A/N: Again, sorry for the wait. I know it was long, but I've been busy! School + volleyball + work equals no time whatsoever!
Chapter 6: Dancing Lessons
The uninvited made their second appearance at breakfast. The council's presence made everyone wary and alert, like instant caffeine. It wasn't a healthy way to act so early in the morning, Sokka thought, when they should be tired and grumpy and falling asleep in their food.
Besides, no one liked to talk about business during meals.
"I have news to announce," said General Gao, with so much satisfaction dripping from his official voice that everyone cringed. Zuko looked up from his food, waiting for this news. "We, that is the council, have determined a new system on which your trials will be held." He paused to savor the suspense and anticipation in everyone's eyes, especially the Fire Lord's. He didn't look as anxious as much as prepared, his golden eyes narrowed to slits.
"There will a marriage," interjected one of the elder members, but continued on before anyone could protest, "but it is a part of our new system. Instead of designating trials to see if there will be a wedding, we shall put you through trials to see if it should be called off. That will leave us time to prepare for the event. The other way around, so much time is lost. That is the way it will be, so do not argue."
"So.. as of now the arranged marriage is still in effect," Zuko said, his hands laced together. Emotion was void from his eyes.
"Yes. The trials will serve to undermine the event if, and only if, it is absolutely necessary."
"That doesn't sound fair!" Katara began to say, looking to the others for approval.
"But it is. Like I said, we cannot throw a last minute wedding, so this is very fair."
"And it's likely that it will be called off at the last minute?" Katara said sarcastically. "You know, if they fail the trails?" Toph was listening, suddenly very appreciative of the water bender that fought for them on every point.
"No, I suppose it's not," the general said with a smile. "Because the last trials have gone so well, haven't they? Mind you, they have a deadline that is rapidly approaching. It will allow just enough time to back out of the wedding if something does happen." Katara closed her eyes, and thought hard.
"I'm not asking for your approval," the general said absently causing her to glare. She was about to say something when the Fire Lord raised his voice.
"It's fine, just leave it," he said firmly, turning his attention to his food rather than the eyes of the others. "Thank you, Katara." The girl just looked at him, then Toph, then settled back in her chair. She wondered how and why Zuko could handle everything so camly; sure there was a hard, irritated edge to everything he did but he also seemed a little more mature than the Zuko she was used to…
…The one who used to spit fire and lose his temper every ten minutes. Sometimes, for his and Toph's sake, she wished he could just lash out and yell and tell the council to beat it!
Stupid fire nation loyalty.
"-Alright guys, our next stunt is going to be big! Guaranteed to wreck any trial Toph and Zuko have to go through!" Sokka was saying, the gang again assembled for their next mission.
"What is it?" asked Aang.
"Well, Katara, you're going to have to use your blood bending to-"
"WHAT?!" shrieked the girl.
Unknown to the group of kids, someone was watching them from inside the shade of the passage way that passed through the courtyard. The eyes were neither judging or scrutinizing, just concerned. Although Iroh could not hear the children, his mind was thinking about a related manner.
These kids, Iroh knew, heavily influenced his nephew and the earth bender that were assigned the marriage that was supposed to set an example, and bring unity. He knew they thought it was unfair and were against it.
But there was a small part of the wise old man that thought they might enjoyed a little bit of it. After all, it seemed to be one of he only things keeping them from splitting paths since the war was finished; the every nearing promise and threat of a wedding, a marriage.
But the best interest of the two designated young ones was on his mind. Although Toph and Zuko wouldn't admit it, the amount of control they had over the decision was waning to almost none. They just wouldn't accept it, even if their hope was slowly deteriorating.
In his opinion, it would be better if the two accepted it. And how much easier would it be for them to accept it if their friends encouraged them?
The retired general smiled.
"Hey!" he called out from across the courtyard, it wouldn't be so hard. Iroh was a man who knew how to gain control, despite his age. After all, he did almost capture Ba Sing Se and learned from all his mistakes. Aang snapped his head to look in his direction and Sokka jumped, thinking they were found out.
"Come here," Iroh beckoned, a genuine smile in his eyes.
"Where? Where are you taking me? What is this?" she demanded over and over, but straight answers were never given. Every staircase she and servant boy here transcended brought them farther under the ground, which made her feel smothered.
Finally Toph Bei Fong was stopped before a single door, which was pushed open to reveal a wide, smoothly tiled room with many people in it. One of these people was Zuko, looking just as forlorn and confused as she was.
"Uh, what's going on?" Toph asked. Beaming back at her was Sokka, Aang, Katara, Suki, Ty Lee, Haru, even Teo and the rest of the group. Iroh was at the head of the gathering, hands clasped in front of him with a wide, deceiving smile.
"Well, since the wedding is still on, it's mandatory that you both take dancing lessons, and your friends here agreed to help," Iroh said.
Treacherous, murderous, horrible traitors.
Toph sported her best 'how could you?' look and she glared in the general direction of the others; it must have worked, because she felt Aang's heart skip a beat. Dancing was Aang's weakness, and she knew right away he was the weak one that let their barrier of resistance crumble.
