Her father wasn't happy with her. Ruyi could tell. They had only been together for about two weeks now and she was starting to understand him more than she had expected. While her father was a poised man, very noble and very patient, he had ways of expressing his anger without even having to voice them. His eyes said it all. Even though they were such a calming color, they had the ability to be intense like the idol of his nation; the sun. The intensity in them was like an overbearing hot day, and she would find herself wanting to retreat in the cool shade.
Ruyi had felt guilty, and she hated that she did. The way she acted with the Fire Lord's grandson was disrespectful, she knew that, but the way he spoke was enough to push her already sensitive nerves. Her father had every right to be angry at how she treated royalty as well as his student. But even now, whilst feeling insurmountable guilt, she did not regret what she had said. She decided that she would deal with her father's anger with obedience but her pride would not shift her guilt enough to make her to apologize.
"How you spoke to him is enough to have your tongue scorched or your life taken." The way his voice trembled was a sign of how badly he was trying to keep his calm composure. "There would've been nothing I could possibly do if the Fire Lord wanted you punished for how you spoke."
This was how it felt to have a father worry over you? She was amused without a doubt, and she had felt even happier that he was so concerned about the fact that she could've died because of her waspish tongue. He was angry for sure, but he was angry because he could've lost her. "He's an arrogant prick. He needed to be educated about his people."
Piandao thought her defiant act was cute and acceptable at first, but soon he started growing tired of her relentless indignant behavior. "That wasn't for you to decide, Ruyi." The emphasis in her name, the overall tone he used, kind of chilled her to the marrow. "Royalty do not care if you are correct, you must respect them. There are ways to treat them so that you remain alive no matter how much you dislike it."
"I know nothing about royalty." She said, releasing some of her innermost thoughts. "All I know is that they can say and do whatever they want and not be punished for it. That's what the prince did to me, and I did not like it."
"Your ignorance of this subject is not acceptable anymore, Ruyi. I have given you books on etiquette and class as well as history, and you have obviously chosen not to read it. What about 'Example for Women', did you read it?" He questioned, standing absolutely still with his hands folded behind his back.
Her eyes had looked down at the table with guilt washing over her features. She did not read it. In fact, she found it rather sexist despite the book being written by a woman. "No."
"It figures." Piandao closed his eyes, shaking his head dejectedly. "That book was written by Fire Lady Wende, mother of Sozin. Do you know how many nobles girls have seen true copies of this book? Do you know how many rich and valuable lessons could be learned from this book alone?"
If there was one thing she had hated, it was feeling stupid and that's exactly how she felt at the moment. Her ignorance was a problem, and she could solve it but she prided herself not to. She hated not understanding things and due to the her upbringing, there wasn't much she could learn about other cultures or literature. She had no excuses anymore and the only holding her back now was herself.
"Read it now and read it well. You'll be coming with me to attend the palace festivities." His words lingered in her ears, her jaw slacked. Going to the palace? After how she spoke to the prince?
"But why?" She bothered to ask.
His feet walked in a slow pace, slowly moving towards the door. He stopped every so slightly, "It'll be the celebration of Lady Ilah's death. Every Fire Lord mourns their wife, and she was a great Fire Lady. Many people loved her as they did Fire Lady Wende; you will have to be on your best behavior and this will prove to be a test."
A test? He was testing her based on manners? She wasn't sure why but she knew that she couldn't fail it. For the sake of her own pride and because she didn't want to embarrass her father. "Fine. I'll get to reading."
-/o/-
Zuko's P.O.V
There were days where I was eager to wake up, and others where I wanted to stay asleep. Even now, with the sun barely over the horizon, I wish I hadn't woken up so early. In some ways, I was grateful that my natural wake up was the sun but the days where I'd rather stay in bed was becoming one of many. I enjoyed the days with my mother in the garden or when I was receiving training with Piandao. In all efforts that drove me away from the realization and expectations that I had to complete for my father to be proud, I would rather take them.
I loved my father. Why wouldn't I? My respect for him didn't have any boundaries, but I was always afraid to make a mistake. So far, I have made too many. So many that my sister literally pulled the rug from beneath my feet and created a world where my father only saw her. He hasn't given up on me, at least not yet, but I knew the day would come if I hadn't become perfect; a perfect son. I had to become like Lu Ten or at least better than Lu Ten. I found it impossible to beat my cousin, he was in another league of his own and was much older than me. To compete with him was a mission that I could never accomplish.
