Szeto thinks for a moment unsure how to answer the question, he scratches the back of his head for a moment before standing up.
"It's kind of like, whaaa!" he jabs the air but doesn't actually bend he turns back around to her repeating the action,
"No! It's more like… woosh! Yeah woosh" he smiles looking back down at his sister, Ikari looks confused, her brows furrowed and mouth agape,
"That was… helpful Szeto thanks" she stands and moves to her closet taking out one of her prestigious unwrinkled outfits moving to the bathroom. I
Ikari rushes to the backyard praying no one has noticed the little package she had left the day before, she got worried when she saw the bird was gone from its previous perch. She looks around the backyard almost frantically before a familiar voice calls to her,
"Relax kid, I covered your tracks." Lai is smirking at her younger sister, Ikari turns to her and she chuckles at the panicked face sported by the younger girl.
"I lured him into the shed before mom came out here, he's a little shaken but no one saw." Ikari sighs in relief looking across the yard at a barely touched shed, nestled into a corner of the gray stone wall surrounding their property. The landscapers won't go near it due to the thorny plants growing around the old structure and the wall behind it, as if forgotten by the world on its own little island.
"Lured him? How did you…" she trails off when she sees Lai's punching bag gone, The older girl starts laughing again.
"Yeah I was, dragging it along the ground while he squawked and pecked at me was a real big spectacle. I'm surprised no one noticed." she shrugs and Ikari furrows her brows in thought,
"So he's ok? Because you didn't have to move your stuff or cover for me at all…" Lai shakes her head dismissing Ikari's words,
"I'm your sister I'm supposed to cover for you, besides it's getting colder and school is about to start up again so I should start training more inside anyway." Ikari laughs starting to walk to the far shed her sister behind her,
"Thanks" Lai nods back in recognition, she's quieter than usual today, not as quick witted or mouthy as usual. When they enter the shed they are greeted not by a docile bird perched on exercise equipment instead a mess of falling down feathers and squawking is their hello,
"God Lychee you scared the fuck out of me! What the hell?" Lai yells as the small bird makes himself comfortable on Ikari's shoulder whose eyes are wide as sharp nails are surprisingly gentle with her clothes.
"Am I dead?" She asks out loud her sister chuckling in response again while dusting off her clothes,
"Such a sensitive little baby it's a tiny chick he's not going to kill you, he actually seems to like you quite a bit." Ikari lets out a slow breath to calm down, looking at the chick perched on her she hears it squawk softly next to her ear.
"He's a growing boy, he'll be hungry soon." Lai holds out a finger only to be glared at by the creature.
"I'll go into town and pick up some stuff for you and you can… pay me back later" Lai smirks turning back towards the door and Ikari waves Lychee off her shoulder, he flies off her and finds his way back on Lai's punching bag pecking a small hole into the seams.
"How am I supposed to pay you back the fake money you use on dad's credit card? Shouldn't I pay him back instead?" Lai rolls her eyes while securing the door of the shed before poking Ikari's forehead,
"First of all, just because it's on a piece of plastic doesn't make the money fake. Second of all, credit cards get a bill and I'm not explaining why I'm buying crickets at the end of the month so you will be paying me back because I'm using my own money and you'll be paying me back for my time." Ikari walks back to the house with her,
"You have money?" She doesn't know where Lai would get her own money from, none of them had jobs, they were too busy with other things, studying, summer programs, extracurriculars, etc.
"My sweet sheltered sister, you think all those tournaments give out just trophies? Top three spots get prize money." Ikari spent a few minutes trying to remember how many tournaments Lai had one this year let alone her whole life,
"My god you've built an empire." Ikari whispers to herself causing Lai to laugh and slap her back, Ikari stumbles forward a bit from the force.
"You crack me up Kari, I'll catch you in a few hours." Ikair follows Lai into the house walking through the hallway and into the room she shares with their other sister. Ikari doesn't spend a lot of time in her older sister's room but the trophies are just as blinding as she remembers.
"Wait so you're going now?" Lai sits on her bed letting down her hair and starting to brush it, she bites her bottom lip nervously which is strange for the usually confident girl.
