Hey all. I couldnt resist posting the next chapter so, I did. Anyways bear with me as I build up the story, I want to get to the meat just as much as you do. ;)
Note that if you read the first chapter the night I posted it I have updated it slightly to include a few lines that were left out, and as they were important and foreshadow future events i was sure to add them. I posted the location in an AN at the bottom of Chapter 1.
Chapter 2: The Ball
Aang walked into the room quietly closing the door behind him. He crashed on the bed with a groan and slowly tried to drift off to sleep. A guard knocked on the door only a minute later. He took a step in and bowed, "Avatar, the Earth King asked me to remind you of the ball in one hour. It will be held at the Jasmine Dragon."
"I will be there." Aang replied putting on a cheerful face.
The guard bowed again and quietly slipped out. Aang roughly threw himself up out of bed and walked over to the large mirror against the wall. His robes still looked decent but they could use a quick cleansing. He turned to a decently sized bowl that was filled with water and gently bended the water out of the bowl.
He held the water in a loop around himself when there was a rasp at the door. He turned to face the guest as he bended the water back into the bowl. Zuko walked in and bowed, "Hello Avatar."
Aang raised his hand, "Enough with the formalities, I'm sick of them already…" he sighed.
Zuko grinned, "So I heard that the king wanted a demonstration of all the elements."
Aang looked at him, "Oh… Well I suppose I should think of an air bending move than shouldn't I?" he scratched the back of his head.
Zuko looked at him with a grin again, "And a fire bending move."
Aang looked at him puzzled, "Can't you do it?"
"Well of course I could. But I haven't a clue what to do or anything like that!" Zuko's typical frustration showed its face a bit.
"Well we should do something that shows the true meaning of fire…" Aang trailed off thinking.
"The Dancing Dragon." Zuko said with a snap.
Aang smiled, "My thoughts exactly." He turned around and walked to the small outside patio, "Only issue is how we make the spiral and colors?"
Zuko walked up beside him and leaned against the railing, "Well fire is life, so I figure you should create the colors and I will control the spiral and the size of the flame." Aang nodded in agreement as Zuko gave him a short pat on the back and walked out.
He stood on the patio looking over the massive city trying to figure out how to create a different color of fire and what to do for an air bending move. He picked up to stones laying in the corner and slowly spun them around in the air with a little movement from his finger as he thought aloud, "Fire is life… So maybe I should think about my life instead of just life in general."
He took a deep breath and stepped back. He punched straight out in front of him but the familiar red and orange flame erupted from his fist. Aang walked up to the railing again, "Well that didn't work." He stood thinking again for a minute, "Wait! Fire is life, what if I were to think about someone else?"
He took a step back again and took a deep breath. He filled his mind with visions of Katara then punched out again. A massive blue flame erupted from his fist up into the sky, he stepped back in amazement. "Woah! That was amazing! Now how do I get other colors…"
He punched out again in a series of punches and ended with a kick. The remnants of the blue flame floated upward as he thought about simply wanting another color while thinking about Katara. Aang spun around and kicked out towards the vast open expanse above the city, again a massive blue flame exploded from his foot. But it changed to green, then red and orange, and purple as he thought about each color. He broke the kick and stood again against the railing pleased with the results, "That was amazing! I can't wait to show it off tonight!" he exclaimed proudly.
"Show what off?" Katara appeared behind Aang.
Aang lost his balance at the surprise of her voice, "Oh nothing." He grinned.
She rubbed her hands on his shoulders, "I've known you long enough to know that nothing is something." She said slyly.
"Nope, you have to wait to see it." He refused teasingly.
She looked at him, "Come on, please?" she teased back.
"Nope." He shook his head.
She looked into his eyes, "For me?"
His face wrinkled, "Oh why do you have to do that!" she sighed, "Fine I'll show you. Take a step back." She smiled cheerfully knowing she won again as she took a few steps back and waited.
Aang took a breath again, pulling the images he used to fuel the life of his fire bending. Then he quickly punched outward and yet again a large flame erupted from his fist, burning primarily red but with many streaks of blues, yellows, green, red, and purple. Katara watched in amazement, the only other color of fire she had seen was the blue fire Azula bended, "How did you do that?"
Aang retracted and walked over and sat on the bed with Katara, "I learned that fire is fueled by life, not hatred and rage, when Zuko and I traveled to see the Fire Bending Masters; The Dragons."
She looked at him, "So you used your own life to create the color?" she asked still astounded.
He grinned, "No, I used you."
She looked at him slightly confused, "What do you mean you used me?"
"I thought about you, Katara. All the times we've had together, all the difficulties, all the happiness, everything." He smiled at her, admiring her beauty. She smiled at him, "I love you Katara." He pulled her in wrapping his arms around her as he stole her lips from her.
Images of her spun in his head as he remembered the past months of turmoil and happiness; however one burned much brighter than all the others. Her face when she awoke him from the iceberg that he had been imprisoned in for 100 years was engraved into his mind. She broke from him, "I love you too Aang."
He smiled, "Come, let's get ready for the ball." He said reluctantly.
Katara walked back to her room as Aang used the water in the bowl to wash his robes then dry them out. He thought about what to show for an air bending move, it had to be something that showed all the qualities of his people and the elegance of air power. He looked in the mirror with images of Katara still flashing in his head. He knew what he wanted to do.
Much of the crowed had already arrived at the Jasmine Dragon, including the Earth King and Firelord Zuko. Aang met Katara and the rest of the Gaang outside of the gates to the Jasmine Dragon and walked up in their respective couples.
Sokka who held Suki's arm walked up the fleeting steps first followed by Aang and Katara, Toph and a few other friends they had met through their travels. Silence fell over the crowd as the group first appeared over the steps, King Kuei took advantage of the silence and introduced them as they arrived.