The anxiety, the fears, and everything negative would engulf me like the way fire latches onto wood and I was left burning, letting that negativity melt away at my skin. Leaving nothing but bones of an anxious, imperfect heir.
But as of lately, my mind couldn't help but wonder back to a few days ago. Where I had met that temperamental Waterbender, who was made of fire and water. Her mood fluctuates quickly, I noted. Within the brief introduction, I had seen at least three expressions quickly dance across her face; calm curiosity, regret, and then boiling anger. She definitely had an inner fire, but it was more like a mighty ocean than it was a flame.,
How could Piandao have a kid like that is what really intrigued me. They were such polar opposites and you would think that he would raise his child to be more like him: intelligent, self-possessed, and earnest but she was none of these things. And already, I didn't like her.
My dislike really stemmed from that revelation she gave me, and I wasn't sure if it was the exact truth yet. I didn't really believe that the Fire Nation would murder children just because they were Waterbenders. I knew of the raids, which we have been told were on-going battles being the Water Tribe and the Fire Nation because water was such a threatening element to us. Not superior, but indeed a threat. I knew we captured them, but killing them? Killing children? That didn't even sound right to me. Of course, I had conveniently forgot of what we had done to the Airbenders long ago.
I wasn't able to sit and think very much on the subject. The door to my room was opened, and my eyes immediately looked up to see that it was my mother who walked in. I repeatedly told her that I was becoming "too old" for her to just walk into my room. I was ten, and I was a boy. It was too weird for my mother to come and go into my room as she pleased. As much as I had loved her, she would constantly embarrass me by telling me "there's nothing she hadn't seen" since she took care of me for all my life.
"Its about time that you be prepared for tonight. We'll be honoring your grandmother today." Even though it had just become dawn, everyone was so worked up about the festivities. There would be a dance, food, fireworks and prayers. We had done that every year since her death, and every year I missed my grandmother just a little bit more than I had before.
Grandmother Ilah was considered one of the four greatest Fire Ladies in history like great-grandmother Wende before her, and the two wives of Agni: Yuhuan and Qiang.
My grandmother was said to be so beautiful in her youth that she shamed flowers, even fire-lilies. It was hard for me to believe that since when she died her hair was a pristine white like my grandfather's and her face was glittered with lines of age. She was also so small and short due to her elder years. The only beautiful things I remembered were her eyes since they were the brightest yellow that reminded me of sunlight. And her personality and hugs that seemed to swallow you into a world of peace.
There were times where I missed her, very briefly. Lu Ten had known grandmother longer than I had and I somewhat envied that. Azula doesn't remember her since she died when Azula was just a baby, and she hadn't really cared later on that she had no memories of her like I did. In fact, I heard her once say that the festivities during for her death were boring and a waste of time. As if celebrating her life and accomplishments weren't worth it.
I never understood my sister, and I was too afraid to. Her words always make me angry, and I morbidly was glad that grandmother didn't live long enough to know the Azula I know today.
"Are they going to do the dance again?" I bothered to ask. "The Prince of Shu Jing?" The Prince of Shu Jing in Battle was my favorite. Tonight, one girl would be playing Prince Zhinu and I would be entranced as I had before. Grandfather always said nobody did the dance justice like his great-grandmother Wende or grandmother Ilah, and I would never know how beautifully it could be danced.
With a smile, she nodded. "Of course, it was her favorite. Your grandfather always lets the Harem perform her favorite dance."
The women of the harem did love grandmother, I knew that much. She took care of them, following the principles of great grandmother Wende so I knew they would do their absolute best in her memory.
"But right now, you need to be getting prepared. You too will be performing." I had almost wished my mother didn't remind me. I didn't want to do this dance but it was better than playing the Tsungi horn.
The dance I would be performing was called Dashao, a dance that was supposed to be the battle between Agni and Yuhuan I had to dress up as a phoenix while my opponent was supposed to be dressed as a crane. I never really understood why Yuhuan was compared to a crane since it was a big symbolism for water since the crane could not live without it.