"Yeah I have to um, take care of some things in town so it won't be that far out of my way" Ikari can almost see a blush creep onto Lai's face before she stands quickly setting the brush down and doing her hair up less messy than before as if she was trying to impress someone.
"Can I come with you? It's kind of boring here when-" Lai spins on her heel, her eyes blown wide and her hands up,
"NO! Ehem…" she clears her throat after startling her little sister, she rubs the back of her neck looking away nervously,
"Why don't you go sit with dad in his study? Like when you were little and we were all learning bending you always liked that didn't you?" At the mention of bending Ikari's mind flashes to her strange dream the night before, she feels the blood drain from her face and tries to walk around the subject rather than dive any deeper.
"That's actually a good idea. I'm sure reading books that aren't meant for seven year olds will enrich the experience." Lai chuckles moving to her closet reaching far into the back,
"In your defense, you were seven. Now I need to change so get out." Ikari scoffs slightly laughing at the excuse,
"You're just going into town, what do you need to change for?" Lai emerges from the closet glaring slightly.
"I think I have time for a shower too, so it's time for you to leave, little girl." Ikari doesn't have time to answer before she is pushed from the bedroom, the door closing in her face.
Ikari stands in front of her father's study, the large wooden doors staring back at her, she twiddles her thumbs before wiping her sweaty palms on her skirts. Why is she so nervous to talk to her own father? Ikari reaches out a hand and knocks softly on the door, the sound rings out lifeless and stale.
"What is it?" Zoa ll asks from the other side, His voice isn't angry or cold as expected, more tired and distant. Ikari opens the door slowly peeking her head in,
"Are you busy, sir?" She asks looking at the man sitting behind the desk, he is confused to hear her as if he was expecting someone else.
"uh… a little, but come in anyway" He moves some papers out of his way resting his elbows on the desk, he folds his hands together resting his chin on top of his laced fingers. He stares at Ikari over a pair of browlined reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose.
"What can I help you with Angel?" Ikari could barely spot a ghost of a smile on her father's face.
"I wanted to know if you had any books in here on general iroh?" She stands in front of his desk staring at the floor, the silence as he thinks is deafening and then broken when he stands by the squeak of his desk chair when he stands and the soft tap of his glasses landing on the desk.
"I may have something in here, what are you interested in reading the invasion of the URN with Avatar Korra or-" Ikari stiffens at the words accidentally cutting Zoa off suddenly,
"No! Uh my apologies sir." she clears her throat sighing deeply and relaxing her shoulders, she hears chuckling from her father feeling his hand on her shoulder. He squeezes it softly while leading her to sit in front of his desk.
"Relax, I'm your father, not the fire lord." Ikari nods, swiping a stay hair behind her ear, she looks to his bookshelves large dark oak structures holding dusty books that look untouched except for a select few.
"Yes uh… I was actually looking for the first Iroh, one of the founders of the white lotus?" Ikari's father furrows his brows walking to his large bookshelf and looking over the titles his pointer finger brushes over the books quickly reading the words on each spine, he stops abruptly pulling out a book and scanning the back.
"It's not a book about him but it was written by him shortly after the hundred year war, is this who you're looking for?" He hands her the book, the author picture on the back was of the same man in her dreams. He looked younger, his beard shorter and more gray than what she saw in her dream, this caused Ikari's worries to dissolve slightly. He didn't look how he did in her dream, so that's all it was, a dream. Her subconsciousness wanted to know what bending felt like, so she'd keep asking if it meant making the dreams stop and making her mind quiet down so she could focus on her life again.
"Yeah um… can I read a few chapters of this? In here?' she asks looking down at the cover of the book,
"The story of Lu-Ten? Who's Lu-Ten?" she asks softly and her father sits back at his desk putting his glasses back on,
"I'm not sure, maybe you'll find out. Take all the time you need Angel." he smiles before returning to his paperwork.
Ikari spends the next two hours reading Iroh's book, her father was right it wasn't about him but instead about a young fire bender fighting in a war he's not sure he believes in while his father breathes down his neck. She gets almost halfway through the book, there are enough wise old man metaphors and advice to make her brain melt but the overall story is compelling and well written. It's almost eerie how similar the writing's voice is to Ikari's dream the other night, it makes her nervous. She looks up to her father who hasn't stopped working since he sat back down, she closes the book staring at the picture on the back again. It's old black and white, definitely refurbished.
