AN: Excerpt from Manimekhalai: The Dancer with the Magic Bowl by Seethalai Saathanar, translated by Alain Danielou.

Chapter20: Aang's field Trip

Jin and Zuko faced each other. Both were in tense, wide stances. Their swords gleamed in the evening light. Both were smirking.

At the first sign of movement, they flew at one another. They slashed in precise figure eights, dodging the other's weapons perfectly. They forced one another back and forth in a battle for dominance that was played out without their weapons even touching, just a swishing sound and a step backward here and there. She finally broke the pattern by blocking him as he sliced downward with both swords sounding a ringing CLANG.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, his face mere inches from her own, but separated by a tense mass of blades.

"Really?" he asked between clenched teeth. There was no way she could win in a battle of strength. The blades lowed another inch towards her and she readjusted her feet for better leverage.

With a twist and a pull, she caught both his blades in her hooks, locking them together. She grinned at him as he swore under his breath, then had to release him to avoid the kick he aimed at her chest.

They fell apart and dropped back into their low starting stances.

They came together, clashed, spun around, and parted again and again. They met each other stroke for stroke. He would swing and she would block and she would swing and he would block. Every step of ground one lost was reclaimed within moments. Their moves were so synchronized they may have been choreographed. Their feet moved perfectly together in a rhythm that only they knew. Step step step pause. Step pause. Step pause. Step step step pause. Together and apart, together and apart.

She hooked both his blades and spun in an attempt to break his hold, but instead he was spun around as well. They twirled together a few times, her dress flaring out to a scandalous height. Then he managed to slip free and come at her again. He was so close that she blocked him with the blades on her sword hilts. She aimed a kick at his knee, which he jumped over and they separated yet again.

She ran towards him, jumping into the air and kicking him twice. He blocked both kicks with his forearms, but was still pushed back. As she continued towards him, he threw his swords out to either side and spit a stream of fire at her. She spun her tiger hooks so quickly that they were no longer visible and dispersed the flames. When he stopped his onslaught, she appeared in front of him, one hook an inch from his chest, the other thrown out behind her.

She grinned at him. "Resorting to fire bending means I win."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm."

He was stopped from doing anything overly affectionate by the applause that broke out behind him. Katara, Sokka, and Aang all looked thoroughly impressed and had all taken seats on a rock outcropping. They all looked fairly comfortable so there was no telling how long they'd been there.

Not that he'd admit that he didn't know. He was supposed to be teaching Jin about being mindful of your surroundings and things like that.

"It's like you're fire bending" Aang said.

"He did fire bend. That's why he lost."

"No, no. You're fire bending. Your stance and moves and breath control, they're all from the fundamentals of fire bending." Aang looked thoroughly impressed.

Jin blinked at him, then turned to Zuko. "Seriously?"

"What else was I supposed to teach you?"

"You didn't think it'd be suspicious to have such a distinctive style while fighting the Fire Nation in Ba Sing Se?"

He rubbed the back of his head and avoided her eyes by looking out at the vista. "I didn't think anyone would notice."

Jin rolled her eyes. Sokka grabbed up his sword and yelled that he was playing winner. They didn't get very far in their mock battle as Toph burst in with an explosion of flying limestone and a shout of "Rock like!"

She didn't know how the topic came up. When she sat down for dinner they were already in the middle of the discussion.

It boiled down to this: wouldn't it be great fun to learn fire bending from the original source? Of course this was impossible, but everyone seemed enthusiastic anyway. Toph told whimsical stories about learning earth bending and other life lessons from a family of badger-moles. Zuko talked about the Sun Warrior civilization that wasn't very far away. Aang became more and more excited as the evening progressed and began prodding Aapa, asking for a lesson.

That's how Zuko and Aang went on a field trip to find dragons.

They had a crazy idea and they left. He kissed her goodbye the next morning, his smile shining like the sun, and then they were gone.

It was very strange to be without him. She was irritated that he had left without her and that he hadn't really asked her about it. But this irritation was ridiculous. He didn't need her permission to do anything. She had Sokka and the others, but they seemed unsure of how to spend their free time as well. What did you do when your job was to train the Avatar and he wasn't around?

