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Winds of change
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So Suki is quite good at many things. Cooking is not one of them. I'm grateful that she tried to give me a night off but I think it's just for the best if I cook in the future. I don't even know where her mad urge to cook had come from. The land of bad ideas? I asked her and she said that she had felt like trying it out. Umm, okay. We need a new hobby for Suki. Was that an inedible giant hunk of wood? No, it was a roast, apparently. I have to say the meat had a rather remarkable crispy factor that you don't often get with a roast. I decided the only thing for it would be to chop it up into tiny pieces and make a stew.
She'd also made a sauce that looked and tasted like congealed sadness and boredom with chunks of berries in it. This was meant to be a Kyoshi island dessert, not a sauce. She'd been trying to copy this Kyoshi Island recipe that her Aunt used to make and it had taken her hours and she really wanted everyone to like it. I had a small taste, schooled my features and made a quick trip outside and told everybody to eat what Suki was about to serve them and pretend to like it.
No matter what!
Toph said it wasn't my birthday and she didn't have to do what I said. I said if she did not -she would hurt Suki's feelings and nobody wanted to to do that. Zuko, who has had to eat many unpleasant things in the name of politeness (and honour!) told her the trick was just to get a small piece and just try to swallow it whole so you didn't have to chew/taste it. Toph thought this sounded a bit gross. Sokka said that he was sure that whatever Suki had made would be delicious.
Oh Sokka. He has no idea.
I went and found Aang with Appa and delivered him the message and he said it was okay because he would just eat the vegetables and you can't ruin those. Oh no. Aang was not getting out of this one so easily. Aang had to eat the dessert as well. There was no meat in the dessert so his 'I'm a vegetarian' excuse wasn't going to fly this time! Aang gulped.
I went back and added the finishing touches to the stew. And Suki thanked me for helping her out. She was worried that she'd ruined dinner. She confessed to me that cooking wasn't her strong point and I pretended to be surprised by this news and said that I was sure it would be delicious (just a little white lie).
The best part of dinner was the expression of everyone's face when they had their first mouthful. In truth Suki had burned the meat until it was a shadow of its former self. It was crunchy in a way that meat is not supposed to be. But she'd put in so much effort and I didn't want everybody to complain and make a fuss and hurt her feelings, so I gave everyone a little warning glare at the start. Sokka's face was the funniest! But after he had chewed for a very long time he exclaimed that it was absolutely delicious and tucked in with feigned gusto. Everybody looked at him a little strangely except for Suki who blushed happily and said if he liked it so much, she could make it for him everyday. Hardy ha ha! Sucks to be you Sokka!
-?-
Me and Zuko were sitting on the veranda after letting off steam. Another tickling draw- Zuko has made me promise that I wont ever just let him win after last time. We having a tea and a bit of a laugh over Sokka's predicament regarding his future dinners. Still if I learned anything from this dinner, I know it is definitely true love as far as Sokka is concerned. And I said, in all seriousness, that it was nice that Sokka and Suki have found each other. Zuko agreed with me and said they were really, really ridiculously lucky. There was a funny tone in his voice and I was a bit perplexed by it. It's not that unusual is it? To find someone you really click with? Zuko smiled a little sadly and said he thought it was more difficult than it they make it seem.
We were silent for a bit and then he asked if he could ask me a question. I said he already had, just to be cheeky and he made a face at me. Normally when someone asks if they can ask you a question – it's a pretty important question and they want to give you a bit of a head up that a Really Important Question is coming your way. He was quiet again so I poked him and told him to ask away. He cleared his throat and asked me if I thought people could really change.
Um, wow. Not the question I was expecting. I had been expecting something about...anyway.
But I guess it is an important question none the less. It seemed really important to Zuko,at least. I had a think for a moment. I didn't just want to answer flippantly.
I asked if maybe was an acceptable answer. Because, really, I think it would depend on entirely on the person. I'm not sure if people can easily change themselves. I think most drastic changes in character occur after something terrible has happened. People get changed by things that happen to them. I know that my mother's death changed the way I looked at the world. But some people just stay the way they are regardless of whatever terrible things happen to them. Aang has stayed pretty constant. He is still the joyful, happy-go-lucky-kid me and Sokka found in an iceberg -despite everything. Even finding out that everyone he knew was dead, and that he was the last of his kind hadn't dampened his positivity. Sometimes it amazes me how Aang can be so cheerful, but I hope he never changes. So I guess I think that some people change and some people don't and I don't know why it is that way. I asked why he wanted to know and he just shrugged and said something my cousin wrote.
what is in that letter?