"Father?" she speaks startling the man out of his thoughts, he takes off his glasses again showing he's listening by raising his eyebrows.
"What does it feel like to bend?" she stares at the carpet nervousness and embarrassment creeping through her as a result of asking such a question. Ikari's father knits his eyebrows together in confusion, his nose wrinkling as a result.
"Strange question where is this coming from?" he asks in return and Ikari shrugs a shameful blush crawling up her neck, Zoa leans back in his chair staring at the ceiling in thought for a moment.
"Fire bending comes… from the breath, it feels like a, ah." he rubs his forehead having a hard time finding the right words.
"It's almost instinctual, you focus on the breath breathing in and when you breathe out it runs through your body warming you from here." He points to his sternum right under his chest,
"The warmth reaches your toes and your fingertips then there's sparks, and then fire. Eventually if you practice enough it becomes a natural response." Ikari nods trying to imagine what he's describing,
"Oh, is that the time? Your mother should be home soon. How about we go meet her?" Ikari nods again as he stands standing with him,
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Ikari dusts off her skirts following her father to the foyer just in time to hear the car pull up.
Ikari bows to her mother as she enters the house, she is smiling which is unusual. With a smug look on her face, she turns to one of the servants showing more teeth than Ikari had seen in her entire life. It was nerve wracking, almost scary.
"I'll see you in the sitting room Zoa" she nods to her husband who bows slightly in recognition. For two fire benders to act so cold to one another was an irony completely lost to Ikari, she wasn't old enough to remember when her parents embraced each other and their children with a homey warmth instead of their patented icey grip. Ikari and the rest of her family gathered in the sitting room, six children lined up perfectly in front of a lavish sofa with a roaring fire in front of them. Their father sits in a chair with a pipe in his mouth, he seems to be zoning out as he puffs on the wood tube, after a moment Ikari's mother walks in with the same smile on her face. After a moment Ikari's mother enters the room standing in front of the fireplace, she waves her hand and all the children sit in unison, tallest to smallest. The woman puts her hands together almost giddy,
"After yesterday's unfortunate incident and our leaving afterwards, I went to the palace today to talk to the fire lord, the fire lady, smooth some things out and keep the peace between families." she seems more excited by the second her smile getting wider,
"Everything went perfectly, and the Fire lady said she was very impressed with you, especially Lai." She grabs the younger girl's hands standing her up and beaming with pride, Her husband puffs on his pipe furrowing his brows in thought,
"Because of that…" Ikari's mother continues hugging Lai to her side until the girl's face looks slightly pained from the tight hold. Ikari sees her mother almost squeal,
"The Royal family have issued an official proposal for you and their oldest son! Of course I took the liberty of accepting." Lai's face turns white at the news and their father chokes standing from his seat and separating the woman practically strangling their eldest daughter,
"You don't think this is something you should have discussed with me before deciding Ama? Or at least with Lai" Lai had plastered on a smile while pannick screamed behind her eyes,
"Nonsense Zoa look how ecstatic she is! Lai is going to be a Fire lady right after the Prince's graduation! Two years is still incredibly soon, we must start planning, Everyone else is dismissed!" She waves her arms about before grabbing Lai's arm pulling her away while asking about color schemes and headpieces, Zoa follows after them calling for his wife to calm down. The rest of the family sits in silence for a few minutes only the 8 year old at the end fidgeted slightly, they were all frozen like stone in disbelief, Zoa lll is the first to speak clearing his throat.
"I think we should all wash up… dinner will be ready soon." Zoa was always the one to rally them in awkward times, doing his parents right very responsible for a stereotype for a first born son. The rest of them mumble in agreement dispersing tentatively, scurrying like field mice to their rooms to get ready for their next family meal.
