"How was your day at school, Aang?"
Gyatso lingered over to his side of the dining table in slight wonder, trying to meet the young boy's very quiet demeanor as he slowly picked at his grains of brown rice. Aang was usually comfortable enough to talk about the happenings at the Praying Mantis Highschool, (well, most of them, anyway)... and sometimes, with all of his friends crowding around him... Gyatso found it amusing that the boy couldn't shut up.
This particular day, however, Aang had returned to the Temple with Appa practically steering his furry self to land in the front entrance... and he'd arrived much later than the usual OmaShu rehearsal hours seemed to deem him. There was a slight restlessness in the boy's silver eyes, like he was slowly replaying a certain image in his mind for hours now... but Aang did not seem so interested in bringing it up. All he did was look over at the dark, intricately-carved stone wall in front of him.
But Gyatso didn't pry, not even when the young boy walk past him with a lowered gaze at the doorway, towards the empty kitchen to find some nourishment for a small empty stomach.
The monk found this strange... didn't he eat at the Airbending ceremony that afternoon?... and asked the boy with his soft, elderly voice about his day at school.
Aang didn't answer. He didn't even meet his mentor's eyes as the man sat down next to him, and the young airbender just kept swirling his chopsticks into the bowl of rice. He'd heard what Gyatso has asked, but somehow Aang couldn't find the strength in his voice to say anything.
His voice was still shaking from everything he had witnessed that same afternoon.
"Aren't you gonna talk to me?"
Zuko blinked from his side of the oak tree, suddenly cursing himself for sounding too harsh. It took a second or two for Mai to acknowledge his presence again, turning her dark copper eyes over to the rogue prince while the real Oak Tree clan continued to practice their hip-hop steps a good feet away from them.
He'd been walking out of the OmaShu rehearsal that Friday afternoon, seeing that his waterbender friend had more than enough assistance with her castmates... and his copper eyes caught this familiar dark figure sitting on the Oak Tree. Zuko blinked. Part of him was sad, confused, and even angry as to why Mai had decided to continue with her splendidly fine life without him, and without a single explanation.
Katara kept insisting it; he needed to have this closure.
And Mai had seen this boy spot her sitting with the Earth dwellers from afar, and she sighed... feeling the pain and the awkwardness between them grow in silence. It was Mai who had brought her eyes completely to Zuko, inviting him to the tree's shade with a single gesture of her hand, hoping that the awkwardness would fade with every step.
Unfortunately, it didn't, and Mai once again found herself looking out at the yards, feeling her muscles tense and her heartbeats quickening. There were so many things they needed to say, and Zuko... brave, torn Zuko... patiently waited for this girl to pick up where she'd left him off.
Alone, sitting on the ledge of the courtyard's fountain, wishing that he could swallow fire as he watched the lovely girl walk away... the "I'm sorry" slowly weighing his shoulders down.
Mai blinked over to Zuko, taking in the boy's angry, confused face back into the reality she was living. She knew she owed him an explanation, but as her ears caught the faint voices of the Earth dwellers practicing nearby... it made her mouth tremble, unsure even where to begin.
But the young break-dancer with wispy hair glanced over to her for a mere second, with encouragement, telling her to move forward with a conversation with Zuko. Jealousy wasn't the issue here. It was all a matter of understanding, and Jet knew how much those two really needed it that day.
Mai let the light breeze move her bangs as she gazed at the Fire Nation prince, tightening her stomach to finally speak.
"I never thanked you for that surprise you gave me."
Zuko furrowed his eyebrows towards the ground, mostly in sadness as he remembered those intricate fire dances he'd performed for Mai on the courtyard that particular afternoon.
"It was great," Mai managed to say through the intensity she could feel clogged in her throat. She'd hurt him - she could tell by the way he didn't meet her eyes, then - but somehow it made talking to him much easier. "I wish I could've done something for you that day."
"You didn't have to do anything, Mai." Zuko said almost too quickly, letting his hands brush against the rough bark of the tree as he stared at the ground. "It was our anniversary. I was just trying to make you smile... I wanted to see you be happy with me."
Mai closed her eyes rigidly. After three years... he was finally being honest with her, and the bitterness of his next statement almost made her skin shiver with guilt.
"But I guess that wasn't enough, huh."
His fingers flexed with all the pain and frustration that his eyes were refusing to show, but Mai reopened her eyes on him – not sympathetically, but reasonably. She had to let him know that this wasn't his fault... that it wasn't because he failed at anything. Her determined glance quietly fished for the boy's soft copper eyes until he finally had the courage to look at her.
"Zuko, this has nothing to do with you." Her husky voice became all the more clear, telling the boy she meant every syllable. "It's just that... I needed some time..."
"...for what?" His raspy voice softened in a whisper, immediately looking out towards Jet's direction as that tree-dweller began a new hip-hop dance routine.
"For me, you idiot," Mai scoffed, feeling once again like the girlfriend she used to be.
Zuko's eyebrows rose confusingly, as if by the threads of his dark hair. There was a certain sharpness in Mai's voice that seemed foreign to him, despite the sarcastic tone she would usually toss. He knew that she was going to explain herself, and the boy patiently watched as she took her breath.
"Didn't it ever bug you?" The girl's bangs were slowly moving again with the breeze, and Mai looked elsewhere, letting her words filter out her most honest thoughts. "How boring, and dry I was all the time? And how, in spite of everything we did, we never really... talked?"
The young man flinched in his leaning position and began to stare into the ground as if in wonderment. Zuko's mind tried to separate those memories one-by-one... those picnics, the walks they took at school, the summers they spent together on the Island... wondering if there was a time the two of them had spoken so openly like they were now.
Zuko furrowed his eyebrows and spoke. "I didn't think about it that much... but... yeah." The boy fought the urge to move himself closer to her, knowing it would've made things awkward. "I guess I was going with the hope that someday, you would try and open up to me."
