Avatar: Lightning Strikes (IC)

[Eazy]

Ryota

The Water Bender's eyes remained closed for a while longer as he continued working his way through this fairly routine exercise. It truly was a rather serene exhibition of Waterbending skills, at least for himself and others which he'd spoken with, but, like many aspects of this particular bending, it seemed only heightened by the presence of the moon. The water itself was easier to push and pull along with the movements of ones body, without losing any of the unique connection a bender always felt with their respective element. As his limbs carried him throughout the motions for several more minutes, legs shifting his body position and weight, arms directing the traffic of the water which flowed around his figure; Ryota steadily became lost to the dim pain in his head which remained and everything else in the world which surrounded him.

Lost as he was in his moment of serenity, however, he hadn't yet let his senses grow dim enough that the unexpected disturbance of an object striking; shattering against the hard courtyard floor a few yards away didn't serve as an instant reminder for the Water Tribesman of where he was exactly.

"Who's there?!" He called out without thinking as his eyes shot open and arms moved into a defensive position, body spinning around in mid-motion to face the direction of the sounds origin; preparing to lash out against any opponent with a water whip or worse if it turned out to be one of Azula's people whom slipped through in the clean up.

Unfortunately, as his body spun around on its heels in preparation for an assault, Ryota both forgot about the element damaged surface of the courtyard and wasn't capable of noticing the risen cracks in the foundation around his current footing. Thus, while his reaction may have been appropriate, and defensive maneuvering near flawless, it didn't prevent the back of his foot from tripping over a chunk of rock which was connected to the floor behind him. The reaction on the young warriors face was one of both surprise and frustration as his body tumbled backwards a couple of steps, until the lower part of his posterior found itself coming into contact with the unforgiving surface. It stung, obviously, but he didn't have a lot of time for dwelling on it as he gazed upward in time to see his bending water raining down upon him. The muttered curse words which briefly escaped his lips as he sat on the ground with water dripping off his various strands of hair would bring a blush to the face of some of the more foul mouthed of individuals he'd come across.

Shaking off the slight pain and greater humiliation, Ryota's eyes quickly darted around the courtyard for any sign of life. As he stared through the moonlit darkness, his first thought was a straggler in Azula's group who went into hiding rather then the direct approach of running for their lives. Then there was the likelihood of it simply being a guard making his rounds or, less likely, trying to start a confrontation with a Water Bender for old times sake. When his blue eyes did finally drift upward after coming up empty when surveying the ground, catching sight of the 'guilty' party, the young man instantaneously felt a mixture of relief and renewed embarrassment overflow his senses.

"Xia?" Ryota called out in little more then a raised voice which carried itself relatively well in the otherwise silent courtyard; his tone coming off almost confused despite already knowing by now that it was the young woman from Ba Sing Se.

After all, he thought to himself, who else but one which displayed a perplexing ability for bending the air around them could seemingly make it toward such a high vantage point on their own? At least without making a spectacle of themselves like an Earthbender might if they shifted the ground around them so close to a structure with various people inside. Pulling himself to his feet, the young man's attention shifted away from the girl for a few seconds as he looked over his soaked form. It was an easy clean up, as displayed by the way he calmly moved his hands in order to pull every droplet of water away from his clothes and hair, but remained an embarrassing scene even as he deposited the fluid back into the small pouch at his side. Save for his hair and parts of his clothing being a bit disheveled over the mistake, there was nary any immediate trace of the mishap on the young man

There was, on the other hand, a minor yet nagging pain at the back of his hip as he started moving toward Xia's location. Nothing serious, but enough to cause a limp in his step and make the tribesman muse over the irony of how, even if indirectly, he'd perhaps suffered greater damage due to the actions of his allies rather those whom were out for blood. Speaking of blood, as Ryota closed the gap between where he was practicing and she was apparently hiding away from everyone, he was reminded of how much the girl herself had spilled only hours earlier. He remembered the first time he was made to take a life in an emotional fury of self preservation. Short of Katara, who even now has to deal with the strange out of body trance her love was trapped within, and those who lost anybody close to them during the uprising; Xia was probably going through the worst out of those who defended the Fire Nation.

"Hi there." The young man stated in a simple greeting as he gazed skyward from his place on the ground, raising a hand for a single wave while a half-smile showed itself over a genuine sense of delight in seeing her; least once he got over the initial embarrassment of his mishap, "I was wondering where you'd been hiding after they treated us earlier. Not that I could exactly look around much, since the healer who looked me over said I should take it easy for most of the day."

Staring at the Earth Kingdom native for a few seconds, the thought suddenly occurred how she perhaps wasn't ready for conversation, which led to Ryota quickly added on after a moments pause, "Sorry, I can leave you to your privacy if you'd prefer some time to yourself for now? But I just wondered how you were holding up? You know, after today?"

If she needed time for herself, then he could certainly understand and respect such wishes for however long she needed. At the same time, there was a growing concern for finding out about the well being of certain members of their emergency party which arrived together in the Fire Nation earlier that day. A strong one, of which she had surprisingly become a part of those particular people in his mind. With that in mind, as Ryota continued gazing up at the young woman, he figured now was about as good a time as any to find out before the day was over.

----------------------------------------

Longshot

The healers of the Palace had done well in mending the young man's injuries and soothing those aching muscles which stretched along different paths throughout his body. As expected, after he was finally excused from their care, Longshot had been instructed to take it easy. The marksman had proven himself a stubborn patient, however, as he simply allowed his body a few minutes rest and time for water before he was prepared for self appointed sentry duty. There was an understandable, if frustrating hesitation by those few he 'spoke' with about allowing an outsider access to their arrow supply. Ultimately, it forced him to salvage an assortment of them off the battlefield; doing so while others were preoccupied with tending to the wounded or searching the nearby areas for signs of escaped enemy troops.

Sadly, it wasn't the first time he'd lowered himself to retrieving arrows off the bodies of dead natives of the Fire Nation, and, aside from a feeling of moroseness over resorting to something he'd not had to do in years, he was finding it depressingly easy to slip back into the habit. Still, it got the job done, allowing him to prepare himself for the unlikely event of anything else happening today and, more likely, whatever may come during the following days as word spread. During his time keeping a watchful eye out as those with full use of both hands carried the dead out of the blistering sun, his thoughts constantly shifted toward the fact that the Fire Nation, whether for atrocities carried out during the past hundred years or the unusual way Fire Lord Zuko came into power, had many enemies out there. Enemies whom now found an ideal opportunity for making a move against the wounded nation, leaving the silent archer concerned for what the future held.

Stubborn as Longshot may be when it came to not pushing himself at times, he also wasn't a fool whom didn't know when to quit. A period was spent resting inside of the Palace, about as much as was needed to insure he wouldn't make himself sick by overexerting his body. During his time spent recuperating on a couch in an open section of the large structure, however, his mind remained preoccupied with other matters which needed addressing. In this case, what had taken place between Smellerbee and himself prior to their assistance in the earlier battle. Part of the young man wondered if one of the reasons for having kept busy was due to a reluctance of possibly receiving an earful about his actions. Especially once her jaw healed, he noted with a brief half-smile which ghosted his features before a slight twinge of guilt set in on him.

It wouldn't be the first time he avoided seeing her, and that was what made him feel the worst about the idea. The Freedom Fighter had made a promise to not repeat that mistake when it came to any of his friends, but particularly where it pertained to Smellerbee. Letting out a sigh, Longshot sat up on the sofa, taking a moment for rubbing at a sore pain at his side before setting off in search of his absent companion. It took a few minutes, but he did eventually find somebody who could point out where to find the girl. A short while later, he noticed a slim figure with familiarly wild hair sitting with their back to him as they apparently went about treating their own wounds. As he stepped closer, the young man noted how the sight would perhaps make others wince in pain, but it wasn't something he'd not seen dozens of times from her by now. Ironically, he was perhaps more taken aback by her partial state of undress, though even that wasn't a sight he'd not grown accustomed to during similar procedures.

"Hey. Everything ok?"

Steadily closing the gap between them, the young man let out an affirmative 'mmhmm' as his eyes remained focused on her stitching work for a few seconds longer. She was incredibly capable of dealing with it herself, and had turned down his offers to assist her in the past, but he wanted to make certain the thread was properly patching the injury together before taking a seat beside his friend on the steps. Her reluctance for looking his way as she continued tending her wound hadn't gone unnoticed, and though Longshot certainly wasn't so full of himself to immediately assume it had to do with his kissing her, he slowly weeded out everything else until couldn't think of any other subject which would draw such a reaction from the girl.

By the time she drew near the end of her work, the dagger she reached for had already been snatched up by his quick hands several seconds earlier. When she finally turned toward him to reach for her dagger, the young man gave it up without a word or defiant act as he stared into Smellerbee's eyes for a brief moment. It wasn't much, but it'd been enough for him to erase any shadow a doubt over what was going through her mind. At the same time, as she finished cleaning up her stitches, he wanted to get the incident out into the open and, ideally, put away while they had this break in the fighting. When she started to carefully check his bandages, there was actually a trace of a smile on the male's face as he watched her reassure herself of his well being. However, by the time she was finished, it slowly gave way to a more thoughtful expression as he came to a decision.

"I'm sorry, Smellerbee." The young man broke his silence as his intense eyes gazed at his friend with a hint of regret in them, watching for what her reaction may be as he continued to speak, knowing that what he wanted to express was too important for anything to be lost 'translation', "I shouldn't have kissed you when I did. Not when we were on our way toward a deadly battle. When there wasn't a chance for me to give you the explanation you deserved for my actions. It was a selfish act on my part."

Allowing his gaze to lower itself for a moment, Longshot knew he could have, and perhaps should have stopped there; but he resumed giving the girl sitting at his side his undivided attention as he continued, "I'd thought of doing it for a while now. A few months prior to Jet disbanding the Freedom Fighters, throughout the time leading up to the end of the war. It was a simple crush which grew out of a strong friendship."

A simple crush it had been during that period in their lives. Now, the young man couldn't honestly say what to make of what remained from those old feelings. Longshot certainly cared a great deal about and even loved the girl, much like he did for each of those from the original Freedom Fighters which were still amongst them. For a number of reasons, he hadn't really focused on these emotions for a couple of years; having long since grown content with their friendship during this now threatened age of peace.

"I'd considered saying something after you brought everyone together again, but I was happy with simply having you and the others back in my life as family." The marksman pointed out as he watched her a while longer, briefly letting his eyes divert themselves elsewhere while he added, "And...after the way I'd let you worry about me for so long, I felt as if you didn't deserve being put through anymore stress on my account."

Returning his eyes to Smellerbee once more, he reached out a hand and took one of her own into its grasp, squeezing gently as he finished by cutting to the present, "When we were on that airship, preparing to cast ourselves into a literal war zone, it was the first time in years I'd felt afraid of losing you again. With this in mind, I reacted purely out of instinct, and did so without thinking of how unfair my actions were for you. For each of these things; I'm sorry."

Feeling the cool air brushing through his hair and against his face, the Freedom Fighter hesitantly released his hold on her hand as he stared at his friend a few seconds longer; temporarily resuming his usual silent demeanor. Only this time it was due to a lack of things to say, rather then a simple choice on his part in dealing with the world around them. Longshot knew how saying what he did could affect their friendship, but he also realized that, thanks to his actions back on the airship, things between them weren't going to be the same again; regardless of what he did or didn't say to her tonight. Keeping that in mind, while he knew it may be a decision he'd regret, the young man felt she at least deserved his best attempt at a clear and honest explanation.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Tears and fears and feeling proud"

She dangled there, as the shattering sound resounded in that place, and she clamped her bulging eyes shut.

"Who's there?!" his voice called out as she hid there behind the dark of her eyelids.

After a moment, she cracked open one of those clamped-shut eyes and she saw him, she looked at him.

He'd landed on his ass. And he was soaked to his skin by the Water he'd been Bending.

She blinked, and she looked again, and she blinked, and suddenly she found herself grinning. Yeah, she was embarrassed for so clumsily making that disruptive noise, she was embarrassed for getting caught watching him, but look at him, cunning warrior, serene witty battle-skilled icewalker of The North and The South, there on his southparts looking like someone had dumped slush down the back of his parka. That had to cancel out her embarrassment quotient somewhat, right?

But then. Then again.

Her embarrassing thing had caused his embarrassing thing, conservation of momentum, he wouldn't have landed on his ass if it wasn't for her.

So. Double embarrassment quotient.

Her smile quickly became a scowl, and she looked away from him again, her cheeks burning hotter than that thrice-damned comet of Sozin's.

"Xia?" Ryota called out in little more then a raised voice which carried itself relatively well in the otherwise silent courtyard; his tone coming off almost confused despite already knowing by now that it was the young woman from Ba Sing Se.

Great.

Some speedy escape artist I turned out to be.

Sitting still, I'm just as slow as everyone else.

Don't look at me. Please don't look at me.

She glanced down at him, down there, he'd walked closer (oh, shit and shit again, he's limping), and he was looking at her. Of course he was looking at her. (At least he was dry, now.)

"Hi there." The young man stated in a simple greeting as he gazed skyward from his place on the ground, raising a hand for a single wave while a half-smile showed itself over a genuine sense of delight in seeing her; least once he got over the initial embarrassment of his mishap, "I was wondering where you'd been hiding after they treated us earlier. Not that I could exactly look around much, since the healer who looked me over said I should take it easy for most of the day."

He was smiling. She drew back and perched a little more comfortably on the lip of the rooftop. She wanted to deny that she'd been hiding, but really, that's exactly what she had been doing. Xia frowned, and returned his one-handed wave in kind, trailed her fingers through the air one after the other opening and closing as they went. He was smiling. She wasn't sure if he was making fun of her, and scrutinising him there in the pale moonlight, she couldn't decode his smile.

But he didn't feel threatening.

He didn't feel... bad.

Zhuang would smile like that sometimes and she would want to wipe the smile off of his face, but Ryota...

The Tribesman Ryota didn't feel like one of those Lower Ring bastards spitting on her and doubting her ability to crack their skulls with her fists.

He was staring at her and she was scrutinising him and she suddenly realised she should probably say something--

--after a moments pause, "Sorry, I can leave you to your privacy if you'd prefer some time to yourself for now? But I just wondered how you were holding up? You know, after today?"

And that was it. The last straw.

Where did he get off being so nice and chivalrous and-and-and goddamned gentlemanly after she'd frustrated him and embarrassed him from every angle under Heaven? Where did-- where did-- how dare he be nice to her after... after she'd been nothing but clumsy and stupid and...

He was kind. And it suddenly became readily apparent to her that kindness was something that had sorely been missing from her life. Not that her life had been the harshest ever lived, far from it, but there had been precious little kindness and what precious little kindness there had been (Zhuang) she'd rejected out of hand.

Her eyes clenched shut and the tears stormed up, the tears stormed up and spilled out, escaped the clench of her eyelids and spilled down her cheeks and she buried her face in her hands.

For a moment all she could do was sob.

Her heart had been broken today, her heart and her mind had broken more than a little and she'd no Earthly idea how to put them back together again.

(It was the same nightmare.)

For the next moment, all she could do was nod.

She pushed herself up to her feet, swayed for a moment and found a surefooted kind of balance despite the turmoil of body and brain. She nodded again, nodded down at him, and smiled a broken smile down at Ryota as she flicked those tears away.

"Yeah. No. Hang on a second. Don't. Don't go. Just hold that thought."

Xia glanced around herself, tried to still her thoughts. "I'm coming down. Just. Hold on a second."

Her face scrunched a bit. "This is. This is easier when I... when I'm not thinking about it."

She stretched her arms out to her sides, let her fingers flex through the Air, feeling the currents and the updrafts. She bit the inside of her cheek not quite hard enough to bleed.

She whispered softly, and she doubted he would hear her. "(Please don't look at me.)"

They'd seen her. Maybemaybemaybe they hadn't seen what she was what she could do in the heat and chaos of the battle... but how could they not have? She'd thrown an arrow through a man's head, that wasn't a skill a normal person could possess, it didn't matter how hard you trained. She was an enigma even to herself and she knew they knew. She knew he knew.

But none of them had made a big deal out of it. None of them had made any kind of deal out of it thus far at all. Maybe they were trying to figure out how to approach the concept... (she wasn't so egotistical to think this was a possibility, she didn't think she could be so world-shattering that she'd cause them to discuss her "condition" amongst herselves)

Maybe they were trying to be nice. Maybe they secretly thought her a freak, an abomination, and they were just trying to keep from showing it. She couldn't bear it if they showed it, she'd been keeping this a secret for so very long, she couldn't bear it if they looked at her, if he looked at her, like a freak or an abomination.

