29
Kagemi looked out over the side of the ship as she, Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, and Zuko sailed on it. The boat was bound for Ember Island, a famous Fire Nation vacation spot, and Kagemi wasn't looking forward to the trip.
"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island!" Ty Lee said happily, "It's going to be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing."
"Doing nothing is a waste of time." Kagemi snapped as she kept herself in the shade the boat provided for all its travelers.
"We're being sent away on a forced vacation." Zuko growled, "I feel like a child." Kagemi rolled her eyes at how much Zuko sounded like a child.
"Lighten up," Azula said, "So Dad wants to meet with his advisors alone, without anyone else around. Don't take it personally."
"Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?" Ty Lee asked, trying to re-direct the conversation from Zuko's bad mood.
"We used to come here every summer when we were kids." Azula said.
"That must have been fun!" Ty Lee said.
"That was a long time ago…" Zuko muttered. Kagemi raised an eyebrow curiously when his tone suggested that there was more to what he meant. She pushed the thought aside as the boat came up to the docks, where a pair of aged twins dressed in pink came to meet them. Kagemi recognized them as Azula's two advisors Lo and Li.
"Welcome to Ember Island, kids." They greeted in perfect symmetry. Kagemi looked up the path that they were going to walk on, and grimaced when she saw it led to a tiny little beach house, that looked pretty pathetic to the much larger ones around it.
The two elderly women led the way to the house and everyone looked around at the place. Kagemi grimaced at the musty smell the house had.
"It smells like old lady in here." Zuko whispered to Mai as they looked around the room they were going to stay in.
"Gee, I wonder why." Mai replied sarcastically. Kagemi rolled her eyes at the couple and walked away, shouldering her pack that she had brought for the trip. She almost bumped into Ty Lee when she was looking at a picture of two lovely young women, their poses perfectly symmetrical to the other.
"Who are these two beautiful women?" Ty Lee asked the elderly twins.
"Can't you tell?" They asked her with a smile, they imitated the pose the two girls had, "It's Lo and Li!" Kagemi scrunched up her nose in disgust at the sight of them. Ty Lee, redirecting her attention to something else, collapsed on one of the beds they had prepared for four people, Kagemi looked around angrily when she saw there was no fifth bed. Where did they expect her to sleep? Did these old hags even care enough about one of Azula's subordinates to not make a bed for her?
"Ooh, I just love the sea shell bedspread." Ty Lee said happily, snuggling into the bed she claimed as hers.
"It's hideous." Kagemi said, "It looks like someone slashed open the beach's neck and dripped its blood on the sheets." Ty Lee looked up at her, and Kagemi smiled wickedly when she saw her disturbed expression.
"We know that you're upset you were forced to come here this weekend." Lo said.
"But Ember Island is a magical place." Li continued, "Keep an open mind."
"Give it a chance." Lo said.
"And it can help you understand yourselves and each other." They spoke at the same time. Lo reached over to a small table and picked up a smooth, black rock.
"The beach has a special way," She said, handing the stone to her sister.
"Of smoothing even the most ragged edges." Li finished, rubbing the stone.
"Excuse me," Kagemi said testily, "I couldn't help but notice this room only has four beds, and since I have absolutely no want to stay in a room with everyone else here," She sent a pointed glare to Ty Lee, "I'll sleep in a separate place."
The two twins shared a glance, then looked back at her.
"Well… The only other spare bed we have," Li began.
"Is a small sleeping bag that we used for camping trips when we were younger." Lo finished. Kagemi's eyebrow twitched in anger.
"So where do I sleep?" She asked with gritted teeth, trying to keep her anger in control, clenching her fist, feeling her clawed fingers go up against the skin of her palm.
"There isn't a much better place to sleep than beneath the stars." Li said, Kagemi ground her teeth audibly.
"Aw, you get to sleep outside?" Ty Lee whined, embracing Kagemi from behind, "I'm so jealous!"
"Get off me!" Kagemi snarled, shoving Ty Lee away. When she tried to hug her again, Kagemi growled loudly, like a panther, and she backed off.
"Well, since that's settled…" Lo began. The two sisters clapped their hands and pulled the drawstrings on their clothes to reveal two pink bathing suits that were exactly the same.
"Time to hit the beach!" They said happily. Everyone grimaced at the sight of their wrinkled skin exposed in the relatively modest swim suits. Mai covered Zuko's eyes to protect him from seeing it.
Kotaro sighed as he stepped into the water, leaning against the rock Toph was sitting on, her feet in the water. When they landed, the five of them had found the perfect place for them to swim and cool off on such a hot day. It was a small lake, with huge walls surrounding them, suggesting that when it rained hard enough, the water would go all the way up to the top. He looked at Aang when he saw him floating around in the water, Momo sitting on his stomach, and became a little anxious at the sight of his tattoos.
