I decide to get up and explore the village. It was organized in two lines of buildings with a central path down the middle, and some huts were off to the sides and are accessible through small alleyways. There was an outdoor market filled with fresh produce and other products. I figure out that we were tied up to the statue of Avatar Kyoshi at the very end of the village. This place somewhat reminds me of home, and I feel like I can breath without a threat looming over my head.
I take one of the alleyways and stumble upon the Kyoshi Warriors' training building. I can see through the open door that Sokka was challenging Suki. I watch from behind a nearby tree, and Suki easily swings him around, using his belt to tie his hand to his foot. His face is flushed, and I'm guessing the girls were laughing at him.
I giggle quietly and move on, farther into the island's wilderness. There is a stream covered with a sheet of ice, and I bet in the summer this place looks wonderful.
When I was younger, Father would take me out to a nearby pond and made special shoes with blades on the bottom. We could glide across the ice with ease, and it felt like I was flying. I remember spinning around in circles, and dancing with my friends. It was such a joy to be on the ice, and how I wish I could go home and grab my shoes.
I gingerly walk on the ice, and my feet slide slowly. I gain my balance, and simulate the movements I made all those years ago. The spins, the jumps, chin up, slightly bent knees. I weave my hands in the air like the dancing we would do. Soon, it gets easier and easier to move on the surface of the frozen water.
"What are you doing?"
The sudden voice makes me skid on the ice, sprawling out on the frosty land. My eyes find a confused Sokka staring at me from the edge of the stream.
"Oh! Um I was just- uh, ice skating?"I say nervously.
We never gave this activity a name, but I guess this will suffice.
"Ice skating? What's that?"
"Let me show you," I make my way over to him and hold out both of my hands for him to grab onto.
"We don't have any skates here, but you could learn easier with your boots anyways."
"O-okay," He takes both my hands, holding tight for balance, and I lead him onto the ice.
I start moving my feet as if I were wearing my special shoes, and Sokka catches on pretty quickly. I had to instruct him on how to fix a couple mistakes though, because it was the little things he kept messing up on. He wasn't too bad at it, but he still hasn't let go of my right arm.
"And now, we dance!" I take both of his hands and start spinning us in a circle. His eyes widened with surprise, and I laugh. Soon, he starts laughing too.
I show him some of the tricks we learned how to do on the ice, and he tries a few himself with little success. Towards the end I teach him a dance that I've seen some people do at the pond.
We stand close together, and I could see his breath in the frigid air. I placed one of his hands on my waist and the other laced together with mine. I put my free hand on his shoulder, and we start moving side to side, creating lazy circles as we slide along the ice. I let go of his shoulder, and spin myself under his arm before returning to our previous position. This time, we were much closer.
"Hey Y/N, what's this dance called?"
"Um, I'm not too sure. I've seen people do it before though. I could teach you the more advanced parts later if you want."
"Sure, that would be great," He smiled.
I felt my heart speed up, and I could feel myself blushing. Sokka looked like he was blushing too, but I don't know if that's from the cold air or because of me...
We kept gazing into each other's eyes for a few moments until he broke away. I wanted to grab him and keep dancing for hours, but at the same time I was a little relieved . I was getting a bit flustered and nervous from standing so close. The only question that remained in my head was why?
"I should get going, I have something to do," Sokka said, stuffing his hands into his parka's pockets.
"Oh, Okay! I should probably head back to the house, I'm kinda hungry."
I shift forward and Sokka grabs my arm again, and I turn to see him looking down at the ice.
"I can't really get across that easy," He says softly.
"Let's go," I say with a smile, and guide him across the stream. He lets go once we are back on solid land, and when I'm in the village again I notice that he must have left at some point while I was walking.
Mini time skip: Arrived at the house...
I'm the only person at the room right now, and to be honest I'm not that sure what to do. I flop down on my bed and let out a sigh. I've done my exploring for today, and I don't know when the next meal is supposed to be served.
As a last attempt at keeping myself from complete boredom, I start sharpening my switchblade. It has dulled over the course of time (one hundred years to be exact), and was due for a nice touch-up. Possibly, there could be someone in town who knows how to polish jade.
I wonder where Katara and Aang are. I haven't seen them all day.
Also, where did Sokka go? He was right behind me when I was walking back... oh why did I have to show him ice skating? And I fell like a complete idiot in front of him!
I hold my head in my hands as embarrassment disrupts the rhythm I kept while sharpening my knife.
Why am I obsessing over some little thing? I've danced with other people before! Why does this one feel different?
Shouts erupt from outside, and I run to the window. A Fire Nation ship has docked on shore, and soldiers are rampaging throughout the village on huge rhinos. There is one unmistakable teenager among those men: Prince Zuko, the bald ponytailed wonder.
Seriously, I don't know where the rest of his hair went.