Apparently, you wonder the Air Temple looking for ancient secrets. If Zuko could go explore a lost civilization, then she could too.

Sokka grabbed some chalk and parchment and Jin made a torch and they set out to map the far reaches of the air temple.

"What do you think we'll find?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Some murals. Maybe some statues. Some fire bender skeletons."

"Don't be gross."

"I'm not. They're probably around here somewhere."

"What should we do if we find them?"

"Get rid of them before Aang sees."

"Get rid of them?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't like where this was headed.

"Yeah. We can just push them off the mountain." He gave a demonstrative hand gesture.

"You can't just throw them off a cliff. They're people. Their remands should be treated with respect."

"Are you serious? They killed everyone here!"

"They're still people."

He sighed and shook his head.

She considered what to do in the terrible situation where they found a pile of corpses. "We could still lay them to rest before Aang gets back. The Fire Nation cremates their dead."

"Eww."

"What does the Water tribe do?"

"Put them in a boat and push them out to sea."

"We burry them in the Earth Kingdom."

"Fascinating." He said sarcastically. "And why is it so dark in here? How were the Air Nomads supposed to see in this hallway? Are there holders for torches or something?"

Air Nomad illumination remained a mystery as they continued down the dark corridor. There weren't any branches or turns that they could see. It was just a straight shot leading into the heart of the cliff. Eventually the tunnel ended in an ornately carved door that opened easily.

"Woah" Sokka murmured, "This must be that echo place that Aang was talking about."

They peered into a round room with a high domed ceiling. A large hole in the wall near the top allowed a ray of light to be thrown onto a patch of floor that was littered with fallen rock and debris. Vine like plants were creeping in and they could hear the sound of bird song.

"Do you think it still works with that hole?" she whispered.

"Only one way to find out." Sokka took a step inside but Jin grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Wait. If it echoes all day then we need to make sure we say the right thing."

"Why?"

"What if Haru finds it and it's echoing something embarrassing."

"I wouldn't say something embarrassing."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Hey!" He slapped a hand over his mouth to stop his own shout, then glanced into the echo chamber to ensure that it remained silent.

"Just think before you speak."

"Don't worry. I've got just the thing." He grinned and pulled away from her, taking up a position in the middle of the room and looking very pleased with himself.

"SOKKA IS THE GREATEST."

They waited.

There was no echo. The smile slipped from Sokka's face.

"I guess it doesn't really work anymore" he said, scratching his head in a disappointed sort of way.

"Hmmm."

Sokka drew the room on his map and they continued to the next pagoda. The main feature of the tower was a twenty foot high door that Sokka said would lead to the Air Temple Sanctuary.

"How do we open it?"

"Aang used air bending."

"So we'll have to wait for him to come back."

Sokka's eyes lit up. "Maybe not!" He ran up to the door and buried his face in one of the horns that was designed to catch a stream of air. He began blowing and huffing into the apparatus, making wet raspberry noises.

"I don't think that's going to work."

He pulled his face back enough to address her. "You get the other one."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Come on." He resumed his huffing.

She approached slowly and pressed her face into the horn. The stone was cold and slightly damp, as if covered in dew. It smelled like a newly opened cave or an attic that hadn't been visited in a year. It reminded her of a story that her mother had once told her of a man climbing a mountain to whisper a secret into a crevice.

Their endeavor to open the door was fruitless. The temple felt more lifeless and abandoned with every unsolvable puzzle, every collapsed wall, and every headless statue.

She made Sokka make notes of the locations of the expansive murals. He grumbled about useless information ruining his map as he scribbled a small note. "Picture of some sky bison." "Picture of a tree." "Picture of ugly woman." Jin rolled her eyes.

Two pagodas later, they found the library. After shoving the large door open, they both stood in awe, gaping at the huge room. It had three tiers connected by stone stair cases that had at one time been grand. The roof was open to allow in light and they could easily see the underside of the cliff face over their heads. Nature had encroached on this area too, but it wasn't clear as to how much of the overgrowth was unintentional. A tree grew out of one of the bookshelves, its roots entrapping an overturned pile of scrolls. Some of the shelves had collapsed from decay, freeing several volumes that had also deteriorated.