My mother had notice that wasn't quite paying attention and with a soft gesture, her fingers lightly pinched my cheek. "Zuko, is something wrong? You seem to be brooding quite a lot lately"
My mother was also my best friend. I always felt comfortable with telling her everything, but I also worried that telling her everything wasn't always a good thing. That would mean she would worry but if I hadn't then she would still worry. "I'm just thinking about Master Piandao. Is he coming?"
"Of course. He wouldn't miss the dance for the world." Her smile eased my worries by a fraction, but I was surprised by what she said next. "Have you met his daughter? I heard she is living with him now; a girl of the Water Tribe."
"I did." I think she noticed the bitterness in my voice, and I knew she would question it. Her brow was already arched in question, wondering why I didn't seem too fond of the girl already. "I don't like her." I put it simply.
My mother liked to analyze things, putting perspective of what happened and wondering if I was being fair or not. "And why is that?"
"She's rude." It was the truth, she was. She got upset because of something so stupid. "She was angry because I asked Master Piandao if she was from the Fire Nation since she didn't seem to know anything. She didn't even know who dad was…"
The chuckle that left my mother's lips had dampened my anger. I didn't know why she was amused by this, but she probably had her reasons. "She's a foreigner of this country. She's out of place so she gets confused and angry about things quickly. I understand her temperament." I was confused by this, my eyes looking up at her as I tried to read her expression. She looked rather wistful as her eyes seemed lost in memories, "I had no idea what the Capitol was like. I grew up in Hira'a. When I came here, I was so confused and even lonely. She's handling it a little different than I did, but she just needs time to adjust, Zuko."
My mother was too kind. She always gave people the benefit of the doubt, which I admired and also hated all at the same time. I looked away from her, staring out into nothingness as I contemplated this. "Still, its not my fault she has to adjust."
"I know." Her hand pressed against the side of my head, giving me smooth and comforting strokes against my hair. "She was wrong and you're right about that, but I think she deserves a second chance."
Forgiving, so much more than I was, but for the sake of my mother as well as Master Piandao, I would consider it.
"Now no more idling around. The bath is prepared for you and your clothes will be laid on your bed." Mother said, patting my back to hurry me as I climbed off my bed. I couldn't help but pout and feel anxious about tonight, but I knew that dragging my feet wasn't going to make everything suddenly slow down. I would have to get over my feelings for the sake of making father and grandfather proud tonight. That dance had to be perfect without a doubt.
The bath didn't scrub my fears away and getting changed into my formal clothes didn't either. The palace was decorated from the floor to the ceiling, but nothing was strong enough to distract me from tonight. So, I thought that maybe I should look for my uncle and cousin. They were the perfect distractions. Without a doubt, Uncle Iroh would be able to put me at ease.
I knew that he would be especially cheerful today. He liked celebrations ( as well as the food that came along with them ). Lu Ten did too, obviously getting that from his father. Iroh had a contagious kind of happiness and so I thought that was exactly what I needed.
I found myself heading towards the tea room. I pressed my ear against the door to try to hear if Uncle was truly in the room and as I expected, he was. Pushing the door open, I had saw my Uncle laughing with his teacup hovering above the tea plate in his other hand. Lu Ten was behind him with a smile. Yet, there were two other people here.
I guessed I talked them up.
Master Piandao was on the other couch and his daughter was beside him. Her eyes were gazing down at the teacup and it surprised me to see her acting the slightest bit of modest. My happy expression immediately disappeared upon the sight of her.
"Zuko!" My Uncle called my name, "Come join us."
I watched as the girl seem to become stiff upon my name. Honestly, my lips couldn't help but curl up into a smirk upon the sight but I immediately thinned my lips and walked in with the door closing behind me.
I watched Piandao as he looked to his daughter, his brows slightly knitting together as he gave her a rather dour fixed look and she shifted her eyes and held a rather pensive expression. They obviously had a talk since our last encounter, and so I believed an apology would be happening soon.
If she apologized then I would give her a second chance as my mother wanted. Other than that, I saw no reason for us to interact after that day. Iroh noticed the tension between the three of us and even looked at me as if to question what happened, but I took my seat next him with no indication that I was going to speak on it just yet.
"Zuko, how's the sword training?" Lu Ten spoke up, his eyes in a closed-eyed smile as usual. He always seemed happy and content, which was quite as contagious as Uncle's happiness.
"I'm almost done, right Master Piandao?" I looked over to him and he had given a stern nod.