She couldn't bear it if he looked at her like that.

Tears were still trying to escape her eyes and she crushed them a little as her eyes closed tight all over again.

"(Please don't look at me.)"

And she jumped.

Thirty forty fifty sixty seventy feet rushed by, she felt the Air rush by her as she tucked and juked and yawed and rolled and pitched. The Earth rushed up to meet her but the Air took her gently in its hands just before she met her death.

Xia landed softly in a crouch like she'd landed on pillows after falling out of bed, and dust puffed up around her feet.

She opened her eyes, and glanced up at Ryota from down there in her crouch, and silently she begged him not to look at her like that, not like that, but her vision was a little bit blurry and she couldn't tell what look was on his face.

Escapee tears twinkled on her cheeks in the moonlight.

"I thought I wanted to be alone," she murmured, eyes full of the echoes of her nightmare as she straightened and rose to stand. "But I, ah, it turns out I didn't want that at all. I don't, uh... (I don't want to be alone.)"

 

[Mephistophelily]

Azula watched the skies above, her anger still having yet to be soothed as she realized the sun was barely changing. Darkening somewhat, but barely enough to really signify nightfall. "Wonderful," She snarled, balling her fists as she continued to walk. The Avatar's words still hung on her ears, those infuriating comments that bothered her for the last few hours. She had stopped for a bit, resting and trying to figure out the best way to handle this place- but what was there to do? She was simply stuck here until her physical form reacted to what had been done. Staying near that aggrivating tattooed freak was only going to make the stay far more hellish than it already was.

A curious noise filled her ears as she continued to walk, the stoney path leadig her to craters and divets that appeared to be filled with water... Hot Springs. Oh, this was exactly what she needed, she decided as she dipped her fingers in- somewhere to lose herself for the time being. Aang had his meditation to escape this nightmare... She needed something of her own. It didn't matter to her if this water truly existed or not; she could feel its heat and the water on her fingertips seemed real enough to her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Aang was right. To become this angry would solve nothing. The most she could do was find a way to pass the time for herself. Stripping off the red strips of cloth that wrapped around her skin, she slid up and over the stoney edge of the larger spring, a contented purr escaping her lips as the steaming water surrounded her flesh. Perfect. She had found her own nirvana for the time being. Pulling her hair up, she wrapped one of the thinner strips of cloth about the large messy bun, keeping the strands dry as she delved further into the water.

The longer she was left to her thoughts, however, the more her surroundings bothered her. There had to be something she could do about this. This may have been a part of the Avatar's mind, but her own was involved in it somewhere. She had to be able to return to it somehow. And to be so close to her enemy- with no possible way of causing him harm! What a torturous situation...

"I refuse to accept this," She snarled as her lips returned above the water's surface, glaring back in the direction she had left the Avatar. "I refuse to acknowledge defeat by you... There was no victory in your case. There is only opportunity for myself... And I claim this one as my own. He's unable to return to his consciousness as well... Which means that there currently is no Avatar-" She gave a grown with that, her shoulders drooping. "If only I could be free of this damned place-! So many opportunities left open to me right now... And I can't get to a single one of them!"

 

[Eazy]

Feeling the soft breeze of the night air caress itself against his face, the tribesman watched from his position on the ground as he attempted to await patiently for any response from the Earth Kingdom native. Still, as Ryota stretched a hand upward in order to brush his fingers through the loose, flowing strands of hair; it was understandable that he soon grew somewhat eager to hear just about any string of words escape from the girls lips. Even if she yelled for him to simply leave her be, he could both understand and see it as, ideally, a form of coping with the days events. As it currently stood, the young Water Bender had started to feel as if he were intruding on something, some inner musings or soul searching which she needed to deal with on her own. This, of course, was one of the last things he wished to do after what happened to her earlier.

Yes, she was fairly big pain toward himself and others during their hasty trip to the Fire Nation. But, in a way, it made the young man feel for the woman. Especially after having spoken with her during those relatively brief minutes in the aftermath of the evenings earlier chaos. While their backgrounds and the paths they walked were very different, Ryota had to wonder how far off they truly were when it came to where they were now, and, more specifically, where they could have been. Were he without the teachings of Water Bending to give him a general purpose, nor the guidance of those (of which there were sadly many) who understood what was he was going through after losing his way in life; how much different would he be from the often angry, seemingly lost young woman he was staring at now?

Gazing at her from his low vantage point, with the moonlit night and those few torches providing what light they could, Ryota couldn't tell for certain, but it almost appeared as if she were trying to suppers tears. It was a look he'd been witness to many times after the war touched his homeland, which made the thought of seeing such an expression on Xia's face was both heartbreaking and an eye opener for how much turmoil was possibly going on in that girls mind. Part of him wanted to offer a shoulder, while the rest rationalized that he wasn't the ideal person for offering such assistance. Coupled with her momentary silence, he was about to reaffirm his offer of letting her be when he noticed her starting to stand, followed by the breaking of this awkward silence between them.

"Yeah. No. Hang on a second. Don't. Don't go. Just hold that thought."

Trying to hide the hint of a delighted smile which played at the corner of his lips, the tribesman simply nodded his head as he silently awaited for the young woman to make her way down.

"I'm coming down. Just. Hold on a second. This is. This is easier when I... when I'm not thinking about it."

It took a few seconds for Ryota to realize what she was talking about, but quickly recalled and figured she was referring to her peculiar displays of Airbending abilities. They did leave him with a number of questions which he never found an opportunity to ask her about during the course of the day. Of course, judging by her apparent lack of interaction with the Avatar, whom was the only other known Airbender in the world, it was possible many of them were just as puzzling for herself to try and understand. There was also the possibility she was frightened about them, at least judging by what he saw and those pieces which were filled in by 'talking' with Longshot before allowing himself to rest from his injuries. Again, while not being the same, he could relate on a basic level to such a fear. After all, it was during an uncontrolled display of Waterbending that he snuffed out his first and only life.

Waiting for Xia to feel comfortable with descending from where she was perched, the young man took a step back as an unspoken invitation for her to move at her own digression. The young man couldn't hear her from where he stood, but he did notice her lips moving earlier. Ryota wished he could read lips. For that matter, Ryota wished he knew what to say or do to begin in helping his new acquaintance, his new friend to recover from the many emotional scars she seemed to bear. Both old, and those fresh after the traumatic events of the day. Sadly, he imagined only Aang could help when it came to several of these dilemmas which were plaguing the girl.

Finally, she did jump, which caused his heart to nearly skip a beat as he briefly grew worrisome of her bending abilities failing her after taking the lunge. The breath which had simultaneously caught itself in his throat did release itself, however, as it became apparent she would land safely. Watching her was something else for Ryota. True, he'd previously seen stronger, more disciplined displays of Airbending from the Avatar by now. But there was something more raw, real, or relateable about seeing a novice trying to gain a hand of their abilities. Sorta took a hint of the aura of mystique out of lost art perfected by the Air Nomads, but certainly not in a bad way.

Regardless, his infatuation with her gifts were relatively short lived, as he could now see, without a shadow of doubt remaining, that Xia actually had been fighting back tears. While it likely wasn't an expression she wanted to see, he couldn't prevent his features from showing more then a hint of remorse at this revelation. As the few stray tears escaped and started to cascade themselves down her cheeks, it proved near impossible for him to hide this reaction, though he certainly tried his best.

"I thought I wanted to be alone. But I, ah, it turns out I didn't want that at all. I don't, uh... (I don't want to be alone.)"

"Shhh." He quickly uttered without thinking as he took a few steps closer, concern evident in his expression as he gave her a small, but genuine and understanding smile as he added, "It's ok, Xia. It'll be my pleasure to keep you company for however long as you may find my presence tolerable. Besides, it's not as if I couldn't do without a familiar face on a lonely night such as this."

Hoping he wasn't behaving too forward, the Water Bender cautiously extended a hand, the tips of his fingers reaching for Xia's now tear streaked cheeks as he instructed, "Don't move? This'll only take a second or two."

Ryota's movements were slow enough where he hoped she wouldn't mistake it as a sudden attack or attempt at stealing a caress, but swift enough where he could gently brush his fingers along her skin before she pulled away or gave a word of protest. His own gaze shifted from one of her lovely eyes to the other, as his fingers felt along her moist cheeks, before making a few subtle movements with his extended digits. Funny thing about bending. Several of the more ferocious actions were relatively easy to gain a grasp of after a little training. The subtle ones, however, took a considerable amount of patience and discipline to properly master. Both of which Ryota had long since done, as he now went about carefully bending tears which decorated one of the girls cheeks, then moving to the other, as he clean her face of the stray moisture without inadvertently drying up her eyes in the process.

"There, much better." The tribesman stated with a smile as he drew the tiny ball of water away from her face, before holding his hand out at his side; letting them drop onto the floor in a few simple drops of water.

"I guess you can call it tear bending. But, um, just don't mention the name around Katara?" The bender joked before giving out the half hearted warning, which was followed by a simple shrug of his shoulders as he added, "I don't know, something about a play which her brother used to tease her about during the war. You'd probably need to ask one of them or their friends for a better explanation about it."

As he finished speaking, the Water Bender was instantly reminded of the current condition of Katara's best friend and lover, and how Xia likely had questions of greater concern on her mind then such trivial matters as a propaganda filled excuse for a play. Tilting his head slightly as he gazed upon the young woman, wondering to himself about what was going through her mind for what felt like the hundredth time since their earlier talk. It was hard to say how much he could ask or try to share with the Ba Sing Se native without inadvertently pushing her away, but he did know he wanted to try and help her out; in whatever small way he could.

"I'm sure Aang will snap out of his trance soon." He quickly spoke up in a reassuring voice, having since realized that the Avatar was the main reason for her joining them during the mornings meeting within her home Kingdom, "This is the first time I've seen anything like it, but, based on the stories I've heard, it isn't so unusual for him to slip into these deep, coma like meditations."

Of course, Ryota didn't mention how those past incidents weren't exactly the same as what was described to him by others, but it seemed rather counterproductive for the tribesman's attempts at comforting the girls to bring up what was possibly evident to her as well. Particularly when one took into account on how, in all honesty, the young warrior could do little more then take a wild guess on how the disrupted energy bend would effect Aang's recovery time. For everyone's sake, he could only prey to the spirits that it wouldn't take long, especially after the history of horrific events which often occurred whenever the Avatar was taken out of action.

Trying not to let either of them dwell upon such depressing thoughts, the Water Bender displayed a small smile to the young woman as he made a confession, "For what it counts? I think it's pretty amazing to actually see an Airbender with my own eyes. I mean, outside of the Avatar, of course."

Which was true, as an actual Airbender had perhaps been the last thing he expected to see when he was assigned amongst the traveling party with Sokka and Katara. Even the return of Azula, while an indeniable surprise, had ultimately taken a backseat to his interest in Xia's clear knack for Airbending. Then again, part of that may also have to do with how Ryota actually grew rather fond of the girl; albeit fairly begrudgingly after their earlier exchanging of unflattering looks.

Raising a hand to rub out a few remaining kinks in his neck, Ryota's smile widened noticeably as he commented, "I just hope you're not gonna have to shave your head once the training begins. You're definitely a lot prettier then the female Air Nomad's I've seen depicted in paintings and on scrolls."

The young man paused for an instant as he briefly questioned if he had been coming off too strong by going so far as to compliment her appearance. Water Tribe native hoped she wouldn't take any offense or feel put off in any way by the comment, but was prepared to apologize if that were the case. For now, however, he was faced with a more persistent concern as his hand moved to firmly rub at the hip which started telling Ryota that he needed to get off his feet for a few minutes. His apparent habit of making himself a near constant enemy to the courtyard grounds was starting to make the Waterbender feel rather nostalgic for the healers back home.

"Hey, would you mind if we found a place to sit down for a while?" The dark-haired male suggested as he gazed over at Xia; knowing he needed to get off his feet for a few minutes, but also not wanting to lead their conversation toward such an abrupt ending.

 

[Mephistophelily]

"I understand." Toph forced a smile to her lips, the hesitance in the man's voice telling her enough about the state of Zuko. "I... I just wanted to make sure he was ok. To have so much happen so quickly- It has to be taking a toll on him. I... I just wanted to let him know that if there's anything I can do to help, I'd be more than happy to."

She heard the shuffle of his clothing, the ruffling and scrunching of the fabric as he bowed, Toph fighting another smile that wanted to come freely this time. "I wish they were far nicer terms myself, General. At least you know that in times of chaos, the people around you are showing their true selves. Nothing makes a person reveal the inner realities than crisis. I'm very relieved to find that Zuko has such loyal people around him now, and that my friends can rely on the Fire Nation for help... Unlike the past." She paused with that, realizing that her words may have come off rather mean. "Zuko has really brought the Fire Nation into an era of peace. It's horrible that his sister can't let it be. Please... give him my sympathies on Fire Lady Mai. Good night, General."

Turning away from the man, she started back down the hall, taking a deep breath as she moved. She had really been worried about Zuko. Keeping everything pent up inside would only make him break... but from what the General had implied, he was finally taking the time he needed to cope with the emotions within. She could only hope that he had a level head about him when it came to his sister. If she had been in the same position-

She really had no idea what she would do. To try and put herself in his shoes was impossible.

Returning back to the infirmary, she settled onto the small stool near Aang, sighing as she leaned her back against the wall. He was still breathing, rather heavily in his sleep. Perhaps sleep was a good idea. Who knew what the next day was going to bring.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Since beginningless time..."

"I refuse to accept this," She snarled as her lips returned above the water's surface, glaring back in the direction she had left the Avatar. "I refuse to acknowledge defeat by you... There was no victory in your case. There is only opportunity for myself... And I claim this one as my own. He's unable to return to his consciousness as well... Which means that there currently is no Avatar-" She gave a grown with that, her shoulders drooping. "If only I could be free of this damned place-! So many opportunities left open to me right now... And I can't get to a single one of them!"

Azula dwelt in the warm wet place, and her gaze was focused rage, glaring at The Avatar.

But upon the opposite shore, facing Azula as she looked away, stood a new figure.

He had not stood there a second before, he had come from nowhere, shaped from shadow and Void. And yet there he was, just as solid in this place as was Azula, as was The Avatar. Which was to say, really, not solid at all...

And yet he was solid enough.

His skin was ebon black, obsidian and midnight, black that swallowed all light and reflected none, a patch of darksomeness in a place otherwise sufficiently lit.

He had no hair upon his pate, nor shirt upon his chest. Atop his head was an arrow, a tattoo tracing chi lines and emphasising chakra, and this arrow would run down his back and arrows would sprout from this along his arms to the backs of his hands, and arrows would sprout from this down his legs to the tops of his feet, and all of these arrows were as pale as moonlight.

His eyes, too, were white like the moon, without pupils nor irises, simple patches of white in a face otherwise black as netherworldly pitch.

He wore baggy trousers not unlike those of a gi, and wore no shoes upon his feet.

He looked like Aang. He was a perversion of Aang.

And he gazed at Azula, drank in the shape of her refracted through the water, drank her in with his pale pale eyes and smiled a grim little smile.

He was Darkness, and he was Air, and he was yin.

He was yin and yet a perversion of yin, as yin is feminine and Aang was male.

He was a force of nature and a perversion thereof.

His bare dark dark arrow-painted foot kicked a pebble into the waters of the spring, and he chuckled with a voice that echoed far longer than it should have.

"I had worried, Lady Fire Lord," he mused, with a perversion of Aang's voice, "that your time sequestered away would have dulled your edge, but I see you are just as honed as ever. Good. Because while opportunities here for you are few indeed in number, you need only slumber some time more. The world outside your lidded eyes will be rife, Lady Fire Lord, rife with opportunity, and you will open those eyes ere long."

********​

Aang meditated, his no-mind thinking no-thoughts about no-things, willfully oblivious to Azula.

But just behind him, facing Aang's back as he looked inward, stood a new figure.

She had not stood there a second before, she had come from nowhere, shaped from reflection and Void. And yet there she was, just as solid in this place as was The Avatar, as was Azula. Which was to say, really, not solid at all...

And yet she was solid enough.

Her skin was ghostly white, cloud-wisp and moonlight, white that gleamed upon the touch of mildly-darkened sun, a patch of phantomness in a place otherwise daylit.