Dinner was silent that night, Lai and the children's mother were nowhere to be found. The atmosphere was too thick and awkward to eat yet the children struggled through their meal anyway as their father seethed at the head of the table, him and their mother had been arguing for hours about making family decisions with the family and not on their own. Things ended at an impasse and the children sat for an hour and a half waiting for the two missing guests before their father finally told them to eat, tensions were high, tempers hot, the food was cold. Ikari picked at it looking nowhere but her plate barely able to take a bite just as the rest of them, this was supposed to be good news although it felt as if a death in the family was announced with her mother smiling through the entire conversation. After watching his children pick at their food for another half hour Zoa ll finally slams a fist to the table breaking the silence,
"That is it, I'm exhausted. How about everyone going to bed?" He suggests through clenched teeth trying to not take out his anger at his wife on his children, collective sighs of relief rang through the dining room as each of them got up walking to their father and wishing him goodnight with a bow. When Ikari bowed she could finally see just how much these things were affecting her father, his hand was clenched around his drink so tight his knuckles were white. His jaw was tense and it was evident he was grinding his teeth, she bows lowly to him staring at the ground.
"G-goodnight sir" she mumbles but is caught by his hand suddenly, he lets out a sigh closing his eyes and relaxing his shoulders.
"I don't mean to scare you Ikari, your mother has a one track mind for her goals but she is truly looking out for all our best interests." Ikari nods watching her sibling leave,
"I know father" Ikari nods feeling his hand slip off her placing it instead on his own forehead,
"I hope Lai understands." Ikari places her hand on his shoulder, feeling bad for her father. She doesn't often see him soften but he seems to be genuinely concerned at this moment.
"I'm sure she does. It is Lai after all." Her father nods before his hard facade returns, placed there by the military.
Despite going to bed early, along with the stress of her mothers announcement, Ikari fell asleep within minutes of laying down. She didn't know how long she had been asleep until she was awake again, a figure standing over her much too tall to be Szeto. She's about to scream when a hand is clapped over her mouth and a familiar voice speaks to her,
"Shut up! Shh! It's me!" Lai whispers before a small fire stream shoots from her finger tip lighting up her face. Her hair is pulled back in a tight bun and she's wearing all black, she pulls Ikari up using her bending to light the way through their pitch black house before entering the backyard. Two bags are sitting on the ground, she lets go of Ikari before stuffing some more stuff into one of them. She picks the second one up and hands it to Ikari,
"Here I got you that stuff that should last a little while but you're on your own next time, Lychee's food is only going to get bigger si i'd make a plan now maybe teach him to hunt." Ikari stares at the back before reading in the darkness it's filled with crickets and instantly drops it on the ground,
"Yeah he's just a chick so I'd find a way to crush those up too." Ikari shakes her head drowsy and confused,
"What's happening, why not give me these in the morning?" she asks and Lai stands flinging the other bag over her shoulder,
"I can't give them to you tomorrow Kari." She starts walking towards the shed after Ikari picks up the crickets again following behind her. She sets them down not questioning where she can even get a bag of crickets this size,
"Well why not?" Lai grunts turning to her and glares slightly, she looks like a shadow in the darkness as if Ikari could be talking to an apparition.
"I Just can't, now go back to bed kid." Lai nods towards the house starting to walk behind the shed, Ikari still follows, feeling the thorns catch at her nightgown.
"Lai tell me what's going on, ow…" she bends down to untangle herself from the wild fauna growing, not having much luck in the dark. Lai turns when she hears her sister's exclamation of pain before sighing when she realizes she's fine.
"I'm leaving Kari, I'm leaving right now and I'm not coming back." she sets her bag down again helping Ikari with her nightgown,
"Where are you going?" Ikari asks and Lai shakes her head standing back up but not picking up her bag quite yet.
"I don't know. I make my way to Ba Sing Se. As far away as I can get from this place and that stupid marriage, there is this secret island somewhere out east that teaches people things… things the fire nation doesn't want us to learn." Ikari stands as well, the familiar feeling of confusion moves through her, it seems she's always confused these days.
"Why wouldn't you just tell mother…" She's cut off when Lai scoffs crossing her arms and leans on the old shed,
"Tell her what? That I don't want to marry a prince a year younger than me that I've only met once? She made it clear to Father no was not an option, so what do I do after that? Challenge her to an Agni Kai?" Ikari can't help the snort that escapes her,
"That's ridiculous those Agni Kai's were outlawed right after the coronation of Fire Lord Zuk-" She's cut off again by Lai who waves her off
"Yes history buff that's why the question was rhetorical, look I know it's a little cliche to just run away from a marriage like this all I need is a god damned iceberg but I don't exactly see another way out, I've been meaning to get out anyway I guess… I guess this was the final push." Ikari leans next to her looking at the sky, she thinks about Lai marrying the prince, then she thinks about the prince. A blush spreads over her cheeks and she clears her throat, swallowing hard.