"Most people do not master broadswords at this age, but Zuko has done well." His sincerity moved me, especially since I always seemed to master things late where my sister spared no time on obtaining a new skill.
My eyes left him and then looked towards his daughter, who kept eyeing the tofu dumplings. Was she afraid to eat in front of us? Maybe she was uncomfortable since it was all boys and she was the only female.
"Uhm…" Her voice broke the short-lived silence and all her eyes were on her, "What kind of dumpling is that? I've never seen that… before."
How could she act the slightest bit of bashful? The other day she practically yelled at me and now she acted as if her voice couldn't go another octave?
"Tofu dumplings." Uncle answered, "My son says I need to eat a little bit healthier and so I ordered them in stead. Tofu is really," he stuck his tongue out to describe the bland and awful taste, "but it doesn't taste half bad like this."
Her eyes held a curious glint, picking up a pair of unused chopsticks, she had picked up one of the few dumplings and took a bite. I'm not sure why I was intrigued of what reaction she would make and I found myself amused at how slow a frown appeared on her face. The curiosity she held was swept away with disgust and I… I had to hold myself back from laughing.
"...See?" Iroh turned to Lu Ten, "How can anyone like tofu? I even had to tell a tale to make it sound good."
Lu Ten sighed, shaking his head as for the first time ever I had seen a genuine smile spread across my sifu's lips. Piandao wasn't the type of man to smile, he was always so stony-face but now I had seen the slightest bit of happiness.
"You lied?!" The girl choked out after forcing herself to finish to rest after her bite. Uncle's laugh sounded quite nervous as if he forgot that he blurted out that he did. In the end, she found the humor of it and gave half of a smile before drinking a sip of the hot tea.
The air in the room was comfortable, and it completely made me forget about tonight's festivities.
"Ruyi." Piandao spoke her name, reminding me what it was.
She looked up at him, "Yes?"
"Would you like to see the Palace garden?" He asked and I watched as she seemed genuinely surprised and somewhat curious. The palace's garden was infamous on its beauty and the rarity of flowers that had been planted there. The bridge, the brightness of the grass, and the beautiful ponds and lakes was enough to interest anyone. I had to wonder if she would be interested considering she lived in a castle herself. It was nothing in comparison to my home, home of the Fire Lord and royal family, but it wasn't something to be looked down at.
Uncle then looked to me as if he had an idea, and I could already guess what it was. "Zuko, you should show young Ruyi the gardens. You know them better than anyone else."
I watched her face reveal her discomfort but she tried to mask it before anyone could notice. I saw it already though, and the fact that she wanted to avoid me proved that Piandao wanted her to apologize to me. "Do you want to?" I asked her and watched her hesitant worsen. She knew if she waited too long to answer then it would arouse suspicion.
"Uh, yes." She caved and place her teacup down. It was empty, so I wouldn't have to hear Uncle question how anyone could waste tea.
She stood up from the couch and looked back at Piandao. With the correct manners, she bowed to signal her exit and walked a few steps behind me. When we left the tea room, I had heard her sigh.
"Uhm, before we go…" She said as my lips curled up in a knowing smirk. I didn't bother to turn around, I bet she would feel embarrassed doing it face to face. "I just want to say that I'm sorry how I behaved the other day. I was wrong to act like that."
For some reason, I didn't feel satisfied by her apology. She apologized for her behavior but she didn't apologize for what she said. Was that her way for working around it? Did she think I wouldn't notice?
I turned around to look at her and found that she was fiddling with the ends of her hair. Why had seen been nervous if she was unapologetic about what she said? That didn't make sense to me. "The things you said…"
"Oh," She nodded, "I was harsh but I meant what I said."
…
I was at a loss.
She meant what she had said but she apologized for how she went about it? Didn't that take away from her apology? Shouldn't her apology be about the whole thing and not some of it? I felt duped of what I wanted but I couldn't find it in me to stay angry. Was this me relenting? Was this me wanting to let it go?
"So, yeah, the garden." Now she was rushing me. I sighed. I didn't want to think about this anymore. It left me confused and thinking of how crazy girls were.
End Zuko's P.O.V
The walk between them was silence, and in the middle of uncomfortable and comfortable. The silence was loud, Ruyi noted, but she didn't have the courage to fill it. Her eyes would rather look at the huge walls that surrounded her and were decorated with paintings probably older than everyone in the palace's ages combined. Some of them were from the early years of art because to see how things had drastically changed compared to others were somewhat magnificent.