She was naked, and beautiful. She had not a hair on her flesh save that of her head's artfully arranged tresses, and of her bemusedly-quirked eyebrows, skin otherwise utterly smooth, though she did have a tiny patch of hair just above her sex, shaved with exquisite care into the emblem of The Fire Nation. Every lock and whisper of this hair was as black as shadow, black as unyielding night.

Her eyes, too, were black like midnight, without pupils nor irises, simple patches of black in a face otherwise white as otherworldly glow.

She wore a languid, self-assured smirk, and nothing else at all.

She looked like Azula. She was a perversion of Azula.

And she gazed at Aang, drank in the shape of him cleansing his Spirit, drank him in with her dark dark eyes and smirked a languid smirk.

She was bright Heat, and she was Fire, and she was yang.

She was yang and yet a perversion of yang, as yang is masculine and Azula was female.

She was a force of nature and a perversion thereof.

Her pale tongue wet pale lips and she leaned in close to Aang's ear from behind, and she chuckled with a voice as humid and sultry as any hot spring.

"Still you are faced with the unknown," she mused, with a perversion of Azula's voice, "and still your first instinct, when faced with such unknowns, is to run and close down and hide from them. Tsk tsk, Little Nomad, have not your countless adventures given you more gumption and spine? I should think, by now, you should crave the unknown, and hurl yourself hungrily unto its embrace."

 

[Ahren1]

Aang remained completely silent and still in his meditation. Even his breaths seemed to be conserving as much energy as possible. Perhaps it was futile as his actual body was out of his control, but there was something to be said about the power of the mind. If he could keep his mind clear of all distractions, perhaps it would assist in his awakening. It was more difficult than usual, however. He couldn't help but think about Katara and his friends. He was still alive, he knew that much, and Azula was here with him, so it seemed unlikely they were the last ones remaining, unconscious amidst the rubble.

No, he had to remain calm and clear. He couldn't let things that he had no control over at the moment bother him. That was why he couldn't get angry at Azula, for all she had done. It was pointless here. It would stress his mind and therefore his body. He had to meditate...

After an undermined amount of time, Aang's senses were reawakened. Someone was there... had Azula returned to speak with him again as he predicted? As his eyes opened, he was greeted with nothing, but the warmth of a presence could be felt from behind. Before he could turn, he could feel it draw closer until it was nearly upon him, finally whispering into his ear with a seductive tone.

"Still you are faced with the unknown," she mused, with a perversion of Azula's voice, "and still your first instinct, when faced with such unknowns, is to run and close down and hide from them. Tsk tsk, Little Nomad, have not your countless adventures given you more gumption and spine? I should think, by now, you should crave the unknown, and hurl yourself hungrily unto its embrace."

Finally, Aang turned to observe who was speaking to him, almost wanting to fall backward in shock at what he saw. "Azula...!" He said with moderate surprise, due to the naked woman before him, however as he was able to focus a bit more, he realized that this wasn't Azula at all. He tried to avert his gaze, but he was subconsciously compelled to look at her in entirety. Despite the fact that whoever or whatever this was simply was taking the form of his enemy, he couldn't deny her porcelain, hypnotic beauty. But he wasn't going to let that alone affect him.

"No, you're not..." He added quietly, his eyes narrowing. Who was this? Could it have been that spirit...? The thought alone angered him, knowing that the being that had harmed Katara was mere inches away. Still, he kept calm, taking in her words in addition to her form. He kept his eyes upon hers, however; Those soulless black orbs.

"I don't know what you're talking about... Unless you're implying this is about Azula... In which case, you're wrong. I know her all too well... Besides, She is the one who decided to run from me... I can't begin to express how much I don't wish her... embrace, to put it in your terms." Aang replied more coldly.

"The only unknown here is you... What exactly is it you want from me?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Do you believe in the day that you were born?"

She blinked, and her vision cleared.

He wasn't. He wasn't looking at her like that.

And to this, Xia didn't know what to say even at all.

Further tears joined their predecessors on her cheeks, and she found herself blinking several times more.

"Shhh." He quickly uttered without thinking as he took a few steps closer, concern evident in his expression as he gave her a small, but genuine and understanding smile as he added, "It's ok, Xia. It'll be my pleasure to keep you company for however long as you may find my presence tolerable. Besides, it's not as if I couldn't do without a familiar face on a lonely night such as this."

She wanted to thank him.

But she hesitated before speaking, and instead only smiled a grateful if damaged smile, and she hoped that smile was sufficient thanks. She liked, somehow, very much, that he thought of her as familiar. They really didn't know each other. Barely even at all.

Xia liked the idea of being familiar to him.

Hoping he wasn't behaving too forward, the Water Bender cautiously extended a hand, the tips of his fingers reaching for Xia's now tear streaked cheeks as he instructed, "Don't move? This'll only take a second or two."

She blinked again, this time out of surprise, but she did as he bid, and moved not a muscle. After all, he'd been kind enough to hang on a second, to hold his thought when she'd asked him, and while she didn't know what he was doing with those fingertips extended, while she didn't understand the reason for his gesture her cheeks grew hot beneath those cool cool tears.

She didn't understand, but neither did she move.

And then he touched her, feather-light and lightning-swift, touched her and was gone again, touched her cheek and away went the escapees, away went her tears, and yet again she found herself blinking. She reached up with surprise and both hands, touched her cheeks where he had touched them, and she gazed at him with wonder and bewilderment.

Such a gentle display of power, and yet so profound.

All she was was clumsy impulse that occasionally managed to do something right. And yet here he was, casual as could be, drying her tears with a soft exertion of his chi.

"There, much better." The tribesman stated with a smile as he drew the tiny ball of water away from her face, before holding his hand out at his side; letting them drop onto the floor in a few simple drops of water.

"I guess you can call it tear bending. But, um, just don't mention the name around Katara?" The bender joked before giving out the half hearted warning, which was followed by a simple shrug of his shoulders as he added, "I don't know, something about a play which her brother used to tease her about during the war. You'd probably need to ask one of them or their friends for a better explanation about it."

She slunk to a crouch for a moment, examining the tiny puddle that had formed from her tears, and she pursed her lips thoughtfully.

'Tearbending.'

Are all the advanced arts that... sentimental? Not that I'm complaining...

She rose to her feet anew, and regarded Ryota anew, and arched a twitching eyebrow.

"A play?" she frowned. "Like a stage play? That seems fairly random. Why would they make a play about Bending tears?"

She hugged herself, arms across her stomach, and even as Ryota tilted his head at her, she seemed to fold a little bit within herself, her voice a mutter. "Too bad the friend of theirs I most wanted to talk to got himself avalanched into Spirit-stasis. I told him not to get himself killed and he goes and does the next best thing."

"I'm sure Aang will snap out of his trance soon." He quickly spoke up in a reassuring voice, having since realized that the Avatar was the main reason for her joining them during the mornings meeting within her home Kingdom, "This is the first time I've seen anything like it, but, based on the stories I've heard, it isn't so unusual for him to slip into these deep, coma like meditations."

She nodded feebly, and smiled faintly. "S'pose that makes sense. Even, I guess, The Spirit of The World sometimes has to kick out enough juice that he has to take time to recharge. I just wish... heh... selfish as it sounds... that he'd spent less of his energy saving The World and more of it helping me."

Xia harrumphed softly. "(It is written: 'Think lightly of yourself and deeply of The World.')"

Trying not to let either of them dwell upon such depressing thoughts, the Water Bender displayed a small smile to the young woman as he made a confession, "For what it counts? I think it's pretty amazing to actually see an Airbender with my own eyes. I mean, outside of the Avatar, of course."

Recalling earlier comments about things of a theatrical nature, Xia's face cleared off the majority of its clouded surface, and she offered him a lackadaisical smirk, putting her arms out to her sides, straight out, palms upward, and bending one knee slightly in a stage-play bow. "Ta-dahhh!"

She surprised herself, more than a little, by being less sarcastic than she thought she'd be.

But the ruefulness was not long in coming back, and again she found that she was hugging herself around her stomach.

"I guess it couldn't have escaped your notice," she murmured, "given the circumstances. You'd think it would just... it would just be amazing being an Airbender, outside of The Avatar. But mostly it's just... it's been a big crazy burden and I don't understand it at all. So I've kept it a secret. Not that it doesn't have its advantages. I just... I just want to understand. Is it just a random crazy Universe throwing me for The World's biggest loop? Or does it mean something?"

Raising a hand to rub out a few remaining kinks in his neck, Ryota's smile widened noticeably as he commented, "I just hope you're not gonna have to shave your head once the training begins. You're definitely a lot prettier then the female Air Nomad's I've seen depicted in paintings and on scrolls."

Her cheeks again grew hot, and this time there were no tears to cool them.

Her arms slipped down from her stomach and she regarded him with a little bit of wonder. He'd called her pretty...

But still again, he made a good point.

She laughed a tremulous little laugh. "Well. Um. Thank you. I... I... thank you. You're... you're definitely the sexiest male Water Tribesman I've ever seen. Paintings or stageplays or otherwise. So. There you go then. As for shaving my head..."

Xia gestured helplessly. "I kinda hoped that was artistic licence or something. Or at least, that they only made the Masters shave their heads. (Because I'm pretty sure I'm never going to master this stuff, and then I'd be safe.) I wouldn't mind a cool tattoo. But I'm pretty sure I would look terrible bald."

Her face scrunched a bit. "Not, of course, that how I looked would be a priority, there. Because a scholar told me Air Nomads are supposed to be humble. So I guess it's a lost cause."

"Hey, would you mind if we found a place to sit down for a while?" The dark-haired male suggested as he gazed over at Xia; knowing he needed to get off his feet for a few minutes, but also not wanting to lead their conversation toward such an abrupt ending.

Xia pondered this for a moment, and glanced skyward, glanced at the place from which she'd just dropped, and wondered if Ryota might not mind...

But no. She'd pushed her luck with Bending already. Better to keep her feet on the ground, at least for now.

Instead, she nodded, and slipped her hand into his. She wanted to be familiar with him. And she knew he must be hurting.

"Yeah," Xia murmured. "I saw a place not too deep into the palace while I was looking for roof access. Almost overlooked it, but in retrospect..."

She gave his hand a squeeze, and daring only the occasional glance at his face, she led him through a passage and a corridor and a hallway and it was further than she remembered but still, not too far. A small theatre.

Xia could only imagine this was for private showings at the Fire Lord's request. Or, at least, past Fire Lords, as what little she'd seen of the current model didn't seem the play-going kind.

It was opulent enough, red cushioned chairs with gold inlay, she imagined they were as comfy as the most ostentatious box seat at Upper Ring theatres in Ba Sing Se. Only about a dozen rows of seats, with a throne-like set of seats in the front row, and a smallish stage laid out before them, with red red curtains hanging down.

There were a few posters in the entranceway, nostalgia pieces for past productions, but Xia didn't know all that much about Fire Nation culture, and she didn't recognise any of them. The only one that looked halfway decent, to her eyes, was one called 'Love Amongst The Dragons.'

She hesitated, and she glanced again at Ryota's face.

"I'm not sure," she considered, "if this is what you'd had in mind? But at least no-one'll complain if you put your feet up on the seatback in front of you."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"It was always burnin' since The World's been turnin'."

Aang averted his gaze, at first, and then fixed his gaze upon her eyes.

Stalwart. Of course he is.

But she did not act outwardly as though she felt her little bit of psychological warfare had been defeated. She acted as though the campaign continued unabated, and she settled herself down before him, lazily sinking slinking into the Lotus position, sitting before him bare of flesh and haughty of gaze. Her lips curved in a manner which, on this particular face, suggested that Aang might 'come and get it.'

"No, no, no," she dismissed, a royal little wave of her fingers. "I'm fairly sure you're in no hurry to 'embrace' Azula."

Her eyes darkened, if that were possible, and her smirk deepened. "Not that you haven't thought about it. Oh, you've thought about it. 'Wildest dreams,' and so forth. Beneath your monkish exterior and your high-faluting twinkle-toed goody-two-shoes morality, I'm sure there's a part of you, red-blooded male part of you, that's never been perfectly happy with that optimism-spewing, homily-weaving true-blue Southern princess. There's a part of you that wants to bang the bad girl. And there always will be. But that's hardly my point."

She folded her hands in her lap, a mockery of za-zen, and somewhere deep in those black black eyes, something smouldered.

"My point is," she mused, "you've been touched by greatness so many times. Great deep amazing things, some of which are prehistoric even to your prehistory. To this day, your aura resonates with the touch of that bastard Lion Turtle. You even sound like him a little when you talk, especially when you get all... righteously indignant."

She rolled her shoulders, causing her chest to rise and to fall, and she let her eyes sink closed as a little pleasured sigh escaped her moonpale lips.

"My point is," she murmured, "that ever you scratch the surface of your condition, and never do you dig deeper. Only a handful of Avatars have ever reached back back before The Four Elements, before The Four Nations, and taken hold of Energybending. And you use it as what? A pacification tool. So much unlimited potential, so much opportunity to remake The World from the inside out, and you use it sparingly to take away the playthings of people you don't like.

"Part of me," she pondered, eyes again sliding open and revealing the blackness within, "wants to punish you for not doing more with what you've been given. (Most of me wants to punish you, hence 'Katara.') Part of me wants to applaud your lack of initiative, because it permits me so much freedom to gad about in The World and undo your feeble attempts at Balancing. But the rest of me, oh, this incorrigible rest of me, wants to extend to you an invitation that The Lion Turtle neglected to offer. I want you to take this chance, oh this chance, to embrace the chance to Bend the entire World. To remake it as you see fit. How better to Balance it, I ask you? Too much is left up to chance, letting mortals choose for themselves. Too much chance for Imbalance to sneak in around the edges. You should take the reins of The World."

Again, her tongue, her Antarctic tongue, scrawled its way across her Antarctic lips.

"You should embrace this once in a lifetime... opportunity."

 

[Ahren1]

"Not that you haven't thought about it. Oh, you've thought about it. 'Wildest dreams,' and so forth. Beneath your monkish exterior and your high-faluting twinkle-toed goody-two-shoes morality, I'm sure there's a part of you, red-blooded male part of you, that's never been perfectly happy with that optimism-spewing, homily-weaving true-blue Southern princess. There's a part of you that wants to bang the bad girl. And there always will be. But that's hardly my point."

Aang's eyes narrowed further as if even mentioning such was greatly offending him. But somewhere in the depths of his mind, he had to admit she was right. It was something he would never admit. Never utter a single word about, but he did find aspects of Azula... alluring. There was a raw, fiery passion to all of her actions that couldn't be matched by Suki, Katara or Toph. It was probably an idle thought that had passed through almost every male's mind at one point or another. That was simply it, though. Idle thoughts. Nearly every human had them. Even the most innocent of people might have the occasional thought, however brief, on what it feels like to commit murder. That did not mean they ever acted upon it, or even spoke of it. The Avatar was not about to prove this spirit's point by admitting to it, or showing any temptation toward her beckoning movements. Chances were, whatever it was wasn't actually a woman, and the entire scene was just an act to disturb him.

He would show it in his expression that he didn't quite buy the whole performance. His eyes continued to focus on hers, however as she sat and moved her hands occasionally, there would be the briefest of glances elsewhere. He tried to mask it by occasionally looking away as well, but who knew just how much of his mind this creature could read? Perhaps she... it already knew about the thoughts he had. Nonetheless, if she were to expect him to be the first to act on such, she would be sorely disappointed.

She then took the conversation elsewhere, but not before making a few more distracting movements and noises with her body. He had to focus. It was entirely possible that this was just all in his head. Perhaps the interruption of the Energybending had caused a few hiccups in his mind. Of course, if that were so... what would imagining Azula in two different forms mean for him? No, it couldn't be that... This was definitely a spirit of some sort. And as soon as it began to speak of punishing him through Katara, he nearly growled, though he remained quiet, if not visibly irked.

"But the rest of me, oh, this incorrigible rest of me, wants to extend to you an invitation that The Lion Turtle neglected to offer. I want you to take this chance, oh this chance, to embrace the chance to Bend the entire World. To remake it as you see fit. How better to Balance it, I ask you? Too much is left up to chance, letting mortals choose for themselves. Too much chance for Imbalance to sneak in around the edges. You should take the reins of The World."