"Uh, Aang?" he called to him, "I know swimming is fun and all, but are you sure you should be exposing yourself like that? Can't you cover up?"
"What? I'm wearing trunks." Aang defended as he looked over at the white-haired Shinjun.
"I know, it's your tattoos I'm worried about." Kotaro said, gesturing to the exposed skin Aang had. "What if someone sees you? Everyone will know you're alive!"
"There are walls all around us." Katara said, "It's completely safe." Kotaro sighed, not believing her words. He watched as Aang found a small waterfall, and started riding down it like a slide. He grew a little uneasy when he did, hoping no one saw him.
Kagemi walked with Azula, Ty Lee, Zuko, and Mai as they walked through the sand on the beach, looking for a good place to relax. Kagemi had no want to be in the sunlight, and she really didn't want to be there, but when Ty Lee insisted she come, Azula ordered her to, and she couldn't refuse the princess. Azula walked over to where a pair of boys were making a sand castle and brought her foot down on it, destroying it. When they looked up to see who had ruined their castle, they saw Azula and her intimidating glare and ran away screaming.
"Very nice." Kagemi complimented as she set up a sun umbrella to block the sun's rays from her pale skin to keep her from getting burned. A young boy instantly came up to Ty Lee's side, giving her a smile.
"Hey, there," He greeted, trying to act cool, "Need some help unpacking?"
"Sure!" Ty Lee said happily, handing him her beach bag. "Thanks." He quickly rifled through it and pulled out a beach mat for Ty Lee to lie down on and she did so happily. Azula glared a little at this, and she turned to Kagemi, who pulled out a spare knife she had stolen from Mai's belongings and had started fiddling with it.
"Why isn't he doing that for me?" She asked her testily, pointing to Ty Lee and the boy as he moved a little to the side to give her some shade. She looked at the pair, then over at Azula, shrugging indifferently.
"Why ask me?" She asked, "I have no idea why men do such stupid things." She tossed the knife around in the air, doing tricks with her fingers, unknowingly attracting the attention of a few of the boys on the beach.
"That's wicked awesome." One said, coming over to her. She glanced at him with her dark eyes, then shooed him away.
"You're in my personal space." She said pompously, hoping that would get him to leave her alone, "Shoo." He stepped back a few steps, but he didn't leave. What Kagemi didn't know was that, in her black, two-piece bathing suit, and with her ears and tail, she had attracted a lot of attention to her body. When she started playing with the knife, she had attracted even more attention to herself by showing she had fingers nimble enough to toss a knife around and not get cut. She glanced over at Zuko and Mai, who were sitting together under their own umbrella, and she saw Zuko reach over and pick up a seashell and hold it out to Mai.
"Here, this is for you." He said, giving her a dashing smile. Mai looked at it disinterestedly.
"Why would I want that?" She asked him.
"I saw it, and I thought it was pretty." Zuko said, "Don't girls like stuff like this?"
"Maybe stupid girls." Mai replied, Zuko scowled and threw the shell away.
"Forget it!" He snapped. He heard snickering, and looked to see Kagemi openly laughing at his expense. He glared at her and she turned away, looking over at Ty Lee as a young man came over and gave her the same shell that Zuko had tried to give to Mai. She guffawed as she accepted it with a "This is so pretty!" She held her stomach as she rolled on her back in laughter, and Zuko scowled at her.
Kagemi glared at the third boy who had come up to her, offering her some refreshments.
"How many times do I have to tell you idiots I don't want anything?!" Kagemi growled at him, using her shadow bending to knock the ice cream cone in his face. She stood up from where she was sitting and walked away from him, wanting to get some space. She growled angrily as she shook some sand out of her hair, "I hate the beach." She came up next to Azula, "Forgive me for intruding on your personal space, highness, but I don't know how much more of them I can stand."
"It's fine." Azula said, "I was just about to take a walk. Care to join me?"
"Yes, please." Kagemi said, following her. They walked along the sand in silence, not really saying anything to the other, and that was fine with them, neither of them were asking for a best friend or anything, and neither of them cared enough to talk with the other. It was a perfectly comfortable walk, until Kagemi felt a sharp pain just beneath her eye, where she knew another black vein was forming under her eye, and she hissed sharply. Lately, she had just been making them disappear with shadow bending, but when they started to come back in the day time, they caused her pain. Not enough pain to make her give up the body, but enough pain to make her know that Hoshiko was still trying to regain control. Azula looked at her curiously as she quickly got rid of the vein under her eye and turned back to the princess.
"What was that about?" Azula asked.