"We don't have to go." Ruyi spoke up, eyeing the painting of the three cranes by a riverbed painting.
Zuko's quickly stopped, standing there with a rather confused expression. "I thought you wanted to go?"
"I do." She answered, "But you obviously don't want to."
Out of curiosity, he had turned to face her but she was still gazing up at the painting. "What makes you say that?" He outright asked.
"You don't like me, you've made that clear." Her eyes averted from the painting and boldly looked at his own. He was surprised by her words and her actions, and he found himself trying to recollect himself and reel away from the shock.
He didn't know what to say. His lips were closed shut as his eyes continued to stare at her azure ones to be just as bold. "Its not like I hate you."
If that was supposed to ease anything then Ruyi would like to know how. "Thanks." Her tone was bland, her expression deadpanned.
"Just go back to with them and drink tea." Ruyi waved her hands, "Just tell my dad I wanted time to myself, he'll believe it."
"Why are you shooing me away?" Zuko asked, "Why does any of this even matter?"
"Why would I want to be around someone who is uncomfortable with me? Does that make any sense to you?" Her question made sense and Zuko found himself nodding reluctantly. "Alright then, so leave."
It seems her attitude wasn't going to go away, but she was better than how she was the other day. "Why are you so… rude?" He finally asked, "I said I was taking you and so I am. I'm not going to lie to my Uncle and Master Piandao."
He was stubborn as she was. He wasn't going to go away upon her request that easily. "I'm not rude, I'm just…" She couldn't exactly put the words together and she found herself struggling with finishing the sentence. Her eyes darted away from his gaze and then looked to the floor, "I'm just uncomfortable."
His mother's words rang in his head, and he was sure that being patient was what he should be. He could tell that she wasn't exactly happy despite the fact she lived here for a few weeks and soon a month. It was a drastic change from the South Pole to the Fire Nation? It just wouldn't be so easy for her considering she left people she knew all her life behind. That's exactly what his mother did, and he couldn't help but wonder just how sad and lonely she was to be unable to ever see her parents again after marriage.
"Its… fine." Ruyi was surprised at his words and she quickly made her way to look at him. "Don't rush everything."
She didn't expect him to offer words of advice considering how they met and every time they had talked it came to be confrontational. Her features had loosened from their tight scowl and into a look of gratefulness and even relief. "Thanks…" Ruyi managed to whisper, feeling too timorous to say it with confidence.
Instead of speaking, Zuko turned and continued walking ahead and looked over his shoulder to see if she would follow. And without a doubt, she had and he could honestly say that the silence between them now was a comfortable one.
When they had finally reached the renowned palace gardens, the young waterbender released a gasp as she looked around in awe. There were a variety of flowers, even the trees. Some bore fruit while the others bore flowers. And due to the summer season, they were all in full bloom. The smell of the garden reminded her of Shu Jing since there were so many trees and flowers around. Zuko's amber eyes had observed her eyes that held a bright gleam as she took several steps forward to fully take in the beauty of the place.
Instinctively, she found herself drawn to the tree of purple flowers. They hung like tendrils and the colors were a bright, lavender hue. She leaned in to smell them and found herself adoring the fresh and beautiful smell. It was hard to describe this invasive beauty. "What is this? A chandelier of flowers?" She asked, caught up in her fascination with the three.
The royal almost wanted to laugh at her childish wonder-struck but remembered he was the same when his mother showed him the cherry blossoms in spring and how amazed he was. "Its called a Wisteria tree."
"Wisteria…" She repeated, nodding her head. It was amazing to see such flowers since the South Pole was such a barren land void of grass and flowers as well as trees. "It smells really nice."
"It has symbolism if you're curious." He added, surprised at himself as he continued to talk.
With a tilt of her head, she blinked twice out of confusion. "Symbolism? The tree has a meaning?"
This was a new face of hers he had seen; pure and utter confusion and interest. "Yeah," Zuko took a few steps towards her before placing a hand on the bark of the tree. "Its pretty older, probably older than the palace. "For most people, it means unrequited love."
"Unrequited?" Taken back, she shook her head in bewilderment, "Why would a beautiful tree have that kind of meaning?"