"Why wouldn't you want to marry the prince anyway he seems… nice" Lai snorts herself seeing right through Ikari's question,
"Yeah he's nice, it's just that… a few weeks ago when we went to Ember island for vacation there was this family from around there." she shuffles her feet on the ground,
"They were so free and they didn't have a summer house like us but they lived there, on the beach. They weren't rich but they were happy. A mom… A dad… and their daughter." She looks away for a second,
"It made me start thinking about us, how close we all used to be and how broken we've become since…" She stops talking but Ikari knows what she was going to say next, Since Ikari couldn't bend her parents spent years trying to teach her, trying to get anything out of her to no avail. The stress put a strain on the family that was supposed to be perfect, it put a strain on her parents' marriage which is still evident to this day her father blaming her mother's possible past relatives for the hiccup in their genetic code. Her mother, trying to prove she is a pure fire nation just as he is.
"Our family has a broken car and I don't know how to fix it, I don't even know where to start but it's not even that."
"You're saying I did it? I broke the family…" Ikari looks at the ground hearing Lai sigh again,
"No… you didn't break the family they did with their stupid obsession with perfection, that's not exactly why i'm leaving but it's not your fault Kari you have to believe that." Ikari sniffs feeling a tear roll down her cheek but wipes it off before Lai can say anything,
"That family, their daughter… she was so beautiful I had to talk to her and heh" Ikari furrows her brows looking at her sister, she's smiling. Not the smug look she gets while making fun of her sister, or the fake polite smile she sports for her family, not even the triumphant glee when she wins. This smile is wistful like a dreamy love sick sort of face,
"God Kari she's so great and I… heh, I don't deserve to even talk to her I can't marry the prince I can't look her in the face and tell her that i'm going to marry him I can't hurt her like that." she pushes herself off the wall slinging the bag back on her shoulder,
"It's not just us, the world is broken. The Fire nation itself is at a standstill just look at how everyone treats you, and I can't change anything if I go through the motions just look how they treat you… just because you can't bend? Ha!" Ikari doesn't want Lai to leave yet, she clenches her fists feeling useless.
"You can tell mother about this girl, The prince is only a year older than the twins, perhaps Amula can take your place." Lai shakes her head slowly
"She won't approve Kari, it's not Like perfect Zoa and his school sweetheart Hursa. it's more complicated than that." Ikari doesn't understand how it's any different, maybe because of the age? Maybe because of the time difference in the relationship. Lai pulls a hood over her head and a mask over her mouth glaring at nothing in particular,
"She's not from The Fire Nation Kari, not originally. She bends water." Ikari understands in that second, being with someone who isn't Fire Nation is like treason in her family.
"I wish I could take you with me, you don't bend so the only thing they have planned for you is bargaining chip, mom was already talking about you and Jukon together." Ikari grimaces at the thought.
"I really do have to go now, I'm meeting Mahina and I'm already late." Ikari sits on the ground bringing her knees to her chest,
"How does it feel Lai? What does… what does it feel like?" Ikari asks softly and Lai stops again scratching the back of her head,
"Oh Kari I'm not the one to ask, don't you have a health teacher or something that could… oh wow is now really the time?" Ikari shakes her head looking up at Lai whos flustered actions show even in the dark,
"No I mean, what does fire bending feel like?" Lai stops when she hears the full question she's never had to describe such a thing with words before,
"It's like… a rush of emotion I guess. Like when I'm in a tournament, I take my anger from the day before, or my nerves from just a moment ago and I feel the adrenaline pump through me until, there's fire that's the best way I can describe it. Although my negative emotions make me pretty unfuckingbeatable I have found recently that my fire burns hottest… when I'm happy." she smiles to herself a little before throwing her bag over the stone wall.
"I'll see you around kid." she salutes to Ikari before jumping over the wall herself.