"What you're suggesting seems a bit self-destructive. Assuming I was even capable of making such changes, if I were to, I'd get rid of evil spirits like you..." Aang began, crossing his arms and focusing on the spirit Azula's eyes again. "But I'm afraid you just... don't understand. It all has to do with being human. Something you've never known, or possibly forgotten now that you're on the Other Side... One of the defining aspects of humanity is free will. Of course I want the world at peace. Of course I want balance. But people deserve their chances to live life the way they choose. If they take the direction of Ozai, people also have the right to stand up against him... I took his bending because it was one part of one man causing suffering throughout the world. I never wanted to have to do it again, but Azula refused to see what had happened to her father and tried to take things into her own hands.

This was done because no one person deserves to rule the entire world. If I were to use my powers for such, I would be no better than them. Maybe it seems illogical, that if I truly had the power to stop all the wrongdoings in the world that I should yet I choose not to, but there's no such thing as a perfect solution." Aang sighed softly, glancing down a bit. For a moment, he truly wondered if he had the power to change everything. He honestly had never considered using Energybending to alter the world in such a massive way, but even so, he stuck by his beliefs. He couldn't play God, even if his powers were Godlike.

"Besides, why should I even listen to anything you say? I've explained myself yet I don't even know who or what you are. Does Azula know you're appearing to me like this? She probably wouldn't appreciate it, especially given how you've been... acting. I mean, what would you have done if I had just jumped all over you, hmm?" He added, obviously joking at the end, though there went the idle thoughts again.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Oh, and it's rising at the back of your mind..."

She sat quietly, and listened to him, dwelling on his words and gazing at him, unflinching, with her deepsome darksome eyes. And sometimes she would smirk at him, and sometimes she would scowl, and there, at the end, at that last bit... she threw back her head, craned her face to the nigh-changeless sky and laughed, oh oh how she laughed... she rocked back and forth with her hands on her knees there in Lotus and she laughed to the skies, and when she settled down again she pantomimed wiping tears from her eyes.

"Heh, hm, mmm, not bad," she chuckled softly. "But: rebuttal."

Gathering a fist before her mouth, she exaggerated clearing her throat, and then began to count things off on her fingers, imperious and mocking, extending a further finger with each segue of topic: "First of all, spare me your provincial, infantile notions of 'good' and 'evil.' I've been around much too long for such nascent definitions to apply to me. Second, you are an agent of Balance, and as such you must needs recognise that even 'rogue elements' such as myself are necessary for the natural scheme of things. Third... oh, you would probably screw it up anyway, trying something on that gigantic a scale, you couldn't even disarm Azula right, and you know what? I was kind of hoping you'd try it. As you say, there's no such thing as a perfect solution... I was very much hoping you'd make a go of it, wipe away free will and make a bigger mess, and cause that much more Imbalance. Call it a girlish dream of mine.

"Fourth," she mused, flaring her nostrils and flexing her jaw muscles slightly at the change in tone, "I don't need to tell you why to listen to me, your own natural propensity to strive to hear everyone out and reach a fair solution, that takes care of that for me. You don't need to know why you should listen to me, all you need to do is hear my words, let them wend their way into your mind, let your funny little reincarnate subconscious and your funny little conscience chew things over, let them gestate and germinate, wrestle with them in your sleep and in your waking. You're something of a captive audience at the moment, or hadn't you noticed?"

And then she extended her thumb, her whole palm raised and facing him with pale pale elegant fingers spread and fingernails finely manicured.

"Fifth," she continued, "as for Azula? I don't imagine she'd be entirely flattered by my choice of guise, though there's the possibility she'd be tickled by the idea of her likeness causing you such a, oh, what's the term?" ...she waggled her artfully-swept eyebrows and her voice lowered to a smoky octave: "'Mind-fuck?'

"But then again, I didn't really consider her feelings in this matter," she confessed, "I chose a form that I would find comfortable, and that you would find uncomfortable. And make no mistake, this form is immensely comfortable. She has such marvellous foot hygiene."

To emphasise this, she wiggled her toes, and then, and then, she began to move...

...she uncoiled from Lotus like an eel-hound, and she lowered her spread-fingered palm and planted it in the soil, and slowly, slowly, slowly, sloooowly she began to crawl across the ground towards Aang, crossing the intervening distance on all fours, her stylish forelocks swinging hypnotically pendulously, side-to-side, like the rise and fall of her shoulders, knees, hips, breasts...

She crawled up to him, and drew up close to his face, and her breath was nearly hot as steam upon his skin as distant lightning and blue blue flame crackled somewhere in the deepsome darksome fathoms of her eyes.

"And finally," she purrrrred, tracing Aang's forehead arrowhead with a lazy little thumbtip, "err not, Little Nomad. I have never been human, and to me you little carbon-based creatures are The Other Side, but I've had chances to partake of the funny little pleasures of the flesh. You ask me what I would have done if you'd jumped me? Well, Little Nomad, I would have enjoyed it: maybe it's too difficult a concept for you to understand, with your puritanical upbringing and its nonsensical ascetic self-deprivation, but when someone jumps you in that context you're supposed to enjoy it. (No wonder your little princess gets so cranky sometimes, if you don't understand that particular aspect of the process.) You're supposed to enjoy it. And I would have enjoyed it, snarling snapping blazing craving moaning heaving, I would have enjoyed it. And so would you have, I guarantee it."

She withdrew, but only by a few inches, so that he could better see the taunting dancing glitter of her smirking grin.

"And then, forever thereafter," she murmured, "I would have had a funny little blackmail anecdote to lord over your future incarnations. I can't let Koh have all the fun with that idiot Kuruk. So, you probably would have regretted it in the long run. But in the short term..."

Her eyes again sank to half lid, waxing moons of pale white eclipsing waning moons of insatiable darkness.

"...you would have enjoyed it."

 

[Mephistophelily]

Azula's natural reaction upon seeing the unexpected figure was that of her natural world form, the Azula untainted by the Avatar's judgemental touch that left her in this current place; an attempt at firebending with an immediate thrusted fist in the strange figure's direction. She stood up from her semi-seated position in the heated waters, uncaring of her current appearance and lack of clothing as she tried once again to summon forth flames to harm her unwanted guest. Recognizing now the outline of her only company, her hated enemy, she grit her teeth, readying to yell at him-

But this was not right. This was not the Aang she had left at the stream's shoreline. This young man had something different to him, the outline before her not being his shadow- but a shadow of himself that could move on its own. The uncharacteristically sadistic smirk that rested upon the Anti-Aang's lips left her curious as well, still untrusting of this arrival, but finding him to be oddly more on her level than the man she had been so bitter towards earlier.

His reference towards her forced her own lips to curl into a smile, leaning over the edge of the pool to watch him. "Lady Fire Lord... Now I am most certain you are not the true Aang standing before me....," she mumbled softly, raising an eyebrow. "My imprisonment did nothing to smolder my convictions; if anything, they have simply made me more adamant on my quest. Once I am free of this place-"

She paused as this doppleganger of her enemy mentioned the opportunities awaiting her, her eyes widening as she straightened up from the pool's edge. "You know what is taking place outside of this horrific place? Tell me. I want to know everything! Reveal every item that will help me regain what is rightfully mine..." She smiled, raising a hand and curling her fingers towards the curious figure. "You address me with the title I deserve, but I'm fully aware that such things are not given without expectations. What do you want of me?"

 

[Eazy]

Ryota

Although he may have attempted to mask it, Xia's compliment about his appearance had caught the tribesman somewhat by surprise. After speaking of her own beauty, the young warrior did halfheartedly expect the possibility of a similar comment; basically along the lines of calling him handsome. Nothing serious, and purely as a courtesy thing then anything else. But sexiest? That was a bit unexpected, though certainly a term to describe him which, especially coming from a beautiful young woman as herself, had a deeply flattering effect on the male. Heck, if it weren't for the darker complexion of his skin, he may have been at risk of letting a faint blush show itself upon his features.

As he awaited her response to his suggestion of finding a place to sit, his eyes promptly lowered their gaze upon noticing her reaching for his hand; letting her take it within her grasp before slowly wrapping his own fingers around it in return. A simple action, yet it caused those blue eyes to light up as a wide smile stretched itself across his features. If anything, it seemed Ryota wasn't as terrible at trying to offer a friendly ear and supportive words as he originally feared. Being capable of provide this much for Xia had meant a lot for the bender, though he tried to wipe the smile off his face before there was a risk of inadvertently looking like a bit of a dork in front of the Ba Sing Se native.

Nodding his head at Xia's suggestion, he returned the squeeze of his hand which she provided before starting to follow her lead, giving a faint smirk as he lightly joked, "Sounds promising to me, Xia. Let's just hope nobody gets the wrong idea if they're patrolling along the way."

Perhaps not the best comment to make, especially when one considered how she seemed reluctant enough of even meeting his gaze. Still, it was intended as a simple rib, and he briefly tightened his grasp with another squeeze to let her know it wasn't made due to disliking the contact. If anything, her simple act of kindness had helped to temporarily divert his focus away from the dulling pain which remained due to his earlier and newly acquired bumps. Aside from this, however, their lengthy walk toward wherever she had in mind had been relatively quiet; though he did let out a surprise spurred intake of air upon arriving before their destination. Ryota hadn't any opportunities to actually enjoy a play during his short life, and while they were the only ones whom were likely to show up around here, his own growing interest in theatre (thanks in part to a few descriptions Sokka and others had provided in the past) had left him pleased at the sight of the small set up.

"I'm not sure if this is what you'd had in mind? But at least no-one'll complain if you put your feet up on the seatback in front of you."

Turning his head in order to meet her eyes, the young tribesman smiled with a noticeable sense of excitement in his features as he promptly responded, "Oh, it's perfect, Xia!"

The bender imagined it wasn't quite as impressive when compared to the high class structures which were designed to house considerably larger gatherings, but it remained a sight he appreciated having the opportunity to see while he could, "I'm actually thrilled I got to see this while I had the chance. I mean, who's to say how long we're going to remain here after tomorrow?"

It was a bittersweet thought. One can't help but grow homesick during lengthy trips away from it. Especially after going through such a frightening experience which left them doubting whether or not they'd live to see it again; such as was the case earlier. At the same time, Ryota had to admit that, when he wasn't fearing for his life, this had been a rather amazing experience. Then there was the prospect of not seeing a couple of the people he'd met during his stay here. Longshot had looked out for him, for which the inexperienced warrior would always be in debt to the Freedom Fighter. Even Smellerbee would be oddly missed, though he may change his mind on this once her jaw was healed up. Then, of course, there was the young woman standing by his side. Briefly, his expression took on a short lived and unexpected frown as he considered the thought, but quickly pushed it aside while trying to enjoy the night.

"C'mon, let's enjoy this place before anyone shows up to ask for a ticket." The water bender joked with a playful smirk, giving her hand another squeeze as he took the initiative in leading them inside the rest of the way.

Picking out a couple of seats toward the back which granted them a good view of the interior, Ryota patiently waited for Xia to take her seat upon the red cushioned chair before sitting down; noting as he did, "Perhaps not the two best seats in the house, but on the off chance anyone shows up here, I'm not sure they'd appreciate us sitting in the pair of seats up front."

The Northern Water Tribe native may have held mixed feelings about the Fire Nation, but it didn't change how he was a guest in their capital and would show the proper respect. Besides, after the day he had, the bender didn't exactly feel like dodging any fireballs if a particularly trigger happy guard stumbled across them. Either way, he did finally take his seat after Xia; letting out a light sigh as his muscles started relaxing against the cushy theatre chair beneath his figure. Placing his arms to rest upon the unfolding arm rests, Ryota stretched out slightly as his head reclined against the back of his chair. Outside of those brief periods where he was sitting up on his guest bed, this was his first chance of sitting back without anyone trying to check his head during the past several hours.

"Perfect." The young man let out as he took in the sight of the small, yet very impressive theatre as he sat beside his new friend; letting out a short chuckle as he glanced at her and pointed out, "Although with my luck as of late, I'll likely bruise something else shortly after my hip quits being a bother. But one bright side to this entire ordeal is how I keep hearing girls dig scars on a guy."

Offering up a half-smile at that last comment, Ryota reached out and once again took Xia's hand into his own; letting his thumb lightly brush itself along her knuckles a few times. Watching the young woman for a short while, the water bender eventually returned his attention toward the theatre itself. There remained a great deal of concern on his mind, but sitting here with her, alone in this small, yet illustrious private set up? Well, it gave the tribesman the first true semblance of peace of mind since they originally left the Earth Kingdom in pursuit of Zuko and the Avatar. Letting his blue eye fall back on the novice Airbender at his side, he watched her thoughtfully while pondering how she was holding up on her end. For however many troublesome thoughts he may have, they likely paled in comparison to her own inner turmoil.

"So tell me a little more about yourself? About your life back in Ba Sing Se? Friends? Family?" The young man started to ask out of genuine curiosity about the girls life, giving a short lived pause as he finished, "Boyfriend? That type of thing, or however much you may feel comfortable with sharing."

Not precisely fluffy conversation material which was designed for getting a persons mind off of important matters. Nevertheless, the tribesman was curious on finding out and better understanding more about this young woman whom he gradually went from considering an annoyance to genuinely wanting to offer comfort. Besides, if Xia didn't feel like speaking about her life in any greater detail, then she was always free to 'kindly' suggest he mind his own business; which he'd completely understand if that were the case.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Would I spend forever here, and not be satisfied?"

Aang was the epitome of meekness, and this oftentimes was misdefined as "weakness." Aang was power kept under control, power truly fettered. This, on the other hand, this shadow-Aang, this bleak black Spirit-Aang, he would have worn power on his sleeves, if he'd had them.

He bristled with power.

And that power sparked within him, within his brain within his chest within his...

...when she arose to attack him, uncaring of her nakedness.

His arrows and eyes gleamed in response to the sight of her, the Fire in her Spirit causing all manner of delight to race up and down the arrow that traced his spine. He loved it when she got all... Bent out of shape.

"You are confined," he confided, as he strode toward her, sinew and muscle and power, answering her curling, beckoning fingers. "But you are not imprisoned. They little understand your condition, and in their lack of understanding they place you not in a cell, not in a cage, but in a simple simple room for the healing of the sick. Your mortal form lies there, immobile, not far from that of The Avatar, as they are loath to separate you given the mysteriousness of your... Spiritual state."

He sank to one knee, there at the edge of the pool, and traced his shadowsome fingers across her cheek, across her jawline, and his eyes seethed with energy.

"When you wake," he growled softly, pleasantly, his voice reverberating, "they will be quick to respond, quick to attack you and defend The Avatar. I leave it up to you whether you wish to attempt to assassinate him, or simply make good your escape, but even given your newfound... opportunities, I doubt there will be chance enough to do both. You will have to choose, one or the other."

He smiled, a thin little smile. "Do not take offence. I would never underestimate you. But in many ways it will be a whole new and different world to which you awaken, and this will require... adjustment on your part. He tried to take something from you, that annoyingly wholesome villain that he is, he tried to steal the power that makes you such a beautiful, fierce creature, but in turn, he floundered and foundered and instead you took something from him. You have taken power."

He stood, and straightened, and took a pondering look upon his face. "I doubt the fool boy even realises this has happened. That he is diminished, and you are risen like The Sun. And certain... factors are in play to distract him from this until such time as you can make good your attack and/or your escape."

And then, and then, he stepped his bare foot into the waters beside her, and he sank down into those waters up to his waist, slipped into the warm wet heat with her and he drew close to her, and oh, his arrows and his eyes seethed even brighter in proximity to her...

He gazed at her with intent and with craving, with the promise that he would feed her and feed upon her and feed her up all over again...

"What do I ask of you?" he rumbled. "The same thing I asked of your father, and his father, and his father, and of Chin the Conqueror, and so many others besides. The same thing I have ever only asked of you. (You have been acquainted with many voices in your head, your father's voice, your mother's 'ghost,' and I... forgive you... for not picking mine out of the crowd.)"

He cupped her chin, gazing down into her eyes with his hand on her jaw in a pose remarkably similar to the instant in which the true Aang had held Phoenix King Ozai by the beard.

"I only ask of you, Lady Fire Lord, Phoenix Queen," he growled, "the same thing that I have ever asked of you. Burn it all down. Burn all of it down. Lay waste to The World and rule over the ashes with an unrelenting fist. Give me my playground, and even I will be your slave."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Hold me 'till morning. Love me right now." (...with apologies to Soru)

Sokka slept fitfully, but at least now he slept.

Iroh sat beside Sokka's bed, sat on a stool with a small table before him. On this small table was a teapot drained of all but its dregs, and a teacup with a small number of tea leaves left in the bottom. Beside the teapot was a jug of cooler Water, and a bowl into which some of this Water had been poured. In Iroh's hands was a washcloth, and this was soaked through with the Water from this small bowl.

