ALRIGHT!!! My beta finally updated!! So heres the next chappie. I'm finishing up the other as we speak, and I should send it off to her maybe tommorow. This is relatively long, so it should like, make up for all the lost time XDDDD There is a bunch of Ty Lee and Hasoka bonding, but bear in ming I don't approve of guy-guy girl-girl pairings, so that is not what I'm trying to convey. They are just becoming good friends. OH YEAH! I'm going to DisneyWorld in two weeks!!! YAY ME!! So I'll try to update both this and Many Phases at least once before that, since I'm on spring break and I have a lot of time. But I'm going to be drawing and animating as well, but I'll put fanfiction in priority. R&R!!
"All right girls, up and at 'em! Time to start the day!"
Ty Lee groaned and attempted to roll over in her bed. She didn't want to get up just yet. It had been hard getting to sleep the night before. Not only was she in a new place, and it was hard to get comfortable, but she had a lot on her mind, and couldn't seem to stop thinking. She couldn't exactly blame herself, though. She had had an eventful day.
"Ty Lee, you better get up!" Hasoka said, poking her friends face. Ty Lee waved her hand in the air lazily.
"Five more minutes…" She mumbled.
"Too late!" Ty Lee's eyes snapped open. She was surprised to find herself suddenly on the ground. She looked around and saw Hasoka standing before her. She was already fully dressed in uniform, though she lacked makeup and her hair was down. One of her hands was on her hip, and she smiled.
"You just pushed me!" Ty Lee exclaimed in realization.
"You're real slow today. Not a morning person, huh?" She commented, "Now, hurry up. Get dressed. We don't want to leave without you."
Ty Lee nodded and got up. For convenience's sake, she had learned the day before that all the warriors wore the under pieces of their uniform as sleeping garments. Then, when they would wake up the next morning, they would just have to put on their armor and such. At first, Ty Lee was disgusted at the thought of wearing the same clothes every day and every night, until she was informed that every two days there was a change for a newer set. She was relieved.
She folded her sheets and neatly sat them on her bed. Quickly, she slipped the armor over her head and fastened it together. The arm and shin protectors came on next, and finally, she put on her boots. By the time she had it on though, the rest of the team was already applying the makeup. She sighed, and grabbed her makeup case.
Her case was nothing more than a small bag which carried her facial makeup. The makeup was given to her when she joined the Kyoshi Warriors, and she was told that every month they had to re-supply their stock. Ty Lee took out her two tubes of makeup and the small compact mirror that Mai had given her. It had a beautiful design on the back that portrayed a poodle-monkey eating some kind of fruit. She smiled. Mai always knew what she needed and what she liked.
She grabbed the tube of white makeup and began to rub it all over her face, her neck, and her hands. These were really the only skin that showed with the outfit on. Then came the tricky part. She lifted the mirror so she could see and closed one of her eyes. Slowly, she painted the red makeup around the eye. It made a really funny looking shape at the end. Ty Lee never understood how the original warriors chose this particular shape for the makeup around the eyes. She returned everything to the case, and went on to the next part.
Taking out her brush, she combed her hair. It had become very dirty while she was in prison, but now it had returned to its glossy glow. After making sure there were no tangles, she began to braid it. Instead of letting her braid hang down, like she usually did, she folded it over to make a loop and topped it off with her hair piece. This was how she did her hair when she was a fake Kyoshi Warrior, and this is how she did it now that she truly was one. The long braid had often gotten in her way during combat. She also found it a lot more comfortable. Finally, she wrapped her headband around her forehead. She had a completed Kyoshi Warrior uniform.
"You finally done, Ty Lee?" Hasoka asked. She was cleaning up her bed area.
"Hey, I didn't take that long." She puffed her cheeks.
"Right." She rolled her eyes and then smiled brightly, "Hey Suki, time to go yet!?" She called out. Ty Lee looked around. Suki wasn't in the room. Or maybe she was. The sun hadn't come up yet, and Ty Lee couldn't see very far from where the candle was lit in the middle of the dojo. Suki could be hanging around in a corner where the light didn't touch.