"But I couldn't." Mai's eyes narrowed into little slits under her bangs, hearing the sadness in her own husky voice. "Why did you stay with me, if I was giving you so much trouble?"
He felt himself take in a small breath, flexing his fingers for comfort he needed.
"Because with you... I didn'thave to be the Fire Nation Prince," Zuko could sense the sweat under his palms, returning his gaze to Mai almost in defeat. "I didn't feel judged around you."
The girl gasped on the inside, suddenly remembering all of those horrible reasons to why she'd grown up around the Fire Nation royal family in the first place. Her eyes almost glistened, recalling the voices of her parents... hearing them explain to a shy little girl why they were transferring her to a more prominent school... the same one Princess Azula attended.
She remembered that proud, keen look on her mother's eyes... and Mai's stomach tightened terribly... refusing to hurt this boy any longer. But it was Zuko who spoke again, and the girl kept her mouth thin and shut, welcoming his voice and letting these uncomfortable memories leave her head.
"I know I'm not the easiest person to talk to, but Mai... you stood by me, after my father disappeared, and even after Azula--"
Zuko paused, quickly feeling a sting in his scarred face from that dreadful night he'd fought with his sister. Mai mustered all the strength she could to not move a hand to comfort that cheek, believing this moment as too vulnerable to pass.
"I know, Zuko," the girl's thin eyes slowly glimmering, "but I couldn't really help you, could I? All I ever did was kiss you, and I thought... that would be enough to let the pain go away."
"Mai..."
"I just wanted to be with you, but I couldn't feel anything."
Her eyes then glimmered dangerously on the verge of tears, feeling these selfish words filter out from her best kept mind. Ironically, Zuko also felt his eyes glimmer with that mutual thought... suddenly feeling a selfish, possessive nature take part into what he had felt with Mai. For three years... he valued her comfort, her dark, graceful presence... so much that he couldn't imagine her being with anyone else.
Perhaps that's why, he thought, it was so hard to let go of her.
Zuko took in that beautiful, pale face that he'd known for so long, taking in the vast amount of expression that had grown in her eyes in a matter of minutes. He'd never seen her like that before, so full of feeling... and purpose... but the boy knew he wasn't responsible for it. The prince sighed under the oak tree, turning his copper eyes once again to the dancing Earth dwellers in the distance.
To one, in particular.
"I'm sorry that I couldn't help you," the boy rasped in deep atonement, "... but I think he is."
Mai blinked. For some reason, she had trouble accepting it at first, but the girl looked out into the distance with Zuko anyway... acknowledging that Jet had indeed played some part in her transformation.
And the girl managed to form a small grin on her face, looking briefly towards the ground. It took only a moment for her to reply with "...I think she's helping you, too."
Zuko turned to her, his eyes slightly surprised and confused, but he knew... he knew exactly who she was referring to... and a tiny, almost embarrassing blush crossed his face. These two young people locked their eyes under the Oak Tree, now with a remarkable sense of understanding.
And it wasn't fair for them. Zuko knew they couldn't fix the past, and he knew that their silence had already made them complete strangers with similar memories. He recoiled... remembering the ghosts that his parents had turned into, all because of believing in something that probably never existed between them.
He couldn't bear to let that happen again.
As he looked at Mai's rigid features beneath her silky bangs, Zuko realized it had been over far before he'd imagined. But still, she was the first one... the first girl he'd ever confided his heart to... and Zuko had to finish this the right way.
"Okay, so we deserve more for each other. I get that." His voice was back to its raspy self, and Zuko shifted his eyes to Mai. "But I don't see why we shouldn't be friends."
The girl's grin faded back into a serious stance, looking at her former boyfriend curiously. Intriguingly Part of her didn't believe that it was possible, but the determined look in Zuko's eyes told her that in spite of what she thought of herself... she was still an element to his life that he couldn't replace. Not for anything.
She gave him another small, rare grin that reminisced a certain past... but at the moment she tried to say something... a small figure caught the corner of Mai's eye.
Zuko turned his head as well, noticing the same moving figure cross the Earth dwellers' paths. It was a young girl in Fire Nation garb, no older than twelve, practically hopping on one foot to place some strange flat shoes on her feet. She was heading towards the forest with a panting, flustered look on her face.
It was only after they saw her leap and create two small air spheres with her hands... cupping them under the soles of her shoes to air-skate into the dark trees... that Mai recalled the posters of a certain welcoming ceremony planned that very afternoon.
And her eyes rose, alarmingly. Without saying a word, Mai hurriedly ran off to catch up to the little girl into the dark woods... wherever she was going. Jet – who'd furrowed his eyebrows throughout the whole ordeal -- didn't think twice before following this commotion into the forest as well, with his hooked swords clutched in his hands.
"Jet, where're you going?" Smellerbee called out after him, but Longshot knew this must've been serious, and quickly grabbed his bow and her hand to charge into the woods. Pipsqueak, slightly confused, gulped some water from a canteen and ran behind them.
Zuko remained under the Oak tree. Hesitating and feeling his scar weigh him down... the boy looked ahead at the dark forest, knowing very well that he had to someday overcome the cruelty of his sister. And so, after a few seconds, he stepped out of the tree's shade and sprinted into unknown, hearing countless scampering of Earth dwellers' feet and the gliding jumps of Mai ahead of him.
"Tell me what happened, Aang. Please."
Gyatso's unusually stern voice made its way into the quiet presence of the boy, knowing this withdrawn nature of him had a very serious explanation. He sat on the opposite side of the table, with all the patience that an elderly monk like him could accomplish, in order to reassure the ongoing trust he had with this young airbender.
And Aang picked up a small grain of rice with his chopsticks, limply, and let it fall back onto his bowl without an effort to eat any more. His mouth was trembling, wanting to shout or scream or cry out everything he had witnessed all at once during that ceremony... but it could only come in pieces... and Aang felt the energy inside of him draining as that afternoon slowly played again in his mind.