With this wet washcloth, Iroh tended to Sokka's forehead.

His face was stern and calm and methodical. He had been down this road before, and was using the repetition and the altruism of the task to shake away what he hope were the last vestiges of his rage and malaise from earlier. Palace healers had tried to take this task from him, but he had forbidden this, dismissed them.

Sometimes Sokka was fraught with chills, his whole body wracked with icy cold to rival either Pole. And in these times, Iroh's power warmed the Water and the cloth to steam upon Sokka's brow, keeping the chill at bay. Sometimes Sokka was a-pulse with fever, every bit of his form seething with tremendous heat. And in these times, Iroh's power used the Water as a conductor, and he siphoned the heat away, redirected it as he might redirect lightning, as he had redirected the heat of the exploding Airship to keep himself alive, and he battered the fever until it would break, and then give way to shivers again.

Iroh was stern and calm and methodical. He said not a word, and he did not tire in his task.

He did not even flinch nor change in his expression when behind him, across the room, he sensed Sokka's sister awaken.

Her voice was a rasp, dry from worry as well as genuine thirst. "How... how is he?"

Iroh's hand pressed the cloth to Sokka's forehead for the countlessth time, and fever siphoned away. "Which one?" he asked, not unreasonably.

Katara hesitated. She was disoriented. Much time had past, moonlight was coming in through the window...

She rubbed her eyes and frowned deeply.

'Which one?'

Sokka, wounded deeply, saving me.

Zuko, the king with the broken bride.

...Aang...

She gestured helplessly at the night.

"Any of them," she breathed. "All of them. How are they?"

Iroh soaked the washcloth, warmed it through and through, and made war against the freezing cold that sleeted Sokka's brow.

"Your brother suffers," he murmured. "But his will is as strong as his wit is sharp. He will pull through this, so long as he is not left alone. I will see to it that he is not left alone."

Katara's face tightened, and her blue blue eyes gazed at Iroh's back with surpassing gratitude.

Hot brow, cold cloth.

"The Fire Lord," Iroh breathed, agony of his own seeping 'round the edges of his stern calm methodicalness, "seeks to wrestle his loss the same way that he always has: he has made himself solitary. He has found his way thusly in the past, I can only trust that he does so again. Though never do I think he has lost more than now."

Katara touched her forehead with her fingertips, and a fluted scale of sympathetic pains ran through her skin and bones and chi.

Cold brow, warm cloth.

Iroh hesitated, and then began again. "The Avatar has demonstrated no change. And I think he shall not display any change... until such time that the place he has gone is well and truly done with him. Until The Avatar finds his own way back, we can do nothing for him. It could be a minute from now... or he could pass another century in slumber, and not wake up until all of us are buried under Earth."

Katara's eyes crushed closed and she fumbled fumbled fumbled for vestiges of hope, found nearly none, and hugged her knees tightly to her chest there on her healing-bed.

Hot brow, cold cloth.

Her whisper was a plea, almost a prayer, to The Dragon of The West: "What should I do?"

Iroh digested this, his own brow clenching like unto a fist.

"What mortal can divide himself in three?" he wondered, his gravel tones tremulous without being weak. "None can. Not even The Avatar can be three in one, can be in more places than one. So you must choose which place to be."

He turned, then, and he looked at her, his eyes dark and bright simultaneously in the moonlight and shadows of the room.

"Zuko is in his own mind's fortress, his own mind's solitude," he intoned. "And even a woman of your kindness and beauty and friendship would have trouble scaling the walls he builds around himself in times such as these."

Cold brow, warm cloth.

"Your brother," he reminded her, "loves you dearly. You think a sibling who would so plainly sacrifice himself for you would then turn and be offended at your absence upon his awakening? Such love as his knows not indebtedness nor owing. And should he stir from this difficult slumber, I will send immediately for you."

Iroh's shoulders rose, and Iroh's shoulders fell.

"You, on the other hand," Iroh murmured, "are needed. The Avatar needs you. He needs to find his way back to us, and he cannot do this without compass. He needs you to remind him of his life and your love, to be a lighthouse in the black. The Avatar is The Spirit of The World, and The World needs him, and The World needs you."

There was another jug of drinking Water on the table beside Katara's bed, and she Bent a fistful of this Water, drew it to herself and sipped of it until her parched throat was sated.

She rose from her bed, and she was hurting, but when she spoke again her voice was strong.

"I guess there's no question, then," she decided.

"The Ten Thousand Questions," Iroh murmured, "are one question."

"Right, then," Katara agreed, and turned to go.

But then a shadow moved quickly across the window to the night, across the moonlight, a shadow swift but large, and Iroh paused and lifted his hand.

"Katara," he called to her. "Perhaps there is a detour you must take before you see your love. I believe you are needed in the garden."

Katara frowned. But she nodded, and did not question the way that Iroh sometimes knew things without knowing, and she hurried from that place...

...a passage and a corridor and a hallway...

...and when she emerged into the moonlit quiet of one of the palace's gardens, she saw a familiar, beleaguered sight.

A shaggy white beast with an arrow on his head. Weary.

He had fear in his eyes, as he stood there upon the grass with six bowed legs, such fear as could only be provoked by the threat of Fire or the idea of being taken underground. He had fear in his eyes and sadness on his face and he sniffed worriedly at the Air...

He spied Katara and he lumbered towards her, his great powerhouse of a tail dragging the lawn behind him, he rumbled and his breath smelled of apples, as he had eaten an orchard but this had not been enough. He had worried and he had returned.

He thrumbled at her, and she ran to him, and she buried her face in the shag of his fur, and she clutched tightly to him. He thrumbled at her, and the thrumble was a question mark.

She drew back, and she winced at him, and she shook her head. "Appa. No, no, he's alive, but... but he's hurt. We don't know how badly. I'm... I'm sorry... I should have kept him safe."

Appa snarled, his voice enough to shake The Earth, and he shook her off-- though not so viciously as to injure, even in grief and frustration the Bison knew his own strength --and lumbered towards the windows of the garden courtyard, sniffing at those windows, his breath rattling the panes. He sniffed and sniffed and he found a window, and at that window he roared, and the roar was impossible and loud...

Katara picked herself up and again sprinted to him, getting between him and the wall and the window and placing her palm on his nose and her palm on his cheek and gazing pleadingly into his eyes.

"I know, I know," she murmured, agonised but soothing, "I know. I... I feel just the same. But you need to keep your voice down, there are other wounded, there are others resting. Sometimes you need to... sometimes you need to hold back your pain, stitch it back because of greater concerns... sometimes you can't grieve until the work is done. Does that make sense to you?"

Appa grunted, and seemed to scoff, and seemed utterly dubious of this.

But then he sagged, and he closed his eyes, and he turned away again, slumping to the ground with a groan.

And Katara hugged herself, fraught with her worry and shared worry.

"I'm going to go see him," she murmured. "I'll tell him you're waiting for him. I'll send him your love."

Appa didn't make a sound, but he seemed to nod a little bit.

Katara winced. "(I'm sorry.)"

And then she withdrew.

...a passage and a corridor and a hallway...

...she entered the room in which Azula lay, in which Aang lay, in which guards stood with holy men and healers. In which The Queen of Omashu sat watching over The Avatar.

Katara didn't say anything to Toph at first, sinking to sit opposite her and slipping her fingers into the grasp of the comatose messiah.

Outside, Katara could hear the deep muffled sounds of a Bison worriedly weeping.

She glanced up at Toph's face, and she asked a question that was two questions: "Hanging in there?"

She asked this of Toph as well as asked this about Aang, and her voice was taut with pain.

 

[Mephistophelily]

As her new companion, her advisor and seer into the world she longed to return to, the man in the form that mirrored who she hated so much spoke, she listened intently, every word he uttered leaving more and more of an ache to be free of where she was. Left her to be simply laying in the infirmary? Next to the Avatar; so easily disposed of upon her awakening that it nearly brought tears to her eyes. Why her dear, dear brother... He truly did love her. Without meaning to, he had left her the perfect gift. She simply-

What was that?

Her smirk turned to a frown as the Spirit spoke to her, reminding her of the choices that needed to be made. She could take the choice that appealed to her so greatly now and finish Aang immediately upon her return... Or create another chance later on with a hasty escape. As much as the idea of fleeing disgusted her, it certainly did seem the more beneficial of the two. Retreat and reassemble, forge her forces into a far greater threat than those she had gathered in the confines of her detention- or be locked away immediately for her revenge upon only one.

His fingers against her skin felt so strange, his touch something that she rarely allowed from others- yet from this representational being, it felt.... right. As though his touch were fueling her, encouraging her, even managing to soothe the faint threads of fright and worry from being trapped in this world she couldn't understand. But him- she understood. And he understood her. He was a reminder of who she was, what she was to be, and what she needed to be to fulfill that.

He, in her eyes, at this moment was the idealistic image of perfection.

Jealousy was slowly twisting inside her; wanting what he, a Spirit of the Spirit Realm, had... and what she, as a true and simple mortal, believed she could not. But there were other things that she could have; that she once had. Things that she ached to have back once again.

"He tried to take what is mine." Her reference this time was not to her brother, but to Aang. "Firebending is the force that drives the blood in my veins, the warmth that flows with it, the reason I breathe. He attempted to take my life from me. Without it I am simply a shell. There is no other purpose for me than to follow in the footsteps of the greatness of the Fire Nation- a greatness tarnished by Zuko." Looking back to her onyx-skinned confidante, she smiled once again. "His failure was greater than he believes. Oh, this is beautiful."

Taking a step back as he slipped his foot into the warmth of the waters, she simply stared at him, the awed and jealous look to her eyes lingering still. His movements barely sent waves in the water, Azula taking in a breath as he stepped closer and closer still, tensing as he laid his hands upon her once again. His words reminded her again of the history of her quest, the honor that she swore to uphold, the legacy of her people... and the Spirit, the true Spirit, behind it all- smiling down upon her now and giving her its blessings.

Lady Fire Lord. Phoenix Queen...

Yes. YES! This was what she wanted. This was what the Fire nation DESERVED!

"Ashes and dust, remnants of the mistakes made in my absence. All shall be as it should," She agreed in a whisper, lost in the void eyes of the man holding her. "We shall dance and revel in the world reborn under the Fire Nation flag."

 

[Mephistophelily]

Toph had closed her eyes for what felt to be a simple moment, the day's events finally being recalled upon her body, the bending that she had done in such fevered attempts to protect her friends taking their toll. Some had been done without real focus, just sudden instinct and the after effects left her head now reeling. The healers watching over both Hero and Invader, both parties that meant so much in their own ways to this torn Nation- they took a few moments out of their vigils between both beds to inquire on the Queen's state. "I'm fine," She repeated as usual, the stone pose unmoving. "Just help them. Stop asking me."

After the fifth inquiry on her status, she finally heeded to them, admitting to the throbbing pain in her head and the slices to her face. "Its nothing terrible. The others- The others are far worse off. I can deal with it. though if you have something for my head... I wouldn't argue with that."

A cup of tea with some rather sour herbs to it, and she was feeling more in a calmed place, the stomping of the thousands of badgermoles seemingly inside her skull finally finding peace. Her eyes remained closed as she listened to the entrance of another person, the steps made against the stone floor and the presence given off as that of Katara. No words exchanged between them for a moment's time, Toph's back still firmly against the wall as her friend settled in.

She spoke.

And Toph replied, as best she could.

"There's been better days."

Finally breaking her stance, she pushed off from the wall, leaning forward on her stool and resting her elbows against her legs. "He hasn't moved much. Neither of them, really. I've heard them shift, A few heavy breaths... but other than that-" She sighed, shaking her head. "Please don't give up faith, Katara. He's got more than enough reasons to come back. You're the main one. He wouldn't do that to you. I know he wouldn't. He doesn't give up..."

She felt she already spoke too much.

Getting up from the stool, she hesitantly took a few steps towards the door. "I'll.. I'll let you be with him for awhile. I need some air. That tea did wonders for my head, but not my stomach."

A partial lie. She wanted to leave them alone, to let Katara attempt to reach Aang in her own way.
But the tea?
It truly did leave her stomach in a worse condition than riding Appa had ever done.

 

[UnseenMaiden]

In which Bee subscribes to chair and Ty Lee owns Zuzu's tears.

Smellerbee

Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom. Eight years ago..

Paste, the color of blood, filled the small pot in her hand. A scowl was on her lips as she painted the henna on her cheeks, cool and smooth against her heated flesh. She'd been doing this for so long, that she didn't need a mirror to guide her strokes. Yet, there she was staring at this polished bit of metal Jet had found and hung up in their piss poor excuse for a bathing room. That had been weeks ago, before Jet got himself arrested and disappeared. It was his fault. They had told him to stop stalking the old man and that scarred boy over and over again. They weren't Freedom Fighters here and he'd got what he deserved, but the lack of their friend silently accused them of their betrayal. Now it was just her and Longshot, working to live like everyone else in the Lower Circle of Ba Sing Se. It had been difficult for her to adjust to being the only one talking among them. At the moment, she wasn't filling up the silence between them with words, but her thoughts were raging plenty loud to make up for it.

There weren't many instances where she put some thought into her being a girl. When living in the forest, the only time she'd ever felt the need to address it was when those dimwits suddenly took her for some delicate flower, but it had been an issue that she'd quickly beaten out of their heads. Things were changing though, she could feel it as she got older, could see it in her body during certain private moments. Now, lately it bothered her, a lot, that so many mistook her for a boy. Longshot tried to cheer her up, but it wasn't like he knew what she was going through. He didn't know how their surprise after finding out she was a girl only hurt her more. They never said it to her face, but she knew what it meant. On top of everything else, she was so ugly that they couldn't even imagine her as feminine.

Thunking her head against the door behind her, she heaved a weary sigh. Today had to be the worst day of her life, strictly not counting the years she refused to think about. She'd worked with Guang for over a month now, she supposed, doing menial tasks here and there. People were always wanting strong, young boys to carry stuff for them. He was a bit older than her and had kind of annoying, but they'd become friends of a sort. Until today that was. He'd started talking about girls and crushes and wooing out of absolutely nowhere. Then he'd pointed out some girl in the marketplace and told her that this girl was meant to be her date at the festival tonight. Of course she'd never told him she was a girl, but that didn't stop her from screaming the fact at the top of her lungs.

Guang's subsequent look of horror had her storming off. She had more important things to do with her free time than to hang out with him anyways. By the time Longshot usually got done with his work, most of the shops were already closed up. So she had taken it upon herself to get the various things they'd be needing over the week. Her anger hadn't really quelled by the time she got to the apothecary, as could be attested to by the poor people she had glared at along the way. She wasn't happy about going there. They needed all the money they could get and her reason was purely selfish, vanity. She didn't style her hair, or wear fancy clothes, or color her lips, or put kohl on her eyes, but she did stain her skin. Somehow she figured as long as she could keep that up, people would think her skin was smooth and clear behind the rusty color instead of damaged. One day she might even manage to fool herself.

Staring at herself now, she tried to envision that. No ghastly red stripes, no horrifying scars, just herself. A derisive snort left her lips. If she couldn't even see that, there was no way anyone else would. Tears surprisingly burned the back of her eyes as she thought about it. She didn't know why she cared so much all of a sudden, but it was confusing her to death. That woman hadn't helped either when she'd gone to get the henna. She'd just started babbling on about it being about that time for changes while tilting her face every which way with those bony fingers of hers. Then she'd thrust some herbs and cloth at her and said she would be needing it soon enough. Only thing she'd understood out of that was free stuff. Sighing once more, she ran her fingers through her hair before standing up and washing her face off, staining the water in the bowl red with what plant dye had refused to soak into her skin.

"Longshot?"

Old habits died hard. The impenetrable wall of Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li protected them now. Yet, there Longshot was fletching arrows that he wouldn't need as long as they stayed in this town. Not that she was one to talk. Her own knives always stayed tucked safe against her sides and she was always fiddling with them, making sure she didn't lose the feel for them. His fingers kept moving along with the familiar task even as his eyes were on her, waiting for her to say or ask whatever it was she had on her mind. Instead she gave another sigh, walking away from him so she could throw the used water out of the doorway. She didn't actually know what she wanted to say, just that she was tired of tumbling it all over and over in her head until her thoughts lost all meaning. She needed an opinion she could trust. Even if Jet was here, she probably wouldn't have asked him. He'd more than likely would've teased her in a light hearted way and she really didn't have the patience for that. Not today.

