𖤐₊ ˚ .༄ 𖤐₊ ˚ .༄
↯ chapter six―act one !
( old faces & awkward tension )
IT WAS ONE THING TO FEEL ANXIOUS ABOUT ENTERING A STRANGERS— home yet, Aiyanna found her nerves relaxed as she followed Jiang inside his home. Compared to the cramped buildings that were filled with countless small apartments, Jiang led Aiyanna down the dirty streets of the Lower Ring, easily slipping by other refugees as if the path to home had become nothing but muscle memory to him.
The teenage girl tried to keep up with him, yet she was still new to the layout of Ba Sing Se and found it frustrating to have so many people cross her path out of nowhere. The best thing she could do was hasten her pace as she tried to make out of Jiang's long locks of hair as she tried to keep up with the older boy. Scowling to herself, Aiyanna kicked a man in the shins who stepped in front of her trying to sell some sort of amulets. Where was Jiang taking her?
"Try to keep up will you, kid?" Jiang teased as he glanced back to see Aiyanna struggling to match his pace. She was pushing and kicking people out of her way as she tried to catch up with Jiang (to no avail really) with a frustrated expression on her face as Aiyanna brushed loose locks of hair away from her face, grunting as she quickly dodged another citizen, running to catch up with Jiang who only gave her a smug smirk.
"Oh I'm sorry, it's not my fault people keep trying to sell me worthless shit or getting in my way," Aiyanna spat as she finally caught up to the older boy.
"How far away is your home, anyway?" She added on as she tossed her locks of hair up in a ponytail, not wanting her hair to fall in her face anymore.
"Not too far, why? Are you in desperate need of a bath?" Jiang grinned as he continued to playfully tease the young girl.
Aiyanna looked down at her body for a quick moment, taking note of dirt that was piling up on her skin and it wasn't like her hair smelt pleasant anymore. Even though Jiang may have been joking, Aiyanna's hygiene was far near from clean. "Am I really that smelly?" Aiyanna snapped back as she shot him a sour look.
"Just a little," Jiang joked back as he elbowed the teenage girl in the shoulder.
Aiyanna scowled and playfully shoved him back as a small smile started to blossom on her lips. And she found herself slowly being content in Jiang's company.
"Here we are," Jiang finally concluded as they stopped in front of a large house.
It was about as tall as the crowded apartments that they had passed a while ago. With small windows and a pointed roof, it was one of the decent looking houses compared to the rest of the homes in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se. Aiyanna took notice of a couple of more houses that made up a similar design to those of Jiang, her eyes wide as she took in the new landscape.
"Nice place," Aiyanna politely said as she continued to stare at Jiang's home. The older boy gave a sheepish grin as he beckoned the teenage girl to follow him.
"Yeah, it's modest compared to the rest of the apartments that you saw back there. It took a lot of bargaining to get this place, but luckily my boyfriend's a tailor. He's got a lot of people from the Upper Ring wanting his designs so we might be moving up there in about a week," Jiang added on as he opened the front door, Aiyanna eagerly followed him, her heart beating faster than before.
He didn't lie when he said that his boyfriend was a tailor. Instantly, Aiyanna was awing at countless mannequins that showed off intricate pieces of clothing —all of which were beautiful in Aiyanna's opinion— different types of fabric overtook the furniture, measuring tapes, pincushions and many more tools were strewn out on the ground and the back of a boy was sitting on the ground, with a needle in his hand, casually sewing another item of clothing.
"It's about time you showed up, what took you so long," Jiang's boyfriend scoffed as he got up from the ground, the piece of clothing still in his hand. And as soon as he turned around to meet his boyfriend —his eyes widened in shock at the visitor in their midst.
Only it wasn't just Jiang's boyfriend who had a look of astonishment on his face. Aiyanna's jaw dropped as she met the face of Jiang's boyfriend. Tanned skin like her own, messy brown hair and that toothy grin. Never before had she planned on seeing his face again
—and yet, here he was standing in front of her.
"Aiyanna?"
"Dyami?"
"You two know each other?" Jiang asked as he looked back and forth between his boyfriend and Aiyanna, pointing a finger in confusion as he continued to look at the two with a puzzled expression.
"Aiyanna's from the Northern Water Tribe, babe, we knew each other," Dyami asked as he carefully placed his project on an empty table as he made his way over towards his boyfriend and the teenage girl. He placed a tender kiss on his boyfriend's cheek before continue to give Aiyanna a quizzical look.
"The last time I saw him, Dyami was supposed to be getting married to Princess Yue," Aiyanna slyly remarked as she crossed her arms over her chest as she continued to gaze up at the teenage boy that she hadn't seen in ages.
His cheeks pinked at the very words that escaped her lips. Jiang craned his neck to see his boyfriend's rosy face, a small grimace forming on his lips.
"You never told me that you were engaged to a princess,"
𖤐₊ ˚ .༄𖤐
THERE WAS NO DENIAL THAT AWKWARD TENSION HAD— arose after Aiyanna slipped out that Dyami was supposed to be engaged to Princess Yue. The thing was, why didn't he get married to her? One minute she had been told by one of Yue's handmaids that Dyami and her were to be wed and the next minute, Dyami left the Northern Water Tribe and was Yue was to be betrothed to someone else.
The teenage girl sat awkwardly on the ground as she relaxed her back on the multiple cushions that were strewn around the ground. Her eyes tentatively scanned the decor in Jiang and Dyami's home. The two boys were in the kitchen, speaking in quiet rushed tones as they were away from Aiyanna. A flustered Dyami said something about making tea and an angry Jiang followed him. Now, Aiyanna was sitting awkwardly waiting for the two to return.
