. They had talked so much… And to be honest, for the first time since the invasion… Aang felt slightly more confident about their future. After the fiasco of the necklace, and their misunderstanding about that… Well, he had time to think once more.
Yes, the Fire Nation was a threat, but it was just Azula… And as Zuko had told him, she only had command over her own guards, the men that had invaded the temple… That wasn't too much to fight. He could do that, right? And no way the princess would let anyone else capture Katara or him… No, he had seen it in her eyes. She wanted to be the one who brought in the Avatar.
She wouldn't have asked help from her father.
So… How dangerous was it actually? Sure… The Fire Nation shouldn't learn he wanted Katara to be his wife… But who would know? Except themselves?
So… yes. He had taken the pouch from his chest once more… And held his left hand firmly around it in his pocket. And he had prepared a little speech! He had thought about it this time! Last time, Katara had given it back because she had been afraid, because she didn't want to be a bargaining chip the Fire Nation could use…
But she already was.
Even if she didn't want to be… She already was. He would drop anything in the world to make sure she was safe. He had already done that once, at the Eastern Air Temple… So yes, that ship had sailed a long time ago. And he didn't want to do this just because her culture only allowed relationships inside a marriage! No… He just thought that this was what they both wanted, on the long-term. Air Nomads didn't always marry their companion… But some had done. So why not him?
"Here!" Zuko pointed to a door, and, as he opened it, Aang saw, to his immense relief, that it led to a balcony with around eight or nine places. And with a bit of luck… That meant they would have privacy.
Entering the balcony, the airbender smiled, seeing that they actually had great seats. The floor underneath them, where the chairs were placed in long lines… Seemed rather uncomfortable. Here, however… There was privacy.
"Aang!" Suddenly, an arm went around his shoulders, and, looking to his left, the airbender saw the big wide smile of Sokka…
"Yes?" He asked, rather suspicious. His friend never acted like this, except if he wanted something from him…
"I think you, Katara and I need to sit together for the first act… You know, surely the first act if about how we met each other… So, it could be fun!"
Oh… eh…
"I just thought I could sit with Katara… And you with Suki…" He looked at the water tribe boy, trying to convey his meaning.
Just, please give me this…
"Oh, well! That, we can do later! But now, let's just stay together! It will be cool!"
Yeah… Cool. So cool. Aang had kind of hoped to be able to caress Katara's arm, or maybe even her leg in the dark… But sure. It wouldn't be awkward at all to do that with Sokka next to him. Like. At. All.
Sighing he sat down next to Katara on the wooden bench that stood closest to the balustrade, but the water tribe boy just let himself fall in between them.
"Sokka! Go sit somewhere else!" Katara hissed at her brother, and Aang could have kissed her at that moment. Or any given moment, to be honest…
"Nope. I want to watch this piece of theatre shit with you two! We don't spend enough time together anymore…" Sokka sighed dramatically.
Spirits, he should be on the stage. Seriously, what was getting into him? Aang knew, for a fact, that Sokka didn't like to be close to him and Katara if they were… Being oogie. But here and now, the water tribe boy had chosen to let go of his disgust and chose actively to get between them. Choosing them over the chance to, finally, try something with Suki. But instead of being able to try and charm the Kyoshi Warrior, he was sitting between Aang and his chance to at least laugh about all this with Katara.
"Quit the bitching, all three of you." Toph spoke behind them, and Aang felt something hard hit the back of his seat. Looking around, he saw the blind girl, with her feet propped up against the back of his seat, grinning at him.
"No fingering Sugar Queen for you."
His head felt like a, enormous red fireball as the airbender quickly turned around, casting a furtive look towards Katara, who, luckily, seemed not to have heard their friend, but had chosen to angrily whisper at her brother.
Aang didn't catch all the words, but he could make some out.
Stupid… otter penguin… shit… just… suki… leave… alone.
Yeah! There were literally three rows of benches! What was so difficult? Him and Katara on the first, Toph and Zuko on the second, and Sokka and Suki on the third! That would even be good, as Sokka would finally have a chance at doing something with Suki without having to look her in the eyes, for Aang suspected it was just shyness from his friend's part that was stopping the whole thing from happening!
"Shh! It's beginning!" Suki whispered angrily, sitting next to Toph, while Zuko sat on the third row, grumbling something that the airbender didn't quite understand.
The candlelight dimmed as the room became darker. Falling back into his seat, Aang sighed. He would just have to accept that Sokka would be between him and the waterbender. The soft murmurs of the crowd below softened as the red curtains were pulled away.
On the stage, even in the dim light, Aang saw that the decors clearly showed the cold environment of the water tribes, so… They would start at the beginning, like, the real beginning. How on earth had this playwriter found out about this specific part of their story? Beside him, the angry whispers made way for excited ones. The play was beginning with the water tribe siblings… So, they were going to see how good the Ember Players really were.