"Aang, are you in trouble? Did one of your friends get hurt?" Gyatso managed to ask, not showing any sense of anger or alarm in his features. He was calm... waiting for the boy let go of his chopsticks and start spilling all of the things that were still fresh and locked up in his trembling face.
The young airbender looked down at his bowl, and mumbled the first few words in a shaken, distraught voice.
"We were ambushed."
"Welcome, my brave airbenders."
Her voice was as silky and smooth as the hair that kept her royal top knot centered, and small handful of kids who arrived at the Earth-bending field were rather surprised to see that nobody else was with her. Princess Azula stood there, alone, near one of the football poles, waiting for the group of airbenders to meet her with open arms.
Aang had been the last one to arrive, almost falling into a heated argument with On Ji as to why she should stay behind and help with OmaShu rehearsal. He didn't mention anything about Hide, and Aang had practically begged Haru to assign her extra tasks to do that day... so she couldn't possibly have an excuse to leave.
He sat down with the same red bandana over his scalp, quietly, pretending that Azula was not focusing her eyes towards him. As he took in the five slightly unfamiliar people around him, and remembered seeing a certain one of them walk among the school's various hallways, or eating lunch out in the courtyards every so often. One of them, a girl wearing the traditional Kyoshi attire, must've been in the same dance room when Aang had discovered On Ji's secret.
The boy was excited. Knowing they all shared the same gift he possessed... Aang could not help but feel a certain attachment slowly building among them. They were all proud to be airbenders, he thought... and in spite of how different they looked, they all managed to stick together.
"I'm very glad to see that you've all been humble enough to reveal yourselves to the Praying Mantis community. Even if there are only six of you, that does not mean the school should--"
Suddenly, Azula stopped in mid-sentence, looking sternly around the group and recounting the faces she saw. Something about her did not seemed pleased at the result.
The small ground of kids sitting in the circle abruptly turned their heads to each other, and Aang kept his form steadily, trying to prepare himself to protect them from the slightest surprise coming their way. Azula's copper eyes suddenly narrowed, and she subconsciously turned over to Aang... as if already suggesting that he was their ringleader.
"Well that'sinteresting... my sources told me there were seven of you in Praying Mantis High."
There was no use hiding the missing girl's identity, because the boy could see in Azula's glaring eyes that she'd already known about all seven of them for a long time. At least for now, Aang did not have a reason to lie about her whereabouts, and he kept his silver eyes on Azula.
"On Ji's at play rehearsal right now," Aang explained in a slight quiet, reasonable tone. " She's the stage manager; she couldn't come."
He finished his explanation flatly, trying hard not to feel guilty about asking Haru to keep her busy that particular afternoon. Something in his mind told him it was the best thing to do... keep her safe.
"Ah, I see..." Azula made a fierce glance over to one of the young men at her side, who also seemed to look rather upset. Aang didn't take his eyes off of that man, knowing full well it was Hide under that mask. "Well, no matter... we will be sure to welcome her eventually."
Aang narrowed his eyes briefly, but continued to stay calm as the princess spoke her welcoming.
"Now some of you all may not find me appealing, but let me assure you... in spite of everything you may have witnessed from me in the past... I do not mean any harm. My purpose as Class President is to bring this school together, in the strongest, most dependable means necessary... and I do not plan to ignore even the smallest community of people here.
"I understand that many of you airbenders have felt neglected by this school. Well, let me assure that I – Princess Azula – do not intend to degrade your culture in any way, because I would like to propose to you my services in promoting your culture to the rest of the Praying Mantis community. Only by extremity will you be able to gain recognition in this school, and I will do whatever it takes to acquire your social acceptance here."
Azula did not try to hide the determined glimmer in her copper eyes, giving her presence an incredible amount of warmth to the ones sitting in front of her.
"All that I ask is for you to trust me as your Class President."
The kids looked at her blandly, utterly scared to move in their seats by the sound of her pleasant, understanding tone of voice. Azula even took the liberty of walking closer to them in the circle, making a little route for herself as she noted the slightly confused faces of the airbenders. Only Aang's seemed to stay focused by her ongoing oration.
"I am a very powerful figure here – not just being a Fire Nation royal – but with three consecutive years in control of the rules that govern our student body. I am just sorry that I have not been able to use that power to make your airbending community stronger, and I would like to make it up to you. I can give you much consolation on the necessities to be accepted by these so-called prejudice people... those who do not seem to find the goodness in everything... different."
Aang flinched at that word, looking straight to the ground and trying to keep himself from furrowing his eyebrows. He didn't like the way she said it; there was something about her voice that changed sarcastically.
"What say you, Loung? Brei An?"
Azula centered her eyes on the slouching boy with dreadlocks sitting at Aang's side, and then on the tall girl playing with her long black braid timidly at the very back. They both flinched at the sound of their names, as if not expecting them to be said by the fierce-looking woman.
"Ms. Ursa keeps telling me what exceptional voices you both have in the Praying Mantis chamber choir..." the princess then mentioned over to them. "Don't you also desire to let the rest of the school know about your astounding set of airbending pipes?"
The two students blinked, glancing over at one another with a curious look in their eyes. Loung turned his head away nervously, and Aang could see a faint recollection of On Ji in his features... remembering how timid she was when she'd first brought up her airbending past.
"Or how about you, Suganya?" Azula turned her eyes to focus on the serious young woman dressed in Kyoshi attire, who had her arms crossed. She did not look very pleased to hear her name, but Azula was patient enough to keep talking. "Haven't you had enough of being just another ensemble girl in the Kyoshi dance troupe?"
"This isn't about being the best dancer, Azula," the girl named Suganya replied through her make-up and assertive voice. "The Kyoshi work as a team, and our leader is selected by artistic and creative purposes. We do not see ourselves as a hierarchy."
Aang gasped on the inside, feeling astonished that someone of his kind was finally able to speak against Azula's intentions. But much to his surprise, the Fire Nation princess just stared at the Kyoshi dancer... almost as if she'd expected her to disagree.