They stayed there until well after dark, finding undamaged volumes and reading. They were silent except for the occasional soft call to draw attention to something in a book or some new area of the library. It was the first place that felt useable, that didn't feel completely depressing. Something had been preserved here.

They were there again the next morning. They sat back to back, Sokka reading an Air Nomad history, Jin engrossed in an epic poem. It was the story of a young woman who had to choose between the love of the determined prince or a life of piety and social service. "Friend, equal to the goddess of fortune, whence this grief? Have you no longer any consideration for the city's inhabitants, both wise and mad? For girls like us, the life you wish to lead is a culpable breaking of custom." As it was an Air Nomad scroll, she of course chose the life of asceticism. Jin couldn't help but question the girl's choice.

She caught herself entertaining such thoughts and immediately pushed them away. It was just the romantic in her looking for a happy fairy-tale ending in an entertaining fiction. Instead this story was a cautionary tale against indulgence. She found that she wasn't in the mood for a lecture and set the scroll aside before reaching for something different.

"It's nice to get away from everyone" Sokka announced suddenly.

"You want me to leave?"

"Nah."

He took a breath as if he was going to speak again, but he stopped himself.

Jin waited for him to continue for a moment then asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah" he sighed.

"Really?"

"No."

They fell quiet again. Jin waited for him to say more, but after a minute he turned a page in his book and Jin settled into her reading, leaning against his back a bit more in a way that she hoped was comforting without being overbearing.

They didn't speak again until mid afternoon, when she felt him sit up straighter and ask, "Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"Sounded like Aapa."

She turned to face him and they locked eyes for a moment before they jumped up and ran back to camp. They reached the fountain just as the two boys slipped off the bison.

"Jin!" Lee wore the most ridiculous grin she had ever seen. He pushed past the crowd that had formed around them and snatched her up into a hug, lifting her clear off the ground. As soon as her feet hit the ground he was kissing her fiercely. It was startling. He very rarely showed affection in public. It only happened when he was really distracted.

He had missed her. That was awesome. It made her heart beat slightly faster and made her wish that they were somewhere a little more private.

He pulled back and grinned at her. "It was amazing! We saw dragons. Dragons, Jin! They're not all dead, they're just in hiding, and my uncle knows about them. We learned this ancient fire bending form and I held the first fire in my hand and the masters judged us and it was so great."

They grinned stupidly at each other. She was glad he was back with her (Maybe she had been a little lonely without him), and he was safe (maybe she had been a little worried after all), and he had a good trip (that had him sporting that rare smile that made him look oh so handsome) and was happy to see her (which was always flattering). His mood was contagious. He pulled her into another hug.

"Come on. I need to tell you everything." He swept her back to his room to talk enthusiastically about the dragons and greet her again out of the sight of prying eyes. It was wonderful.

Jin sighed contentedly and trembled through her blissful aftershocks, as Lee ran a hand along her side and kissed her shoulder.

"You're beautiful."

"Hmmm."

She was so very happy.

"I love you."

"Mmm."

Spirits, she loved him so much.

"Marry me."

Her eyes snapped open.

"What?"

He propped himself up so he could look in her eyes. "Marry me?"

"You can't ask me like this."

"Like what?"

"While we're having sex."

"Sorry. I thought we were done" he purred and nipped at her earlobe.

She shoved him off. "You can't ask me now. You're not thinking straight. This isn't how it's done."

"I didn't think you'd care about a romantic proposal."

She closed her eyes and ran her hands through her hair. "I don't care. Just … don't ask me right now."

"Alright." He reached for his shirt. "We can go find some dinner and then I'll ask again."

"No."

"Tomorrow?"

"No!"

He paused and looked down at her, confused. She threw her forearm over her eyes so that she wouldn't have to look at him. "I can't marry you, Zuko."

He tried not to act as though he'd been punched. He tried to contain the sudden anger and humiliation he felt. Not only was she rejecting him, but she called him 'Zuko'. He took several calming breaths before speaking, but the words still came out with a harsh edge. "Why is that?"

She suddenly felt very vulnerable. He was on top of her, and she was naked, and he was angry. She slowly looked up to meet his eyes. They were full of way too much emotion, but she met them anyway. She owed him that.

"I can't be Fire Lady."