𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 | zuko

8: FIRE FOUNTAIN CITY

"You came!" said Katara, as she spotted Kyra and me in the hotel hallway, making our way to room 16.

"Hi, Katara.  It took a bit of convincing, but we came."

It was a day later.  We barely knew any details about the trip, but we were going.  We were actually making our way to the Fire Nation.  I imagined the red that adorned every person and building there.  The last time there was that much red, I was burned at the wrist.  I wondered what it would be like, seeing people in Fire Nation garb again.  At least now, the war was over.  We were under no one's control but our own.

"We were going to send a letter if you took another day, just to know if you were coming or not."

"Well, we're here," said Kyra.  "Is everyone here?"

"Yeah," replied Kyra.  "Everyone's here and ready.  It'll be fun to travel again, I think, even if it's just for two nights."

"Who paid for the hotel room?" asked Kyra. 

"The Earth King," replied Katara.  

"Ah.  Well, we're ready when you are," she said, holding up her small bag.

"Appa's ready, Aang and Toph are out there with him," continued Katara.  "I'll go get Sokka and Suki."

"Okay," we said in unison and started back out the door and around the side of the hotel to the back gardens.

Appa was being brushed by Aang.  A lemur was sitting on a bale of hay nearby, nibbling on fruit from a stall Kyra and I had passed earlier.  Toph was bending a bracelet of hers into random shapes boredly.

"Finally, some action," said Toph, making Aang turn around.  He smiled.  

"Hi, Jin, hi, Kyra," he said.  "Are you ready?"

"We're ready," I said.  "Katara's inside getting Sokka and Suki."

"Okay," Aang said.  He turned toward the lemur on the hay bale.  "Cmon, Momo," he said, and the lemur hopped onto his shoulder.  He airbent himself onto Appa, and Toph bent the ground under her to reach atop.  Kyra did the same for herself and me. 

Once everyone was finally on, we took off into the skies, but instead of hovering over Ba Sing Se, this time, we flew up and out of the walls, southwest toward the Fire Nation islands.  We stopped in Omashu that night, where we found a place to stay easily, as Aang had been childhood friends with the king.  

"Please, Toph?"

"Fine.  Let's go."

Kyra had been begging Toph to teach her that sense thing she does with he feet, so she could be a better earthbender.  Toph had finally given in, and the two had gone off to find some clear land.  She gave me an excited look as she followed Toph away, and I smiled back.  

"So," I said.  "What do we do now?"

"Well, we could teach you something," offered Suki, referring to her and Sokka.

"Teach me what?" I asked.  

"Some form of fighting," said Suki.  "I'm a Kyoshi Warrior, I'm sure I could show you something.  Sokka learned quickly.  Non-benders can be just as good at fighting as benders are."

"Well, alright."

"Great!"

Sokka, Suki, and I spent the next hour practicing stances and balancing.  Sokka let me borrow a sword.  Swords are heavier than they look.

There are hundreds of different ways to stand and move around when you're fighting.  It's amazing that I got to learn any.  Sokka said he learned from Master Piandao, a swordfighter in the Fire Nation.  Suki's fighting style takes after Avatar Kyoshi herself, as she and her group are called the Kyoshi warriors.  She taught me how to balance myself, and how to use an enemy's strength against them, knocking them down, and giving you the advantage.  Sokka showed me you had to be creative when fighting, and a quick thinker.  He showed me the things Master Piandao taught him and told me about his space sword, made from a meteorite. 

Maybe we spent more than an hour.  

We had landed in Omashu at sunset, and it was dark by the time Sokka, Suki, and I went back to where we were staying.  Kyra and I shared a room, and we told each other the whole night about what we had done with our new teachers.  Toph was harsh, and mean with her teaching, but Kyra didn't mind at all.  She had learned a bunch of new things, like that rock was stubborn, so she had to be stubborn toward it, as well.  Toph told her she was well on her way to learn metalbending.

We took off again in the morning after breakfast, stopping just before sunset in Fire Fountain City.  It was once named for a large statue of Fire Lord Ozai in it's center, and the last time Aang and his friends had been here, the war was still going on, and the statue was still there.

"I wonder what they've put in the center now?" said Sokka, navigating himself and the rest of us down a street.

"I'm sure Zuko's had the statue taken down," said Suki.

"Maybe there's an actual fountain," offered Kyra.  "It seems like the most reasonable decision."

"Well, let's see!" said Sokka, now walking faster toward the center of the city. I looked around in awe at the red and gold adorned buildings.  I'd never seen so many warm colors in one place.  Kyra and I were probably stared at, as we were some of the only ones who weren't wearing Fire Nation clothes.  Even if the war was over, Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Suki had opted for a red-colored look, while Aang continued wearing his Air Nation robes.  But those were still orange, and Kyra and I only had shades of green, which weren't usually worn in the Fire Nation. 

"It's amazing," whispered Katara, as she looked at the new center of the city.  Aang smiled, and Kyra gasped.

My mouth hung open at the sight.  It was a  two-tiered fountain, the second level a bowl pouring into the first.  The carving at the top was simple and looked like just a circle with the Fire Nation's symbol carved simply into it.  The bottom level held multiple lanterns, all with a small flame on the inside.  Four lanterns sat on each end of the fountain, and street lanterns surrounded the place in a circle, concentric with the fountain, all with a flame inside as well.

It looked exactly like my favorite place in Ba Sing Se.