Wei-Li dresses in the evening. She ties her hair up neatly with golden strings wowen into her long black hair. She puts on a nice black kimono with red embroderies. She packs a bag. She watch herself in the mirror. She frowns. Compose yourself. One time, and then this will be over. Start over. Forget about it. One time.
"Miss?" A young girl softly interrupts.
"Yes Min? Are everything in order for tonight? Don't forget to tend the fires neatly. Also, make sure the water in all the rooms are warm. Father will be back tomorrow, and he will check everything. None of us want a scolding."
"No Miss, of course I will."
"I made you a list so you can check all the things I know he will check first, just to be safe. If you follow it, we won't be in trouble. Most important… Don't tell him about tonight. Il'l make sure it's worth it."
She bows and exits. Wei-Li looks at her reflection once again. She pours herself a glass of wine.
One last time.
She doesn't know she's being watched.
He sneaks trough the city. Watching her. She goes by foot. Fast. Sometimes she turns around and looks. Maybe she knows she's being followed.
Who does she work for? Azula? No… That's just him being paranoid. Or is it? His eyes narrows. She's half running now, and it's hard to keep track of her. She's going past the vendors, the shops, the restaurants. She's going in a small alley and down a stairwell. She knocks at a door, someone opens it. They talk briefly, she's being let in. He sneaks around the house. There´s a lot of people gathering. He sit quietly at the rooftop. He tought his 'Blue Spirit' – days were over, but here he are, once again, sneaking.
In a way, it's exciting to have anything else to think about. He tries to fight the crazy toughts murmuring in his head. Thinking about Azula again. Thinking about his guards and the nobles, they would probably deem him unfit if they saw him now.
So, there's someone at the door, letting people in. But why and how? He bides his time, sits and wait.
He can hear yelling downstairs. Maybe it's just a fun night out with a boy, and here he is, the Fire Lord, making a fool of himself.
Stalking a servant. A country girl afraid of a scolding from her dad… He feel ridicoulus now.
But then he hear the yelling and screaming again. No, this is not a normal tavern.
A flash of her face comes to him suddenly. How she looked him in the eyes the other night. Her face, so sincere.
Even tough, you don't know who to trust in this world – It felt like he could trust her.
He suddenly sees a chance. The guard of the door goes round the corner. It's a big guy. He can hear the guard relive himself in the alley. Wow, really, that's classy. He thinks. Don't they have any proper bathrooms or what? In all seriousness, he smiles to himself, it feels so silly. In one swift move he's down by the door, and quickly sneaks in.
It's a dark corridor with an old stairwell, creaking as he steps on it. The yelling is higher now. There seems to be a lot of people here. Both the usual rabble of drunken fools, and some big, tatooed guys, standing in the corners. So, like some kind of a pirate´s den then?
He knows about pirates. He draws the cape around his head, concealing the scar. Won't be a problem getting unnoticed here.
He goes farther in, and then sees it. It's a arena. A fighting arena. He saw that a lot as a refugee. People gathering and betting money on animal-fighting. Sometimes drunken brawls. It smells of sweat, it's very crowded. People are extatic.
It's hard to see whats going on. He finally finds a good place in the corner, where he can see the arena without being in the way. A nicely dressed man in Fire Nation clothing and a cane comes to the middle of the arena.
"GANG DA from the tribes in the desert! Once incinerated a whole forest with only his fingertips! GANG DA, the heated warrior from the south! Feared and respected trough the whole of the nation! No man has ever defeated him! No water nor air, no earth can stop his fire! He will fight tonight!
The crowd is again extatic. They cheer and yell. Money is being exchanged. It's primal.
The great Gang Da enters. He's one of the biggest men Zuko has ever seen in his life. He wears a simple pair of worn black pants and his upper body is bare. He is covered in tattos. Dragons, in black and red all over his chest and arms. He looks like a bull. He stretches and raises his arms. Agni this guy is big! He frusts like a bull too, and a thick trail of smoke comes out of his nostrils. The crowd yells and shouts.