He asked if there was also a dagger in the box of personal effects. I said yes and then he asked me really quietly if he could have it. I told him not to be silly, of course he could have it. And we went up to my room and I got out the box and handed him the dagger. It was plain and of good quality steel. He smiled when I gave it to him and said that his Uncle told him it was always good to have a dagger on you -because you never know. I stifled a small giggle and he looked really perplexed and ask if I was laughing at him. I said that wasn't it at all. It was just that my mother used to always tell me to have my parka nearby-because you never know – in that exact same tone of voice. It just struck me as funny that's all.
Did Zuko's Uncle chase him, dagger in hand, saying you never know every time he left the house without it? My mother would always chase after me if I left the igloo without my parka. Zuko smiled as said when he was a kid he probably would have run away from anyone who was chasing him with a dagger. I commended this wise hypothetical decision.
-?-
Observed fire bending training after breakfast! May I say that watching firebending and eating mango and passionfruit smushed together is the best way to start the day.
-?-
The three of us have scheduled a three way training session. Aang is in the center and he has to deflect all of our combined attacks. This was our first time trying it. Mixed success. Aang did very well for about 20 minutes but then one of Toph's earthbended rocks went a little rogue and knocked Sokka from his hammock (he was relaxing and reading Love Amongst the Dragons on Suki's recommendation). He landed in a big heap and there was much ado and complaining from Sokka. Toph was apologizing in her Toph way and I helped Sokka up when I noticed he had some gravel rash on his elbow from his rough landing. I declared that I had been waiting for this happily, and Sokka made an unhappy face at me and asked if I had been waiting eagerly for him to get injured.
Never mind that, it was healing training time.
-?-
Sokka was a most impatient patient. He squirmed, he protested, he didn't see why he had to be the one we experimented on. I told him to shush and just let Aang get on with the healing. Aang took a deep breath and splashed water on Sokka in an unhealing manner. He tried again, but was unsuccessful. He tried again and again and again and started to get a little frustrated. I spoke encouragingly to him and outlined the basic healing procedure many times and told him to just be patient with himself. Sokka piped up that his patience had run out and he would just live with his gravel rash forever! He didn't need healing anymore! He didn't need his elbow! He just needed lunch.
Also he wanted to get back to Love Amongst the Dragons because apparently Zali had just discovered she was part dragon and had dragon powers and could fly and firebend at the same time. Love Amongst the Dragons sounds a little stupid if you as me. Long lost identical twins? Dragon powers? I healed his gravel rash quickly, gave him a few pokes with the commonsense stick because he was so difficult and sent him on his way. I fussed about the kitchen for a while and went about preparing lunch.
Aang sat on the counter while I diced veggies and we had a chat about healing. He just could not seem to do it. He said he felt like there was something blocking him. I pointed out that he had done it yesterday after a while and he looked a little sheepish and said that it was actually my constant 'demonstrations' that had healed my foot. Apparently I had healed it over , but I had been so into my explanation about healing that I hadn't seemed to notice. He hadn't wanted to disappoint me by telling me yesterday because I'd seemed so happy when I'd noticed my healed foot and thought he had done it.
I gave him a few pokes with the commonsense stick for not telling me yesterday.
We brainstormed different ideas about how I could teach him better. Maybe I should get one of those chi mannequins like Yugoda had. That way I could demonstrate healing without having to have an actual live (and complaining/squirming) patient. Aang thinks this is a good idea. I might see if Toph can make me one after lunch. Aang said there might not be time after lunch because he had an announcement.
-?-
Well ...lunch was eventful.
Aang announced that he wanted to celebrate the North Wind and there was much ado (and an especially lame joke from Suki about wind and the especially beany dish I had served for lunch- Sokka high-fived her.) Anyway, Aang wants to take a week off training and celebrate the North Wind in proper Air nomad style. Zuko was exceptionally unimpressed with this announcement and made an announcement of his own. There was no way under angi that Aang was going to get out of a week of training.
