Eiji

Chapter 4: The Princess of Sanming

The morning we arrived in the fishing village of Sanming marked three weeks since Yanmei's arrival on our ship. Yanmei was… unique, to say the least. But I enjoyed her company, nonetheless. I think, though, she made the other crew members a little uneasy. I'm not sure why, but I figured it had to do with her position on the ship, with her relationship with our boss. Honestly, if I hadn't been charged with the job of protecting her by the prince to begin with, I probably would have avoided her just as much as the others.

She was weird. Yanmei talked about weird things often. She always asked me strange questions, and always looked like she was heavily contemplating my answers. In the mornings, she would walk out on deck and sniff the air; she said the smell of the sea made her happy. She never ate much; well, not in front of me, anyway. Once, she said it was embarrassing. Another time she told me she just didn't like food. Sometimes, when she didn't know I was watching, she wore a pained expression, as if something was constantly troubling her. And every night she would watch the stars before leaving me and disappearing into the prince's room.

Some nights after we'd part, I'd go back out onto the deck and look up at the night sky, wondering if I was seeing the same things she was. Somehow, though, that seemed too impossible and, in the end, Yanmei continued to remain a mystery.

She was weird, but something about her seemed so familiar. Maybe it was the way her dark eyes seemed to shine with curiosity about the dumbest, most trivial matters, or maybe it was the way she liked to wear her straight black hair on the top of her head when it was hot out; whatever it was, Yanmei reminded me of a girl I used to know from a small Earth village I visited years ago. But I was only sixteen then and naïve; I'm older now, and I know better.

When we arrived at the village of Sanming on a crisp autumn morning, our ship's precious passenger was eager to set foot on dry land again. Zuko hadn't let her off of the ship at any other stops we had made, claiming it was safer for her to stay hidden on the boat. Hidden from what, she and I weren't sure. But it wasn't until we reached Sanming that the prince grudgingly granted his princess her freedom she so desperately wanted. Of course, as her bodyguard, I was instructed to accompany her, but I didn't mind much. I was a little excited myself.

Whether she was a princess or not, that day Yanmei certainly dressed the part, exiting the cabin to meet me in her finest green dress that Iroh had picked up for her at the last stop. I waited for her as she approached slowly, majestically. "Miss Yanmei," I greeted her, handing her a heavy brown piece of fabric.

"Eiji," she smiled, looking a bit sleepy. "What's this?"

"A cloak, Miss Yanmei," I answered, helping her put it on over her dress. "The prince wants you to wear this so you don't get too cold."

"That's sweet, but I think I'll be fine…"

"I'm sorry, Miss… Prince's orders…"

Yanmei smiled and nodded in understanding. She then exhaled loudly. "Let's go!" She cheered and started for land. I trotted to keep up and as we touched ground for the first time in weeks Yanmei chatted happily about nothing in particular. I don't think she noticed. Or maybe that's why she talked so much. Maybe she was trying to block the town out. Everyone and everything around her seemed so worn out. The entire area had a tired feeling. The buildings were in shambles, the people were in rags. No one spoke but Yanmei. The only other sound was the ocean slapping against the boats in the harbor.

Against such a sad, desolate backdrop Yanmei looked completely out of place. And that all made her seem even more stunning in her green dress than before on the boat. She really did look like royalty.

"Eiji, what's up there?" Yanmei asked, pointing up the main road that led up the side of a small mountain. "Can we go look?" I nodded even though I wasn't so sure we should be going so far from the dock and the two of us started the trek through the town and up the mountain. There was hardly anyone in the area, and as we got closer and closer to the end of the unpaved road it became apparent that it led to one of Sanming's famous gates. Finally we reached our destination and seeming to not care much about the expensive dress she was wearing, Yanmei plopped down in the dirt and leaned back against one of the legs of the wooden gate.

"This is very…" Yanmei trailed off, her eyes gleaming as she surveyed the scenery.

I laughed. "Beautiful seems like the wrong word, doesn't it…"

"Yes…" She agreed. "How about breathtaking?"

I nodded and watched the world below us move slowly.

"Eiji?" Yanmei asked after a long quiet while. "Why is this gate here?"

Deciding it was safe, I sat down in the dirt next to Yanmei and rested on the gate, too. "This town is known as the City of the Three Gates, you know. These gates are very special, too." Yanmei turned around and lightly ran her finger up and down the column we were leaning against; I smiled. "These gates are seen as the gateways into a very sacred place. A place for the spirits and gods of this world. Sanming is very special too, because it's where three doorways from the spirit world lead. It's like an intersection for the spirits."