"Very well..." Azula complied. "...but isn't it true that you've long desired to show Suki your potential, Suganya? Demonstrate once and for all how the art of fan-dancing came to be? It is such a shame to think that you would want to hide your precious past under so much make-up..."
Suganya raised her eyes at that statement, and her arms kept themselves crossed tightly with one of her hands holding a delicate Kyoshi fan. Azula made a daring little smile of comfort to the young woman, hoping that she had reached the girl's thoughts successfully.
Proudly, she moved on to the two frightened-looking boys in Fire Nation colors, who both sported a small number of freckles on their noses and only had a few inches of height difference. Aang immediately knew they must've been brothers.
"My dear Xai and Xuan... It seems like a long time ago, doesn't it? That our family relations faded into nothingness... but don't think I haven't forgotten your true family history... your Nomadic father and how he gave up his citizenship at the Temple in order to stay with your noble Fire Nation mother. It still brings tears to my eyes whenever I think of it."
Both of the boys exchanged odd glances with Azula, wondering if she was about to go into their story in further detail... but the princess just smiled at them humbly. Xai, the older brother, lifted a hand to say something to the girl, but Xuan beat him to it with his childish little voice.
"Yeah, sometimes we forget that we are airbenders... Dad never really wanted to teach us about it. He didn't think it was safe."
"And I completely understand," Azula replied with such empathy. "Your father believed that the Fire Nation was priding itself too much with its own culture, that others would immediately be put down upon. I'm sorry to admit that my own father carried that sense of pride, but ever since his... disappearance... well, everything has changed."
Xai slumped his shoulders and looked over at his brother, as if still questioning whether or not he saw himself as an airbending. Azula looked into the young man's eyes from her fair distance.
"Wouldn't you both like to finally train yourselves with the culture you were born into? To show your father that, in spite of his unwillingness to teach you... you can still become two of the greatest airbenders in the school?"
Aang felt his thumbs go numb by how tightly he was clutching his fingers at his side, unsure and unaware of how much Azula may have dug up on his own identity. His eyes were almost flaming with utter confusion about this whole meeting... and the fact that Azula's eyes seemed so calm did nothing expect frighten him out of his skin. Her words were so eloquent, her voice so pleasing to listen to... Aang had to look elsewhere so as to not fall into that copper web of her eyes.
But much to his surprise, the young woman did not say anything about Aang at all. She just stood there and fixed her dangerous eyes on him, as if saying she knew much more about him than he hoped, and there was no reason for her to bring it up. At least then.
Azula looked back up towards the entirety of the group, filling them again with her calm, articulate voice.
"For those who feel they can trust me, and desire to give me a chance... I invite you to follow me and my friends into the woods for a special campfire dinner. I believe it will be a special opportunity for us to get to know one another, as Fire Nation and Air Citizens, and leave our judgement to rest."
Azula's eyes glimmered sweetly, narrowing them in a way that showed promise and determination in her own means. Aang turned his head, and noticed how Loung was practically ready to get up and follow this woman's voice to the edge of a cliff. The boy's face was hopeful, raising his vibrant blue eyes of the Southern Water Tribe with much eagerness to eat.
The tall girl named Brei An was the first one to get up in response, holding a very nervous-yet-trustworthy smile on her face. It then brought a domino effect, as Aang gradually saw Loung get up, then the two young Fire Nation boys with matching freckles on their noses, ... and then the Suganya, whose skeptical dark green eyes set her off as being the eldest of that small group.
Aang immediately wished On Ji had been with him, then, watching how a dozen pairs of eyes suddenly looked over in his direction. Airbenders always stood together... it was another one of Gyatso's numerous philosophies to the boy... and Aang knew that his decision would either make or break his profound friendship to these kids. As strange as it seemed, the airbender could not help but already feel connected to them, almost like he had already known them for weeks... their faces and eyes being imprinted in his mind with every millisecond that passed.
He had no other choice but to go along with the charade.
The next thing Aang could remember were the lovely natural sounds of the Earth Kingdom woods as Azula led the small ground deep, deep into it. She seemed to know where to go, moving left or right now and then by the familiar trees, and the kids could not help but follow her faithfully... then blindly... as they had no idea how dense these dark woods had become.
Aang was the last one of the line, right behind Suganya as the boy followed the drapery of the girl's Kyoshi uniform. The sounds of the overlooking wild fascinated the young boy, but he couldn't help but feel that they were walking for a certainly long time.
Aang noticed the close proximity of the trees surrounding him. It seemed like the smallest spark could engulf an entire row of precious Redwoods into flames, and the boy frowned intensely at that. Not a moment before he'd frowned did he realize the group had come into a complete stop, and he almost tripped over Suganya's draping robe in reaction. The kids were huddled around, among the foreignness of the magnificent trees and the small patches of light coming from atop.
As they turned their heads towards Azula, standing next to a rather thick, beautiful Redwood tree... they noticed a small rotisserie contraption behind her, and the woman's stood there, her arms at her side. There was something roasting on the small contraption, what looked like young armadillo pig with a fresh peach in its mouth... and Aang stared at the whole image with an intensifying horror. The animal had clearly been caught recently... and beaten to death.
It wasn't until Loung nervously said "but... but we're vegetarians..." that an eruption of sounds came from the branches hovering them, and like a graceful set of dark tree-lizards... another group of people landed on the ground and stood near Azula's side.
Their attire was all the same – deep reds and blacks that corresponded to their Fire Nation pride – and even though they wore coverings up to their noses, Aang recognized some of their eyes.
Ty Lee. Rion Jon. Chan, standing faithfully next to his princess. Hide. Among a handful of other unknowns.
Aang's eyes rose in shock, while the other kids seemed to slowly hold themselves close by the appearance of these dark people. Devastatingly, most of the airbenders looked over at Azula for a type of explanation... but the woman remained calm, smiling at them as if she were admiring an exotic plate of dinner.