"Nothing, your highness." Kagemi said quickly, she looked ahead of them, and she saw a group of kids playing kuai ball. A game similar to regular beach volleyball, but with some martial arts tied into it. Azula saw this, and smirked.
"Hey, beach bums," She called to Zuko and Mai, "We're playing next." She looked over at Ty Lee, who was being fanned by two guys and given shade by a third, "Ty Lee, get over here now!!" She gladly did so, walking on her hands over to Azula. Zuko stood up, taking off the robe, and not noticing how girls suddenly started giggling over his physique. They went up against the winning team, which had five players, so the teams were evenly matched. Before they started playing, Azula told them to huddle up so they could form a strategy.
"See that girl with the silly pigtails?" She asked them, gesturing to the other team's best player, "When she runs towards the ball, there's just the slightest hesitation of her left foot. I'm willing to bet a childhood injury has weakened her. Keep serving the ball to her left and we'll destroy her, and the rest of her team. Dismissed." They got in their positions, and Azula made the first serve. It soared past the girl with the pigtails, and everyone else. A point for Azula. The other team served the ball, and Zuko dove and kicked it up before it hit the ground. Kagemi came up after him and hit the ball with her palm, sending it soaring over the net and past a few people. It landed next to a pair of teenage boys, who threw it back, and took part in watching the game. They watched as Ty Lee kicked the ball down and landed expertly on the net before back flipping off, and saw Mai kick the ball up over the net when it came back. The ball came to Kagemi, and she hit the ball with the bend of her elbow, sending it flying over. Finally, when they were only a point away from winning, and the ball was served up high by the other team, Zuko crouched down and Azula used his back as a stepping stair and jumped up and kicked the ball down, she 'accidentally' used her fire bending and caused a small explosion on the other team's side. Even the net was in flames.
"Yes! We have defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" Azula shouted in victory to the other players. When she was finished, she turned back to the others, saying in a much lighter tone, "Well, that was fun." Kagemi glared as the pair of teenage boys who had thrown their ball back to them came over to them.
"I'm having a party tonight." The taller one said, "You should come by."
"Sure!" Ty Lee said with a smile, "I love parties."
"Your friends can come, too." The one with the thicker, longer hair said, nodding at Mai and Kagemi. Mai didn't say anything, Kagemi let out an unhappy grunt.
"Uh, what about me and my brother?" Azula asked pointedly, "Aren't you going to invite us?" The two boys glanced at each other, obviously not interested in having either Azula or Zuko at their party, "You don't know who we are, do you?"
"Don't you know who we are?" The taller boy asked pompously, "We're Chan and Ran Juan." Zuko stomped towards the boys angrily, ready to tell him off, but Azula stopped him by holding out her arm. "But, fine, you're invited. Just so you know, though, some of the most important teenagers in the Fire Nation are gonna be at this party, so… try and act normal."
"We'll do our best." Azula promised.
Zuko sighed as he knocked on the door that led outside, where Kagemi was sleeping on the porch. After their day at the beach, she said she needed some rest and was going to take a nap. Ty Lee made a crack about her 'cat napping' and they had to force her out of the porch to make sure Ty Lee was safe from her clawed hands.
"Kagemi, get up." Zuko called, "Lo and Li want to have dinner outside."
"Fine, I'll just be a minute." Kagemi groaned from the other side. Zuko, curious about why her voice sounded so hoarse, opened the door and saw Kagemi quickly hide her face under the sleeping bag, "Why are you out here?! I told you I'd just be a minute! Leave!"
"What's the matter with you all of a sudden?" Zuko asked, "Are you sick?"
"No!" Kagemi snapped, moving further into the sleeping bag when he tried to pull it off of her, "I just… I-I just woke up! I don't want you to see me." Zuko rolled his eyes.
"Kagemi, I doubt you could be any more disgusting than usual when you just wake up." Zuko said dryly, grabbing the fold of the sleeping bag and pulling it away from her face. He gasped at what he saw. Kagemi had huge, black, crack-like lines across her face that had been tipped white, all of the cracks' bases were at her black eyes.
She glared at him and pushed him out with a huge wave of shadow bending "LEAVE!" She slammed him into the wall on the other side of the door, and slammed it shut. Zuko was stunned for a few seconds, wondering just what all of that was about, before turning and walking away.
On the other side of the door, Kagemi's breath was slightly labored as she quickly removed the cracks from her face. She growled angrily, clenching her fist in anger. These attempts of Hoshiko trying to come out and regain control were getting tiresome. Every time she slept, the signs of her attempts to take over increased, and when it came to be too much, she would wake up. It was one of the reasons she hadn't been getting enough sleep during the night, so she had been taking repeated cat naps to try and get enough sleep so as not to devalue herself to Azula and Fire Lord Ozai. She had to keep this body for herself, she refused to give it back, not after so many years of trying to get her hands on it.