"Do you think we can travel to that place if we go through this gate here?"

"Go there?"

"To the spirit world."

I thought Yanmei was kidding, but when I looked at her she had a sense of determination reflecting in her eyes. "That would be impossible, probably, for people like us." She didn't say anything, so I elaborated. "When I was little my grandfather told me the only person that can actually travel to this place is the Avatar himself."

"Isn't that who we're looking for?" Yanmei sighed and I nodded. "I think I'd be fine living like this for the rest of my life," she confessed calmly, and her calmness alarmed me just a bit. "If we never find him, I mean, I think it would be alright." I stayed quiet; I wasn't sure how to respond to that. My duty told me we needed to find this man at all costs, but deep down I felt the same way as Yanmei. In that very instant, sitting under the gate with the spirit world to our backs, I wasn't sure anymore if obligation really was more important than how I felt as an individual.

Yanmei was certainly strange, but something was so familiar to me. Yanmei had the habit of expressing the very thoughts I would never dare to bring up. She exposed these hidden feelings, thoughts and ideas I had long since buried deep within myself. And so easily she was able to uncover them, as if she always had known these things about me. It was a bit frightening, but, at the same time, it was the very endearing quality about her that made it seem like Yanmei and I had met long ago. I was afraid that these feelings she was bringing out were the beginnings of love, and that was the last thing I wanted. It was also the one thing I wanted more than anything. I wanted her to smother me in this familiarity, and at the same time, I couldn't move or act on it; my duty to the prince prevented that. So I remained quiet and listened to my princess, everyone's princess, as she began to hum quietly with the wind.

"Eiji?" she said suddenly, stopping the song. "Sometimes I feel like I've known you since before we were born, you know?"

I froze. Those words stuck in me so painfully I couldn't breathe. Yanmei just looked at me, confused.

"Where… Where did you hear that?" I asked and Yanmei smiled a bit.

"What do you mean where did I hear that?" She laughed, but somehow I didn't think I was talking to Yanmei anymore. I tried again.

"I mean… Who told you to say that?"

Yanmei's smile grew wider. "That's just how I feel, you know? Being up here, it makes me feel really close with you. I, well. I think I lo—"

"Yanmei!" I barked, standing up. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. She looked at me a bit dazed. "I think we've been here long enough," I explained. "Let's go back to town." Before she could retaliate I pulled her down the path and away from the gate to the spirit world. I was foolish enough to have let her go there to begin with. I was foolish to believe I was falling in love with this girl. They had been manipulating us all along, from beyond that gate, I was sure. There was just no other explanation for how I felt up there. No other explanation for what Yanmei had said to me.

As we walked, Yanmei was very quiet and let me lead her back down the mountain without complaint. Once we reached the town again I let go of her and glanced back up the mountain. I was sure that, for a second, I saw Her standing there, at the top of the mountain, next to the gate, but in another instant She was gone. There are many things in this world that are hard to explain, I suppose.

"Eiji?" Yanmei asked, looking at the mountain with me. "Is there someone you wish you could visit in the spirit world? You know, if you could."

I smiled at her as calmly as I could manage before glancing up the mountain to make sure She was really gone now. "Of course there's someone. There's always someone." Yanmei nodded and watched the mountain again. I wondered what she was seeing.

"Well, let's go back to the ship," I laughed a bit uneasily. "We've had enough of an adventure for today, I think."

We walked quietly through the streets. After sitting in the dirt, Yanmei's cloak and dress now looked less extravagant; she seemed less out of place, now that she had been dulled. As we turned the corner, though, Yanmei seemed to light up. She ran ahead of me to the side of her prince. I smiled.

Prince Zuko, Iroh, and Yanmei were looking at the wares for sale at a stall on the side of the road. They were just trinkets, nothing too valuable, but some of them seemed a bit strange, exotic. Yanmei kept pointing out a beautiful black butterfly broach. I think maybe she wanted it, but was too shy to ask the prince, and he was too self-absorbed to notice. When the time came for all of us to leave the stall, Yanmei seemed a little disappointed, although she tried hard not to show it. I hung back at the stall for a moment and slid a few coins across the table to the old woman on the other side. "The butterfly," I said quietly, taking it and slipping it into my pocket. The woman nodded in understanding and took my money greedily. I would be sure to give the butterfly to Zuko later that night, before he retreated into his room with her. I would sneak it to him, along with a message.

Make her happy.