Disclaimer: I am so not doing this for every single chapter.
Hot Knife | Chapter I
"Chai!"
"I don't want to!"
The ten-year-old ducked her head away from the relentless onslaught of her mother's hairbrush. Her unkempt hair swept across her face like a coppery broom as she attempted to resist grooming, while finishing her breakfast.
Fai huffed in exasperation and gave up, lightly smacking her daughter on the back of the head, with the brush, instead. "Must you be so impossible, Chai?" she sighed. "You need to look your best on the first day of instruction at the Academy. First impressions are more important than you might think."
Chai drained her bowl of soup and belched, earning another smack on the head. "I don't care about first impressions or the stupid Academy," she groused, as she rubbed at the bump rising on her scalp. "I'm not wearing my hair up and that's final."
Her mother treated her to a stern glare. "Who made you the parent in this family?" But it was clear that the girl would not submit to having her hair styled in time for school. "At least let me brush the knots out."
Chai set her bowl down and leaned back in the chair. "Fine. Do I really have to go to that stupid girls' school?"
"You should feel lucky that you qualify for enrollment at the Royal Fire Academy," her mother chided. "Not many girls in the nation have this opportunity, you know."
She rolled her eyes and swung her legs over the edge of her seat. "They can have my spot, then. School is boring."
"You'll never know unless you try," Fai said, as she dragged the brush through her daughter's long, tangled locks. "And you will try."
"And if I don't like it?" Chai asked hopefully.
"Then we'll have no choice but to sell you to a traveling circus," Fai said lightly. "Ladies and gentlemen, behold the amazing lazy-boned girl! Her unparalleled slothfulness will astound you!"
"Mom," the amazing lazy-boned girl complained.
Her mother chuckled.
Chai turned her head to gaze out the window. "When is Dad coming home anyway?"
"You know he takes a leave of absence at the end of every month, Chai. That's a fortnight away."
"I know," she muttered. "Dad wouldn't make me go to school."
Fai clucked her tongue in disapproval. "That man spoils you far too much."
Chai shrugged. "I'm okay with that." She then felt her scalp tighten and heard the sound of a ribbon being pulled into a knot. "Mom!"
The older woman stood back to admire her handiwork. "There," she said smugly. "All ready for your educational debut."
The girl scowled and folded her arms to her chest in discontentment. "This is not okay," she muttered.
/
The new clothes her mother had commissioned from the tailor made her back itch unbearably. The tunic pinched uncomfortably at her waist and upper arms, but her complaints had been dismissed with the reassurance that the ill fit was attributed to her baby fat, which—the way she made it sound—would magically melt away before Chai knew it. She honestly didn't care about that part, but the prickly fabric made her the most miserable girl at the academy on that first day of class.
She mumbled her way through the pledge of allegiance to the Fire Lord, and shifted restlessly in her seat for the duration of the day's lessons. The majority of the first day's instruction involved lectures on the history of the great Fire Nation and the Fire Lord's glorious campaign against the other nations. It bored her half to death.
They were granted a half hour break, during which they roamed the school grounds freely. Many of the girls had grown up alongside at least a couple of their peers, and the already small student population quickly divided into even smaller cliques. Chai had grown up closer to her parents than any of the nearby children in the Capital; it was only now at the Academy that she realized how isolated she was. She fidgeted in her scratchy, ill-fitting outfit, surveying the herds of girls, and decided to go off in search for a quiet corridor.
Only ten minutes of break remained by the time she unearthed the old garden behind the library. It was clear the closed off plot of land had been untended for years; weeds and flowers contended for space, and trees bent over the ground, their roots sprawled across the verdure. Through the iron fence, Chai's eyes lighted upon the rough bark that covered the tree trunks. Now that would make an excellent backscratcher, she thought fervently.
She discovered that someone had already come along and picked the lock on the entrance; the thick chain dangled loosely from the latch. The hinges groaned as she entered the garden, and she carefully made her way over the gnarled roots. A flash of red caught her eye; there was something or someone crouched behind one of the trees.
Common sense told her that anything hiding out in an abandoned garden was probably not good news. She should backtrack now and exit the garden, close the gate behind her, and get back to her classroom before her stern-faced teachers could think up some undoubtedly unpleasant punishment for tardiness.
"Hello," she called out.
Silence.
She stepped closer to the tree that hid the red flash. "Are you a student? We're going to be late for class."
No response. She decided to go for a different tactic.
"RAAAUGH!"
"Ahhh!"
Chai had charged around the tree trunk, roaring at the top of her lungs. Her direct approach was met with a shout of alarm, which in turn startled her. An abrupt stillness commenced.
She stared.
The shouter stared back.
"You're not a girl!" she proclaimed, pointing an accusing finger.
