Written for the prompt 'window'…..

Left Behind

The sea was not visible from her window, but Mai liked to imagine that it was. Standing, thin arms wrapped about her body, the young girl, not quite thirteen, stared off into the distance, beyond the whites and reds of the city. Somewhere out on that vast expanse of water Mai could not see with her eyes, was Zuko.

He was unreachable, miles and miles away, searching unknown waters and unknown lands for the Avatar. And she wondered if the prince ever gave a thought to her. Perhaps Zuko was too busy or too embittered by his recent trials. Perhaps everything Fire Nation was now tainted, part of a past that pained him beyond any pain that any person should suffer. If that was the case, Mai was tainted too.

That thought almost broke her, but Mai continued to stare out her window nevertheless.


Misfit

Jet loathed the city. Ba Sing Se was a viper's den, a rat's nest, a horrible place, crowded and smelly and surrounded by a wall, each ring hemmed in by more walls. He couldn't understand anyone actually wanting to live there. Nevertheless, it was to be the place he called home. He was there with Smellerbee and Longshot and no one had dragged him along by the hair. Still, he didn't look forward to spending time in Ba Sing Se, greatest city in the world or not. Jet was there because he had screwed up and now he needed to make amends somehow. He had to prove to his best friends, the ones who had stood by him despite his zealousness, that he could be a different person, that he could let go of the hate and start anew. And when people of the Earth Kingdom wanted to start fresh, they travelled to Ba Sing Se.

Human life, in all its squalor and splendor, its horror and its grace, surrounded the Freedom Fighter as he prowled the city's streets. He developed the habit of glancing into windows, curious about what he might glimpse during those brief moments of time. He saw arguments and all out brawls. Lovers kissed. Families sat down to eat. Children played and children called other children names. Women gossiped and men did too, but they labeled it something else. People cooked and people cleaned and people dreamed. This 'spying' was addictive and Jet found himself deliberately seeking out new streets and new homes with new windows to peek into. Despite all the horrors they perpetrated, perhaps because of all their faults, people were fascinating creatures.

Life abounded in the forest too. Animals hunted and foraged and fought for territory. Birds sang and squabbled. Trees grew to unimaginable heights. Tiny, fragile flowers covered the forest floor and nuts and berries grew everywhere. Streams and ponds were rich with fish and frogs and turtles. Insects buzzed and hummed and clicked. In its own way, the forest was noisy too, but the sounds were gentler, more soothing. The smells were sweet and fresh. In the forest there was no chaos except the chaos brought by humanity. And there were no windows either, no walls to hide behind except groves of trees or a thick expanse of brambles.

Jet hoped with everything in him that one day he would return to the forest, his true home. But for now, looking through windows would have to suffice.


Life Giving

Cool air blew in through the window, caressing Aang's skin, a loving touch. Airbenders needed to keep their beds close to windows, preferably just below one. Though air was everywhere, they craved the breezes that nature created and the feel of them, especially when going to sleep was like a lullaby. The Avatar smiled in his sleep and dreamed of riding the winds.


Enough

Lieutenant Jee was outside almost all day. The winds off the ocean constantly ruffled his hair and made bits of uniform flap about annoyingly. His lips were chapped and the skin of his face tough as leather. His ears heard wind even when he was below deck. The first thing he did upon entering his cabin was to shut the porthole window. At least while he slept, he could have peace.


Over There

Zuko spent an exorbitant amount of time staring out the library window, one of the highest points in the palace, across the expanse of well groomed grounds and across the street to Mai's house. He could make out just a bit of it, part of the red tile roof and part of one wall. But that was enough to somehow soothe him. She was there, inside, throwing her blades or painting her nails black or washing that hair of hers. Zuko smiled when he thought of the ebony locks and hot desire coursed through him.

Whatever it was she was doing, the prince knew that Mai thought of him too and not with disdain like everyone else. She wanted to be with him. When he took the palanquin to her house or snuck out at night, feeling a bit like his Blue Spirit alter ego, she always waited on the front steps or just inside the door, that anticipatory upturn of her lips making his heart stop for a moment before resuming its regular beating. And their time together, just sitting or curled up on her bed, sometimes gazing out her window, eased the pain and the guilt in his heart. For those few hours, Zuko was really and truly home.