"Almost," The reply surprised Ty Lee. It came through one of the windows, not from inside. But it was definitely Suki's voice. What was she doing outside?
Ty Lee went over and lifted her upper body in the frame of a window. Her head was out enough so that she could turn and look in different directions. She couldn't see very well, but could make out some shapes such as the trees that were near the dojo. No sign of Suki though. She hadn't sounded too far. Ty Lee turned and looked at a different angle. She couldn't make anything out at that point. She sighed. The moon was still outside though. Maybe if she stared at it long enough, she would be able to see better than before.
"What are you doing?" Ty Lee nearly fell out of the window. She grabbed hold of the frame to steady herself. Suki's face was in front of hers. Even in the poor light Ty Lee recognized her. She looked confused.
"I-I was just finding out where you were." She answered, embarrassed. "I couldn't tell what you were doing, that's all."
"Well, get out of that window before you break it." Suki sighed. Ty Lee nodded, and drew back quickly. Suddenly, she wondered if anyone had seen her dangling out of the window. It seemed unlikely, since it was so dark and they would have said something by then. She was relieved.
Suki walked in soon after. Ty Lee did a cartwheel over to her.
"So, what were you doing?" She asked her new leader.
"Just making sure it wasn't too wet outside. Sometimes it rains a bit in the night, and the paths get slippery. Wouldn't want anyone to get hurt." She explained. "Okay girls, its time to go." She called. Ty Lee heard everyone else march up around the two of them.
"Hasoka, you stay with Ty Lee and make sure she doesn't get lost since she doesn't know the way yet." Takumi instructed.
"Aye Aye, first mate." From the dim light you could see her salute, as if she were a crew member on a ship. Takumi just shook her head.
"All right, move out!" Suki commanded. All of the girls ran out of the dojo at once. Ty Lee was so bewildered and unprepared that she allowed Hasoka to literally drag her out. She couldn't see any better than before, nor did she even know the path they were taking, and was more than happy to have her friend lead the way.
"Come on, Ty. We'll get behind if you don't start moving. It's not called a 'morning jog' for nothing!" Hasoka pleaded.
"But I don't know where we are going!" Ty Lee admitted.
"Just hold on to my hand and run."
"Okay." Ty Lee grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. Then they began their jog.
Ty Lee was amazed at how different it was at night. It was like they were on a completely different island. All the trees clumped together and the familiar landmarks blurred into each other. She heard sounds of birds and animals she had never heard before. The atmosphere was different too. It was wet, like morning dew. She remembered what Suki said and deduced that it had probably rained a bit last night.
Hasoka navigated the route so smoothly. At first, Ty Lee was afraid they would hit a tree or trip over a rock or even fall into a stream. She couldn't see what was in front of her, so she wasn't sure how Hasoka hadn't. Lots of practice, it seemed. She wondered if she would ever be able to do it by herself. If she was doing it every morning, she would have to get it eventually.
It seemed like an eternity before they were finally done. Ty Lee knew she had never run that much all at once before. Her breathing was fast and shallow, and she was sure a mixture of sweat and dew had affected her makeup. They stopped in front of the dojo, and slumped against the front wall. Hasoka was laughing.
"Not too bad for your first go through." She commented.
"I didn't realize it would be that long…" Ty Lee admitted. "But it wasn't that hard."
"That's the mindset!" Hasoka beamed and playfully hit Ty Lee's arm. Ty Lee was glad she didn't know where her pressure points were. It would have hurt a bit more.
"So, where is everyone else?" She asked. Looking around, she noticed that no one else was around. And this time she couldn't blame the poor light. The sun was rising at a normal pace and illuminated the world. Absolutely no other Kyoshi Warrior was around.
"I dunno. They should be here right now…we had a later start than them…" She reasoned. She stood up and scanned the island from their view. "Maybe they went into the village?"
"Yeah, let's go look!" Before Hasoka had time to reply, Ty Lee started to run down the path to the village. The path cut straight down the hill, and wasn't quite ideal for rushing down. About halfway through it, she lost her balance and almost fell face first the rest of the way. Fortunately, she saw it coming and converted the fall into a cartwheel. The ground was rough and cut into her hands, but she didn't mind. Her hands had received worse wear before.
