Just Me

That's why it surprised them so much the first time fire spread from your hands. It was in a moment of anger, an argument over some issue you can't remember. You banged your hands on the table and jumped up out of your seat. Then, there it was: the lick of flames that extended from your fingers.

You walked out of your small village home and slammed the door closed. It was dark outside, but you still took the familiar path toward the pond and bent down next to it. You couldn't see any fish or reflection, just hear the soft movement of water. You swirled your hand above the water, looking for movement like it would come this time. Like you haven't done this every day for the last year and saw nothing. And, there was still nothing there.

You clenched your fists and focused. You extended your fingers outward to the pond, but instead of water movement, there were little strings of light coming from the tips of your fingers. You clenched your hand to your chest and wept.

✿

Light Ladies Performance Group has been much better off since you were soloing. Dancing with the others, you always stuck out. Your teacher didn't even let you dance with the rest of them once you started by yourself.

Today, you performed far away from Nikari, where the group was created and where you call home. The town's escorts led you to one of their empty buildings. There was a room large enough to separate the ladies and another one above it of empty space. The dancers laid out blankets on the wooden floor as you trudged along with a market bag full of paint for each ones faces.

"Down right there!" the leading lady yelled at the same time you dropped the bag down to the floor.

"Goodness," you breathed out, "That's heavier than usual."

"Of course. Do you know how far away we are?"

During midday, the girls sat and got their makeup done. You were the last one, busy practicing moves for your solo. As you sat, the leading lady dabbed paint on your face with her fingers. She inked a thick black line with her nail to sharpen your eyes and flushed pink all over your cheeks and lips. All dancers wore gowns with long, droopy sleeves right up to their wrists. Today's outfit had embroidered golden flowers on them contrasting the bright scarlet. Maroon waved across the hemline with style. The ladies weren't allowed to show skin along with the thick dresses, so underneath you all wore white chemises that covered any other parts of your skin and slips over your feet to protect your toes.

Your only modification as a soloist was your makeup. The other's wore white to help them stand out, but leading lady Ayaka took her time to find a color that would match your skin and perfect it. She said this was because the audience didn't watch your face, but they focused on your body and the light that came from your hands.

"You always look so perfect," Ayaka whispered, taking her nail to the other side.

"Thank you milady," you said back and tried not to move any other part of your face.

A deep, womanly voice came from beside your ear, "Yes, you do look perfect."

It was so sudden, it made you jumped back slightly. You felt Ayaka's nail go in the the wrong direction across your eye, messing with your look.

"SULON!" she yelled in anger, "Get out of here!"

You pop your eyes open and Sulon shot you a smile while getting up, and you smiled with her. She had just talked about courting her new subject while interrogating you in the process. Her imitation of a man was horrible.

"That girl is a piece of work."

"She wants me to get a husband," you say, "It looks like she already found hers."

Ayaka sighed and dumped water onto a cloth. "Close your eye."

In silence, she wiped your eye and fanned it dry. She picked up the paint again to repeat the process. She dabbed it over your eyes, then took her fingernail and lined the black ink over it.

"Sometimes finding a husband isn't always the answer," she said quietly, completing the rest of the look. "It's better to just look for love in places where it will reside… and that doesn't always result in what you think it will."

You hum and let her finish her work. She dips her hand in water again. She puts a slimy plant in her hands and rubs it down your curls, watching them pop to life over your shoulders. She rakes it through the rest of your hair and sticks small loops over your forehead.

"All done," she says, dunking her hands into a bowl of water.

The town's hourly bell rings and all the girls gather to Ayaka. You go over your solo in your head one more time as the seven girls line up and exit with their heads down and arms crossed, all perfect copies of one another. Then, it was just you left alone. You heard the sounds of drums playing loudly, and about midway through the performance, you decided that being alone was no longer and option.

You left the building to go watch the girls, your girls as they did a performance you were familiar with. They were daring with large movements: leaps, synchronized and static turns, lifting others up into the air, kicking their legs higher than anyone thought possible. You trained in this before, but it's been a while since you were on stage with them, looking as perfect and together as they do. Soloing has been lonely.

You walk back inside just as they finish, you greeted them as they walked in, sweat licking their faces. Ayaka grabbed you by your arms and looked into your eyes.