"What the hell is this, Azula?" Suganya demanded, going in front of the group and taking out a fan like the Kyoshi guardian she was. Even in her defensive mind, they were outnumbered.
"Why, Suganya, how dare you raise your voice like that to me?" Azula stepped out a little, keeping her voice velvety and calm. "Don't you see that I'm trying to commend your airbending culture? You must be very hungry... why don't you be the first to try the armadillo pig?"
Azula then snatched one of the firepokers near the rotisserie contraption, and violently punctured it into the animal, forking out a good chunk of meat to show to Suganya.
The Kyoshi dancer raised her eyes then, disgusted. Frightened.
"It's quite delicious," the princess then commented, simply, taking a bite out of the meat herself and making sure all the airbenders could watch.
Suganya felt her hand tremble as it continued to hold her fan defensively.
"No?" Azula questioned, and then brought the fork of armadillo pig over to the other kids, one-by-one, who instantly backed away from it like opposing magnets.
"We... we don't eat meat," came Xai's voice, comforting his younger brother's scared face.
"Correction," the princess then protested fiercely, "Airbenders don't eat animals that have been hunted – I've done my share of research. This particular armadillo pig died from natural causes. Rion Jon found him dead in the woods."
"No, he didn't."
Aang's eyes rose, hearing the sound of his own voice express the hatred of this scene. The dark, faceless figures all stared at the young airbender... and particularly... at the red bandana he was sporting. Azula was the last to turn to him, her smile not leaving her face.
"Oh really, child? Is there something about you that believes you have a connection to all living creatures? That you can actually feel their emotions... their pain... even after they've died?"
The boy looked up at the princess in deep horror, feeling a vast amoung of pebbles beginning to weigh his stomach down. He couldn't speak... he felt his mouth almost trembling in fright as Azula continued to stare at him fondly. But she did not press him further into the matter.
"Foolish idea, isn't it?" Azula then remarked, turning herself around to put the firepoker back in its place. "Well, since it seems that nobody is hungry at the moment... why don't we just move on to the next part of our ceremony?"
That seemed to cue the henchmen behind her to move closer to the airbenders... slowly walking around the small circle of kids so they didn't have a single place to run. Aang saw how Ty Lee had moved promptly behind Loung... how she was fixing her eyes on his dreadlocks. An unknown henchman was also admiring Brei An's long black braid the same way... and Aang shivered to think what exactly Azula had planned for them next.
And then it came to him... right when he saw a handful of henchmen take out pairs of scissors from their pockets. And the young Fire Nation princess spoke nonchalantly.
"Since you all answered my invitation willingly, I assumed that your pride as airbenders goes beyond any sense of boundary or limitation. Wouldn't it be wonderful... if you revealed yourselves to the school in your traditional airbending presence?"
Azula grinned, particularly at the Brei An and Suganya who were instantly grabbing hold of their own hair. "Lucky for you, girls... female airbenders are only bald at the front... but I will greatly enjoy seeing how distinguished you will look at school."
The unknown person behind Brei An instantly pushed her forward, and she cowered over with a yelping sound as she hit the ground on all fours. She still hung onto her long braid, frightened, even as Azula approached her slowly with a pair of scissors now glinting in her hands.
Brei An gasped, her eyes almost on the verge of tears, as the unknown henchman held her down.
Aang quickly tried to get near her, and so did Loung and Suganya, but they were both held back by the henchmen who stood near them. "Let me go!" Aang said under his breath, but as he realized, the strong arm holding the boy back belonged to Hide.
"Aw, Brei An... why are you crying?" Azula said in a sweet, motherly voice as the sharp scissors got closer to the girl's scalp. "Don't you want to show the world what you've been hiding? Don't you want them to see what you truly are?"
"No... p-please, don't do this," Brei An still held onto her precious hair almost like it was her lifeforce, shaking with the small sobs that were coming out of her. "I... I don't want to be an airbender..."
Aang growled furiously, seeing that princess practically ripping this girl's world apart. "STOP IT, AZULA!" He screamed over Hide's grasp, and instantly chose to demonstrate his airbending ability to everyone. Aang pushed Hide back against the tree and ran towards the center of the circle to bring himself between Azula and a trembling Brei An.
"So much resistance?" the young woman questioned, in her eloquent voice, as she stared at the young boy. "All I'm trying to do is help your people, and this is how you thank me? Airbenders do not seem to demonstrate the best of gratitude..."
Azula smiled and replaced the scissors back into her robes, not taking her eyes off the boy's silver ones. But then she opened one of her palms in a fierce way, revealing to Aang the first blue flames he had ever seen in his life.
"Oh well. A promise is a promise... and I'm afraid I do not intend to break one. Ever."
And before Aang could process what she meant, a few of Azula's henchmen quickly encircled themselves into a larger area in the group, including Hide and Chan. They'd summoned their palms with fire to confine the few airbenders within those flames. There was no place to run.
Immediately, Ty Lee began to giggle and held her own victim down, beginning to place the scissors near Loung's dreadlocks. Aang tried to go over there and help him, but Azula immediately sliced a blue flame over his head, engulfing the bandana into nothing but ashes. Aang gasped in panic, as his blue arrow was finally exposed to the others around him, and Xai and Xuan gasped at first sight. They knew what the arrow meant... since their father had also sported those blue arrows, too.
"He's a master!" Xuan screamed out happily, pointing a finger to Aang as if he were a new toy. Aang blinked, but quickly went back to try and help Loung out of Ty Lee's clutches. He barely missed hitting Ty Lee, as her acrobatic tricks sent her off to one of the tree branches far too unclear for Aang to see beyond the henchman-made fire perimeter. The dancing flames that encircled the entire group was already making him – as well as the other airbenders – too dizzy to even think. But Aang refused to let anyone get hurt.