Kagemi sat, grudgingly, next to Mai and Azula as they all ate dinner with Lo and Li.
"Why didn't you tell those guys who we were?" Zuko asked before he ate his food.
"I guess I was… intrigued." Azula said, "I'm so used to people worshipping us."
"They should." Ty Lee said with an encouraging grin.
"Yes, I know." Azula said, "And I love it. But for once, I just wanted to see how people would treat us if they didn't know who we were."
"Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand," Lo began.
"Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate." Li finished, "Ember Island reveals the true you." Kagemi rolled her eyes.
"What a load of garbage." She muttered.
Everyone looked up when the twins stood up, clapping their hands happily as they said, "To the party!"
"No." Kagemi said firmly, glaring at Ty Lee as she held out a pink ribbon.
"But you'd look so cute!" Ty Lee said with a pout.
"No." Kagemi repeated. She tried to walk away from her, but Ty Lee followed her.
"And it would match your dress!" She said, trying to get her to wear it.
"In what way?" Kagemi asked sharply.
"Well, I thought, since you didn't pack a dress, I'd give you one of mine." Ty Lee said. Kagemi glared.
"No way in hell." She said, she held up a hand, "I'm not wearing a dress."
"Wear it, Kagemi." Azula said, "It's inappropriate party attire if you don't." Kagemi growled in the back of her throat, but didn't object to what Azula said.
"Fine. I'll wear the dress." Kagemi said, glaring at Ty Lee, "But don't expect me to wear the ribbon." Ty Lee squealed happily and jumped up, embracing her. Kagemi snarled and pushed her away, "How many times do I have to tell you, you pink sugar ball?! I don't want hugs!" Ty Lee stepped back from her anger, "Just give the damn dress."
Ty Lee held up a pink and purple dress for her to wear and she growled as she snatched it out of her hands and went to go change.
Azula reached up and knocked on the door. Chan opened it and looked quizzically at the group.
"Um, you're a little early." He said, "No one's here yet."
"I heard you telling someone you'd be partying from dusk 'til dawn." Azula said, "It's dusk. So we're here."
"But that's just an expression…" Chan said.
"We are the perfect party guests." Azula said, "We arrive right on time, because we are very punctual." Chan shrugged and let them in.
"Alright, listen," He began as he walked them inside, "My dad's an admiral, he has no idea I'm throwing this party, so don't mess anything up."
"We'll try our hardest." Kagemi replied dryly, "Now where's the food? The stuff those old hags fed us isn't anywhere near enough to satisfy me."
"It's this way." Chan said, Kagemi started to follow him to where the food was, but they were stopped when Azula spoke up.
"That's a sharp outfit, Chan." She complimented, Chan and Kagemi looked back at her, "Careful, you could puncture the hull of an Empire Class Fire Nation battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea." Kagemi and Chan both looked at her oddly, "Because… it's so sharp."
"Um… thanks." He said, putting on a smile, letting it drop once his back was turned. He directed Kagemi to a table of food, and Kagemi went and picked up some meat and popped the food into her mouth. Chan came up beside her and she narrowed her eyes at him, "Is she always that creepy?" He pointed to Azula, and Kagemi swallowed her food before speaking.
"No." She replied, "She's normally malicious and manipulative. It's quite something if you ever get a chance to watch." She went back to eating, not caring for any further conversation with the young man.
While he was fixing his hair, Ran Juan caught sight of Azula and the others walking through the house. He tore his eyes away from the mirror and smirked coolly at them.
"Hey." He greeted, "First ones here, eh?" No one replied to him.
Zuko 'tsk'ed, "He thinks he's so great…" He turned to Mai, "Well?" She looked at him, "What do you think of him?"
"I don't have any opinion about him." Mai said, "I hardly know him."
"You like him, don't you?" Zuko accused, Mai rolled her eyes and walked away.
Kagemi stood next to Azula as the party had hit its full swing, people talking and chatting happily. She didn't care for any more food, and if anyone tried to start a conversation with her, she turned them away.
"I hate parties…" She muttered to Azula as they leaned against a wooden post that held up the house.
"Then why did you come?" Azula asked.
"You told me to." Kagemi said, "I said I'd obey you, and I will. I swore my loyalty to you."
"And you are a very loyal subject." Azula said, sounding like she was commending her, "But I'm afraid you attract a little too much attention."
"It's Ty Lee's dress." Kagemi said in distaste as she glared at the clothes she wore. "I hate pink."
"Then why did you wear it?" Azula asked.