"Sokka! My only brother… We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas… And yet, never do we find anything fulfilling!" a rather high pitch voice sounded from the shadows on the scene. And when the light suddenly flashed over the scene, Aang tried very hard not to laugh.
Was that meant to be Katara?
The woman… Well, she did wear the blue colours typical for the Water Tribes… But that was all that seemed even remotely close to the waterbender. The rather low-cut dress was way too short to be acceptable in the South Pole… And the actress was wearing the hair loopies all wrong! And… To be honest, she seemed a bit too… Well, sexual.
Oh…
Wait…
No.
Of course. Of course, the Fire Nation had made this play, and the propaganda machine had worked its "miracles". And every one of them was going to be mocked. And apparently, the way to mock Katara… Was making her into… whatever that actress was meant to represent, even though Aang had a slight idea. And didn't like it, at all.
"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach! I'm starving!" It sounded… Well, sure, Sokka was one that like his meals, but he never sounded so whiny!
And now that the whole scene was lit up, Aang could see a thing, lanky man stand next to the actress, behind a prop that was apparently meant to be a Water Tribe canoe. And what was that about Sokka being whiny? Aang had never got that impression the first day he had met the Water Tribe boy, who actually had seemed… Well, determined to get food back to the tribe.
But no, here, he was apparently meant to be the butt of the joke…
As the crowd beneath them laughed politely at the "joke", the airbender cast a look towards the two people beside him. Sokka was hurt by the way he way portrayed, that was clear… But Katara seemed furious. And Aang could understand that. She had never given away… That impression… At least, not in public. In the privacy of their… sessions… She had been able to act seductively and rather… Well, sexual. But never in public.
He had probably missed a part of the play, as the people in the theatre began to laugh once more. Behind him, Toph sniggered.
"Oh Great Spirits…" She muttered, earning a glare from the young man beside him.
"My jokes are better than that!" Sokka grumbled, as a new wave of laughter could be heard.
"Apparently not Meathead!" The blind girl cackled, wiping imaginary tears away, "Oh, and Sweetness… Spirits, they just got you right."
What? No, they didn't! They hadn't got Katara right!
"Pray tell me how they got… that… right!" Katara muttered angrily, pointing a finger towards the stage, where the actress was now slumped over the side of the prop crying her heart out over… Something. And Aang groaned as he saw that two people brought up another prop… A giant iceberg.
No… Please no.
The actress stopped crying and chopped her hand towards the prop. Was that… Was that meant to be waterbending?
"The fuck? No!" the airbender could hear Katara's voice from the other side of the bench. And he could only agree.
And certainly, after he saw who… Well, who played him. The person emerging from the prop wore a flesh-coloured cap over the hair, clearly mimicking the baldness typical for the Air Nomads… But what bothered Aang the most, was the makeup… And the fact that it was a woman!
A woman was playing him! He had nothing against being played by a woman, but he was clearly portrayed as a female to mock him! And that bothered him! How was that an insult?
But as he gaped at the actress playing him, recreating, in a very wrong way, his first encounter with the water tribe siblings, he could feel it. The slight shame. The knowledge that the Fire Nation had portrayed him this way, because in their culture, women were meant to be weak and obedient. Even though some exceptions were made, in the army and in the Royal Family.
"An airbender!" The Actress Katara exclaimed, falling down on her knees, clutching the leg of the woman who was meant to portray him.
"Was it really like that?" Top asked, clearly enjoying herself.
"No!" He heard Katara speak at the same time as he himself did.
"Well…" Sokka chose this monkeyfeathering moment to put in his own words.
"Please tell me it's true!" The blind girl laughed aloud, and Aang groaned, turning away. He didn't want to honour that with an answer. No way.
He looked at the scenes that followed with more and more disgust. His portrayal ate meat! And Katara's actress kept weeping or… well, showing off her figure. Even when Sokka's actor was around! It made him feel weird and kind of sick. And well… the actor playing the water tribe boy was just an idiot, making stupid jokes and acting as if he was the dumbest person on earth.
He was relieved to see the actors leaving the stage, meaning that at least, the ordeal was over for now… But spirits, what would follow this… Horroshow?
As he watched, a ship appeared on the stage, with… Zuko. Spirits, that was bad. The scar was on the wrong side, and… Well, that ponytail had not been that terrible.
"Spirits, I forgot the ponytail…" Sokka muttered beside him.
Yeah… And it was better to forget that. Looking over his shoulder to where the firebender was sitting, he saw the hard line of Zuko's mouth, as he watched the actor on stage. And suddenly, Aang remembered something.
Something from his lessons about Fire Nation culture.
After a traditional Agni Kai… The loser, if left alive… Was burned. And to put shame to injury… His topknot was cut away.