Aang said that the North Wind hadn't bee celebrated properly in a hundred years because some nation had wiped out all of his people. Zuko was silenced. You can't argue with somebody who brings up the Airnomad genocide without looking like a dickhead. Aang explained that the Air nomads had a celebration for each of the four winds. We hadn't been able to celebrate any of the others winds because we'd always been on the move or had heaps of other adventures/shenanigans going on. But now were were just doing nothing and chilling around the house and had time to properly celebrate. Zuko got a bit beside himself at the allegation that we were doing nothing because he was certainly working really hard at training Aang. Aang hand-waved this comment and continued with his announcement.
The North Wind was the migration wind. It was the wind of transition and turbulence. It was celebrated in the week of the dark of the moon in the last month of summer – meaning from tomorrow. The Airnomads would celebrate by a week of games and activities that were meant to develop the qualities an Airnomad needed to soar through a changing and inclement wind. There was a day of logic, a day of patience, a day of bravery, a day of creativity, a day of preparation, a day of co-operation, and a final day of celebration. Aang considers us all his family and wanted us all to celebrate in proper Air nomad style, hence taking a week off.
There was a bit of resistance – mostly from Zuko, but also a little bit from Toph and myself. Toph said that she still had so much to teach Aang and that while she wouldn't mind celebrating Airnomad style, she didn't think they should just slack off for a week. This was my point too. Zuko said he was touched to be considered family etc but he loudly exclaimed that Sozin's comet wasn't that far away and Aang should be training all his waking hours because he was nowhere near ready to face the fatherlord. Sometimes Zuko slips up and refers to Ozai as the fatherlord, but I don't know if he is aware he does this.
Aang expostulated quite loudly that he was being oppressed by the firenation in response to this comment. Zuko protested and said that he wasn't oppressing him and he just wanted to train him and they got into a small argument about Zuko's disciplined training style vs Aang's lack of initiative re: firebending etc. Aang would preface all his responses to Zuko's further comments with a very cheeky don't you oppress me! This annoyed Zuko greatly.
Sokka put forward the idea that we compromise and still celebrated Air Nomad Style, but we could just play one air nomad game a day rather than filling up the whole day with games. That would still be celebrating but leave plenty of time for training (oppressively or otherwise). We have all agreed to this. Sokka has made a new schedule that will allow for Aang's games but allows time for lots of training. Aang has been given the afternoon off to set things up and has joyfully scampered off with great enthusiasm.
After he left we all had a quick chat and decided to just go with Aang's week of fun. Whatever Aang came up with, we would roll with. Suki piped up that she thought Aang deserves a break from all the training and intensity because she'd never train her Kyoshi Warriors this hard without allowing them some time for fun. I said that if Aang wants to honour his people's memory then we'd be the biggest jerks on the planet if we didn't allow him this festival. So we have all agreed and are bracing ourselves for Aang's week of Airnomad fun.
Sometimes I think the Airnomads must have had a different sense of fun to normal people. Aang finds hurling down the mail system of Omashu fun. I (a normal person) did not get quite the same thrill from nearly hurtling to my death. But that is just me.
-?-
Dinner was also eventful.
Aang is bursting with excitement about his week of fun and says that we are all going to love it. The Airnomads always competed in teams and they tried to match up people so that each team was equal in skill so that the games would be fair. Aang had paired us into three teams. He had decided that the teams should be boy/girl and bender/non-bender. The teams for Aang's week of fun are:
Me and Aang
Toph and Sokka
Suki and Zuko.
Suki and Zuko were not especially pleased with this arrangement. Suki glanced at Zuko and asked if she could go with Sokka instead. Aang answered no because that would mean that Toph and Zuko were together and they were two benders and that would give them an unfair advantage. There was a small eruption of protest from the others regarding this statement because me and Aang are two benders and we were on a team together and Aang was the avatar – didn't that give our team a giant unfair advantage.
Suki said if it was about advantage the then easiest thing would be for her (a non-bender) to go with Aang and for me to be in a team with Zuko. Zuko expressed approval for this arrangement but they got shot down by Aang. Aang said that would be the same problem as before, there would be two benders together. It wasn't a problem for me to go with Aang precisely because he was the avatar. As the avatar and keeper of peace and balance in the universe etc, he could be relied upon to be fair and not cheat. Also it was his festival- so they both had to suck it. (He didn't actually say they both had to suck it- but that was the general gist of Aang's I'm the avatar speech.)