"Ladies and gentlemen I present to you Master Sokka and Kyoshi Warrior Suki!" a short applause arose from the crowd as the couple made their way into the party. Sokka was particularly happy that he was introduced as a sword master and was quite flamboyant with his latest round of showing off. Aang and Katara stepped off the stairs and were greeted as well, "It is my honor to present to you Avatar Aang, accompanied by Master Katara." King Kuei continued with a smile. Aang bowed lightly as they followed behind Sokka and Suki, though he wasn't particularly please with Katara's introduction. Toph was also introduced as a master which brought about a large grin on her face as well.
The Gaang sat at the long table situated in the center of the room along with the rest of the major figure heads. Aang sat next to Zuko, each flanked by Katara and Mai. King Kuei started the ball off quickly, "Now without further delay, I find it fitting for a demonstration of all the bending techniques. We are no longer at war and we should instead focus on the beauty of the elements!" He motioned to Aang, "If you could all move outside, Firelord Zuko could start us off with a demonstration of fire."
"Of course King Kuei." He rose and walked outside just in front of the rest of the crowd. He stood just outside the doorway into the Jasmine Dragon.
"When you are ready, please." King Kuei said.
Zuko motioned for Aang to join him. Aang walked up and joined him just outside the doors. Zuko nodded and they started their dance. The two flowed around the circle in perfect harmony as they did when they were judged by The Masters. The last few movements they sped up and ended in the arch together. The crowd clapped unsure if that was the demonstration, but stopped when Aang and Zuko continued.
The two flipped into the center and took a deep breath preparing to make the spiral. Zuko nodded again and Aang kicked up into the air. A large fireball erupted from his foot; the practiced colors appeared once again. Stripes of blue, purple, and yellow were seen spiraling upwards. Zuko was spinning his hands to spiral the flame around them. Aang brought his leg down and helped Zuko keep the spiral but keeping up the flame.
Aang let go of the flame and the towering inferno quickly dissipated. The two of them circled their hands and bowed in the traditional Fire Nation salute. The crowd cheered loudly as the magnificent display ended.
Aang and Zuko grinned as the two walked back to the edge of the crowd. "And if we may display the rocking display from the Earth Benders." He cheered, calling out Toph and King Bumi.
Several guards pulled out a block of metal for Toph to bend and a large boulder for Bumi to manipulate. The two took their stances as the materials were moved into place. Toph thrust into the metal and bent it this way and that. Bumi at the same time muscled the boulder into the air a little ways and broke it into several smaller pieces. As Toph continued to bend the metal, Bumi broke apart the boulder and shot it into the air.
He ripped apart the boulders when they were a ways up so as to emulate fireworks. A fine dust floated down over the city after he finished and bowed. Toph finished her metal bending into a large statue of Bosco. "Oh my! I love it!" King Kuei cheered.
After a few minutes of King Kuei marveling and babbling about his newest sculpture, he called upon the water benders to show their element. Katara and Master Pakku stepped out from the edge of the crowd and centered themselves in the middle of the opening. Several guards heaved two large barrels of water into the opening for their use.
The pair of water benders took their stances and pulled the water out from the barrels, surrounding themselves in a bubble of water. They froze it into ice and melted it again as they whipped the water into a circle around themselves again. The two benders split the water in half, each performing their own tricks and each ending with their own sculpture of ice and water. Pakku's looked similar to the moon and ocean spirits swimming around one another with each white and black spot filled with water while Katara's was a large copy of her mother's Bethoral Necklace stone.
Katara and Pakku melted their sculptures after the crowd got a chance to look at them and bended the water back into the awaiting barrels. As the guards hauled the barrels away Katara joined Aang for the moment before he performed his airbending.
King Kuei spoke again, "What an amazing display of water bending! Now for the final demonstration of air bending and we will continue to the dancing! Avatar Aang, if you would be so kind…" he motioned for Aang to move into the opening once again and perform.
He stood in the center of the Jasmine Dragons two green dragons painted into the stone on the outside patio as the crowd filled in a circle around him.
Aang nodded and walked into the center of the Jasmine Dragons two green dragons painted into the stone on the outside patio as the crowd filled in a circle around him. He took a moment to consolidate himself then jumped up in the air with vigor and spun a ball of air and pushed it to the ground. He fell down landing gently on the top in his own Air Scooter creation. After he let the small ball of air subside he gently flipped off into the air again and twisted his staff in the air creating a small whirlwind.
He landed gently again and pulled the small whirlwind into his hands, shrinking it as he pulled it in, he broke it apart and gently let it wrap around the crowd. The gentle breeze rustled many of the women's dresses as Aang reached his arm out to Katara and pulled her in with a firm pull of air from himself.
She flowed with Aangs push and spun over to him. He caught her hand and her thigh gently as she met him in the center of the crowd. He held her quietly looking into her eyes as he waited for King Kuei to wave to the band to start playing. She blushed heavily, "You know I can't dance very well." looking away from him slightly.
He smiled gently grabbing her chin, "You're an amazing dancer, just a little afraid of crowds." he teased. She smiled as the music started playing and Aang led them into a dance. The first few songs started off slow as warm ups for the dances later in the evening.
A beat similar to the one played by the Flameo's while the group visited the small fire nation town after Aang was nearly killed by Azula. But this time they weren't dressed as fire nation kids. Aang glanced over at Sokka and Suki who were taking the dance way to slow for its beat. Aang grinned, "You want to show up Sokka?" he asked offering her a challenge.
Again, if you like it please favorite and follow. If you have anything to say all constructive criticism and of course any praise as well. I will try to post one new chapter a week unless I get more people demanding more of the story :P