Chapter 11- And so the Dragons Danced (Complete)

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98 AG

“I walked across an empty land, I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. Is this the place we used to go, Is this the place I’ve been dreaming of…” I tuned out Lee as he sang one of the few dozen songs that I’d written down from memory and passed off as my own. He had a good singing voice. Strong, melodic, and soothing at the same time. It was the kind of voice that could lull you to sleep in one moment, while spurring you to fight to your death in another. It went without saying that Lee was a hell of a singer. And while he didn’t sing often, when the occasion and mood were right, he could produce performances worthy of the best of the best from my old world. 

This moment was one of them. I sat next to the fireplace, nursing my cup of wine, as my friends were scattered across the room in different states. Toji was playing the Tsunji horn because, of course, he was, and Maki was at the other end of the room, tending the grill. Lee sang near the door, where it was coolest, and the wind blowed in through the window near him. He had by far the best tolerance for the cold amongst the rest of us, and he wasn’t shy about it. Zhufu was cuddled into my side, one hand in mine, as my other traced circles around her smooth belly. 

In eight years together, we’d grown and matured in our friendship. We’d fought and argued and quarrelled more times than we could ever count, but we’d somehow managed to reconcile and build back whatever we broke even more times. 

After that incident five years ago, when I’d basically managed to get myself banished from home, we’d bound ourselves as even closer than a family. Closer than any family I’d ever seen, for sure. The fact that I’d managed to sleep with both my ‘sisters’ was a testament to that closeness. Zhufu’s hand slammed against my knee in a sudden application of force. “What the fuck? What was that for?” I half asked-half yelled. 

“Your mind was going into the gutter again” She said, a smirk prominent on her face. She could read me well. She always could. 

“How would I ever manage to stop it from?” I asked her, returning her smirk with one of my own. 

“If I’d known you’d be this smug about it, nothing would have ever made me invite Maki into our bed.” She said loudly, making Lee suddenly stop singing in favour of coughing his lungs out as he tried to hide the sudden blush that covered his face. Toji just glared at the both of us in irritation for ruining the jam session. Maki’s shoe flew right over my head as I was barely able to dodge it. 

“Can you stop mentioning that already?” Maki’s glare was smouldering. “You’ll kill poor Lee if you continue like this” At that part, even her lips were twitching. Lee had been the one to catch the three of us in bed this morning when he’d barged in to beg me to make breakfast. Needless to say, the poor boy had almost died from the sight and had been apologising since then. Toji, the one who had orchestrated the whole thing, had found it funny for the first few hours, but was now in a constant state of irritation from Zhufu’s ceaseless reminders. 

“She could. But we both know she won’t” I answered on her behalf, not even yelping as her fingers dug into my sides. 

“This is supposed to be a celebration for all of us” Toji said, finally letting go of the horn, realising that the music was probably never going to come back. “Not an opportunity for all of you to torment poor Lee. You know how delicate he can be.” The non-bender said with the sides of his lips arching up. Much of the day had gone like this, all of us mocking Lee in subtle ways for his prudishness. It wasn’t like we all hadn’t seen each other in various states of undress over the years. 

After Grandfather had chosen not to bother picking me up at the end of my Third Year, I’d been forced to go home with Toji, the only one whose family were able to accommodate me. It wasn’t a bad place to live, but I’d wasted no time in searching out and buying a beach front home for myself to live in. It wasn’t on Ember Island or anywhere so exotic, but was instead on the Fire Nation’s mainland, a world away from civilisation. Not far from the Academy, funny enough. The Royal Fire Nation Military Academy was also on the arseends of nowhere. 

Now, we all stayed in the large bungalow at the waterfront. As a Nation, the Fire Nation enjoyed by far the best geography of them all. Being made of a series of islands. Even the Mainland, as it was called, was still just one big Island at the end of the day. Sure, it could take a traveller weeks to get from one end of the Island to another, but it was still a body of land surrounded by water on all sides. Not every part of it was in use, of course. And we were thoroughly reaping the benefits of that fact. If you listened carefully, you could make out the sounds of waves crashing against the beachhead. It was an expensive property, spanning over 5,000 square feet, but well worth the price. Five bedrooms and six bathrooms, along with a living room, a music room and a ton of beachfront land. I’d have given anything to live in a property like this one in my first life, and in this one, it had only cost me about two years worth of my allowance savings. Sure, I’d only had about four years worth of savings left after that, but it was perfect. 