She reached the bottom of the hill only to have Hasoka panting behind her.
"You hafta slow down sometimes for us slow people." She said smiling.
"Sorry, that was a little spontaneous." She rubbed the back of her neck as she apologized.
"No, you're an acrobat. It's in your blood or something like that." Hasoka replied. Ty Lee smiled but said nothing. She knew for a fact that her blood had nothing to do with it. No one in her family had supported her dream.
"Come on, let's go find out what they are doing without us." Ty Lee walked ahead, leaving Hasoka to follow. The village opened up right in front of them, and they entered without haste.
"Uh…you notice anything weird, Ty?" Hasoka asked, after looking around.
"…not really, why?" She wasn't quite sure what would be so weird about the village. It was calm, no trouble or anything to be seen.
"Well, there is like, no one else out here except us…" She trailed off and stopped walking. "Oh, you don't know yet."
"Know what?" This also caused Ty Lee to stop.
"At your home the people didn't probably get up as early as here." Ty Lee was grateful she said 'home' and not Fire Nation, "All the villagers would be out here by now working and such."
"So, since they're not here, something bad happened?" She was starting to feel unnerved. Hasoka seemed calm, but what she was saying scared her. Where would people just suddenly disappear? And why on her first official day of protecting them? She stared at Hasoka, waiting for an answer. She appeared to be thinking, "Well?"
"No," She finally said, "They're probably just at a village meeting."
"Oh," Ty Lee sighed a huge sigh of relief, "That's good."
"And that also explains the missing Kyoshi Warriors. They might have got the message before we came in."
"So, why didn't they leave a sign for us or something?"
"Maybe…" She put her hand to her chin, "Maybe they wanted us to get there on our own…"
"Okay then!" Ty Lee said with her usual enthusiasm returning, "Where's the meetinghouse?"
"Just this way, follow me." The walked past several buildings Ty Lee had seen before. The Kyoshi statue was not in sight though. They went through a small hall between two structures and took a left. Ty Lee's eyes widened.
"What's that!?" She asked, running towards a building that looked like it went through a war. It was burnt on every surface. Many pieces of the walls and ceiling had crumbled down. The windows had collapsed on themselves. "What happened here!?"
"That was our dormitory…" Hasoka said with a frown. "It looked nicer before Zuko accidentally destroyed it…" Ty Lee turned to look at Hasoka. She stared on at the building with an unwavering gaze. There was no emotion present in her eyes, but Ty Lee knew better. She was probably trying not to show it. Ty Lee had done that so many times when she was with Azula. Of course, she also showed more emotion than wanted at some points. Like when they went to Ember Island…
She bit her lip, trying not to accept the memories that were arriving. She didn't want to think about Azula. How she was decent at one time. How she went absolutely insane to the point of no return…because of her actions. She looked at her hands. The hands that caused it all. Her brows furrowed as she shook off the thoughts and turned back to the dormitory. Or, what was left of it that is.
"I'm sorry that he did this…you know he's different now…" She tried to explain.
"I know. Suki told us all about how brave he was in breaking herself and Sokka's dad out and such." Hasoka replied, "I think he was just confused before."
"You got that right."
"Besides, if I still considered him to be evil, wouldn't I have a reason to consider you as well?" This caught Ty Lee by surprise, and she found herself blushing, "I mean, you brought more direct harm to us than Zuko…"
"O-Okay! I get it!" She cut her off quickly and hoped she didn't sound too forceful, "Let's go to the meetinghouse already…"
"Oh, I'm sorry Ty Lee." Hasoka went over and put her hand on her back, "That was a bit uncalled for. I got caught in the moment, you know what I mean?" Ty Lee nodded. "But you are right, we should get going. The meetinghouse is just to the right of here." She walked ahead, unaware of Ty Lee lingering. The younger girl looked longingly at the dormitory, and then followed her friend.
The meetinghouse loomed ahead of them, a large edifice with many windows and a giant door. It was a blue color, like all the other buildings in the village. And practically everything else in Kyoshi for that matter, except for the people's auras. As they approached it they heard voices inside, confirming their guess. A meeting was indeed in process.