Oh no…
Sure, Aang had suspected it had been Ozai who had done that to Zuko… but an Agni Kai? Really? Would Ozai go so far as to publicly shame his son? The answer… Well, it was obvious.
Yes.
"They made me look all humourless and stiff!" The real firebender grumbled, as the show went on.
"Actually, I think the actor's pretty spot on." Katara laughed, and Aang looked past Sokka, astonished that the waterbender actually pocked fun at Zuko.
"How can you say that?"
"How can you say that?"
Aang had to shake his head, making sure it wasn't an echo… But no. The actor had said the exact same thing as Zuko had, at the same moment.
Biting his lip to hold in his laughter, Aang quickly turned back to the stage, hoping it wouldn't be as awkward going further.
Of course, that was idle hope. As he watched how the play ruined every memory he had about the first days of their travels, Aang asked himself… Who knew so much about them? How had the author known about their visit to the Southern Air Temple? For Kyoshi Island, he could understand. There had been enough witnesses.
Aang cringed as he watched how the play made a mockery of Sokka and Suki, making the girl seem like a silly Avatar fan girl who only approached the water tribe boy to get closer to the airbender… Spirits, this was so, so messed up… And how actor Sokka made a fool of his friend. At one moment, when the actor asked if the warrior uniform made his butt look big, Aang had to put a hand on Sokka's shoulder to make sure he wouldn't leap off the balcony to kick the man in the face.
"Calm!" He whispered quietly to the water tribe boy.
"I know!" Sokka answered through gritted teeth, as they watched how actress Katara flirted her way through half of the male population of Kyoshi Island.
It went only worse after that.
For some reason, their travels from pole to pole didn't last long, and the playwriter only spent time on their stops in Omashu, and at Jet…
Spirits, he tried to look away, but at the same time… it had a perverse attraction, watching how the Fire Nation portrayed them. Aang watched with disgust at the scene, where Katara was captured by Zuko and the pirates. She had told him how it had gone down, how Zuko had hit her on the back of her head.
Here… Well, it was rather steamy. And he gagged at the sexual innuendo and the clear "attraction" between the two characters.
"Who needs to calm down now?" Sokka's voice whispered, and, looking down at the hand on his knees, the airbender saw how his knuckles had gone all white as he pressed his fingers against his knee. Relaxing his hand, he shook his head.
"Not real."
"No, it isn't." The water tribe boy padded him on the arm, before turning back to the play.
Aang tried to ignore the whole mockery they made of his culture, laughing about his vegetarianism, his rituals… And even his tattoos. He pulled the sleeves of the dark grey shirt further over his hands, without realizing what he did. Spirits, he hated this play.
He hated how his friends were portrayed… He could live with how actress Aang acted as if he hadn't a care in the world… But to make Sokka look stupid and obsessed with food? Or to show… Show Katara as some… some lady of light virtues… Spirits, that, he detested.
The airbender could only sigh in relief as the North Pole came and went, even though he had to watch the rather awkward moments between Sokka and Yue once more… They had even included the moment he had begun trying to charm Katara…
"There are the northern lights…" He averted his eyes as the actress asked the fake Katara.
"Oh, we can ask the others!" The fake waterbender spoke happily, grinning from ear to ear, as he saw how actress Aang sagged her shoulders in clear disappointment. The whole room exploded into laughter at the sight, and he bit his lip, trying not to speak up.
That was not how it had gone! Sure, he had asked Katara… But Sokka had overheard him before she could even reply! And his friend had invited himself and Yue! But no… Apparently, this was going to be a joke in the play… His love for Katara…
Even their victory at the North Pole was changed… They acted as if the only way they won was by treachery, convincing the Ocean Spirit that they were the good guys… But as the curtains fell down as the first act finished, the lampswer lit anew.
"Well… That was… interesting." Zuko muttered darkly from the last row.
"Interesting?" Aang bit back, turning to the firebender, "Your character still seems normal! We are made mockery!" He hated it!
"Prepare yourself in that case. I know this propaganda style. Joke, then the bad guys, and finally the vanquished. That is this style. Next act, we are going to see ourselves as my nation sees us." Zuko stood up and walked through the door.
This was… This was just the beginning? Surely not…
Casting a look at Katara, Aang saw how she was red from held in rage.
"I'm not like that!" She hissed at him as Sokka also stood up, and he finally could approach her seat.
"I know!" He answered.
"I'm not a… a…" She didn't finish the sentence, but Aang saw it in her eyes.
I'm not a harlot.
"I know my love…" He took her hand, pressing her fingers softly into his own.
Spirits, what was it going to be like the next few hours? And why had they come here to watch this…
Answers :
Jjsmith103 : Yeah, Sokka knows something is up with the play, and Suki knows it too… And I think that if it wasn't a kid show, this play would definitely have been used to make Aang come out of hiding, as it kind of insults all his friends, and himself in the process!