The shouter was decidedly not a girl. It was a boy, and he wore a belted, black tunic vest over a high-collared crimson shirt that was trimmed in gold. He also looked angry.
"Of course I'm not a girl," he barked, face flushed. "I am the son of Fire Lord Ozai, heir to the throne, and your prince."
Chai scrutinized the boy, unimpressed by his outburst. "You're a trespasser," she corrected, "and you're not supposed to be here."
"Didn't I say I was the prince?" he snapped. "I can be anywhere I please, whenever I please. You should be showing some respect."
"Hey, I'm the poster girl for respect." She put her hands on her hips and glowered at him. "Maybe I should respectfully inform the teachers that there's a boy wandering around in an all girls' school."
The boy blanched momentarily. Then he shook his head furiously, as if to scatter his apprehensions, and drew himself up to his full height—which wasn't much taller than hers—in an obvious effort to look imposing. "As your prince, I command you to not be stupid little tattletale!"
Chai hopped up onto a protuberant root and waggled her tongue at the mighty prince. "I'm stupid or little, stupid," she said.
"On second thought, you're not little at all. You're just a stupid, tubby tattletale," he sneered. "Except I just commanded you not to be a tattletale, so that just makes you stupid and tubby."
"It's baby fat!" she protested, unconsciously tugging at her sleeves.
He scoffed. "Right."
She felt her cheeks heat up; she wrapped her arms around her midsection self-consciously. "Whatever! What are you doing at the Academy anyway, weirdo?"
"That is none of your business," the boy said, waving a hand dismissively. "Go away already."
Chai thought hard, hoping for a witty retort or scathing insult to put the rude boy in his place. If he was a prince, she could already be in some kind of trouble, but since he was sneaking around the Academy it was unlikely he could make an accusation that would stick without bringing his suspicious activities to light. She heard the faint sound of a gong in the distance; classes were about to begin and she was going to be late. But she couldn't just leave without getting a final word in.
The gong boomed a second time.
"Ugh." With that eloquent utterance, she darted forward and delivered a hard shove to the boy's chest. He landed on his bottom with an undignified oof.
Chai fled the garden. No sooner was she on the other side of the iron fence than she drew up short, narrowly avoiding a collision with a fellow classmate. The other girl was slender, with her jet black hair pinned up in buns on either side of her head; each bun was wrapped in red silk. Her youthful features were sharp, like a fox.
The girl looked at her and then at the gate behind her; when her gaze shifted back to Chai, it had hardened into an unfriendly frown. She looked as though she was about to say something—nothing nice if her unmasked hostility was any indication—but at that moment the gong sounded a third time.
Chai set off for her classroom at a record pace, pausing only once, to glance over her shoulder when she was yards away from the library. She saw the other girl enter the garden. Don't tell me Prince Slug-face has a girlfriend. The notion that the unpleasant boy could manage to get a girl to look at him twice, let alone woo one, baffled her.
"You, there, what are you doing outside of class!" someone shouted from her left; their tone promised harsh penalty if she was caught.
She shrugged off all thoughts revolving around the events that took place in the old garden, and sprinted off in the direction of her dreary classroom.
/
"How was your first day at the Academy?" Fai asked at dinner.
"I tried it," Chai answered, attacking her meal with enthusiasm, "and I didn't like it. Can I stay at home from now on?"
"Not a chance."
She made a face at her mother, who only smiled.
"We're still going to visit your aunt's home at the end of the school week," Fai reminded her. "So pack enough clothes for two nights. Don't forget the tunics and vest I bought you earlier this month."
As soon as Chai had arrived home, she'd torn the itchy new clothes from her body in favor of loose slacks and a light tunic. She had kicked at the discarded clothing in disgust; the ensemble trapped heat like a puma goat's fur. "There is no way I'm wearing those clothes ever again," she said, jabbing her chopsticks in the air for emphasis.
"Nonsense," her mother snorted. "They won't itch anymore once I've washed them."
Chai was unconvinced. "They make me look fat," she added.
Fai was unperturbed by this announcement. "Oh sweetie, that's just—"
"Baby fat," she finished. "Right. Sure."
Finally taking notice of her daughter's surly demeanor, Fai set her chopsticks down and leaned forward. "Did anything happen at the Academy, today?"
"No," Chai said flatly.
Her mother looked upon her with some concern. "I see."
After several minutes had passed in quiet dining, Chai spoke up. "Mom, who's the prince of the Fire Nation?"
She arched a brow at the girl. "Shouldn't you have learned that in class?"
The ten-year-old looked down at her glass of water, suddenly fascinated by its unfathomable depths. "I, eh, wasn't paying attention," she admitted.