Just so he could dance.
She focused her earth bending in the direction of Zuko, who she realized was quite calm and even submissive to all this, as if he was just going along for the ride. Everyone stared at her expectantly, as if it was her move, now.
"I don't dance," she said bluntly, and crossed her arms.
"But didn't you once say your parents forced you to take dancing lessons when you lived with them, and you chose to be a messy, improper savage by choice?" Sokka pointed out kindly.
WHO'S SIDE ARE YOU ON, SNOOZLES!?
"I said, I don't dance," the girl insisted, crossing her arms. Iroh smirked as the stubborn earth bender held a solid stance, rooted to her decision. The old man knew there was one thing that could defeat the stubbornness of an earth bender, but kept it to himself and let his plan carry on effortlessly.
"Maybe you will change your mind, but I'm sure you're willing to learn," Iroh said pleasantly. "This dance is supposed to be performed at your wedding, it is very versatile. It is called the dance of two nations. Zuko already knows a little about of it. It tells a story, but I'll save that for another time. Why don't we see a demonstration… Ty Lee, and Haru?"
Both of the chosen people widened their eyes, not expecting to be suddenly drawn from the crowd. Haru stole a feverish glance at the Fire Nation acrobat, a little bashfully. Ty Lee was pretty and flexible, and very adequate as dance partner. With a sudden smile and shrug she cartwheeled to the middle of the studio, inviting Haru to perform the demonstration with her.
"Oh, Oh! Can I say it? Can I?" whimpered Sokka excitedly, eyeing the small band in the corner of the studio, instruments ready. "Ready? CUE MUSIC!"
A flute introduced the piece, playing a few, sing-song musical notes that darted in and out of their ears.
"Now pay attention to their movements," Iroh said. "The dance needs intensity. To achieve this you must think of something, something that stirs such a passion within you that it guides your feet and your soul in performance!"
Ty Lee, intense? I don't think her name and that word could even be in the same sentence, thought Katara. And most of the time I've known him Haru seems kind of shy.
Nonetheless, the duo looked determined as the faced each other, each extending an arm that grasped each others. They began to slowly rotate and the flute sudden dived into a percussion of other instruments. They snapped together in a sudden movement, leaving them clasping hands, with Haru's other hand on Ty Lee's waist.
Their feet moved very quickly in complicated steps, and in time they completely let go of each other. Still, they never broke eye contact. At once Ty Lee pushed from Haru's grasp and turned her back to him, only to have him seize her arm and whirl her even closer, so close they could have kissed. Just when a pattern of dancing started to develop they would break away with the music, when the piece turned wilder. When the instruments died down the flute chimed back in for a finale, where Haru caught Ty Lee in his arms and dipped her to the floor.
Applause broke out, and everyone gapped at the pair of dancers. Once the music was over they looked suddenly shy, and slipped back into the crowd. Still, they didn't escape Iroh's eyes.
"Excellent demonstration! That is how it is done, what do you think, Toph?" Iroh said. Out of the patient silence, wild laughter baffled everyone. It rose from the small girl, starting as a giggle and developing into a full out laugh, and she didn't stop. The laugh was familliar and mocking.
"Y-You think I c-can do that?" Toph choked, unable to contain her laughter. A frown settled on Katara's face, troubled that the girl had such little faith in herself. She blamed it on the others when it came to things like this.
"Well why not?" Suki asked lightly. "Zuko's Uncle said you just have to think something you're passionate about, and who knew Ty Lee could be that intense?" She motioned towards the pretty, flexible girl standing happily in the middle, nodding her head.
"Yeah! I didn't think I could do it, but I just did what Zuko's Uncle said, and I envisioned something… " She started to stare off into nothing, as if the vision captured her once more.
"What did you think of?" asked Sokka.
"…Flying through the air, flipping twice and throwing one arm in front of me to catch the trapeze through aflaming hoop!" she said excitedly. Sokka blinked.
"Yeah, intense," he said slowly.
"It's not about that. I just… don't dance," Toph said. "I'm an earth bender, which means I'm not flexible. And I'm blind! How do you expect me to whirl around and do all that stuff? Unlike Aang, I don't have twinkle toes." Sokka giggled and Iroh only waved a finger.
"That is not a very convincing lie," he said, and the others looked at him questioningly. "It's not that you can't, you just don't want to. Through your earth bending you know as well as I that you can feel the movements and heartbeats better than everyone else. As for the steps, they are no more complicated than the intricate foot movements you do every day when you earth bend. If anyone can dance this, it's you.
"Fire benders and earth benders have the most similar movements when it comes to bending, using forceful, short movements. Although earth bending is a little more complicated when it comes to foot work, I can't think of a better pairing for the dance. Please, be willing to learn."
The pressured girl released a weary sigh and stepped forward, holding out her arms helplessly.
"What am I supposed to do?" Her unlikely resign delighted Iroh, although he knew she wouldn't submit for long.