"Do you think I could look pretty, like a girl, if I wanted to?"

She hadn't looked at him when she'd asked the question, but she watched her friend intently now. He was staring at her dumbfounded, clearly wanting to know where such a question came from. She wasn't giving him any answers though. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for his answer. It was embarrassing enough asking him this without having to go into an explanation that she couldn't even give to herself. When they'd come across the ferry here, Longshot had told her that as long as she was confident with herself, it didn't matter what other people thought about her. So now what did she do when she wasn't confident at all? He was looking at her in that funny way again. She was too stubborn to admit she didn't know what he was saying that way, her cheeks flushing as anger unexpectedly rose to the surface.

"UGH! Nevermind! It was a dumb question anyways."

Not bothering to look back, she stomped out the door, fury in every step. She was so sick and tired of this. Why couldn't she be normal anymore?! She just wanted to go back to the trees and do what she wanted without worrying about being different or ugly or pretty or anything. At least there, if something was bothering her, she could go hunting to work out her frustrations. Here she was stuck glaring at people and hoping one of them would be stupid enough to say something and give her a reason to introduce them to her fists. Longshot was following her. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was. She could feel his eyes. Sighing, she slowed down to a more sedate pace. It wasn't like she was mad at him anyways. Still as he fell in step behind her, she didn't stop. She wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. Then a familiar figure caught her eye and she gaped in surprise as her wits returned to her and she called out to him.

"Jet!"

Royal Palace, Capital, Fire Nation. Present Day.

"I'm sorry, Smellerbee."

His sudden apology caught her by surprise and she paused in her motions to look up at him. Her heart slammed painfully against her ribcage as she let his hand slip through her fingers. She didn’t know what he was thinking or what he was apologizing for exactly, but she could plainly see the regret that lay there in the depths of his eyes. It was painful to realize that she was afraid. Her hands tensed as she resisted the sudden urge to clap her hands over his mouth, or her ears, or to just get up and run, anything to not find out what he was apologizing to her for. He’d only apologized to her out loud once and she had this dreadful certainty that he was saying it this time to tell her he was leaving again.

"I shouldn't have kissed you when I did. Not when we were on our way toward a deadly battle. When there wasn't a chance for me to give you the explanation you deserved for my actions. It was a selfish act on my part. I'd thought of doing it for a while now. A few months prior to Jet disbanding the Freedom Fighters, throughout the time leading up to the end of the war. It was a simple crush which grew out of a strong friendship."

The relief that flooded through her at his words was enough that she didn’t entirely gather the meaning in them. He was apologizing for kissing her and even though it wasn’t exactly her most favorite of subjects right now, anything was preferable to the conclusion she’d jumped to. Sighing softly in bemusement, she lowered her eyes as she finally bothered to let herself run over his surprising actions that afternoon. It had been her first kiss. That it had taken this long for that fact to occur to her, somehow, brought the ghost of a smile to her lips as her cheeks burned at the memory. It had been…. sweet. She guessed at that being the word for it, the soft, but firm feeling of his lips as they pressed against her skin.

That same skin that was marked with her mother’s reminder of how worthless she truly was. Sharp alarm ran through her body and her eyes widened as that fact came to also nestle itself firmly in her mind. He’d kissed her. He’d felt the scars, she knew it. He knew what she had spent so long hiding. He’d hate her! No. No, he didn’t hate her now, so obviously that part about her had either escaped her notice or wasn’t enough to earn his disgust. He was her friend. Of course he wouldn’t hate her for an injury she’d acquired long before they’d ever met. That was silly. Besides, it didn’t matter. He’d apologized for his actions. He probably wouldn’t do anything weird like that again.

The feel of his hand suddenly holding her own, brought her back to the world outside of her mind. She looked at him, as the rest of what he’d been saying came crashing around her ears. The impossible had happened. He had liked her, more than a friend, as a boy would a girl. It was enough of a shock to have her blinking at him as the blood rushed quickly back into her cheeks. He’d liked her. She certainly couldn’t see it, but he wouldn’t just say something like that if it was a lie. So that left her with the news that him kissing her on the cheek was just some weird remnant of a childhood crush.

"When we were on that airship, preparing to cast ourselves into a literal war zone, it was the first time in years I'd felt afraid of losing you again. With this in mind, I reacted purely out of instinct, and did so without thinking of how unfair my actions were for you. For each of these things; I'm sorry."

Snorting rudely, Smellerbee rolled her eyes as he let her hand fall away from his grasp. Beyond that, she didn’t know how to respond. Even if she could talk without her jaw screaming at her, what was she supposed to say? What did she want to say? Well, it was kind of a stupid conversation to be having. He was apologizing like she was some wounded cub that he’d kicked instead of a friend he’d simply kissed out of some impulse before going to meet his possible doom. It wasn’t like it had meant much of anything, and she’d definitely seen people do crazier things when they felt like death was bearing down on them. Granted it did make her feel weird, confused in a way she hadn’t been in years. Sighing, she pulled away from him and reached for her shirt, busying her hands as her mind worked.

Her gaze focused on the water as she wrung the cloth tightly between her hands to rid it of any lingering moisture. Once, long ago, in another lifetime, when they lived in a world of trees and then cramped, dirty rooms, when Jet was alive, when she’d been so unsure of herself that she could barely stand it, Longshot had had a crush on her. If she set aside all the obvious things wrong with that scenario, she supposed it made sense. She’d been the closest thing to a girl among the Freedom Fighters back then. Odds were that someone would have remembered that when they began to discover girls.

Even though she’d never thought about it before, she still thought Longshot would be the least likely candidate for that sort of thing. Smellerbee had always figured he’d go for some sweet village girl type. Oh well, there was no accounting for tastes. Besides it was over and done with anyways. Snapping the article of clothing her hands, she deemed it dry enough to put back on once more and slipped it over her shoulders. Looking back over at her friend, she grinned at him and shook her head, fingers busy fixing the shirt firmly about her, in an attempt to let him know that she wasn’t going to beat him for making her the victim of his impulsiveness quite yet. Instead the shuddering whisper of her laughter came out as she leaned over and poked his cheek, her words coming out on impulse marred it with a wince of pain.

"Make sure ya kiss a girl next time."

Ty Lee

The faint whisper of horror seeped through her as she stared at her hands. The hallway was dark enough that she tried to fool herself that she needed sleep more than she’d previously thought and was seeing something that simply wasn’t there. Yet, there was no mistaking the dark liquid that coated her fingers and the pain that filled her chest as she finally bothered to the complaints her body had for her. It seemed Katara’s healing hadn’t worked as well as Ty Lee had previously thought. For a moment, she entertained the thought of death. It was a very attractive path to take. She’d been so peaceful feeling before Mai had forced her back into the land of the living. If she died now, Mai would probably be angry with her again, but a very selfish part of her whispered that at least she’d be with her friend. It was better than anything she had here.

Familiar footsteps reached her ears and she froze as Zuko’s hand fell on her shoulder. Her name hung on the air between them before fading into a silence she was loathe to break. Instead, she lowered her hands, whipping them on her already blood stained robes. She didn’t know if he’d seen or not, but, just in case, he didn’t need anything else to worry about. She wasn’t in the best shape, but the palace couldn’t spare any healers right now. As attractive as death sounded, she knew she wasn’t in any sort of fatal danger at the moment. The darkness shifted and Zuko sank down to the floor next to her. Confused, she looked at him as his grip tightened and she was pulled against him.

For a moment, shock swept through her mind at the sudden intimate contact. Had Zuko ever hugged her before? Not since they were little kids, at least. Any sort of physical affection that was exchanged between them was always on her end of things. Some past infatuation caused her to flush in embarrassment as the warmth from his body seeped into her skin. Then she saw the tears glimmering in his eyes as they slipped down his cheeks and her heart leaped into her throat, sudden understanding dawning on her. Zuko was holding her because she was one of few people that wouldn't judge him from being broken with the loss of his wife. Reaching out, she gathered the Fire Lord to her and let him cry there in the silent hallway. An answering sob echoed from her throat as she mourned, once again, the passing of her best friend.

 

[Ahren1]

Aang's eyes narrowed at the various replies of the Spirit. His patience for this was wearing thin. It was to be expected that nearly anything he said would be mocked by her with that oh so familiar venomous tone. She was a lot more like Azula than he had initially thought. As she closed in, he continued to keep his eyes on hers and only that spot. Any slight change in his expression before that had shown even the most minute possibility that he was falling into her trap was gone as she reached up and traced his tattoo.

The moment she mentioned Katara again, Aang was finished with this conversation. Immediately he placed a hand upon her forehead, leaning a bit closer as she had began to move back, closing that small gap once again. "Your ego clouds reality. Don't flatter yourself." He said rather coldly before giving a somewhat hard shove to push her away. He turned back to the stream next to him and placed his hands together in his meditative stance once again, his eyes falling shut as before.

"I have listened to you. My part in this is done now. Whatever minor attraction you possessed over me was simply instinctual. If I were one to act on such urges and not listen to where my heart truly lies, I would not be The Avatar. And being The Avatar that I am, I'm quite confident that you won't get away with whatever you're planning. Don't mistake this for arrogance like Koh did. It's simply the way of life..."

With that, Aang went silent; Once again unmoving. Any slight wavering the Spirit may have sensed in his willpower to resist her was gone now and replaced with his normal resolve.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Love me When I'm Gone"

Katara sat there near the wall on her side of Aang's bed, hand in her lover's and eyes on Toph.

She glanced down at The Avatar's face, her own face more than a little broken. She hadn't meant to drive Toph away, she had just...

She had just wanted some good news. Or any news at all.

Countenance still burdened, her hand with its fingerless glove woven with the digits of a man who was a force of nature and yet still a man and yet somehow the best man she'd ever known, she looked back up quickly at Toph.

"I love Aang," she declared softly, intently, her eyes full of blue, "and he loves me. But that's not enough for him to never give up. (I'd like to think it was, but I know better.) I've seen him stumble, seen him run away, seen him lose his footing so many times. He took to Water like a turtle-duck, it was effortless for him. But the moment he got stuck on Earthbending, he was ready to throw in the towel."

A tiny smile quirked the corner of her lips, a tiny sad little smile.

"I gave you all this 'friendly advice,'" she murmured, "because I didn't want to get shown up as his teacher, as his sifu, telling you to comfort him and praise him. But there you were, kicking his butt with your bare feet every time he tried to take the easy way out."

Katara leaned forward, propping her elbows up on the edge of Aang's bed, tracing Aang's palm with her fingertips, and wondering not for the last time about fortunes told so long ago.

"I wasn't the one who taught him to never give up," Katara shrugged at Toph, nodded to her, deep gestures that Toph's feet would easily be able to "see." "Toph, that was you."

Her voice lowered gently. "You can stay, if you want. Don't let me crowd you out. ...if you want. He'd be honoured to have you here."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"With all that's within you, be my saviour, and I'll be your downfall."

Nodding his head at Xia's suggestion, he returned the squeeze of his hand which she provided before starting to follow her lead, giving a faint smirk as he lightly joked, "Sounds promising to me, Xia. Let's just hope nobody gets the wrong idea if they're patrolling along the way."

The next time she glanced at him, the next of her occasional glances at his face, she offered him a bit of a wicked grin, though in that glance her eyes were also searching his, searching his curiously. The residual glow of his blush was a little bit telling, but she wanted to see into his eyes.

I wonder, she thought, as she returned her eyes to the way ahead, what your idea of 'the wrong idea' would be. And if it would really be so bad for them to think that...?

He seemed delighted with her little bit of serendipity and synchronicity, the discovery of this little theatre tucked away, a little suggestion of art in a place that had been so long dedicated to warfare. Any residual trepidation she'd felt that this was an off choice was quickly banished--

Turning his head in order to meet her eyes, the young tribesman smiled with a noticeable sense of excitement in his features as he promptly responded, "Oh, it's perfect, Xia!"

--and she beamed like a Sun that had come out from behind an eclipse.

"I'm actually thrilled I got to see this while I had the chance. I mean, who's to say how long we're going to remain here after tomorrow?"

This was a bit of a crestfaller, the reminder that time was short. But then again, time was always short. How would not knowing what would happen after tomorrow make it different than any other tomorrow?

"It is written," she murmured, "'First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.'"

Her smile was diminished, but not entirely. She'd obviously done good here, based on the look on his face and the wistfulness in his voice, she wasn't going to let an uncertain tomorrow drag that down.

"C'mon, let's enjoy this place before anyone shows up to ask for a ticket." The water bender joked with a playful smirk, giving her hand another squeeze as he took the initiative in leading them inside the rest of the way.

Following along, she chuckled a bemused, wistful chuckle. "Oh, crap, tickets, I could just imagine the gold they'd charge just to get in this place. Me, I can't even afford tickets to the monorail back home. I tried to sneak aboard once, between stations, trying to get to The Upper Ring? (It was kind of a thing.) This fat jerk with his hat on backwards just chucked me out the back. Real snot about it, too, no apology, hardly said a word, just: 'no ticket.' If I hadn't 1) Bent some serious Air, and 2) landed on a handy awning, I wouldn't be here now."

She quieted, though, peering about: "I don't think they did, though. Charge to get in this place. I think this was... I dunno. It's clean in here, but I don't think anyone's used it in years. I think someone put this in here out of love. (Or maybe it's an apology?)"

Picking out a couple of seats toward the back which granted them a good view of the interior, Ryota patiently waited for Xia to take her seat upon the red cushioned chair before sitting down--

Xia paused before sitting, peering down the seats at the big chairs up front, the seats of honour, and she noticed there was lettering on the back. They were close enough that she could make out the character for "For," but even squinting she couldn't quite figure out the person's name for whom this had been made.

She glanced at Ryota to point this out to him, and then realised with a blink that he was waiting, chivalrously, for her to sit.

"Uh, oops," she mumbled, an apologetic grin as she dusted herself off a little bit, self-conscious, and lowered herself into the proffered seat.

--noting as he did, "Perhaps not the two best seats in the house, but on the off chance anyone shows up here, I'm not sure they'd appreciate us sitting in the pair of seats up front."

"Yeah, no," Xia agreed, with easily as much reverence as she'd felt about anything. "Whomever those seats are for, they're definitely not for us. Still, these are comfy enough, don't you think?"

"Perfect." The young man let out as he took in the sight of the small, yet very impressive theatre as he sat beside his new friend; letting out a short chuckle as he glanced at her and pointed out, "Although with my luck as of late, I'll likely bruise something else shortly after my hip quits being a bother. But one bright side to this entire ordeal is how I keep hearing girls dig scars on a guy."

Xia rolled her eyes a bit at this, good-naturedly sardonic. "Oh, yeah. It is written: 'Pain is just weakness leaving the body.' Honestly, though, it depends on the scar."

She frowned... "That thing The Fire Lord has on his, that thing he has, looks like someone took a torch to his face? Maybe it's... unkind of me to say? That sort of scar just gives me the chills."

The frown deepened for a moment. Nightmares about Fire.

Fortunately, however, this frown gave way almost immediately to the return of the good-natured sardonic wit: "Yours, though, you should do fine. Too bad about the placing, though, you've got one on your hip? You'll only be able to show it off under..." --she trailed off for a moment, and got that look on her face that she'd gotten after making that infamous shell-shocked comment about "body parts," and when her voice resumed, it was a mumble-- "...certain circumstances."

This didn't seem to matter, however, to the Waterbender.

Offering up a half-smile at that last comment, Ryota reached out and once again took Xia's hand into his own; letting his thumb lightly brush itself along her knuckles a few times.

He took her hand and it was like he'd done ten times more healing than even The Fire Nation's royal family physician ever could. The tension and the embarrassment kind of leeched out of her, she could feel it, out of her shoulders and her back and her face, and she sat there staring at their hands interlaced.

The tension and the embarrassment leeched out of her, to be replaced by warmth, suffusing warmth. She watched his thumb move across her knuckles like it was hypnotic, like she was watching clouds roll across the sky over The Agrarian Zone, watching clouds and trying to see shapes in them. Such a little affectionate thing, such a subtle thing, like "tearbending," profound but gentle, she watched his thumb move and tried to see the shape of him.

Watching the young woman for a short while, the water bender eventually returned his attention toward the theatre itself.

She looked up, and she realised he'd been watching her watch his thumb, watch their hands. But now he was looking about himself, and she smiled sort of abashedly at him.