“So, how is next week going to go?” Lee asked, desperate to change the topic, and I smiled before ceding to his unspoken request to let the thing rest for now. 

“Who knows? We just travel back to school and attend graduation. After that, it's to our _various branches_ of the military.” I said, stressing the phrase ‘various branches’ with a bit of snark. Every member of the graduating class got to join the military as an officer, but only the top five got the privilege of picking exactly what branches of the military they join. In this room alone, sat four of the top five. With Lee, it had been a bot unsure, but weeks of tutoring and exam preparation did not go to waste. Sure, he was only half a percentage point above the person who came in sixth, but almost never killed a bird. I was, most obviously, the first of them all. Being forced to graduate with my classmates after every single application I made for early graduation was rejected out of hand. Even though he’d basically abandoned me, Grandfather’s influence was still apparent to see. He’d never let me go. I was his perfect tool. His perfect slave to his whims, and even though I could see it now, clear as day, there was still a part of me that reflexively thought of him when I made my decisions. A part of me that quaked in fear at the thought of disappointing him. 

It was manipulation, plain and simple. What he’d done to me as a child to make me so dependent on him for positive approval, to the extent that I craved his praise and affection over and above everything else. It was disgusting and terrible, and shameful, and oh did I still love him in spite of all of that. 
“The army it remains for the most of us, yes?” Maki asked, starting a conversation that I knew would turn into a fight if no one interfered. 

“Is there something you have to say to me?” Zhufu asked, getting off my lap and sitting straight up. Clockwork. It was a fight that the both of them had had a million times already. It was the same fight that had ended up with Maki sharing our bed last night. Even with the benefits the fight had brought, I was still tired of hearing the same words over and over again. 

“Yes, in fact, there is” Maki was never one to back down from a fight. Toji sighed and Lee had already begun to shrink out of the room, sensing that they were about to fly off the handles again. 

“Really? Educate us” Zhufu had taken to her feet now, and Maki was quick to copy the action as both girls faced off against each other. 

“I think it’s very fucking selfish how you’re just going to abandon the rest of us for a cushy job in the Royal Guard. Want to go off to marry your precious Prince Zuko, I’m sure.” Maki accused, bringing up the elephant in the room that only she was bold enough to mention. Of all the jobs in the military, only one branch was out of the picture for those who finished in the top 5 at the Royal Fire Nation Military Academy. The Royal Guard. The elite personal guards of the royal family. It was invite only, and Zhufu had been given one of those prestigious invites that were usually reserved for the most experienced commanders in the actual army. It was almost impossible to get a space in guard without spending at least ten years in the actual military, gaining experience and skill. So, Zhufu getting one without any of that stank to high heaven and was, in Maki’s eyes at least, a sign that the marriage to Zuko was all but announced. 

‘You do know that Prince Zuko has been banished from the fire nation, right?”

“Hah. Don’t feed me that rot. Banished? But he left with a fleet of soldiers and his Uncle, one of the greatest generals in fire nation history. It’s obvious he left on some sort of secret royal family mission. But that’s beside the point. The point is you’re leaving us for a job at the palace.” Maki claimed, bringing up the accusation once again. Alright, enough. It was time to step in. 

“That’s enough of that, Maki. The rest of us chose the Army. We made a choice. Zhufu couldn’t. There’s no world where her family would ever let her reject an appointment like that” I said to her, trying to end the issue.

“Fuck her family. You and Toji are already practically exiles from yours.” “Hey” Toji shouted from the other end of the room, not liking Maki’s blunt assessments of our situations. While I hadn’t bothered returning home after the fight with Grandfather, there was nothing stopping Toji from returning to his family manor. He just preferred to stay here with me, and considering his parents weren’t the most attentive of people, they didn’t make much of a fuss about the whole thing. 

“We both know Toji hasn’t been officially disowned, as of yet,” I joked, getting some chuckles from Lee but nothing beyond a smile from Maki and Zhufu, which thankfully widened at Toji’s exasperated huff. 

“Even if he had, his situation is still miles away from Zhufu’s. You know this. Neither of us are supporting our families, and just imagine how life would be for her sisters if she chose to go down this path you so carelessly suggest.” My words seemed to be getting to her a little bit. Zhufu had come out and confessed about her family situation two years ago, but by then, even Lee had been able to figure out the truth. It was a touching moment that had brought our friendship group even closer together. At least, until this fight began.

“That’s enough, guys” Shockingly enough, it was not Toji or I, but Lee who interjected. Maybe that was why both girls paused their glaring at each other to whirl and look at him. 