"Well, there was a story about a girl from a painting who came to life because she fell in love with a young man. She tried and tried to gain his attention, but it didn't work. So she went back inside the painting, hold a wisteria tree branch, heartbroken forever."
"That's depressing." Her thumb stroked the petal of the purple blossoms, "But that's all it means? Just that?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Endurance and heartbreak is all I know. There's a play about that story, I've never seen it but my mom has."
As soon as he mentioned his mother, she felt a shocking pang of jealousy. He was lucky to still have his mother, "Oh." She then let her arm fall to her side, "So maybe I should get away from this tree or else if I fall in love, I might be like that lady, huh?"
"Considering she just walked out of a painting, I doubt that story is real." Cynical, she thought. Yet, in a way, he was easing her silly worry.
"Zuko?" Both of them turned to see a pale-skinned girl with luxurious, inky black hair that was pulled into twin buns. Her eyes were slant as her gold eyes looked at the two with what Ruyi couldn't exactly read.
"Mai." He said her name, which didn't bring Ruyi up to speed. "What are you doing here? Did you come early for the festival?"
Her head lowered as her cheeks were inflamed with a pink hue. The Waterbender remained confused by her actions, deeming her as a demure and shy girl. She also felt intruding being around the two despite Zuko seemed more normal than she had within another's presence.
Her answer wasn't vocal but just a simple nod. It seemed as if Zuko was use to this type of behavior since he didn't seem puzzled by it like Ruyi was. "I can go if I'm…" She then offered but Zuko shook his head.
"She's probably here with my sister. Let's go." Unfazed by the events, Zuko then made his way towards the pond in a short distance and Ruyi followed after seeing the saddening expression upon the girl named Mai's face.
Maybe the girl wanted to spend time with Zuko, and she didn't want to make it seem as if he had to accompany her. Ruyi could handle herself. "Zuko, I think she really wants to hangout with you, aren't you two friends?"
"Not really," he replied, "she's my sister's friend. Not mine." Seeing as how he seemed to want to avoid his sister, she couldn't help but wonder if there was some bad blood between them. Since she didn't want to pry, she said nothing and followed him.
When they reached the small pond, her eyes weren't alight as they had been when she had seen the wisteria trees, he noticed. Her eyes then widened upon the sight of small birds swimming across the water's surface. "What are they?" She immediately asked.
"Turtle-ducks." He answered before taking a seat. She continued to stand with her hands pressed to her knees as she watched them quack and swim along merrily.
"Turtle-ducks." She repeated, making sure she had said the name right. "They are... cute." Ruyi hoped that was an adequate word to describe them.
Zuko hadn't said anything in reply and so she took that as him agreeing with her. "My mom and I feed them bread crumbs whenever they're around."
"I wish we had some now." The girl sighed, somewhat disappointed. It had to be quite an experience to feed them, right? The only animals she had seen were the animal natives the South Pole, which weren't many but her favorites being Penguins.
Slowly, Ruyi fell on her backside to sit next to him after her legs felt sore. The fact that you had to take a boat and carriage to the capital was tiring, but she had spent the entire time during her trip sleeping. She wasn't sure how the prince could do it and still be able to spar with those heavy looking swords.
"Can you bend?" His question somewhat startled her but she had given him a nod. "Have you mastered it?"
She shook her head in reply, "No. Piandao has given me some scrolls to learn from, and I only know just a little bit."
Piandao? She didn't call her parent father? Zuko's brow raised in curiosity as his eyes were glued to her face. He wanted to ask but he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. "So, what can you do?"
Because water was the opposite of fire, and could douse flames and even turn it into steam, he was always curious to see it in action. Nobody bothered to teach about other bending arts in the Fire Nation since they thought there was no need. Fire was their element, their power and so that should be their main focus. Everything else was inferior to the great flames that they could create from nothing.
Zuko always wondered what other things water could do that fire could not. The possibility of seeing it in action made some of the hairs on his arms stand up, with goosebumps there as well. He remained glued to her, watching her with every bit of concentration.
Looking intensely at the water, she moved her hands in a pulling motion to create a stream of water. With precision and sharp movements, she created a sphere of water and presented it to him. "Ta-da!"