Ty Lee felt an adrenaline rush. She had never been involved with anything before like this. Before, a village meeting was more like a war conference and her parents had to drag her there along with the rest of her sisters. Just a bunch of old men talking about stuff that never really mattered. But this was different. The village, the whole island in fact, seemed to be much closer and more loving. They would talk about important issues. And she would get to be a part of it.
She practically ran to the door, only to have Hasoka step in front of her.
"What are you doing? We need to get in there!" Ty Lee tried to push past her.
"By the looks of it, the meeting is already in progress. If we just barge in, it will draw unnecessary attention to us…and most importantly to you…" She looked grave. Ty Lee wanted to hug her so bad. Hasoka always seemed to look out for her. And to think she was going to push her away just to probably embarrass herself by interrupting the entire village.
"Okay then, how do we get in?"
"I don't know…Maybe we should prop ourselves in the windows to find out what they are doing." Hasoka teased. The color drained from Ty Lee's face and instantly was replaced with a blush.
"You-You saw that this morning?!" She asked, completely mortified. She thought it was too dark to see, but Hasoka's comment seemed to counter that thought.
"Saw what?" She gave a mock look of surprise on her face and covered her mouth with hand.
"Very funny." Ty Lee rolled her eyes and smiled. "Now seriously, how do we get in?"
"There is a back door on the other side…" Hasoka thought aloud, "But I still think us coming in at all will cause a disruption. But we have to get in, it could be important…so I guess the back door is our best bet."
"Back door it is then." Ty Lee's eyes cast a gleam, "Race you there." Hasoka's face brightened.
"You're on!" Before Ty Lee could think, Hasoka had started to run around the building. She stared for a few minutes in utter confusion, but realized what she had to do. She jumped up a neighboring tree and used it to launch herself onto the roof. Her hands grasped the tiles and cartwheeled to the edge of the top. To finish it off, she back-flipped to the ground, landing with her hands in the air. She immediately dropped them, realizing that it was an impulse she had kept from being in the circus. She did miss the applause sometimes, but knew she could always go back. But she didn't necessarily want to…
She looked around and saw the door, planted parallel the front entrance. It was smaller than the other one, though. She was about to walk in, when she realized Hasoka wasn't there. She turned, expecting to see her friend creeping up behind her. Not a sign of anyone. Ty Lee froze.
"Lookin' for me?"
Ty Lee cried out, only to have Hasoka's hand muffle it, "Sh! We don't want to make it look like we are doing something troublesome, now do we?" She slowly released her hold.
"No, sorry…" She looked down to the ground, "Where were you?"
"Behind you, except when you turned I followed so you wouldn't see me. Something we learned when we studied stealth." Hasoka replied nonchalantly. "Let's finally go in now." Ty Lee nodded, and stepped aside to let Hasoka get the door. She fumbled with the handle for a second, and then flung it wide open.
They were met with the backs of the entire village, all unaware of their opening the door. Ty Lee stood on the tips of her toes and still couldn't see through the mass of people in front of her. Hasoka motioned for her to follow, and they walked into the meetinghouse. There was barely any room to move, but they were able to shut the door behind them. Everyone was talking at once, and Ty Lee wondered if this was really an organized meeting or not.
The walls were as tall as the building itself, making the ceiling seem so far away. Ty Lee had never really seen a structure that had a high ceiling before, let alone been inside one. It wasn't decorated much indoors, save a painting here or there. There wasn't any chairs either, explaining why everyone was standing. Perhaps they sat at one point but now she couldn't tell.
The people's voices grew louder, echoing off the ceiling. No one person in particular was announcing anything like she had imagined. It felt like one big mess.
"What's going on here?" She whispered. Hasoka just stared at her and cupped her hand to her ear. She realized at that point there was no way to communicate with anyone. It was entirely too loud.
A hand grabbed her arm and she cried out for the second time that morning. Fortunately, in this situation no one could hear her. It was Takumi. Ty Lee was afraid she would be angry, but instead she looked relieved.
"Ty Lee! Come on!" Her voice could barely be heard amidst the crowd. Ty Lee turned to tell Hasoka but it was too late. Takumi was already pushing through the people and her grasp was not wavering.