"Ready?"

"Yes milady."

You folded your arms and put your head down. She led you to the stage and you walked up the stairs silently, never move your head up from position. Once you reached the middle of the wooden platform and stood, a blend of sounds started to play.

You opened your arms and focused on flow of the music and your body. You spun to the sounds of the tambourine, extended your arms and legs to create the illusion of beauty. You learned to turn like the rest of them, so you did it slower. You dropped to your knees at the sound of hums coming from the band. They played their drums quieter, focusing on the intensity of their voices. You then summoned fire from your fingertips. The colors extended like long, thin fingernails. You waved them throughout the night sky, and had them surround the world around you. There were oohs and ahhs from the crowd at the watched. To finish, you used the fire and created spirals that whirled around your body. You spun with it, dress flared out, and hair getting dangerously close to lick the flame. Though it never did.

You slowed then bowed when you were finished. A rapture of applause surrounded you, louder than the music that was played. People cheered with their mouths, threw fire flowers onto the wooden platform, and whistled. You tilted your head up at them and smiled.

When you ran off the stage, the other girls squealed.

"You were amazing!"

"That was beautiful!"

"Hypnotic as usual," said Sulon. She always used the word 'hypnotic' when talking to you. It was strange.

Ayaka led the way back to the empty building, but not before being stopped by a tall older man in some sleek fire uniform. He recognized her as a leading lady and talked just low enough for you to hear scraps of information.

"… stunning… you do an amazing job… inquiring… performing at the Fire Palace..."

You turned your head to Sulon. She was taller and leaner. Her beauty was striking, made you a little sick with envy every time you looked at her. But, now she raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips into a smile. You did the same. You both held eye contact until you laughed silently, too scared to make any noise.

Ayaka turned to you and motioned her hand for you to come over. As you did, Sulon pushed you with her finger and you whipped your head around and mouthed 'stop!'. Next to Ayaka, she gripped both hands on your shoulders.

"This is my darling soloist. She incredibly sweet, and very skilled at everything she does. She also takes great care of our community."

The older man bows then tucks his long hair behind his back. "My name is Counsel Dain, I am the Head of Prosperity in the Royal Court. It was lovely to see you preform.

You come to your senses. You sink deep into a deep bow. "It is an honor to meet you, Counsel."

"I too owe you the honor," he chuckles, "The main part of my job is to assess quality of life in the Fire Nation, so I've stopped by here for the day. It was great to see all of the young ladies preform, but you… you were marvelous. That's why I wanted to ask Ms. Ayaka if you would be interested in performing at the Royal Palace. There's a dinner next week that celebrates the ending of the 100 year war and I think having you as entertainment would be amazing. The Fire Lord would love it."

You look over to Ayaka. She nods carefully. You say, "I would love to."

✿

The girls tease you through the night and all the way back home. They made good points, though about how the Fire Lord and his friends didn't have that much of an age difference and how once you were in the palace you should pretend to get lost looking for all of the different rooms they teach about in the history books.

It was a very long ride home. Albeit, a very exciting one. Access to the Fire Palace and its counsels means access to more resources for your village. Your village was odd. People were mostly healthy with enough money and food to sustain, but they were sad. Something in the community you have grown to love had made everyone unbearably dreary. Not even the constant access to entertainment had helped in general. Maybe kids who weren't familiar with the war, but the adults continued on like they were suffering.

Your parents wanted to move away to some Earth village outside of Ba Sing Se. They were both Water Tribe, but your father was a researcher and he believed his time here had been finished. Your mother was a non-bender, and had prayed every night to the Moon and Ocean Spirit that you would be a healer and the village would never be sick again. The only firebender in your bloodline was your grandmother, who housed your researcher grandfather until they had a baby that was just like him.

Your parents had figured that now that the war was over, the village would no longer struggle with being so far from resources, but months past and everyone still acted the same. You were growing up by this time and decided to pick up a job preforming for the Nikari Ladies after seeing them once in person. They travel and bring back some money for their own families, though the rest goes for the community.

When you arrived, the village greeted you all with applause. You held a sack of potatoes over your shoulder. This was much worse than the market bag. You dropped it at Ayaka's inn and then made your way to your own home.