He snorted at her enthusiasm but he was amazed by the opposite bending art. This was his first time ever meeting a waterbender let alone seeing waterbending. The ball of water was amazing and because of his overwhelming curiosity, he poked the spear with the tip of his finger. She concentrated enough so it didn't destruct by his actions, and she couldn't help but laugh at his kiddish actions.
Flustered by her laugh, he watched as she then nodded towards him. "Make a flame." She insisted, and turned his hand so that his palm was upward, a small and simple flame was created within the palm of his hand. Carefully, she manipulated the ball of water above the flame just to see the water eventually began to boil from the heat.
Both of them marveled at the bubbling water but due to lack of concentration, she was unable to keep it and quickly flicked it away before she burned Zuko's hand. "We should spar." Ruyi suggested, "I think there's a lot to learn from seeing what we could learn from other bending arts and because it seems like it would be fun."
Astonished but amused, he nodded. "We should."
Ruyi's face lit up at his acceptance and she could help but give a toothy grin. "That'll give me an excuse to come to the capital."
"You like it here?" The Firebender asked and received a rather questionable shrug.
"I mean, I haven't seen much of it but I do like this garden. I'd like to come back here." Ruyi nodded after finishing her sentence before gazing over towards the flowers. "My mom probably would've loved this place too."
"Is she in the South Pole?" The expression on her face completely changed. The comfortable atmosphere had slowly took a downward turn and Zuko realized that her mother was a sensitive subject.
"No." Her voice was low, "She's been gone for a while now." She could tell that he regretted asking her that and before he could apologize, she spoke up once again. "Anyway, what happens in this festival? We don't usually celebrate our lost ones with a festival. We just mourn and pray, really."
As she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arm around her legs, she rested her chin in-between her knees as she looked at him. "We eat their favorite foods, perform their favorites dances, and celebrate the end of it with fireworks. Its not a sad thing, but a happy one."
"I heard that she was a great Fire Lady to be written in history... Fire Lady Ilah." The boy nodded in response, "Have you met her?"
"Of course." He said, with a smidgen of confidence. "She passed away when I was only six. I still remember her very clearly."
"What was she like? If you don't mind me asking." Unable to help her curiosity and seeing how Zuko liked the attention, she wonder if she could use this information to impress her father. It would show that she did put some thought into becoming a more "good-mannered" child.
The memories that Zuko revisited were pleasant, not in the slightest bit of daunting. "She kind, and very, uh, witty as my mom would say. She loved tea, a lot, and brewed many of her own. Everyone says she was humble, virtuous, pretty, and intelligent. Since she was old when I've known her, I don't know much else about her personally.."
It seemed as if those were the main ingredients to be a good Fire Lady. From what she read, all the famous ones seemed to be all those things. "I see." He didn't speak of the rumors of her strained relationship with the Fire Lord. Maybe Zuko had never seen it for himself, that's why he didn't bother to mention it.
"Zuko!" A woman's voice cried out in the distance. Ruyi swiveled her head in the direction from which it came while Zuko stood, smiling as he knew who was calling him. "Zuko, where are you? It's almost time for the festivities to start."
"I'll be right there, mom!" He yelled back before looking towards the Waterbender. "You should go too, I'm sure Master Piandao is looking for you."
With a tired sigh, she stood and dusted off her clothes. "Yeah, I'll see you later then."
With a wave, she watched the royal run off. "I guess he isn't so bad after all."
A/N:
I feel like I was mixing older Zuko in young Zuko's pov but then again, I can chalk it up that his level of education and maturity was a bit higher than most children.
I based the Fire Ladies on some real Empresses/the Four Great beauties of China. I was always sad that there isn't much information on Sozin's wife ( not even a name ) or Ilah, and so I made up some things on my own.
Examples of Women is a real book by Empress Zhangsun ( Empress Wende ) and I am so upset I cannot find the actual book translations. = u =
And the dance, Prince of Shu Jing, is based on Prince of Lan Ling because I loved seeing that dance in dramas as well as the actual drama based on him. I also find it ironic that the Prince of Lan Ling story is in old Chinese documents that is called "Shujing".
Since the Fire Nation is a mixture of Asian cultures, I love to explore and give it more depth. So, if there's anything familiar that's because I had added that in there.
Not just that, I was also hesitant on giving Yuhuan a Chinese name because she's from the Water Tribe, but then I remembered Yue. Her name is Chinese and based on the moon, so I guess its a rarity that they have those kind of names.