Fai sighed. "Well, in answer to your question, after the death of Prince Lu Ten, at the hands of Earth Kingdom soldiers, as well as the previous Fire Lord's re-appointment of Prince Ozai as the new successor to the throne, Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa's son Zuko is now the heir to the throne."
"How old is he?"
"If I'm correct, he was born in the year 83."
"So, he's a year older," she muttered. The boy from the garden had looked to be around her age. Maybe he'd been telling the truth after all.
"Why the sudden interest in the royal family?" her mother wanted to know.
Chai picked at the roast duck on her plate. The memory of the boy's derisive face as he called her a 'stupid, tubby tattletale' flickered in her mind. Prince or not, he was a royal jerk. She scowled.
"No reason."
/
"Stupid…beastly…snooping...ugh!"
Zuko paced his bedchamber, fuming over the events of that afternoon.
He had gone to see Mai at the Academy more often since his mother's mysterious disappearance and his father's ascension to the throne in the wake of Fire Lord Azulon's passing. They didn't say much to one another when they hung out at the old garden, but it was a companionable silence.
The pair had crept around the palace to see each other since early childhood, but that had changed when Mai was enrolled in the Royal Academy and Zuko began instruction with royal tutors. They still saw each other in the palace, but never without Azula and Ty Lee close by. If the two girls ever sniffed out their secret friendship, he would never hear the end of it. And then one afternoon, Zuko gave his tutors the slip and went to the girls' school.
He had been the one to stumble upon the obscure location after the first time he snuck into the Academy; a small, gloomy box of ancient trees and thorny weeds that was fenced off from the rest of the Academy—it was the perfect secret meeting place. He told her about it in a note he'd discreetly passed to her when she and Ty Lee came over to play with Azula.
Mai loved the garden; he was confident of it, even though her outward reaction had been an apathetic shrug and a "whatever." He had seen her turn her head and smile, and he knew how rare it was to see a smile on the pretty girl's face. Her face had three modes of expression: smirks, grimaces, and expressionlessness. Seeing her smile was like witnessing Sozin's comet, pretty much a once in a lifetime event.
Everything had been fine between them. Until she came along.
The monstrous girl.
He shuddered at the memory of the tawny-faced girl who had come lunging at him around the tree behind which he had hoped to escape notice. What kind of girl runs around roaring at the top of her lungs? A monstrous one. But even more horrifying than the girl's unladylike behavior was that she'd pushed him. And he fell!
By the time he'd stood up, Mai had entered the garden and slapped him across the face for allowing someone else into their hideout. He had wilted under her glare, and although he had tried to explain that the monstrous girl had just barged in uninvited, Mai was implacable. If he managed to get back into her good graces, they would have to find another place to meet up or risk being discovered a second time. The monstrous girl had ruined everything!
"Don't tell me."
A chill shot down his spine and caused the hair on the back of his neck to stand on end. He whirled around, dreading the mere sight of the person who was standing in the doorway.
"You've gone mad in addition to already being incompetent," Azula guessed. "Did I get it right?"
"Go away, Azula," Zuko growled.
Azula smirked. "Is that any way to speak to your sister, brother dearest?" she chided, her tone deceptively light. "I only came to tell you that Ty Lee and Mai are over, in case you want to play together."
Several months back, Azula had decided to play a joke on Mai and her brother, already suspecting their fondness for each other. She had tricked them into playing a game that involved placing an apple on Mai's head and shooting it off with a blast of fire, and she had volunteered to demonstrate. The apple had caught fire, and in his attempt to knock it from her head, both Zuko and Mai had fallen into the fountain. Ever since that episode, his sister had made multiple attempts to catch them in compromising situations.
"I don't care," he snarled. "Get out of my room!"
Azula's smile was simply saccharine. She had accomplished what she'd come to do, strike a nerve in her brother's laughably fragile composure. "Of course, Zuzu." She exited the room in a nonchalant fashion that only served to further aggravate him.
When the door closed, Zuko hurled a cup at the thick panel of wood, wishing he'd had the nerve to do so when Azula had been standing there with her sickening grin. The glazed earthenware smashed against the door and clattered to the floor in pieces.
"Someone clean up this mess," Zuko shouted to get the attention of one of the many servants that were always drifting through the halls. He heard the panicked shuffle of feet and frowned. It wasn't the servants' fault his sister was stupid and Mai was angry at him. It was that monstrous girl's fault. It had to be.
Somehow, if their paths ever crossed again in the future, he would make her regret her insolence. That was a promise.
A/N: Re-upload, yes. I needed Zuzu's interiority to make this chapter complete. Poor baby has no luck with the feminines.
Thanks to Rumpologist and Distant-Moon for the kind reviews. Also, to the Rumpologist: I know who you are. I know of your deeds. I know where your dogs sleep. But not the cat.