Playing With Fire
Chapter 2 - The Disturber
Amira had made her way outside to the tea shop only to be greeted, cheerily by Iroh once more. "There you are," he said while handing her an apron as well as a tray. Amira was absolutely shocked. Work, she asked herself as she took the objects hesitantly. "You start today," he said, still bearing a pleasant smile on his face. Amira gave a slight and unsure nod while shooting an unhappy look at Uncle Iroh, who seemed to not have noticed this. Amira quickly tied the apron around herself and took hold of the tray in both her hands. After all, what were she to do? This man had taken her in. She watched as Iroh moved himself into the back room only to return several seconds later, with an expressionless Zuko. Zuko side-glanced at Amira before turning to his uncle who had been rattling off instructions, still not listening to a word his uncle muttered. "And you'll show her around the shop, and then you'll - Zuko," his uncle spoke giving him a slight nudge, snapping Zuko back into reality. "Did you get everything I said," he asked raising one eyebrow.
"Okay," Zuko mumbled mindlessly, before approaching the desk to take orders. Uncle looked strangely at Zuko, but shook his head dismissively. Teenagers, he thought to himself as he made his way back into his tea-brewing room. Customers lined up, barking orders at Zuko and Amira, who nodded at each customer not understanding a word they were saying. At last, Amira watched as Zuko left the counter and retreated to the back room, only to step out into the teashop carrying a tray of teacups. The standing customers, immediately scrambled into seats and awaited their teacup to be placed on their table. Amira gave a small laugh, watching each customer sip his/her tea differently. Some slurped it down greedily, leaving a broad, goofy smile on their faces afterward. Others gracefully sipped it, taking in its essence with a small smile of satisfaction, twitching on their faces. Something had struck her immediately. It sent her back to the age of 13, only 2 years ago; the first time her parents had thrown a tea party that she'd been invited to. She remembered herself wearing a bright, blue kimono (similar to the one she currently had on, with the exceptions of the tears and rips … and dirt), and her hair had been rolled up on top of her head. Her face was caked with powder and other cosmetics. She recalled giving herself a glance of dissatisfaction. She hated the powder, the dressing up, the hair-doing, everything; nevertheless, she descended down the stairs from her bedroom to the great, high-ceilinged, porcelain-white coloured, stunning dining room. Everything in that room was made out of the finest substances, she remembered as her mother bragged about it to a maid.
She watched as 'the help', as her mother preferred to called them, busied themselves around the dining room - setting the table, laying out place mats, adding the final touches to the dining room, such as: putting up new curtains, laying down new rugs, setting new chairs around the table. Everything had to be perfect, her mother would say. Amira sighed and glanced outside one of the undressed windows. The guests wouldn't be arriving for another 35 minutes, she thought to herself, smirking. As she glanced at the maids who were in a tizzy trying to get all their work in the dining room finished, she smirked once more. Slipping out of the dining room, she stole through the kitchen and out the back door to the frigid, winter air of the North Pole. Careful not to be seen and without a second glance, she traipsed further away from her home and toward the frozen trees that harboured the back of the compound. Slipping into the forest she knew very well, she made her way to her favourite spot - an unfrozen pond. Once there, she shook out the curls and clips out of her hair allowing them to fall onto the snow. She glanced right and left before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. She concentrated hard on what she had once heard a master telling his students, "Steady, my students. This art isn't a forceful movement - gracefully, now. Concentrate. Allow yourself to be at the will of the water. Feel the energy of it course through your veins. Move with it. That's it." She opened her eyes once more. Energy, coursing through your veins; at the will of the water; concentrate, she repeated to herself, mentally, as she started in a slight sway. The water rose slowly up out of the small pond. Her eyes widened as she watched it. Okay, concentrate, she thought once more to herself. She could hear the teacher's other instructions, "Now, guide it. Don't lose your concentration. Don't be forceful. You are not the water's master. You are its guide." Guide, she thought to herself still managing to keep the water levitated. She continued her sway; although she her swaying had gotten deeper, she was careful not to be forceful with it.
She could see the water beginning to move with her swaying. This is it, she thought to herself. Suddenly, a noise sounded behind her. She gasped and instinctively, the water lashed out of her hands and onto the cause of the noise's face as she spun around immediately. Although she was sure the person was no firebender, she thought she saw steam coming from the person's ears. "That's it," his voice growled at her. Amira gulped and looked up into the man's eyes, which looked exactly like hers.
"Father, I-I'm so sorry. I didn't mean-" she started. He simply held up a hand and silenced her at once.
"You know what the customs are! You know you're not supposed to be waterbending," he continued growling at her.
"But, father, please! There's nothing wrong with waterbending! Everyone else can," Amira explained. Her father closed his eyes and turned his head.
"I don't want to hear it, Amira. You're not like everyone else. You know what your mother and I think of this," he heaved a great sigh before re-opening his eyes. Amira's eyes glared at her father. She was tired of being told what to do, where to go, and most of all, to surrender her bending. She wouldn't have it. It was too much. She wanted to bend, she didn't want to have to listen to her parents anymore. She was 13! Half the kids her age were already finding boyfriends, discovering the world and learning their bending. She wanted to just runaway, to escape this sheltered, overprotective world. With her fists clenched, she walked straight past her father and into her home.