It had been ages since she had seen a familiar face, Aiyana hadn't exactly been close friends with Dyami but she was well acquainted with the teenage boy. And yet, here he was, in Ba Sing Se. Countless questions flooded her mind, many answers she wanted Dyami to give her. Yet she knew that he probably had the same amount of questions to ask her too.
She looked down to see her hands slightly shaking at the tension that was flooding the room. Aiyannna's amber eyes widened at the sudden warmth that was emitting from her fingertips. Not now—please not now. Ever since she had used her firebending during the encounter at Serpent's Pass, something was amiss inside of her body. Aiyanna had managed to keep her cool about the whole situation, especially since her icy encounter with Katara. And yet, her nerves said otherwise.
Her heart rate slowed down as she watched Jiang and Dyami make his way over towards the teenage girl. In his hands, Dyami held a teacup that was designed with intricate tiny flowers. The older teenage boy handed it over towards her, Aiyanna suppressed a small smile on her lips as she silently drank the tea. Nothing like a warm cup of tea to relax her nerves.
"Aiyanna, what are you doing here?" Dyami asked as he crouched down across from the girl, sitting across from her with wide eyes. Jiang had a more relaxed expression and he too sat across from his new acquaintance.
"You know I could ask you the same question," Aiyanna pointed out before taking another sip of her tea.
"Why aren't you with the tribe right now? What are you doing here in Ba Sing Se?" Dyami added on as he carefully eyeing the home as the words escaped his lips.
"I got banished," Aiyanna said as she turned to look away from Dyami, instead, staring down at her teacup.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing! I swear on my life I didn't do anything wrong —unless being half Fire Nation counts," the teenage girl scowled.
"You're —you're half Fire Nation?" Jiang asked as his eyes suddenly widened at the news that escaped her lips. On the other hand, Dyami didn't seem to be too shocked, either that, or he heard worse news and didn't find Aiyanna's words truly shocking.
"Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you are," Aiyanna replied as she let out an annoyed sigh. Placing the teacup down on the ground, she turned to look over at Dyami who only bit his lip before turning to look back at his boyfriend.
"You're not shocked by this? You're not freaking out that I'm half Fire Nation?" She asked as Dyami was still looking over at his boyfriend, not a single look of shock or concern flooding his face.
"Why would I be? I'm dating this hotshot and he was once a Fire Nation general,"
𖤐₊ ˚ .༄𖤐
THERE WAS A LOT TO UNPACK FROM JIANG, DYAMI AND AIYANNA— each with their own story to tell. But it was Dyami who said that they could discuss their stories for another day. Aiyanna didn't seem to mind, the last thing she wanted to was to talk about her banishment. She had barely managed to get a word across to Sokka, the memories were still fresh scars.
At least she was happy to know that she would be able to get some sleep before having to recall the past to both Jiang and Dyami. Aiyanna hadn't been ready to unpack all of her story at once, but seeing Dyami in Ba Sing Se when he was supposed to be married to Princess Yue was another story too. Not to mention that somewhere in the timeline he had left the Northern Water Tribe, he met and fell in love with an ex-general from the Fire Nation.
In short, she wasn't the only one with a fucked up backstory.
It had been hard to look at Jiang the same after Dyami had casually said that he was a general for the Fire Nation army. Then again, it was comforting at the same time to know that he was the most trusting person she had come across. Stereotypes had done their part to make people from the Fire Nation seem bad and evil, but if Dyami was able to date him—surely there was some goodness in the guy.
After all, he was the one to invite Aiyanna to their home.
"Done!" Dyami exclaimed from a distance.
Two gruelling hours which involved Aiyanna being measured and getting fitted for new clothes, Dyami had instantly customized the teenage girl a new wardrobe with a snap of his fingers. While Dyami was the one working away to change Aiyanna away from her old clothes, Jiang was the one who was in the kitchen, working away making what smelt to be a delicious dinner. Just be the wafts that Aiyanna would take in alone she had a feeling that dinner would be wonderful.
Hastily handing a pair of clothes, Aiyanna was left by herself in a room to get changed into one of Dyami's designs. Her hands traced the fabric, feeling the soft material that touched her skin. Stripping off her clothes, Aiyanna bit her lip as she took one last glance at the clothes that represented her people, her nation—her family. Quickly shaking out of her thoughts, Aiyanna grabbed the new clothes and dressed.
Dressed in some dark green pants that hung loosely at her legs, Aiyanna found the material so comfortable. While she was skeptical about wearing the top that Dyami designed, the olive coloured, cropped strapless top was extremely cozy as well. She had misjudged the outfit because it was defiantly a far more unorthodox look compared to what the Northern Water Tribe women wore yet she loved the change.
That is to note that she loved the change of style. Aiyanna had dealt with a lot of change recently and this one was positive (for once) so she wasn't going to be complaining. Letting out a small sigh, the teenage girl grasped her old familiar clothes, brushing them over once more with a stroke of her hand before accepting that it would be ages until she could wear such clothes again with honour.
Making her way out of the room, holding her old clothes in her hands, Dyami and Jiang were in the kitchen having a conversation while the teenage girl placed her clothes near her bag. But before she had a chance to thank Dyami for her clothes, a sudden knock rapped on the door.
"I'll get it!" Aiyanna called out as she didn't want the person at the door to be a bother to Dyami and Jiang. Grasping the handle of the door, a smile was on her face as she turned to greet the stranger.
Only he wasn't a stranger at all.
( ―EVERYONE WANTS )
❛ the score ❜
( ― EVERYONE DREAMS )