It was not near the empty building of that other village. It was maybe half the size, but it housed all three of you perfectly. Your parents sat at the table, sipping on hot tea as you carried yet another bag of your own clothing over your shoulders.

"Welcome home," your mom said with a warm smiled and hugged you. It was the longest you had been away, "I missed you so much. How was your performance?"

"I was told it was great. It's the same thing I always do."

"Well, that's okay. As long as you didn't burn your hair off."

"It never even touched my hair."

"You don't even know that."

"It didn't!"

"Prove it," she laughed.

You fanned her off and hugged your dad.

"Welcome back, honey," he says softly. He goes back to taking another sip of his tea.

"One of the royal counsels ask me to dance at the palace. It's happening next week."

Your mother screamed. Not a like excited one, but one that came guttural from her. Tears flowed from her eyes so quickly, it made you confused. Your dad looked up too and matched your expression.

"Are you serious?" she yelled, out of breath from… nothing.

"Yes," you laughed and your mom jumped all over you. You didn't sleep until very late that night.

Sokka had rolled his eyes. "You're both so old and boring. I'm literally older than both of you and yet—"

Aang had tuned out his rant with practised ease while you had entertained Sokka's loud woes with the purpose of riling him up more and life simply continued.

Which brings Aang back to bass thrumming through his skin and his drink wetting his hand due to the dripping condensation. He nods politely to those who greet him, entertains a brief conversation here and there from passing acquaintances and is coaxed into playing beer pong by a tipsy Toph.

"You'll be my eyes," she delegates as she drags him towards the noisy table lined with strategically placed cups of beer. "Just tell me where to aim and let me work my magic."

"Wouldn't that be cheating?" Aang asks, allowing himself to be situated by Toph's side and already taking his task seriously. "Seems like an unfair advantage."

Toph snorts. "I'm blind, Twinkletoes."

Aang nods solemnly. "Touche."

They proceed to win four rounds of beer pong and Aang wanders away from it, a little high off off their successes. He leaves a cackling Toph stuffing her winnings into her pockets, begins to head towards the kitchen for some water when a thought strikes him—he hasn't seen you in a while.

You had stayed close together when you first entered the house, hands entwined as you navigated your way through a much smaller crowd. Then Katara had appeared, bright-eyed and pretty in her shimmery eye shadow and to pull you away from him. Aang had only blinked in mild surprise as he watched you disappear up the stairs, you just as surprised as Katara yelled, "I'll have her back soon!" before you both vanished around the corner. That was the last time he had seen you and while he knows you're fine, he can't help but feel antsy because, well, he misses you and it's hard to know you're both in the same vicinity and he can't see you.

Aang decides to locate Katara since you'll most likely be with her and starts towards the stairs. But on his way there, he glances towards the room of crowded dancing bodies and stops right in his tracks because right there—you're right there.

You look…ethereal is the right word.

It's like the rest of the room fades away as Aang's eyes focus on you, trained to pick you out in a mass of even a million people. You're dancing to music, hips swinging with the beat as your hands slide over the swells of your chest and down your stomach. Katara's right behind you, sure grip on your hips as she guides you through the rhythm and you're both grinning, lost in the moment of something stronger than friendship and built upon true comfort. Aang watches, his smile growing and heart fond, and is about to turn away to look for Sokka when he catches it.

A man dances towards you with intent, a smarmy grin on his face as he gets closer and closer. You and Katara haven't noticed yet but Aang has and he's already moving, pushing his way through shaking backsides and jabbing elbows. He's still got his sights on you, all of his senses on high and boiling over the moment the man gets to you before he does. Then it's like everything goes into slow motion; Aang watches this man set his hands on your hips and press forward until you're trapped between him and Katara. Immediately your eyes fly open at the intrusion and your hands are quick to push the man away, pretty features twisting with unbridled rage. Katara is right there with you, stepping between you and the man with her own fury front and centre.

The man doesn't back down; he even attempts to reach around Katara to touch you and Aang doesn't know when he snaps.

He just does.

"I don't see what the problem is," the man laughs, his grip on your wrist uncomfortably firm. "Can't a guy approach two beautiful ladies and dance with them? Especially if one of them catches his eye?" His wink towards you brings forth a visceral reaction, your face scrunched up in disgust. "And I don't see a man with her so unless you two are scissor sisters, maybe you can tell your bodyguard here to back off. Unless she wants to join—?"