"You told me to." Kagemi replied. They watched as Ty Lee knocked down her harem of guys whom she had met at the beach and came over beside them with a smile.
"Oh, I'm glad you're here." She said, "Those boys won't leave me alone! I guess they all just like me too much." She shrugged and Kagemi rolled her eyes.
"Come on, Ty Lee, you can't be this ignorant." Kagemi said.
"What are you talking about?" Ty Lee asked in genuine confusion.
"Oh, sweet spirits…" Kagemi sighed, smacking her forehead with her hand at Ty Lee's answer.
"Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them." Azula explained, "You're not a challenge. You're a tease. It's not like they actually care who you are." Ty Lee's eyes filled with tears and she began to cry. Kagemi cackled in mirth at the sight of it.
"Nice one!" She praised Azula, who sent her a look to get her to stop laughing, "Sorry." Azula went over to Ty Lee and took her hands in hers.
"Okay, okay, calm down." She said, "I didn't mean what I said." Ty Lee wiped her tears away and looked up at Azula, "Look, maybe I just said it because… I was a little…" She leaned in and whispered, "Jealous."
"What?" Ty Lee gasped, "You're jealous of me? But you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world!"
"Kiss ass." Kagemi muttered.
"Well, you're right about all those things," Azula said, "But for some reason, when I meet boys, they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them."
"Because you probably would do something horrible to them." Kagemi said, she glared at a boy that was staring at her, and he turned away, "I just wish they would get it through their thick heads that I'd do the same thing."
"I'm sure they're just intimidated by you." Ty Lee said to Azula, "Okay, look, if you want a boy to like you, just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says, even if it's not funny."
"Well, that sounds really shallow and stupid." Azula said with a disapproving frown. She turned to Ty Lee with a smile, "Let's try it." Ty Lee smiled.
"Okay, Kagemi, come over here and pretend to be a boy." Ty Lee said, Kagemi groaned and went over in front of Azula, taking a pose a boy normally would with a girl.
"Hey there, hot stuff." She greeted in a fake voice, "How ya likin' this party?" She jumped back when Azula laughed loudly and boisterously. Heads turned towards Azula, and she coughed. After a moment, they went back to what they had been doing previously.
"I'd go for a… light giggle next time." Ty Lee said gently, Azula flushed ashamedly and nodded.
"I'm going to get a drink." Kagemi said, hoping that Chan snuck some alcohol to the party for her to drink.
"Get me some punch." Azula said, Kagemi nodded and headed towards the table, passing by Zuko and Mai as they sat together on a couch.
"I'm bored." Mai said.
"I know." Zuko replied.
"I'm hungry." Mai said.
"So what?" Zuko asked.
"So, find me some food." Mai said.
"Sure." Zuko said, getting up and walking over to the table, standing beside Kagemi by accident as she talked with someone.
"Seriously?" She asked a boy as he handed her a drink, "Virgin fire whiskey? Don't you have anything else?" The boy shook his head and Kagemi groaned, handing him the cup back, "Then just get me a couple cups of punch." He nodded with a smile and got them as quickly as he could and handed them to her, "Thanks." She walked away, not caring that the boy was following her.
Once Zuko had gotten some food that he knew Mai liked, he started walking back to her, bumping into the boy that was following Kagemi and dropping the food. Kagemi continued on, not caring for the oncoming spat.
"Hey, watch it!" Zuko snapped at the boy, "That food was for my cranky girlfriend!" He pointed to where Mai was sitting and was surprised to see her talking to Ran Juan. Anger coursed through him and he went over to him and pushed him away from Mai.
"What are you doing?" Ran Juan asked him, fixing his hair.
"Stop talking to my girlfriend!" Zuko growled at him.
"Relax, it's just a party." Ran Juan said, coming over to him. Zuko raised up his hand and pushed him back, crashing into a large vase with his fire bending.
"Zuko!" Mai cried, coming over to him, "What is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me?!" Zuko said angrily.
"Your temper's out of control!" Mai said, "You blow up over every little thing! You're so impatient, and hotheaded, and angry!"
"At least I feel something!" Zuko shot back, "As opposed to you! You have no passion for anything! You're just a big blah!" Mai turned away.
"It's over, Zuko." She said, "We're done."
Not too far away, Kagemi snickered at the sight of their fight. "About time." She turned to Ty Lee, "They're a terrible couple." Ty Lee frowned, shaking her head in disagreement.
"Who broke my Nana's vase?" Chan shouted, coming over to the broken vase. Ran Juan pointed to Zuko, and he ran towards him, "That's it, you're outta here!"
"I was just leaving." Zuko said, stalking away from him.
"Have fun by yourself, loser boy!" Ran Juan said to his back. Kagemi rolled her eyes and handed her drink to Ty Lee.