Suki grumbled about being paired with the grumpiest and least fun person in the entire firenation and Zuko shot back that being on a team with her wasn't his ideal arrangement either. Sokka sat between them and told them to make nice – like he would if he were dealing with Hawky and Momo. Zuko and Suki have shaken hands in a disgruntled fashion upon Sokka's request.
-?-
Zuko was a bit cranky at being called the most grumpy and least fun person in the entire firenation. He complained about it (at length) while we did the dishes together. He was complaining about being called grumpy in such a grumpy fashion and the irony was not lost on me. He said he wished that we could be on a team together for Aang's week of fun. I said it would have been nice, but it was Aang's week and we'd all agreed to let him celebrate his people properly, so we all had to go along with his team allocations. I told him that he'd have to be nicer to Suki if they were going to be on a team together for the week of fun. He grumbled that he hated this week of fun already. I pointed out that perhaps his (admitted) hatred for the week of fun was why Suki had called him the least fun person in the fire nation. He ask me if he really was no fun. He was a bit worried that he was becoming the unfun one.
I teasingly said that he wasn't becoming the unfun one, he already was! He is the most serious person I have ever met in my life. Secretly I am very glad of this, before Zuko joined us, I was the unfun one. But Zuko makes me look like I'm an extraordinary comedian. Still, I remembered how it felt when the others were teasing me for hating fun. It hurt a little. I nudged Zuko affectionately and said that I found him a lot of fun to be around. He smiled at me tentatively and asked if I really meant that. I assured him I did and that he was fun in his own special Zuko way
-?-
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alarmingly long Authors note:
Lovely wonderful readers! You have reached the end of Winds of Change. Congratulations and I hope you enjoyed it. Huge thanks you to my brilliant fabulous wonderful reviewers! You guys are definitely a lot of fun!
Change is a big theme in this chapter with a few characters trying on new things or experiencing changes. Suki is trying new things. She is trying to cook, which I think would be a new thing for Suki. She is exploring new roles in the group and the chef is a role that Katara normally fills but Suki just thought she'd have a go. She experimenting with more than just cooking. She's experimenting with her place in the group and she's trying on the traditional feminine domestic role.
I think Suki would at some point feel a bit insecure about her place in the team. She was a leader, but now that role is mostly Sokka's and she is still quite new to the group and is reluctant to boss them around. She is highly trained and very stealthy, but so is Zuko (this maybe a source of conflict for them). I think, like Sokka, she would have a moment to herself where she thinks "I am just an ordinary person surrounded by all these amazing benders." Sokka got a whole episode dedicated to him finding his place and I want Suki to have the same experience. In the show she gets treated like 'Sokka's girlfriend' rather than a person in her own right.
I put her with Zuko partly because I think they still have some issues to work out, they hardly ever interact in the show and because I think they would have some hilarious arguments over who is stealthier/more of a badass. And I think Zuko would be the person she would most likely have open clashes with. Zuko is Sokka's bestie and she's the girlfriend and they are both a bit feisty and I think a bit of mild bickering would naturally happen. She's not trying to be a bitch when she calls him the grumpiest person in the fire nation because a)he is, b) she's quite disappointed about not being on a team with Sokka.
One of my lovely reviewers wrote ages ago that it would be reasonable for Zuko to be a little jealous of Suki and Sokka's easy relationship, because in his experience relationships/marriages were more for political expedience rather than love and seeing a really loving couple would be a bit jarring. He would never have expected to be as lucky in love himself (I think there is a little bit of political expedience in his relationship with Mai – but that is for another chapter). He would feel a bit like a bad and disloyal friend for feeling this way, but would feel it none the less. You are brilliant whoever you are! I love the idea and think it is spot on and I think shades of this would come through when he is refering to how really ridiculously lucky Sokka and Suki are when he is talking to Katara.
Zuko is a bit preoccupied with change because Lu Ten has written something in his letter about Zuko's ability to change and it is weighing on his mind. But that's all I'll say about that. You will have to wait lovely reader. One of day in Aang's week of fun is a day of patience and patience is a virtue! I think Zuko lost his never give up without a fight Dagger in Ba Sing Se. I think the Dai Li would have taken it from him before throwing him in prison. So he needed a new one for my fic and now he has Lu Ten's.