This was interesting. They could talk, and they could not talk, and it was fine either way. For a girl who'd spent recent times honing her ability to battle through banter almost as much as she'd spent honing her ability to brawl, it was... it was nice not to talk. But she didn't mind the idea of him striking up conversation anew, she didn't mind that at all.

So much has happened. In less than a day.

I don't know you at all. I thought you were a jerk, at first, although I usually think people are jerks, so that's not your fault.

But I've been through more with you in less than a day than I've been through with almost anyone I've ever known.

I don't tend to. Hang out with people.

Ever.

Is this what it's like? 'Hanging out?'

This doesn't seem so bad.

She again glanced down at their intersected hands, and she felt his eyes upon her, she felt him watching her again, and she softly smiled with gold-warm cheeks as his eyes rested upon her and didn't move from her.

Do we know what's going to happen tomorrow?

Do we ever?

I would miss this. I really think I would miss this.

Kind of funny I'd find a moment like this in a theatre. All I ever got to see was street festival theatre, a little Kabuki, a little Noh, that stuff was free, but the open Air sort of subtracted from The Fourth Wall a little.

Here, it's a contained little space, specially designed to nurture ephemeral fictions, fleeting little imaginings.

Is it okay with you, Ryota, that I'm imagining this time in this space lasting forever?

I don't want to go back. I would miss this.

Even if this is a fiction, I wanna imagine that it's going to last.

She closed her eyes.

I just want to exist. Whatever that even means.

Even though I can't exist here forever, I just want to exist here now.

Her face knotted.

I killed people today. I made them stop existing so that I could keep existing and that's fair, that's fair, they were trying to kill me and trying to kill other people so I killed them.

But now I exist and they don't and I can't explain how that's wrong to the fibre of my being--

--she could feel him looking at her, she didn't want her to look at her like this--

--change the subject change the subject--

"So tell me a little more about yourself? About your life back in Ba Sing Se? Friends? Family?" The young man started to ask out of genuine curiosity about the girls life, giving a short lived pause as he finished, "Boyfriend? That type of thing, or however much you may feel comfortable with sharing."

One eye came open with a flicker. The other eye followed, opening more slowly.

She looked at him for a moment with astonishment.

Good subject change. Thank you.

Xia shrugged, though, unsure where to start.

"Didn't have much of a life," she admitted. "No real friends. My parents put all their energy into my brother... he's an Earthbender, see, and apparently a damned good one. Kind of a rough economy in The Lower Ring-- I mean, not to, um, downplay your hardscrabble existence on the floes and the tundra, I'm just saying it wasn't the greatest --and Mother and Father were doing what they thought was best for the family. Thought they'd have the next great sculptor or architect, or at the other end of the spectrum, they thought they'd get him to Gaoling and have the next undefeated champion of Earth Rumble."

She frowned. "I'm ashamed to admit I don't even know how well he did, what direction he took. We haven't talked for like five years. Kind of... don't think I should have treated him so bad. He was always nice enough, in a 'do the right thing' sort of way. It was my parents who didn't... they didn't..."

Xia rubbed her forehead with one palm. "Ryota, I could run like the wind and jump like a rabbaroo, but their 'master plan' needed an Earthbender. To them, it was like I didn't exist."

She gazed at him, a little sidelong, trying to gauge his reaction from the periphery without looking at him directly. "And, um. No. No boyfriend. There was one guy, once. It was my birthday. But I haven't--" ...she shook her head, a little too sharply... "I haven't got a boyfriend."

The gaze gradually stopped being sidelong, she looked at him directly, and tried to be as casual as she could as she returned the enquiry: "How 'bout you? Good, close-knit family unit back home? And, um. Maybe a sweet thing wearing a betrothal necklace and keeping your, uh, igloo warm 'till you get back?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Going Down In Flames."

"Ashes and dust, remnants of the mistakes made in my absence. All shall be as it should," She agreed in a whisper, lost in the void eyes of the man holding her. "We shall dance and revel in the world reborn under the Fire Nation flag."

Azula gazed into the pale abyss that was the stare of The Spirit.

And the abyss gazed also into her.

He smiled a grim smile, and he laughed, he laughed, just a little bit at first, and then louder, his eyes never leaving hers, not a mocking laugh, not hurtful...

His laugh was congratulatory.

"There was a reason Sozin failed," he murmured, leaning in close to her and whispering upon her ear, "and ended up reflecting upon that failure on his deathbed."

He drew back from her, drew back from Azula, and placed a lingering, languid kiss upon the side of her neck as he went. Pausing only for a moment, he gazed deeply into her face anew: "There was a reason Azulon failed, there was a reason even your vaunted father failed, there was a reason why your 'loving' brother failed before even he began."

He moved in again on the other side of her face, whispered in her other ear: "None of them were you. 'History is written,' as they say, 'by the victors.' History is waiting for you to write it. History is but waiting for your victory."

He kissed her neck, lingering and languid, matching this side with the first.

And then he drew back again, and his eyes were empty but glowing and he was... hungry.

"I was so proud of you," he murmured, "at that war meeting before The Comet, when you called upon them to burn the lands and hope of The Earth Kingdom to the ground. I had no hand in that, you spoke with your own voice loud and clear. It... disappointed me... when you were left out of your own masterstroke idea. Things would have ended differently."

He stood up a little straighter, and his arrows throbbed with reverberating energies.

"You have the chance to write your own ending to history," he pontificated. "And your own beginning. I have always liked your ideas. I trust that the start and end you write will be... quite satisfying."

The Spirit leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, kissed her upon her Third Eye, right there in the centre, and it was like a benediction...

"I have but one suggestion to make," he mused, there with his lips brushing against her brow. "If you simply kill The Avatar, he will simply reincarnate. There will always be another Avatar. But can The Spirit of The World rebirth himself in a world that is itself reborn? Remake The World, Azula, and unmake its Spirit. No more Avatar, no more pesky thorn in my side, in your side. Think of it. Bring this about."

He drew back again, and cupped her chin, and adored her.

"This is what you were born for."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"I Know Now What Trouble Can Be."

His hand planted against her forehead, and she arched an eyebrow, astonished at his temerity. "What--?"

And he shoved her. He shoved her away, dismissing her like a bit of common rabble. She tumbled backwards and twisted and rolled and wound up back on her knees, but the hair so carefully arranged in Azula's trademark updo now fell in ribbons of black around her face, ribbons and curtains of back and there were dirty little scuff-marks on her pallid skin.

With a forearm, she brushed the hair out of her scowling, livid face and heard the snarky words The Avatar wove. Her jaw jutted, and her upper body heaved with barely-contained fury.

"I have listened to you. My part in this is done now. Whatever minor attraction you possessed over me was simply instinctual. If I were one to act on such urges and not listen to where my heart truly lies, I would not be The Avatar. And being The Avatar that I am, I'm quite confident that you won't get away with whatever you're planning. Don't mistake this for arrogance like Koh did. It's simply the way of life..."

With that, Aang went silent; Once again unmoving. Any slight wavering the Spirit may have sensed in his willpower to resist her was gone now and replaced with his normal resolve.

Her eye twitched. She cast her hair back away from her face and she rose to her feet, towering over him as he went away from her into his secret little contemplation place, and she seethed.

"You always were," she rumbled, her voice no longer kind and seductive but laced with distant thunder, "a self-righteous little prick. A pain in my ass. Even when you were frozen away from The World, a cryogenic victim of your own cowardice, always you were a niggling nagging thing at the back of my agenda."

Her lips pulled tight against her teeth, and then they pursed, and she slung one arm across the bare pale of her stomach and she examined the fingernails of her other hand.

"Someday," she prophesied, "just as Tui had to prepare for her own demise, and restore herself with Yue, I hope you're prepared for the day that someone puts you on your self-righteous little ass. You sit there, content to bottle up your power and dole it out in doses but someday you'll meet something that will render your power meaningless. Not only will I be there to see it, and cackle at your humiliation, but I have a very strong feeling that afterwards you'll have to crawl to me for help. I hope, by then, you'll have learned a modicum of etiquette."

She took a step towards him, and for a moment, for a moment, the shroud of her hair suggested the image of wreathing black black flame...

"There was not always an Avatar," she murmured, "Little Nomad. And that which is once begun must someday end. Once upon a long ago, there was not even a World for which you could be The Avatar. Which means not only will someday The Avatar end... someday The World itself will be no more."

She sniffed, regal and disdainful. "Someday, The World will end."

She turned away, and her dark eyes were narrowed as her form, naked and beautiful, stalked off into the wilderness... "I grow impatient."

 

[Eazy]

Longshot

The light pulling of her hand from his grasp had been expected, with the scoff and eye roll being touches he knew were possible but hadn't hoped to see. If it were anyone else doing it, the silent archer may have winced at his friends initial reaction to his admittedly excessive explanation. Having known Smellerbee for much of his life, however, had made the young man fairly prepared for the dismissive response. As he watched her, a small part of himself regretted having said what he did, but that was more so for possibly annoying the girl then anything else. All he'd done was tell his friend the truth and, while Longshot had long ago recognized how being honest with a person wasn't always the best option, he continued to believe she deserved an explanation over his previous actions.

His gaze lingered upon Smellerbee for a few seconds as she resumed finishing off the last of her cleaning process. Pulling his eyes away after that short lapse of time, Longshot started to busy himself by idly studying the bandages wrapped around his hand. There would likely be a few fresh markings on his skin long after they healed, which would join the others he'd accumulated since living in the woods; first with those few other survivors of his village, then as a member of both Jet and 'Bee's versions of the Freedom Fighters. Save for a few cherished memories of his parents, the silent rogue rarely thought back on his time in his home village. At first it was due to painful memories, then gradually seemed to become the result of simply feeling little need for dwelling on his past life.

At the same time, as his fingers working at the bandages to loosen then refasten a few for greater comfort, the way he spoke so freely with Smellerbee had reminded himself a little of his older mannerisms. In an odd way, it amused Longshot to the point where a faint, brief smile played at the corner of his lips. Not that he intended to make a habit of speaking more, save for the rare conversation such as earlier which he did occasionally, rarely share with 'Bee and others whom he felt comfortable around. No, there may have once been a time where openly conversing with words on a regular basis would feel like a 'healing' of his old wounds, but most of those scars were faded to the point of only being a bittersweet memory. Longshot was what he was, and, honestly, he generally preferred his silent method of communicating with others. While often difficult for the average person to comprehend, it strangely made the young man feel a greater connection with those whom did understand what he was trying to get across.

Longshot's undivided attention eventually shifted back toward his friend as he heard the snapping sound made from her attempting to brush away any remaining moisture on her clothing. Watching her slip the article of clothing back onto her slim figure, there was a nagging urge to ask what she was thinking; as if the expression on his face hadn't made it evident enough where his thoughts had lingered. His patience was rewarded, somewhat, with her best attempts at letting the young man know there wouldn't be a scene over his words. Not that he actually expected her to turn it into a fight of any sorts, especially out here in the Fire Nation capital of all places. Thus, it left him with a number of minor questions, though most of them he could take wild guesses at the answers to as she stood before her longtime friend.

"Make sure ya kiss a girl next time."

Despite noticing the hint of pain which crept out as she responded, Longshot gave an amused smirk as a response of his own while reaching a hand up to playfully rub at the spot she poked on his cheek. Just like that, most of his concerns were promptly assuaged, with his questions remaining, yet the majority of which feeling trivial at the moment. Still, his eyes did linger on the girls jaw after noticing the discomfort it continued to cause her, but tried not to let it bother him since he'd seen her deal with worst then that since they were kids. Either way, for the most part, his reaction showed how he was both amused at her choice of words and pleased that she didn't seem too put off by his confession of undying crushdom.

Why Longshot had a crush on her, the young man couldn't honestly say. Rather, he couldn't pinpoint one thing which made his feelings for her turn from a simple friendship and into something stronger; at least on his part. True, she was the only female in the group, or at least the only one which stuck with them for any long period of time. They ran into a number of people whom, much like Katara and her friends, weren't comfortable enough with a few of Jet's more radical methods at surviving. There were girls then, and there were certainly others of greater classical or modern conceptions of beauty on their way to and upon reaching Ba Sing Se. Perhaps it was her strength, her then underlying streak of independence which grew into what he saw before himself today or, at least partially, the aforementioned connection he felt with those whom so vividly understood his manner of communicating and how swiftly she adapted to it.

Whatever the reasons may be, they didn't really matter much now; nor had they for a number of years prior to the events of this trip. Stretching out his limbs a bit, Longshot slowly pulled himself back to his feet. Aside from requiring a few sparse moments for his body to readjust to what little discomfort was left after his earlier bumps and the natural exhaustion which came with such a long, eventful day; he seemed in fit enough shape. Much to his own relief, since it was difficult to predict how the next few days would turn out and he never liked being the one to not carry his own weight. Turning to Smellerbee, the silent marksman offered another slight smile, letting her know that he was appreciative of her putting up with himself throughout this night.

All the same, his eyes did wander a bit as he leaned over and took in the curves of her face, almost mischievously so as her very recent comment on how he should try kissing a girl. She may not see it in herself, but the girl certainly did have a certain unique beauty to herself underneath all of that uniform padding and occasionally caked on dirt. Letting his eyes return to her own again, Longshot tried to silently convey how, even if Smellerbee were teasing, she needed to give herself a little more credit when it comes to her womanly wiles. He tried to convey that, but, while it wasn't what the young man had set out to do, Longshot also knew it wasn't as if he could suddenly change the opinion of her self image just like that. Thus, he settled on simply raising a hand to her face, holding his thumb against his index finger, then teasingly flicking it against the tip of her nose as he smirked ever so slyly.

"Get some rest whenever you can, 'Bee. You deserve it after today." The Freedom Fighter stated while straightening himself out again; offering up a simple, genuine smile as he briefly placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as a parting gesture before turning to step away.

Longshot took in a final glance of his friend, his smile diminished slightly even if he felt relatively content with how their exchange had played out. If there remained anything else for them to deal with, it could wait until the following day, or perhaps even after they eventually made it back to their modest base of operations out in the woods. For now, he needed to make a return to his own room so he may follow his own advice of capturing what sleep he could on this tension filled night. Tomorrow would see the inhabitants of the Fire Nation dealing in greater depth with the passing of those whom lost their lives on this day; including the Fire Lord's wife. As he continued making his way deeper into the palace to call it a night, despite not being familiar with any of those which were taken during Azula's assault, Longshot knew the coming day was going to be a long one.

-----------------------------------

Ryota

The young tribesman listened quietly as Xia followed up her shrug by agreeing to share what she felt comfortable with about her life prior to this day. His interest was for a couple of reasons, with the greater one obviously being a desire to know more about his new companion. Aside from this, there was a general fascination about living in the Earth Kingdom, much like how he held a genuine curiosity toward many facets of the world outside of the Water Tribes. During the start of her summary, these two factors were about equal in being the driving force behind his interest in what she had to say. As she kept going, however, the young man soon found himself forgetting the latter and simply remaining intrigued about Xia as she went into further detail about her family life.

His own emotions took on a hint of sorrow as he noticed the frown which formed upon her features, though he attempted to mask it while continuing to hear her out. As it would most anyone, it saddened Ryota to think of Xia not being able to have a better relationship, a true kinship with her living family. In his case, however, it may have hit a little harder due to the lack of any immediate family which was left for himself back home. At the same time, listening to her sharing about her experiences at home, the emotion etched on her face, peaking out through her voice, he couldn't truly blame her for any mistakes made on her own part which may have made matters worse; least when it came to her sibling. Like most things in life, the paths one could make while growing up always seem clearer once you've started looking back upon them.

"Ryota, I could run like the wind and jump like a rabbaroo, but their 'master plan' needed an Earthbender. To them, it was like I didn't exist."

Ryota felt his hand squeeze ever so lightly upon her own, feeling a sense of vague understanding beginning to fill him where it related to her previous reactions. To him, seeing an actual Airbender outside of the Avatar was one of the biggest highlights of this trip; one which thrilled him once there was time away from the fighting to actually let it sink into his mind. On the flipped side of that was Xia, whose life was marred with experiences which had prepared her for the worst when it came to others seeing what she was capable of doing. At least, he silently hoped, she was realizing there wouldn't be any need for such fear of rejection on his behalf nor, very likely, any of the others which made up this odd group of characters.

"And, um. No. No boyfriend. There was one guy, once. It was my birthday. But I haven't-- I haven't got a boyfriend."

The young man smiled at her reaction, speaking in a soft voice as he gave a brief response which, while honest, had slipped out without his intention, "That's a shame. You're certainly pretty enough where you should have your pick of the guys; if you so wanted."