He whooshed two gulfs of air with both of his hands, concentrating fiercely as he aimed one at Ty Lee, and the other back at Azula as she tried to bring him down. Loung began winding his arms in front of him like a windmill... trying to keep a couple of henchmen (one of them being Rion Jon) away from Brei An, as the girl held to little Xuan with all the care she could muster. Suganya had already found good use to her Kyoshi fan and wooden katana sword by hurling herself over to two henchmen that were strangling Xai to try and cut his hair. It was clear that she and Loung had practiced the element well... but Aang was still panicking.
None of the other kids seemed to be showing the same amount of confidence with airbending – perhaps they were too scared? -- but Azula was slowly narrowing her eyes at them. Promptly, her other hand then summoned a blue flame, and she leaped like a grand acrobat to bring her closest opponent, Suganya, down... breaking her wooden katana sword in two pieces.
Ty Lee landed gracefully from the dark trees right behind the brave Loung, and right before Aang's eyes, he saw how a few jabs with her fingers left the proud airbender with dreadlocks completely helpless, staggering slightly to shield himself over Brei An and the little Xuan. Ty Lee somehow lost interest in that group, and then swiftly cartwheeled herself over to Aang's direction.
The fire circle seemed to be their only source of light, and Aang was still trying to keep himself steady as Ty Lee tried to jab him. Aang was quick, though, but the threatening stance of Azula over Xai's restraint and Suganya's limp body was distracting him at the corner of his eye. It wasn't until he saw the princess place a blue flame over Xai's hair that the boy suddenly screamed out of concentration. But Ty Lee expertly jabbed him into a limping, crawling mess.
Xai groaned ferociously and painfully at the sudden loss of his hair, with his hands feeling the newly-burned skin that made up his scalp. It was dark red, some parts maroon... and the henchmen in the circle could not help but cheer at the appearance of their Fire Nation color.
"Now you can show loyalty to the both nations you represent, Xai," Azula exclaimed almost wholeheartedly, keeping a foot down on Suganya. "Trust me, you will thank me for this."
But then, something happened inside of Aang. Something that drew attention to the kids in the circle, the ones inflaming the circle, and even the young princess who held herself over the entire group. It came to him in a matter of heavy breaths... as if he were gasping for the life force and energy inside of his body... and keeping himself on the ground limply, the breaths became like growls. Like there was an ferocious animal slowly taking life from within the boy.
Azula was the only who didn't lift an eyelid in shock... not even when the boy arrows began to glow, lifting his head from the ground to reveal a blinding light that replaced his eyes. Aang was still bound by the chi that Ty Lee had expertly blocked with her jabs, but still, the spirit that growled angrily from the boy was taking every moment to show it existed.
Of course, Azula knew that this would occur. It was only a matter as to how she would provoke it... and she was delighted that it happened so soon.
"My dear airbenders and profound colleagues..." the bold princess then began to say. "May I present to you... the real guest of honor for our ceremony: Aang, our next hero to the world. The Avatar-in-Training."
In spite of the fact that his world was swirling in ferocious amounts of weighted light, Aang could hear the faint words that Azula was saying, and it only made his spirit growl harsher. He couldn't move his legs or his hands that much, but from he could notice in the energy from the other airbenders... they were scared. Terrified of what Aang had become.
The Princess knew she had gotten to them, to all of the airbenders and her most trusted Fire Nation classmates alike. She could tell by the frightened-yet-fascinated look in their eyes, that they couldn't imagine a powerful little boy like that parading around the school, talking about the peacefulness of airbending. It was exactly what she needed them to believe... if she ever wanted to win this election and put the Fire Nation in its rightful place.
"Airbenders, let me ask you..." the sly woman walked over Suganya and let the fire reflect her keen copper eyes. "...would you want your established airbending community to be represented by such a powerful, ferocious-looking freak of nature?"
Aang was breathing heavily, still, with his eyes and arrows still glowing uncontrollably that seemed to place everyone into a frightened trance. Suganya seemed to be the only one who looked straight to Azula, getting herself up and nervously tending to Xai's recent head burn. The vile princess continued in her negotiating rhetoric, walking towards the Avatar-in-Training himself as he still cowered in the circle.
"Or... would you rather represent yourselves as the tranquil, graceful, and spiritual people that you are?" Azula smiled wryly, keeping the blue flames strongly from her palms as she kneeled over to Aang. She admired the perplexed look of shock coming from Loung as she did so.
"Because I would be more than happy to get rid of him for you--"
And that was when everything became a blur, at least to the young airbender still struggling to control his inner Spirit. All he remembered hearing then was a great SWOOOSH!!, that sounded immensely similar to the noise that his air-scooter made, except smaller and swifter. He could see the faint image of a girl with brown bangs gritting her lips shut, winding herself in a circle to push Azula out of any harm's reach.
Aang could hear the faint rustling of feet from the dark woods, coming closer and closer to the great fire circle that encased them. He remembered seeing a dark, mysterious young woman glide downwards among the patches of light from the trees, immediately beginning to throw sharp sticks and knives over to Azula's direction, attempting to pin her down. He saw the way Azula fought back, saying "Mai, what are you doing? You TRAITOR!" with the intensity of blue flames as the dark, pale girl tried to dodge them. It was like the replaying of that first moment he'd seen those two girls fight each other, out in the Earthbending fields.
The boy could hear the shouting from the henchmen, particularly the voice of Hide as he commanded the others to break the circle and pursue these airbenders into the deep woods. Sounds of feet eventually became people, and Aang saw the faint figures he thought he'd recognized... one of a young man who swiftly swung out dangerous fireballs with a glinting pair of hooked swords, in order to rescue a frightened little Xuan from the clutches of a henchman, and seeing the little airbender grab hold of Jet's leg as he started swinging up the trees by the chase from the same henchman.