They made their way to the front of the meetinghouse, revealing a stage that was previously unseen by Ty Lee. The rest of the Kyoshi warriors were standing up there, along with an old man. The people noticed them moving through, and she felt their stares on her. She was reminded of the other day, and she immediately hoped this wouldn't be a repeat. She also hoped that Hasoka didn't freak out when she realized that she was gone.
Ty Lee stepped up onto the stage, as Takumi directed. As she did the crowd slowly began to calm down. They now talked in whispers. Probably about her. Suki walked over.
"I'm sorry; we should have told you about this. But we kind of wanted it to be a surprise…" She said. Ty Lee noticed that she wasn't acting all proper as usual. She had a smile on her face. "Here, this is Oyaji. He was out with the farmers that live further inland yesterday, and didn't get the chance to meet you. He's the village leader." She lifted her hand to the old man who came over to them. His hair was gray, but now that she looked closer, Ty Lee realized that he looked a bit younger than she had earlier thought.
"You must be Ty Lee." He said warmly. "I've heard so much about you. I know all about your part in the war." His eyes softened, and she knew exactly what he was talking about.
"Thank you, sir. I really didn't do that mu-" She started to say, but then Oyaji did something unexpected. He wrapped his arms around her, and held her close. She wasn't sure how to react, but allowed him to hug her nevertheless. It was a nice feeling, and she wasn't sure if she wanted it to leave quite yet, even if the situation was awkward.
"You did more than anyone else could." He whispered in her ear. Before she could completely register all that he said her eyes filled with tears. She let all the emotions she had so far held up on Kyoshi Island to flow out. All the hurt. The pain. The anguish. He rubbed his hand on her back, comforting her.
She could hear nothing else in the meetinghouse but her sobs. The villagers had completely quieted down, all their attention focused on her. She didn't care. She wasn't affected by them in that moment.
After a moment she drew back and turned from the crowd to wipe off the tears from her face. She knew by now her makeup was utterly ruined from the mixture of sweat and tears. And yet, she never felt better. She showed her emotions to everyone, whether they fully understood why she was crying or not. It took off a burden she carried. She knew that now she was allowed to be sad, to cry. She didn't have to pretend anymore.
She turned back to Oyaji, wiping away a stray tear.
"I'm sorry…" She said.
"That's alright. It wasn't your fault." He replied, "Now I think it is time to formally introduce you to the island."
Hasoka finally reached the stage, obviously after some struggle with the crowd. She stood behind Ty Lee.
"So, did you know about this?" Ty Lee asked her.
"About what?" For once, Hasoka wasn't joking, and it was apparent by the look on her face. "Is something happening?"
"I'm still not sure what it is, but I like it so far."
"It was Suki's idea." Ling Ling announced, "She wanted…"
"…to give you a new start."
"All because of the incident yesterday." Nikumu rolled her eyes, "They think you can't take care of yourself and you need to gain the favor of the villagers." Ty Lee's heart swelled. They were trying to make it more comfortable for her. They were looking out for her. They cared about her.
Suki stepped forward with Oyaji by her side. She stared at the crowd, who stared back intently.
"Citizens of Kyoshi Island, I have a few things to tell you a few things about our new warrior, Ty Lee…"
And thus, the new life began.
I didn't want to write Suki explaining her knowledge of Ty Lee's past. That would be boring and longer. So I ended it off in what I thought was a clever ending. It also gave me my inspiration for the title of the chapter. Since after this, everyone looks at Ty Lee differently, so it is like a ocmpletely different life for her. I realize that Nikumu, the twins, and Takumi haven't had much spotlight, but I promise to write more of them for those who like them XDD I personally like LingLing a lot, and Nikumu is just so much fun to do! But Ty Lee has so much to go through with Hasoka and Suki that I forget about the others sometimes. I hope that this wasn't too sappy or anything. I sympathize too easily(which is why my favorite characters have horrid pasts, or die, or have someone they know that dies...) so I figured she had to get over her emotions somehow. But that doesn't mean she is exactly OVER her emotions, she just knows she can deal with them without hiding it...Let me know what you thnk of it so far. Bye!