Which she certainly was; not to mention having a softer side underneath that often rough exterior which he hadn't noticed until the previous battle in the courtyard had cleared. Then again, with her somewhat guarded nature, it perhaps wasn't so surprising that she wasn't seeing anyone at the time. Which was too bad, as he mused on how Xia seemed like the type of person whom, while a little difficult to grow used to, could make the right partner very happy and, he hoped, vice versa.

"How 'bout you? Good, close-knit family unit back home? And, um. Maybe a sweet thing wearing a betrothal necklace and keeping your, uh, igloo warm 'till you get back?"

He should have and did know to expect such an inquiry in response of his own line of questions, but it still caught Ryota enough by surprise where his eyes adverted themselves from her for the first time in a while. The bender didn't want Xia to see any hint of remorse in his features, though his brief slip up likely gave the impression of something being wrong. After a short pause, he did eventually return his gaze to meet her own, trying find a way to segue into the rougher parts of his life rather then abruptly springing them into the conversation. Much as Ryota didn't wish to bring down the mood in the small theatre they were relaxing within, he also wanted to be honest with her after she trusted him with such details of her life back home.

"Life back in the Water Tribes is nice enough, I suppose." The blue eyed young man started out simply enough, his tone starting out lightly enough as he sat up a bit in his chair; rarely breaking contact with Xia as he continued, "In comparison with the other remaining nations, I suppose it is a bit rougher in general, but a lifetime of it has made me used to what others would consider a hazard. Also, I've gradually improved at making friendly acquaintances amongst others, which is always a plus when trying to thrive in a community."

Now they were moving into an area which wasn't exactly qualified as 'small talk', yet hadn't quite reached into the details which he was somewhat hesitant of sharing and possibly putting a damper on the mood, "As for family? Well, aside from the usual incidents of inconsequential drama which I'd imagine most families go through, my parents and I got along pretty good for the most part."

Ryota noted this with the hint of a smile playing at his lips, caused by his mind briefly flashing back onto images of memories from simpler times; though his smile slowly faded and his eyes lowered toward the floor as he added, "Sadly, my father was killed toward the end of the war. Fire Nation siege against the Northern Water Tribe which cost a lot of lives before they were repelled by the Avatar himself. It was my first real taste of the war waged by the Fire Nation which had stretched to long before I was born."

Talking about the war steadily reminded the Water Bender of how strange it felt to be here, within the Fire Nation itself, after only several years. For all Ryota knew, he'd walked past Firebenders in the halls which were responsible for claiming the lives of people whom were lost during the war. Still, the young man constantly reminded himself of how he needed to put such thoughts out of his mind, as he doubted anything good would arise from dwelling upon them. As such, he pushed this aside before resuming where he'd left off prior to his inadvertent break in conversation.

"My Mother...she wasn't quite the same after he was gone. She made the best of things for my sake, but I could always tell the life in her eyes was all but extinguished during those last years." He continued in a somber voice, giving another short pause, voice seemingly caught in his throat before he slowly let out, "A few years ago, she fell ill and, despite whatever methods our healers would try, wasn't able to recover."

Wanting to move past this particular piece of his background for now, he shifted the conversation toward addressing the latter portion of her question, "About your other question? Well, much as I hate to admit it, I've been painfully single during the majority of the past few years. Not that I haven't expressed interest in a couple of locals during that time, but nothing serious ever came out of them. Lack of connection, I suppose."

The dark-haired male gave a shrug of his shoulders at the end, as this did seem the most likely of reasons for his lack of committed relationships. Ryota could remember hearing a few comments between Sokka and Katara relating to the formers apparent habit of picking up potential love interests, at times from the least likeliest of places, during their travels around the globe. There were times, in moments of weakness, where he considered asking the war hero for a few pointers, but was dissuaded after hearing how nearly every girl started off either wanting to kill him or dying themselves. That last part, in particular, reminded the Water Bender of his own loss of a friend whom, in some peoples eyes, could have been perfect for him.

"There was one girl, childhood friend, whom others would tease me about by saying it was inevitable that we'd wind up together. It was pretty annoying at the time, but, cute, in retrospect." Ryota explained while reflecting on another whom was taken on that same fateful siege; feeling a strong surge of remorse return, yet trying not to let it show as much as he finished, "She lost her life while trying to help others during that same siege by the Fire Nation. Who knows? Maybe if the war had ended just one year earlier, then somewhere down the line we could have found out whether or not they were right?"

Rarely a day would go by (if ever there was one over the years), where he wouldn't reflect upon the passing of those whom were lost to him over the past several years. Still, it was even rarer that Ryota openly talked about any of it with another person, and the first he could recall where it wasn't with another member of the Water Tribes. Regardless, everyone had been affected by the war, at least on some level, so it didn't feel awkward for him to talk with Xia about his experiences. He only hoped his occasional bouts of somberness and evident morose hadn't been too bothersome. Keeping that in mind, he let such depressing subjects drop to the side as he shifted his ramblings to more recent and, he'd like to believe, generally happier times.

"But I'm content enough since relocating to the Southern Water Tribes. I've had time for healing, for personal growth which has helped me become a better bender and, I'd like to believe, better person." The Water Bender pointed out as he offered up a slight smirk, raising a hand to brush aside a few loose strands of hair which slipped out from underneath the bandages on his head; causing them to hang over his face due to the lack of a wolftail, "These days, I really just wish to see more of the world outside of the tribes. Maybe not all of it, but more then I'd experienced in the past. I suppose part of it is, despite how deeply I may love our nation, there isn't much for me there when it comes to personal, emotional investment waiting for me there."

Perhaps not the highest of spots to wrap his spiel on, but certainly a step up from what he was addressing previously; and not one which he generally considered to be terribly downbeat, "Lots of people, many of which I could consider friends, but it's not the same as having a family or loved one waiting for you at the end of a day, you know? Although this does make it easier for me to agree on longer trips such as the one which brought me here, so it's not completely bad; I suppose."

Finally having completed what he had to share on the subject, Ryota let his tongue run over his by now dry lips; a small reminder of how long he was talking. Hopefully he hadn't bored or depressed the young woman with his tirade, but he simply felt comfortable with going over so many pieces of his past after she shared what she did of her life. Still, he did spare her a number of the details relating to his friend, Akemi's, killing during the siege. Nor the aftermath of it which, to this day, was the only incident where he took another persons life. It was a detail which he didn't like sharing with anyone, though a number of others in his tribe knew of it from one source or another. Part of why he hadn't said anything to Xia on this was how it may seem excessive. Another part, ironically, was how he dreaded her possible reaction to such a revelation. Ironic in how she'd done similar acts earlier that day, and may be able to relate, but also because, on a basic level, it wasn't so unlike her own apparent fear of how others would respond to her Airbending abilities.

"Xia?" Her name came off his lips in a soft, yet clear voice as he waited to insure he had her attention; watching her thoughtfully as he continued, "For what it counts, I'm sorry you had to face so much heartache over your parents treatment."

Part of him worried about saying anything which may have the opposite affect of what he wanted, but felt his own thoughts and feelings needed to be expressed while he had the chance, as there wasn't any guarantee of what may come the following day, "Not everybody's going to react the same to your Airbending. I mean, some people are going to be stubborn or small minded about it. Maybe even afraid. But there are others out there whom will accept your gifts for what they are and come to respect the total package of what makes you, you."

Letting his occasionally timid smile spread into a wider one, Ryota tilted his head a bit as he watched Xia for a moment longer; giving a brief chuckle as he added, "Either way, at least you've made one new friend in this world who thinks you're pretty darn amazing."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"If it takes my whole life, I won't break I won't Bend."

The young man smiled at her reaction, speaking in a soft voice as he gave a brief response which, while honest, had slipped out without his intention, "That's a shame. You're certainly pretty enough where you should have your pick of the guys; if you so wanted."

A sidelong gaze gradually became direct.

There's that word again. 'Pretty.'

Pretty is what you call watching The Sun set behind The Outer Wall.

Pretty is what you call Lake Laogai in Summer, or one of those cherry orchards they have in parks in The Middle Ring...

Pretty is the starry sky above The University's astrological tower.

Why do you call me 'pretty,' Blue-Eyed Boy, with your hand gently squeezing? I mean, I know I've got something going on. Catcalls from street-fight spectators can't all be wrong. But it always seemed to be more of a hindrance than anything else.

I wanted them to think I was as rock hard as my opponents; being perceived as a soft little plaything seemed more than a little counterproductive.

But I like it when you call me 'pretty.' Coming from you, it doesn't seem so bad.

Coming from you, it almost seems... possible.

And then she asked about the bonds of family, and the giving of hearts.

And crests fell.

For the most part, he confirmed her overall impression of him. He was very much a Boy Next Door. Good kid, good family, what-have-you. He was The Boy Next Door, if Next Door was a place of searing ice and drifting snows and close-knit clan life.

But there was loss here, too.

A knot of what could only be called sympathy began to tie itself around her heart and pull itself tight. Dark eyes darkened.

He'd lost his father to The Fire Nation's dream of insatiable conquest. And lost his mother, collateral damage, her heart broken and her body ill.

She'd lost her parents early on to their own inability to care and for the most part she didn't mourn their loss. But this, this was a whole 'nother different thing. To lose two people you'd loved, and who'd loved you in return...

(She wondered if anyone had ever written about love and loss. One of those playwrights?)

Xia wondered whether she'd be as good a person as Ryota seemed to be if she'd gone through what he'd gone through. She doubted it.

"About your other question? Well, much as I hate to admit it, I've been painfully single during the majority of the past few years. Not that I haven't expressed interest in a couple of locals during that time, but nothing serious ever came out of them. Lack of connection, I suppose."

There was an element of hopefulness to this, an instinctual thing. "You're single, I'm single, well, that's promising." But there was also a hint of dark foreshadowing. As though he were holding his breath before continuing, and Xia bit her tongue to hold back her reply.

And then it got that much worse. And the knot around her heart clenched as might a fist:

"There was one girl, childhood friend, whom others would tease me about by saying it was inevitable that we'd wind up together. It was pretty annoying at the time, but, cute, in retrospect." Ryota explained while reflecting on another whom was taken on that same fateful siege; feeling a strong surge of remorse return, yet trying not to let it show as much as he finished, "She lost her life while trying to help others during that same siege by the Fire Nation. Who knows? Maybe if the war had ended just one year earlier, then somewhere down the line we could have found out whether or not they were right?"

This was why, Xia instantly knew, why so much of her being rebelled against being killed, and even more against killing...

Death was the end of so many... possibilities. Not the least of which was Ryota's loss of this precious little moonbeam from his backintheday, the girl next door to The Boy Next Door.

This is why you should never kill.

Because any life you end is fraught with possibility.

If they die at your hand, how then can their dreams come true?

How then can they discover their why?

...this was the trouble with showing anyone your softer side. Because beneath her purposefully gruff exterior was indeed a softer side, but beneath the softer side was the tangled mess of worry and self-doubt and endless questions that was the true content of her heart. Letting him in this deep made it just that more likely that he'd find the real her, and then he'd look at her like that.

She wanted to tell him she was sorry. But all the words that were written and the words waiting on her lips couldn't put Ryota back together again, and she hesitated, languished in silence, but he kept talking and he was promising her he was okay...

"But I'm content enough since relocating to the Southern Water Tribes. I've had time for healing, for personal growth which has helped me become a better bender and, I'd like to believe, better person." The Water Bender pointed out as he offered up a slight smirk, raising a hand to brush aside a few loose strands of hair which slipped out from underneath the bandages on his head; causing them to hang over his face due to the lack of a wolftail, "These days, I really just wish to see more of the world outside of the tribes. Maybe not all of it, but more then I'd experienced in the past. I suppose part of it is, despite how deeply I may love our nation, there isn't much for me there when it comes to personal, emotional investment waiting for me there."

'You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.'

You can't stay here, but you don't have to go home.

You don't have to go home, and neither do I.

We could go somewhere else. We could even go--

--could be the same place.

(Stupid. Foolish girl. Getting all knock-kneed and dreamy-eyed over this total stranger.)

We neither of us have to go home. We could go someplace else. We could go together.

"Lots of people, many of which I could consider friends, but it's not the same as having a family or loved one waiting for you at the end of a day, you know? Although this does make it easier for me to agree on longer trips such as the one which brought me here, so it's not completely bad; I suppose."

She couldn't help but smile softly at this, she couldn't agree more. She couldn't help but smile softly at this, this boy with his dark hair fallen in his blue blue eyes.

The opportunity for long travel. That's not bad. I suppose it's not bad at all.

She smiled a secret smile, funny that he'd just about read her mind, and closed her eyes for half a moment.

"Xia?" Her name came off his lips in a soft, yet clear voice as he waited to insure he had her attention--

...her eyes slid open at the sound. He had her attention.

--watching her thoughtfully as he continued, "For what it counts, I'm sorry you had to face so much heartache over your parents treatment. Not everybody's going to react the same to your Airbending. I mean, some people are going to be stubborn or small minded about it. Maybe even afraid. But there are others out there whom will accept your gifts for what they are and come to respect the total package of what makes you, you."

Her slender face went... taut. Her hand tightened in his, and this was no gentle squeeze.

Figures. Insightful bastard. Hits the nail on the head, doesn't he? I should never have told him it was a secret.

But he just kept talking, just kept talking, and gods and Spirits and enlightened Buddhas damn him she couldn't take her ears off of him.

Letting his occasionally timid smile spread into a wider one, Ryota tilted his head a bit as he watched Xia for a moment longer; giving a brief chuckle as he added, "Either way, at least you've made one new friend in this world who thinks you're pretty darn amazing."

She laughed, at that, a tiny little disbelieving sound, but then she realised his brief chuckle was not him joking his brief chuckle was him being serious.

Xia softened, her face not nearly so taut. Her hand relaxed in his.

She watched him for a moment, not for the first time, with a kind of amazement.

"How can I expect anyone to understand what I am?" she murmured, and her voice built with her straightforward incredulity: "I don't understand what I am. Not in all the history of anything has a Bender of one Element been born to a Nation of a different Element, save for The Avatars, but they bend all the damned Elements, so they don't count. Never in all the history of The World, so far as anyone ever ever knows. Sure, maybe there was something about this in The Library of um, something-or-other, an anthropology student told me about this, but that's gone back into The Spirit World or something and no-one knows otherwise. No-one even knows what would happen if two Benders of different Elements had a child together, no-one even questions it no-one even wonders, it just hasn't happened."

The Airbender flung her hand out, exasperated, bewildered, furious at The Universe and brokenhearted all the while.

"I don't know what I am," she pleaded. "I shouldn't exist. I have dreams of a long-dead Nation and upside-down pagodas built on the underside of a cliff. I have dreams of Fire in the sky and it doesn't make any sense, The Air Nomads are dead and I'm alive and I shouldn't exist."

She made a dismissive, severing gesture with that outflung hand. "No matter my parents never bothered to realise I was an Airbender, just some fleetfooted featherweight, they knew there was something not right about me, I bet you a hundred silver, or a gallon of whale-dolphin oil or whatever it is you use for money Up North and Down South, they knew something was wrong in me and that's why they shut me out."

Again, her face knotted, and again tears escaped, again silver-crystal climbed down the golden brown of her cheeks. "To paraphrase that which is written, 'Am I a living thing dreaming that I've died, or am I a dead thing dreaming I'm alive?' It's a paradox."

Her teeth clenched, and she looked at him, and then from the crescendo of her frustration she decrescendoed into dismay and heartsundering.

"I don't want to be amazing," she mumbled, a little petition to powers that seemed to little care. "I don't want to be an impossibility, or a paradox, or a conundrum. I just want to exist. D'you understand that, Ryota? I'm an Earth girl who just wants to be an Earth girl. I just..."

Her fingers reached up and she pushed away the dark hair from his eyes, almost of their own volition, she reached up and brushed his hair from his eyes and she, too, wet her lips with her tongue as those fingers grazed his cheek and hovered there.

"I just want to exist," she breathed, shaking her head. "(Doesn't everyone?)"

Stupid.

Knock-kneed.

Dreamy-Eyed.

Foolish fucking girl.

I'm going to lose you tomorrow but Spiritsdammit it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

And there in that moment, with all the hunger of a girl who wanted more than anything else to live, Xia did the thing she feared dreaded hoped would let her feel the most alive.

She cupped his cheek with those lingering fingers and she kissed him deeply feverishly on the mouth.