He heard the piercing sound of Longshot's arrows as he nailed Rion Jon and an unknown henchman to separate trees, while the husky voice of Smellerbee and the low voice of Pipsqueak started directing Brei An and Xai into the woods for safety, while their fighting/break-dancing moves held the henchmen off. Suganya seemed to hold her own with the graceful fans as she blocked incoming fireballs from Chan, and she grabbed a hold of Loung somewhere along the chaos, trying to keep up with the Brei An and Xuan to protect them in those woods.
He remembered how the same girl with brown bangs still remained, taking in this growling animal that her friend had become, almost too afraid to help it. And then he heard Hide's voice suddenly greeting her from a short distance, saying a vicious "well, you finally made it, On Ji."
Aang's spirit gasped greatly, making the painful block of chi almost burst out of his trembling breaths, knowing he was unable to help her. On Ji startled, keeping herself motionless on her air-skates as she watched Hide run towards her with a flaming fireball in his hand.
And just as Aang felt the ferocity of his Avatar Spirit begin to leave him... he managed to bang a fist onto the ground to summon a mound of Earth in front of Hide. The firebender tripped over his own feet, and flew almost in mid-air to On Ji's direction, landing on the hard ground.
Hide grit his teeth, struggling to get himself up from the landing, and Ty Lee ran over to his side to comfort him briefly. But his eyes remained on On Ji.
"What happened?" The young girl quickly asked Aang in the midst of the noisy commotion of the woods. There wasn't any time to explain how she got there, and she tried hard to lift the boy up in all of his current weakness, hoping that her air-skates wouldn't slip the two of them down... but before she could get Aang to fully sit up, Hide threw a fireball in their direction.
It was Aang who air-shielded it off, but On Ji twirled an arm gracefully to bring a remarkable gush wind to Hide and Ty Lee to confuse them.
"On Ji, go – get -- help," Aang managed to say between his painful regeneration of chi. "I'll be fine."
On Ji raised her eyebrows, with a slight glistening in her eyes that Aang could clearly see under the messiness of her bangs. But Hide was still pursuing her, under the hidden henchman colors he was wearing... and On Ji knew she had to get help before things got worse. But refusing to leave her friend, she picked up Aang's entire body quickly and held him over her back, making sure the air-skates still held their feather-light weight. Aang promptly wrapped his arms around her shoulders like a brace, too weak to argue otherwise.
And before she could see Hide's pursuit, On Ji said "hold on!" to her friend and she skated the two of them swiftly out of the chaos in that small realm of the woods.
It was Chan who surprised them, immediately sending a fireball over while the girl struggled to change directions in her skates to dodge them. Aang did what he could to block incoming fireballs from Hide behind them, but Aang saw from the moving patches of light above him that Ty Lee was pursuing the right moment to strike again.
They quickly caught up with the running Loung and Brei An in the distance, as the boy with dreadlocks did all he could to air-blow some forthcoming henchmen away. Aang saw how Brei An had swiftly picked up a 'leaping' technique with her running that came from her airbending ability, and the boy smiled with how much more confident she looked.
Suganya had ultimately decided to escape in the trees, along with the still-injured Xai as he followed rustily behind her. On Ji could see her interpretive dancing classmate as she worked really hard to get that burned airbender into the swift and graceful leap of the tree branches. She also saw how Ty Lee got slightly occupied with one of Suganya's air-swirling fans... almost driving her off a tree.
Chan and Hide were still in pursuit, and On Ji was nearly distracted by another dark, moving figure ahead of her... that she didn't see the intense flash of lightning that took both of her air-skates by surprise. It came from the far distance behind the airbenders... but Azula was still deadly in her precision... and she watched amusingly as the two young kids screamed and toppled to the ground of tree roots and dirt. Fireballs seemed to be coming from deep within the woods, like little faint fireflies... and as Aang opened his eyes and struggled to get himself fully up, On Ji had practically disappeared.
And he found her on the ground, a good twenty feet away from them, clutching an arm with her entire body caving in painfully. Was it broken? With her bangs disheveled, messier than ever, On Ji still opened her eyes to see where Aang had landed. But she didn't have time to get to him, as Hide approached her and Chan approached the young Avatar-in-Training, respectfully.
But Aang saw the opening to the school yards like a small patch of heavenly light ahead of them. They were so close to safety... they needed to get out of the woods.
Chan didn't waste any time launching fireballs towards the young boy as he got himself up from the ground. Aang used the strength he had to summon his Earthbending skills with two closed fists, and gesturing accordingly... Chan sunk deep into the ground all the way to his shoulders.
"Hey! Get me out of here, you – Avatar – freak --" was Chan's attempt at getting out, but Aang didn't listen to that. His ears caught the faint screaming of On Ji in that distance, and the boy watched as his friend fell under the dark clutches of Hide and Ty Lee next to him. And Azula was still on his trail.
"Let go of her, Hide!" The boy knew exactly who it was under that mask, but Hide was not afraid to reveal his identity as Aang screamed at him. He had a rough hand threateningly by here delicate neck, but On Ji quickly swooped a leg from underneath and airbended herself free.
As Aang started to catch up to them, On Ji was doing graceful backturns, letting the momentum of her legs bring violent gusts of air against Hide like defensive jabs. But she wasn't as a graceful as Ty Lee, who immediately leapt through the air and made a few finger jabs of her own onto On Ji's body. And the girl fell, almost as stiff as the trees around here.
"On Ji!" Aang shouted, but the moment he tried to reach her, another set of blue lightning caught his attention. Barely missing his nose as it came across his face. Azula was right behind the boy, smiling intently, with flames in both her hands.
And the boy quickly airbended a shield from her, sending gusts of wind from his hands to try and block her multiple firing moves.
Within that chaos, all that the boy could hear were the harsh words of Hide as he stood over the innocent girl on the ground... things that Aang couldn't even imagine such a man to say. He remembered how he mentioned Kuzon in there, and how much of a hypocrite On Ji was, being able to kiss a strange boy like that with all the pride and morality she supposedly carried as an airbender.