"Where have you been," her mother's cold, shrill voice sounded. "And what happened to your hair!" Amira gave no answer and proceeded upstairs. Slamming her door closed, she flopped herself on her bed. Her tears slid down her cheeks. How could they do this to her? Her entire life has been planned and scheduled. There was never a time where she was asked what she wanted. She was sick of it. She was born into a life she hadn't wanted - a life she wouldn't wish upon her worst enemy. She was sick of it. All of it. She could hear her mother's shrill voice yelling out "What", "How could she", and "What a disgrace." She scoffed, How many times have I heard that? She was tired of being a disgrace and a disappointment. She was a teenage girl! She was supposed to be happy, wasn't she? She deserved a bit of happiness, hadn't she? She cried herself to sleep that night, without any knocks on her doors, or any visits from her parents. She was all alone in that palace that harboured tons of maids and servants, but she was used to it. After all, she'd lived her life that way for thirteen years.
A throat cleared behind her, and Amira immediately jumped from her daydream. Looking around, she gazed into two amber eyes that stared back into hers. "Um, I'm supposed to show you around," his raspy voice whispered. Amira gave a slight nod and walked behind the apron-wearing Zuko. Leading her into the back room, Zuko paused in front of a table that supported teacups and teapots of various sizes. Amira too stopped in front of the table. Zuko's mind raced trying to think of what exactly he was supposed to be telling her. It was a teashop. There really wasn't much to show her, he sighed a bit and awkwardly extended a hand out to teacups on the left-hand side of the table. "Those are teacups," his raspy voice said once more. "That's a teapot," he said as he showed her the teapots on the right-hand side of the table. "Those are tea leaves and herbs," he concluded pointing to the plants in the middle of the table. "Any questions," he asked as he looked at her in a bored fashion. Amira suppressed a slight laugh by biting her lip and shook her head. Zuko gave a slight nod and walked back outside.
"Um, Lee," Amira finally spoke. Zuko felt his blood run cold through his veins. He didn't know why, but something about they way she said his name gave him chills. Zuko spun around on his heel nearly tripping over himself. His cheeks gave a light pink flush of colour.
Amira gave a slight giggle before completing her question, "What am I supposed to do?" Zuko's lips gave a slight twitch into a small smile, but then returned to it's usual serious self.
"Don't you know how to brew tea," Zuko mumbled. Amira looked down, her cheeks scarlet red as she shook her head.
"I-I thought your uncle would be doing that," she whispered.
"He normally does, but with the crowd as big as the one outside, a bit of help would be nice. I guess, Uncle didn't know his new assistant has never brewed tea before," he continued. Amira looked up at him.
"Why don't you do it then," she asked. Zuko raised one eyebrow.
"Because that's not my job," he answered. Amira glared at him before she turned toward the teacups and teapot once more. Holding her head high, she placed some tea leaves and herbs into the teapot and covered it. Folding her arms, she looked around for a place to start the fire. Carrying the teapot off the table, she sat herself on the ground and picked two stones that seemed to have been placed on the floor for a reason. Striking them against each other, she tried desperately for some sparks. Suddenly, two hands placed themselves on hers from behind. "You're horrible. Let me," his raspy voice whispered to her once more. Amira gave a small glance behind her at Zuko and gave a slight nod, surrendering the stones to him, and rising up from the ground.
"I'll go take orders then," she asked. Zuko, who had immediately struck a fire in a second, looked up at her and muttered a small 'mhm'. With that, Amira left the room and proceeded to take orders. Hours passed and finally, the teashop had closed. Exhausted, Amira dragged her feet all the way to the back room and into the room she now shared. Flopping herself on the mattress, she sighed. The mattress hadn't been making anything better. It wasn't as soft as it had felt this morning when she'd woken up.
"Uh," a voice sounded from beneath her. Amira lifted herself up by her arms and looked properly at what she'd been lying on. Her cheeks turned a scarlet red colour once more and her eyes widened considerably. She'd been laying on a confused Zuko. Immediately, she rolled herself off of him and onto the floor.
"I-I'm so sorry," she said as she sat up on the floor without giving him another look. Zuko simply looked at her.
"Let's just pretend that never happened," he stated as he too looked away from her. Amira gave a slight nod and rose to her feet. She'd spotted a rolled up sheet in the corner. Spreading it across the floor, she lay herself on it. It was more comfortable than sleeping in a cardboard box, she told herself, even if the floor was rock hard. Hours and hours had passed, but Amira could find no peace of mind. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the faces of the men and her parents. She rolled and changed her position on her floor bed several times before finally sitting up.
"Ugh, I'm never getting any sleep," she grunted. With a quick glance at Zuko, he seemed to be sleeping perfectly rolled over onto one side. Rising to her feet, she silently exited the room and proceeded into the teashop. She hadn't known why she had, but she just did. She supposed maybe the idea of waiting for tea relaxed her. Realizing there had still been a half-full cup of tea on one of the tables, she sat herself down beside it. Jasmine, she noted. Perhaps Mushi had forgotten his teacup on the table. She glanced back over her shoulder to check if perhaps he would return. She waited several minutes, but no one had been there. Shrugging her shoulders, she leaned herself against a window and hovered her hand over the teacup, practicing her waterbending. This brought her great peace. She marvelled at the way she moved the tea in different swaying movements. The way she submitted to the water and allowed it to 'course through her veins' induced a great wave of serenity to sweep over her. That was … until she heard a door open behind her. The tea splattered onto the table, and she leapt out of the seat turning around on her heel to face her disturber.