The Kyoshi Warriors pounce on the firbenders from the rooftops, and I sprint out of the room to join in on the action.
Finally, I'm actually somewhat prepared to fight.
I flick my wrist out, revealing the blade from the hilt. I race towards my one current target: Zuko. Suki gets knocked to the ground by his firebending, and before he is able to hit her, someone else blocks it with their fan. They fight for a while longer till I am within close range. Zuko knocks the Warriors to the ground, not noticing me behind him.
"Hey there flame-head,"I remark.
Zuko turns his head to face me, and I slash at his face, creating a wound on his cheek.
"You bitch!" Zuko swings, his hand aflame.
I duck, causing him to burn the hut next to us. I sweep my leg out and he looses his footing. He falls to the ground, and I prepare to hit him again, but I'm too slow. Zuko grabs my forarms, and twists them behind my back, pushing me onto the packed snow. Adrenaline urges me to stand up, to move, but all I can do is thrash about. He has a good hold on me by sitting on my back, and I scream out for help. He shoves my head into the mix of dirt and snow, and I can't see. I can only hear him laughing, and feel heat resonating near my ear.
Someone shoved Zuko off my back, and I quickly got up, ready to take anyone down. I see Aang throw Zuko into another house with abandoned fans left by one of the Warriors.
"Are you okay Y/N?" Aang offers me help up.
"Yeah yeah, I think so," I loosen my grip on the switchblade while looking at the scene around me.
Aang leaves my side to counter another one of Zuko's attacks. The Kyoshi Warriors are taking care of the remaining Fire Nation men as flames rage throughout the village. I see Katara rushing children into the main building, and I go to join her.
"Y/N, have you seen Sokka? I don't know where he is!" Katara asks while ushering more kids inside.
"No I haven't. I'll go find him!" I dart off, searching through every nook and cranny to find the Water Tribe boy.
There he is! He's with Suki!
They are sitting behind one of the huts and Sokka has changed into one of their uniforms. I see them talking about something, but I'm too far to hear. I put my blade in my waistband, and pick up speed. I'm about to call out his name-
then she kisses him.
I'm engulfed with anger, pure hatred. My mind thrown into turmoil while everything around me dissolves into oblivion, except for them.
Why did she kiss him? Does he like her? What did he say? Why do I care so much?
She runs off to join the battle again, and Sokka turns towards me. I see his expression change, as I am frozen in place. I don't know what to feel, what to say, what to do, so I just stand. He reaches a hand out, and opens his mouth to speak to me, his eyes wide. I don't hear what he says though, because all my attention is on the burning sensation in my calf.
The pain shoots up my leg, and it's hot, too hot to be normal. I collapse forward onto my hands and knees. I twist around to see Zuko standing a distance away, positioned to firebend. The world is in slow-motion, as I look down and see bright red flesh staring right back at me. The scent is disgusting, and makes my head throb. My eyes sting and I think I'm crying, but it's too hard to tell. I gasp for air, trying to come to terms with what just happened to me.
A face appears in front of me, beautiful blue eyes bore into mine. They are terrified, and I am too.
"Y/N! Gah! Your leg, are you okay? I'm so sorry." Their voice rambles on, but I only catch some of it.
I reach out and touch a shaky hand to the side of their face to wipe away their tears. Eyes the color of the ocean, every tear like a wave crashing against the shore during a storm.
I have been burned by the flames of Prince Zuko.
I know what I have to do. I may be a freak, a monster, but I'm going to accept it.
I use my open hand, and look at Zuko. I focus in on the Prince, and I can sense his blood, the motions of his body. It isn't easy to ignore the burn, but I need to stop him from hurting anyone. Once I gain control, I try to keep him from firebending. He twitches, body jerking awkwardly, and his knees buckle. I notice the boy had stopped crying and instead is looking at Zuko with fear. I force him to look away by gently pushing against his cheek with my hand.
"D-Don't look, eyes on me. Please," my voice sounds like a harsh whisper, and I can't tell if he can actually hear me.
He nods his head, and places his hand on top of mine. He shuts his eyes, tilting his head down to signify he won't see anything. Zuko is on the ground now, and I don't know what else to do.
My vision is starting to blur, and I can see familiar orange and yellow rushing towards him. I finally let go, knowing that whoever's at his side is strong enough to go against him.
Then the world fades out, and I can only remember snippets of what actually happened next: A blue sky, cool rain on my skin, bandages, sharp pain up and down my leg, Appa's worn saddle cradling me to sleep.
All I know for sure is my friends are here, and they will keep me safe.
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Word count: 2122
THE END THO 0-0
chile anyways, today was my first day of online school and it was lowkey awkward with the Zoom calls, but otherwise it was good! This chapter had so much stuff happened wowowowoow
I'll try to update again soon!
(I hope ur enjoying this story so far even though ur leg got burnt, but it will all be okay i promise don't worry bby <3 )