"You wanted to be an airbender so badly...?" Hide lifted On Ji's head and neck above the ground by her sleek, brown hair, using his other hand to summon a small red flame. It was like he was speaking with his angry eyes, as the black cloth covered his mouth. Ty Lee had climbed the branches to watch the scene from atop, unaware of the shadowy figure lingering near her.
"Hide -- don't do this! Hide, please..." On Ji whimpered, and even in that distance... Aang could hear it, too.
"...Then let's make you an airbender." The young man kept a hold of the young girl's lovely hair, letting the palm of his flaming hand move closer to it. It was like the flame was also melting On Ji's face, by the way Aang saw tears splotching down to her chin. A few of her delicate bangs were catching fire, and On Ji screamed with her eyes shut tightly.
And that was when the dark figure in the trees had had enough.
He swooped down right past Ty Lee in the branches, swinging himself diligently around a branch to knock Hide away from On Ji with his feet. Aang was trying so hard to hold himself steady with Azula's incoming fireballs, he didn't recognize the familiar burn on that young man's face as he began to throw similar fireballs to Hide.
"What the HELL is wrong with you, Hide? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Zuko yelled at the other guy with all his fury, as Hide tried to throw his own anger at him as well.
Azula leapt over with an immensely strong wave of fire, practically blinding Aang and confining him to a tree. At the corner of his eye, he saw that Ty Lee was ready to strike her jabs onto Zuko. And immediately, before the young acrobat could move any faster... Aang felt the vibrations of her feet from the ground, and concentrated with all his might to bury that girl under the heavy dirt. He thought about On Ji, how she was whimpering in such pain from a short distance away from him... and Aang knew what he had to do.
Be in tune with the ground, Aang. Know that you have the ability to control the Earth.
Right when Azula was about to launch another deadly fire wave at him, Aang closed his eyes, and felt the Earth vibrating from the three dark villains in those woods. He felt the energy of Ty Lee, Hide, and Azula from the ground all at once... and as an impulsive act of defense... the boy raised both of his fists in the air and threw them downwards.
It didn't work the way he'd expected, but it was good enough. Azula was buried to the shoulders, Ty Lee to her elbows, and Hide to the base of his neck. The boy brought himself to an ease, feeling so much energy drain from him after the most Earthbending he'd ever done.
Azula was gritting her teeth, struggling to get herself out of the ground, but realizing that her legs were also entangled by tree roots beneath the ground. Her hair was slightly disheveled by that point, but she glared at the young boy anyway... knowing she'd find another opportunity to break him.
But Aang didn't see that. He turned over and saw On Ji still whimpering in pain, and he watched as Zuko (for now he recognized Zuko) carefully lifted the injured girl into his arms. The dark prince gestured with his head that Aang follow him out of the woods, and with Azula's growling and Hide's ongoing curses and yells... the three of them escaped that hellish labyrinth.
The first face he saw was Katara's, as she was water-healing the burned scalp of Xai with her delicate hands. At the moment she saw Aang, a gasp of surprise and utter joy crossed her face.
"Aang!" She exclaimed from the distance, still tending to Xai's wound, and raised a brow to see Aang's bald head be exposed fully. "What happened? On Ji had just left rehearsal without saying anything, and Haru asked me to look for he--"
But Katara stopped, then noticing the small, injured girl that Zuko was carrying in his arms. As she did so, Aang overlooked his surroundings, and found the other airbenders outside... all covered in dirt and filth... along with Mai carefully massaging a wrist of hers, and Jet being carefully at her side. The other Oak Tree kids were slowly leading the small airbenders towards to school to get medical attention... but what deeply took the boy by surprise was the amount of injury that he saw in On Ji as her face hit the open sunlight.
She'd been burned. A good bit of her hair was left missing by Hide's cruel intent, and a raw scar had taken its place at the side of her forehead. Aang felt his heart almost sink, hearing her sniffle and whimper lightly as if she were still living this nightmare. Zuko gently laid her to the ground, her eyes still being closed tightly in pain, and Katara broke her hug with Aang to get to her
"On Ji?" Aang called to her softly, worriedly, but the girl just stirred.
"She'll be okay," Zuko rasped in assurance, moving a bit of her loose hair to study the burn, already seeing that it wasn't too terrible. It didn't even touch her eyebrows, but Katara went over to Zuko's side to study the girl's skin... and immediately started to tend to it.
What Aang did not realize, just then, was how all the other Airbenders were still looking at that young boy with all the discomfort and fear in the world.
"They know who I am."
He softly concluded his story to Gyatso in the stiffling, shaking breaths in his voice.
Aang wasn't sure if it was the build-up of all that chaos from the afternoon, or if it came from the smallest, painful stirs from On Ji's little body as the boy looked down at her sadly. His eyes were slowly beginning to water right in front of his mentor's face, as he sat across that table, with his rice untouched for what seemed forever.
Before he could even tell his glimmering eyes to stop tearing... Aang gave up... and he let the weight of his thoughts and tightening of his stomach bring a new whirl of pain in his throat. He covered his slightly distorted, saddened face with his hands, and let those inner sobs take over his entire being.
"Monk Gyatso... I can't go back there. I can't!" All of a sudden, the face of Katara seemed like an unseen dream, and the young airbender sniffled and whimpered like a wounded bison between his words. "Azula got to them... now everyone thinks it's my fault that the airbenders got hurt...I should've saved them... I... I HATE BEING THE AVATAR!"
And Aang quickly put his rage onto the small bowl of rice, and hit it across the table with the small grains leaving a scattered trail. Gyatso closed his eyes, mustering all the patience and wisdom that he could to a boy who was hurt much more that he'd ever imagined.
It was going to be quite a long night for the two of them, between that table.
A/N - For those of you who made it this far, I greatly commend you. This was my most difficult chapter to write, thus far, and I sincerely hope my ability to write action gets better... for the sake of all the chapters coming up. Thanks for all of the feedback, too! Until the next one. --MM