"WEI XUN from the forests of the colonies joines us as the unlucky opponant tonight!" The man laughes, the crowd laughs too.
"Forged in the old fires, bended by the sea, our own tigerdillo!" The crowd laughs more.
Wei Xun enters. It's a woman. She's short, curvy and muscular. Dressed in black leggings and a red wrap over her torso. She is in warpaint. Red and black stripes on her arms, face and stomach. She's tanned and covered in bruises, cuts and burns. Her posture is one of a earthbender. She's barefoot and on her arms and legs are golden bracelets. She stretches, and hisses. Out of her breath, comes a cloud of smoke. The crowd don't laugh any more.
One last time.
We wouldn't need to fight you know
I once had a friend in the fire nation
He was like you
I sometimes wonder
That if we'd seen each other
In another time
We could be friends.
"Bets are closing! Closing all bets! The man with the cane are going around. The fighters are cirkling eachother. Measuring. Calculating.
The tension is high.
"On my mark!"
The silence is total.
Suddenly torches around the hall lights up with a roar.
"FIGHT!"
Gang Da moves in the fastest. He immediately throws his fists at her, making big bursts of fire. She avoids it, moves around fast. Jumps and runs. He taunts her, laughs. She hasn't made a move. He continues, furiously, sending bursts of fire. She continues avoiding them. The crowd yells. Suddenly, in a blink of an eye, she crouches down to avoid a wave of fire, and does a smooth movement with her left arm. It's like a wave-whip of orange-blue fire that in less than a second hits Gang Da in his torso.
He stumbles back with a roar, but hardly have time to regain his posture until she's at it again. This time, crouching at the ground, with fast, fierce movements, she raises her hands and with that makes a wall of fire that she's sending to her opponent, knocking him back down at the ground. She moves fast, and fierce. Not with her fists, but with her whole body, sending waves of fire at her opponent. She fights with fury. In a instant, she's over him. She moves fast and puts a foot on his exposed neck. Smoke comes out underneath. Gang Da tries to get her off. He spurts fire from his mouth and uses all his strenght to get her off. He tries to rip her away from him with his arms. She waves her hand in circular motions, fast, and creates a circular fire that she presses down on his arms and legs. She presses her foot harder down on his throat. The crowd can all smell the smell of burning flesh. Gang Da, the great bender, whimps and scream. It's silent. The scene is primal, ruthless. She hisses at him. Bending down, keeping the cirkle of fire down. Smoke comes out of her nostrils and mouth.
He succumbs. Just like that, in only moments, the fight is over.
The crowd don't cheer. The speaker is silent. Her foot is still on the mans neck. Everyone in the big room are silent.
She removes her foot, disgusted. The air is warm of sweat and fear and the nausiating smell of burned flesh.
She walks out silently. The man on the floor gasps for air. Her left foot is covered in the blood from the man and leaves footprints.
Zuko watches the primal scene, both fascinated and horrified like the rest of the crowd. When she turns to walk out, he suddenly notices the gold bands in her neat braid.
"Never call me at my fathers house again" She hisses at the man with the cane.
"Whe had a deal. I don't owe you a thing. Leave me and my family alone."
She sits silently in the small dressing room, facing the wall.
Carefully washing her face from a small basin. It steams, she steams. She trembles.
"I need to know the truth".
It's a different voice than she expected. Chocked, she turns around and face Zukos eyes. The ruthless warrior is gone, and he recognice the face of the girl at the hotel. Her eyes are a bright yellow.
She bows down to the ground immediately, horrified.
"My father was miserable after mother left. He didn't manage the hotel as he should. He got into some debt. With the wrong people. I don't know how it got so far as this. I just wanted to provide and help, and suddenly, there was more debt, there was more fights. I did it for father." She looks at him, desperate.
"I am your loyal servant and I am aware of the dangers I bring with me. Please forgive me. My father knows nothing of this" She bows down to the ground.