He's promptly interrupted by a swift punch to the face that sends him staggering into a dancing couple. Both you and Katara are startled by the suddenness and are then shocked when they see who caused it.

"Aang," you say softly, as if in a trance as Aang comes to stand in front of you, keeping you and Katara hidden behind his bulk. "Did you just—?"

"He did," Katara confirms, her voice just as soft. "Trust me, I had to double check to see if he was the one who actually threw that punch."

"Ah."

The man stumbles up after being pushed away by the couple he crashed into, touching his nose to see if it's broken or bleeding—it's the latter. At the sight of the blood, his expression transforms into one of a hideous beast as he approaches Aang with vicious intent. But the quickness of his stride slows the nearer he gets to Aang due to the difference of size between them.

"What the fuck is your problem, man!?" He shouts angrily. "You punched me in the face when I didn't do shit to you!"

Aang calmly raises a brow. "You didn't do shit to me?" he repeats. "If I recall correctly, you saw two women dancing peacefully on their own before deciding to force yourself upon them. One who happens to be my girlfriend and the one my best friend. Even if I didn't know them personally, I wouldn't have tolerated such behaviour."

"A knight in shining armour, huh?" The man jeers before leaning to the side to catch a glimpse of you. "I guess it's true that ladies love the nice guys and all that fucking shit but it's whatever. I didn't know the bitch was taken but even if I did, what would have stopped me from taking her for a nice ride? Maybe she would have preferred how a bad guy does it."

The words fall into Aang's mind like rotten wood that shatter upon impact and every shatter further feeds a feeling he tries to avoid. It took over when he gave into the urge to punch and threatens to swallow him whole due to what's been spat at his face. Words that pertain to you, the very meaning to his existence, drenched in the utmost disrespect and degradation. To make you seem like you're only a tool meant for the pleasure of some sick man who dares transform you into something baseless and nonexistent.

This must be that all consuming rage Zuko talks about, the one that used to fuel him when he was young and afraid but so mad at the world. The causes are not the same but the outcome doesn't differ as Aang moves before he can even think.

You call his name urgently, Katara's hand grabs at his shoulder and Sokka appears like a spirit summoned.

Aang doesn't know what happens.

He sinks.

And resurfaces in the sanctuary of Sokka's bedroom with his bloodied knuckles bandaged and his cheek pulsing with a promising bruise. He instantly recognises the scent of your perfume and hides his face into the plush of your lap, calmed by the soothing strokes of your fingers against his scalp.

"…What happened?" He asks tentatively, unsure of if he wants to know.

"Quite a few things," you say quietly. "Firstly, you have a mean right hook and secondly, I can see why meditation is so important for you."

Aang groans softly, closing his eyes. "I'm not an angry person, I promise," he says, needing to clarify that. "I never get into fights. I do my best to talk things out and if that doesn't work, I remove myself from the situation. But tonight…I don't know what happened."

You tap his nose. "I know you're not an angry person," you assure him. "But we all get angry sometimes and that anger can change into something brighter and scary because of how it engulfs us."

Aang sighs, turning his head so he can look at you and the smile you're giving him right now feels undeserving. "You've felt like this before too?" He asks and you nod, slipping your hand down from his head to his cheek.

"A few times, yes," you confirm, gently rubbing your thumb over the apple of his cheek. "We all have so don't feel bad, my love. Plus the guy was being a dick so if you hadn't punched him, I or Katara would have done it."

Aang smiles, nuzzling into your hand. "How is Katara, by the way?"

"Good, she's regaling your heroic tale to Toph."

"Oh, wonderful."

You laugh and it's the best sound that Aang can hear right now, along with the sound of your voice. He reaches up to cup your cheek with a touch so reverent that seems to shock you, your eyes widening a bit.

"I'd do it again," he confesses. "To protect you and keep you smiling and happy, I'd do it again."

The corners of your lips curl into an adoring smile, soft around its edges as you turn your head to kiss the inside of his palm.

"I know. I just hope you won't have to."

Aang hopes so too because that means you'd get to exist in a world unbothered and at peace.