Chapter Five
"Why didn't you tell me you knew the Fire Lord?" asked Min as Aurora dragged them into a small shop.
"Because, every time I try to tell someone, they either don't believe me or think that I'm some kind of traitor!" Aurora began to fiddle with the tip of her hair as she looked at some of the hair ornaments on the shelf.
The girls fell into an awkward silence before a handful of beaded dresses caught Aurora's eyes.
"How many dresses do you own?" she asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
"What?"
"I said, how many dresses do you own?"
"Well... None, I suppose, but is that really the point-"
Before Ta Min could finish her thought, Aurora had dragged them to the dresses.
This shop was much larger than the one Ta Min worked at- and also much more expensive. Each of the dresses, most colored in the Earth Kingdom's national colors of green and yellow, seemed hand-sewn and hand-beaded, making each one unique. They all glittered in the sun coming through the wide windows in the shop.
Aurora, though, wasn't interested in the earthy dresses. She, and by extension Ta Min, headed directly for the single rack of other colored dresses. Gold and red, blue and white, even yellow and orange. There were a few oddly colored ones in the mix, too- silver and black, brown and gold.
"You look like a Fire Nation woman- don't ask why, that's just the vibe I'm getting from you," Aurora said quickly, nimble fingers sorting through the dresses. "I don't care whether you are or aren't."
Ta Min wasn't shocked. At a distance, people would have thought she was from the Northern Water Tribe- she wasn't particularly slender, nor was she particularly tall like the women in the Fire Nation. She had once been told that her skin seemed paler than Tui herself, though that was something of an exaggeration. Her face had all the right, soft curves to be like any ordinary Water Tribe girl.
It was her eyes that gave her away, and her hair. Her amber eyes, the trait found only on the Fire Nation islands, and her straight black hair, unique to those who were born around the Capital.
The thoughts of her nationality brought her to question Aurora's. Though she was in no place to ask, she couldn't help but wonder what on earth a Water Tribe girl was doing with Fire Lord- Prince- Zuko.
"Here," Aurora said, holding up one of the heavy dresses. It was white fabric, studded with what looked like dozens of semi-translucent pink beads. They formed swirl patterns, exploding over the creamy fabric.
"That's beautiful," Min said. "But I don't really know if pink is your color."
"Not for me, silly, for you."
"Me?" Min asked as Aurora handed the dress to her and began to go through others. "But... why?"
"I saw a flyer outside saying there was going to be a ball, party thing at the palace tonight. I thought it would be fun," she said as she pulled out a sparkly silver and red dress and handed it to Min.
"Oh... I don't normally go to..." Aurora handed her another dress and started looking at other beaded accessories. "I mean, there's no way I'd be invited to... I won't be able to afford anything here."
"You can't. I can! My treat!" She pulled a golden tiara-ish thing off the shelf and tossed it to her. "Now, go try it on!" she said as she shoved Min into a changing room.
Reluctantly, Min put on the sparkly red and silver dress. When she emerged, Aurora gasped, then squealed with delight.
"I am getting that for you! Right now! Take it off so I can pay for it!"
"I don't feel right letting you pay for things, Aurora," she protested as the golden-haired girl shoved her back into the changing room. Ta Min quickly changed out and walked out to see Aurora paying for her own dress, teal with silver specks and with a tear-drop shape around her neck. It probably would have looked revealing on any other girl, but it was perfectly modest in general.
"Aurora, I don't think-" She was cut off as Aurora grabbed the dress from her and gave the cashier three gold pieces. The girl wrapped up the dresses and handed them back to the girl in a bag. Then, the golden-haired girl grabbed Min's arm and pulled her into the street again.
"Now we need to find hair accessories!" she chimed as she pulled the helpless girl into another shop.
Almost instantly, the girls were laughing and giggling as they tried on overly-large hats and putting on funny masks. Min had just tried on another large hat when Aurora froze and turned her head away from the door and went back to looking at masks. There was a tension about her that Min didn't know or understand.
"Aurora, are you okay?" Min looked around but didn't understand what had made Aurora tense up so much.
"Don't say my name," she said coldly. "Don't say it and he might go away."
"Who? Aurora, what are you talking about?"
A shadow cast over the decorative hair ornaments. Something about the figure was strong and held a presence of power.
"Aurora?" That voice. Neither Ta Min now Aurora had heard it in a long time. And neither were too happy about hearing it again.
Aurora bowed curtly, still facing the shelf. "Good day, Fire Lord."
Min turned to face the new fire Lord and took in his appearance. His hair was dark and pulled back and his eyes were a soft amber. One of them anyway. The other was scared and almost closed. He was pretty tall, especially against Aurora, who was quite petite. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. Her slender, Water Tribe form made her seem smaller then she actually was. His face, at the moment, was filled with curiosity as he stared at the back of Aurora's head.
"Fire Lord? Since when have we ever used formalities?" he laughed.
Her back straightened and she turned around, looking him straight in the eye. They looked so different, there, looking at each other. Aurora, with her clear blue eyes and hair like sunshine; while Zuko had the dark hair and dark eyes. While Aurora was slender and graceful, Zuko was muscular and radiated strength. They were complete opposites. The sun and the moon, the north and the south, day and night. Water and fire.
"Since you became Fire Lord," she said coldly. "Congratulations by the way."
Min remained silent during this conversation. This wasn't the Aurora she had seen earlier, sharing common memories and losses. She had gone from water, to ice.
Zuko raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay?" His face softened and he smiled. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in years."
"I've been fine on my own, thank you. Min and I were just doing some shopping." She held up the bag with the dresses in it for example. "So, we won't be taking up any more of your time."
Aurora tried to turn and walk away but Zuko grabbed her arm. She refused to look back at him as he spoke quietly near her ear. He didn't seem mad... Just confused.
"Rory, are you okay?"
She didn't move and didn't speak.
"Aurora?"
"I'm fine. Will you let go of me?"
"No, what's wrong?" Her turned her around so that she was looking back at him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, no thanks to you." She yanked her arm away from his grip and turned away from him. "Come on, Min."
Then the girls walked away from a stunned Zuko and into the street.
Soon, they were engulfed in a sea of colors. Sounds of bells, people going in and out of shops, music, and talking rang out everywhere. Once they were far enough from the shop, Min spoke.
"What was that about?" she asked, stopping Aurora in the middle of the street.
"It was nothing," she said as she tried to move forward. Min stopped her.
"It was the opposite of nothing! What happened to you two? Earlier, you were talking about how much you wanted to see him!"
Aurora turned her eyes on Min. They looked like solid ice and Min winced at the coldness there, but watched as it slowly melted away. Aurora gave her a sad and tired smile.
"I always do," she said quietly. She seemed to age ten years before Min's very eyes. "I always seem to forget the jerk I left behind. He made me think I could rely on him." She fingered the strange necklace that hung low on the long chain. "But I can't..."
Suddenly, she brightened up and grabbed Min's arm.
"Enough doom and gloom! Let's go have some more fun!"
Then she dragged Min through the city.