"Later." She said, Ty Lee watched her leave with wide eyes.
"Where are you going?" She asked.
"If he's leaving, I'm leaving." Kagemi replied, gesturing to where Zuko had just gone through the door, "I'm not sticking around." She walked out of the door and out of the house. While Zuko went further down the beach, Kagemi only walked down the shore, letting the ocean water splash against her feet and she felt a little satisfaction in the fact that it was ruining Ty Lee's dress. She looked out at the ocean, seeing the moon's reflection against the ocean in the distance. She didn't think it beautiful, seeing as the moon probably did that every night, but she wouldn't want it not to happen. It was an interesting sight to her. She hissed when she suddenly felt a piercing headache, as if someone was trying to break through the inside of her skull with a spear. She held her head as she groaned in pain, hunching over as she tried to will the pain away. She looked down at the ground in front of her, and her eyes widened when she saw her shadow was being manipulated against her will. A pair of blue eyes appeared in the shadow, and she glared at them. With an angry shriek, she bent up the shadow that held the two eyes and had it thrown out into the ocean.
"What was that about?"
Kagemi turned her head to see Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee all had left the party. She stood up straight and said nothing as she walked over to the three girls.
"It was nothing, your highness." Kagemi said calmly.
"It sure didn't look like nothing." Mai said. Kagemi glared at her, growling.
"It. Was. Nothing." She said through clenched teeth, "So drop it, alright?"
Ty Lee gasped, "Kagemi!" She looked over at her and saw she was looking at her feet in horror, "You ruined my dress!"
"It's a dress. Get over it." Kagemi said. Azula gave her a look, silently commanding her to apologize, "Sorry, forget I said that. I'll get you a new one that's just as good."
Azula put her hand on Kagemi's shoulder, "Come on, I'm going to find Zuko. You stay with the girls, okay?"
"Yes." Kagemi said, nodding once. She followed Ty Lee and Mai to a small, private area where they all sat down on different stone seats. Kagemi simply leaned against one that was a little away from the fire pit in between the three, crossing her arms on the stone and putting her head there, waiting until Azula came back with Zuko.
"Guys?" Kotaro was awoken by the sound of Toph's call to him and the others, "You're all gonna think I'm crazy, but it feels like a metal man is coming." Kotaro stared at the blind girl dryly for a moment, not liking the fact that she had woken him up from his almost impossible-to-find sleep for that.
"You're right, I do think you're crazy." Kotaro said as Aang groaned from a bright light shining in his eyes. He held up his hand to try and block the source, wondering just what could be so bright when it was so dark. He looked and saw a figure on the cliff of the walls around the pool where they had made camp. The light was a reflection of moonlight off of what appeared to be a metal gauntlet around his hand. The man didn't move much other than taking in a deep breath. When he exhaled, a small something expelled from him and shot towards the others, exploding once it got close to them.
In retaliation, Toph bent up some rocks to knock him off the cliff. Again, it was blown away with another explosion, and it traveled closer to them than the previous one. Aang blew it back to where it wouldn't hurt them, but it did a considerable amount of damage to the cliff. Kotaro came up next, holding out two fingers towards the man and shooting out a lightning bolt at him, only to have him step to the side and avoid it. Katara, trying her method, brought up a huge tower of water to bring down on him, and he blasted through that as well. The result of the explosion caused a cloud of steam to come up, blocking the man's view of the group.
Kagemi hated the silence between her and the two girls. So, when she heard Azula and Zuko's feet treading through the sand, she was grateful for their arrival. She looked up at Azula as she sat beside where she was leaning against the stone seat. As Zuko passed Mai, she glanced up at him, looking a little guilty.
"Hey." She greeted him awkwardly.
"Where's your new boyfriend?" Zuko asked scathingly. Mai scowled and turned away, that guilty expression disappearing from her face. Zuko frowned when he saw what he had done and moved to sit beside her, "Are you cold?" When he moved his arm to put it around her shoulders, she slapped it away.
"I'm freezing!" Ty Lee said, trying to make the couple's situation a little less awkward. When Zuko looked at her, she smiled in a friendly way, and he returned it.
"I'll make a fire." He said, he glared up at a summer home on the hill he and Azula had come from, "There's plenty of stuff to burn in there."
The man shot another blast through the steam, and everyone went to hide behind a ditch Toph had made for their protection.
"This is crazy!" Sokka said, "How can we beat a guy who blows things up with his mind?!"
"We can." Aang said, "Jump on Appa, I'll try to distract him!" He ran into the smoke from the last explosion and jumped up on the walls, dodging another explosion from the man as he went to the place beyond the plateau where they were staying. Everyone was stunned for a moment, listening as three more explosions came from the other side of the plateau. After the fourth one, Kotaro was able to snap back to his senses.
