Travels through the Alphabet with Mai
Part 26: Zephyr
Mai languished on her bed, nude but for her bindings. Even her holsters and knives were gone; she couldn't tolerate how the straps chafed her thighs and ankles and wrists. The sheets stuck to her skin, irritating the girl. She spread out her limbs and grumbled, complaining to herself about the excessive warmth. But her whines had yet to show any potency. For two weeks now, a heat wave unlike any she or her parents could recall, had suffocated her country, leaving everyone in a dull torpor, hardly able to function.
Mai enjoyed heat as much as the next Fire Nation citizen. It was in her blood, after all, the fire and the spark, bender or not. But this, this was extreme even for her. Curtains hung motionless, no sighing came from the huge trees in the back garden, animals that inhabited the city had hunkered down, silent, hiding. The insects were the only creatures that seemed unaffected. Their droning filled Mai's head.
"Oh, shut up," she called to the outside, wondering why she had bothered to throw the shutters back. The only thing streaming in was sunlight.
Hauling herself out of bed, she made her way to the window. About to slam the shutters closed once more, Mai hesitated. Something had changed. In the distance, there was movement in the trees, slight but definite.
"Could it be?" she wondered.
It traveled from the west, blowing across the Fire Nation, the zephyr, a sweet breeze, bringing relief to thousands of overheated citizens.
"Finally," Mai breathed. She leaned forward, allowing the wind to sweep thick black hair from her forehead, tickle her bare neck and the wisps of hair that had escaped her hasty upsweep.
A slow smile curved her lips. Heedless of what anyone might see, she stood in full view of the lumbering few on the street, begging the wind to caress her body. Mai slowly came to life, the agony of the past few weeks dropping away.
She didn't hear her mother barge in.
"Mai, Mai, do you feel it?" The woman, usually obsessed with propriety, gave Mai's state of near undress no mention. "Isn't it wonderful?" She joined her daughter at the window. "I feel like I've been dead for days and now….oh…." She leaned too and giggled like a child.
Her mother's giddiness took Mai aback, but she didn't show her surprise. It was a welcome change, this shared joy, even if it was only for a breeze.
"I feel it." Mai spoke softly.
Together, mother and daughter stared out across their city, urging the vigor back into it, hoping such a heat wave never occurred again, feeling a strange delight in being simply alive.
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A/N: Fooled you, didn't I? I'll bet most of you figured 'Zuko'. ;-)