The lovely Donnacrunch * waves at Donna * said that Aang wouldn't be able to heal because it is only available to a select few waterbenders. I always thought Aang would be well pretty terrible at healing because I think Katara had never really struggled to teach Aang anything. Waterbending has always come quiet naturally to Aang and I wanted her to experience the other side of the master's fence that Toph and Zuko are on.
However I don't know if there are only a small number of waterbenders with healing ability. Is it only women who have this ability? I got the impression for the episodes in the northern water tribe that it was something that all water benders could do but they deigned it to be a "Woman's job" so only women got trained in healing. So men might have picked up bits and pieces but it was mostly a woman's role. To Jeong Jeong, he might have seen a smattering of waterbending healers, but not understood the cultural background of healing = woman's role. I would bet my last dollar that the northern water tribe would be reluctant to let their women folk near a battlefield. So to Jeong Jeong it looks like very few waterbenders can actually heal. I think Aang has the ability to heal but he will find it exceptionally difficult to master and may not acquire the skill for a very long time.
Sokka hates being the test dummy because Aang is a bit crap at healing and he is in a really good bit of Love Amongst the Dragons. Dragon powers= dual bending! And both twins can do it! And they will both fall in love at first sight with the same man! Oh yeah! It's that kind of story.
This chapter introduces an Airnomad festival that I just made up and Aang's desire to celebrate his people's traditions, especially now that they are settled at Ember Island for the time being. I actually think this would be a good thing for Aang on a few levels. It will help him honour/remember his people and make him feel more of an affinity with them and their teachings. I think feeling close to them and remembering them will attribute to his 'I'm not killing anyone' schmoozle in Sozin's comet, much like Katara remembering her mother contributed to her anger at Zuko in the lead up to the southern raiders- in my head canon at least.
Also this will help me have an entire week of shenanigans which I hope you all will enjoy. I think the air nomads would have celebrated the winds and the changing of the winds. I learned from Ma jong/ the joy luck club- that the east wind is the where things begin and is the wind of possibility/ I gathered from the movie Chocolat that the north wind is the wind of change and turbulence. If you are interested I even assigned festivals to the other winds in my imagination. I think it would go in a cycle beginning with the east wind and ending with the south wind, therefore the south wind would mark the ending of a cycle and the continuous and circular nature of the Avatar universe. That leaves the west wind to be the wind of freedom and higher Airnomad ideals of detachment. Voila! Airnomand wind festivals in my imagination. I think there is one festival approaching the end of every season.
The others (especially Zuko) are reluctant to let Aang have an entire week off, but at the same time they recognize that the wind festival would be important to him. So a compromise is reached. Aang has also learned that he can get is way pretty quickly with Zuko if he mentions the Airnomad genocide. It's like when someone brings up the holocaust- you can't argue with that.
Of course Aang puts himself on a team with Katara and then makes 'rules' for the others. He wants to spend time with her and thinks they are very much a team already so it is just logical that he would make the teams in such a fashion. However I think he does want the teams to be even and as fair as possible. There was an episode where all the air nomad kids decided that Aang couldn't play with them anymore because he was the Avatar and that would give which ever team he was on an unfair advantage. Oh Aang, let me hug you. So I think Aang does care about fairness (personal desire to be on a team/spend time with Katara aside) and would be conscious of the fact that Sokka and Suki would want to go together and as two non-benders they would be at a disadvantage. But when Suki suggests that she goes on a team with Aang (for Fairness!) leaving Zuko and Katara together, Aang Does Not Want! and gets a bit high and mighty.
The lovely Irako of the Desert * waves at Irako * has directed me to the TvTropes site! Wow! thanks! That site had eaten my brain! The sites has introduced me to the concept of the unfunny or unfun one. It says they are a character who ostensibly has a serious, composed personality, but is funny because he or she is put into funny situations. Apparently this is Katara according to TvTropes, however I think it is equally applicable to Zuko. Zuko is the most serious member of the Gaang but Katara still finds him fun in his own special Zuko way.
Next chapter we will deal with the start of Aang's week of fun and the various ramifications of that.
Til then lovely readers...
oh anddo you guys have any suggestions for a cute nickname for Zuko that is not Zuzu? right now I'm going with Snug-bug or snugs or some variation on snuggles, but I am open to suggestions!