"You heard the man!" He said to the others, "Go! Go!" They all quickly gathered up their things, listening to the explosions in the distance and doing their best to ignore them as they got ready. As much as they hated the feeling of the rumbling ground, and the huge boom that shook their brains inside their skulls, they hated the silence more. When there were booms, that meant Aang was alive and still fighting, when there was silence, there was reason to think that Aang had failed and had perished at the man's hand (Or forehead, whatever).
When they got everything packed up, they all got on the bison, and they took off into the sky. They looked around for Aang, and saw something shooting through the air from one of the explosions. Seeing that it was Aang, Sokka directed Appa to fly underneath him and catch him in the saddle, escaping the man. Once he was with them, Katara immediately wrapped her arms around Aang, who was tired and breathless from fighting with the man.
"I'm okay." He assured her.
"Well, that was random." Toph said.
"I don't think so." Katara said, "I get the feeling he knows who we are." Kotaro frowned, glaring at the plateau as it quickly grew smaller and smaller behind them.
Kagemi watched as Zuko tossed a portrait of his family from when he was young into the fire he had made.
"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked him in surprise.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Zuko snapped.
"But it's a painting of your family…" Ty Lee said, looking at the burning remains of the picture as it turned to ash in the fire pit.
"You think I care?!" Zuko snapped.
"I think you do." Ty Lee said softly.
"You don't know me!" Zuko said angrily, "So why don't you just mind your own business?!" He turned away and looked out to the ocean.
Ty Lee scoffed quietly, "I know you."
"No, you don't!" Zuko said, turning back to her, "You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world, where everything is great all the time!"
"Zuko, leave her alone." Mai said, but Zuko wasn't finished yet.
"I'm so pretty!" Zuko said in a high-pitched tone, mocking her, "Look at me! I can walk on my hands! Woo!" He did a handstand, scowling at her, then fell forward onto his back. "Circus freak."
Kagemi let out a snickering laugh at his words, and Ty Lee looked at him with tears in her eyes, "Yes, I'm a circus freak. Go ahead and laugh all you want! You wanna know why I joined the circus?"
"Here we go…" Azula sighed.
"Do you have any idea what my home life was like? Growing up with six sisters who look exactly like me?!" Ty Lee asked, standing up, "It was like I didn't even have my own name!" She fell back down to her knees, her voice shaking, "I joined the circus because I was scared of living the rest of my life as part of a matched set!" She looked up, glaring at Zuko through her tears, "At least I'm different now! Circus freak is a compliment!"
"I guess it's why you need ten boyfriends, too." Mai said.
"I'm sorry, what?" Ty Lee looked at her.
"Attention issues." Mai said simply, "You couldn't get enough attention when you were a kid, so you're trying to make up for it now."
"Well, what's your excuse, Mai?" Ty Lee asked, "You were an only child for fifteen years! But even with all of that attention, your aura is this dingy, pasty, grey-!"
"I don't believe in auras." Mai interrupted.
"Yeah, you don't believe in anything." Zuko said, getting up from where he had laid down.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry I can't be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you." Mai said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, too." Zuko said, walking over to her, "I wish you would be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of us, instead of keeping all your feelings all bottled up inside! She just called your aura dingy! Are you gonna take that?!"
"What do you want from me?" Mai asked as she lay back on the stone bench she sat on, "You want a tearful confession about how hard my childhood was? Well, it wasn't. I was a rich, only child who got anything I wanted… As long as I behaved… and sat still… and didn't speak unless spoken to… My mother said we had to keep out of trouble. We had my father's political career to think about."
"Well, that's it, then." Azula said conclusively, "You had a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and when you strayed from them, you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything, and can't express yourself." Mai quickly sat up.
"You want me to express myself?" She asked, she stood up, shouting, "Leave me alone!" There was a moment of silence. Kagemi raising her eyebrows in surprise at her voice, but nothing more except maybe a twitch.
"I like it when you express yourself." Zuko said softly as he came over to her. When he reached out, she smacked his hand away.
"Don't touch me!" She snapped, "I'm still mad at you."
"My life hasn't been easy, either, Mai." Zuko said.
"Whatever." Mai replied, "That doesn't excuse the way you've been acting."
"Calm down you guys!" Ty Lee said, "All this negative energy is bad for your skin. You'll totally break out."
"Bad skin?" Zuko repeated scathingly, "Normal teenagers worry about bad skin. I don't have that luxury! My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson on my face!"
"Sorry, Zuko, I…" Ty Lee trailed off quietly.