"How can you be so humble when you fight so ruthless?" He gasps. And it dawns on him, that she is maybe, speaking the truth.
"Who are you really?" He takes a careful step forward, watching her carefully.
"I am the daughter of Fu Da the innkeeper and Jia his caring wife" She bows again.
"How did you learn to fight?" He continues interrogate her. She pauses. Slowly, she sits up and turn away. It's hard to speak the truth. It's especially hard to tell the Fire Lord, but she has no choise. She brought shame to her family. It dosen't matter anymore.
She washes her feet. Blood and flesh fills the already dirty water of the basin.
"My mother teached me how to control my fire. With the dance of the dragons and meditation, with focus on my chores. To turn the fire inside me to good things and not to be ruthless. To control it the way waterbenders do. But I defied her. I learned how to fight using the same moves she once learned me in order to protect me. The fire inside always finds a way. It can burn you like a forest fire, or you can let it burn in well-tended fire places. I try hard to control it, but it always finds it way out, one way or another."
She sits still, with her head bowed down and looking at her trembling hands. Covered in soot and blood.
"When I was a child, I set my bedding on fire several times a week. I could't touch anything without scolding it. With the help from mother and work in the kitchen, I learned how to control it. But it burns inside me like a furnace. Once, men came to the hotel. They threatened my father. They burned the garden. I ran to my fathers defence. I hurt the men badly. My father was horrified. I promised him to never hurt anyone again, to stay out of it. I promised him. The next day, new men came to our house, but talked to me. They gave me a offer. If I would fight in the arena, they would forget about my fathers debt.
And I obliged, shaming the promise I made to my father."
She sighs and continues.
"And a part of me liked it. How I could let the fire run loose without fear. It helped me focus, but it also came at a big price. I'm lost."
She looks at him again, her eyes burns. "Please, don't hurt my father for the deeds I made. I will accept any punishment for my negligence but my father is innocent in this".
"I don't have any plans to punish you. I want you to come with me to the capital. I want you to train me. You will leave with us in the end of the week. I will tell everyone that I wish you to be our new royal chef. Iroh will agree. I will tell your father the same. He will be compensated. I will make sure he has the staff he needs."
She stares at him, baffled. Without a word, he leaves.
But on the way home, he smirks to himself, thinking about her chocked expression.
She sits in her room and slowly cleans herself more troughly from the soot, blood and paint. Her lips form prayers but her mind is elswehere. She looks at her reflection in the mirror once again. Shame and lies brought her to this. In her heart there is a storm of feelings. The fireplace flickers at the rhythm of her heartbeats. Min walks in.
"Are you alrigh Miss?"
"I'm sorry… I have a lot on my mind." Min walks towards her. She untangles her braid and the golden strings and starts to comb her hair. "Do you want me to get you some spiced wine to help you sleep?"
"Yes…. It's not only that. It's… If I would go… Would you stay and take care of Father?" She closes her eyes and let Min untangle her hair. Min freezes. "What do you mean? Of course I would. But what do you mean with saying that?!"
"Iv'e been offered a job in the Capital. I don't have much choice. But iv'e been promised that everyone will be compensated well."
She adds, hastily. "I guess they'll talk to Father as soon as he arrives." The fire in the room flickers.
"Will you write us?" Min touches her shoulder. "Every day if I can." She closes her eyes. And imagines her new life. She have more enemies than friends in this city. But the few friends she have, is also here. And in the city, she have nothing.
"There are good teachers in the city that can help you with your fire." Min adds, carefully, sensing the worry.
"Maybe. They are probably too expensive.. " She sighs. "Maybe you can meet with the fire sages. They have rebuilded the order and made them public. If you work in the palace, maybe you can find some way to gain consultation?" She is honest. Wei-Li takes her hand. "Thank you for your advices. I will look into it. I can take that spiced wine now if its fine with you. Tomorrow is gonna be the longest day we had this year so far." She squeezes her hand tightly. It's scolding hot, but Min grips it back.
She nods and leaves.