The old man wasted no time. "First, we use substitutes just to practice, those I already instructed before you arrived. We need a partner for Zuko, and for Toph. How about you Suki? You performed it well, you must know this dance from your time on Kyoshi Island. A certain amount of intensity is required to perform it, and you have-"
"Suki can't do it!" cried Sokka, wrenching his girlfriends arm back towards him. Suki shot her eyebrows in the air and shrugged apologetically.
"Um-"
"Fine, then how about you, Katara?" The Water Tribe girl froze, waiting for someone to protest. Aang was too friendly to stick his foot in, and Sokka plainly thought better his sister than Suki. Without too much resistance, she shrugged and stepped forward.
"Great, we will learn this together," Iroh said. "Aang, you dance with Toph." Aang, who was previously debating his feeling over Katara's choice to dance with Zuko, erased all stress from his face and skid giddily onto the dance floor. Dancing with Toph would be fun, if she would submit.
Zuko and Katara were standing passively near each other, waiting for the cue so that It could be over soon. Iroh instructed them to dance the first sixteen steps, so that Toph and Aang could mimic their movements.
"Cue music!" cried Sokka with a finger in the air. On cue, the playful flute flitted in and Katara, looking more determined, offered her arm to Zuko who took it without hesitance. He didn't look like he disliked it or enjoyed it, more like he was just doing what he was supposed to. Or at least that's what Aang told himself to feel better. Toph kept her head down, focusing on sensing the movements.
She felt their heartbeats as they slowly began to circle each other, the Water Tribe Girl and the Fire Lord. Katara's heartbeat was steady but quick, determined but slightly nervous. Zuko's, she recognized, was the same, but not because of the water bender's touch. The earth bender had to admit he had come a long way out of his comfort zone, and knew the reason for his nervousness was the numerous pairs of eyes watching him.
Not just any eyes, his friends' eyes.
For some reason, seeing Sparky nervous didn't give her the satisfaction it usually did. Some other anonymous feeling was busy preoccupying her.
The rotation was done, and here came the part were Zuko put his hand on Katara's slender back and pulled her in close, with a snap. Their eye contact was stunning, so interlocked and intense an outsider would have thought they were fighting. Their footwork was slightly irregular, because Katara was more fluid, like a water whip, and Zuko was more fiery and forceful. The dance ended quickly, since it was only demonstration. It ended when Zuko whipped Katara around and out of his proximity. The music ceased and he didn't pull her back in.
She was amazingly light, the Fire Lord noted, and was a bit cautious when he flung her from him. With some breathing distance, his eyes scanned over those who watched. He wouldn't admit that there were awkward butterflies in his stomach. His golden eyes caught Aang, who was looking at Katara with awe.
Next to the boy, his eyes locked onto Toph, almost apprehensively. When her glazed, green hued eyes seemed to catch his, his breath nearly caught in his throat.
Only because it was nearly impossible for Toph to make eye contact, and when she did it was eerie. What else were those eyes looking at, that they couldn't see by her feet? Her bangs shielded them partly, and he found amusement in the fact that although she could not see from them, they could still sometimes convey emotion.
But what was that flicker of emotion that rested unknowingly in her eyes, Zuko wondered, for only a split few seconds that seemed like forever? He couldn't name it…
Unconsciously, he was still holding onto Katara's hand. Toph lowered her head and he finally realized this, dropping the tan hand hastily. Small applause broke out, and clarity was restored as the sound rained on them. Iroh addressed Toph and Aang.
"Now, it is your turn," Iroh said, turning to Toph. "without the music, and we'll take it slower. You can move to the steps together-Katara, Zuko, you too. Aang, Toph? Are you ready?" Toph turned in Aang's direction as the boy stepped forward eagerly and held out an arm. With a small smile at the friendly enthusiasm, she took it. The smile vanished as she realized she was actually going to dance.
Child like fear entered her veins.
Earth bender stubbornness boiled in her chest.
Toph-ness told her brain, whatever.
Iroh started counting, and they were supposed to follow the steps. She could see that Zuko and Katara began circling each other, arms clasped, like they usually did. She grabbed Aang's arm, and they mimicked the two a bit awkwardly. Toph was trying to lead, and having an easy job of doing it. It was less like rotating and more like the girl pulling the confused air bender around. They continued to stumble through the steps awkwardly while Zuko and Katara were mastering the dance.
They didn't quite 'snap' like the others did, and Aang was just too light on his feet. Quite the opposite, Iroh was right about Toph; her footwork was faster and more solid than Aang's, one foot out of place and Toph tripped over him, backwards, nearly bringing him to the floor with her.
The other duo stopped, turning to the fallen dancers.
Now she was frustrated, Iroh could see. He watched Toph push herself to her feet with a scowl on her face.
"I'm done for the day," she said, irritated. A sound came from the back of the crowd, and this time it wasn't from Sokka, who knew better than to kick his dear friend when she was already angry. He turned to glared at Haru, who was suppressing a giggle.
"Oh, lighten up. It was… a good first attempt," he said with a lopsided smile. Iroh smirked.
"Tomorrow. Same time same place," Toph said with authority in her voice, before stomping off and leaving them all confused. Particularly Zuko.
End of chapter. You like? Review!