"For so long, I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy." Zuko continued, looking out at the ocean, "I'm back home now, my dad talks to me." He let out a humorless laugh, "He even thinks I'm a hero! Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not! I'm angrier than ever, and I don't know why!"
"There's a simple question you need to answer then," Azula said, "Who are you angry at?"
"No one!" Zuko said, "I'm just angry!"
"Yeah, who are you angry at, Zuko?" Mai asked.
"Everyone!" Zuko said, he grasped at his hair, "I don't know!"
"Is it Dad?" Azula asked.
"No, no…" Zuko said quickly, removing his hands from his hair. He wasn't angry at his father, how could he be?
"Is it your uncle?" Ty Lee asked.
"Me?" Azula asked.
"No, n-no! No!" Zuko said quickly, he wasn't angry at his uncle, annoyed, maybe, but never angry, and while he had been angry at Azula a few times before, but she wasn't the cause of all the anger he had now.
"Then who? Who are you angry at?" Mai asked.
"Answer the question, Zuko!" Azula said.
"Talk to us!" Ty Lee urged.
"Come on, answer the question." Mai said.
"Come on, answer it." Azula said.
Zuko had had enough, and with a powerful wave of his hands that made the fire in the pit reach up to ten feet in height, he cried, "I'm angry at myself!" Everyone shielded themselves from the pillar of fire until it had died down, and Zuko had calmed down a little bit.
"Why?" Azula asked.
"Because I'm confused." Zuko said softly, "Because I don't think I know the difference between right and wrong anymore."
"How pathetic." Kagemi laughed from where she was still leaning against the rock. Mai got up from where she sat and walked over to him.
"I know one thing I care about." She said, taking his hand, "I care about you." Zuko smiled and they shared a kiss. They stopped and looked back to see Azula giving them a slow applause.
"Well, those were all wonderful performances, everyone." She said.
"I guess you wouldn't understand, would you, Azula?" Zuko asked, "Because you're just so perfect."
"Well, yes, I guess you're right." Azula said, "I don't have sob stories like all of you. I could sit here and complain how our Mom liked Zuko more than me, but I don't really care." Her gaze turned to the still glowing embers of the fire, "My own mother… thought I was a monster…" Kagemi quirked an eyebrow at her unusually soft tone of voice, which was gone as quickly as it had come as she cheerfully replied, "She was right, of course, but it still hurt." Ty Lee looked over at where Kagemi had been sitting.
"What about you, Kagemi?" She asked, the girl in question turned her dark eyes to Ty Lee.
"What?" She asked.
"You've been so quiet this whole time." Ty Lee said, "What about your life?"
"Like I'd tell you guys." Kagemi replied with a scoff, "And besides, there isn't much to tell anyway. I'm a Ni-nin, the other half of a person. This is the longest I've been in control of this body since…" She shrugged, "Well, since I was born. I was always allowed control before because I was a much better bender than she was, so I only came out for battle." She moved up so she was no longer leaning up on her arms, but sitting on her knees with her elbows resting on the stone, she had been leaning against, "But, it's not like it matters anymore anyway." She held out one hand with a grin, "I'm here." She held out her other hand, "She's not." She brought them together, "I'm happy." She put them back down on the stone, "End of story."
"But what was all that stuff from before?" Zuko asked, "With all those cracks on your face?" He saw how Kagemi instantly stiffened, the fur on her tail bristling, and her ears hooding back. She gave the scarred prince a fierce glare, a low growl sounding in her throat.
"What is he talking about?" Azula asked her, looking at her sternly.
"A minor setback." Kagemi replied through gritted teeth, still glaring at Zuko, "A problem easily attended to. It'll fix itself with time. There's no need to worry about it."
"It doesn't sound like it." Azula said.
"I said don't worry about it!" Kagemi snapped, whipping her head towards the princess, "If that bitch thinks I'm giving this body back that easily, she's got another thing coming!"
"…So your other half is trying to regain control?" Azula asked, Kagemi's eyes went wide when she realized what she had just said, and cursed under her breath.
"I can handle her easily." She said, "We had an accord, and unless I somehow break it, which I won't, she won't get her body back." The fur on her tail was still bristling, but she calmly said, "It's nothing to worry about at all. I'm in control now. It's fine."
After a moment of contemplative silence, Ty Lee said, "What Lo and Li said came true." She picked up a nearby rock and rubbed the smoothness of it, "The beach did help us learn about ourselves." She smiled, "I feel all smoothed. I'll always remember this."
"You know what would make this trip really memorable?" Azula asked with an evil grin.
Azula knocked on the door of Chan's house, and he opened it, looking curiously at the group of people on the other side.
"We've got some bad news, Chan." Azula said.
"Party's over." Zuko said.
With that, the five of them ran into the house, and proceeded to destroy everything in sight.