“Maki, you know Natsu is right. Zhufu doesn’t have much of a choice. She doesn’t have the same freedoms the rest of us do, and that is very much a good thing. She still has a family to go home to, or at least one that would want to see her there.” Some trace of bitterness was in his words. It reminded me that Lee was not the cheery, one-dimensional character all the way through that I’d thought him to be. He hadn’t enrolled in the Academy entirely of his volition. No, he’d been recommended after a Local Officer at the colony he called home had caught some boys bullying him and his attempt to fight back using his fire bending. He’d been basically shunned and ostracised for most of his life because of the gift that would have made him revered if he’d been born in the mainland instead of in a colony. His parents had, at least, not participated in the madness, but after he moved up the years in the Academy, they could not pretend that he was truly one of them any longer. His mother was of the Fire nation, but as a non-bender with no involvement in the war beyond moving to a colony as a teenager for a better life for herself, she had little frame of reference for taking care of who was to soon become a commissioned officer of the Fire Nation Military. They’d all mutually come to the conclusion that it was best if Lee visited less often. His family loved him, but the rest of the community did indeed take it out on them when he wasn’t around, in small ways that the military watchers would be forced to ignore. They’d been able to tolerate the non-bender wife, but the Son who was to be a Fire Nation Soldier was just too much for them to take. Needless to say, Toji had been apoplectic at the revelation, and more than willing to report the grasping ‘colony trash’ to the military for proper reeducation and realignment. Luckily, we’d all been able to convince him of how terrible an idea that would be in truth. 

“And Zhufu. You know it’s not from a place of hatred or anger or anything. What’s getting Maki ticked off is the fact that she’ll miss you and has no idea how often the rest of us are going to get to see you. The rest of us will be in the army, and since mine way or another we’ll all be in the Earth Kingdom regardless of whom we get stationed under, we kind of know that we’d be able to keep in touch. But with you, it’s less clear. Are royal guards allowed to leave the palace? Write letters? How often? We don’t know anything, and it’s the not knowing that’s killing her and the most of us.” He said, placing everyone’s feelings out of the table and laying all the cards down. Lee wasn’t an idiot. I’d never truly thought of him as one, but I’d also never expected this level of emotional intelligence and maturity from him. Perhaps it shouldn’t truly come as much of a surprise. Despite what he’d gone through, he was by far and wide the most well-adjusted of all of us- Toji was a non-bender in a family that took pride in its bending and wealth; Maki was an orphan that had been sold into one of the riskiest fire nation military training programs before she was old enough to write; Zhufu had been born on the edge of poverty but forced to learn how to hide precisely that fact and raised to be the perfect wife for a Prince who would never pay her a second glance, and me? Well, I’m me. 

“He’s right, guys. This is stupid. At precisely the time we should be coming together is the most stupid time to be fighting. Sure, the future is uncertain. But there’s one thing I’m certain about. One way or another, we will find each other again. Together?” I asked them, getting a chorus of the word, “Together” from every pair of lips (upper lips to be precise). 

“Good. Now that that is settled, let’s leave the future for the future and have some fun tonight. Toji, I hope you brought the games.”

“Of course. Who do you take me for? I brought more of the good stuff as well” he said, pulling a cask of suspicious liquid straight out of nowhere. 

“So how are we doing this?”

“Old fashioned style, of course,” Zhufu replied, marching up to the dining table we were setting up and plopping down in her seat after claiming a cup as her own. 

“For the slower ones amongst us-” “Lee” “-you lose, you lie, you flub, or you take too much time, you drink.” Maki completed on Zhufu’s behalf, plopping down on the table. Toji’s dislike for convention had shown up in much of the furniture, as he’d gifted a good portion of it. Case in point, the table that was a strange cross between a circle, and an oval, and some other shape with no corners. It was uneven, but somehow entirely absent of edges, so we all looked at each other as we sat. 

“And what happens if someone does something distracting?” I ask, remembering a specific instance from a year ago. 

“Then you figure out how not to get distracted, Mister ‘Best Graduate from the Academy in over a Century’” Zhufu cut in. 

“Hey, that’s not fair. We can’t just have Maki taking off her shirt to avoid losing all the time.” Lee took my side. 

“Tough kitties, boys. Because I, for one, am completely in support of the delectable Missus showing off her goodies. You’re outvoted” Toji said, finishing the set-up and taking his own seat. 

“Fine then. Are we ready to begin?”

A/N; Yeahhhh. Time skippppp. What do you think about that?